TGreggors' Training Log

[IK9]

1/26/16: Pull Hypertrophy
168.4 lbs.

Chest Supported T-Bar Rows:
25 x 10
45 x 5
45 + 25 x 5
2 45s + 15 x 10, 10
2 45s + 17.5 x 10

Lat Pulldowns:
139.5 x 10
142 x 10
144.5 x 10

Cable Rows: *Now with wider handle*
156 x 9.5
149 x 11, 10

Underhand Machine Rows:
85 x 10, 10
80 x 10

Assisted Chin-ups:
w/ 15 x 10, 10
w/ 20 x 10

DB Curls:
27.5 x 10, 10, 10

DB Pinwheel Curls:
35s x 10, 10, 10

Good session. PRs on a lot of different movements. Vertical pulling exercises have been consistently stronger on both my power and hypertrophy days.

Down only ~0.48 lbs on average this week in comparison to last week. If I don't lose more than 0.6 or so between now and Monday, I may be amping things up yet again. Currently thinking about increasing cardio by 100 cals. (to 450 calories/session three times per week) and decreasing calories YET AGAIN to 1900 three days per week and 2500 on the other four. Metabolic slowdown is real, my friends. Kind of wishing I had a coach, or at least an objective eye to watch me through this part of the cut. Maintaining my objectivity is beginning to become a struggle.

As you already know.. weight loss isn't always linear. You could be on the same macros for months & not drop but then all of a sudden you get the "whoosh" effect where you just drop a ton of weight out of no where even tho nothing has changed.

As far as coaching.. I know it gets really expensive.. you could try asking someone to help you for free in return that you will be a good testimonial for them.. I'm sure a few guys on these boards would be happy to help.

The only thing is.. if you do decide to go with a coach, only listen to what he says & not what other people say. Everyone likes to chime in & give their opinions but if you take the advice of more than 1 person, it is way too many variables & you'll most likely be unsucessful.

[TGreggors]

As you already know.. weight loss isn't always linear. You could be on the same macros for months & not drop but then all of a sudden you get the "whoosh" effect where you just drop a ton of weight out of no where even tho nothing has changed.

As far as coaching.. I know it gets really expensive.. you could try asking someone to help you for free in return that you will be a good testimonial for them.. I'm sure a few guys on these boards would be happy to help.

The only thing is.. if you do decide to go with a coach, only listen to what he says & not what other people say. Everyone likes to chime in & give their opinions but if you take the advice of more than 1 person, it is way too many variables & you'll most likely be unsucessful.

I was just losing WAY too slowly there for about a month. Just changed things modestly, though, and things started moving in the right direction. I decided to stick to no coach shortly after making that post, but only because it's not economically feasible for me at the moment. Just going to see where I end up doing this thing on my own. I think that I have the ability to get myself pretty lean, but just having some reassurance/support was all that I was really after. Just having a consistent, objective and knowledgable second eye definitely has its appeal. I'm in uncharted territory for me and it's a little frightening.

And to address the conflicting opinion thing that you're talking about, I know what you mean. That right there is a lot of the reason why I haven't asked for opinions from anyone IRL. Sounds like a one-way-ticket to wheelspinning/crash diet city, lol

Rest assured, next time, when I'm fully employed and begin to go on a serious diet again, I will have a credible coach. But that is years in the future from now.

Although I am planning on having another consultation with Brad Loomis right before I get out of the deficit!

[TGreggors]

Haven't uploaded a full set of pictures in over a month now, so here are some that I took tonight. Averaged out to 165.9 lbs. based on all of the mornings of last week

[TGreggors]

more

[IK9]

Your posing has definitely come a long way.. great job man!

[TGreggors]

Your posing has definitely come a long way.. great job man!

Thanks, dude! Really have been working on them. The calf spike thing on the rear poses is a bit difficult to get down

[TGreggors]

So, I could very well be a little bit over 15.5 weeks out from the OCB Sunshine State Natural, in the event that I decide to compete. Anyone care to comment on how conditioning is looking at this point?

