Fri 4/29 - Upper

Workout: Golds
(75#Inc)10,9,8P
(155#BOR)3x10
(30#Crunch)3x10
(55#IsoInc)10,8
(160#VbarPull)2x10
(55#IsoShldr)2x11
(120#PullDn)2x10
(58#Rope)2x13
(25#RDelt)2x10
(35#Curl)11

50 mins

Quick WO at lunch. Not recovered enough from Wed heavy WO since I’ve been in a large deficit all week (down 10#’s since Sunday), but wanted to get a quick WO in before being gone this weekend.  I did BOR working sets while warming up my shoulders/incline. Felt good. Hadn’t done barbell bent over row in a while.  Then I supersetted incline with weighted crunches. Chest definitely not recovered. Next I did 2 sets each iso incline with vbar pulldowns. Then another 2 sets each iso shoulder press with wide grip pulldowns.  Finished up with some triceps and rear delt work, plus 1 set of curls. In and out pretty quick. Exactly what I wanted/needed.

Nutrition: 
I weighed 171.2 this morning. Weighed more this morning despite being at about 1,500 cal deficit again yesterday. That stuff just happens.

Wed 4/27 - Upper

Workout: Golds
(85#Inc)7,6,6,65x10P
(160#SeatRow)3x10
(30#Crunch)4x12
(60#IsoInc)9,55x9
(180#VbarPull)2x10
(55#IsoShldr)2x10
(140#PullDn)2x10
(58#RopeExt)12,11
(8#LDelt)2x10
(35#Curl)11
(25#FacePull)2x12
(145#Fly)2x10

68 mins

Started with working sets of seated rows during incline warmup to save a little time. Then I did incline supersetted with weighted crunches. Incline was pretty good. Lost 1 rep from last WO, but I’ve been in a massive deficit the last 3 days, so that’s probably the reason.  Next I supersetted iso incline with vbar pulldowns. I went too heavy on incline and had to reduce the weight. Next I supersetted iso shoulder with wide grip pulldowns. Pulldowns felt really good.

Then I did triceps rope extensions with cable lateral delt raises and 1 set of curls. Finished up with face pulls and fly’s.  Decent WO.

Nutrition: 
I weighed 171.6 this morning. Down from 180.0 on Sunday!

Sat 4/23 - Upper

Workout: LA Fitness
(85#Inc)8,6,6,70x9
(205#VbarPull)3x8
(25#Crunch)4x10
(60#IsoInc)2x10
(55#IsoShldr)3x9
(65#SeatRow)4x10
(160#Fly)2x10
(58#PushDn)2x12
(100#RDelt)2x10

66 mins

Last WO at LA Fitness while in Leesburg to close on my house. Cancelled membership this week.  While I warmed up for incline, I started working sets of pulldowns. I started at 190#’s and it felt “light”, so I bumped up toe 205#”s and it felt really good. Reps later in the sets got pretty heavy, but I was surprised how manageable this weight was. Then I got to working sets on incline, supersetted with decline crunches. Incline was really good. I couldn’t call them paused reps, but they were good controlled reps. Added a back-off set for a little more volume.  Next I supersetted iso-incline and iso-shoulder press with steated rows. The plan was for 2 sets each of the pushes and 4 sets of rows, but I wanted a little more shoulder pressing volume, so I added a 3rd set there.  Finished up with chest fly’s, triceps pushdowns and rear delt fly’s.  I had to bump the weight up on chest fly’s quite a bit. Definitely getting stronger here since I’ve been including a fly movement more regularly.  I should’ve been doing this all along I guess.

It was a crazy week trying to balance work, getting house buttoned up (packing, movers, cleaning), seeing the kids and friends in Leesburg. I got in some very solid WO’s despite a crazy schedule and very little sleep. Eating/nutrition was less than stellar, hence the 10 pound weight gain from the time I left Charlotte to Sunday morning leaving Leesburg at a plump 180#’s.  That’s a lot of water, but I’ve got some serious nutrition/diet work to do this coming week.

Nutrition: 
I weighed 174.2 this morning, then ended up eating a couple of big meals and a TON of cereal late night. I weighed 180.0 Sunday AM before leaving Leesburg. I was 169.2 late last week. Ouch!

