MidwestBeast's (natty) New Year Shred

[MidwestBeast]

What's up, everyone :cheers:

Today marks the official start of my 8-week cut for the new year. I've been cutting quietly already, but today the insanity starts!

I will not be updating this log all that frequently, but I did want it up after thinking about it quite a while because it should be a pretty helpful resource for others who have trouble losing fat like myself.

Starting weight: 230 lbs (this morning)

I've already been on a keto diet for a week, so things are in full swing already in terms of ketosis. However, now it will get very clean and my fat intake will drop substantially. I'll be doing 2 carbohydrate refeeds each week (unless I feel like I'm doing really well and want to skip one occasionally). Refeeds will be on Tuesdays and Fridays; when I start I do my first is still up in the air, though. I'll lay out sample daily diets for keto days as well as refeed days at some point.

Training is taking a new turn for me. I will be doing 20 minutes of MIIT (moderate intensity interval training) on the treadmill each morning upon rising (after weighing in and then drinking 1 liter of water and taking my first batch of supplements). I use 2 minute intervals and vary the incline and speed. I ensure that the entire workout is at least somewhat difficult.



I will be using a 5-day split for lifting:



Monday: Biceps/Triceps
Tuesday: Legs/Abs
Wednesday: Delts/Traps
Thursday: Double Cardio
Friday: Chest/Abs
Saturday: Back
Sunday: Double Cardio



On double cardio days, I'll do my average 20 minutes in the morning and then another 45 (or so) minute session in the evening.

Abs will be done as bodyweight exercises one day and weighted exercises another.




I am trying something new in terms of my training. Odd weeks will be similar to my average style of training, but with abbreviated rest between sets (60 seconds between sets, 120 seconds when changing exercises). This will obviously lead to less weight getting pushed, but that's what even weeks are for. Even weeks will be Max-OT style training of rep ranges 4-6 and rest periods of 2-3 minutes. This will be my attempt at saving some strength as well as keeping my muscles shocked.

I have taken the last 4 days off from the gym completely to rest up (but not the diet). I've also been stimulant free (with 0 stimulants whatsoever) for the past 4 weeks, so I'm good to go.

Now for your favorite part: the supplementation. This is one all-out and crazy cut, but everything has its purpose in this. Many will think this is over-kill, and it really is in some ways, but there won't be conflicting supplements used. As I said, everything serves a very specific purpose here.



This is what I'll be using:





Ephedrine: 25mg 3x/day Weeks 1-8
Oxy Elite Pro: 2 caps 1x/day Weeks 1-8
Caffeine: 200mg 2x/day Weeks 1-8
EGCg: 400-500mg 2x/day Weeks 1-8
Lean Xtreme 1 cap 3x/day Weeks 1-7
HEAT Stack 1 cap 3x/day Weeks 1-8
TT-33 1 cap 4x/day Weeks 5-8
Sesamin 1 cap 3x/day Weeks 1-8
CLA 1 cap 3x/day Weeks 1-8
ALC 1 cap 2x/day Weeks 1-8
Eviscerate Weeks 5-8
Pink Magic 2 caps 3-4x/day Weeks 1-8
ERASE 1 cap 3x/day Weeks 5-8
Triazole 1 cap 3x/day Weeks 1-4
Potassium Citrate 99mg 3x/day Weeks 1-8
Potassium Gluconate 99mg 3x/day Weeks 1-8
Oximega Greens 1 scoop 1x/day Weeks 1-8





And this is how the dosing will be for the start of things until noted otherwise:




6:15 Ephedrine /2 OEP /EGCg /Lean Xtreme / HEAT / 2 Triazole
7:00 Meal 1 – Sesamin / CLA / ALC / NOW Adam / Pink Magic /Super Enzymes/ Potassium Citrate & Gluconate / Oximega Greens / Fish Oil
9:30 Meal 2
10:30 Ephedrine / Caffeine / EGCg / Lean Xtreme / HEAT
12:00 Meal 3 – Sesamin / CLA / ALC / Pink Magic / Super Enzymes / Potassium Citrate & Gluconate
2:15 Ephedrine / Caffeine /Lean Xtreme / HEAT / Triazole
3:00 Meal 4
4:15 pre-workout – Pink Magic / whatever pre-wo I choose to add
6:00 Meal 5
7:00 Meal 6 – Sesamin / CLA / Multi / Pink Magic /Super Enzymes / Zinc / Potassium Citrate & Gluconate
9:30 Meal 7



I'll be taking 3 scoops of USP Labs ModernBCAAs and mixing them in with 1/2 a gallon of water to drink intra workout (until further notice of when I run out and switch products).

