Macrobolic’s BodyBlog

So my bulking went pretty good, but I gained too much fat. So I am going to start a 10 week cut starting June 8th.

I’ve sort of been cleaning up my diet in preparation for the cut so that it will go a bit more smoothly. I plan on losing 20-25lbs of fat in the 10 weeks, although this is a lofty goal I think that it is possible.

I’m going to be using several supplements during the cut which will hopefully retain muscle mass, or maybe I could even build it. I’ve done it before, I think it will be possible again.

So, I haven’t worked out at all this week except for las Sunday as I developed a nasty cold, along with my ears being plugged to no end. This really has put a hamper on this phase of Titan Training. I think that today I am going to do a combined workout of all the bodyparts I missed this week, just so that they get some stimulation. Wish me luck! Tomorrow I will start training the normal Titan Training routine again.

And no more getting sick! 

Hey brothers and sisters of iron, here is the start of my new journal. This is going to be a 9 week journey of sweat, blood, and tears. I am also starting my new Animal Stack, which I will write more about at the bottom.

During this 9 week jouney, I will be using the Titan Training Program, with a few tweaks here and there for my own personal needs.

http://www.universalnutrition.com/titantraining/

This is how the Titan Training goes, followed by any changes I will make:
Sunday-Back and Abs:

Deadlifts…………..4 sets
Pullups…………….5 sets
Dumbbell Rows……….3 sets
T-Bar Rows………….3 sets
Crunches……………4 sets
Hanging Leg Raises…..4 sets

I will be doing 2 sets of Pullups followed by 2 sets of Chinups
I will do 3 sets of Crunches
I will do 3 sets of Incline Knee Raises instead of hanging

Monday-Arms:

Barbell Curls……….4 sets
Alt Dumbbell Curls…..3 sets
Hammer Curls………..3 sets
Pushdowns…………..4 sets
Skullcrushers……….3 sets
Overhead DB Ext……..3 sets

I will do Preacher Curls instead of Barbell Curls
I will do Incline Hammer Curls instead of Hammer Curls
I will do Barbell Lying Triceps Press instead of SkullCrushers (may be same thing though)
I will do Cable Rope Overhead Tricep Extension instead of Overhead DB Ext

Tuesday-Off:

I will probably do some cardio today, but rest if I need it.

Wednesday-Legs:

Leg Extensions………4 sets
Barbell Squats………5 sets
Leg Presses…………3 sets
Lying Leg Curls……..4 sets
Standing Calf Raises…4 sets
Seated Calf Raises…..4 sets

This is the day that I am changing up quite a bit:
3 sets of Front Squats instead of 5 sets of Barbell Squats
Leg Extensions after squats, only 3 sets
No Leg Press, I don’t have one in my home gym, yet…LOL
StiffLegged Deadlifts, 3 sets
Lying Leg curls, 3 sets

Thursday-Chest and Abs:

Barbell Bench Press….4 sets
Incline DB Press…….4 sets
Flat Dumbbell Flyes….3 sets
Rope Crunches……….4 sets

Flat Bench Dumbbell Flyes, 4 sets, before Incline Press
Incline Barbell Press instead of Incline DB Press
Incline DB Flyes, 4 sets after Incline Press

Friday-Shoulder and Calves:

Military Presses…….4 sets
DB Lateral Raises……4 sets
Bent Rear Delt DB
Lateral Raises………4 sets
Dumbbell Shrugs……..4 sets
Leg Press Calf Raises..5 sets

Will start with DB Upright Rows, 4 sets
Military Press, 2 sets
DB Lateral raise, 2 sets
Added Incline DB Laterals, 2 sets
Bent over Laterals, 2 sets
Barbell Shrugs instead of DB Shrugs
Donkey Calf Raises instead of Leg Press Calf Raise (no leg press available)

Saturday-Off:

I will go swimming these days instead of nothing, unless I really need the rest.

So, this is the plan. Of course, I have already put in two of the workouts, so some hindsight has been helpful. This first weeks workout split is a little bit different than the one outlined above. I was going to change it up a little bit, but I think that it won’t work for the best.

This log is going to be a 10 week log. In the next 10 weeks I am still going to be focusing on fat loss (as I did not reach my goal of sub 10% bodyfat) but with the addition of trying to build some of the muscle I lost on my last log.

I had to cut the last "cut" shorter than I expected as I was a little burnt out, I got sick, and I had other things to attend to. I now am caught up with everything that I need to be caught up with and my schedule is a little more forgiving.

In this phase, I am going to be keeping the diet the same. I think this is one of the biggest downfalls I had in the last log was too much experimentation with my diet.

The kCal intake will be around 2400 on off days, and 2530 on workout days. I feel like the lower calories I did before was too much of a drop and this way I won’t be so tempted to cheat on my diet (especially with all the holidays coming up). I may start to decrease the total calories if I start to stagnate with my weight, but we’ll see what happens.

