Weekend Update

I'm not going to run down every detail of the weekend.  Eating was ok..not enough food in general or protein specifically on Sunday.

I had a good workout on Saturday, and am encouraged by my progress on the Power Clean.  I'm still using "form practice" weight, but that's ok because I am muttering form ques on every rep.

Interestingly, I didnt set up properly or something (I'm not sure) on my last work set of Bench Press and if you'd have told me the bar was welded to the pins I'd have believed you.  Zero budge.  I actually lol'd.  I just sat back up and started over and cranked the set out thankfully, but I was like, "wow".

I didnt do any walking at all this weekend, but I was all over the damn place doing handyman stuff all weekend so I'm still pretty beat up.  Much of this work was tedious and detail oriented (trim, painting etc) and we had to juggle a 4 month old for a lot of the time also.  Silver lining there is grandpa's are allowed to nap with babies and I took full advantage.

Ok..Monday "Brass Tacks"

I'm starting this next two week Deficit Phase at 244.0 lbs, which is exactly one pound up from where I finished the last one.  Not. Too. Shabby.

I'd like to shed that pound, and 7 more along with it over the course of the next 14 days.  That seems fast, but keep in mind, I only lose for half the month, the other half I maintain.  7 lbs in a month is about .25 per day but I'm achieving this without being in caloric deficit 100% of the time.  Honestly I'd be thrilled to lose 10 or more pounds during a deficit.

Dietary Goals for the next 14 days are:

2000 calories, 235 Protein, 95 Carbs, 75 Fats.  This includes a step up to a full cup of whole milk as a supplement.

I'm going to dial back my Walking, simply because I wont be able to sustain the habit with my new job.  It's already hit or miss taking the 10am and 2pm walks every day with meetings etc.  I'll still do the morning walks on T, Th, and the Lunch and Evening walks every day.  Those make up the vast majority of my total mileage.

Anyway...better to see what impact that has and adjust to it now vs later.

Today's workout introduced the first sets of assistance work.  These are exercises designed to target weaker muscles that can tolerate the additional volume, in support of the main lifts.  Today was Dips, which will alternate on an ABA BAB schedule with Chins.

For both of these I'm following the Armstrong Pull Ups Template which is basically a fancy way of working yourself to failure with as much volume as possible, sometimes repeatedly.  Today was a pyramid pattern so I did 1 rep, rested, 2 reps, rested, 3 reps etc.

I was able to work up to 5 reps but failed when I attempted 6.  The program calls for one additional set to failure after the failed set too.  By then I was squeaking out 2 reps.  lol. Totals looked like this: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 3, 2.

The assistance work will be super-setted in with the upper body exercise of the day, today being the Press.  A typical Press session will contain 8 sets so there is plenty of room to work in sets of Dips in between.  I'm not going to lie though, this is strenuous stuff.  I'm working 3x5@90 lbs on the  Press and then dipping with my fat ass at 244 lbs.

I'll continue to follow Armstrong on the Pull Ups for the long term, but will switch to weighted sets on Dips in July at the start of my Hypertrophy Specific Training (HST)

So yeah, that torched my upper body and then I turned around and did Dead Lift Day.  I got it done, but it was through sheer force of will.  260 lbs at this point but my schedule is thinned by ABA rotation with Power Clean, and only up 5lbs at that.  This means I go up 15 lbs in two weeks instead of  30 lbs in ONE week that I was doing for the first 4 weeks. This will slow me down but at this point I need to.

Why arent I talking about Squats?  They're just routine for me.  I'm grinding everything at this point because the weight is relatively heavy, but as long as I maintain perfect form I complete the reps without too much slow down.

Issues creep in if my chest and upper back arent tight, if my concentration wavers, or if I dont sit back far enough and fully engage my hamstrings.  Miss those and the rep sucks big time, get them all right and it's not too tough.  I call that incentive to get it right.

That pretty much sets things up for the next two weeks.