Raising The Bar

I'm back :D

I tried cutting back on calories this week but haven't weighed myself yet so I don't know if it was a success. I've certainly felt weaker and more tired; I've probably bordered around the 3,000 cal mark for 6 days.

I've decided that cutting sucks, anyone know how much lipo costs?
 
I've been starting to wonder about getting a purpose to my training again. My current life situation means that I have very little time left to take up a sport or hobby. I feel like I have 2 possible paths, either to cut weight and improve cardio to become a more rounded athlete or to kiss goodbye to my abs for good and turn to powerlifting.
I think the confussion I have could have a negative effect on my training if I don't work out what I want
 
Nice journal CCR jus been reading through some of it. Is your gym only a small gym then? as the DB weight doesnt even go beyond 50kg. At my gym i think the max is either 70 or 80 kg, having 7 or 8 5kg plates at each side! The dbs are huge man! Im only using the 30kg dbs at the moment, but im putting the weight up every other week!

And whats wrong with your current life situation if you mind me asking? Why do you have to make a choice, is it just you dont simply have time?
 
The gym is a fair size, it's a Fitness First so it's about 70% tread mills. The DB's are of pre-set sizes and I think the 46-50kg mark is a pretty common weight limit for DB's at commercial gyms

The problem I have with time is that I work Mon-Fri and my girlfriend works Sat & Sun. This means that when I'm not working I'm looking after my daughter so my schedule's pretty tight
 
CCR said:
I've decided that cutting sucks, anyone know how much lipo costs?
Click to expand...

I'm already visualizing the duct tape over your mouth.

I will always cherish the initial misconceptions I had about you.


Big Baby, cutting isnt that hard......WAW, WAW, WAW (sound of baby crying)

Here's a diaper, put it on, sounds as if you need it,...walk around public sucking your thumb............

A good morning "to get pissed off" comment. :D


CCR, I always suggest the one that motivates your heart the most; this increases the odds against your chicken getting choked.

I have read alot of your posts on the forum, CCR. You have a very strong sense of desire for power and strength, you seem to be least concerned with how you look in the sense of your "ab" appearance, and a well-rounded strength and power regime that encircles your desire for a "balanced" athlete (to capture a little of both) seems to fit you well. IMO.

What ever you decide, go after what sets the fire under you the most.
 
Chillen said:
this increases the odds against your chicken getting choked.
Click to expand...

LMAO, 'choking the Chicken' must mean something completely different in the US.

As for the rest of your post, thanks, what you're saying is pretty accurate, the problem is that I often want two things at the same time. I know I don't ever want to drop below 200lbs again, that's an absolute no, but do I want to go up to 250-270lbs? I'm not sure I know anymore

I think I might just stick to training for fun for a couple of weeks and give myself a break from pushing anything specific.
 
The weight in today - 230lbs. I was at 233 last Friday so that's not bad, especially as I managed to squat heavier this week

Squats
3x286
3x297
3x297
6x275
8x253 - legs died

Squats went well but it all went a bit wrong here, I couldn't do deads due to lack of equipment so did GM's instead (I got workouts A & C confused)

Good Mornings
8x132
2x8 @ 154

Romanian Deads
3x6@ 286

I went for lower reps, higher weight as this would be my only session this week

Calf Raises - doing those tonight on the stairs
 
I have a new training plan today, I'll be posting that in a bit as it might take a while.

I'm finding calorie cutting pretty hard, my stomach feels like it's digesting itself right now and I've felt noticably weaker and more tired. I'm going to see how it goes for the next couple of weeks and if I start to lose performance in the gym then I'll return to my usual diet and re-plan my fat lose strategy
 
Here it is, my new training schedule;

ME Push
.............................Sets.....Reps......Rest
Squat.......................6..........3.........0
Chest Press...............6..........3.........0
Push Press.................6..........3.........90

Cable Trunk Twist.......2..........10........0
Single Leg Calf Raise....2..........10........60

ME Pull
.............................Sets.....Reps......Rest
Deadlift.....................6.........3...........0
BB Row......................6.........3...........0
Weighted Pull Ups........6.........3...........90

Back Extension............2.........10..........0
Med Ball Lunge............2.........10..........60

HR Push
.............................Sets.....Reps......Rest
Squat.......................3..........12........0
BB Chest Press...........3..........12........0
DB Shoulder Press.......3..........12........90

Overhead Shrug..........2..........10.........0
Split Squat.................2..........10.........0
Tricep Press Down.......2..........15.........60

HR Pull
Deadlift......................3..........12.........0
Cable Pull....................3..........12........0
Lat Pull Down...............3..........12........90

Face Pull.....................2..........10.........0
One Leg Rom. Deadlift....2..........10.........0
Bicep Curl....................2..........15.........60
 
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Wow, that was an odd training session.

