Jimothy's Back (and worse than ever)

Dustin07 said:
your lower strength is



I'm not familiar with this particular machine but that seems stronk to me.
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It's a plate loaded that lets you use the 3 separate pegs to change the resistance profile. I put most of the weight in the middle with the next most in the lengthened peg to have some solid resistance at the start. Only a little at the fully shortened position since that's the weakest part of the movement (and hardest on my old man knees).

Can pretty confidently say I'd still be able to squat 400+ with just a little dedicated training to get used to handling those near-max loads again, especially since I was pretty comfortably repping above 3 plates on the quad-dominant variants.

Need to get around to just doing some kind of testing for squat and bench (not true maxes, but close) just to see. Maybe once I get out of this depleted phase and get some calories in me again.

Probably won't deadlift because of the risk, but should do the other two.
 
Also, diet update: was seeing some pretty freaky ab veins last night before showering. Going to carb up on Saturday in advance of the DEXA (at the owner's recommendation for most accurate scan).

Imagine things will look pretty freaky if I do that right.
 
Jimbabwe said:
Also, diet update: was seeing some pretty freaky ab veins last night before showering. Going to carb up on Saturday in advance of the DEXA (at the owner's recommendation for most accurate scan).

Imagine things will look pretty freaky if I do that right.
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Did you say how much the place is charging? I can't remember. There's supposedly a place by me that has just started offering this. I'd be curious to get it done as well to have a more accurate understanding of my BF%.
 
Segansational said:
Did you say how much the place is charging? I can't remember. There's supposedly a place by me that has just started offering this. I'd be curious to get it done as well to have a more accurate understanding of my BF%.
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It's $275 for just the body fat analysis. They charge extra (maybe $450?) to include the bone density results. I did the bone density last time, but didn't think necessary to do again.

Probably cheaper in places that aren't NYC.
 
Push today:

Prime Pec Deck: 230 x 7, 205 x 5
Lying Cable Laterals: 70 x 8, 60 x 7
Arsenal NG Incline: 160 x 8, 140 x 8
Rope Pushdown: 120 x 6, 100 x 8
BTN Tri Extension: 110 x 8, 100 x 6
BTN Smith OHP: 155 x 7, 135 x 8

Notes: super low energy today. Pushed weight or reps on maybe half of the exercises today, but in most cases probably got too close to failure on first set and didn't have enough gas after for the second set.

Ah well, live and learn.
 
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Pull day:

WG Lat Pulldown: 175 x 7, 160 x 8
Arsenal Kelso Shrug: 140 x 8, 120 x 8
UH Pulldown: 170 x 8, 155 x 8
BB Shrug: 365 x 5, 315 x 8
Prime Rear Delt: 170 x 6, 155 x 7
Atlantis Preacher: 120 x 8, 105 x 6
Hammer Preacher: 105 x 6, 90 x 7
RG Cable Curl: 95 x 7, 85 x 7
 
179.8 fasted this AM. DEXA tomorrow AM, so refeed today. Target is 3000-3200 calories. 60g fat, 180g protein, 450-485g carbs.

Pics from after legs today. Had about 60g carbs pre-WO, but flat as ****. Will see what I look like tomorrow morning after carbing up.

PXL_20260404_170648763.LONG_EXPOSURE-02.ORIGINAL.webp
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Legs from today:

Prime Leg Extension: 320 x 6, 295 x 7
Prime Lying Leg Curl: 125 x 6, 110 x 7
Adduction: 140 x 5, 125 x 6
Hack Calf Raise: 500 x 8, 450 x 8 (time to up weight)
Arsenal Hip Thrust: 540 x 8, 500 x 8 (time to up weight)
Hack Squat: 360 x 7, 320 x 6
Smith SLDL: 275 x 6, 225 x 7 (felt much better today on the smith, so think that's the go forward answer on these)
 
Dude, Jim you are looking jacked! Very impressive work brother. Will definitely be interested to hear your DEXA results. I'm going to go out on a limb and put my money on about 8-9%?
 
Segansational said:
Dude, Jim you are looking jacked! Very impressive work brother. Will definitely be interested to hear your DEXA results. I'm going to go out on a limb and put my money on about 8-9%?
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Thanks, brother but definitely not that low. That's starting to get close to stage ready at 8%.

DEXA got me at 13.0% this morning. Will process some of the side by sides from September and update in here, but cliff notes are that my lean body mass is around the same (more in some places, less in others, but overall equal) and I'm 10ish pounds down from the prior scan and have lost 5.2% body fat in that stretch.
 
