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Frontline 08-16-2006 07:22 PM

Sleazy's "Cut Diet" Journal
 
Well its time for another cut. For this journal I will be following the “Cut Diet” word for word and keeping you all updated on my results. If you are unfamiliar with the Cut Diet it was authored by the registered dietitian Chuck Rudolph and put out by the supplement company Scivation. For more information you can visit CutDiet.com or DietsbyChuck.com


Overview:
The Cut Diet is a 16 week program that includes a complete diet and training layout with the goal of preparing someone for a bodybuilding show. I will not be writing down my exact meals or training as I believe anyone who is truly interested in these details would benefit a lot more from actually purchasing the book and getting the complete set of dietary guidelines for this diet.

Training:

As far as training goes the program is broken down into four phases:
Weeks 1-4: Condition – 3-4 Sets of 12-15 Reps
Weeks 5-8: Growth/Strength – 5-6 Sets of 6-10 Reps
Weeks 9-12: Strength/Growth – 5-6 Sets of 4-6 Reps
Weeks 13-14: Showtime – Rep ranges of 12-15 all the way to 40-50
Week 15: Final Week – Preperation for the show, light workouts.

Other Key Facts:
  • The program is a 15 Week split training program hitting each bodypart once per week.
  • Most weeks are 5 days of training and two days of rest.
  • Low intensity cardio is recommended 4-5 times a week AFTER workout for 30-45 mins.
Diet:
Based off your size and body fat percentage this book has different total calorie breakdowns and lists what you should be eating for each meal. This makes it easy to follow all the way throughout the program.


Key Points:
  • All carbs come from fiberous veggies (broccoli, green beans, etc) with each meal along with grapefruit for select meals. These are the only carbs you will be consuming each day.
  • Every three days you will perform a carb reload and this will be the last meal of the day. This reload consists of oats, sweet potatoes, veggies, etc.
  • Absolutely no protein with the carb loads.
  • Protein comes from lean meats (chicken, halibut, sirloin, turkey breast) and whey protein.
  • EFA’s come from almonds, peanut butter, flax oil, and fish oil.
Supplements:
Since this book is put out by Scivation all the supplements recommended within it are Scivation products. They make the point of noting that these supplements are not required but are recommended to get the best results out of the program.


Supplements I will be consuming (I choose not to take everything)
  • Whey Protein (Scivation’s Substance WPI and Whey from True Protein)
  • Xtend
  • ALCAR
  • Lean Green (Green Tea Extract)
  • Fish Oil Caps
  • Multivitamin Packs
  • Glutamine
  • Glucosamine & MSM
  • ZMA
  • Citrulline Malate
Pre/Post Workout Nutrition:
There are NO Pre/Post workout shakes on this diet. During the lifting and cardio sessions you are allowed to drink a shake consisting of BCAA’s and Whey Protein. You can start sipping on this shake prior to heading to the gym and continue to drink it all the way through your session, including cardio.


Once again, these are just a few of the key points of the program that I feel is important for everyone to be aware of prior to reading the journal. It in no way includes all the key facts and details Chuck has laid out. So if you are truly interested I suggest picking up the book yourself.

I am going to try to take this program all the way through the 15 weeks as if I was actually preparing for a show even though I won’t be. I really want to see how lean I can get from following this diet and have heard great of great results from other people so I am really looking forward to giving this diet a go.


So let's get started....

Frontline 08-16-2006 07:50 PM

Sunday August 13th:
After going out and buying all the required foods/supplements the week before I started the diet today. Sunday is an off training day so this was a chance for me to get used to the diet and see exactly what it entailed.

Knowing that I was starting the diet today and will be sticking to it for the next 15 weeks, I decided to let loose the week before and enjoyed going to the bars and having some high carb meals I normally avoid (BBQ, pizza, etc). I purposely did this to get it out of my system, but it definately shows as my weight is 3-5 lbs heavier than what I have been weighing in at normally.

Weight: 217 lbs
Height: 5'11
Age: 23
Body Type: Endomorph


I also borrowed a friends camera and took some before pictures but will be holding off posting these until the end of the program. These will serve as personal motivation and to track my progress. If I can successfully complete this program I will be posting the before/after pictures at the end of this journal so everyone can see the results.

Since last september I was following a WSB program and then completed a 3 month session of DFT 5x5. Since I wasn't following a set diet I definately "bulked" up a little bit but that is fine as I was really doing these programs for the strength gains. It will be interesting to see how my body changes when switching to the new training routine.

