Adarq.org

19-09-17

Morning BW: 76.1kg [good, better hydration, etc.]

Workout

Squat
Bar x Lots
40 x 5
60 x 5
92.5 x 5 x 5

Barbell Row
60 x 10, 10, 9

Bench
50 x 5
60 x 5
67.5 x 5
75 x 5 [quite tough]

DB Low Incline
22 x 12, 10

EZ Bar Curl
35 x 9, 8, 7

Treadmill
10 mins @ 5%/3.8mph [avg HR - 118; max 137] -- that 118 avg seems wrong?? maybe the watch got fucky b/c of sweat or something
10 mins @ 5.5%/3.8mph [avg HR - 132; max 139]
5 mins @ 6%/3.8mph [avg HR - 134; max 140]

Notes

Still quite sore from those split squats I think. New stimulus wrecked me. Just felt like a bit of a weak day, so I cut short the volume, but still got a decent amount of work in, I think. Not really a surprise that those will start hitting me at this stage of the cut. Just a few weeks to go.

Shall see how tomorrow is and maybe take a rest from anything intense.

21-09-17

Morning BW: 76.2kg [I ate overall not that much yesterday but a lot at dinner for New Year celebration, so I think this means my morning weight is above the usual "true" weight, but w/e still in range of what I want]

Workout

SJVs x 5 -- felt good, would have done more but was anxious about losing the squat rack, haha. will look for something to jump at in future.

Squats
Bar x Lots
40 x 5
65 x 5
85 x 5
97.5 x 5
107.5 x 5 [definitely filmed this set and sunk the last couple of reps + felt solid + set up was rly good, but my phone is being fucky and losing picture/videos so I don't have one, blarg]

Bench
50 x 5
60 x 3
72.5 x 5, 5, 5 [bar speed slowing down a bit on last one, though I could probably have hit 5x5, no need to push it]
70 x 5, 5

Chinups
+15 x 6 x 6 [RPE 9 and 9.5 on last two sets]

Narrow+NG Cable Row
54 x 14, 13

Standing DB OHP
16 x 14, 11

Preacher Curls
25 x 11, 9
20 x 15

Treadmill -- 3.8mph
15 mins @ 5.5%
9 mins @ 6%
6 mins @ 6.5%

Notes

Elbow a bit clicky after a couple of bench sets. Even though I am warm from squats I should still start from the bar when I move on to bench, basic obvious stuff I shouldn't forget. Continued to feel a bit clicky during the chinups -- I should move back to NG, but I don't like any of the NG bars at this gym, the grip is all way too narrow, blarg. We'll see.

Watch was being weird, too. Would only say that my HR was ~95 the whole time until I turned it off and on again and it was fine, so I don't have proper measurements except for the last 10 mins of treadmill, which were in the low-mid 130s.

Gonna see if I can weigh in sub 76 tmrw.

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7iUkk7J1PPg" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7iUkk7J1PPg</a>

dunno what happened but the video appeared on my phone at long last, so here it is.

22-09-17

Morning BW: 75.5kg [using navy calc+mirror I think I will probably have to aim to get down to ~72-73 for my appearance goals, that's fine. Should still be done end of October before the true bulking weather sets in]

Workout

Run to park - .83mi in 8:00 [i.e. 9:42 pace] -- AVG Hr - 139 BPM [got stuck at a light for like 30 seconds at the start so this is just the split after the light]

Sprint 3 x 15m

Jumping for 20mins, mostly SJVs then some 1-3 step RVJs. Was odd, the SVJs felt good, but I don't think I was touching that high on the board compared to average. IDK.

Tempo Sprints

5 x 200m @ 39s [50m walk b/w reps]
100m walk
6 x 100m @ 19s [50m walk b/w reps]

Notes

Somehow able to enjoy the slow run pace into the park today, but still want to be able to run much faster with <150 HR.

The 200 meter repeats were hard -- I mean the pace was not hard, but it's just a lot more distance in one go than I'm used to. And the rest in time terms is ~1:1, whereas I'm used to ~2:1 for the 100s. Still, if the watch is to be trusted, HR averaged around 150 through that part of the workout, with jumps up to the low 160s.

