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Segansational's Motivation Log

MrKleen73 said:
@Dustin07 - They do make transdermal solutions, but I believe the ones they make for men are too strong for a woman without virilization issues. I could probably get some raw powders and make a TD myself but if there is an oral out there that works, she might want to jump on that option.
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My wife mentioned something that a dr recommended to her many years ago, before I knew her, but now that I think about it even though she thought it was testosterone, I think she was rx'd a t-booster probably similar to alpha gel/tonkgat. it was a temporary thing, I believe post partum, and I think she said she didn't notice anything from it. She tends to be a non responder to basically all the same supplements that give me a 3:30am tent pitching alarm clock on the daily.
These days though she has to avoid almost anything hormonal because of the cancer so the best mood and libido booster I can offer her is lowering stress, lol. (which works wonders)
 
M5, Wk1, D2

Working sets,
EZ bar curls, 3 sets
Neutral Grip Pull Ups, 2 sets
Close Grip Seated Cable Rows, 2 sets
EZ bar Skull crushers, 2 sets

56:36, 135 cals.

Pre: 1 scoop Total War, 1g Choline Citrate, 2 pumps L-carnitine gel, 3 caps PrimeXT, 2 caps Pepti-Plex.
Intra: 1 scoop EAA9, 1 scoop R1 Lytes, 1 scoop CVOL, 1/2 scoop Karbolyn.

Notes
Had to skip squats today as my lower back is still feeling it, but can tell it's on the mend. Still needed to be careful on some of my exercises to make sure I didn't hyperextend and brace my core for example on things like curls this AM.

Noting that with test in place, I probably need to lower stim intake. I was looking into it, but there are a few proposed mechanisms that sensitize you to caffeine. Yesterday with just the 1 scoop of Mr White and my normal coffee, it was slightly over the edge. Also a slight headache early evening so will need to monitor BP and perhaps add in Hawthorne berry if it persists.
 
M5, Wk1, D2/3

Working sets,
BB Upright Rows, 3 sets
DB laterals, 2 sets
BB Shrugs, 2 sets
Machine Preacher Curls, 1 set

59:09, 132 cals.

Pre: 1 scoop Ignition Switch, 1g Choline Citrate, 2 pumps L-carnitine gel, 3 caps PrimeXT, 2 caps Pepti-Plex.
Intra: Same as yesterday

End of week weigh-in
Weight: 155.2# (+1.0#)
BF: 14.1% (+0.1%)

Notes
Back still feels stiff, but flexibility and load capacity is improving daily. Still kept the weights lighter for today and controlled to ensure I didn't overtax anything.

Knee also giving me a bit of an issue this AM. Like Smont was saying, just getting old everything hurts. LOL.

Might be placebo, but already feel like some physical changes are happening. Upper Body looks fuller (lats & shoulders) and arms look harder (tris). Had a little light pressure around the eyes/sinus area yesterday, unsure if related as it's also allergy season. Will continue to monitor.

Belly feels fluffy lately. I don't like my current state of my midsection, but I have not been eating as clean lately. Debating if I do a mini weight cut at this point though as I don't want to change too many variables, so guess will hold off.
 
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If you’re getting fluffier & don’t like that, don’t keep eating how you are. I’m not talking about an intentional minicut - just make better choices so you don’t continue to get fatter.

That would be the true definition of removing variables, trying to remain isocaloric.
 
Hyde said:
If you’re getting fluffier & don’t like that, don’t keep eating how you are. I’m not talking about an intentional minicut - just make better choices so you don’t continue to get fatter.

That would be the true definition of removing variables, trying to remain isocaloric.
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Wait, so you're telling me my strategy of eating my feelings isn’t the right one?

But in all seriousness, this is exactly it. Time to get back to normalcy.

Random thoughts
Had a great afternoon yesterday BBQing with friends. Had to do a lot of work to get the outdoor space ready, but it was worth it. Kids had a great time in the yard and it was the perfect weather for opening the grill.