The Meals:
* Based off my weight, body type, and estimated bodyfat the book recommends I start at their 2500 calorie level.

I woke up and was totally underprepared for breakfast today. This meal didn't seem that big to me on paper, but it definately was when I had to start consuming it:

6 egg whites
1 whole egg
1 cup steamed spunach
1 oz grilled chicken
4 tsp peanut butter
8 oz grapefruit

I also discovered that 8 oz of grapefruit is generally 1 to 1 1/2 grapefruits, which means that I had to go out and buy alot more. Since these have to be peeled I decided to spend alot of time peeling them all today so I wouldn't have to do this every morning.

Excluding the two shakes, the other meals of the day consisted of a lean protein source, veggies, and fats such as almonds or natural peanut butter. These meals were not bad size wise and I had to consume them every 2-3 hours. An example of a common meal I will be making:

5 oz chicken
1 cup steamed Broccoli
18 almonds

Besides that common meal layout there is a meal near the end of that is a little bit bigger which includes:

6 oz chicken
1 cup steamed Broccoli
2 oz avocado
8 oz grapefruit

All the veggies had to be steamed which seemed like a pain at first but it really only takes a few minutes and is much better than microwaving. I was also unprepared for the actual amount of veggies I would be consuming daily on this program. Today I consumed 7 cups of veggies coming mainly from broccolli and green beans.

Even though I started the day off on a big meal and was eating every 2-3 hours I can honestly say that I was not extremely full or uncomfortable at any time. But the main benefit of the diet today was that at no time was I actually hungry either, I can see this being a big benefit and key to sticking to the diet as long as I eat my meals every 2-3 hours.

From this point on I will be bulk cooking my chicken/protein so I can simply assemble my meals and just eat them without the hassle of cooking each time. This will also be key to following this diet at my corporate job which has been the cause of many of my other diet failures.

Monday will be my first full day of training and dieting and seeing how it fits into the corporate world...

Darkhorse 08-16-2006 08:01 PM

WOW, all eyes on this journal, nicely done! That's a very interesting point you made on the grapefruit. I had no idea it was 1.5 of those nasty things. Now, are you planning on combining the Xtend and EAA's or just take the EAA's? If I had to choose, I'd hold off on the EAA's until you're in weeks 5-12, when you start getting back into muscle gain. The Xtend is probably better suited with the addition of Citrulline and Glutamine for the initial weeks of hell.

BTW, I had no idea I am three years your senior! :biglaugh:

As always, good luck and I hope you stick with it.

Frontline 08-16-2006 08:08 PM

The problem with grapefruit is that most of the weight comes form the peel, so once you peel it your not left with much weight.

I asked about the EAAs and they said combining them with Xtend would be the most beneficial as taking them in place of Xtend would not be optimal. I believe I will stick with just the Xtend initially and maybe add in the EAAs later or simply hold off on testing these for now.

I'm a few days behind on this journal, I will be catching up tommorow since its an off training day :)

hrdgain81 08-17-2006 05:51 AM

Oh man, this looks painful sleazy. I'll be keepin an eye over here. I cant wait to see what the results from this are like.

ChinPieceDave667 08-17-2006 06:21 AM

FINALLY, I was waiting for a your journal. Good luck.

markdk86 08-17-2006 08:43 AM

Good luck man. I read this diet and I don't have it in me to be in the gym that much. I've been doing UD 2.0 and loosing fat and gaining strength. Lost 1.4% BF this past week.

Good luck Sleeze

Frontline 08-19-2006 03:48 PM

Monday August 14th:

Today was the first full day of trying to stay on this diet plan while at work. I have prepared alot of chicken breast in advance that way all I have to do is wake up and assemble my meals. Today I brought in in two main meals containing chicken/broccoli/almonds, a shake with PB and two scoops of whey, and an additional cup of broccoli to take with my shake. Brining in all these meals got a few looks from the coworkers but there was really no problem grabbing these and being able to eat every 2-3 hours.

After work I came home and had meal #5 which contains a whey shake, glutamine, almonds, and more broccoli. My plan was to time this meal so that I could go to the gym and be back around when I was supposed to eat again. So 45 minutes after consuming this I took my tablespoon of natty peanut butter as recommended and downed 2 grams of ALCAR then headed to the gym with my premade shake.

