Chest & Back

I can't even express in words how great it feels to be back into a normal routine, hitting macros, and crushing the gym! Don't get me wrong, I loved spending time with my family over the holiday season, but the worst part about taking time off like that is getting back into the roiutines. It was well worth the time off, both physically and mentally, but that simply marks the countdown to the STAGE! I'm going to do be doing my normal 3 day on, 1 day off rotation alternating heavier days with lighter days without a progression for starters and go from there.

BB Rack Deadlifts

I started off with this exercise and took my working up to my working sets. One of my Christmas gifts this year was a nice, thick Cardillo Belt. Once I start getting up to the heavier weights where my core is the limiting factore instead of the muscle group I am primarily working, I will start using a belt to lift more weight. I am surprised I didn't lose a lot of strength over my hiatus. I was able to bust out top sets of:

675 for 8 reps, 725 for 5 reps, 765 for 3 reps

I was amazed I can even pull 8 plates each side off the rack...that's the first time I've ever been able to do that! I mean, it's no Layne Norton world record raw deadlift off the floor, but it's a start! ;)

BB Incline Press

My chest is one of those body parts that seems to suffer the most strength loss after time off from the gym. Although the strength loss in this case was very minor, it still doesn't surprise me that chest was one of them. Form felt good, and had a really good spotter that slightly helped about half way through on the last rep of the last two sets to keep the bar moving...which most of you know that a really good spotter can make a big difference in the set! I was able to perform top sets of:

320 for 5 reps, 5 reps (spotter help on rep 5), 4 reps (spotter help on rep 4)

I thought about staying at 315 and going for sets of 6ish, but decided to go a litle heavier instead. It wasn't a bed few sets and I will take them for now and build off of them.

Rack Chins

I must say...after the rack deadlifts, my back was pretty spent! For these, I brought the seat in a little closer and set up more upright to do more of a pulldown movement. I was able to still lift pretty heavy and get what I need done in spite of the previous rack deads sets. My top sets were:

BW+150 for 6 reps, BW+200 for 5 reps, 5 reps

I will be working this exercise in on a regular basis due to the fact I can perform a heavy back exercise without incororating my lower back. The more I can keep it fresh and recovered, the more I can continue to do all the heavy compound lifting that I do.

DB Incline Flys

As you've noticed, I dropped back down to 315 for my second set here. I have done 325 with really strong reps before, but today I just wasn't feeling it. I think the heavier rack chins today took a little more out of me than usual, so I had to bump it down to 315 for set 2. The first set was to "trappy" with the pulls off the floor. With 315 though, the reps were solid and it right where I wanted them to.

DB Incline Flys: 105s for 9 reps, 8 reps

The only potential problem that I see here is that the gym I am now lifting at for the remainer of tax season only has DBs that go up to 100lbs. That really sucks, but there is nothing that I can do since EVERY gym in this town is the exact same way. There have been several people along the way in my journals advising different ways to get around that, and i am now looking into those options as we speak. But for now, it's just the 100s and my sets were:

100s for 12 reps, 10 reps, 10 reps

I went a little slower and really focused on maximum contraction throughout the range of motion. My chest was tore up by the end of the sets and that was a great way to finish the workout. I walked out feeing both mentally and physically euphoric!

Diet has been in check since Monday of this week. By "in check" I mean that I have been counting out macros, hitting numbers, balancing out meals, timing carbohydrates, etc. I have been getting a lot of emails and questions about my daily diet and supplement regimen as of right now, so I will outline a typical day's worth.

Meal 1: 4 scoops of Scivation Solution 5 & 3 slices of Sun Maid Cinnamon Raisin Bread - 17.5g fat, 70g carbs, 51g of protein

Meal 2: 2 turkey (Boar's Head Blazing Buffalo) & cheese (Sargento reduced fat) sandwiches (Sara Lee wheat bread) - 16g fat, 70g carbs, 55.5g protein

Meal 3: 6oz of grilled chicken breast strips (Tyson), 3 oz. of spaghetti pasta (Generic), 2 servings of shredded cheese (Sargento reduced fat) - 19.5g, 69g carbs, 62.5g protein

(Pre-Workout) Meal 4: 2 packets of oatmeal (Quaker Instant - flavor varies), 2 scoops of Scivation Whey - 6g fat, 56g carbs, 50g protein

(Post-Workout) Meal 5: 2 packets of oatmeal (Quaker Instant - flavor varies), 2 scoops of Scivation Whey - 6g fat, 56g carbs, 50g protein

Daily Totals (on average): 65g fat, 320g carbs, 270g protein

I hope that gives a better idea of how I do things concerning my diet. I am a simple person and always opt for the simplest approach. I am completely fine with eating the same foods for simplicity sake. I mix them up of course, and I don't always eat waht is above, but I typically eat 5 meals a day and split up my macros in that fashion. Sometimes I will leave out the cheese and take some EFAs, Sesamin, or Max CLA. If it looks like I will be longer than 2-2.5 hours between a meal, I will down 2 scoops of xtend. I'm always adapting my diet every day to coincide with whatever life throws at me. I think that's really the important part. Once you have the understanding and awareness of the basics down, it becomes much easier to nail nutrition no matter how hectic life gets.

Sporto