Thu 4/21 - Upper (LA Fitness)

Workout: LA Fitness
(75#Inc)3x10P
(65#SeatRow)3x10
(55#IsoInc)2x11
(175#VbarPull)2x10
(55#IsoShldr)2x10
(145#PullDn)2x10
(58#RopeExt)3x11
(IncCurl)40x8,35x8
(60#Crunch)2x10
(8#LDetl)2x10
(Crunch)2x15
(25#RDelt)2x12
(145#Fly)2x12

58 + 12 = 70 mins

Went to LA Fitness this morning before work. Started with incline and seated row superset. Both were good. Incline reps were all controlled and paused. Had a bit of a grinder on the last rep of the 3rd set to get 3x10 and was pleased with that. Next I supersetted iso incline and iso shoulder press with vbar pulldowns and wide grip pulldowns.  Those 6 movements were the meat of the WO.

Next I did overhead rope extensions with incline curls and heavy crunches. I hadn’t done these in a while and I remember why now. I like them, but they’re hard on my wrists if I try to go heavy at all. I bumped to 40#’s for curls and got 8 reps. Not bad, but I didn’t want to drop below that rep number, so I went lighter on the 2nd set. My abs were still hurting from my last WOwhen I did heavy crunches today, so I only did 2 sets.  Next I supersetted cable delt raises with body weight crunches. Finished up with rear delt raises and chest fly’s. Both of these feltgreat and I was able to go a lot heavier on fly’s than I thought I would. I’ve been doing more of these lately, and it’s showing in strength and visually.  Very good WO.

Nutrition: 
I weighed 171.2 this morning

Mon 4/18 - Pull Day

Workout: Golds
(190#VbarPull)4x8,130x10
(25#DecTwist)4x16
(50#SeatRow)4x10
(130#PullDn)3x10
(35#Curl)13,10,30x15
(25#RDelt)3x11
(80#DBRow)2x10

55 + 5 = 60 mins

Pull day today. Went heavy on vbar pulldowns for 4 sets plus a drop set and supersetted these with decline twists for core work. My abs were still fried from yesterday and it was painful to do crunches, so I went with these. Next I did seated rows for 4 sets. 2 sets wide grip, 2 sets narrow grip. Then I did 3 sets wide grip pulldowns. Up next were curls (2 sets curls, 1 set hammercurls) supersetted with rear delt work. Finished up with some DB rows, that were REALLY hard at this point in the WO.  Pretty good pull day.

Nutrition: 
I weighed 173.4 this morning

Sun 4/17 - Push (Awesome Incline, Great WO!)

Workout: LA Fitness
(85#Inc)7,6,5,5,5
(50#IsoInc)12,11,11,10
(55#IsoShldr)3x9
(25#Crunch)4x10
(IncFly)20x10,15x10,10
(30#Delt)2x10,25x10
(90#Skulls)10,8,7,60x12
(5#LDelt)3x12
(58#Rope)2x10
(25#FacePull)2x12

75 + 15 = 90 mins

Push day today at LA Fitness. I started with heavy incline and wanted to get at least 5x5. Beat that and was VERY pleased with this work. Last time I tried 5x5 with 85#DB’s I had to drop to 80#DB’s after a couple of sets. Very good work. Best incline in a while, and leanest I’ve been in a while. Programming working out very nicely. Next I did iso incline. Planned on 2 setsbut was going well so I did 4, supersetted with weighted crunches. Next I did iso shoulder. Good reps here, especially after a lot of pressing already.

Then I supersetted incline cable fly’s with delt raises. Next I supersetted skull crushers with cable lateral delt raises. 3 sets heavy skulls, plus a drop set. Finished up with some rope pushdowns and face pulls.

Absolutely an awesome workout, especially considering my diet and level of leanness. I’m not where I want to be quite yet, but getting there and I’m maintaining, if not even gaining strength. That will surely change, but for the time being it’s just clicking. I think it’s for 2 reasons. First, my diet has been on point during the week with refeeds on the weekend surrounding WO’s I’m pushing hard. Second, since work is really busy, I haven’t had time for long or frequent WO’s. So my WO’s are generally short, but intense, and the lower frequency is for onceallowing me to recover better while in a deficit. In the past, I think I’ve worked out too much while in a deficit and haven’t allowed myself enough recovery time between hard efforts.

Nutrition: 
I weighed 172.6 this morning. The last two days were in the 169.x’s, so I’m getting down there nicely.

Thu 4/14 - Pull Day

Workout: Golds
(115#IsoRow)5x10
(25#Crunch)5x12
(160#VbarPull)3x10
(120#PullDn)2x10
(35#Curl)10,8
(60#UprightRow)2x15
(20#RDelt)2x12
(25#FacePull)2x12

41 + 5 = 46 mins

Pull day today at Golds during lunch. Started with 5 sets of standing iso rows, supersetted with 5 sets crunches. Rows were 3 sets 2-arm and 2 sets 1-arm. Then I did vbar pulldowns with fairly short rests. Next was wide grip pulldown supersetted with DB curls. Then upright rows and rear delt raises. Finished up with some face pulls. In and out quickly. Good rowing.