I'll also be drinking between 2 and 3 gallons of water daily:

- 1 liter upon rising
- 1 liter post cardio/shower with Meal 1
- 4 liters minimum throughout work day
- 2 liters intra-workout

I will be doing before and after pictures as well as possibly some progress pictures along the way. Before picture will be taken this evening, but will not be posted until the end of things (or at least later).

I will be posting regularly in some other logs that I'll be running, but I will pop in here from time to time as well. So, if there are any questions or comments, please feel free to post them up.

 

[saggy321]

Majorily in for this!! You should be ripped up with a stack and diet like that!

 

[MAxximal]

IMO (OEP + Alpha T2 or HEAT + EC) and your adrenals not need much stress

 

[MAxximal]

TT-33 cause Lethargy so NOT USE after workouts and Alpha-T2 has one of the ingredients in TT-33

 

[MidwestBeast]

TT-33 cause Lethargy so NOT USE after workouts and Alpha-T2 has one of the ingredients in TT-33

Thanks for that, bro. I actually just had Alpha T2 left over and initially was going to run it in the beginning at 2 caps a day for a few weeks. After doing more research, I didn't want to run it in conjunction with OEP and/or HEAT. So, it very likely will not be used at all. And I know that OEP and HEAT already is something not that ideal, but I'm just using OEP as my caffeine source for my initial E dose of the day at 2 caps. And, if it proves to be a problem, I'll just drop OEP and use 200mg caffeine in its place again.

But again, thank you for weighing in - it is much appreciated.

 

[MidwestBeast]

Majorily in for this!! You should be ripped up with a stack and diet like that!

Glad to have you on board.

 

[MAxximal]

Glad i can help bud!
did you no think this weight program is too heavy for Keto?

 

[MidwestBeast]

Glad i can help bud!
did you no think this weight program is too heavy for Keto?

I think I should be all right with it. The standard week with abbreviated rest is typically 3-4 sets of 3-4 lifts per body part with rep ranges of 12-15 and it has worked amazingly for me over the past year and a half. I just want to bump the rest time down a little bit to keep the HR up and make it that much more different from the heavy week.

Now, I really thought about just running my standard style all the way through, but already I've been noticing some strength loss, so I'm hoping this helps. In the summer I ran Max-OT (on a caloric excess) for about 8 weeks and had insane strength gains from it.

Last spring I was actually managing to make strength increases on my keto diet (running Pink Magic in the beta-testing phase) while losing 6.5 lbs over the course of 4 weeks as well. Now that I've got my refeeds set up even more efficiently, I'm hoping to replicate that success.

So here's to hoping this little mixture does the trick

 

[SouthernCharm]

yo bro i guess i can be here... lol


good luck and kill that sh1t!!!

and also, if youre an egg fan...

http://anabolicminds.com/forum/nutrition-health/166652-yoked-up-official.html#post2702908

 

[MidwestBeast]

yo bro i guess i can be here... lol


good luck and kill that sh1t!!!

and also, if youre an egg fan...

http://anabolicminds.com/forum/nutrition-health/166652-yoked-up-official.html#post2702908

Glad to have you around, bro

And I just saw that link on my twitter feed a little while ago and felt sick to my stomach initially lol. I'll be lurking in it, but I have a feeling I probably won't be competing

 

[MidwestBeast]

my first subscription of the New Year..

cheers, Beast! :hammer:

I'm simply honored

Cheers to you as well, my friend :cheers:

 

[MidwestBeast]

Okay, so I made some adjustments in the original post to better reflect things. Changed items are:

- addition of abs on 2 days I'd forgot to mention
- 60 seconds rest between sets on odd weeks, 120 seconds rest when changing exercises
- addition of potassium citrate to 2 more meals
- addition of potassium gluconate
- addition of Oximega Greens to meal 1
- refeed days being Tuesday and Friday
- water intake of 2-3 gallons (and when)
- 3 scoops of USP ModernBCAAs intra-workout

 

[MidwestBeast]

Day 1

1-3-11


20 minutes fasted AM cardio


Arms (PM):


Olympic Bar Curls: 75x12 / 85x12 / 85x12 / 85x12
Overhead Ring Curls: 80x12 / 80x12 / 80x12 / 70x12
DB Preacher Hammer Curls: 25x12 / 25x12 / 30x12 / 30x12

Tri Bar Pushdowns (wide): 130x12 / 160x12 / 180x12 / 180x12
Upright Overhead Rope Extension and Roll (low pulley): 80x12 / 90x12 / 90x12 / 80x12
45 Degree Reverse Ring Curl: 50x12 / 60x12 / 50x12 / 50x12


Total workout time: 39 minutes





Notes (on stack):

Noticed the stack hitting me nicely today; not jittery at all, but definitely elevated HR, increased urination and unfortunately increased cramping (toes, fingers, arch of my foot in particular) despite drinking close to 3 gallons of water throughout the day. The cramping was the reason for the addition of more potassium throughout the day. Essentially taking in 300mg of citrate and 300mg of gluconate each day now in hopes of remedying this.