Unfortunately, I retweaked my back doing nothing other than bending over to touch my toes on Sat morning as I was prepping for a cardio session. It's doing OK but I had thought & felt 100% Sat AM until it popped on me. So no legs / lower back work yet again. Getting old sucks!

Took a vacation day to get my mind right. Finally restained our wood dining room table this AM (picture). Felt good to just be doing work with my hands. That's what the past few days have been: The manual labor stuff that needed to be done around the house that I've been neglecting. It was helpful just to get my mind off other things.

Workout (fed this AM):

Working sets,
Incline Bench Press, 3 sets
Machine Chest Press, 3 sets
Dips, 3 sets

45:45, 143 cals.

Pre: 1 scoop Total War, 1g Choline Citrate, 2 pumps L-carnitine gel.
Intra: 1 scoop CVOL, 1 scoop R1 Lytes.


Photo_2026-05-18_11-41-08_AM~2.webp
 
table looks good, cool project! I need to do ours this year too. my lovely wife decided to stay married to me when I destroyed it spilling moonshine all over it learning one of my new stills last winter lol.

Segansational said:
Unfortunately, I retweaked my back doing nothing other than bending over to touch my toes on Sat morning as I was prepping for a cardio session. It's doing OK but I had thought & felt 100% Sat AM until it popped on me. So no legs / lower back work yet again. Getting old sucks!
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sometimes I wonder how much of that is in our head. Saturday the dog brought me a tennis ball and dropped it at my feet (day after deadlifts) and I looked at it and said, I can do this, and bent over with lots of noises and groans and eventually made it low enough to grab the tennis ball. But another day I was like you know, if I want to be young I need to act young. the younger me wasn't aware of these pains. so I just went and did the thing. I think i was running with the dog or something. I ignored certain pains and they went away and I had no long term side effects from that. obv we need to be smart with injuries, but I often wonder how much of my aches and pains can be deleted with a different mindset.

broken legs and torn rotator cuffs weren't going to stop me from racing bmx, wrestling, or baseball as a kid, not sure why I let them slow me down now.
 
Dustin07 said:
sometimes I wonder how much of that is in our head. Saturday the dog brought me a tennis ball and dropped it at my feet (day after deadlifts) and I looked at it and said, I can do this, and bent over with lots of noises and groans and eventually made it low enough to grab the tennis ball. But another day I was like you know, if I want to be young I need to act young. the younger me wasn't aware of these pains. so I just went and did the thing. I think i was running with the dog or something. I ignored certain pains and they went away and I had no long term side effects from that. obv we need to be smart with injuries, but I often wonder how much of my aches and pains can be deleted with a different mindset.

broken legs and torn rotator cuffs weren't going to stop me from racing bmx, wrestling, or baseball as a kid, not sure why I let them slow me down now.
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Compartmentalization is a powerful tool for moving past the limitations of pain temporarily. I can assure you, the issues are not purely psychological. In fact, you could strongly argue ignoring them entirely represents psychological issues 😂

You cannot compare deciding to pick up a tennis ball when tight/sore from training, which is really just not being a pussy, to ignoring a joint dislocation or actual sprain/strain where obvious unilateral dysfunction is now present until healed (or maybe still then).
 
Hyde said:
Compartmentalization is a powerful tool for moving past the limitations of pain temporarily. I can assure you, the issues are not purely psychological. In fact, you could strongly argue ignoring them entirely represents psychological issues 😂

You cannot compare deciding to pick up a tennis ball when tight/sore from training, which is really just not being a pussy, to ignoring a joint dislocation or actual sprain/strain where obvious unilateral dysfunction is now present until healed (or maybe still then).
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IDK, I've seen enough 80s movie. just put it back in

 
Dustin07 said:
sometimes I wonder how much of that is in our head.
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Yeah, unfortunately this is legit. I don't let it keep me fully out of the gym, but do have to modify my workouts until I'm back to normal.

