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Thanks Marv. Big plans this year. Gotta get ready for Cancun this spring is first on the agenda.

Deadlifts sure are frustrating to get in at the moment for me too!!

Nice poundages man

Thanks for all the motivation guys. I'm headed to the gym this morning...could be rough. I've been having lots of trouble sleeping lately. Oh well, I'll do my best.

good luck this morning dude....not sleeping really pisses me off too.

Sun Jan 6/08

We have switched to tues/thurs/sun workout now since our schedule is pretty full on mon,wed,fri this semester.

I slept for about 4 good hours last night... shit. So I knew today wasn't going to feel too good but I gave it a go anyways. I really gotta get into a groove of waking up at about 9:00 every morning and then it should start going better.

Weighed in at 176lbs today. Another 2lbs off. Good.

Bench
- bar x 6 (warmup/stretch)
-135lbs x 5 (warmup)
-165lbs x 3(weight acclimation)
-185lbs x 1 (weight acclimation)
-205lbs 1x3,1x2

Well I tried to drop back to a 3x3 today but this was the first exercise we did and I just had no gas in the tank. I'm hoping with some solid sleep I can master this next time. I've done better than this before so I can only go up from here...I hope.

Squats
- bar x 5 (warmup/stretch)
- 135lbs x 5 (warmup)
- 185lbs x 3 (weight acclimation)
- 205lbs x 1 (weight acclimation)
- 225lbs 3x3

Pretty damn heavy but I was just happy I finished.

Pendlay Rows
-20kg x 5 (stretch)
-40kg x 4 (warmup)
-50kg x 2 (weight accl)
-60kg x 1 (weight accl.)
-67.5kg 3x5

These P. Rows don't feel natural to me. I'm not sure if I'm doing them right. I need to do some reading/asking questions.

Accessory Work

Calf Raises

180lbs x 8 (warmup)
270lbs x 6
310lbs 3x10


Pull-Ups

BW 3x5

Well I was reading in a fitness mag (not sure which one) and they showed pull ups as having your palms facing away from you...I've been doing them palms in...so I've potentially been doing chin ups all this time. I'm so confused. Can someone clarify?

Glute/Hamstring curl

- 70lbs x 8 (warmup)
-90lbs 3x10?

I don't know about these anymore either. I think I've been cheating by letting my back off the seat. Pretty frustrated here, I think I have to reset and do them properly.

Diet

10:00 - 1.5 scoops whey, 2/3 cup oats

11:00 - workout

1:30 - Cheat meal...McDonalds... mmmm

Thougths

Pretty upset about not not sleeping and it screwing up my workout. I'm hoping to get back on track this week. I really wanna push my weights up some more with this 3x3 work.

IronWorker

Tues Jan 8/2008

Last night was a late night so I had some pretty big bags under my eyes this morning. Needless to say my gym performance was about as good as I looked. lol Well it wasn't that bad.

I should mention I've been trying to add in cardio as much as possible. Not going to do it today cause I feel I tweaked my back on MP today so I'm gonna let it rest and go at it tomorrow. I started at 15mins at 5.0mph and have been increasing 1min every time. I'm up to 22mins as of yesterday.

Deads
50kg x 5 (stretch)
70kg x 4 (warmup)
100kg x 2 (weight acclimation)
120kg x 1 (weight accl)
135kg x 3 (work set)

Well last time I tested my deadlift max it was 140kg x 1.... so I'm improving slowly I think. Gonna try my max for 3 next week, stay tuned.

Light Squats
bar x 5 (stretch)
115lbs x 5 (warmup)
135lbs x 3 (warmup)
165lbs 3x5 (work sets)


BB Military Press
bar x 5 (stretch)
75lbs x 3 (warmup)
95lbs x 2 (weight accl)
115lbs x 1 (weight accl)
130lbs 1x3,1x2,1x2

Arg, stalled out again. I'm going to attribute this one to my gf calling me from the bar last night at 3am....was not too pleased when I had to go get her. I really want to get to that 135lbs mark so I can finally throw on the 45lb plates! lol I think my partner is frustrated with me too cause he could have them on but its easier to just switch the smaller plates. Ha, too bad for him.


Accessory

Dips

bw+32.5lbs 3x10

Felt way better then I thought it would? Well I won't complain.

Cable crunches

120lbs x 6 (warmup)
175lbs 3x10

I may have missed the last rep... damn.

DB Side Bends

100lbs 3x10

Damn, this exercise never feels good to me but it works.


Diet

9:30am - 1.5 scoops whey and bowl of oatmeal

10:00am - ECA stack

10:45 - workout

12:30 - PWO - 1.5 scoops whey

1:00 - whole wheat wrap, 1/2 can chicken, olives, pickles, spinach, little bit of italian ( I reccomend this to anyone!)

3:00 - can of tuna, spinach, olives, dijon mustard (better then I thought)

5:00 - 1.5 scoops whey with soy milk + almonds and veggies


Thoughts

Well the 1x3 dead is going alright so far... unfortunately my MP failed again. Seems like its very difficult to make progress with this exercise...especially now that I'm cutting.

I'm hoping to get a damn good sleep 2nite and the next night and hammer the gym on thursday morning. lol We'll see.

IronWorker

Thurs Jan10/08

Today sucked. Big time. My cutting diet is doing exactly that...cutting my strength! Gah!

Bench
- bar x 6 (warmup/stretch)
-145lbs x 5 (warmup)
-165lbs x 3(weight acclimation)
-185lbs x 1 (weight acclimation)
-205lbs 1x3,1x1
-185lbs x 1

I had a good sleep last night I my body just wouldn't do it... Very angry about this. I've actually gone backwards...

