HIIT cardio session
Work Rest
30 10
20 10
20 20
10 30
10 10
10 10
10 50
10 60
20 60
10 40
30 Done
I did this by setting the treadmill on the highest speed and incline. I suck at running so this was pretty bad for me. Even the short sprints suck. I wanted to do this on a track, but its hard to carry a notepad with you and a stop watch on a track while you run.
Woke up today and did half an hour of fasted cardio. Walked on a 10% incline for 30 minutes at 3mph. I used to hate morning cardio, but its not so bad anymore. I’m actually kind of enjoying it.
I’m about to go in and do workout 4 of BCB, it looks like it could be one of the most brutal sessions of the entire workout plan… awesome.
Looks like we were suffering through that workout at the same time. Did you do circuit B with 10-15% more weight like Roman suggests? I used the same weight, I was not gonna get through that shit with 75’s after using 60’s for A.
voodoo: Yea, I increased the weight. It wasn’t too bad because i under estimated myself a bit today. I used 45’s and 55’s, which was wayyyy easy on bench and rows. Next time I hit this workout I’m going to bring my straps so i can use 60’s and 75’s or so, because grip was definitely limiting me today.
WEIGHT Starting: 214, Today: 209
A1) Incline DB Chest Press: 2x10
A2) DB Row on Incline Bench: 2x10
A3) DB Squat: 2x10
A4) DB Reverse Lunges: 2x10
A5) Incline DB Chest Press: 2x10
A6) Single Arm DB Row: 2x10
A7) DB Squat: 2x10
A8) Single Arm DB Row: 2x10
B1) Seated Overhead Press: 3x6
B2) Alternating Forward Lunges: 3x6
B3) Low Incline DB Chest Press; 3x6
B4) DB Rows on Incline: 3x6
B5) DB RDL’s: 3x10
B6) DB Push Press:3x6
C1) Wide Grip Pull-ups: 10
C2) Wide Push-ups: 15
C3) Narrow Pull-ups: 10
C4) Narrow Push-ups: 15
C5) Wide Pull-ups: AMRAP
Weighted Decline Sit-ups: 2x15 holding 25lb plate
Hanging Leg Raises: 2x10
On all of the A circuit I used 45lb db’s. It was really easy for the bench press and rows, but I went really fast on everything to make it as hard as possible. Grip was definitely the limiting factor on these. My forearms were on fire. Next time I’m definitely wearing straps. It should help me use more weight.
For all of the B circuit I used 55lb db’s. Still easy on the chest press and rows. Once again I did it all as fast as possible to make it as hard as possible. Grip was dead by the end of the circuits.
The C circuit was definitely lactic acid inducing…
Overall: Pretty tough workout. I need to increase the weight next time and use straps. I was sweating like crazy and I was breathing pretty dang hard. I weighed in today at 209, which is a 5lb loss in a week. I’m sure most of it is just water weight, but I do look a little leaner.
I’ve been visiting my family back home. Decided to go visit the MMA gym that I used to train and instruct at. I walked in, the coach decided I needed to work some people who thought they were bad asses.
So I went in and had 5 or 6 full jiu-jitsu matches. I won all of them easily, after playing with them. All matches were back to back with no breaks. I won with: arm triangle, arm bar, kimura, knee bar, and a standing front choke. I wanted to use some rubber guard, but everyone was too scared to do anything once I gave them top.
I’m going to count this as my pm cardio session. I was still breathing pretty dang hard, and sweating like crazy.
I took the entire day off today. It was quite nice. I spent most of it in a car driving, so it was pretty much no physical activity. I’m ready to get back after it at 7:30 tomorrow morning.
I had to wake up early to hit the gym today. Got there at 7:35 and finished at about 8:05. i really love how short these workouts are, but sometimes I fee like they just aren’t long enough. But i’m always super drained by the end of them.
A1) DB Bench Press: 8x3 75lb DB’s
A2) Weighted Chin ups: 8x3 (used bodyweight and really focused on pulling shoulder blades down and back)
500 Jumping Jacks
C) BB Hack Squat: 5x5
Squat Jumps: 120sec
D) BB Hack Squat: 5x5
E1) Close grip Push-ups: 2x25
E2) Inverted Row; 2xAMRAP
Today’s workout wasn’t too awful overall, but it definitely had some bad parts (jumping jacks and squat jumps). The squat jumps were terrible, I knew they would be from the start, but I was feeling muscles getting sore that I had never felt before.
Today was also my cheat day. I decided to only do a cheat meal though instead. I didn’t want to get too carried away since I haven’t made as much progress as I would like yet. My cheat meal was really healthy, except for the dessert… Going back to the gym bright and early to get some fasted cardio in. It should be fun.
Woke up and did half an hour of fasted cardio. 30 minutes on the treadmill at 10% grade and 3mph. I gotta go back tonight and get some HIIT cardio in.
I just realized that next week may have to be back to a regular diet. I’m headed to florida on vacation for a week with my parents. i’m not sure they would be OK with stopping and getting me food every few hours. I’ll do the best I can though, and i’ll still be doing the workouts.
I’ve been thinking pretty hard about this program, and my strength goals. I know that I’m supposed to do BCB and only BCB for the next 5 weeks, but my recovery has had 0 issues. I dont feel overtrained in the least. So i’ve decided to work on a few things while doing this program. Before every BCB workout i will either do some DB bench press, DB military press, or deficit deadlifts. I’m really wanting to bring these 3 lifts up or at least maintain during this period of time. If I feel overtrained then I will drop them. Also I will be waiting 5-10 minutes between the completion of the first part of the workout ie. deads, bench, or military… and the second part of the workout (BCB).