Hyde said:
You cannot compare deciding to pick up a tennis ball when tight/sore from training, which is really just not being a pussy, to ignoring a joint dislocation or actual sprain/strain where obvious unilateral dysfunction is now present until healed (or maybe still then).
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It's some type of muscular strain, worse when I twist or hyperextend my back. We'll see how tomorrow's prescribed BB shrugs go. I had to go lighter last time around because the load compressed my spine and probably caused some unintended arching.
 
M5, Wk1, D4

Light day this AM as I had to keep the total load on my spine to a minimum. Left elbow was also really bugging me today, even on the facepulls. Not sure what that's about...

Heavy warm ups

Working sets,
Lat Pulldowns, 2 sets
BB Shrugs, 2 sets
Resistance band facepulls, 2 sets
DB laterals, 2 sets

Lots of stretching and foam rolling.

52:47, 119 cals.

Notes
A day or so ago I felt a little nip sensitivity coming on both sides. I hit it with one dose (1 cap AM, 1 cap mid-afternoon) with Inhibit-E. It took care of that feeling immediately, but my mood took a sharp turn downwards after the second cap. Looking into this further, the sharp drop in estrogen can definitely impact depressive symptoms. And in fact, negates some of the positive mood effects of testosterone. All that being said, I may try to pick up some DIM as @Hyde does to try to keep some level of moderate control in case symptoms flare up again vs using Inhibit-E which was just too strong in this case.
 
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Segansational said:
A day or so ago I felt a little nip sensitivity coming on both sides. I hit it with one dose (1 cap AM, 1 cap mid-afternoon) with Inhibit-E. It took care of that feeling immediately,
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everytime I got itchy nipples (once so bad I woke up scratching them to the point of bleeding) I hit the xpg alpha gel and its gone within like 24hrs. I always got it real bad from dermacrine, but not straight dhea.
 
Dustin07 said:
everytime I got itchy nipples (once so bad I woke up scratching them to the point of bleeding) I hit the xpg alpha gel and its gone within like 24hrs. I always got it real bad from dermacrine, but not straight dhea.
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Interesting! Well, the trans-resveratrol and 7,8-benzo in Alpha Gel would act as topical anti-E/AI mechanisms so that makes sense. Unsure about Dermacrine other than that you may be sensitive to DHEA perhaps? Supposedly topical pregnenolone would compete for the estrogen receptor and would help in this case.
 
If 2 caps Inhibit E got you back under control, you might just need a cap a day, or less (eod or just here or there). It’s just experimenting to find your sweetspot for how you feel. But you can’t obviously let it aggravate gyno or you wouldn’t be happy anyway.
 
on the other hand there is a big market for breast milk in the bodybuilding world. could offset your monthly supplement expense.
 
Segansational said:
Wait, so you're telling me my strategy of eating my feelings isn’t the right one?

But in all seriousness, this is exactly it. Time to get back to normalcy.

Random thoughts
Had a great afternoon yesterday BBQing with friends. Had to do a lot of work to get the outdoor space ready, but it was worth it. Kids had a great time in the yard and it was the perfect weather for opening the grill.

Unfortunately, I retweaked my back doing nothing other than bending over to touch my toes on Sat morning as I was prepping for a cardio session. It's doing OK but I had thought & felt 100% Sat AM until it popped on me. So no legs / lower back work yet again. Getting old sucks!

Took a vacation day to get my mind right. Finally restained our wood dining room table this AM (picture). Felt good to just be doing work with my hands. That's what the past few days have been: The manual labor stuff that needed to be done around the house that I've been neglecting. It was helpful just to get my mind off other things.

Workout (fed this AM):

Working sets,
Incline Bench Press, 3 sets
Machine Chest Press, 3 sets
Dips, 3 sets

45:45, 143 cals.

Pre: 1 scoop Total War, 1g Choline Citrate, 2 pumps L-carnitine gel.
Intra: 1 scoop CVOL, 1 scoop R1 Lytes.


View attachment 260644
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Table looks great man! Sometimes a day to just get some alone time and reset can do wonders!!! Keep on keeping on man 💪🏻
 
akboom87 said:
Table looks great man! Sometimes a day to just get some alone time and reset can do wonders!!! Keep on keeping on man
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Also was able to sneak away and grab a quick lunch with the wife too, so all in all, not a bad day!

