The Next Phase: Balanced, Consistent, and Sustained Progress

[red_cat]

Pizza with a side of more carbs, I like it!! lol

lol yep! The bread is okay at best...probably should have just had more pizza.

[red_cat]

06/28/15
-------------------------
Morning Weight: 193.6 lbs (Prep Low: 189.6 lbs Fully Depleted)
Planned Macros: Off - 191p/480c/35fib/55f
-------------------------
06/29/15

Morning Weight: 192.8 lbs (Prep Low: 189.6 lbs Fully Depleted)
Planned Macros: Off - 240p/350c/35fib/77f
-------------------------
Thoughts:

Looooong couple of days but very productive ones. Sister-in-law got back on the plane home to Eastern Europe and I got some more stuff moved up to the new place and into my school room on Sunday. Workout was excellent and my lats were absolutely torched by the end so I left one set off. Same thing with triceps. I wanted to try out a "10 sets of 10" thing that I've seen Lobliner do a few times lately so I did.

Legs yesterday were pretty solid. Upper back was pretty sore but thankfully that didn't impact anything. I'm really pleased with how well my hamstrings are getting hit during these legs workouts. It's like I've rediscovered my MMC with them and they're just destroyed by the end.

Workout from 6/28


Workout from 6/29

[wrkoutfrq]

Weight seems to be trending downward still, you're rebounding really well!

[red_cat]

Weight seems to be trending downward still, you're rebounding really well!

Indeed! Now that I've brought protein down a bit, total calories will be seeing a nice bump over the next few weeks.

Tried out Chef Bob's 2 minute protein pancakes tonight. I doubled the recipe and ended up with something that looked awesome but was a bit dry. Might need a touch more liquid next time to get things fluffier.

[IK9]

omg sprinklesssss

[red_cat]

07/02/15

Morning Weight: 195.0 lbs (Prep Low: 189.6 lbs Fully Depleted)
Planned Macros: Lifting - 240p/350c/35fib/77f
-------------------------
Thoughts:

Another 5:00 AM workout in the books! This one was just as solid as the day before. Chest was pretty destroyed when I woke up but thankfully I was working the other side today. I haven't done heavy deadlifts in several weeks so I wasn't expecting much from them. I went with a conservative 1RM of 440 lbs and ended up doing well with those weights. 395 on my AMRAP was a small struggle but I still hit 3 which means an increase next time around!

I wrote my work schedule down wrong and thought I was opening. Turns out I close last night. So, while I was kind of ticked that I don't get to spend any time with my family today, I made some productive decisions by going grocery shopping, fueling the car up, making some deposits at the bank, and finishing up with writing my Marching Band Fundamentals handout for my students. That means more time to hang out this weekend! HUZZAH!

Today I'm up early to get some HIIT and abs in. That way I can just come home from work, take a nap, and eat some brats/drink a brew or two.

AMRAP set on Deads


Incline Supported DB Row


Workout from 7/2/15

[Bnizzle163]

Love your style with the pancakes and the tracking of workouts. I think we are two of the only people left that logs their workouts with a notebook and pen .

[red_cat]

Love your style with the pancakes and the tracking of workouts. I think we are two of the only people left that logs their workouts with a notebook and pen .

My buddy Jeff does as well, but I never see anyone else do it! I think back when I first started lifting I read somewhere or heard in a video that you should always keep a log book...so I just did it! Didn't ask questions. I write a lot of post-its and paper notes as well so I'm kind of old school in that respect too. It's just too easy to put my phone away and forget that I ever wrote down my To Do list!

[mhilliard44]

Little late to the party, but IN!!!!!!

Great write up and assessment. Stage pics look fantastic.

Looking forward to continue pushing each other as we get deeper into our offseasons

[red_cat]

Little late to the party, but IN!!!!!!

Great write up and assessment. Stage pics look fantastic.

Looking forward to continue pushing each other as we get deeper into our offseasons

Amen! You've been a great motivation and I'm happy to have you along for the journey, my friend!


07/05/15

Morning Weight: 198.0 lbs (Prep Low: 189.6 lbs Fully Depleted)
Planned Macros: Lifting - 240p/350c/35fib/77f
-------------------------
Thoughts:

Had a great Back/Triceps/Abs session yesterday. I trained about 30 minutes after I woke up again and used a 50/50 mix of Gatuorade and maltodextrin to see if I could tell a difference in my workout...and I did! I was getting hungry about halfway through my workout previously and had no issues with this one. Added some rack pulls to this session after a friend suggested them to help with adding some thickness to my upper back. Great suggestion and I'll be making those a weekly staple.

My average weight for last week was 194.8 lbs (down from 195.5) so I'm still losing weight on average, even though the past couple of days have been up around 198 thanks to the holiday. I'm getting rid of my refeeds going forward. They aren't really serving their purpose and I don't really see a reason to be undulating my calories either. So, going forward, macros look like this:

Lifting - 240p/350c/35fi/80f (+3) = 3017 kcal
Off/Cardio Only - 240p/300c (+50)/35fi/100f (+10) = 2997 kcal

This brings my off/cardio days up to where my lifting days are and lets me simply adjust carbs and fats based on what I'm doing that day. Much easier to handle.