Jimbabwe said:
Thanks, brother but definitely not that low. That's starting to get close to stage ready at 8%.

DEXA got me at 13.0% this morning. Will process some of the side by sides from September and update in here, but cliff notes are that my lean body mass is around the same (more in some places, less in others, but overall equal) and I'm 10ish pounds down from the prior scan and have lost 5.2% body fat in that stretch.
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That’s some good progress, what are you weighing now?
 
Jimbabwe said:
Thanks, brother but definitely not that low. That's starting to get close to stage ready at 8%.

DEXA got me at 13.0% this morning. Will process some of the side by sides from September and update in here, but cliff notes are that my lean body mass is around the same (more in some places, less in others, but overall equal) and I'm 10ish pounds down from the prior scan and have lost 5.2% body fat in that stretch.
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This is actually why I want to get one done for myself as well. If you're at 13%, then I'm probably closer to 15-16% in reality. I know my scale under estimates, but I'd be interested in knowing what I'm actually working with.
 
Jimbabwe said:
179.8 fasted this AM. DEXA tomorrow AM, so refeed today. Target is 3000-3200 calories. 60g fat, 180g protein, 450-485g carbs.

Pics from after legs today. Had about 60g carbs pre-WO, but flat as ****. Will see what I look like tomorrow morning after carbing up.

View attachment 259864View attachment 259865
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for being "flat" and depleted, you look pretty filled out in the arms actually IMO. some lower ab vascularity popping up there too, looking great!!
 
Dustin07 said:
what are you doing to target this? looks like the low hanging fruit

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Can't really do anything about that except just diet longer. For most people, head/face is one of the last places your body burns fat.

Probably will not actually take body fat low enough to lose any significant fat there. That only really happens when you're really close to a contest in BB prep (what they call "death face" with the sunken eyes and cheekbones).
 
PolishHamm3r77 said:
Even by metrics only, that is some great progress. You barely lost any tissue.
Was the gear changed at all from Sept to now?
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Not on anything at the moment, but ran some simple T and Mast after the September scan (might've just started shortly before) leading up to my Nov. trip to Japan.

Once I get lean enough, will probably go with T and EQ (maybe GH too) after I get back from a vacation in the UK.
 
Push from this morning:

WG Pulldown: 175 x 8, 160 x 8 (need to repeat at this weight for a few sessions. Didn't really "own" the movement for these sets).
Prime Pec Deck: 230 x 6, 200 x 6 (did something of a form reset here to stay more externally rotated through the whole movement. Feel that much more strongly in the chest).
Prime Lat Row: 205 x 8, 180 x 8
Smith Incline: 225 x 7, 195 x 7
DB Lat Raise: 40 x 7, 35 x 7
Tricep Pushdown: 120 x 7, 105 x 7
BTN Tri Ext: 115 x 4, 90 x 8 (not a clue how I managed so much weight last time around lol).
Atlantis Preacher: 130 x 4, 110 x 6 (overshot the increase).
Prime Reverse Pec Deck: 170 x 7, 155 x 7


Felt pretty strong today, which makes sense with all the carbs. Solid vascularity (shocker). Weight up to about 184, but will shed most of that during the week as I deplete glycogen again.
 
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Some supplementation updates:

Added 6.5g LCLT with my pre workout meal (and odorless garlic since that dose of LCLT can cause issues that the garlic helps with);


Otherwise taking:

Pre-WO
Creatine (5g)
Vitamin D3 (10k iu)
Vitamin C (1000mg)
Nattokinase
Electrolytes
Multivitamin
Magnesium
Yohimbine (10-15mg on fasted cardio days)
Melatonin (10-20mg)
Fish oil (2500mg Omega 3)

Coach currently has my diet set at:

1830kcal
61g fat
151g carb
169g protein
 
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Jimbabwe said:
Can't really do anything about that except just diet longer. For most people, head/face is one of the last places your body burns fat.

Probably will not actually take body fat low enough to lose any significant fat there. That only really happens when you're really close to a contest in BB prep (what they call "death face" with the sunken eyes and cheekbones).
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LOL Dude I was joking 😂
if you are at 13% looking as lean as you are then I'd think you are really in that sweet spot right now with fudge room up and down. 13% is far more maintainable than sub 10% and you look fantastic.
 