AM cardio only this morning, 27 mins on the bike. Low and slow tbh. Not feeling 100% on any front at the moment, but we soldier on!

Going to use this week to get back to basics nutrition-wise and then next week should level back out. Today's mid-week weigh in was 155.0# on the dot.
 
Hyde said:
If 2 caps Inhibit E got you back under control, you might just need a cap a day, or less (eod or just here or there). It’s just experimenting to find your sweetspot for how you feel. But you can’t obviously let it aggravate gyno or you wouldn’t be happy anyway.
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Well, I do think it caused too fast of a drop honestly. So I ordered 200mg DIM caps and will start that up daily when it arrives. I don't want to go too hard on the estrogen modulation yet though, as I'd like to understand 1 month in with bloodwork what it's doing to my levels in order to more strategically use any anti-E/AI type supplements.
 
M5, Wk2, D1

Working sets,
Bench Press, 2 sets
Machine Flys, 2 sets
EZ Bar Curls, 4 sets
DB Laterals, 2 sets

1 hr 3 mins, 174 cals.

Pre: 1 scoop Superhuman Pre, 1g Choline Citrate, 2 pumps L-carnitine gel.
Intra: Same as usual.

Notes
Lower back yesterday really felt inflamed all day. Took some motrin in the afternoon and used the heating pad at night. I've also been using CurcuPrime daily. Sitting for long periods at the desk in front of a computer is definitely aggravating it. I tried to alternate using my standing desk yesterday.

So still no leg work yet, although I could probably do some seated leg extensions. Maybe I'll throw those in tomorrow.

A little distracted this AM while working out because of all the work stuff on my mind. Impacted a bit of my sleep last night. Noting that most of my pre's are all high stim even if not with exotic ingredients - 350-400mg caffeine per serving. Wondering if just a 200mg caffeine tab plus a non-stim pump pre might serve me better, plus some Noopept caps?
 
Sorry about the stress and poor sleep. You could do that or just a half serving of what you have already. I mean if you have the other stuff already around go for it, if not, why purchase something else? Just try a half scoop/serving and see how that treats you.
 
Still have this log going?! That's awesome brother! Keep moving forward!
 
yates84 said:
Still have this log going?! That's awesome brother! Keep moving forward!
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What's up Brother! Good to see you back on here.
 
Segansational said:
M5, Wk2, D1

Working sets,
Bench Press, 2 sets
Machine Flys, 2 sets
EZ Bar Curls, 4 sets
DB Laterals, 2 sets

1 hr 3 mins, 174 cals.

Pre: 1 scoop Superhuman Pre, 1g Choline Citrate, 2 pumps L-carnitine gel.
Intra: Same as usual.

Notes
Lower back yesterday really felt inflamed all day. Took some motrin in the afternoon and used the heating pad at night. I've also been using CurcuPrime daily. Sitting for long periods at the desk in front of a computer is definitely aggravating it. I tried to alternate using my standing desk yesterday.

So still no leg work yet, although I could probably do some seated leg extensions. Maybe I'll throw those in tomorrow.

A little distracted this AM while working out because of all the work stuff on my mind. Impacted a bit of my sleep last night. Noting that most of my pre's are all high stim even if not with exotic ingredients - 350-400mg caffeine per serving. Wondering if just a 200mg caffeine tab plus a non-stim pump pre might serve me better, plus some Noopept caps?
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Sounds like you need some cranked heavy metal and a full scoop of pre, get you in the zone and release all the anger on the weights. 😂 maybe not the best advice but sometimes that helps me get it out and then I walk away with a little better outlook.

Hope the back starts feeling better!!
 
