Week 5 did not go as planned as I lost my focus on a few occasions and I missed all of my cardio sessions. I was off on my nutrition target numbers on 3 out of the seven days. Also, my lower back has really been bothering me as of late and I skipped another leg workout earlier in the week. Deadlifts and free weight squats are out of the question for now.  It was one of those weeks where nothing seemed to go right. I have re-focused for Week 6 and mentally I am ready to have a great week! There are going to be weeks that do not go accordingly, but it is in those troubled times where I will learn from my mishaps and overcome them to come back even stronger. I will persevere!!!

Bodyweight
Starting Weight 12/06/10 – 206.5lbs Target weight: 160lbs
01/03/11 – 198.2lbs
01/09/11 – 197.6lbs

Training Week 5
My back was still not fully recovered from my leg workout on 12/28/10, so I decided to skip my leg workout on New Year’s day. I got in 2 workouts in Week 5 and for Week 6 I will be incorporating a new workout split. This new split will cut down the volume in a given workout. I have been following an upper/lower split for roughly the last two years or so and these workouts tend to be a bit long, so it is time for a change. My new split is as follows:

Mondays – Chest/Back
Tuesdays – Quads/Calves/Abs
Wednesdays – Off
Thursdays – Delts/Arms
Fridays – Hamstrings/Glutes
Weekends – Off

Week 5 Workouts
01/04/11 – Upper Body
Incline Dumbbell Press 90 x 7,7,7
Pendlay Rows 265 x 3, 255 x 3, 245 x 3
Pulldowns (Underhand Grip) 210 x 7, 200 x 7
Seated Military Press 175 x 2 (missed my progression and I was very upset for about 20 seconds. LOL. Then I re-focused.) 165 x 5, 155 x 5, 145 x 3
Rear Flyes (on pec dec) 65 x 5, 10 (first set was light so I did 10 reps on 2nd set)
Tricep Pressdowns 125 x 5, 120 x 5
Dumbbell Curls 50 x 7, 50 x 5 (first time doing these in a long while…felt good!)

01/07/11 – Lower Body with Luis Stoner! Great times!
Smith Machine Hack Squats 315 x 7, 7, 7 (these were very hard today…no energy)
RDLS – Skipped because of my back pain
Lying Leg Curls 70 x 5, 60 x 5, 55 x 5
Toe Press (Smith Machine) 405 x 7, 7, 7

Today 1/10/11 – Chest/Back

I was really focused for this workout

even though it was soooo cold in my gym…48 degrees!

Decline Bench Press (Smith Machine) Warm ups: bar x 20, bar x 20, 95 x 20, 115 x 15, 135 x 12, 185 x 5, 205 x 4, Actual sets 225 x 8, 8, 8 *Note: Because of bad shoulders I ensure I do a lot of warm ups priot to my working sets.  
Pec Dec 60 x 8, 70 x 8, 70 x 8 (substituted this for Incline Press because of my shoulders)
Pendlay Rows 245 x 8, 8, 8
Seated Rows 180 x 8, 8
Lat Pulls (Underhand Grip) 210 x 6, 200 x 8

I am so happy Week 5 is behind me and I am so ready to re-focus and start enjoying this prep once again in week 6! Here is a quick glimpse from today’s workout, but I am still a very long ways away from being shredded. I am very eager to see where I stand in about 20 more weeks. 

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