My 2017 retrospective and 2018 plan

[grubman]

2017 retrospective – 2018 plan

A totally self-absorbed thread…but the kind of stuff I like to read. It’s also fun to hold myself accountable to SOMEBODY and share the results of personal experimentations.

SUMMARY:
2017: Injury, recover, focus on hypertrophy and more athletic training, casual approach to diet, more athletic look, but no real change in lbm or overall “progress”.
2018: Increase calorie surplus beyond comfort zone, Incorporate Dr. Mike Israetel’s teachings on volume periodization for hypertrophy.

2017 RETROSPECTIVE
A year of unintentional maintenance

It’s no wonder so many people go to the gym year after year and never make any improvements. While I had some setbacks, I trained very consistently this past year and really felt I put a lot of effort into my training, still, when all is said and done, 365 days have passed and I didn’t come out any better than I went in…but I digress.

INJURY

I suffered a shoulder impingement compounded with related bicep tendonitis in two locations. This was the first real injury I ever sustained. I didn’t even realize it was a “real” injury for a month or two, as I worked through the pain, assuming it was just a pulled muscle or something.

In any case, it cost me two months of gym time. When I started lifting again, I started with super light weight, and very slowly worked myself up over the next two months…so we are talking about 4 unproductive months here.

A NEW LIFTING ATTITUDE

So in those 4 months I really took a look at my training…and age. I’ve never been a “strength” trainer, but in the past years, I would dip into the 4-6 rep range for certain compound exercises.

On my road to recovery, obviously heavy weights and low reps weren’t in the equation. So everything was placed squarely in the 8-12 rep range. I really focused on using proper form, tempo, and really feeling the muscle work. Even when the intensity got respectable again, I kept this going in this higher rep range with focus on quality reps…and realized, this has always been the type of training I liked.

While good old compounds still made up the majority of my workouts, I found myself experimenting more and more with isolation moves like straight arm lat press-downs, and spider curls and more athletic movements like ring push-ups and high rep lunges. The purchase of a functional trainer gave me access to many exercises I could never try before.

A NEW LIFTING STYLE

I’m almost leery to write this section of the post, because I expect I will get some ridicule for it.

When I was on the road to recovery from my injury, I started with one set per bodypart. As I progressed I added more sets…but since I wanted to really work on keeping my body conditioned and working everything, instead of adding more sets of one exercise I just added a new exercise. For example, I’d maybe do one set of bench press, one set of incline press, and one set of cable flys.

As I progressed in weight, and healed, I found I was really enjoying this. So much so, that when I was at full strength I continued to do it. I found that when I only had one set of a given exercise, I could focus on working it 110%. Even though a body part was still receiving he same overall volume, the quality of each individual set was increased because in my mind, I only had this single set to do and there was no reason to keep anything in reserve.

FROM FULL TO PUSH/PULL

Over the months I refined the exercises, order, and specific rep ranges that served me best…but after a while I was working so hard that I just couldn’t effectively make it through a full body every other day like I had been doing the last couple years.

With much reserve, about 6 months ago, I essentially cut my workout in half and switched to a push/pull 6 days a week program. In essence, the same volume divided over 6 workouts instead of 3. With warm-up, each workout is about 40-45 minutes total. I have to say, I love it. I get to work out almost every single day and have more energy to put into each workout.

A DIFFERENT LOOK…BUT NOT REALLY PROGRESS

In any case, I’ve developed a habit of taking a good picture on my birthday and I use this to show my current condition and archive it to show my progress from year to year. If you’ve read my posts, you’ve probably seen these pics before, but here is a comparison shot of my pic from 2016 and my shot from 2017.

Now, these two pictures look very different, but oddly enough, this is probably the least amount of progress I’ve seen since I started lifting again. In 2016 I was about 163 pounds at 15% BF with a lbm of about 138 pounds. In 2017 I was about 156 and 12% BF with a lbm of about 137 pounds. A composition change…but no real progress.