MrKleen73 said:
Sorry about the stress and poor sleep. You could do that or just a half serving of what you have already. I mean if you have the other stuff already around go for it, if not, why purchase something else? Just try a half scoop/serving and see how that treats you.
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Well, I happen to have a cabinet full of pre's of all kinds - nothing low stim though! I also get bored of using the same thing day in and day out. I like variation.

yates84 said:
Still have this log going?! That's awesome brother! Keep moving forward!
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Yes! Just trying to get better day by day, month by month, year by year. Welcome back!

akboom87 said:
Sounds like you need some cranked heavy metal and a full scoop of pre, get you in the zone and release all the anger on the weights. maybe not the best advice but sometimes that helps me get it out and then I walk away with a little better outlook.

Hope the back starts feeling better!!
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Hear you there. It's a double-edged sword now with the TRT - I can easily go too much with the stims fast. But in the moment it always gives me a better workout!

Dustin07 said:
You know, every time I see this I think of the same thing and then today you posted it...



I truly wouldn't be surprised if a lot of your stress manifests itself physically in your back. Super common...
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This.
 
Well, my son decided to wake up at 6AM this morning about 15 mins into my warm ups, so this was a relatively light effort / condensed session:

Neutral Grip Pull Ups, 3 sets
Seated Cable Rows, 2 sets
EZ bar Skull crushers, 2 sets


End of week weigh-in: 153.4# (-2.0#)
BF: 13.9% (-0.2%)

All of the above looks good, except my stomach has had issues all week - so could just be the weight drop due to that vs true weight loss.

RIP Fitbit. Google Health App finally forced me over. It'll take some getting used to as the app interface is very different, but largely I think it still captures everything I tracked.

Other random stuff:

Started up 200mg DIM daily with first meal of the day. Picked up a few staples. Should've waited a day or so to take advantage of Memorial Day sales, but oh well.
 
Hope everyone had a great long weekend. Was a bit of a washout here in the Northeast with the rainy weather, but it did clear up enough for us to still get out on the water for the first time this year even though it was chilly. There was an airshow for Memorial Day and we got to see the Blue Angels fly over us while on the river, so that was very cool.

M5, Wk2, D2-3

Working sets,
Upright Rows, 3 sets
DB Laterals, 2 sets
BB Shrugs, 2 sets
SLDLs, 1 set - First leg/lower back exercise to test things out.

59:03, 143 cals.

Pre: 1 scoop Superhuman, 1g Choline Citrate, 2 pumps L-carnitine gel, 3 caps PrimeXT, 2 caps Pepti-Plex.
Intra: 1 scoop CVOL, 1 scoop Nutrex EAA+, 1 scoop R1 Lytes, 1/2 scoop Karbolyn. This will be the mix for a bit moving forward.

Notes
3 days completely off and I was definitely ready to hit the gym again. I think two days is really my mental max before the itch needs to be scratched.

Joints have been really bugging me lately. Both my left elbow/forearm still, and my knees were a little achey with the rain. And that's with the continued Joint Support XT. Lower back is getting there, still a little stiff when I sit or lie in one position too long, but largely felt like it wasn't hindering workouts this AM and even tested out things with very light SLDLs.
 
Weight check: 156.0# (+2.6# up over the holiday weekend)
BF: 14.2% (+0.3%)

Doing some AI stack optimization and for my joints it's recommending more fish oil (2g EPA/DHA is actually the study with benefits, will start double dosing) and collagen + Vitamin C prior to training. I usually run Vit C daily anyways for overall immune support, so will just adjust timing - less concerned about the ROS scavaging issue near training than sometimes is suggested. Will pick up some collagen peptides next restock.
 
I feel like we have had the fish oil talk before but I still take the stand that SFH is the best for EPA/DHA content, and while Barleans is one of the worst for EPA/DHA content, I also tend to recommend that one often because it tastes great and is half price usually at Costco. so I just take a double dose and its taste is so good, kids think its a dessert. But generally, fish oil is always my go to for sore joints, especially sore hands.
 
I take 3-4g of Now Ultra Omega 3 fishoil every day. I keep it in the fridge for max quality once I receive it. Sometimes I split it up, sometimes all at once, but unless I fast completely, it’s going down by end of day. Joints aside, do it for your brain and cardiovascular system.
 