Todays Training Routine:
Incline Bench - 4 sets of 15
Flat Bench - 4 sets of 15
DB Flys - 4 sets of 15
Pushups - To Failure
Crunches - 4 sets of 25
Reverse Crunches - 4 sets of 25

During Workout Shake:
7 scoops of Xtend, 1.5 scoops of whey, and 2 additional grams of Citrulline Malate

From the few weeks I did of DFHT training I knew these sets would be killer if I started off to high. So I went really light and tried to hit all 15 reps. For the most part I did pretty good on everything except the last set of flat bench as my arms were starting to give out and I only got out 12 reps.

Crunches were another problem area for me. I am not used to doing this high amount of crunches so around set 3 I started to have problems and missed a few on both regular and reverse. As my abs get used to this I should be able to hit all the reps.

After the lifting part of the session I went into the cardio room and did 35 minutes of fast paced walking on the treadmill. This was about 3.7 mph at a 5.0 incline. The cardio was not supposed to be hard as we are supposed to low intensity cardio staying within the 130-150 bpm heart rate range.

Overall I felt the day went pretty well and the diet is really easy to follow if you prepare everything in advance. There was no point during the day that I was hungry as I was continuosly eating.

Frontline 08-19-2006 04:11 PM

Tuesday August 15th:

Well, breakfast is finally getting easier to handle. I think the first two days I just wasn't used to eating that big of a meal but now I actually look forward to it. Another trick I found to add a little flavor to the egg whites was to spay a little "I Can't Believe its Not Butter" on them. This is allowed on the diet and basically has no calories so all is good if you just use a few sprays for your veggies as well.

Today's Training:
Squats 4 sets of 15
SLDL - 4 sets of 15
Leg Curl - 4 sets of 15
Leg Press - 4 sets of 15
Leg Extension - 4 sets of 15
Standing Calf Raises - 4 sets of 15
Seated Calf raises - 4 sets of 15

The leg training day was probally the longest training day of the week. Squats off course were done A2G but only had a 45 on each side. This was probally a little too light as it was pretty easy from all my DFT 5x5 squat work so next week I will be bumping it up. Had to check the ego at the door and resist the urge to stack more weight on the bar.

I did have some problems with the Straight Leg Deadlifts as they were bothering my lower back. I had a buddy check out my form and supposedly everything looked good so I'm not too worried about it. I have a weak lower back and usually anything that involves bending at the waist bothers me. I will just need to adapt to the SLDL's as I haven't done them in quite a while.

Everything else in the training session went pretty well and I finished up the lifting with 40 minutes of treadmill at the same settings as yesterday.

Today was also the first carb loading meal and was the last meal of the day. You are not permitted to drink water 60 minutes prior to and 45-60 minutes after the carb load, so I made sure I got in a before I started.

The carb load consisted of three broken down meals containg the follow items eaten in order:
1)
1.5 cups steamed green beans

2)
3/4 cup oatmeal
2 tbsp raisins
1 tbsp honey
18 almonds

3)
7.5 oz sweet potato
2 tbsp natural peanut butter

The carb load again wasn't that bad and if your having problems you can spread it out over 30-45 minutes. The oatmeal meal was pretty damn good as it was sweetened even more with some Splenda. Only near the end of the sweet potatoes did I start to feel it but it wasn't a major issue. The hardest thing about this meal was not having any water and having to stay up at least an hour afterwards before hitting the sack. Because of the time involved I didn't go to bed until 12:30 which is later than I would have liked for work reasons.

Still feeling good and energy levels are surprisingly high.

Frontline 08-19-2006 04:28 PM

Wednesday August 16th:

I woke up this morning and immediately noticed that my calves muscles were completely jacked. They were sore as hell and I had to slowly put the weight on the hell of my foot whenever I would get up from sitting down for a while. This all came as amusement to my coworkers when I was walking around the office. I haven't specifically focused on my calves in a long time and even though yesterday's calves workout was fairly easy they decided to fight back.

Another comment I wanted to make but not elaborate on too much is that you will have no problem "keeping things moving" as far as digestion goes. I'll leave it at that, but its a point that should be made as other cuttng diets such as CKD's have alot of people complain about that issue.

Today's Training:
Bent Over Barbell Rows - 4 sets of 15
1 Arm DB Row - 4 sets of 15
Cable Pull Downs - 4 sets of 15
Wide Grip Pull Downs - 4 sets of 15
Dumbbell Shrugs - 4 sets of 15
Hyperextensions - 4 sets of 15

Nothing too hard in today's workout. Again just making sure to keep it light and try to hit every rep as next week we will be bumping the weight.