Increased sweating was also occurring, though it wasn't anywhere near as bad as the first time I ran E/C in the Summer of 09.


Notes (on workout):

This was intense. Luckily the cramping subsided pretty quickly for me (didn't notice it anymore after the first 3 sets or so). I didn't feel like I could even lift my arms on about the 8th rep of my last set of olympic bar curls. I really like this style of training and am excited to see how the heavy week goes. I'm not looking forward to tomorrow's leg day done in this fashion, though.

It was also my first gym workout of the new year and of course it was riddled with new members. As bad as it might be to say, I can't wait until almost all of these people cave in and stop coming in another couple weeks.

Pump was still crazy today, despite the numbers being a bit lower with the decreased rest. I'm actually pretty proud of the numbers considering that.



I'll likely still take a pre-workout product along with Pink Magic 30 minutes before hitting the gym. Today I tried BPI's 1MR for the first time (had a sample). It was pretty good. I'll just be using very minimal amounts since I'm taking in so much caffeiene already.

 

[MAxximal]

Sweet!

 

[MidwestBeast]

Day 2

1-4-11


Weight: 227.8 (-2.2)


20 minutes morning fasted cardio




***Also wanted to clarify that I took 3 doses of Lean Xtreme yesterday, but will not resume use of this until I'm done running LG's beta version of Topical 7-Keto. I just kind of spaced on this yesterday and didn't think much of it until the evening. Don't need to completely eliminate cortisol from my body :lol:

 

[MidwestBeast]

Day 2

1-4-11


Legs (PM)

Leg Press: 360x12 / 450x12 / 500x12 / 550x12
Leg Extensions: 140x12 / 170x12 / 170x12 / 170x12
Seated Leg Curls: 125x12 / 140x12 / 140x12 / 140x12
Walking DB Lunges: 35's x 10 / 35's x 10
Seated Calf Raises: 140x15 / 160x15 / 160x15 / 160x15
Seated Calf Extensions: 170x15 / 185x15 / 185x15 / 185x15

Total workout time: 38 minutes




***Okay, so things hit a bit of a snag this evening. This workout was absolutely horrendous. I was definitely feeling the workout catching up to me far too quickly and my legs just felt awful. My strength was much weaker today compared to yesterday (numbers were just awful on this).

I was cramping really bad the entire time, but I didn't give up. My calf numbers probably suffered the most.

I went to go do abs, despite all of this, and on the very first crunch, my entire stomach cramped up on me and my abs went into an incredibly painful flex (upper right ab was sticking out further than I've ever seen it before.

Needless to say, I didn't get abs today. To be honest, I haven't cramped this badly all around since I was 14 and had a heat stroke one summer during a baseball double header (ended up on the ground behind my house for an entire hour while every muscle flexed involuntarily; couldn't even walk the next day because I was so weak).

It didn't really sink in until the middle of this workout that I desperately need a carb refeed.

This was Day 9 of keto, with my only "refeed" being a minor slip-up on Friday night (3 pieces of frozen pizza) and Saturday morning (pretty small piece of home made cake). Aside from that, it's been all fats and protein, with total carb intake at like <20g/day.

So, I decided to add 50g waxy maize to my post isolate shake and then about an hour and a half later, I had ~60g of oatmeal. I preceded the oatmeal with a P-Slin, but didn't mess with anything before the shake, because I didn't want to wait the extra 15-20 minutes.

I'll re-assess in the morning as to whether I want more carbs wit breakfast or if my body feels back to normal. My next scheduled refeed will be on Friday, but we'll see how all of this works out.



So, this should remedy all the problems that I've been worried about. It seems that the lack of carbohydrates, plus this stack (despite drinking 3 gallons of water a day) had me pretty dehydrated. I even took taurine pre-workout tonight, but this was just killer.

I guess when I'd ran E/C in the past, I didn't run keto and even though my total cals were very low, it wasn't enough to dehydrate me. This is very new. I actually read a pretty good article earlier that helped out:

http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/nutrition/whats-causing-my-muscles-to-cram.html

Anyway, this should help with the need for potassium and such. I'll continue with everything as has been laid out until I feel it needs changed.