Segansational said:
Yep, just started week 3: More for energy & mood, plus muscle recovery than for gains or libido. But hoping to see the potential benefits in the physique department as well.
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Nice, be interesting to see if you can tell a difference.
Segansational said:
Hope everyone had a great long weekend. Was a bit of a washout here in the Northeast with the rainy weather, but it did clear up enough for us to still get out on the water for the first time this year even though it was chilly. There was an airshow for Memorial Day and we got to see the Blue Angels fly over us while on the river, so that was very cool.

M5, Wk2, D2-3

Working sets,
Upright Rows, 3 sets
DB Laterals, 2 sets
BB Shrugs, 2 sets
SLDLs, 1 set - First leg/lower back exercise to test things out.

59:03, 143 cals.

Pre: 1 scoop Superhuman, 1g Choline Citrate, 2 pumps L-carnitine gel, 3 caps PrimeXT, 2 caps Pepti-Plex.
Intra: 1 scoop CVOL, 1 scoop Nutrex EAA+, 1 scoop R1 Lytes, 1/2 scoop Karbolyn. This will be the mix for a bit moving forward.

Notes
3 days completely off and I was definitely ready to hit the gym again. I think two days is really my mental max before the itch needs to be scratched.

Joints have been really bugging me lately. Both my left elbow/forearm still, and my knees were a little achey with the rain. And that's with the continued Joint Support XT. Lower back is getting there, still a little stiff when I sit or lie in one position too long, but largely felt like it wasn't hindering workouts this AM and even tested out things with very light SLDLs.
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Really like that session, a lot of people don’t like the upright rows and I can see how it can not jive well on shoulders. I personally love them.

Dude that would be sick to be out on the water and have the blue angels ripping by!!
 
akboom87 said:
Nice, be interesting to see if you can tell a difference.

Really like that session, a lot of people don’t like the upright rows and I can see how it can not jive well on shoulders. I personally love them.

Dude that would be sick to be out on the water and have the blue angels ripping by!!
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Yeah, I'm trying to track both objective and subjective measures to get a good picture overall. Right now I'm using fibit's daily readiness and sleep scores as objective metrics, and my own qualitative scores on rating how I feel for mood and muscle fatigue plus general fatigue for subjective metrics to track.

Two weeks in at least, readiness scores are trending up (objective) and fatigue is trending down (subjective). So, as of right now it seems to indicate that this is working for me. Minor caveats only really in week 1 were initial headache and nip sensitivity, likely due to rebalancing of my system. I won't know for certain though until at least 1 month / 3 months in, when I also plan to pull bloodwork.

So an interesting experiment for sure! And hopefully helpful for others as well down the line.

M5, Wk2, D3

Working sets,
Incline BP, 3 sets
Machine Chest Press, 3 sets
Machine Preacher Curls, 1 set

50:14, 152 cals.

Pre: 3/4 scoop Notorious Rage, 1g Choline Citrate, 1g Vit C, 2 pumps L-carnitine gel, 3 caps PrimeXT, 2 caps Pepti-Plex.
Intra: Same as prior.

Notes
Really solid chest focused day today even with interrupted sleep twice last night with my son waking up. Happy to have achieved all sets and reps this AM with a little pre-WO assistance. Testing out this amount of Notorious Rage as heavier, but still moderate stim experience without going overboard.
 
M5, Wk2, D4

Working sets,
Lat Pulldowns, 3 sets
Dips, 3 sets
BB Shrugs, 4 sets
Resistance band facepulls, 2 sets
DB laterals, 2 sets

59:27, 147 cals.

Still no real leg work yet. Kind of getting annoyed with this lingering low back pain. Legs visually don't seem to be losing anything yet, but I'm actually looking forward to being able to do squats again believe it or not!

Pre: 1 scoop Superhuman Pre, 1g Choline Citrate, 1g Vit C, 2 pumps L-carnitine gel, 3 caps PrimeXT, 2 caps Pepti-Plex.
Intra: Same as usual.

End of week weigh-in: 154.6# (-1.4# since start of the week)
BF: 14.0% (-0.2%)

Slowly heading back into the right territory.
 