I had to skip the cardio today as my calves were jacked up so I will be making it up later in the week. Tommorow is also an off day training wise which should give them a chance to recover.

verbatimreturned 08-19-2006 07:05 PM

Good Luck with this sleazy, BTW your journal Kicks mines ass...I'm embarrassed

Frontline 08-20-2006 10:04 AM

Friday August 18th

The day off helped some of my aching parts and I was ready to hit the gym again.

Today's Training:
Standing Barbell Curls - 4 sets of 15
Preacher Curls - 4 sets of 15
Hammer Curls - 3 sets of 15
Tricep Press Downs - 4 sets of 15
Skull Crushers - 4 sets of 15
Dips - 3 sets of 15
V-ups- 4 sets of 25
Leg Raises - 4 sets of 25

Well today was obviously the arm workout. I went real light making sure to hit every rep but it was still difficult. By the time I reached the dips my arms were shot and I couldn't get out the full sets of 15 as I hit 12, 8, 8 reps accordingly. These dips were supposed to be weighted but it looks like I will be struggling just to hit them all without the weight after hitting the arms so hard beforehand. The V-ups also gave me a little bit of a problem as I not very used to the exercise and its just alot of ab work for me.

Everything was once again followed up with 40 minutes of cardio on the treadmill.

Tonight was another carb load and the end of the working week...finally. Its hard to go out at all on this diet as you have to be constantly eating so I hung around at a buddies for a while then came back and got in my carb meal. I'll pass up a few months of good social activity for a leaner body anyday.

Frontline 08-20-2006 10:19 AM

Saturday August 19th

Today is the final training day of the week and marks the end of being on the diet for one week.

Today's Training:
Dumbbell Military Press (NO BACK SUPPORT) - 4 sets of 15
Seated Front Dumbbell Raises - 4 sets of 15
Standing Site Lateral Raises - 4 sets of 15
Rear Deltoid Machine - 3 sets of 15
Standing Calf Raises - 4 sets of 15
Seated Calf Raises - 4 sets of 15

This was was a pretty good training day because I was able to sleep late and get some much needed rest. The shoulder workout also wasn't as hard as compared to the arm workout which left me a little frustrated yesterday because of missing the dips.

The only part of today's routine that hit me by surpirse were the front raises which I never normally do so I went really light and only used 10 lb dumbbells on it. They did feel good however and even near the end of the last sets the reps were getting hard. After the shoulders the calves had to be hit again which made me a little concerned due to their soreness but once again I went through them fine and the next morning they actually felt better.

So thats the end of the first week and I got to say I am pretty happy with the diet/training so far. The diet is pretty easy to follow its just a matter of being prepared and having access to your meals. I am never really hungry but it can be a little frustrating having to stay up later to get your last meals in such as the carb load. The training wasn't too difficult but there are definately areas that I will need to improve on. Starting light seemed to be key to this first week and next week the program calls for me to drop the reps to 12 and increase the weight.

Frontline 08-23-2006 06:27 PM

Monday August 21st

Sorry I left the weights out last week. Anyhow, be prepared to be blown away by the EXTREME poundage I'm putting up on week 2 .... just kidding.

Today's Training:
Incline Bench - 4 x12 135 lbs
Flat Bench - 4 x 12 135 lbs
DB Flys - 4 x12 35 lbs
Pushups - To Failure
Crunches - 4 x 25
Reverse Crunches - 4 x 25

During week 2 all the weights are supposed to be bumped up from week 1 and reps dropped from 15 to 12. On the incline and flat bench I only bumped it up an additional 10 lbs from week 1 and the DB Flys were only bumped 5 lbs. These are small increases in weight but since we have to bump the weight again next week, I am making sure I am going light enough to hit all the reps.

Everything went pretty well and I feel much more comfortable beginning the second week now that I know what to expect.

Frontline 08-24-2006 07:01 PM

Tuesday August 22nd

Today's Training:
Squats 4 x 12 155 lbs
SLDL - 4 x 12 105 lbs
Leg Curl - 4 x 12 35 lbs
Leg Press - 4 x 12 200 lbs
Leg Extension - 4 x 12 60 lbs
Standing Calf Raises - 4 x 12 110 lbs (smith machine)
Seated Calf raises - 4 x 12 75 lbs

Again going light in preperation for more bumping ahead. Squats once again were no problem and are always my favorite part of the leg day. No problems with the stiff leg dead lifts like last week, so it must have just been my lower back acting up again. The weight on leg curls is almost nothing, but for some reason I have real trouble with this exercise and heavier weights so I am hoping that all the training will help me strengthen this weak area for me.