Training is going to be done Monday through Friday and each session should only take about 30 minutes as I will only be hitting each bodypart directly once a week. This is the split:

Mon: Upper and Lower Chest, Calves
Tue: Lats, Midback, Abs
Wed: Shoulder, Traps, Forearm
Thu: Quads, Hamstring, Calves
Fri: Bicep, Tricep, Abs
Sat: Swimming
Sun: REST

The only thing that will really change (other than supplements) during this phase will be cardio times. It will go something like this:

Week 1&2: Walk with my dog, Vida for about 20 minutes
Week 3&4:  10 minutes on elliptical + walk with Vida (30 minutes total)
Week 5&6:  20 minutes on elliptical + walk with Vida (40 minutes total)
Week 7&8:  30 minutes on elliptical + walk with Vida (50 minutes total)
Week 9&10: 40 minutes on elliptical + walk with Vida (60 minutes total)

Here we go baby!!!

(this started this week, so I am just getting up to speed and will post all of the weeks workouts)

Just figured out that I didn’t post it here on my blog:

Here will be the split that I use for the last 8 weeks of this cut. I had great success with the exercise progression that is used, and that is why I am coming back to it. I will also be doing workouts 1 and 4 at my school gym that has some equipment I don’t at home, so here it is.

Workout #1: 18 sets
Heavy: Quads, Upper Chest, Lower Chest
Light: Gastroc, Bicep, Forearm, Abs

Front Squats 1×7-9
Leg Extensions 1×15-20
Leg Press 1×7-9 + x-reps
Sissy Squats 1×8-12

Incline Bench Press 1×7-9
Incline Cable Flyes 1×15-20
Incline Smith Press 1×7-9 + x-reps
Incline DB Flyes 1×8-12

Dips 1xfailure
Cable Crossovers 1×15-20
Decline Bench Press 1×7-9 + x-reps
Flat DB Flyes 1×8-12

Calf Raises 1×20
Cable Curls 2×20
Gripping Exercise 1×20
Lying leg raises 1×20
Crunches 1×20
——————————————–
—————————————-
Workout #2: 18 sets
Heavy: Lats, Tricep, Shoulder
Light: Hamstring, Soleus, Midback, Traps

Parallel Grip Chinups: 2xfailure
Bentover Barbell Rows: 1×15-20
Widegrip Pulldowns: 1×7-9 + x-reps
DB Pullovers: 1×8-12

DB French Press: 1×7-9
Tricep Pushdowns: 1×15-20
Closegrip Decline Bench: 1×7-9 + x-reps
Rope Pushouts: 1×8-12

Overhead Press: 1×7-9
Leaning Lateral: 1×15-20
DB Upright Row: 1×7-9 + x-reps
Calbe Laterals: 1×8-12

Stifflegged Deadlift 1×20
BW Donkey Calf Raises: 1×40
V-handle Rows: 2×20
DB Shrugs: 1×20
——————————————–
—————————————-
Workout #3: 20 sets
Heavy: Gastroc, Bicep, Forearm, Abs
Light: Quads, Upper Chest, Lower Chest

Knee Extension Calf Raises: 1×12-15
Standing Calf Raises: 1×15-20
Knee Extension Calf Raises: 1×12-15 + x-reps
Donkey Calf Raises: 1xfailure

Close Grip Barbell Curls: 1×7-9
Concentration Curl: 1×15-20
Undergrip Pulldowns: 1×7-9 + x-reps
Incline Curls: 1×8-12

BTB Barbell Wrist Curls: 1×12-15, 1×20-25
Forearm Bar Reverse Wrist Curls: 1×12-15, 1×20-25
Super Gripper: 1×12-15
HD Gripper: 1xfailure

Hanging Knee Raises: 1×20
Full Range Crunches: 1×20
Lying Knee Raises: 1×20

Back Squats: 1×20
Incline DB Press: 1×20
DB Press: 1×20
——————————————–
—————————————-
Workout #4: 15 sets
Heavy: Hamstring, Soleus, Midback, Traps
Light: Lats, Tricep, Shoulder

Feet Forward Smith Machine Front Squats: 1×7-9
Leg Curls: 1×15-20
Feet Forward Smith Machine Front Squats: 1×7-9 + x-reps
Stiff Legged Deadlift: 1×8-12

Deadlifts: 2×15 (Light)
V-handle Rows: 1×7-9
Bentover Bentarm Laterals: 1×15-20
V-handle Rows: 1×7-9 + x-reps

Smith Machine Shrugs: 1×7-9
DB Shrugs: 1×15-20
Smith Machine Shrugs: 1×7-9 + x-reps

Pulldowns: 1×20
Closegrip Decline Bench: 1×20
Military Press: 1×20

This is a myriad of Steve Holman’s workout plans from his Xtreme Lean e-book (I highly recommend it) and the Heavy/Light system from years back. I think that split will do well.