Oddly enough, I think the pictures speak volumes to the way a different training approach leads to a different look. In 2016, when I was doing about 1/3 of my lifts with a strength focus, I look big and powerful, and in 2017 when I took a more “athletic” hypertrophy approach, I have a leaner more aesthetic look.



So…2018
THE YEAR OF VOLUME PERIODIZATION

I won’t call 2017 a total waste. I think I’ve really perfected my training with the push/pull split and the 1 set per exercise and I’ve totally recovered from my injury. Still, I didn’t make any progress in muscle gain, and I hope to change that in 2018.

DIET

One of the areas I’ve been “failing” in is diet. In 2017 (other than a month I took to diet away the fat gained from my time off…which ended up being more than I planned, getting down to about 10% bf) I decided to take a very loose attitude on diet. While I kept a ongoing guestimation of calories and protein intake, most of the time I just ate to comfort levels. With my high metabolism and active job, this was counterproductive to any muscle growth.

In all honesty, I hate eating a lot of food, but 2018 is going to have to start with a real effort to eat more than a modest surplus. I’m not going for a full on bulk, but I definitely have to eat in excess to see some muscle gain. This is going to be very important in gauging the success of my workout changes/experiments.

VOLUME PERIODIZATION

I’ve gotten to the point where trying to increase weight and reps as my sole form of progressive resistance just isn’t enough anymore. For several years, as I’ve gotten older and felt my energy levels going down a bit, I’ve tried to perfect getting the most out of the least. Now I’m not saying I’m lazy and my workouts aren’t very hard…just that I felt like I needed to do just the right amount to stimulate growth, without doing too much.

But that idea is fundamentally flawed. Since, as all things with weight training, something only works for a finite time. If you get in the grove of doing the same over and over, eventually the progress is going to stall…and that’s what happened last year.

So, I needed to find an element of change for this year. Something that was definitely different and would kick start progress…but something I could incorporate into what I already know about myself and all the work I’ve done perfecting other parts of my training. Just like any program, you cant just change everything, or you won’t know what it was you changed that made the difference (for good or bad).

So, long story short (ha ha, too late for that) I came around to reading and watching a ton of videos of Dr. Mike Israetel . His method of volume periodization for hypertrophy made a lot of sense to me, and felt like just the thing I was looking for.

If you don’t already know what I’m talking about, it’s worth looking up…in a very short basic summary, you start with the least amount of volume you can do to maintain, slowly add volume (more sets) over weeks until you get to the point where you are doing to most possible volume you can recover from, deloading, and then starting over again (which I’ll be doing with a slightly heavier weight each time).

I’ll be starting at 9 sets for big and 6 sets for small per week, and working up over 5 weeks to double that (18 sets for big, 12 sets for small). I’m going to use programmed weight increases every time I start a new cycle. I’ll reassess after the first 3 cycles.

I’m guessing nobody actually read all this crap, but I’m pretty excited and optimistic for 2018…even though those workouts at the end of each cycle are going to get pretty hard core.

[Bando]

I’m guessing nobody actually read all this crap

I did, how tall are you and how did you clear up the bicep tendonitis?

[grubman]

I did, how tall are you and how did you clear up the bicep tendonitis?

5'7"

Internet research and cross-referencing really did wonders on self-diagnosis on the bicep tendonitis and how to cure it. I was very surprised to find that many people just kept "working through it" for months or years on end.

Of course, step 1 (hardest step) was to stop working out completely (did that for 2 months) and trying to do as little heavy lifting with that arm as possible.

The primary aggrivator is inflammation, so getting that down is key. I took Aleve (12 hour med) every day to help with this.

The most important factor was aggressive icing. You have to ice it as often as (reasonably) possible and for about a half hour, or more, at a pop. I used my normal AM workout time to sit on the couch in the dark with an icepack on the lower bicep by the elbow and the upper bicep by the front delt. As soon as I got home I'd sit down in front of the TV and watch an hour long program while icing, and then again after dinner but before bedtime.