 

[MidwestBeast]

1-5-11:

Morning weight: 226.2 lbs (-3.8)



I've seen this trend before, with a quick weight-loss that changes right back and stalls out. However, I'm treating this one differently given the circumstances of how my body is feeling.

I skipped morning cardio today for the reasons of the weight drop (despite my mini carb refeed over 2 meals last night), my legs being somewhat sore from the killer workout last night, and the previous cramping.

I did decide to eat a pretty fat-heavy breakfast in order to speed up recovery a bit (and for a very mild fear that my very lean meals and low cal intake has led to some muscle loss. Though, I'll say that my muscles still look and feel fine and I think all this time I've just ignored the fact that I have a decent amount of fat to lose, but I've just always had it, so I've not noticed it.).

 

[MAxximal]

1-5-11:

Morning weight: 226.2 lbs (-3.8)



I've seen this trend before, with a quick weight-loss that changes right back and stalls out. However, I'm treating this one differently given the circumstances of how my body is feeling.

I skipped morning cardio today for the reasons of the weight drop (despite my mini carb refeed over 2 meals last night), my legs being somewhat sore from the killer workout last night, and the previous cramping.

I did decide to eat a pretty fat-heavy breakfast in order to speed up recovery a bit (and for a very mild fear that my very lean meals and low cal intake has led to some muscle loss. Though, I'll say that my muscles still look and feel fine and I think all this time I've just ignored the fact that I have a decent amount of fat to lose, but I've just always had it, so I've not noticed it.).

did you noticed your weight fluctuates or not?

 

[MidwestBeast]

did you noticed your weight fluctuates or not?

Well, so far it's only gone down. It's not unusual for my weight to still drop after a refeed, though in this case (with the cramping from total lack of carbs) I'm a little surprised.

Like I said, though, in the past, I've seen weight go down, then go back up a bit, then stall out.

Hoping to keep going down this time. After another week or so, I should have a pretty good idea of what'll happen this time, though.

 

[MAxximal]

Well, so far it's only gone down. It's not unusual for my weight to still drop after a refeed, though in this case (with the cramping from total lack of carbs) I'm a little surprised.

Like I said, though, in the past, I've seen weight go down, then go back up a bit, then stall out.

Hoping to keep going down this time. After another week or so, I should have a pretty good idea of what'll happen this time, though.

Nice!!!

did you use BCAA?

 

[MidwestBeast]

Nice!!!

did you use BCAA?

I use 3 scoops of ModernBCAAs (in 1/2 a gallon of water) drank intra-workout.

And prior to AM cardio, I'll have about 1 serving (or slightly less) of BC+EAA.

 

[1ArmMan]

I'm intrigued. In for this one;p

Sent from my SCH-I500 using Tapatalk

 

[NADDANME]

Sub'd Looking to do my first real cut in starting in Febuary so i'm looking for some ideas. Looks Epic

 

[MidwestBeast]

I'm intrigued. In for this one;p

Sent from my SCH-I500 using Tapatalk

Glad to have you aboard :cheers:

Sub'd Looking to do my first real cut in starting in Febuary so i'm looking for some ideas. Looks Epic

Thanks for stopping in, man.

I've done a number of cuts before, but this is the first time I've done it with the best knowledge of nutrition in my life, experience of knowing how my body responds to what and the full line-up of supplement attack from multiple pathways

 

[biggfly]

A bad ab cramp is F***ing brutal...crumples you to your knees.

 

[MidwestBeast]

A bad ab cramp is F***ing brutal...crumples you to your knees.

Haha, dude, it's like I couldn't even explain it to anyone else! I kid you not, it was the first crunch and it just looked awful, too. I wear cutoffs most of the time and I could pull it to the side and see it all the way out and it was almost rolled up and over my ribs a little, too, somehow. That was the eye-opener.

Luckily, 100g of carbs over the night must've been all I needed.

I went HARD tonight and had no issues at all. It definitely was dehydration due to lack of carbs.




***If anyone ever experiences something similar, or tries to replicate my stack and training while running the same supplements, I'd very highly recommend reading the article I linked up.

 

[MidwestBeast]

1-5-11

No AM cardio


PM: Delts/Traps


Smith Machine Military Press (front): 90x12 / 130x12 / 140x12 / 140x11
Cable Side Lateral Raises: 70x12 / 70x12 / 70x12 / 80x12
Seated Bent Over Rear Delt DB Raises: 95's x 12 / 95's x 12 / 95's x 12 / 95's x 12
Reverse Pec Deck: 95x12 / 95x12 / 95x12 / 80x12
BB Shrugs (bar in front): 225x12 / 275x12 / 315x12 / 365x12
DB Shrugs: 95's x 20 / 95's x 20 / 95's x 20 / 95's x 20



Total time: 38 minutes (I think, don't have my notebook w/ me, but it was right around the same time as my last 2 workouts)




Again, for those new to my style, I do not count any weight on Smith Machines or Leg presses, etc. Only time I count "extra" weight, is any of the bars (e.g. olympic bar, curl bar, etc.).