[center][b]Cardio[/b][/center]

10 minute HIIT run in the morning.

10 minutes HIIT run after my weight workout

[center][b]Workout 1[/b][/center]

A)Incline Press: 180lbs 1×8 (X:Static Hold), 1×5 (X:Static Hold)
B)Dips: BW 1×11, 1×7

A)DB Flyes: 35lbs 1×20
B)Pushups: BW 1×16

A)Barbell Curl: 80lbs 1×12, 1×9
B)Undergrip Pulldowns: 100lbs 1×10 (X:5), 1×8 (X:4)

A)Incline Curls: 25lbs 1×7
B)Concentration Curls: 20lbs 1×16

A)Seated Calf Raises: 255lbs 1×20, 1×20

A) Lying Leg Raise: 1×26

Overall a good workout. It took a lot less time than the other workouts, but my chest and biceps were pumped by the end.

So at yoga about 4 weeks ago, I decided that I had to much bf% and so I decided to put my lifting goals on hold (this is also good as my shoulder is still acting up from time to time) and lose the fat.

At work, some co-workers and I decided to have a little contest with a $10 buy-in, and whoever lost the most bodyfat % in 3 months would win.

Here is the 1st phase’s workout routine (I have 3 phases that I will go through, although the weight workouts will look very, very similar in phases 1 and 3).

Sunday: Rest day
Monday: Weights/cardio
Tuesday: Weights/cardio
Wednesday: Yoga
Thursday: Weights/cardio
Friday: Weights/cardio
Saturday: Yoga

I will be rotating through 3 different workouts, so the 1st and 2nd week will look like this:

Sunday: Off
Monday: #1
Tuesday: #2
Wednesday: Yoga
Thursday: #3
Friday: #1
Saturday: Yoga
Sunday: Off
Monday: #2
Tuesday: #3
Wednesday: Yoga
Thursday: #1
Friday: #2
Saturday: Yoga

Etc…..

There are 20 total sets if you don’t count the drop sets as actual sets.

Only 13 total sets here (excluding drop sets) but being legs, the workouts are just as, if not more, strenuous.

Again, another 20 sets if excluding drop sets as actual sets. So there you have it!

Cardio will be done in the mornings, Monday-Friday.

Starting in week 4, I will also be doing cardio right after my workouts as well.

I am slowly going to increase cardio time over the 12 week cut and max out at 40 minutes total.

No cardio will be done on Saturday or Sunday.

Yoga will be done on Wednesday and Saturday. The Wednesday session will be done in the afternoon (and so cardio will be done in the morning) and the Saturday session will be done in the morning.

For the past 3 weeks I have been tapering my calories down as to not shock my system.

I will be eating 6 times a day. I will gradually work my way down to 2000 calories a day. Here is what it will look like

Weeks 1-3:
Calories: 2600
Carbs: 315g
Protein: 200g
Fat: 60g

Weeks 4-6:
Calories: 2400
Carbs: 265g
Protein: 200g
Fat: 60g

Weeks 7-9:
Calories: 2200
Carbs: 215g
Protein: 200g
Fat: 60g

Weeks 10-12:
Calories: 2000
Carbs: 165g
Protein: 200g
Fat: 60g

I know that weeks 1-3 look like a lot of carbs for a cut, but those weeks will really be part of my recomp and I will still be on lower calories than usual, so I should start to lose some weight.

So this is the plan on paper right now. But it may change depending on fat loss and (heaven forbid) muscle loss.

So there you have it!

(You can see what supps I will be taking on my bodyspace page. I am in the process of updating that as we speak)

I hope to be down to 185lbs but at less than 10% bodyfat at the end of the 3 month process. Wish me luck!

Ok everyone, the goals for my workouts are going to change (like I said, sort of).

What I am going to be working on in July-September is fat loss, nothing else. I have gotten too big of a gut and my bf% is way too high for my bodybuilding goals.

So the plan is to have a balls-to-the-wall 3 months of cutting. I hope to reach a bodyweight of 180-185lbs at a much lower bf%. (I came up with the 180-185 based on my current weight, bf%, and what I think will be possible in the next 3 months).

After this cut, I will resume training for the 315lbs bench, 405lbs squat, and (this has changed as well), a 495lbs deadlift. But my diet will be much cleaner the next time around, so bodyfat will be kept to a minimum.

For updates, see my training journal at:  http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=1008070

On Wednesday I PRed on Bench. I put up 225lbs for 6 reps. Today I crushed my old deadlift PR and did 295lbs for 8 reps. Feeling good!

Alright! I got a new PR in the squat and crushed it! I repped 295lbs for 5 reps, 2 more reps than I was even hoping for. Legs are a little sore now, but it was totally worth it.