Nutrition: 
I weighed 170.4 again this morning.

Wed 4/13 - Push Day

Workout: Golds
(80#Inc)10,9,7 - Very good!
(50#IsoInc)10,9,8
(50#IsoShldr)2x10
(50#Crunch)4x12
(80#Skulls)12,9
(30#Delt)2x10
(130#Fly)11,10 - Weight bump
(58#Rope)2x12

50 + 10 = 60 mins

I’ve had a LOT going on lately with new job, looking for new home, Sarah just moved down, etc. This morning I had very little desire to go to the gym. The fact I was up by 4am and couldn’t get back to sleep probably didn’t help. Once I started writing out my WO I started to feel better and by the time I was heading to the gym I was energized and looking forward to a WO. Funny how that almost always happens if I don’t give into those first doubts. Anyway, I decided to do a push day today and will try to get a pull day in tomorrow. Started with incline and it was fantastic. I really wanted 8 reps on the 3rd set, but it was awesome to get reps of 10 and 9 on the first 2 sets, especially with how large a deficit I’ve been running. Very pleased.

Next I did 3 sets iso incline and 2 sets iso shoulder supersetted with 4 sets of heavy crunches. I was only planning on 2 sets iso incline, but someone was on the shoulder press machine so I did an extra set. Next I did skull crushers with delt raises. Finished up with some fly’s and pushdowns. The last 2 WO’s I’ve done fly’s I used #115 pounds, so this was a nice bump up and I still got good reps. Extremely pleased with this WO. If I can hold good reps with 80# DB’s on incline during a fairly aggressive cut/caloric deficit, I know I’m maintaining strength EXTREMELY well.

Fairly quick WO. I took long rests on incline and then supersetted everything with shorter rests after that. Would’ve been out quicker but someone kept talking to me during fly’s. Not sure if he was hitting on me, but he was being very kind ;)

Nutrition: 
I weighed 170.4 this morning. Feeling pretty lean. Maintaining strength extremely well.

Sun 4/10 - Upper

Workout: Condo Gym
(65#DBShldr)7,6,6
(165#VbarPull)3x9
(50#DBShldr)2x10
(125#PullDn)2x9
(65#Inc)3x9 Paused
(200#StandingCableRow)3x12
(30#Delt)2x10
(20#Rdelt)2x12
(25#Crunch)4x12
(40#IncFly)2x12
(55#PushDn)12,12,9
(35#Curl)12,10

61 + 7 = 68 mins

Went to the condo gym this morning to save some time. Sarah and I planned to drive around and look at neighborhoods/homes all day. Also, since I did heavy incline last WO, I was going to start with shoulder press today, and the weights are heavy enough for that at the condo gym.  So… I started with heavy shoulder press supersetted with vbar pulldowns. Since I didn’t get a lot of volume with 65#DB’s, I did two more sets of shoulder press with 50’s and supersetted that with wide grip pulldowns.  Then I did paused incline supersetted with standing cable rows. Incline felt good; great pec activation with the paused reps. Standing cable rows felt heavy after 5 sets of pulldowns.

Next I supersetted 2 sets each of delt raises and rear delt fly’s with 4 sets of crunches. Then I did 3 sets pushdowns with 2 sets incline cable fly’s. Finished up with 2 sets of DB curls.  Good WO.

Nutrition: 
I weighed 173.2 this morning. Not bad after part of the weekend away visiting USC with Gregg.

Thu 4/7 - Upper

Workout: Golds
(160#SeatRow)3x10
(80#Inc)9,8,7
(25#T-Twist)3x16
(50#IsoInc)10,9
(50#IsoShldr)2x10
(180#VbarPull)4x8
(80#OHTri)10,8
(25#RDelt)2x10
(115#Fly)13,11
(Crunch)25,20

63 mins

Early morning WO today. During incline warmup, I went ahead and did my working sets of seated rows rather then supersetting with incline. Then I got to working sets of incline supersetted with torture twists. Incline went really well, especially given big deficit this week. Reps were all controlled. Maybe not paused reps, but very controlled.  Normally my WO’s are better at the beginning of the week after refeed weekends. But today was really good. After incline, I did 2 sets of iso incline and 2 sets of iso shoulder press supersetted with 4 sets of vbar pulldowns. This was a really good superset. I’m liking the hammer strength incline machine for more incline/chest volume.