Workout from 7/5/15

[IK9]

Nice volume on pull ups.. You switch up grips at all or just all the same?

[phillysteak]

Love the opening post and enjoying this one so far man!

And may I be the 3rd on the pen/notebook club? I've always enjoyed keeping mine, as it's easy to keep track of the variables we might not remember to post in here!

Also, pizza & deadlifts. Yes.

[red_cat]

Nice volume on pull ups.. You switch up grips at all or just all the same?

I normally go wide for the first 3-4 sets and switch to a closer grip afterwards. Close grip always pulls my biceps in a lot more, which is fine after I've given my back a majority of the work.

Love the opening post and enjoying this one so far man!

And may I be the 3rd on the pen/notebook club? I've always enjoyed keeping mine, as it's easy to keep track of the variables we might not remember to post in here!

Also, pizza & deadlifts. Yes.

YES! NOTEBOOK CLUB! Like I said before, I just love looking back a few years before and rediscovering old movements I used to really enjoy or being motivated by the progress I've made since then.

And there will be plenty of those things. Stick around.

07/07/15

Morning Weight: 198.2 lbs (Prep Low: 189.6 lbs Fully Depleted)
Planned Macros: Lifting - 240p/350c/35fib/80f
-------------------------
Thoughts:

Solid workout. That's all I can really say. Aside from my upper back still being pretty fried, it was solid. Weight has been hovering around that 198 mark but I'm guessing it will come back down as the week goes on.

Spending a day "off" fixing the wife's car brakes and hopefully getting some more packing done. Lined up some fun plans for this weekend so I'm really motivated to get things done and do some work this week!

Workout from Today

[IK9]

Split squats hurt like cray.. Lol

[red_cat]

Split squats hurt like cray.. Lol

No kidding. When I do them in the Smith machine I always get some serious DOMS in my glute/ham tie the next day. Hurt so good!!

[wrkoutfrq]

That's a great workout setup! I probably missed it but are you doing your own programming? I love adding in lunge type work with hammies, SO much stimulation! I do hate SLDL's or RDL's with a sore back, which usually happens if I don't get a day off between heavy pulls and hypertrophy legs

[red_cat]

That's a great workout setup! I probably missed it but are you doing your own programming? I love adding in lunge type work with hammies, SO much stimulation! I do hate SLDL's or RDL's with a sore back, which usually happens if I don't get a day off between heavy pulls and hypertrophy legs

Yep! Doing my own stuff and just kind of applying what I've seen work for me in the past with a couple of adjustments.



Took today off...still pretty destroyed from legs the other day but tomorrow is conventional deads along with some BFR for hammies. Another solid night of rest should do the trick.

Been having a lot of digestive issues lately so I'm going to try lowering my protein intake by another 10 grams and raising my carbs by the same. I'm going to throw some extra enzymes in on my bigger meals to see if that helps as well. We shall see!

...aaaaaaaaaaand pancakes (Chef Bob inspired recipe w/ added PB, sprinkles, and SF syrup)

[red_cat]

07/10/15

Morning Weight: 197.8 lbs (Prep Low: 189.6 lbs Fully Depleted)
Planned Macros: Lifting - 240p/350c/35fib/80f
-------------------------
Thoughts:

Had the [pleasure of hitting this session with one of my oldest friends who was in town visiting his lady friend. We lifted together for a while right around the time I was doing my first show but he moved back down to Missouri not long after that so we don't see each other often. He doesn't do nearly as much volume as I do or any of the big three except for squatting so this back workout was a pretty big drain on him. That being the case, I cut a little volume and didn't do any ab work.

No macros increases planned for the week. I'll hover here for a bit and see what happens. I think the shift yesterday helped with things and I'm about 6-7 lbs up in the 4 weeks since my 2nd show so I'm good with that. Off from the gym again today. Tonight we've got someone to watch the nugget while we go out and celebrate the wife's new job! Some good food and some fun at a small local brewfest!

Workout from 7/10/15

[red_cat]

07/13/15

Morning Weight: 198.0 lbs (Prep Low: 189.6 lbs Fully Depleted)
Planned Macros: Lifting - 230p/360c/35fib/80f
-------------------------
Thoughts:

Felt pretty good squatting today, though it didn't start out that way. Started off kind of slow but by my final set I had told myself that I was getting 3 reps so I could move up next time. I did and I will.

Made some nice progress on hams today. I've been getting a GREAT connection with them on pretty much all of the movements which is a major step for me going forward. The more that I think about it, I've always "worked my hams" but my glutes and lower back did a fair share of work. I'm feeling contractions through my entire hamstring now on curls...and nothing in my glutes or lower back.

PROGRESS!!

Workout from 7/10/15 plus my wife being a goof this past weekend, and some egg/cheese/bacon/toast nomz that I've been having pretty much every day lately.

[IK9]

The cheesecake whisperer!

