Today: Rest.

186.4, down another .2 and down 2.6lbs total from Wednesday. Will likely fall short of the 4-5lb estimated drop but I'll likely clear the 3lb mark for the first week.

So today was a frustrating gym experience overall.

Went in for upper, bench main. 270 calc 3/3/3 week.

Scheduled sets: 190x3, 215x3, 245x3+

I warmup, I hit 190x3 and it feels great. Normally my trend has been that the run up sets feel ugly. No idea why, but it's been par for the course lately, although my top sets have been going fine.

I get 215x3 and it feels "so so". I decide to just go for 245x3. First rep was fine (I had my trainer Matt spotting me), second rep for some unknown reason (this has happened once or twice before in the past several months) the bar starts drifting near my face. I lock it out but in the process I slide up the bench an inch or two and obviously lose my tightness. Foolishly I decide to go for 3, *kitten* comes up and I lock it out but it was just not pretty.

Then I decide to add 20 and go for 265x1. My 1rm on bench is 285 for perspective sake. Right from the get go it was just ugly as *kitten*, I hit the bottom and deflate. Matt gets ready to grab it, I give it a good heave, he sees that I'm basically useless and he pulls the damn thing so hard it lifts me off the bench a few inches. It was quite an impressive spotting job.

But anyways, I was pretty pissed about it, but I chalk it up to a combination of technical/mental mistakes more than anything. I didn't feel "fatigued" from low calories in the traditional sense.

Pissed, I decided to practice a few deadlift pulls. Deads have been my enemy lately. I pulled singles at 225, 275, 315 and 345. The pulls at 345 had mild but acceptable form breakdown so I stopped at 2 or 3 singles. Pulled a few more at 315 and stopped.

Then I decided to squat since my day was pretty much hosed anyways

Just some singles:
225
255
285
315
345
375

Followed by fronts
185x3
225x1
255x1
275x2
205x5

Did some calf work and called it a day.


If I have another ugly bench session I'll consider positioning refeeds pre-bench day.

Today marks the completion of week 1.

186.0 today.

Total loss for week 1, 3lbs.

One awful workout day. On a side note I went back last night to the gym because my wife and I take our son to swimming lessons there. I snuck away to the gym and benched again to monitor technique. I certainly have some things to work on with positioning and bar path. My setup has improved significantly but my bar path could still use some work.

Did a few light sets, then 225x1, 245x2,3. 245 was heavier than it should have felt and I seem to lose stability after the second rep. Going to video this to see the cause. What appears to happen is that I deflate a bit and even lose my position. My theory is that I'm probably overextending the lockout and not keeping my shoulders retracted, and this starts somewhat of a domino effect (traps untuck, leg drive flattens the torso out and I end up scooting up the bench a bit).

Rest day today, will probably practice some deads in my garage.

10/10/13 Thursday --

Supposed to be upper/OHP day.

Have to take today as a rest day. I bring my kiddo to my parents place, but my Mom is feeling a bit sick so I don't have a good opportunity to lift.

I'll probably practice some speed deads in the garage and maybe crank out some pendlays.

Today's weight: 185.4. Down 3.6 in 8 days.

Welcome sir!

In.

On such a low week, you're gonna have some tough lifts. I only skimmed through your posts (sorry super busy) but a couple things that stuck out to me.

1) If you're cutting did you reset your weights? when i go in for a cut i tend to take my training maxes back by a couple of months so im working in a comfortable range

2) If the bar is moving on your back when you squat heavy. Apply chalk.

1) No, but I had recently done a 10% deload of all my maxes. I still think this was a fluke and not calorie related but I'll know for sure next week.

2) Unfortunately I can't at the gym I'm at =(

I did make some positional changes that seemed to have helped quite a bit. Moved my hands further in and more forcefully retracting my elbows seems to have helped. At least the last couple of sessions have gone much better.

Some data, just because it's good to look at.

Cut start date: 10/2/13
Starting weight: 189.0
Starting navel measurement: 34"
Starting waist measurement: 33"


Current weight: 183.4
Navel: 32.75
Waist: 32.5

Average intake:
Calories: 2231
Carbs: 260g
Fats: 58g
Protein:188g

Intake will sit around the ~2350 mark with a refeed Friday or Saturday. The following week I'll step calories up to the 2500 range.

Squats today. Also considering adding in Agile 8 (or the updated version) at home, daily.