Jimbabwe said:
Some supplementation updates:

Added 6.5g LCLT with my pre workout meal (and odorless garlic since that dose of LCLT can cause issues that the garlic helps with);


Otherwise taking:

Pre-WO
Creatine (5g)
Vitamin D3 (10k iu)
Vitamin C (1000mg)
Nattokinase
Electrolytes
Multivitamin
Magnesium
Yohimbine (10-15mg on fasted cardio days)
Melatonin (10-20mg)
Fish oil (2500mg Omega 3)

Coach currently has my diet set at:

1830kcal
61g fat
151g carb
169g protein
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Need to get on 360mcg of K2 with that dose of D3; you’re potentially pushing calcium all over the arteries without it to steer it.

NOW Foods is my favorite because it has tiny capsules of 5,000iu & 180mcg D3/K2 in perfect ratio at a good cost/cap. But if you have a ton of D3 caps, they sell K2 solo as well.
 
Hyde said:
Need to get on 360mcg of K2 with that dose of D3; you’re potentially pushing calcium all over the arteries without it to steer it.

NOW Foods is my favorite because it has tiny capsules of 5,000iu & 180mcg D3/K2 in perfect ratio at a good cost/cap. But if you have a ton of D3 caps, they sell K2 solo as well.
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Good flag, will add K2 in tomorrow and switch to the NOW Foods version once I'm out of what I have.
 
Dustin07 said:
LOL Dude I was joking
if you are at 13% looking as lean as you are then I'd think you are really in that sweet spot right now with fudge room up and down. 13% is far more maintainable than sub 10% and you look fantastic.
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Yeah, agreed. Think I'm trying to push this cut down to around 10% or slightly below, just to see what it'd look/feel like, but don't intend to try to maintain that.

Would just like to stay sub-15% year round. Don't see a need to ever get above that again.
 
Jimbabwe said:
Yeah, agreed. Think I'm trying to push this cut down to around 10% or slightly below, just to see what it'd look/feel like, but don't intend to try to maintain that.

Would just like to stay sub-15% year round. Don't see a need to ever get above that again.
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my personal experience is that if you have the fire in your belly to keep pushing, you may as well. and if you limit self sabbotaging if you hit burn out, keeping yourself around where you are is very acheivable. I was able to hold on to solid abs for damn near a decade without a lot of inconvenience to be honest. just normal meal prep for mon-fri and enjoying weekends, but I got the strength bug the past few years I have really enjoyed experiencing strength PRs with more eating for fuel. I've kept it sorta within a reasonable range always setting my top end at 205lbs then cutting back to about 185lbs. I think our distribution is similar, somewhere in the high 170s my abs should be where I want them again (sitting about 187 now).

I keep telling myself once I lean down, I'll likely stay there cause its easier to stay lean than to cut 20-30lbs every year but who knows. all the sudden its fall, barbells start calling my name and I just get that hankering to lift bigger and eat to support it.

but man even today walking out of the gym doing some fasted cardio I was thinking about it... 2026 so far I've seen a peak around 206lbs and a low of about 183 depleted, May 1st will end a 4 month cycle on this cut and maintenance will be a nice change of pace lol
 
Another late night with work last night. Didn't get to bed until 1:30ish and only slept 4.5 hours or so.

Anyway, lower from this AM went OK.

Prime Leg Extension: 320 x 7, 295 x 6
Prime Lying Leg Curl: 125 x 7, 110 x 7
Adduction: 140 x 7, 125 x 7
Hack Calf Raise: 540 x 6, 500 x 8
Arsenal Hip Thrust: 590 x 5, 540 x 6
Hack Squat: 380 x 4, 320 x 6
Smith SLDL: 295 x 5, 245 x 6


Pushed weight or reps on everything. Think top set of hacks was 0RIR instead of 1RIR. Good thing I didn't jump all the way to 410 like I was considering lol.
 
Looking nice and lean, how did you look after that carb up?
 
30 minutes incline walking this morning. Fasted with 15mg yohimbine, 200mg caffeine.

Worked late (again) last night. Starting to get rundown. Already billed 30 hours this week, and it's only been two days.
 
Jimbabwe said:
30 minutes incline walking this morning. Fasted with 15mg yohimbine, 200mg caffeine.

Worked late (again) last night. Starting to get rundown. Already billed 30 hours this week, and it's only been two days.
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I hear you Jim. I've been having to really grind lately at work at the moment too, so burning the candle at both ends. During these times I try to remind myself that this is just a phase, this too shall pass! You got this.
 
Got to bed early last night and felt strong this morning because of it.

Push:

Prime Pec Deck: 230 x 7, 200 x 7
Lying Cable Laterals: 75 x 6, 65 x 7
Arsenal NG Incline: 170 x 7, 150 x 6
Tricep Pushdown: 120 x 7, 105 x 7
BTN Tri Extension: 110 x 7, 100 x 8
BTN OHP: 165 x 6, 145 x 7


Post workout pics. Still haven't shed all the water/glycogen/waste from the refeed this weekend. Weight at 182.8 this morning, but has been steadily decreasing back to what it was pre-refeed (179-180ish).