[IK9]

I think if you keep grinding.. you'll do well in the novice category.

Just make sure you have smooth transitions switching from poses to poses. I would practicing holding "front relaxed" for up to 2 minutes as you will be in that pose for a long ass time.

As far as conditioning goes.. starting to see striations in your chest.. your serrates is visible.. shoulders look rounded & capped, which is good.. there are cuts in your arms.

Lower body needs some work both in conditioning/posing. It doesn't look like you are flexing your hamstring at all.. I could be wrong since you're not in a posing suit but that goes hand-in-hand with flexing your calf. I was always told flexing your hamstring is "cracking a walnut in between your butt cheeks"

All in all.. doing a great job!

[TGreggors]

I think if you keep grinding.. you'll do well in the novice category.

Just make sure you have smooth transitions switching from poses to poses. I would practicing holding "front relaxed" for up to 2 minutes as you will be in that pose for a long ass time.

As far as conditioning goes.. starting to see striations in your chest.. your serrates is visible.. shoulders look rounded & capped, which is good.. there are cuts in your arms.

Lower body needs some work both in conditioning/posing. It doesn't look like you are flexing your hamstring at all.. I could be wrong since you're not in a posing suit but that goes hand-in-hand with flexing your calf. I was always told flexing your hamstring is "cracking a walnut in between your butt cheeks"

All in all.. doing a great job!

Plan to keep grinding. I know I haven't gotten to the hard part yet and that scares me. I know that prep is no joke, and I just don't know how it will make me behave/function at some points.


Will make sure to look at a lot of tutorials doe.

[TGreggors]

2/16/16: Pull Hypertrophy
166.0 lbs.

Chest Supported T-Bar Rows:
25 x 10
45 x 5
45 + 25 x 5
2 45s x 5
2 45s + 40 x 6, 6

Lat Pulldowns:
182.5 x 6
185 x 6

Cable Rows w/ Wide Attachment:
175.5 x 6, 6

Underhand Machine Rows:
110 x 6, 6

Weighted Chinups:
w/ 30 pounds x 6
w/ 35 pounds x 6

DB Curls:
40s x 6, 6

Pinwheel Curls:
45s x 6, 5.8

Intensification block/deload is DONE! Volume going back to normal on Thursday.

[TGreggors]

2/18/16: Lower Power
164.4 lbs.

Squats:
45 x 10
135 x 5
185 x 5
225 x 3
275 x 2
330 x 5, 5
325 x 5, 4, 1

Leg Press: *Quad dominant foot positioning*
5 45s + 25 x 3
5 45s x 5
4 45s + 35 x 6, 6

Seated Calf Raises: *paused*
45 + 35/side x 10, 10
45 + 30/side x 10

Leg Extensions:
220 x 10, 7
185 x 9, 4

Lying Leg Curls:
130 x 10
140 x 9
130 x 10.9

Glute Bridges:
235 x 10, 9, 8, 3

HS Seated Crunches:
10, 10, 10

HS Oblique Crunches:
100 x 15, 13

Starting to realize that linearly increasing the weight on the bar on squats from training block to training block while decreasing bodyweight may not be the wisest decision, especially when the RPE continues to rise each time. I had to increase rest times today on squats to continue to perform, and performance on other exercises was clearly taking a hit. May start regulating my rest times a bit more tightly. Decided to switch my leg press foot positioning to turn the exercise into a much more quad dominant movement, since I do believe that my quads are lagging both in size and strength.

Second set with 330. Last rep was a grind.

[IK9]

Your squat & deadlift is pretty impressive!

[TGreggors]

Your squat & deadlift is pretty impressive!

Thank ya. If only it translated to leg development how I would like. I need yo quads m8

[TGreggors]

2/19/16: Push Power
164.2 lbs.

