Matt's dia...I mean Journal.

[MatthewC]

I've missed 3 logging days; but only 2 days of weightlifting.

3.27 Great workout today. This is my 26th Day of CKD and my first time that on monday I was already in ketosis with a great carb load halfway through saturday to sunday night. Meaning my weekend carb load didn't knock me out of ketosis; which I think was happening the last three weeks. That's good, right?

Either Admin or someone else posted a bicep workout that I tried that was 3 super set exercises with reverse grip/hammer/then regular. My arms pumped were just over 17"; last time I measured was 16 3/4". I didn't expect to see growth during a cut; but it might have just been the pump. I'll post a pic if I can figure it out.

Reverse curl bar curls 70 14C 90 11X 90 12X 90 10X
Cross face hammer curls 30 12X 35 8X 30 12X 30 11X
Cable Curls 22.5 12X 27.5 9X 22.5 12X 27.5 7X
Skull Crushers 90 14X 100 12X 100 12X 100 11X
Hammer grip cable pulldown 67.5 (8, then switch hands and do 8 more, 4 sets)
Cable reverse grips 12.5 3 sets of 10, 1 set of 9.

Meal 1- String Cheese/2 scoops of PB
Meal 2- Protein Shake/Meatloaf and spinach
Meal 3- Almonds/Cottage Cheese
Meal 4- Can of chicken (forget my lunch at home) More Almonds
Meal 5- 2 cans of Tuna Fish

 

[MatthewC]

PS: been doing the bicep/tricep workout for 3 weeks now. (1st pic couple days ago; middle pic was from end of august; last pic was end of bulk at feb. 28)

 

[MatthewC]

3.28

Meal 1- 2 Scoops of PB and String Cheese/Spinach
Meal 2- Almonds/More String Cheese/Slices of Salami
Meal 3- Chicken Breast/Two Eggs/Cottage Cheese
Meal 4- Almonds/Protein Shake
Meal 5- Two Cans of Tuna fish
Meal 6- Cottage cheese before bedtime (I've started doing this beginning of the week)

Side Raises - 30 8X 30 10X 30 8X
Front raises (arms extended) - 30 12X 35 10X 35 12X
Shoulders shrug- 225 20X 285 12X 285 12X
DB shrug- 100 12X (3 sets)
Back machine- 3 sets of 12; all the weight
Cable reverse fly- 12.5 10X 17.5 8X 17.5 8X

 

[MatthewC]

I missed yesterday's log; don't remember what i ate, but few carbs and lots of protein.
3.29
Incline BB- 185 12X 185 15X 205 8X 215 10X (been awhile since I used a barbell)
Machine press- (don't know the weights) 4 sets until failure 7 8 9 7
Cable cross overs- 4 sets 27.5, 22.5, 12.5 drop sets (about 8 reps each; total over 90 reps! smoked)
Pull-ups 15, 15; w/20#'s 10 9
Pull downs 4 sets of 10 200 lbs

3.30 Ran 3.5 miles and almost died. Running 5K pace and there was just nothing in me. I want carbs.
It's friday, and saturday morning I'm having donuts, Green Egg smoked quiece, toast, and I just might eat cereal while I'm at it.

 

[MatthewC]

Still recovering from my friday run; wow. Out of shape.

Meal 1- 2 scoops of PB/Pre-workout
Meal 2- Salami/Provolone/Spinach sandwich/ cottage cheese
Meal 3- Almonds and protein Drink
Meal 4- Chicken Salad/Almonds
Meal 5- Cottage Cheese/ 2 Can of tuna fish

I don't think I've mentioned that all my workouts of super-sets with little rest between.
Incline BB- 185 16X 205 12X 225 6X 205 8X
Machine Press- 235 4 sets of 10
BW dips- 20, 18, 18, 20

Legs were still store and weak from running, but did some slow deep squat with 135 2set of 18 then did 135 good mornings. Felt pretty good.

 

[MatthewC]

4.3
Meal 1- 4 Scoops of PB (starving) Preworkout
Meal 2- Cottage Cheese and post workout shake
Meal 3- Spinach and Chicken breat/String cheese
Meal 4- Almonds/2 eggs
Meal 5- 2 cans of Tuna fish with Mayo

Arms
Reverse Curl 90 12X 10X 10X 9X
Hammer Curls 35 10X 30 10X 30 9X 30 9X
Cable curls 27.5 10X 4 sets w/22.5 drop set till failure
Cable tricep extension 22.5 4 sets of 12; 17.5 till failure drop set
Rope Pull downs 67.5 12X 10x 9X 9X
Skull Crushers 90 12X 8X 6X 7X

Change the order which I did these from last week and added drop sets and made a world of difference. Measure the arm at 17 1/4 pumped; which is huge for this guy. Did this all super sets and knocked it out fast; leaving plenty of time for jump rope between each cycle and then 25 min on the elliptical. Great workout.