Things started off on a strange note, I went to weigh myself and found that I'm down to 228lbs. I expected this as I've been feeling very hungry on my 3k cals a day but it said I was up to 30% bf!!! That's about a 10% increase on a few weeks back when I weighed about 234lbs. What could be the reason for that? My bf hasn't increased because I'm starting to see my abs again

Off to training; the squat rack was taken so I did the chest press and push press as a set

Chest Press (did with incline, won't next week)
3x176
3x176
0x176 (f)
0x167 (f)
3x158
3x158
5x158

Push Press
2x132
3x110
3x110
3x132
3x132
3x132

I'm obviously still finding my feet with doing 2 shoulder intensive exercises back to back but if felt so good to be lifting over my head again (and not even a hint of shoulder pain). I think the right balance might be to start with 167 next week

Squats
6x3 @ 286

I felt a bit of strain in my back, makes me wonder about my push press form

Single leg calf raises
2x15

Cable Trunk Twist
2x10 @ 30kg (I know that's a pussy weight but it's a new movement for me)
 
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Since last June. At the moment I'm trying to maintain strength rather than gain it as I'm in a calorie deficit but that won't be for long, I drop weight very easily
 
I think that the scale is wrong. How many times did you check it? Your bodyfat isnt getting higher if you can tell you're getting leaner.

I would like to eat 3K cals to lose weight haha. 6 sets at 286, damn!! I cant wait to see tomorrows workout with deads.
 
Lol, yeah, I'm on just over 3k cals and it's killing me. I feel hungry and weak all the time and I've even noticed that I'm taking longer to recover after training.

I guessed the BF% was well off because I've even spotted a new muscle on the side of my abs. I'm down to 228 but I think I might only drop a few more lb's before going back in a surplus because I don't think I was ever storing as much fat as I thought I was due to the speed I'm getting my definition back
 
Had a problem with the first 3 exercises being performed as a set again. People keep using the equipment I need for pull ups so I can't always add them in

Deads
6x3 @ 308lbs

BB Row
6x3 @ 132

Rows started off easy but got so hard later on as I got tired

Pull Ups
3xBW
5x3 @ BW -15kg assistance

Two of the sets of pull ups were performed directly after the rows, the rest were done after

Good Mornings
I don't think my gym has the equipment for me to do back extensions as I've seen them on the net so I substituted them for GM's this week

2x10@ 110

Overhead Med Ball Lunges
2x10 each leg

I couldn't quite see the point of doing med ball lunges as they seemed too easy to have any benefit. I performed them with the GM's as a continual set and counted the lunges as the rest period

I finished with a bit of time to spare so I used a foam roller on my back for 5 minutes at the end
 
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Yea, you have MUSKLES.........down there....lol.

HEY! Just wanted to personaly thank you for your posts in the COL. They were appreciated.

With me I find cutting easier than bulking. I cut my bulk short, and back to cutting at the moment........

How about a contest......in our cuts? Up to the task? I will post brand new pics to boot when I am done. Maybe this motivate the brotha......LETS GO.....

or is an old man gonna show ya up? :) ;)


HEHEHHEHEHE


Chillen
 
Lol, I'm a pretty extreme ectomorph so I think it'd be dangerous for me to take part in a cutting contest; lifting maybe :p

For some weird reason being an ectomorph has made bulking easier, all I need to do is eat as much as I'm physically capable of all day and I'll gradually gain weight. That's easy because I don't need to control anything other than the quality of food I'm eating

Cutting on the other hand is hard because if I don't use extreme control I could lose about 7lbs a week,
A good analogy would be hill running, it's often easier to run up a hill than down because if the downward gradient gets too steep it takes a lot of effort to stop yourself losing control.

Lol, a very long answer to your short question there, the short answer is thanks, but no thanks :)
 
BAWK,,,,,,,,,,BAWK......Exuses.....Blah, blah.......;)

Okay I just have to swallow one of these then........


chillpillXD.jpg



My strong exercise is the Bench press (340 max)........and believe it or not my Squat is my weak point (270), I bench more than I squat, lol. Is this common? I thought it suppose to be the other way around? Bare in my mind I weigh 170 at the moment.......


I changed it, this one is better.
 
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Chillen said:
My strong exercise is the Bench press (340 max)........and believe it or not my Squat is my weak point (270), I bench more than I squat, lol. Is this common? I thought it suppose to be the other way around? Bare in my mind I weigh 170 at the moment.......
Click to expand...

Ooohh, that's a pretty big difference. IMO it shows an inbalance, I have what I consider weak legs but they still squat about 50% more than I bench (I suck at benching though)
 
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