As always cardio followed at 5.0 incline at 3.7 mph for 35 minutes.

Frontline 08-24-2006 07:12 PM

Wednesday August 23

Today's Training:
Bent Over Barbell Rows - 4 x 12 105 lbs
1 Arm DB Row - 4 x 12 45 lbs
Cable Pull Downs - 4 x 12 70 lbs
Wide Grip Pull Downs - 4 x 12 90 lbs
Dumbbell Shrugs - 4 x 12 45 lbs
Hyperextensions - 4 x 12

Turns out that I misinterpreted what Chuck wanted us to do with the cable pull downs last week as I was doing regular pull downs. What he really wants us to do is more of a standing dumbbell pullover except with the cables. This means standing underneath a high cable and bringing the bar from overhead to in front of your chest while keeping your arms straight. I tried to replicate the "stretch" of pullovers by taking a step or two forward from the pulley so that the cable came from behind my head.

Everything else went pretty well and I think I will be bumping some of the exercises such as the shrugs and DB rows a little more than the others next week.

Cardio followed at 5.0 incline at 3.7 mph for 35 minutes.

Frontline 08-26-2006 08:35 AM

Friday August 25th:

Today's Training:
Standing Barbell Curls - 4 x 12 65 lbs
Preacher Curls - 4 x 12 40 lbs
Hammer Curls - 3 x 12 25 lbs
Tricep Press Downs - 4 x 12 60 lbs
Skull Crushers - 4 x 12 60 lbs
Dips - 4 x 12
V-ups- 4 x 25
Leg Raises - 4 x25

Exhausting day as always but the dips are getting better. Was able to hit 10 reps for the first two sets then had to use the assisted machine again because by that time my arms were pretty shot.

EricT 08-26-2006 12:52 PM

Wow, great journal Sleazy. It's much better than verb's :biglaugh: .

Good luck with all this.

markdk86 08-26-2006 01:31 PM

Add Some Weight Onto Those Dips Biotch !!!

Frontline 08-26-2006 02:08 PM

Trust me Mark I wish I could, but I'll be lucky just to get to the point where I can hit them all.

I think verb said he was having problems with them in his journal as well, so at least I know I don't have a bad case of pussitus. :clit:

Frontline 08-26-2006 02:25 PM

Today's Training:
Dumbbell Military Press (NO BACK SUPPORT) - 4 x 12 35 lbs
Seated Front Dumbbell Raises (NO BACK SUPPORT) - 4 x 12 15 lbs
Standing Side Lateral Raises - 4 x 12 15 lbs
Rear Deltoid Machine - 3 x 12 70 lbs
Standing Calf Raises - 4 x 12 140 lbs (smith)
Seated Calf Raises - 4 x 12 85 lbs

So this marks the end of two weeks of the cut diet and everything is still good. My energy levels are better than any other diet I have been on and I have been able to follow the training and dieting without cheating.

I have been playing the weights pretty conservatively and feel like I have gained a good grasp on what I can do weight wise for these high rep sets. Next week we are supposed to bump the weights again and go back up to 15 reps, so I am going to try to make a bigger jump. These first four weeks aren't about the weight anyhow but getting yourself conditioned.

Weighed in this morning at 212.5 lbs, which is down 4.5 lbs from starting. As mentioned I started this diet after a big week of carb binging so I don't know how much of the weight can be attributed to that. Since I am starting this diet at a higher bf% I know I will drop some weight in the process but hopefully the diet does what it says about maintaining most of your scale weight and muscle mass.

Also picked up a heart rate monitor today because I don't trust the machines and I want to make sure I'm in the 130-150 rpm range. Looks like I'm actually taking this diet seriously. :biggthumpup:

Frontline 08-28-2006 06:50 PM

Monday August 28th

Today's Training:
Incline Bench - 4 x15 140 lbs
Flat Bench - 4 x 15 135 lbs
DB Flys - 4 x15 40 lbs
Pushups - To Failure
Crunches - 4 x 25
Reverse Crunches - 4 x 25

For some reason I didn't have much energy in me today which is weird since I had been doing so well. At around 12 reps on the benching I was struggling and just felt sluggish. For some of them I had to rack the weight, take a 10 sec breather and get the other reps out. Probally my worst training day so far.