24-09-17

Morning BW: 75.1kg [happy with this after a rest day, could easily have mismanaged that]
Waist @ navel : 32.25"

Workout

6-8 max SVJs, a few after warming up then a couple between each rest period of the lightest DL sets. Felt okay

Deadlift
70 x 5, 5
90 x 3
110 x 5
122.5 x 5
137.5 x 5 [kind of hard, could have had 6 or 7 total I think, though]

OHP
Bar x 5
35 x 5
47.5 x 5, 5, 5
45 x 5, 5

Wide Grip Pullups
BW x 10, 10, 10, 10, 7  [5 x 10 might be on that table next week! The first two sets were very easy]

Dips
BW x 21, 17, 11  [I think I gave myself an exertion headache locking out the 11th rep of that last set, oof]

Reverse Curls
20 x 12, 12, 10 [only had the wrist folding on the last couple of reps of the last set]

Treadmill - 3.8mph
20 mins @ 5.5% -- Avg HR 135
10 mins @ 6% -- Avg HR 135

Notes

Solid workout. Dropping leg accessories for now since my legs have been feeling perpetually pretty tired. Lots of walking + they rarely get a full rest day, so it seems the sensible thing.

Was really breathing quite hard during the pullups and dips.

I realised that when I first used the Navy BF% calculator I used waist at 1" above navel instead of waist at navel. Estimating that my waist was ~.75" wider at the navel (that's about the difference now), I recalculated the BF% I began the cut at (~21-22%). Oof, I was a fatty, haha. The same calculator puts me at 16% now with only ~.5kg lean mass loss, which seems like good going. Obviously there are some confounding factors here: (a) the calculator is not going to be totally accurate, but a ~3.25" loss of waist at navel so far is grand and (b) not all lean mass is muscle, so it going down a little with weight loss doesn't imply muscle loss.

26-09-17

Morning BW: 74.5kg

Workout

A couple of SVJs

Squat
Bar x Lots
60 x 5
80 x 3
95 x 5 x 5 [pretty easy]

Barbell Row
65 x 8, 8, 8 [going to keep pushing up weight until I'm doing 6s, then stick with it until it's 10s, I think]

Bench Press
Bar x 8
40 x 5
62.5 x 5
72.5 x 5
80 x 4 [this was meant to be 5, but the 4th was enough of a grind that I didn't anticipate getting the 5th. Bench is one lift to really suffer on the cut, and, from what I've read, that's very much normal]

DB Incline
22 x 14, 11, 8 [good progress here, though]

EZ Bar Curl
35 x 10, 9, 8

Tricep Pressdown [used two of those loose handles rather than a rope or bar and quite liked it]
11.25 x 15
21.25 x 7
13.75 x 13
[just fiddling around to get a pump, with both bis and tris pumped arms looked kinda dope]

Treadmill - 3.8mph [forgot to wear watch so just basing the numbers on the treadmill readings]
10 mins @ 6% - Avg HR ~131bpm
10 mins @ 6.5% - Avg HR ~133bpm
10 mins @ 7% - Avg HR ~134bpm

Notes

Another good workout, not really much to say. Quads quite sore, I think probably due to the 300m intervals. Lats/upper back still sore from Sunday, so I didn't throw in a second back movement today.

That's the first cycle of full body 5s pro 5/3/1 done now. I'll run a second with lower body TMs upped by 5kg and uppers by 2.5kg and reassess at the end of that.

Had some cookies/crisps as a snack + mini refeed this afternoon. Not out of hunger, but a conscious decision b/c I don't want to lose more than like 2% of my bodyweight/week [i.e. want to end this week no lower than like 73.8]

It's okay to eat the occasional dirty carb up .. the saturated fat fills out (the intramuscular triglyceride fat of) muscles better and you look better the next morning. That's what the bodybuilders claim anyway lol.  Great job on the cut. I think you should take a maintenance break and make a new bodyfat% setpoint. You can always cut more later down the line but making this stable is important for keeping the fat off later down the line. Always the part i struggled with tho.

I quite liked this article by Nuckols: https://www.strongerbyscience.com/a-bit-of-everything/

It's a few years old so perhaps he has changed his mind on some of the content, but the basic idea seems to me very sensible.