KD13 Not Very Strongman

[kd13]

Welcome to my log, I will be using this log as a place to keep my thoughts and observations over the next few months, so expect pictures, food and training updates, nothing major exciting but hopefully I can get in the best shape I’ve been in.

I spent the most of 2016 rebuilding and trying to get back to where I was in early 2015. The best shape I have been in was early 2015, in April of that year I had testicular surgery, which although was fairly routine and straight forward it hit me hard, I couldn’t train for around 2 months, also I lost all my drive and coupled with a very difficult and stressful time for me and my wife, I lost a fair bit of size. I was still training in this period but with how stressed I was it just wasn’t happening for me. Knowing also that I was gonna need a repeat surgery didn’t help matters, I was just going through the motions, making steady progress though.

Fast forward to early 2016, things looking up, surprise holiday for my 30th, repeat surgery and and the all clear to start our second ivf cycle. With things looking up and a very fast recovery I could really get back into training and nutrition, my head was back in it!

6 months of really going for it and I’m probably now getting back to where I was before, maybe bigger and leaner.

Sorry for the long story, info on training and nutrition to follow and some pics.

Happy for anyone to get involved in my log, any questions, criticisms and suggestions welcomed. Happy to discuss Ivf stuff and personal stuff also

thanks for reading.

[kd13]

This is what I consider to be the best shape I have been in. Maybe it’s just one of them lucky photos that look good but to me it’s the best I’ve been. If I can be a bit bigger and a bit leaner then happy days

current position, will get better pictures when I can.

[kd13]

Tonight was chest and triceps, been following a chest routine that I read from a top physique guy. It’s nothing like I usually do so have been giving it a go as a bit of an experiment. Been doing it for around 5 weeks.

Incline fly 3x10-12
Incline db press 3x8
Cable cross 3x10-12
Flat machine press 3x8
Pec deck 3x10-12
Dips 3x8
Overhead tri db 3x8
(Training partner adding resistance on negative)
Cable press down 3x12

*felt strong on Incline movements and absolutely love the overhead extention with added resistance.

A lot more volume than I normally do and as yet I would not really recommend it, I don’t think I’m getting much more out of it than my normal routine. But hey you have to try new things every now and again!

[kd13]

legs

hamstring curls 1.5 reps- 4x12
leg extension- 4x12
Leg press full range-1x20 4x8-12 1x20
leg press shorter rom- 2x failure
Romanian dead lift- 3x10
pull through- 2x10
Standing calve- work up to a top set of 5 reps (Usually around 8 sets)
Seated calve- 10 minutes of hitting as many sets of around 20

Not been squatting in a long time and can’t say I’m missing it! Legs are a weakness size wise which in working hard on.

[kd13]

Today was supposed to be shoulders. My current shoulder workout is like this…

Arnold press- 4x10-12
side lateral 21s- 4 sets
db shoulder press- 4x8-10
Rear delt raises - 3x25
(Band pull aparts between sets)
Kelso shrugs - 3x10-15

Unfortunately the road to my gym was closed due to a bad car accident so couldn’t get access today, had to work around and do what I could.

my brother has a rusty old press machine tucked away at the back of his garage, not ideal at all but better than missing a session. It looked like this…

Shoulder press- 10 sets of 10
100 band pull aparts
side laterals- 4x12 1xfailure *

• only had really light dumbells so having training partner adding extra resistance, worked surprisingly well

so all in all not a bad workout with very little tools available.

now just ordered pizza, I’m a bad man.

[kd13]

So as the typical question is what did you eat yesterday, yesterday was not a typical day but it’s pretty bad so I thought it needed logging.

8am
Skry yoghurt, 100g berry granola, 40g whey with 250ml almond milk. Black coffee
11am
4 slices of pizza, orange, apple, double decker
1.30pm
3 slices of pizza, 3 chicken legs
3pm
Macadamia nuts, hot peanut butter with 250ml almond milk
5.30pm pre football snack
3 slices of pizza, 2 oranges, handful of almonds
8.30pm
10oz sirloin, chips, green beans. Tin of pineapple chunks.

Quantity and calories wise it’s about my normal intake, but the food choices are not the normal, was a pretty easy days eating. Can do this at the minute as I’m still in growing mode, few more weeks and this will not be acceptable!

[kd13]

back
Hammer strength row- 4x12
(Alternating grip)
50 chin ups
Close hand pull down- 4x8
T bar row- 6x6
Straight arm pull down- 3x15
Face pulls- 3x12

gym is getting ridiculously busy with newbs and comeback kids. I know it won’t last but it’s bloody frustrating.

Got on the scales at the gym and they said I was 13lb down! I then asked them to dig out the old manual scales, and was 2lb up. They must have the scales in January “make people think they have lost weight” mode.

[kd13]

Arms have improved quite a bit, this current back routine, along side some isolation exercises I don’t normally do has got them looking thicker.

got to learn how to pose though!

I’m terms of the transformation there is not much to report, still eating everything in sight and only doing the 1 conditioning session a week, I walk about 3 miles a day at work and on my feet for 9 hours, 5 day a week.

[kd13]

I’ve not missed any training sessions, I’m just not logging every one as it’s pretty much repeating what is above, however after reading a John Meadows article on leg training I’ve decided to give some of his leg sessions a go and work through what is laid out. It’s not a million miles away from my current leg sessions but will make a nice change

Tonight’s leg session

Hamstring curls 4x8
(Followed by 25 partials)
Squat 4x8
Leg press 3x25
Straight leg dead 2x20

pretty sure my legs will be in a bad way tomorrow as the 3 high rep leg press killed me!

