Quote
It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop.
~Confucius

Current Thoughts
Things have been progressing a little slower than I anticipated last week, but the good news is I’m still improving and I’m moving forward. I went ahead and made some changes recently because my physique was beginning to look too stringy. Mentally it was frustrating to look flat most of the time and when my scheduled refeed rolled around I decided to eat more than my scheduled target. My last refeed I ended up taking in 900 grams of carbs (400 more than my target) and the scale jumped up close to 4lbs, but I looked a hell of a lot better and I also felt alive again. Not to mention my gym performance improved considerably. Sometimes you have to take a step backwards in order to take two steps forward.

What a difference a day makes! On the left was after 3 days at 150 carbs and on the right was a day later after 900 carbs.

BUT, I know I can’t be eating that much on a regular basis, so I made a change to my nutrition and also to my training with the approval from my teammates.  The changes I made were geared to correct the problem I was having with flatness and for my mental well being.

Last Friday, I went ahead and switched my macros from 200p, 150c, 50f on regular days to 180p, 220c, 30f and 180p, 500c, 30f on refeed days. So far I’m very pleased with the results and I hit a new low this week at 176.4lbs. This change has really fixed the flatness issue as well as my mental state. My body and mind simply do not like low carbs over an extended length of time. The one thing I continue to learn as my prep goes along is that my game plan may have to be altered from time to time in order to continually improve.

I increased my training volume by adding two weight sessions per week in which I will work in a higher rep range (12-20), so it’s more of a depletion type workout. I feel the extra work will do me good since most of my days are spent in front of a computer. Today was my first time trying it out and it was definitely a different type of a workout than what I’m used to. The weights weren’t too heavy, but I sure was sucking some wind with those extra reps and I was certainly fatigued afterwards. I will still have two heavy days and I will keep the rep ranges in the 4-8 range. So, here is a look at the new training schedule,

Mondays – Upper Depletion/60 min cardio
Tuesdays – Lower Depletion/60 min cardio
Wednesdays - off
Thursdays – Upper Heavy /60 min cardio
Fridays – Lower Heavy/60 min cardio
Saturdays – 90-120 min cardio split between am/pm
Sundays – 90-120 min cardio split between am/pm

Weight
Start Date - 12/06/10 – 206.5lbs
Current Weight – 176.4lbs New Low!
Goal Weight - 160lbs

Nutrition

Burnt Egg White/Parmesan Cheese/Bacon Bit Omelet (I like it burnt LOL)
Macros - 44p, 4c, 8f


Whey/Oats/Chocolate Chips/Graham Cracker Crumbs and Hulk Coffee
Macros - 43p, 45c, 7f


Chocolate Chip Whey Pancake w/Sugar Free Maple Syrup
Macros - 42p, 65c, 6f

Training - 5/30/11 – Upper Depletion
Smith Decline Bench Press – 185 x 15, 13, 12
One Arm DB Rows – 90 x 20, 15
One Arm Pull Downs – 60 x15, 12
Military Press – 95 x 20, 15
Rear Flys – 40 x 15, 12
Triceps Pressdown – 80 x 15, 12
Cable Curls – 60 x 15, 12

*Notes – It was tough trying to find the right poundage to hit the desired reps, but I definitely was breathing hard from this one…made me feel like an athlete again :)

Progress Pics


Things are beginning to take shape…a little on the slow side, but it’s only a matter of time.

Until my next blog keep training hard, smart and naturally!