Apparently 100g of carbs was all I needed I felt amazing this workout - even better than Monday's arm workout. I was pushing numbers only slightly less (if not the exact same) as I was doing the same lifts/sets/reps with twice as much rest time. My delt veins were insane, too.

I had forgot to take my dose of Pink Magic pre-workout on leg day, so I doubled it and used 4 caps pre-workout last night. I also used a sample pack of APS's Mesomorph for the first time. Based on the ingredient profile, I was a little worried it would be too much for me right now. Funny thing is, I didn't "feel" it at all compared to say Jack3d, 1MR, etc. However, my workout speaks for itself. Definitely looking forward to the rest of those sample packs and then may have to hit JD up to order a tub.

 

[MidwestBeast]

1-6-11:

Morning weight: 226.2 (-3.8 / unchanged from yesterday)


Skipped morning cardio once again, because my legs are still so zapped from Tuesday night. I'm hoping to still get my evening cardio session in tonight, but I won't push my luck. The last thing I want to do is compound the issue and hurt my chances of my next leg day.

Tomorrow is my first FULL and SCHEDULED refeed. It will be spread across 4 meals.

Meal 1
Meal 2
*Meal 3 (ex: 50g sugar free oatmeal & some ample source of protein) - 5 hours pre-workout
*Meal 4 (ex: 2 large bananas) - 2 hours pre-workout
workout
*Meal 5 (ex: 2 large bananas + whey isolate shake) - ~15 minutes post-workout
*Meal 6 (ex: 50g sugar free oatmeal & some ample source of protein) - ~2 hours after post meal


The key is to get the pre and post workout meals including sugar. I could opt for a cheat type source there as long as it's low fat. I probably will down the road as I need "cheats," but right now, I want the clean sources and I want the potassium lol.

I'll lay out a sample of my non-refeed days in a bit.

I also have pretty well found the average keto days I can use to lose weight and those to keep it steady (nice!).

I was initially worried about the pretty quick weight loss since I didn't have much glycogen anyway, but if I can put up these numbers and keep my strength, I feel confident I'm keeping the muscle (just my opinion).

 

[MidwestBeast]

Okay, so yesterday, this is what I ate:

7:30 AM - Egg white omelette w/ 1 slice FF American, 1 slice Kraft Pepperjack & 5 sausage patties
9:30 AM - 2 cans chunk light tuna, (almost) 1 serving of almonds
12:30 PM - Tyson frozen chicken fajita strips, (almost) 1 serving of almonds
3:30 PM - Protein shake (50g protein)

workout

6:00 PM - Whey isolate shake (50g protein)
7:30 PM - 2 turkey brats, 1 scoop protein (mini-shake)
10:30 PM - 2 scoops (40g) casein blend shake


~totals: protein - 350g, fat - 120g, carbs - <25g (mostly from the almonds)

So, ballpark amount is 2500 cals

That kept me at the exact same weight and was on a very hard workout day.





What I'll eat today (most likely):

2 turkey brats, egg white omelette (prepared same way)
1 can tuna, 1/2 serving almonds
frozen chicken, 1/2 serving almonds
protein shake
protein shake or lean meat
lean meat, 1/2 serving almonds
casein blend


Totals: ~325g protein, <60-70g fat, <20g carbs


This is similar to what I've been doing daily (except today is a non-lifting day, so I don't have the isolate shake) and losing steadily.

I know all will be questioning this, since keto calls for high fat intake. But, let me tell you, my body is very strange. I don't lose fat the way others do. I ate incredibly clean and little for years, but still never lost (even ran up to 5 miles a night).

This works (for me).

I've figured out what does the trick, and this is it.

So, follow along as I eat drastically less than a person of my size should

 

[oufinny]

Wow that is low cals Midwest, those are my maintenance numbers, lol. Crazy stack man, if that does not lean you out nothing will.

 

[MidwestBeast]

Wow that is low cals Midwest, those are my maintenance numbers, lol. Crazy stack man, if that does not lean you out nothing will.

Haha, I know, man! It never added up, but it also explains why I never could cut the bodyfat for all those years. I just used the BMI calculators, etc. that were for someone of my size and activity level. To say my body is unique may be an understatement.