I'd follow up the icing with about 10-15 minutes of aggressive self-massage (this hurts). Sometimes I'd use a tennis ball to roll around on the agrivated areas.

When I started working out again, I dropped straight arm barbell curls (one of my favorite moves since my days of Arnold fandom) altogether and only used dumbbells. As per some internet videos, I would do very quick positives on the curl (with a light weight to start with) and vveerryy slow negatives. About 20 reps.

Along with the related shoulder impingement (I actually got the bicep tendonitis from overcompensating when the shoulder started acting up) this was about 4 months...which seems like a long time. But when I reed forum posts with guys complaining that they have had this pain for 6 months, or a year, or longer, it seems like a small price to pay for a complete recovery.

[OldFartTom]

"Dr. Mike Israetel" will lookup. Thanks

[drudixon]

I did, how tall are you and how did you clear up the bicep tendonitis?

Do you still have it?

Awesome thread grub. Will follow your progress.

[RK42]

Interesting reading, as always.

Have you considered a percentage based training program, like 5/3/1 or Juggernaut? My main reason for going with 5/3/1 was that I felt like trying to push for more reps/weight in every single training session was going to wear me out in the long run, mentally and physically. And it didn't take nearly as long for me...

[grubman]

Have you considered a percentage based training program, like 5/3/1 or Juggernaut? My main reason for going with 5/3/1 was that I felt like trying to push for more reps/weight in every single training session was going to wear me out in the long run, mentally and physically. And it didn't take nearly as long for me...

No. I enjoy the strength increases that come from lifting, and I do train "heavy" in the rep ranges I perform, but training primarily for strength and 1 rep max totals doesn't interest me at all.

The other day I was mentally prioritizing why I lifted. The first reason (oddly) was that I find it fun to do...I actually enjoy the entire regiment of the thing and all the researching and learning (from others and from my own experiences). Second was the process and progress of physical changing of my body to something better looking (for a number of reasons through the years). Finally, general health (especially now that I'm getting older).

Nowhere does a concern with increased strength come in (beyond progressive resistance). I couldn't even tell you what any of my lifts are at a given moment because I keep track of weights with a cryptic code, for example a lift might be 1+5++, which would mean one 45 pound plate plus a 5 pound plate, plus two half pound fractional plates (OK, maybe not that cryptic...but it shows little concerned for the raw weight total being used).

[ironwill2008]

A good read; lots of information here. A couple of things caught my eye, and I felt compelled to comment, since I've been down the same path:

In all honesty, I hate eating a lot of food, but 2018 is going to have to start with a real effort to eat more than a modest surplus. I’m not going for a full on bulk, but I definitely have to eat in excess to see some muscle gain. This is going to be very important in gauging the success of my workout changes/experiments.

I found that the only way I could cram enough calories down my pie hole to remain in even just a modest calorie surplus (before I retired, I worked a very physical, outdoor utility company construction job) was to step away from the "clean" eating mantra espoused by all the muscle mags and gym 'gurus' of the time, and eat lots more fatty red meat, full-fat dairy, and yes, even......ice cream. I tried the "chicken, rice, brokkoli" nonsense and got nowhere.


You likely won't need to make sweeping changes in your nutrition; it's obvious you already know how to eat. One quick solution is to just eat a cheeseburger each day over and above what and however much you're currently eating. It's an easy way to get several hundred calories worth of high-quality protein and fat; add lettuce and tomato on there and you get a bonus shot of micros too.

you start with the least amount of volume you can do to maintain, slowly add volume (more sets) over weeks until you get to the point where you are doing to most possible volume you can recover from, deloading, and then starting over again.

This is, by far, the most common-sense approach to training for those of us who have been doing this for a long time, and understand how to properly implement it (beginners and early-intermediates need to stick with a basic, pre-written program and build a base of RL experience first).

No doubt, you would have eventually come to this realization on your own, at some point; finding Dr. Mike's work just shortened the curve for you.

[grubman]

I found that the only way I could cram enough calories down my pie hole to remain in even just a modest calorie surplus was to step away from the "clean" eating mantra espoused by all the muscle mags and gym 'gurus' .