Today I also used my new heart rate monitor and have to say that I was no where near my target 130-150 bpm range before. Even at a fast walk of 4.0 mph on an incline set at level 9, I was just under 130 bpm. So I switched to the elliptical which was much easier for me to get in my target heart range. This maybe because its more of a full body workout with the arm rods, but it concerns me that I couldn't get my heart range up on the treadmill as the cardio is supposed to be "light".

Darkhorse 08-29-2006 11:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sleazy
For some reason I didn't have much energy in me today which is weird since I had been doing so well. At around 12 reps on the benching I was struggling and just felt sluggish. For some of them I had to rack the weight, take a 10 sec breather and get the other reps out. Probally my worst training day so far.

Don't sweat it. It could've been one of a hundred bullshit minor little things. Stuff like that will iron itself out in a day or two. If I have a shitty workout, more often that not it's due to stress.

Still glad to see you sticking with this. Too much success to be had with this whole protocol IMHO.

Frontline 08-30-2006 04:37 AM

Tuesday August 28th

Today's Training:
Squats 4 x 15 165 lbs
SLDL - 4 x 15 110 lbs
Leg Curl - 4 x 15 35 lbs
Leg Press - 4 x 15 240 lbs
Leg Extension - 4 x 15 65 lbs
Standing Calf Raises - 4 x 15 160 lbs (smith machine)
Seated Calf raises - 4 x 15 95 lbs

Energy level was a little better today. Did a bigger bump on some of the lifts today such as leg press and calfs but was still able to get through them fairly easily. SLDL's for this rep amount are still a little taxing on my lower back so I am playing it safe with the weight on that.

Cardio was performed on an incline elliptical for 35 mins with my heart rate around 135 bpm.

verbatimreturned 08-30-2006 08:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sleazy
Energy level was a little better today. Did a bigger bump on some of the lifts today such as leg press and calfs but was still able to get through them fairly easily. SLDL's for this rep amount are still a little taxing on my lower back so I am playing it safe with the weight on that.

I find that if I go to heavy with SLDL's my lower back takes over, I would suggest you keep it light as all hell if you feel your lower back coming in....of course it will but I think if you remain light you really can focus in on the hamstrings.

As far as feeling sluggish I wouldn't worry about it man, happens all the time. Especially on a diet like this one. Just keep on plugging away :weights:

EricT 08-30-2006 09:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sleazy
concerns me that I couldn't get my heart range up on the treadmill as the cardio is supposed to be "light".

Well that's not necessarily anything to be concerned about in a general sense. The more efficient your cardiovascular system is the harder it is for you to get your heart rate up. The main effect of cardio is to make your body better at cardio.

Frontline 09-02-2006 02:17 PM

Thursday August 31st

I skipped my Wednesday workout as I wasn't feeling up to it and covered it today...

Today's Training:
Bent Over Rows 4x15 115 lbs
1 Arm DB Rows 4x15 50 lbs
Cable Pull Down 4x15 60 lbs
Wide Grip Pull Downs 4x15 85 lbs
DB Shrugs 4x15 50 lbs
Hyperextensions 4x15

I actually lowered the weight on the cable pull downs as I switched from doing them on a high cable to the regular pull down cable. This cable setup had a little more resistance to it so I wanted to make sure I got them all out.

Cardio for 30 mins on an incline elliptical.

Frontline 09-02-2006 02:21 PM

Friday September 1st

Today's Training:
Barbell Curl 4x15 70 lbs
Preacher Curls 4x15 45 lbs
Hammer Curls 3x15 30 lbs
Tricep Push Downs 4x15 70 lbs
Skullcrushers 4x15 65 lbs
Dips (assisted) 4x15 +60 lbs
Vups 4x25
Leg Raises 4x25

Exhausting day in the gym, everything was bumped a little bit from the week before. The bumping each week definately increased the difficulty on some of these for me, especially this week in the 15 rep range. The VUPs were also a killer today but I am getting better at them. Something about this exercise just doesn't look right unless a pretty girl is doing it. :biglaugh:

Cardio for 30 mins on incline elliptical.

Frontline 09-05-2006 06:09 PM

Saturday Sept 2nd

Dumbbell Military Press (NO BACK SUPPORT) - 4 x 15 35 lbs
Seated Front Dumbbell Raises (NO BACK SUPPORT) - 4 x 15 15 lbs
Standing Side Lateral Raises - 4 x 15 15 lbs
Rear Deltoid Machine - 3 x 15 90 lbs
Standing Calf Raises - 4 x 15 160 lbs (smith)
Seated Calf Raises - 4 x 15 100 lbs

Cardio for 30 mins on incline elliptical.