And this stack in conjunction with the diet and workout I have mapped out is already doing the trick Can't wait to see how I look in another 7 weeks.

 

[MidwestBeast]

1-7-11

Morning weight: 226.4 (-3.8 / unchanged again)



Skipped cardio again and my chest day. I was really, really sick. I'll explain in a moment.

This was a carb re-feed day. It was supposed to be my chest workout day and I didn't want to do it on a day out of the gym, but with being dehydrated at the beginning of the week, there was no waiting another day to risk that again.

 

[MidwestBeast]

1-8-11

Morning Weight: 224 lbs (-6 overall / -2.4 from yesterday)

20 minutes fasted cardio (treadmill 2 minute intervals)



This was the first day I've done my morning cardio in a while, after having to skip 3 sessions. Despite the carb refeed yesterday, i still dropped 2.4 lbs. Since I wasn't working out, cals were kept low. Since it was a refeed day, fat was kept low, as well. Protein wasn't as high as I'd like yesterday, but still pretty good (considering how sick I was). Carb refeed consisted of 4 meals of approximately 60g carbs each.

I'm about to go hit chest in a bit, and excited for that, since I'd been sick for a while.



General Health Update:

Okay, so as much as I didn't want to admit it, I got sick. I very rarely get sick, so when it hits, it sucks. I started getting a scratchy throat on Wednesday night, but it wasn't too bad. Thursday morning I woke up with my throat feeling a bit tight as well as scratchy, but it still wasn't that awful. As soon as I got home from work Thursday afternoon, it hit bad. I got hit with some nasty congestion (nose and ears) and felt like I was underwater. The rest of Thursday night sucked, it was miserable sleep. Friday morning I woke up and there was no way I could go into work; it had somehow become even worse. In fact, I couldn't even go back to sleep, so luckily I was able to do some work from home at least. It would go through waves of feeling better, then worse. I was convinced at one point that I could go into the gym and get my lift in, but convinced myself not to - and I'm glad.

I ended up having a fever come on in the evening, too. I got a little lightheaded and things were really bad. That finally broke (I slept on the couch downstairs for a bit) and then I went up to bed and slept for another 7 hours or so straight.

I woke up this morning and felt not "great" but much better. Ears have popped, congestion in the nose isn't as bad and swelling in my tonsils is subsiding. Scratchy throat isn't as bad now, either.


If anyone wants updates on how I medicated to get through this, just ask and I'll post; otherwise I'm not going to type all of that out.

 

[MidwestBeast]

1-8-11:

Chest / Abs


Cable Flys (low pulley): 80x12 / 90x12 / 90x12 / 80x12
Cable Flys (high pulley): 100x12 / 100x12 / 100x12 / 100x12
Incline Bench: 135x12 / 155x12 / 145x10 / 135x8
Dips (bodyweight): 4x12
Cable Crunches: 120x12 / 140x12 / 160x12 / 160x12
Decline Russian Twists (w/ plate): 25x12 / 25x12 / 25x12 / 25x12

Total time: 45 min.



- This was supposed to be done yesterday on my refeed day.
- I normally do AM cardio, then lift in the evening after several meals (this was done with only one meal in my body).
- I usually lead with incline bench press, but doing it third had my numbers way down.
- I took one sample pack of Mesomorph and 4 caps of Pink Magic pre-workout.
- From now on I will be dosing Pink Magic 5 days on (lifting days) and 2 days off (cardio-only days), instead of 6/1. I'll be dosing 2 caps with 3 meals and 4 caps pre-workout (10 caps/day).
- I'll continue dosing a pre-workout product (I've got tons to choose from) along with the 4 caps of Pink Magic.
- This was the first time I've hit abs directly in close to 3 months - I could tell. I've lost a ton of size in my lower abs, which really sucks because it took forever to build them up.
- I just felt really weak during this entire workout. My stomach and upper chest just felt way too empty. I attribute this to getting over being sick, working out earlier and with only 1 meal in me, as well as starting with flys (to ensure I'd get in on the cables) instead of bench.
- From now on, I'll use DB incline bench press on my high rep / low rest weeks. The only reason I never did them anymore was because we only have up to 100's and I always lifted more than that.
- I'll also make sure to get any weekend workouts in later in the day if possible from here on out. The reason I sadly didn't, was because I wanted to be home for the football games lol.

 

[MidwestBeast]

1-9-11

Morning Weight: 223.6 (-6.4 / -0.4)

20 minutes fasted cardio



Was going to hit back today, but I have a change in plans.

I'm going to do back tomorrow, in order to give myself an extra day to get more strength back since I felt so weak in there yesterday. I'll replace that by doing an extra cardio session tonight at some point.

