Cutting Log September 2021

[CommanderFun]

Tuesday 10/12/2021

Squat 195x10x2
Barbell Row 140x10x3
Rower 2 minutesx2, half intensity, with one minute rest between

I've decided to try and start using the rower, after using it last Friday I found it felt a lot more like a conditioning stress than the farmer's walks were. I don't have a lot of knowledge about programming this stuff though, so I tried doing longer intervals today. I think in the future I will keep the intervals to 1 minute on this day and just do more intervals instead. Also, tapered my squat down to 2 sets of 10 since last week was a killer. Not sure how long I'll run on these but it'd be cool to surpass 200 for 10.

[CommanderFun]

Thursday 10/14/2021

Press 90x12x3
Dumbbell Bench 35x10x3
Lying Triceps Extension 65x10x3
Barbell Curl 60x10x3
Pushups 15, 10, 8, 7

Got the 40 goal in only 4 sets, very nice. 45 next.

[CommanderFun]

Friday 10/15/2021

Deadlift 250x12
Lat Pulldown 135x10x3
Leg Extension 125x12x3
Leg Curl 140x10x3
Rower (max intensity) 1 minute intervalsx3, 1 minute rest

[CommanderFun]

Monday 10/18/2021

Weigh-In: 280 pounds

Bench 225x4, 160x10x2
Arnold Press 30x12, 12, 10
Dumbbell Lateral Raise 15x12x3
Dumbbell Curls 15x12x2 supersetted with:
Dumbbell Triceps Extensions 30x12x2

Tried something a little different today, I wanted to touch base with where my 5s are at. I was kinda disappointed. I MIGHT have had a fifth in me, but it was very, very dicey. I guess I shouldn't be too upset, my carb consumption is way down. Man did I feel like shit all through this workout though. For the pushups I decided to just see how many I could go in one set as a maximum and got 16. That was disappointing too. I feel like trying to train these is not really of great benefit to my ability to do them. I've gotten a decent technique down, but I still run out of gas way too fast on these things to do well on that damn fitness exam.

[CommanderFun]

Tuesday 10/19/2021

Squat 200x8x2
Barbell Row 140x12x3
Rower 1 minute intervals/1 minute rest x4, half intensity

I think the cut is starting to mess with my chemistry a bit. Knee was bothering the hell out of me, and I just didn't have those squats for 10 reps, so I kept them at 8s. I think the rower might actually be doing its job, I was surprised I could pound through those 4 intervals with a minimal feeling of fatigue. I'm also going to try a "re feed" for the next few days. I'm not going to go nuts with the food, but I wanna try and get some more energy in and see if it resets the bad feeling I'm getting.

[CommanderFun]

Thursday 10/21/2021

Press 95x10x3
Dumbbell Bench 35x12x3
Lying Triceps Extension 65x12x3
Barbell Curl 60x12x3

Decided to bring up the press by 5 and switch to 10s. I'm hoping to end this little cut with some good numbers for 3 sets of 5, so I can use it as training data to inform the next program.

[CommanderFun]

Friday 10/22/2021

Deadlift 265x10
Hack Squat 90x12x3
Lat Pulldown 135x12x3
Seated Calf Raise 110x10x3
Rower 30 second intervals/30 second rest x4, max intensity

Changed up the leg assistance stuff today. I really want to train a movement that focuses on the quadriceps. I feel I've developed a squat where they get pretty slack at the bottom, and as a result the muscles have become kind of lax. My hamstring strength definitely blows away my quadricep strength, which used to be the reverse before I picked up starting strength. Leg extensions don't seem a good answer to this, though how hard they are vs how easy leg curls are does demonstrate the problem I think. The hack squat lets me position myself to put more load on the quads, which is hard for me to do even with a front squat due to how I'm built, and is a more "functional" exercise than leg extensions. I also decided to try these seated calf raises to help out with the problems I still have in my left foot.

[CommanderFun]

Monday 10/25/2021

Bench 165x10x3
Arnold Press 30x12, 12, 11
Lateral Raises 20x10x3
Dumbbell Curls 20x10x2 supersetted with:
Dumbbell Triceps Extensions 35x10x2

Nothing to note on this one.

[CommanderFun]

Tuesday 10/26/2021

Weigh-In: 278.2 pounds

Squat 205x8x2
Barbell Row 145x10x3
Rower 1 minute intervals/1 minute rest x5, half intensity

Squats were pretty okay. I tried putting my mental focus on how my knees traveled and I didn't get any knee pain today. I think I'd got in the habit of sitting back far too much right out of the top and the knees were pushing forward a bunch as I approached the bottom. I also decided to try putting my orthotic in that left shoe again. If I can find its counterpart (it got lost in the last cleaning of my room) I will put that in my other shoe. I'm not sure if I actually have a leg length issue, so having one foot higher than the other even by a little might cause a problem I don't want to add.

[CommanderFun]

Thursday 10/28/2021

Press 100x10x3
Dumbbell Bench 40x10x3
Lying Triceps Extension 70x10x3
Barbell Curl 65x10x3

Gonna try another 5 pound jump on the press with the same reps next week, not sure it'll pan out. Failing a higher rep set just feels very different from failing a set of 5.