[wrkoutfrq]

That's the same face that I make when I walk into Orange Leaf (my fave froyo shop)

[red_cat]

The cheesecake whisperer!

Oh there was no whispering...plenty of chomping. lol

That's the same face that I make when I walk into Orange Leaf (my fave froyo shop)

Ya know, we've got one of those across the street from my store but I've never been there. I'll have to take your recommendation and hit it up before I'm done up there!

[wrkoutfrq]

Oh there was no whispering...plenty of chomping. lol



Ya know, we've got one of those across the street from my store but I've never been there. I'll have to take your recommendation and hit it up before I'm done up there!

Totally worth it. I've tried several places, and there are other places with better selection of mix ins, but the quality of the froyo itself at Orange Leaf to me is the best. The flavors are more solid and the texture of the froyo is excellent

[nathangreen]

Totally worth it. I've tried several places, and there are other places with better selection of mix ins, but the quality of the froyo itself at Orange Leaf to me is the best. The flavors are more solid and the texture of the froyo is excellent

Recently discovered this new place... Red Mango > Orange Leaf

[jaredmus]

Froyo gains

[red_cat]

Totally worth it. I've tried several places, and there are other places with better selection of mix ins, but the quality of the froyo itself at Orange Leaf to me is the best. The flavors are more solid and the texture of the froyo is excellent

Between Firehouse Subs next door and Orange Leaf I'm gonna have quite the epic week of eating! lol

Recently discovered this new place... Red Mango > Orange Leaf

That's interesting! I've been to Red Mango here in town several times and thought it was okay. There's another one called Cherry On Top that has several stores in Lincoln and has been a favorite for me and the wife.

Froyo gains

There shall be many.

[red_cat]

07/16/15

Morning Weight: 197.4 lbs (Prep Low: 189.6 lbs Fully Depleted)
Planned Macros: Lifting - 230p/360c/35fib/80f
-------------------------
Thoughts:

Had a faster than usual workout today, shorter rest times, and supersetted a lot. Still made a little progress with some extra reps here and there and improved form. My wife shot me a text as I was getting ready to go to the gym that our son was running a low fever and I might have to pick him up early from daycare. I hightailed it to the gym and got to work just in case. Thankfully his fever went down with a little Tylenol (teething is a "fun" process) and I continued about the rest of my day. Lots of packing and preparing for the move. Also lots of stuff to try and get marching band camp ready to go and get some things lined up for the school year. I really wish we could have moved up to Columbus earlier and had more time to get settled/I could have quit my retail job and focused on my new job. Alas, the situation is what it is and I'm doing my best to get as much as I can done in the next week or two. Then it's essentially go time.

Workout from 7/16/15

[red_cat]

07/17/15

Morning Weight: 197.0 lbs (Prep Low: 189.6 lbs Fully Depleted)
Planned Macros: Off - 230p/310c/35fib/100f
-------------------------
Thoughts:

Planned off day today and for good reason. I'm opening the store today, driving straight to a gig, and then driving the rest of the way to Columbus so that we can paint our new place tomorrow. No time to lift...barely enough time to do what I need to do! lol I plan on hitting a back session early tomorrow morning at the high school so I can continue acclimating to the equipment up there. Not as much variety but I shouldn't have any issue getting things done.

Average weight only moved 0.2 lbs compared to last week so I'll be throwing in another 20 g of carbs and 3 g of fat starting tomorrow (which might just be an untracked day...we'll see). I've maintained 1970198 for two weeks now and I'm confident that this is where my maintenance is, so it's time to get to gaining (responsibly).

Hope everyone has a good weekend!

[red_cat]

07/22/15

Morning Weight: 198.2 lbs (Prep Low: 189.6 lbs Fully Depleted)
Planned Macros: Off - 230p/330c/35-40fib/103f
-------------------------
Thoughts:

What a weekend. Painting went well enough. we finished everything that we set out to accomplish, but the A/C was out the entire day and little guy was finished with everything about halfway through the 2nd coat in the living room. So, after I mowed the yard, I finished everything up while my wife took care of him. I could tell I was going to be pretty wrecked the next day and I was even though I was downing electrolytes and BCAAs like nobody's business. lol

I trained legs on Monday night despite the soreness in my legs and swelling in my knees. Not my smartest decision ever but not the worst either. As you can see below I made a couple of improvements weight/rep-wise and I'm happy with that! I also made some changes to squatting switching to high bar and leaving my belt in the bag. Felt great and I felt like I was actually supporting the movement with my abs and obliques (a MAJOR weak point in my squatting). I've always felt a little bit more comfortable squatting high bar but I justified using low bar by saying that I want to bring up my hamstrings and can move more weight with it. However, I think I'm going to stick with high bar; it's much more comfortable, it's easier for me to activate my core muscles, and it just seems like my body mechanics are built for it.

Working an open-close today because someone broke their foot...........................yeah.......glad this is my last week in retail.

Medium Rep Squats & Quads/High Rep Hams/Heavy Calves from 7/20/15

[IK9]

Dude I hate retail lol

Man, no A/C... Inb4 hotter than satan's armpit