I'm going to skip my arms workout this week. I very well may opt for doing arms every other week, anyway, since they'll be getting hit plenty on the other days and most would agree that they don't need worked separately all that often.

This is going to have be doing:

Monday: Back (high rep/low rest)
Tuesday: Legs (Max-OT)
Wednesday: Delts/Traps (Max-OT)
rest of week according to plan

It's not the most ideal situation, but it'll work. This will just get me going quicker and get me "back to normal" sooner. Feeling weak in the gym is bad enough when it's on a cut and you're healthy; doing it when you're immune system isn't 100% makes it unbearable.

 

[MidwestBeast]

1-10-11:

Morning Weight: 223.6 (-6.4 / unchanged)

20 minutes fasted cardio



Back (week 1 style training) PM







Didn't do my second set of cardio yesterday as I didn't eat much at all (really decreased appetite) and it wouldn't have done much good for that reason.

 

[MidwestBeast]

Week 1 Summary

Weight loss: 6.4 lbs

Stack notes: Lean Xtreme hasn't been used, and will not be used until the run of LG's Topical 7-Keto DHEA has completed (it, by the way, is really starting to shine). I haven't been taking my Oximega Greens regularly. As bad as it is to say, it's because it looks like cissus powder, and then once mixed, it looks like dirt! Now, get this - it tastes phenomenal! It tastes just like spearmint gum. My mind gets the better of me, though, and while I've been sick, it's been very hard to bring myself to take it. I have also cut the potassium back down to just the potassium citrate at 1 cap (99mg), once a day. Vitamin C has been used the past several days at 1g, 3x a day. Once I'm fully recovered, it will still be kept at an extra 1g/day, likely.

Training notes: The new style of 60 seconds rest and 120 seconds between switching exercises is killer. I love it and I hate it. It may be just what my body needed to really kick things into gear. After my one and only ab workout (directly hit, that is) in several months, they are toasted. It's also evident that they have shrunk quite a bit, too. It's good and bad. The bad is obvious, but the good thing is that my bodyfat will be less deceiving, now. In the past, it would seem that my bf% was lower since I could see my abs so easily, but it was just how greatly developed they were (not being ****y, just a true observation).

Being sick: Between the sickness and the stack, my appetite has been non-existent. I didn't notice the lack of appetite prior to being sick, though. So, hopefully it won't be too much of an issue to combat. The one thing I'll say, though, is if you can't eat, you can't cheat. The swollen tonsils made the biggest contribution to this. Calories have been lower what they should, but I've made sure to choke down protein shakes to keep that intake high enough, at least.




I could probably write more, but that's it for now. I'm very happy with week 1's progress, especially considering that I was as sick as I've been in quite some time for half of it at least. 6.4 lbs is a solid drop and I'm at the lowest I'd been since pre-bulking around July. Skin is getting much tighter around my abs and obliques (still not much change on lower back, which is a bad spot).

 

[NADDANME]

Well done log man, keep it up.

 

[MidwestBeast]

Well done log man, keep it up.

Thanks, bro. Appreciate it :cheers:

 

[MidwestBeast]

1-10-11:

PM: Back (last day of week-1 style of training)

Lat Pulldowns: 160x12 / 170x12 / 170x12 / 170x12
Bent Over Smith Machine Rows: 180x12 / 180x12 / 190x12 / 200x12
D Ring Pulldowns: 130x12 / 150x12 / 150x12 / 150x12
Seated Rows (wide/neutral grip): 180x12 / 180x12 / 180x12 / 180x12

Total time: 26 minutes


* I was very impressed with the amount of strength I maintained here. As you can see by some of the numbers starting lower and then working up to a higher weight at the end, I was anticipating more strength loss. This was very nice. Part of that can be attributed to me not leading this back workout off with deads as I had been (those will be saved for Max OT weeks).

** This was my first day of using USP's new pump product: Yok3d (beta). I dosed 4 caps with my pre-workout meal, which is usually closer to an hour, hour and a half out, but happened to be 2 hours out today due to some timing issues w/ trying to leave work, etc. I was very impressed with the effects considering I hadn't had any carbs since Friday and I was feeling pretty deflated/weak.

____________________________________________________________

1-11-10:

Morning weight: 223.6 (-6.4 / unchanged)

No AM cardio in anticipation of Max OT leg day tonight.

 

[MidwestBeast]

Oh, and I've been using Pink Magic and my dosing has been adapted to:

2 caps 3x a day with meals on lifting days (5 days/week)
4 caps pre-workout on lifting days (5 days/week)

2 days off



I forgot to dose those yesterday, so the pump came from just Yok3d and whatever 1.5 scoops of Jack3d gives (which is something, but not as much as what I had).