 

[MatthewC]

4.4
Meal 1- 2 Scoops of PB
Meal 2- 2 string cheese wrapped in salami; Almonds; small square of pizza
Meal 3- 2 Chicken Breast; broccoli (raw) cottage cheese
Meal 4- Cottage Cheese/Almonds
Meal 5- 1 Can of tuna fish

Shoulders and Back (great big superset)
Pull-ups 18, 17, 15
Pull-downs 3 sets of failure (13-15 range) at 138
Machine rows 3 sets of 10 (used all the weight on the machine)
Cable reverse flies 22.5 9X 17.5 13X 17.5 11X
Shoulder shrugs- 225 20X 295 15X 295 15X
DB Side raises 25 12X 25 12X 30 10X
DB front raises (arm locked out) 30 12X 35 10X 35 10X

This felt really good; sweating a ton and was breathless after the 2nd set. Should have went another cycle through; will next week. Did 35 min on elliptical high resistance; then broke my jump rope at the end....man I loved that jump rope.

 

[MatthewC]

5.5 Wow, took a month off on the logging. I switch shifts at work and didn't have time to log at work...I'll try to keep up. I haven't backed off the workouts one bit and have gotten a new jump rope. Diet is solid with the exception of softball on wednesday nights in which I put whiskey in my system; screws up ketosis.
Attached a update pic; so I'm losing viceral fat pretty well. Weighed in at 185 beginning of this week.



Chest and legs friday
Smith Machine Bench Press; 135 10 X 225 10X 295 8X 295 6X 295 5X
Incline DB 70 12X 75 12X 75 10X
BW dips 4 sets of 20
Cable cross overs 27.5 2 sets of 8 (just squeeezed the reps)
Leg press; 5 sets of 10; don't recall the weight
Leg extension; 4 sets of 8; don't recall the weight

Did 15 min of jump rope for cardio.

 

[PillarofBalance]

Hey welcome back. Sometimes its nice to take a break from the log. Lookin good though.

 

[MatthewC]

Hey! Took the summer off and fall off logging. I got a new cell phone app so I did all my logging there. Gained about 10 lbs from the last pic until mid july; where I did cut down for a wedding. Since Sept 9th until Dec; just ate as much as I could and lifted. I put on some muscle; but way more fat (I'll post some great pics soon) and went from 185 to 216.8. I dead lifted over 400 lbs for the first time since HS and repping 305 on squat (only 3 times though). Put up 315 3 in the flat bench. Most of my muscle gains went to my back and legs; which was what I was shooting for.

In summary; my 16 week bulk was decent strength gains; mediocre muscle gains; lot of fat gains...Now it's cut time!!! I'll get my fatty pics up here in a bit.

 

[MatthewC]

Still slow on the pics; but I'll log what I did today.

Meal(s)- Had a spinach and mueser ommellet (1 egg; lots of egg white) 2 scoops of peanut butter. 2 String cheeses wrapped in salami; 2 chicken breasts. I tried something that I thought tasted delicious; 1 avacado; 1 can of tuna fish; lots of mayo; and chopped celery mixed in a bowl. Delicious. Prolly have a protein shake and a cup of cottage cheese later.

Work-out-
Squats - 135 10X; 225 9X 295 3X 295 3X 225 6X
Still legged deads- 225 12X 245 10X 245 9X
BB should shrugs 315 12X 335 10X 335 12X
Calf raises- 5 sets of 145 10 times full ROM; then half range until failure (only way to get burn without breaking my feet)
Leg Extensions (machine) 70 12X 90 12X 90 12X 90 10X
DB Lateral raises 25 12X 30 10X 30 10X 30 10X
DB Front raises 30 12X 35 12X 40 10X 40 12X
DB Press 50 12X 60 12X 70 10X

Cardio-BIke 45; jump rope 15 minutes (doubles for a minute; then minute break).

Not big #'s; but lots of reps and I was beat.

 

[uphillclimb]

Just checking in now....nice progress from the pics, I'll pay attention to this.