Frontline 09-05-2006 06:19 PM

Monday Sept 4th

Today was Labor Day and my gym closed at noon so I had to get up at 9 am to do this (some holiday huh?

Today's Training:
Incline Bench - 4 x15 145 lbs
Flat Bench - 4 x 15 145 lbs
DB Flys - 4 x15 40 lbs
Pushups - To Failure
Crunches - 4 x 25
Reverse Crunches - 4 x 25

Cardio on incline elliptical for 30 mins.

Tuesday Sept 5th

Today's Training:
Squats 4 x 15 175 lbs
SLDL - 4 x 15 115 lbs
Leg Curl - 4 x 15 45 lbs
Leg Press - 4 x 15 270 lbs
Leg Extension - 4 x 15 70 lbs
Standing Calf Raises - 4 x 15 180 lbs (smith machine)
Seated Calf raises - 4 x 15 105 lbs

Cardio on incline elliptical for 30 mins.


General Observations:
Its been almost a month on this diet and I have yet to cheat or really want to. I am never hungry and my energy levels are very good (as the book promises). I feel fairly strong in the gym with the only problem being that by the time I am half way through cardio the fatigue starts to set in, but that's just part of the game.

The only main issue I am struggling to stay above is the lack of sleep I am getting. Because I have to stay up later to get in my last meals (around 11:30 pm at night) I am only getting around 6 hours of sleep a night. Carb loading nights are worse as the meals take 30-45 minutes to consume and you cannot hit the sack until 45 minutes later.

Supplement Changes:
I have also decided to add in an EC stack and choose to use Bulk Nutrition's Synergy. I will be using 2 caps of this twice a day, but not near my workout as I am already sweating my balls off. I have also ordered some Sesamin and will be adding this into the mix on the dosing protocol suggested by the book.

Darkhorse 09-06-2006 06:15 PM

Any remarkable weight loss to date after a month? bf% wise as well?

Sleep will IMO make or break you with something this demanding. You may accumulate fatigue from session to session and may feel the need for a deload somewhere in there. Hopefully not, but you run the possibility with such a limited amount of sleep.

Ever think about melatonin to at least give you a better quality sleep with the limited time you have?

Frontline 09-07-2006 05:36 AM

Weight wise I am still hovering around 212, but the diet was made to keep most of your scale weight so I am not too concerned about it.

Unfortunately I don't have a bf measurer and am basing this just off my starting pictures, but I am starting too look a little leaner in the face, arms, and legs. I started the diet with a higher bf% so I know that the gut/chest is going to be the last noticeable place for me. I think after week 6 I should be able to see some more noticeable differences.

I am however going to try to bump the cardio up to 40 minutes this week and with the EC stack I think this will start speeding things up. As far as sleep, I may look into some melatonin or phenibut when I need to restock but according to Chuck alot of people have a hard time falling asleep as well because your body's metabolism is cranking at top gear. Let's hope he's right :biggthumpup:

Frontline 09-10-2006 09:49 AM

Going to combine these posts to catch up on my journal...

Wednesday's Training:
Bent Over Rows 4x12 125 lbs
1 Arm DB Rows 4x12 55 lbs
Cable Pull Down 4x12 70 lbs
Wide Grip Pull Downs 4x12 105 lbs
DB Shrugs 4x12 55 lbs
Hyperextensions 4x12

Friday's Training:
Barbell Curl 4x12 75 lbs
Preacher Curls 4x12 50 lbs
Hammer Curls 3x12 35 lbs
Tricep Push Downs 4x12 80 lbs
Skullcrushers 4x12 70 lbs
Dips (assisted) 4x12 +60 lbs
Vups 4x25
Leg Raises 4x25

Saturday's Training:
Dumbbell Military Press (NO BACK SUPPORT) - 4 x 12 35 lbs
Seated Front Dumbbell Raises (NO BACK SUPPORT) - 4 x 12 20 lbs
Standing Side Lateral Raises - 4 x 12 15 lbs
Rear Deltoid Machine - 3 x 12 110 lbs
Standing Calf Raises - 4 x 12 180 lbs (smith)
Seated Calf Raises - 4 x 12 105 lbs


This marks the end of the conditioning phase, the next four weeks will begin the strength/growth phase with reps ranging from 6-10 per set. This is more my kind of program so I am looking forward to the upcoming change.

I also weighed myself the past two mornings and I weighed in between 210-211 lbs. I bumped my cardio up to 40 minutes this week which I think has helped a little. My overall scale weight is not my main concern and I do feel like I am leaner but I am waiting to really compare my before and after pictures.