 

[MidwestBeast]

1-11-11:

PM: Legs / Abs


***This is the first day of this week's training style of Max-OT. Minimal sets, maximum weight, rep ranges from 4-6. I'll continue alternating styles back and forth, each week. Abs will still follow their own format.



Squats: 315x6 / 335x6 / 355x5 / 355x3
Leg Press: 540x6 / 720x5 / 720x4
Leg Extensions: 255x6 / 255x8 (stack maxed out)
Seated Calf Raises: 270x6 / 230x6 / 230x8
Seated Solo Calf Extensions: 170x6 / 185x8
Hanging Leg Raises: BW x 10 / x10 / x10
Planks: (30 seconds each: plank, right side plank, left side plank - 0 rest) 2 circuits (3 min)

Total workout time: 63 minutes


I should have gotten done a bit quicker, but I got caught up talking to a friend. It was after legs were done, though, at least. So, it was about 5 minutes spent talking prior to my leg raises.

I have lost significant leg strength since the summer. But, considering I'm not only cutting and 18 lbs lighter from my summer Max-OT numbers, but doing it on keto - I can live with it.

My glutes, upper hammys and my right knee were getting very sore from the squats. This led into leg press and the knee was a big reason for cut reps or not going for more weight. Luckily, the rest of the lifts didn't bother it.

 

[MidwestBeast]

1-12-11:

Morning weight: 224.8 (-5.2 / +1.2 from yesterday)


20 minutes fasted cardio



I was a little upset about the weight gain, as lately, my carb refeeds have led to decreases the following day. However, I'm not worried about it after looking in the mirror. Definitely looking tighter around the midsection and from the side, I look as narrow as I have in a very long time. Legs are also starting to shape up very well with added definition coming in more. Considering that I lifted very hard and heavy last night, I'll chalk the numbers up to water weight from carbs or potential lean mass added - not worried about it anymore.

 

[MidwestBeast]

1-12-11:

PM: Delts / Traps


Nautilus Overhead Press: 230x9 / 250x7 / 270x6 / 280x3
Arnolds: 55's x 8 / 65's x 7 / 75's x 6
DB Side Lateral Raises: 65's x 10 / 75's x 10
Olympic Bar Shrugs: 405x5 / 405x8 / 405x9
Upright Rows: 155x8 / 185x8

Total workout time: 45 minutes


1-13-11:

Morning Weight: 224.8 (-5.2 / unchanged)

No AM cardio - legs are much more sore today from Tuesday night. Trying to massage them out as much as I can.



Cardio this evening if legs can handle it; don't want to set anything further back, though. Refeed tomorrow.

 

[MidwestBeast]

1-12-11:

Ended up being completely OFF, because legs were just not going to handle it. I was watching the premiere of Lights Out last night and had a huge urge to hit the treadmill hard, but I knew it would just set me back further right now. Legs should be getting used to this new workout scheme soon, so that'll stop these breaks.





1-13-11:

Morning Weight: 226.2 (-3.8 / +1.4 from yesterday)

No morning cardio - should be squared away to start doing cardio again tomorrow morning. Legs feel much better, but still sore enough that I want another break.

Chest/Abs tonight.



* I'm a little bit pissed / confused about the weight gain. I suppose some of it could be holding more water, but I don't quite buy that. I've had no cheats on the diet. I know that when you "eat too little" you can hold onto weight and not lose, but there's no way you could gain! What I'm going to chalk it up to right now is a combination of two things:

1.) The last 2 days for dinner I've had 4 mini sausage patties and an egg-beaters omelette w/ a slice of 2% pepperjack and 2 slices of fat free (sharp and American) cheese. The sausage patties are something like 13g fat per patty. This shouldn't be an issue in terms of my overall cal intake for the day still being low enough.

2.) Max-OT style training is leading to muscle gain with the very heavy lifting. It is also not burning as much fat, since the pace is much more relaxed and slowed down.


To alleviate this situation, I'll be leaning up the dinner meal even more and eliminating more of that fat.




Today is a carb refeed and I'm toying with the idea of a semi-dirty / high calorie final meal today (everything else being on point prior) to spike metabolism before going back to a very clean, keto diet tomorrow morning.

 

[MAxximal]

did you have 14 days on Keto?

 

[MidwestBeast]

did you have 14 days on Keto?

I can let you know after my workout tonight (I have the start date and what the current day is listed in my notebook). But, I think I'm somewhere closer to Day 19 today.