Yeah, diet (as in not eating enough) was my main fault last year. I'll be honest, I really didn't even try to eat "clean". I mean, by habit I don't eat sh*t, but no moderation of homemade cheeseburgers with bacon on a pretzel bun, pizza with chicken, bacon, feta cheese, garlic butter, macaroni and cheese, chili with sour cream and a whole sleeve of saltines...and stuff like that. I even was a bit sloppier with the white sugar the past 6 months or so (the holidays where partially to blame)...but I just have such a frigging high metabolism. Combine that with my active job and it's pretty detrimental.

I know, a lot of guys read the above and wish it was them...and it's cool that getting and staying lean is easy, but when you want to pack on a few pounds of muscle, the tables are turned, and it's a curse.

When I dropped a couple hundred calories below my "maintenance", I started dropping fat like it was going out of style. 12 pounds in 4 weeks and I was down to about 10-12% (from about 15%)...but on the flip side of the coin, my "maintenance" seems to be anywhere from about 2,500-3,000. I'm most comfortable eating around 2,500 a day, but up to around 3,000 doesn't net me any extra weight. I have to eat a pretty uncomfortable 3,500+ to start seeing any kind of weight gain.

This last week I added 200 calories to breakfast (fats and carbs, since I'm already getting about 60 grams of protein with breakfast), 150 to each of my 2 snacks (again, carbs and a little fat), and a bedtime "snack" of about 400 calories a couple hours before I go to bed (a bowl of cheerios...yeah, I know, not the best pre-bedtime snack...but it goes down so good). All in all, I'm putting away about 3,500 now.

I've already noticed a significant strength increase in my workouts. I'll have to monitor this for a few weeks and go from there. I've already vowed not to panic when my abs disappear.

No doubt, you would have eventually come to this realization on your own, at some point; finding Dr. Mike's work just shortened the curve for you.

Who knows how long it would have taken on my own, ha ha.

A couple months back I figured I really needed to increase my volume, so I added several sets to my routine. At first I started seeing noticeable improvement in strength, size, and even my appearance, and I really though I was onto something. Then about a month and a half in, I started feeling more fatigued, strength leveled out, and I started getting a few very minor "injuries".

I took this to mean I was doing too much, and I reverted back to my old volume...and stagnated again. I was thinking, "OK, maybe I just hit that age where all I can hope to do is maintain".

Still, I was looking around for SOMETHING, not really knowing what, and came across a Dr. Mike video, and was like, "holy crap, that's it!". It explained how I saw that improvement when I increased my volume, and also explained why that volume wasn't sustainable, and why I shouldn't even be trying.

I had always though periodization was just balancing heavier workouts with lighter workouts, and never researched it much beyond that. This probably applies more to strength athletes (although I'm not sure), but the VOLUME periodization training for hypertrophy fits in much better with my preferred methods of lifting and my goals.

I guess we'll see what happens.

[tommydamic68]

Will be interesting to see and watch your results Grubman, although I am a few inches taller then you (5'9") I am trying to go the opposite route of losing a bit of weight and get a bit leaner, but reading some of your other posts mentioning how you looked great without a shirt but looked as if you didn't look as if you lifted in clothes or something like that, is my fear as of now. Although its not really prominent (my little belly) even with a tighter shirt on, undressed it really bothers me, my wife says its fine but I can't stand it. My other body parts, back, legs, shoulders, chest and traps as well as triceps i am happy with the progress, (still struggling with bicep improvement to my liking). Actually today I've decreased my calories by 200 or so and will see where it leads me. My fear also of losing strength to lift the heavier weights for compounds is also an issue I'm not looking forward to.

[grubman]

but reading some of your other posts mentioning how you looked great without a shirt but looked as if you didn't look as if you lifted in clothes or something like that, is my fear as of now.