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are you currently doing anything dedicated to rehabbing the low back right now or is it more of a rest and see approach at the moment? aside from the obvious stress aspect, low back is so funny cause I've seen people fix it with posterior OR anterior work. My mom had chronic pain for many years, bad enough she'd be stuck on the ground. her fix was anterior work, walking, substantial abdominal work. even horseback riding (which built the abs). For me it was always the glutes/hamstring/posterior work that fixes back pain. There's always the upper/lower cross syndrome.
 
Dustin07 said:
are you currently doing anything dedicated to rehabbing the low back right now or is it more of a rest and see approach at the moment? aside from the obvious stress aspect, low back is so funny cause I've seen people fix it with posterior OR anterior work. My mom had chronic pain for many years, bad enough she'd be stuck on the ground. her fix was anterior work, walking, substantial abdominal work. even horseback riding (which built the abs). For me it was always the glutes/hamstring/posterior work that fixes back pain. There's always the upper/lower cross syndrome.
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Right now juat keeping up with the McGill prehab work as always, but also adding in the curl ups on the floor (usually I skip those), plus daily CurcuPrime usage on lower back (and left forearm/elbow), and resting it by not doing unbraced exercise largely.
 
While last night I racked up good total hours of sleep, it wasn't entirely restful since my son isn't feeling well. He woke up early this AM and I had to give him some medicine and sit with him for a bit. After about 30-45 mins it was clear he wasn't going back to bed. But I was! Got another 40 mins in, but then felt a bit groggy getting out of bed.

Downed some pre-WO and got to business. Bench day.

M5, Wk3, D1 - 1 RIR

Working sets,
Bench Press, 3 sets
Machine Flys, 3 sets

37 mins, 109 cals.

Notes
Short on time this AM, so cut everything a little short. But starting to finally get some weight back on the bar for bench press even though strength is still down due to the weight cut. Had an awesome chest pump though, even though my joints were feeling it this AM.

RP Strength app is renewing my subscription. I had purchased 6 months upfront during Black Friday. Happy with the overall approach, even if at times I wished there were more variety of templates. But taking the guess work out of the session - both what exercises to perform and the number of reps to aim for - is worth the cost alone for me.

Post-chest WO progress shot:View attachment 260857
 
Consider some cat camels and dead bugs maybe on days you don’t train as well, so you are getting some dedicated bloodflow and movement to the area every day as well. Or as secondary things in the evening after work or what have you. Rehab is all about frequency, not intensity.

And of course, short brisk 10 min walks with arms swinging wherever you can stick them.
 
Hyde said:
Consider some cat camels and dead bugs maybe on days you don’t train as well, so you are getting some dedicated bloodflow and movement to the area every day as well. Or as secondary things in the evening after work or what have you. Rehab is all about frequency, not intensity.

And of course, short brisk 10 min walks with arms swinging wherever you can stick them.
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I'll have to try adding in dead bugs. My full warm up routine currently is,

Foam rolling
Stretching
Scap Push Ups
Bird Dogs
Cat Camels
Curl Ups (only recently added these back in).

But good point on adding this routine in even on non-WO days. Also, I have recently been doing walks more often, as my kids have been interested lately in walking our circle.
 
M5, Wk3, D1/2

Working sets after full warm up, including Dead Bugs.

DB laterals, 2 sets
BB upright rows, 3 sets
EZ bar curls, 4 sets

48 mins, 136 cals.

Pre: 1 scoop Ignition Switch, 1g Choline Citrate, 1g Vit C, 2 pumps L-carnitine gel, 3 caps PrimeXT, 2 caps Pepti-Plex
Intra: 1 scoop EAA+, 1 scoop R1 Lytes, 1 scoop CVOL, 1/2 scoop Karbolyn

Weigh-in: 155.0# (+0.6#)
BF: 14.1% (+0.1%)

Notes
Dead bugs may be a good addition on core bracing warm ups, but my left hip really crackles and pops when I bring the leg down. This is the side that is also tight on the lower back when I usually have issues, so I know it's somehow all connected.