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Looking damn good Jimbo! Shoulders are looking badass! Chest is coming up more, the glycogen did the body some good eh!
 
MrKleen73 said:
Looking damn good Jimbo! Shoulders are looking badass! Chest is coming up more, the glycogen did the body some good eh!
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Thanks! Have been very pleased with my progress this year. Assuming I can keep the train on the tracks, I should have a good shot of actually looking like I've been lifting for 20 years by this time next year lol.

Excited to see what happens when I add a little "assistance" after my May vacation. Should be very lean by then and heading into a true building phase (though not a bulk, will just be eating at or around maintenance and focusing on PO each session).

Glycogen is God's gift to all weightlifters lol. That and some solid down lighting.
 
Ordered some supps from EvoMuse today. Had always liked them when I was using supplements more.

Not expecting anything huge to come of that, but think I'm really lean enough and diligent enough with my training and tracking that I can run some **** and see what kind of difference it makes.

Figure it will be a fun little experiment leading into adding some real assistance later this year. Honestly already forgot what all I got, but will take an account when it gets here and figure out what I want to run and how.
 
Pull day:

WG Lat Pulldown: 175 x 8, 160 x 8 (didn't love the form today, might need to decrease and really nail the ROM and elbow angle before trying to increase weight again)
Arsenal CS Kelso Shrug: 140 x 8, 120 x 8 (felt strong, will increase)
UH Pulldown: 170 x 8, 155 x 6
BB Shrug: 365 x 5, 325 x 7
Atlantis Preacher: 130 x 5, 110 x 5
Hammer Preacher: 105 x 6, 90 x 7
RG Cable Curl (one-arm): 60 x 6, 50 x 7
Prime Reverse Pec Deck: 170 x 8, 155 x 8 (didn't have time to wait, so moved this to after curls. Felt strong; will increase weight)
 
Definitely know what you mean on any cable rowing: there gets to be a point in progressive overload with them where you start losing the positions & begin just moving weight. Which can still be useful, but eventually you stop and ask yourself ‘Hey what muscles do you actually want to be training here, bucko??’
 
Hyde said:
Definitely know what you mean on any cable rowing: there gets to be a point in progressive overload with them where you start losing the positions & begin just moving weight. Which can still be useful, but eventually you stop and ask yourself ‘Hey what muscles do you actually want to be training here, bucko??’
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Yeah, exactly that. In 6-8ish weeks, I'll probably sub at least the UH Pulldown out for one of the arsenal plate loaded pulldowns with neutral handles.

Have a much easier time doing the damned exercise right on that lol.

Unless coach makes exercise adjustments first, anyway. Should ask what the plan is for things like that, but haven't been super curious with them. Just doing what they tell me lol.
 
Legs this morning. Took every bit of 2 hours. Hard as **** all the way through.

Prime Leg Extension: 320 x 8, 295 x 7
Prime Lying Leg Curl: 125 x 7, 110 x 7 (went for 8 on each, didn't get the full contraction, so doesn't count)
Adduction: 140 x 8, 125 x 7
Hack Calf Raise: 540 x 6, 450 x 8 (really nailed these today. Will stay at these weights)
Arsenal Hip Thrust: 590 x 6, 500 x 8 (didn't love how the top set felt, so did a bigger drop and really nailed the second set)
Hack Squat: 360 x 7, 320 x 7 (****)
Smith SLDL: 275 x 8, 245 x 7 (double ****)
 
Spent the whole day cooking for me and the girlfriend. Some sandwiches (no fat cheese, low fat mayo and chicken on sourdough) with quest protein chips to hold us over.

Then made a pizza sauce from scratch to make small thin crust cheese protein pizzas (each 195kcal with 27g protein).

Then just pulled a lasagna out of the oven that I made with the extra sauce and ground turkey. Used non-fat mozzarella for both this and the pizza (with regular grated Parm and Romano). Each slice coming in at 250kcal with 23g protein.

Should end up right at target for cals and protein today. Going to be a little under on fats and am making up that cal difference with carbs.
 
So how was the lasagna? I haven't really seen fat-free cheese in a while. They don't sell it at Kroger any longer. I hadn't seen it in so long this surprised me to see you said you used it. I look it up and HEB and others have it and here I thought it had just been discontinued for a few years for some reason. LOL
 
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