Bench Press: *no leg drive*
45 x 10
95 x 5
135 x 5
175 x 3
200 x 4
190 x 5
185 x 5
180 x 4, 2

Decline Bench Press:
195 x 5
190 x 5, 5, 5

Low-to-high cable flies:
20 x 10, 10
17.5 x 10

Standing Overhead Press:*pauses*
115 x 4
105 x 5
100 x 5
95 x 6

Machine Lateral Raises:
90 x 10, 10
87.5 x 10

Standing Overhead Cable Triceps Extensions:
45 x 10
45 x 8
35 x 12

Close Grip Bench: *no leg drive*
165 x 4
155 x 4
145 x 4
135 x 6, 2

Man, strength was just not there today for whatever reason. I pushed myself hard, but those sets of close grip were surprising. Strength deteriorated so fast. Can't wait for my hip to be 100% so I can set up how I would like.

[TGreggors]

2/21/16: Pull Power
164.8 lbs.

Deadlifts:
135 x 5
185 x 5
225 x 5
275 x 3
315 x 2
350 x 5, 5, 5
345 x 4, 1

Chest Supported T-Bar Rows:
2 45s + 35 x 5, 5
2 45s + 40 x 5, 5

Lat Pulldowns:
182.5 x 5, 5
180 x 5
178 x 5

Underhand Lat Pulldowns:
204 x 5
202 x 5, 5
199.5 x 5

Cambered Bar Curls:
25/side x 10
22.5/side x 10, 10

DB Hammer Curls:
30s simultaneously x 10, 10
30s alternated x 10

HS Seated Crunches:
130 x 10, 11, 10

HS Oblique Crunches:
100 x 14, 14

I'll take it.

[IK9]

There are still a lot of tricks you can still use to get leaner & help with fat loss:

-HIIT cardio
-Skiploading
-Carb Cycling
-Twice a week refeeds
-Keto (meh lol)

Other than that.. I think just time.

[TGreggors]

There are still a lot of tricks you can still use to get leaner & help with fat loss:

-HIIT cardio
-Skiploading
-Carb Cycling
-Twice a week refeeds
-Keto (meh lol)

Other than that.. I think just time.

Thank you for the advice...things are going well at the moment doe. I lost like 1.3 pounds on average this week, which very well may be the most that I've lost so far. Kinda odd since I haven't made any adjustments in like three weeks now. And I'm not planning on making any more for another two weeks or so, probably. Really placing a focus on maintaining my performance as long as possible, and so I've been trying to have a modest deficit since the start. Not to mention that it preserves my sanity as well haha.

I actually have four "refeeds" per week, however unconventional that may be. My diet kind of is reminiscent of Lyle Mcdonald's UD2, but just not as extreme. Monday-Wednesday I'm hitting 1950 cals, and Thursday-Sunday I do 2550. 4 450 cal LISS cardio sessions/week.

[NaturalPursuit]

I've done a similar approach in the past during deficit phases and loved it! As long as fat loss isn't stalling, why change anything haha

[TGreggors]

I've done a similar approach in the past during deficit phases and loved it! As long as fat loss isn't stalling, why change anything haha

Exactly. No need to take calories away, effectively wasting my "ammunition" in a sense. I'm consuming just shy of 2300 calories per day on average right now while still losing weight.....I still have a lot of food to spare.

I've really enjoyed this kind of diet setup as well. It's like I have a mini psychological diet break every week. Yeah, Monday-Wednesday can be kinda rough, but I just drink my coffee and diet soda and then they're bearable

[IK9]

coffee & diet soda helps so much IMO

[TGreggors]

coffee & diet soda helps so much IMO

and popcorn + sugar free jello, for me at least. I think there's only been like one or two days since August that I haven't had both LOL

[TGreggors]

2/23/16: Legs Hypertrophy
164.2 lbs.