[kd13]

I’ve decided that I’m now going to concentrate on very slowly dropping some body fat. Gonna be really careful as weight seems to drop off me pretty rapid, without me looking much leaner, which always makes me feel I must be dropping more than just body fat. Every other time I’ve tried a bit of a cut it has just been to look a bit tighter at the beach, leaving it until the last minute and probably dropping intake too rapidly.

My diet is staying unchanged on training days, so pretty much eat as much clean food as I can stomach.
None training days I’m gonna drop some carbs, maybe 100g, and shift a bigger proportion of my remaining carbs into my morning meal. Not really a big deal as my current carb intake is around the 500 mark, it’s a welcomed change to eat less and makes it easier to enjoy my fruit and veg without having to force down a double serving of rice!

Training in the gym is staying the same, I’m adding a bit more walking in the evenings, maybe 30 minutes 2 times a week with my wife, and my usual 1 hour of football. (Will try and do a bit more running on the pitch instead of standing in the middle smashing anything that moves)

Will see how this works for a few weeks before adding much else.

[kd13]

Managed to sneak an extra session this week so decided to do a good chest session with some abs

incline dumbell press 4 sets of 8 (38kg db)
dips 4 sets 8 (body plus 30kg)
Pec deck 5 sets 12
Finished with partials in stretched position for around 25 reps

hanging leg raises 3 sets 10
hanging side raises 3 sets 10
cable crunch 3 sets 12
crunch 3 sets till it hurt!

Finished up with rowing 30 second sprints with 30 seconds moderate for 10 sets.

I’m looking forward to being leaner than ever before but as always anxious that I don’t have the mass to look good, don’t wanna just look ill.

[robstein]

Dude, absolutely awesome progress! Based on this last pic you posted, I think you’re uncovering some well rounded mass and will look filled out as you continue to get leaner. Keep up the great work you’re doing well!

[kd13]

Thank you very much for checking in buddy, appreciate the complement. Hope all is well with your prep.

This past week I’ve really got carried away with dropping carbs from my diet, I’ve deviated away from plan of dropping some on none training days to going really low carb on none training days. At the minute it’s not really causing me any issues but if performance in the gym suffers then I will have to switch things up

one thing for sure is that the sudden drop has cured a lot of bloat, waist is down by over an inch and I feel quite a bit leaner.

having a very high carb day today and looking forward to chocolate waffles this morning!

[kd13]

Good points this past few weeks

• enjoying food much more
• remembered what it’s like to be hungry
• dropped a good bit off waist measurement
• energy levels have been good
• weight down 4lb

bad points

• been ill for the first time in years
• missed 2 training sessions due to illness
• seem to have a loss of aggression / maybe lowered testosterone

Not sure if the bad parts have anything to do with being in a deficit and having lowered carbohydrate intake or if it’s just coincidence.

considering changing training routine to a lower volume push pull, not sure if this is a good plan or not? Any thoughts?

[kd13]

I’ve made the decision to switch my training to the Paul Carter guaranteed muscle routine. Loved this routine in the past and made great gains on it, which makes me think it would be good to maintain my muscle mass on a cut. The only change I might make is to not go to failure but to stop a rep short.

[kd13]

Current pic at around 164lb

Probably about equal to the leanest I’ve been, usually I bail out around here but this time I’m gonna push on through. I’ve had it pretty easy getting to this point so not struggling yet and have lots of changes I can make if weight loss stops.

[robstein]

Wow man looking really good dude! Keep it up! Abs and obliques coming in, and that bicep thickness and tricep hanging down is on point!

[kd13]

Thanks for checking in buddy, it’s funny because I get quite a few compliments on my arms but to me they feel like they are a weakness and would love them to be bigger. I think my triceps make up most of the mass in my arms.

All them hanging leg raises and serrattus crunches will hopefully pay off when I lean out more.

[kd13]

Here is my low carb non training day.

Breakfast
Skry yoghurt with honey, and mixed red berries, black coffee with coconut oil. Pack of beef jerky

Lunch 1
Courgette and lettuce salad with chicken (mixture of breast and thigh. Olive oil and balsamic glaze dressing. Whole mango.

Lunch 2
Chicken and broccoli, avocado.

Evening meal
Butternut squash, courgette, onion, aubergine cooked in a tomato sauce, Turkey, Handful of almonds.

Diet notes.
I have a whey shake in a gap between meals. The chicken is a whole chicken, I split it between 2 meals and snack on what ever is left. 3-4 litres of water, 6 cups of green tea. Amino acids in some of the water with a fizzy vitamin tablet thing. Trying not to eat after 7pm.

I’m not the best at counting calories and macros, maybe I need to get better and start weighting and tracking. I would guess my low carbohydrate day like above is around 150ish, most of that coming from fruit.

[kd13]

Pretty bad week to be honest, couple of bad training sessions, more doms than usual (just changed routine so probably this) feeling small and flat and seem less lean. Feeling pretty disheartened and about ready to give up and start gaining again, but I want to push on.

I started thinking it was all in my head until my dad told me I looked small and like I have lost a lot of muscle and looking skinny

not loving it at the minute.