Now, off to bed. Waking up early for some more cardio.
I skipped fasted cardio this morning and decided to drink a protein shake and eat some oatmeal before hitting the gym. I added in deficit deadlifts today as I had planned. I cant go too heavy on them because my crappy apartment weight room doesnt have that many plates.
Deficit Deadlifts: 120x3,170x3,220x3,260x3,300x3,300x3 (Easy, gonna do sets of 5 next time)
A) Bulgarian Split Squat: 2x6,5,4,3,2,1
B1) Hand Walkouts: 8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1
B2) Jump Squats: 8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1
C) Push-up/Renegade Row: 4x4,3,2,1
D1) Squat to Press: 2x6,5,4,3,2,1
D2) Push-up Position Plank: 2x30sec,25sec,20sec,15sec,10sec,5sec
E) 500 Jumping Jacks
This workout was wayyyyy harder than I thought it would be. i was sucking wind the entire workout. It was all I could do to finish this workout with the prescribed rest periods. I used 45lb db’s on everything, and I think that was probably the perfect weight for everything. It made it just hard enough that I wanted to die during everything, but where I could still complete it all.
Going back to the weight room for some more cardio before bed. Try to burn off some excess glycogen before I go to sleep. It will be another 30 minute at 3mph on 10% grade session.
Woke up and did some more fasted cardio. Same as usual, 10% grade 3mph for 30min.
So umm, i’m starting to get a little down. I was really expecting more changes than what i’ve had so far. My diet has been good. My workouts have been great. I’ve been nailing the cardio. I’m fairly certain that my weight has been coming down still, but there just arent many changes in my appearance yet.
Maybe i’m just crazy, because it hasnt even been two full weeks yet. I guess its the fact that i’ve been working my ass off and i feel like i’ve done enough to be able to notice a bigger difference. Oh well, i’m going to keep plugging away for the next 4 or 5 weeks, until I get where I want to be… 8% bf. Wish me luck.
Did very low carb day today. Trying to get some more glycogen out of my system so I can burn more fat today. I also did another low intensity cardio session tonight. Its time for me to take a shower and get to bed. Maybe i’ll wake up and be ripped in the morning.
Woke up this morning, headed to the weight room and hopped on the treadmill for half an hour at 3mph on a 10% incline for 30 minutes. Then headed back to my apartment grabbed a protein shake and some oatmeal. Then waited about 45 minutes and headed back to the gym. Today was the 7th of the seven workouts of BCB.
DB Bench Press: 5x5x75’s
A1) Alternating Forward Lunges: 2x15 each leg
A2) Standing Overhead Press: 2x10
A3) DB squat: 2x15 reps (holding both DB’s)
A4) Single Arm DB Row: 2x10 each arm
A5) Alternating Reverse Lunges: 2x10 each leg
A6) Single DB Squat: 2x12
B1) Standing Overhead Press: 3x8
B2) Alternating forward Lunges: 3x8 each leg
B3) DB Step-ups: 3x6 each leg
B4) DB Flat Bench: 3x6
B5) Single DB Squat: 3x12
C1) Right Leg Bulgarian Split Squat: 20
C2) Right Leg Step-ups: 15
C3) Right Leg Squat to bench: 10
C4) Left Leg Bulgarian Split Squat: 20
C5) Left Leg Step-ups: 15
C6) Left Leg Squat to Bench: 10
D1) DB Stiff Legged Deadlift: 10 each leg
D2) Stationary DB Lunge: 10 each leg
D3) DB Stiff Legged Deadlift: 8 reps each leg
D4) Stationary DB Lunge: 8 each leg
E1) Hanging Leg Raises: 5x5 very short rests.
So today’s workout sucked pretty bad. Something about the combination of high rep lunges and overhead press is just plain torture. It has me sucking wind in no time. And this workout had me doing that 5 times back to back. It was pretty awesome. Two weeks ago this workout would have probably killed me. One thing is for certain, I’m definitely in much better shape today than i was 2 weeks ago. Now if only my physique would show that.
Legs 2 weeks into cut
Side Relaxed 2 weeks into cut
Back Double 2 weeks into cut
Just a little bit of progress so far. The next shots I post will be the ones at the conclusion of my cut. Hopefully they will be awesome…
I can’t wait for workout 1 again, scheduled for Monday. I’m really interested to see what has happened to my deadlift and push press. Are you going to stick with the same weight for all your sets like you did last time, or ramp up? I’m ramping, shooting for a 415x4 DL.
Voodoo: I’m pretty excited about the workout too. I wont really be able to ramp up due to not having enough weight to really push it. I’ll probably just do all sets of four with 300 pounds and i’ll be doing deficit deadlifts. 300lbs is about all i have access to right now.
I just got back today from my mini vacation. It was pretty nice. I didnt really stick to my diet at all, but I stayed in a caloric deficit, and I actually appear to be a little leaner. I’ll be in Florida on vacation all this week, however I should still be able to follow my diet perfectly, and I’ll be doing some form of workout everyday. Hopefully, when I get back from the beach I’ll be ripped and I’ll have a nice tan to show off.
I’m really looking forward to the final 4 weeks of this cut. I think these will be the weeks that really show the difference. I’m stoked about getting some sick before and after pictures. I hope I can meet all my expectations.