Squats:
45 x 10
135 x 5
185 x 5
225 x 5
275 x 12, 12, 9, 3 :'(

Front Squats:
175 x 12, 12, 12

Single Leg Leg Press: *new*
45/side x 12
35/side x 12, 12

Leg Extensions:
145 x 12
135 x 10
115 x 14

Lying Leg Curls:
120 x 12, 12
115 x 11.9

Machine leg press calf raises: *pause at top and bottom*
320 x 12, 12, 12

Brutal. Switched out Bulgarian split squats for single-leg leg press because I've been finding that my torso is normally fatigued after the back and front squats. So, in order to effectively get more volume without having my lower back compromise my efforts, I decided to make the switch. May not look like it based on the load, but these were KILLER. I do believe that this movement will be sticking around for a good bit.

Second set of single leg leg press:

attempted to rest for ~30 seconds after doing each leg so that I could hit the prescribed reps.

[TGreggors]

Got in the bod pod once again this morning, and received some interesting/somewhat disappointing results

March 30th:


September 11th:


February 24th:


Appears that I've lost a significant amount of muscle. Which is surprising, granted that I've taken this diet EXTREMELY slowly, have had consistently high protein intakes (at least 210 grams/day), took a month long "diet break" in December, and have tried my hardest to place an emphasis on maintaining performance in the gym. A good 3-4 years out of a deficit are definitely warranted after I finish. LBM losses do just come with the territory I guess, but maaaan, really made me feel like I'm spinning my wheels over here.

[IK9]

Just look at the positives... 8.9% is good!

[TGreggors]

Just look at the positives... 8.9% is good!

That is true. I am pleased with seeing that number at least. 2-3% away from the ultimate target.

[TGreggors]

2/25/16: Push Hypertrophy
162.4 lbs. (WOAH)

Flat DB Presses:
20s x 10
35s x 5
50s x 5
70s x 12, 12, 11, 1

Low-to-high Cable Flies:
17.5 x 12, 12, 12

Seated DB Presses:
45s x 12, 12, 10, 2

Close Grip Bench Press:
130 x 11
125 x 11
110 x 14

Machine Lateral Raises:
80 x 12, 12
77.5 x 12

Front Cambered Bar Raises:
10/side x 12, 9
5/side x 15

Standing Overhead Cable Triceps Extensions:
35 x 12
37.5 x 12, 12

HS Seated Crunches:
130 x 11, 11, 10

HS Oblique Crunches:
100 x 15, 14

Hip finally started feeling better. Could use leg drive without pain today.

[NaturalPursuit]

It'll be interesting to see what you look like around 6%

Definitely going in the right direction! Once you add some more lean tissue to your frame you'll look SICK at that bf %

[TGreggors]

It'll be interesting to see what you look like around 6%

Definitely going in the right direction! Once you add some more lean tissue to your frame you'll look SICK at that bf %

Hoping that I can hit that sort of percentage at like 155. Legs still look like they have quite a way to go in terms of leanness.

Hopefully so! And hopefully I can manage to hold onto more of it next time around somehow...All part of the learning process.

[TGreggors]

2/26/16: Pull Hypertrophy
162.4 lbs.

Chest Supported T-Bar Rows:
25 x 10
45 x 5
45 + 25 x 5
2 45s + 7.5 x 12, 12, 12

Lat Pulldowns:
132 x 12
134.5 x 12
132 x 12

Cable Rows w/ wide handle:
137 x 12, 12
134.5 x 12

Underhand Machine Rows:
70 x 12, 12, 12

Assisted Chinups:
20 lbs. assistance x 12, 10
35 lbs. assistance x 12, 2

DB Curls:
22.5 x 12, 12, 12

Pinwheel Curls:
30 x 12
27.5 x 12, 12

Feelin' good

[JerG]

I think you should be proud of your progress, not disappointed. I don't think you lost much muscle. I mean how much more were you lifting last year in march?