Busy week this week both with work deadlines due at end of the week and family related responsibilities throughout. Basically something I have to balance every day except Thursday - including the weekend and having family stay over Fri evening into Saturday.

Goal for this week: Survival!
 
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So to be clear, the dead bug is basically a regressed form of bird dog. This makes it more ideal on off-days because you just roll onto your back and knock a few reps out, or for a short time.

You can do the Bird Dog always, but it requires more energy and focus than the Dead Bug I feel, so this is something still useful that might be easier to convince yourself to just hit quickly so you have bracing/activation daily (which helps prevent re-tweaks in everyday life).

Or, it can also be a cooldown exercise at end of session to directly train low back/core endurance, but doing the Bird Dogs before the session is much more important if only picking one.

And the walks, even 5 minutes away from your desk helps - it’s more about frequency than duration. It doesn’t need to be an elaborate affair, just a stroll during a coffee break if possible to get some blood in during the workday.
 
Hyde said:
So to be clear, the dead bug is basically a regressed form of bird dog. This makes it more ideal on off-days because you just roll onto your back and knock a few reps out, or for a short time.

You can do the Bird Dog always, but it requires more energy and focus than the Dead Bug I feel, so this is something still useful that might be easier to convince yourself to just hit quickly so you have bracing/activation daily (which helps prevent re-tweaks in everyday life).

Or, it can also be a cooldown exercise at end of session to directly train low back/core endurance, but doing the Bird Dogs before the session is much more important if only picking one.

And the walks, even 5 minutes away from your desk helps - it’s more about frequency than duration. It doesn’t need to be an elaborate affair, just a stroll during a coffee break if possible to get some blood in during the workday.
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Good info. Since I don't take days off though... on a side note, I heard Jay Cutler mention he still works out 7 days a week. Crazy!

Did end up going for another pre-dinner walk with the kids again. Just trying to stack good habits - and include the family in it when I can.

Had a family member pass this weekend so attended the funeral yesterday. Too much family now buried there these days. Does put some of life into perspective, how I want to be remembered, and reflect on the time I have left.

M5, Wk3, D2

Warm ups for those curious:

Foam rolling / hip rotations
Scap Push Ups
Bird Dogs
Dead Bugs
Cat Camels
Dead hangs

Working sets,
Pull ups, neutral grip, 3 sets
Seated Cable Rows, 3 sets
EZ bar Skull crushers, 2 sets
BB Squats, 2 sets - kept these very light as this was my first squat session since my back tweak. 8 reps on my top set. Not trying to be a hero!

1 hr 6 mins, 154 cals.

Pre: 1 scoop Superhuman, 1g Choline Citrate, 1g Vit C, 1 pump L-carnitine gel (last dose), 3 caps PrimeXT, 2 caps Pepti-Plex
Intra: Same as prior.

Notes
First real leg / lower back test this AM. Quads said WTF we have to work again??

Realized I was unconsciously arching my back during skull crushers. Focused on correcting and keeping my back flat against the bench and core tight.

Stomach a bit off this AM.

5.5 weeks until our family's annual trip to the lake. That means it's time to buckle down again and bring down the bodyfat levels. This cut should be fairly straightforward given I only need to drop about 5# to achieve the same level as before, so just about 1# per week which is totally achievable.

Still have some Napalm Xtreme left which I'll run before switching over to my XPG Lipoderm Xtreme TD next. Still have a little TTA-500 left and plenty of 2.5mg yohimbine caps. Plus a few random stim caps - we'll see how I decide to stack given increased stim sensitivity. Will begin to reintroduce cardio more regularly again.
 
Sorry to hear about the death in the family, thats never easy-

I wouldn't be surprised if Jay was still lifting 7 days a week. I know he's still very enhanced, despite not being at competition level dosages, and he's dropped a lot of movements that weren't worth the risk for how little returns he got out of them so he likely is able to do much lower intensity on the daily and maintain a pretty active lifestyle this way.
 
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