So far so good :biglaugh:

Frontline 09-15-2006 10:28 AM

Just a quick note that I got sick this week and caught the flu due to everyone at work being sick. Because of this I only got 2 of my 5 workouts in, so I decided I am going to repeat week 5 of training next week.

I also have cut some cals according to the book as I feel I have been stalling. I have cut out the grapefruit later in the day, 10 grams of fat, and 15 grams of carbs from my daily meals.

Darkhorse 09-15-2006 01:55 PM

Damn, good decision to repeat week 5.

Get Well!!

Darkhorse 09-20-2006 07:02 PM

Are you still sick or what?

Don't throw this journal in the "journal graveyard" like Verb and the rest!! :D :D

Frontline 09-20-2006 07:41 PM

Nope this journal is still alive and here are some updates...

So I was pretty much sick through Saturday but on Sunday I was feeling well enough to do 45 mins of cardio. I decided to do this since I missed alot of workouts and just wanted to get off my ass.

So finally were are in the growth/strength phase with sets in the 5-6 range and reps starting at 10 and dropping every week after through week 8.

I took things light again starting out this week since I know I will be bumping every week during this phase. This is important because I didn't want to start on weights that I wouldn't be able to bump significantly two weeks down the road. However I much more comfortable with the rep ranges as we are getting lower as this is what I am more familiar with.

Monday- Chest:
Incline DB Press - 5x10 55lbs
Flat DB Press - 5x10 60lbs
Peck Deck - 4x10 80lbs
Push Ups to Failure - 42 (I do this immediately after the peck deck)
VUps - 4x25
Leg Raises - 4x25

Cardio for 45 mins on incline tread

Tuesday - Legs:
Squats (A2G) 5x10 185lbs
Straight Leg Dead Lifts - 5x10 125lbs
Leg Curl (lying) - 4x10 45lbs
Stationary Barbell Lunges - 5x10 85lbs
Leg Extensions - 4x10 80lbs
Standing Calfs Raises (smith machine on calf block) - 4x12 200lbs
Seated Calf Raises - 4x12 125lbs

Cardio for 45 Mins on Incline Tread

Wednesday - Back:
High Rows - 5x10 80lbs
Low Rows - 5x10 100lbs
Wide Grip Pulldowns - 5x10 110lbs
DB Pullover - 5x10 45lbs
Barbell Shrugs - 5x10 185lbs
Hyperextensions - 3x10 + 45lb plate

I still have some flu symptoms but I actually feel going to the gym helps (might as well spread it right?) instead of sitting and waiting until I am 100%.

The only thing that I really disliked this week was the Barbell Lunges. I never really do these so I put 20 lbs on each side and I will tell, these things knock the wind out of you and get really hard really fast. If you go fast and get sloppy then they aren't bad, but slow and controlled you really feel your muscles getting hit. I was able to get through them but I can definately say I was feeling the burn afterwards. :angryfire:

I also really enjoyed how Chuck has switched the chest from barbells to dumbbells for weeks 5-8 which ensures that all the stablizers are getting worked as well.

Overall I can definately start to say that I feel leaner and tighter even though the scale weight hasn't changed much. A few people who know I am on this diet have mentioned that I look thinner in the face (not like im strutting with my shirt off) and I think they maybe right. I have resisted the tempation to compare before and after pics but will do so this weekend to make sure I can see at least a little difference. Since my body tends to hold onto its fat I don't want to jump the gun and look for changes without an adequate period passing.

hrdgain81 09-21-2006 04:56 AM

Keep it going sleazy, way to work through the sickness.

God I wish I was 210lbs right now ... good work man.

Frontline 09-24-2006 04:24 PM

Took some comparison pics today (finally) and there is some noticeable progress between the pics. To my surprise its most noticeable in the abdominal area and chest, which I wasn't suspecting as I started at a higher bf%. This is a good thing for me cause I store my fat in these problem areas. Hopefully at the end of this I will have some really nice before and after pics to post.

I weighed in on Saturday at 210.00 and Sunday morning after my carb load at 210.2. Last week I weighed in at 210.9 and 211.3, so I going to say that I am about a pound lighter. Progress is slow, but its happening so I am not going to complain.

Darkhorse 09-24-2006 05:52 PM

Fuck that...That's awesome progress so far!

Since the scale is slowly going downward, you can be sure it's not muscle you're losing. Gotta be doing something right. :)


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