Squats
- bar x 5 (warmup/stretch)
- 135lbs x 5 (warmup)
- 185lbs x 3 (weight acclimation)
- 205lbs x 1 (weight acclimation)
- 230lbs 1x3,1,1
-185lbs x 6

Failed on both of the big exercises. Just about lost it here.

Pendlay Rows
-20kg x 5 (stretch)
-35kg 2x5 (warmup)
-55kg 3x5

I was just going for form today and working on the explosiveness of the movement. I was also trying to maintain that arch in my back as well as pinch the scapula at the top. Felt much better.

Accessory Work

Calf Raises

180lbs x 8 (warmup)
270lbs x 6
315lbs 3x10


Pull-Ups

BW+5lbs 3x5

Hard after rows but at least I'm doing the right exercise now.

Glute/Hamstring curl

It was crazy busy in the gym so I skipped this since I had to get to class...and you know it doesn't hurt my feelings at all...lol


Diet

9:30 - 1.5 scoops whey, 2/3 cup oats

10:00 - ECA

11:00 - Workout

12:45 - PWO - 1.5 scoops whey

1:15 - PPWP - brown rice + chicken + veggies

3:00 - can of tuna + spinach and mustard

5:30 - cardio - 3 min warmup - 24mins @ 5.0mph - 3 min cooldown

6:00 - 1.5 scoops whey, almonds, veggies

Thougths

Well I think my cutting is causing me to not be able to heal fast enough. I have to rework my program again I think...any suggestions?

IronWorker

Sun Jan 13/08

Weighed in at 174-174.5lbs so thats ~1.5-2.0lbs down from last sunday. Still on track, nice.

Changing up the program a little starting today. Bench and squats are gonna get alternated on volume day, and heavy day.

I'm also starting a deload so things might look a little light but I'm gonna work back up...and hopefully over?


Squats (heavy day)
- bar x 5 (warmup/stretch)
- 135lbs x 5 (warmup)
- 165lbs x 3 (weight acclimation)
- 185lbs x 1 (weight acclimation)
- 205lbs 3x5

Finally I can feel good about finishing a squat set again!

Bench (volume day)
- bar x 8 (warmup/stretch)
-115lbs x 6 (warmup)
-135lbs x 4(weight acclimation)
-145bs x 2 (weight acclimation)
-155lbs 4x8

Didn't really know where to start for this but after completing this, I think this will work fine.


Pendlay Rows
- bar x 5 (stretch)
- 35kg x 5 (warmup)
- 50kg x 3 (warmup)
- 57.5kg 3x5

Still workin on the speed of the movement and its feeling alot better with the lower weight.

Accessory Lifts

Dips

bw + 35lbs - 1x10,1x9,1x7

A little too heavy. I think it was the volume training on bench that tired me out. Oh well, I'll hit it again on thursday.

Cable Ab pull down

-140lbs x6 (warmup)
-175lbs 1x10,1x9,1x7 (work sets)

Couldn't do er...I seem to have been stuck at this weight for quite some time. Not too sure what to do.

Side bends

- 80lbs 3x10

Was still sore from thursday so I held back and dropped the weight. Glad I did.

Diet

9:30am - 1.5scoop whey + 2/3 cup oatmeal

10:00 - ECA stack

11:00 - workout

1:00 - PWO - 1.5 scoops isolate

1:30 - 1/2 chicken breast in a spinach wrap with olives/pickles/italian, veggies

4:00- can of tuna, spinach, pickles, olives, mustard

6:00 - run - 3mins warmup, 25 mins @ 5.0mph, 3min cooldown

7:00 - steak, whole wheat pasta, italian

9:00 - 1.5 scoops whey, almonds, veggies


Thougths

Well hopefully this deload and modifications to my workout will get me going again. I now expect the rate of progress to slow down but I hope it at least continues somewhat.

IronWorker

If you must cut I think you'd be better off going to a maintenance phase with your major lifts and focusing the reminder of your workouts on just creating the proper metabolic environment. It's not too different than what you except that you may not progress very much strength wise but you won't LOSE any.

It is pretty easy to maintain current strenght levels on your major lifts. Something as simple as dong a heavy triple or a 1RM. Even a double. Sometimes a 4 or 5RM. You can do that once a week and follow it 2 to 3 sets of 4 to 6.

I'd recommend once you get your bf down to where you want you try to keep it to 15 or below. Somewhere around 12% would be good. Getting fatter is NOT helping you gain muscle. I still don't understand why people "cut" for any other reason but to "cut" the stubborn fat to get down to ultra low bf% for comp or otherwise.

Maybe check out Alwyn Cosgrove's site for this. He has the idea of basically focusing on strength maintenance then on to more metabolic work like complexes or density training. It's still all high intensity but it will allow you to focus your training on your specific goals without losing strength or muscle (providing diet is right) and it is quite possible to come out the other end somewhat stronger.

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If you act sanctimonious I will just list out your logical fallacies until you get pissed off and spew blasphemous remarks.

That sounds like a good idea. So on heavy bench day (example) I would warm up to a heavy single,double, or triple and then do like a 2x5 after that? Sounds good to keep the CNS going. I'll try it.

My motivation for my cut is that I am going to Cancun for feb break which I spent alot of $ on so I'm damn well gonna look good on the beach. I went last year to Puerto Vallarta and it was awesome. I cut down a bit but didn't quite get to 6-pack territory. This year I'm gonna do it. After this its back to bulking. Cleaner this time tho.