I did look pretty "big" in a T-shirt when I got up to 170 (probably about 17-18%+ BF), but I usually look pretty good (in a T-shirt) most the time. It was when I got down to 150 (mentioned above when I got to about 10% BF) that I "didn't look like I lifted"...well, my arms were more vascular, and I still looked like I was in shape...but there is a difference between being "in shape" and having the T-shirt tight around the chest, shoulders, and biceps while hanging loose around the waist.

I'll be honest though, I'm almost 50 and I really lift more for myself than to let people know I lift. I lift alone in my basement. I live in Wisconsin where it's only T-shirt weather 4 months out of the year. I never go to the beach or take off my shirt in public. I'm madly in love with the woman of my dreams, so haven't had to impress any other woman for many years.

The only people I really share any of this with is my son-in-law, my significant other, and the people on this forum (ha ha)...and the people on this forum will probably never even meet me in real life unless Bodyhard shows up unexpectedly to work out in my gym someday.

I'm glad I lost all that weight, as it was a great learning experience, and I do think it resulted in a more quality physique down the road, and I didn't really lose any muscle while doing it.

[Payton1221]

The primary aggrivator is inflammation, so getting that down is key. I took Aleve (12 hour med) every day to help with this.

My elbows feel best when I take tumeric/curcumin which is an anti-inflammation supplement.

[wesleysh21]

I found that the only way I could cram enough calories down my pie hole to remain in even just a modest calorie surplus (before I retired, I worked a very physical, outdoor utility company construction job) was to step away from the "clean" eating mantra espoused by all the muscle mags and gym 'gurus' of the time, and eat lots more fatty red meat, full-fat dairy, and yes, even......ice cream. I tried the "chicken, rice, brokkoli" nonsense and got nowhere.

I wonder how much science is behind the chicken and rice diet. I noticed that my body processes it really, really easily. Sometime after I noticed it in my own body, I saw a youtube personality talk about the many foods he had, and how chicken and rice was the one that agreed with his body the best...processing it with ease.

Random thought.

[grubman]

I wonder how much science is behind the chicken and rice diet. I noticed that my body processes it really, really easily. Sometime after I noticed it in my own body, I saw a youtube personality talk about the many foods he had, and how chicken and rice was the one that agreed with his body the best...processing it with ease.

Random thought.

That's funny, because rice sits in my stomach like a rock, and excess chicken gives me gas as it ferment in my gut (the infamous broc**** as well).

On the other hand, any kind of eggs, (including omelets jammed with veggies meat and cheese or egg sandwiches) digest very easy for me.

[drudixon]

That's funny, because rice sits in my stomach like a rock, and excess chicken gives me gas as it ferment in my gut (the infamous broc**** as well).

On the other hand, any kind of eggs, (including omelets jammed with veggies meat and cheese or egg sandwiches) digest very easy for me.

Part of your unique flora. Rice leaves me starving in 30 minutes.

[ironwill2008]

I wonder how much science is behind the chicken and rice diet. I noticed that my body processes it really, really easily. Sometime after I noticed it in my own body, I saw a youtube personality talk about the many foods he had, and how chicken and rice was the one that agreed with his body the best...processing it with ease.

Random thought.

Nutritional science would show that it's a bad idea to limit one's self to such a severely limited list of foods; certainly, over time, deficiencies would become apparent (most obviously, the lack of dietary fat), not to mention the sheer boredom of eating the same thing over and over and over.

For myself, I was unable to eat enough of such relatively low-calorie foods in a day's time to be able to meet the high calorie requirement my occupation at the time, and my training demanded in order for me to remain in even just a modest calorie surplus. I found myself drifting away from the "clean" food mantra of the day; in retrospect, I was following DCA years before it was a "thing."










Apologies for the off-topic post, grubman.

[Bando]

not to mention the sheer boredom of eating the same thing over and over and over.

I'm like a dog with my lunches, I eat chili every day, high in fiber, tastes good every single time. The freezer at work currently has about 6 lbs of my chili waiting for me, makes my work week a lot easier food wise.