Next I did dumbbell overhead triceps extensions supersetted with rear delt raises. Then I finished up with some chest fly’s and crunches. Really good WO. Extremely pleased.

Nutrition: 
I weighed 170.0 this morning. Lowest in a while.  Getting lean, feeling good. Keeping strength fairly well. Big deficit this week and didn’t have much of a drop-off (yet).  If I stay at this large a deficit, I’ll surely start to see some impacts.

Mon 4/4 - Upper (great OHP)

Workout: Golds
(135#OHP)4x5,95x12
(180#PullDn)4x8,140x12
(50#IsoInc)3x10
(90#IsoRow)3x10
(115#Fly)2x11
(58#Rope)2x15
(10#RDelt)2x12

48 + 7 = 55mins

I wasn’t planning on going to the gym at lunch today, but I started looking at my schedule this week and for the weekend and thought since I had the opening today, I’d better jump on it.  I was just going to do something super short, maybe 2 sets each of a push/pull.  I started with overhead press and pulldown superset. First set of OHP was really good and I knew right away I was going to push harder than initially planned. The last couple of times I’ve done OHP, I’ve gotten 3x5, but the last rep of the last set or two has really been more of a push press than a strict OHP (I had to cheat the weight up). Today I got 4x5 and all reps were good form. AWESOME! I did a back off set that was great too. Pulldowns were also good, 4 heavy sets and a back off set.

Next was incline and a horizontal row superset. I wanted to try something different than DB incline, so I hopped on an iso-lateral plate loaded incline machine and did a warmup set to see how it felt. In the past these have bothered my R shoulder, but it felt ok. I added a little more weight and got 3 really good sets. I should’ve stopped the last set at 9 reps. REALLY felt this movement in my pecs. Iso rows were good too (on the light side).  Then I finished up with chest fly’s, pushdowns and rear delt work. The fly’s felt AWESOME. Great pec activation. I don’t know if it was this machine, or if my pecs were just really feeling it from the incline, but either way, felt awesome today. Certainly didn’t hurt that I ate quite a bit this weekend so I had some energy for the WO. Very pleased today.  Still in and out quick because I really limited the accessory stuff, but hit the main movements hard. Perfect.

Nutrition: 
I weighed 175.4 this morning after eating a lot of carbs (over 500 grams) yesterday during and after my hike. Water will flush out in a day or two.

Sun 4/3 - Morrow Moutain Hike

Drove to Morrow Mountain State Park and hiked sections of a bunch of the loop trails around the park (Morrow Mountain, Mountain Loop, Laurel and Sugar Loaf Mountain trails). I parked at the top of the "mountain" worked my way down and around the park and then back up to the top. It's nice to end the hike at the top. Generally a hike like this starts and ends at a nondescript parking lot in a valley. I was able to sit on the top of the mountain, put my seating pad out, eat a late lunch and lay down to soak up some sun.  Nice hike with decent views from the top.  Not on my "must do again" list, but glad I checked it out.  Guessing the hike ended up being around 8 miles.

Sat 4/2 Upper

Workout: Golds
(85#Inc)6,5,80x5,5,5,5,60x8,45x8
(100#IsoRow)4x10
(15#IncFly)3x10
(160#VbarPull)3x10
(80#Skulls)12,10,8
(20#RDelt)3x12
(35#Delt)2x10
(35#IncCurl)2x10
(55#IsoShldr)2x10
(10#LDelt)2x10
(120#SeatRow)2x10
(58#Rope)2x10

83 + 7 = 90 mins

I dieted fairly aggressively all week so I wasn't sure what to expect from this WO. I knew I wanted to try to go heavy on incline and play it by ear. I wasn't thrilled with reps at 85#'s, but that's kind of expected with my diet. So I dropped to 80#'s and did 4 more sets of 5, then two drop sets at a steeper incline. I ended up being very pleased with the work and volume here. I supersetted incline with rows.  Since I'd done a lot of pressing, I pushed shoulder press to later in the WO and did incline fly's with pulldowns.

Next I did skull crushers with rear delt fly's. Then heavy delt raises with curls. Next I did shoulder press supersetted with cable lateral raises. Killer delt combinations.  Finished up with some seated rows and rope pushdowns.  Excellent WO. Time for some food.

Nutrition:
I weighed 172.0 this morning. Feeling good. Still eating a fair amount of carbs but at a fairly large deficit during the week with a refeed on the weekend. I'm trying to really push weekend WO's when I can while I'm eating.