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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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

Cardio for 30 mins on incline elliptical.

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.