[gipper53]

Good stuff! Your dedication to the iron game is inspiring. My fat ass is just starting this journey, yet again. You're a guy I'll follow on these boards for motivation!

[grubman]

Good stuff! Your dedication to the iron game is inspiring. My fat ass is just starting this journey, yet again. You're a guy I'll follow on these boards for motivation!

Thank you. We all start at square one...hope your journey is a long and productive one.

[mirroroferised]

Always enjoy reading your threads grub. Have you ever considered an online journal here? Seems like you'd have quite a few people following along. I know I would.

Either way, good luck in 2018. Looking forward to updates.

[grubman]

Always enjoy reading your threads grub. Have you ever considered an online journal here? Seems like you'd have quite a few people following along. I know I would.

Thanks...but I think that would get pretty boring for everyone quickly . I think a couple posts a year highlighting what I learned (or screwed up) pretty much sum up my "contribution".

[RK42]

Nowhere does a concern with increased strength come in (beyond progressive resistance). I couldn't even tell you what any of my lifts are at a given moment because I keep track of weights with a cryptic code

It's fascinating to me how different people are. I don't think I could get under a barbell without knowing exactly how much weight is on it. My training is driven by numbers. Not because they really matter, I have no ambition (or talent) to ever become a competitive powerlifter. But it's just how I operate, planning every set makes sense to me. And the numbers motivate me.

Please keep us posted on how the volume periodization is working for you. It sounds like an interesting concept. 5/3/1 has some variation of volume between different training cycles, but not nearly as systematically.

[drkelly74]

You do one set of each exercise, correct? Do you do any warm up sets first? How many total sets do you think that you do for say a typical chest or back workout? You must be doing a wide variety of different exercises if you are only doing one set of each one. Whatever you are doing it is obviously working judging by your pictures!

I always enjoy reading your posts. They have good information, and never seem to be condescending.

[grubman]

It's fascinating to me how different people are. I don't think I could get under a barbell without knowing exactly how much weight is on it. My training is driven by numbers. Not because they really matter, I have no ambition (or talent) to ever become a competitive powerlifter. But it's just how I operate, planning every set makes sense to me. And the numbers motivate me.

Please keep us posted on how the volume periodization is working for you. It sounds like an interesting concept. 5/3/1 has some variation of volume between different training cycles, but not nearly as systematically.

That’s totally understandable. When I was younger total weight used to mean a great deal to me. If weight numbers were my end goal, they undoubtedly still would be important. I totally get the passion strength and power lifters have for getting stronger or hitting a new PR...just not the reward that drives me.

[grubman]

You do one set of each exercise, correct? Do you do any warm up sets first? How many total sets do you think that you do for say a typical chest or back workout? You must be doing a wide variety of different exercises if you are only doing one set of each one. Whatever you are doing it is obviously working judging by your pictures!.

Yes, one set per excercise...but understand, this is just something I’ve been doing that has been fun. I’m not really recommending it over multiple sets of the same excercise, since both have worked similarly for me.

I do a lot of dynamic stretching and light band work to warm up my whole body first (this takes about 10 minutes). Then I do a set for abs (I only do the one set of 30) which I consider part of the warmup. Then I do a single light set of the first excercise I’m doing...that’s it. Before I move to lower body I do some body weight squats and dynamic stretches for legs. A lot of this includes shoulder health, which I strongly recommend. That’s what it takes for me to be ready to go...I’m sure some people need more or less.

Since I’m working in the 8-12 rep range, I structure my workout so I do 12 reps for my first set. Then usually 10 for the second and 8 for the third for big body parts. This means the initial excercises serve the dual purpose of continuing the warmup (by virtue of being lighter for more time under tension) as well as being working sets, because they are extremely hard by the finish.

Everyone has to find what works for them. When I was younger I proscribed to the “more is better” philosophy touted by my hero Arnold. I worked out for many years with minimal progress until an army buddy suggested I might be doing too much. I adjusted my workload and began seeing progress. After that I became a “minimalist”, trying to identify the least amount I had to do to make gains (Although I never went all Mike Mentzer).

