Decided to start a journal today! Specifically to track my progress during my first time cutting. During the past 4 years or so of bodybuilding, I have NEVER in my life actually committed to cutting due to:
1.) Not wanting to loose muscle
2.) Not wanting to drop under 200lbs
The past few years have been really clean eating. At LEAST 300grams/protein, 400grams/carbs & 90grams/fat, getting in a minimum of 4,000 calories a day.
Been taking a few pics lately and just feel i've possibly gained to much fat over the past few months. During my so called "bulk phase", i really never ate as much as could in fear of getting fat, it was always a clean bulk. I could of easily got around 6k calories, but i was always stuck between wanting to gain lots of muscle, but stay semi-lean at the same time.
This will not be a crash course viscous cutting phase. It will be a slow and steady cut, to prevent any muscle loss. I will not drop my morning carbs or preworkout carbs, only the others. My entered weight will be a morning weight on my digital scale, i do not have access to a weighted scale until i it the gym, which usually ends up around 213lbs with cloths.
*GOAL* I'd like to get around 10% or under bodyfat, keep all of my strength, and get more vascular. No idea what bodyfat is right now? Any guesses?
WEEK 1-2: I will see where i get dropping roughly 100 carbs a day. 1-2 cardio sessions/wk @ 20-30mins.
WEEK 3-4: Drop a little over 100 carbs and taper down at night. 3-4 cardio sessions/wk @ 20-30mins.
WEEK 5-7: Keep carbs around the same. Add in ephedrine/caffeine 2X per day 3-4 cardio sessions/wk @ 30-45mins.
WEEK 8-10: Still on E/C. Keep carbs same unless i'm noticing a fat loss plateau, in that case i will cut carbs even more and bump cardio up to 45-60mins.
*The hardest thing for me is going to be adding in the cardio. I do NO cardio whatsoever now, so this will be interesting. This cutting routine is one i just put together, not some random one i found. In my eyes, this is what seems will help me get to where i want to be.
If anyone has any suggestions along the way, feel free to jump in.
ONCE A WEEK- Every friday I will post progress pics of the same poses, enter my weight, and how i'm feeling each week. I will post 9 photos each time to cover as many possible angles as possible.
EVERY DAY: I will check in, record certain main parts of my workout to record lifts during my training session.
WORKOUT: (30-45 sec rest between sets. moved pretty quickly)
Shoulders:
Behind Neck Smith machine military presses: 12, 10, 8, 5 Reps (135, 155, 185, 225)
-could of gone heavier but my rest was very short.
Seated dumbbell presses: 3 Sets of 8 to 10 Reps (70, 80, 85x5)
Side dumbbell laterals: 3 supersets of 10 to 12 Reps (30, 45, 50)
*Superset: Front dumbbell raises (25, 30, 35x8 drop 25x8)
-forearms were failing before i could finish a good burn
Lying rear delt dumbbell raise:3 sets of 8 to 10 Reps (20, 25, 30)
Rear cable laterals: 3 sets of 8 to 10 Reps
Abs:
Leg raises on dip pads
Rope Pull down
(reps range from 12-20)
*Felt really good, pretty intense workout.
*11 hours of sleep last night
*Military press and dumbbell press poundage was much less due to short rest periods
*Close to perfect form on every lift minus a few cheat reps on my last few reps of side laterals where i had to bend my elbows a bit more.
+Felt much more rear delt activation during Lying Rear-delt Dumbbell Raises from switching from a neutral grip to a pronated grip. It makes it a lot easier to keep lats out of movement.
-3rd wk. on 400mg test
-going to drop down to 300mgs next week. On Test400 blend.
-switching to testE 250 in a few weeks @ 250mgs for a 6-8 week cruise. (250mgsTest, slin pw, creatine mono.+usual sups. 4 cruise)
-cutting down bodyfat for 2 months to prime myself for next cycle. Then the adding more carbs back in to diet.
ARMS today.
Dropping carbs isn't as hard as it was the first day. Not as hungry and trying to stay full by eating more veggies.
funny thing, im dropping my carbs, haven't been on Tren for over a month, test has dropped to half, and yet i got a new PR doing chest today.
NEW PR: Dumbbells 125'sX8(9th rep was 1/4 rep, not even)
-all the way down on every one. I laugh and shake my head when i see people doing these half rep bullshit presses. No lockout.
Incline Dumbbell Press 70,80,125,80,60
Incline Dumbbell Fly's 30,45,45,50
Hammer Press
3 sets dips(head down legs back) 20/20/12 (30 second rest tops)
FST-7 Cable Flys
Good workout. love chest day and the pump!
p.s. Not as bloated now carbs are a little lower. Haven't been super full once.
cheat meal- chipotle chicken bowl(less rice than usual) Chicken, brown rice, pinto beans, lettuce, a little cheese.
Not super low, im not trying to crash diet. im dieting just for the hell of it. No comp. or anything. No rush, just trying to lean out. Scared of loosing muscle.
Here is what today looked like. The <....> means the amount of carbs i would of been consuming before my cut while i was putting on mass. Also, the carbs i ate while putting on mass were not the most i could of eaten. i was trying to stay semi lean and not eat too much.
1/2 cup oats=25
1 cup rice=50
1 cup milk= 12
1 banana=25
8oz OJ=26
Total for today about = 375
Total before cut= 630
Difference= 255 or 1020 calories
Well, i felt it was safe to drop around 500cal. every 2lbs i lost. The first week as of now, i dropped about 200 carbs, and lost roughly 2lbs of fat. Will drop more carbs this coming week.
p.s. i don't write out the food i eat, but i just did, and what the fuck, that is a lot more fucking carbs then i though. that shit adds up.
a little under 2 months. didn't do any cardio. not on anything but pct. freaking out because the T/A time for my shit shoulda been 3-7days. It has been 11!!! I think my package got lost. the guy is really busy. he might have to re-ship all of it! FML! Its been about 2 weeks since ive taken anything. Ran out of test and am forced to start pct...will start immediately when new stuff comes.
right now im just on an ai and novlva. and 10mgs var preworkout just to help me out mentally.
Dropped a little size on my arms, calves and forearms.
Haven't been off for like a year!! And i don't want to be!!!
digital scale-191lb(i feel i could be about 10%bdft right now, TOPS.
will edit this post with weighted scale once im back form the gym in a few..The one there seems to weight me in usually about a few lbs heavier. Can never trust these damn digital scales!