This wasn’t because I was lazy (I love the act of working out), but rather to find out what was optimal for me to grow (or more specifically, recover).

The end result (again, I’m sure this is different for different people) was about 9 working sets per week for large body parts, 6 for small per week. So that’s 3 sets for big, 2 sets for small, hitting each muscle 3 times a week. Unlike strength routines, I try to hit every muscle directly.

So, yes, on paperwork my workouts look rediculously uncomplicated (although I have a personal reason for everything I do). When doing multiple sets, it would just be one excercise per body part (chest might consist of inclines...end of story). As of late, I try to include 1 upper chest excercise, one “power” movement (like flat bench or weighted dips), and one isolation to really focus on the squeeze.

Now, I have to say, and I’m not diminishing other people’s efforts (or trying to sound conceited), but I have noticed from working out with other people and at the gym that I do tend to be able to put more into each set than other people. I seem To have the mental/physical ability to do 1,2, or 3 reps past the point where many other people believe they can’t do another rep. I think this accounts for my personal success with such low volume. For me, every set is the only set...if that makes sense.

That said...I have stagnated with what I’ve been doing, which is why it’s time to try something more “advanced”.

Thanks for the compliments...but it’s hard to be condisending when I’m among peers...or people much better, smarter, or advanced than I am. ha ha. Still learning and experimenting like the majority of the people here.

Edit: I do feel I should add, I’ve only put on about 25 pounds of muscle in 7 years. It sits well on my tiny skeletal structure...but nowhere near as impressive as guys who put on 30, 40, 50 pounds or more.

[strongpath]

Dorian Yates was also a proponent of the 1 set approach I believe. Always enjoy reading your posts and your thoughtful perspective. Thanks for sharing.

[grubman]

Dorian Yates was also a proponent of the 1 set approach I believe. Always enjoy reading your posts and your thoughtful perspective. Thanks for sharing.

He probably read my post and stole it from me. That Dorian, always bugging me for pointers and tips.

[blue9steel]

2017 had mixed results, overworked myself twice (I'm stubborn, once apparently wasn't enough) and got sick so I had to learn better fatigue management and cut back on cardio. Getting older can be annoying at times. My new(ish) job is awesome, but came with more corporate events that involve food which put a crimp in my cutting progress. Had to tweak my diet multiple times to get to something sustainable and low calories. (I'm the opposite of you and gain weight any time I don't pay strict attention) but that's all settled now. Lifts went up, especially deadlifts, though probably not as much as they "should" have.

For 2018 I'm doing two cutting cycles then hopefully settling in for a slow bulk. Continuing to learn more about programming, though sometimes I feel like the more I learn the less I know, heh. Just switched from a PPL to a pull/push routine which is an interesting contrast.

[grubman]

sometimes I feel like the more I learn the less I know, heh.

Just switched from a PPL to a pull/push routine which is an interesting contrast.

Isn’t it the truth...I wonder what it’s like to be at the point where you know everything there is worth knowing?

I really like the push/pull split. It includes all the things I like about a full body, but also allows for more focus like a p/p/l...plus I can work out almost every morning , which gives me something to look forward to and starts my day off right.

[blue9steel]

I really like the push/pull split. It includes all the things I like about a full body, but also allows for more focus like a p/p/l...plus I can work out almost every morning , which gives me something to look forward to and starts my day off right.

For me, compliance is easiest when I establish a routine I don't have to think about. I've settled into an easy rule "If it's a week day and the gym is open, then I go", that way there is no decision process or remembering wether I have to go to the gym tomorrow. It puts me in the gym 5 days a week and doing cardio type stuff on the weekend from home. (weighted walking on Saturday and jogging on Sunday) It does make programming and fatigue management a bit more complicated since a lot of programs are based off of 4 days a week, sometimes including Saturdays but it's so powerful psychologically I think it's worth it. On the plus side it means I'm always very awake by the time I get to work since I work out in the mornings, and I never miss due to evening social events or having to work late.