The cut started right after my dl workout, I did crack 385 off the ground, which would have been a 20 lb pr, but I felt like I was in a bad position so decided to play it safe and set it down. I see the confusion though, my training week starts on saturday so that’s why I posted it like that.
I kind of like your volume idea, would you still try that as a giant set? My main thought for increasing intensity and lowering reps is that sets of 8 and 10 are a little high for peaking, I usually do plenty of lighter volume the mesocycle before doing a strength phase so, personally, think it would be more beneficial to go heavier. I also feel the AMRAP and high rep sets may have lead to too much overall fatigue. Will know for sure when I plan on doing it again in December!
I don’t think I’m going to try any kind of program after this minicut when I start bulking. Thinking of doing PPL/rest/UpperLower/rest. Not sure if I’ll have time for 5 workouts with school/work though so may just be upper/lower a couple times a week. I think 1 really good thing about DH being so hard is I cut out a lot of exercises. Reintroducing weighted dips, flys, leg press, lunges, and hip thrusts should be great for some new growth because it’s a novel stimulus after such a long break from them.
Ah you fooled me a bit, you said 9 days ago you would cut, I assumed you started there.
Good luck on the leaning out.
Yes I would do it giant set style. It would be something like Swings - set timer for a minute and strongman style do as many reps I could for a minute - planks - strongman stuff/conditioning.
proceed to EMOM sets.
If and when I start DH again I would eat like a beast, I’ve been on maintenance or close to that, I think my progress will not be as spectacular as @losthog
Down 8 lbs in just under 2 weeks, probably 50/50 fat and water from less carbs. Considering ending the cut this week, I think I was a little too aggressive haha. Upper body workouts are going pretty well still, lower body is suffering a bit. More than just the hunger, I’m anxious to start putting on some serious weight and looking forward to the upcoming bulk
Saturday
Kbell swing 9x15x40
Low bar squat 2x5x135 5x185 5x225 5x275 5x295 3x5x315
Leg raise 9x15
Conventional deadlift 5x135 5x225 4x5x295
Sunday
Bar row 7x10x135
Bench press 2x5x135 5x185 4x6x225
Ring pull up 7x10
EMOM OHP 5x4x135
Weighted neutral grip pull up 4x8x45
Face pulls 4x20x90
Incline dbell press 4x8x85
DtS 4x12
Tuesday
Kbell swing 6x15x40
Trap bar deadlift 5x135 2x5x225 5x275 4x5x315
Leg raise x15
EMOM lowbar squat 5x3x275
Wednesday
Rest
Thursday
Ring pull up 6x10
Push press 2x5x135 4x5x185
DtS 6x15
EMOM bench 5x3x225
Weighted neutral grip pull ups 5x8x45
Face pulls 5x20x100
Close enough for me! If I ever try a crazy cut like this again I’ll eat more veggies next time, good to know how much weight I can lose in 2 weeks. Time to bulk!
For the sake of not making my posts too bulky I’m going to start posting twice a week. Currently trying a legs/push/pull/rest/lower/upper/rest split.
Taking some advice from Mike Israetel, going to chase volume by starting relatively low and then add a set to most exercises each week so by week 4-5 I’m more than ready to deload. Might take some guess work to get the weights right because I haven’t done higher rep stuff for straight sets in a long time. Let’s get fat!
Legs:
Squat 2x8x135 5x185 5x225 4x10x255
Hip thrust 15x235 15x255 4x15x285
Leg press 15x270 15x320 4x15x360
EMOM smith machine squats 5x5x90 need to find the right spot to stand at, my right knee likes to click doing anything other than narrow stance low bar squats
Push:
Incline bench press 2x8x135 8x155 4x8x165
DtS 7x15
Standing ab roll 7x8
dips 4x20 forgot weight belt!
cable fly 4x20x30
Overhead press 4x12x95
Tri press down 3x20x100
Pull:
Morning
Deadlift 8x135 2x5x225 4x5x295
ring pull ups 7x10
Leg lifts 7x15
Done with week 1! Have a little DOMS for the first time in a long time and it’s in the chest, lats, quads and hams so that’s exciting. We’ll see if I survive adding a set to most of my exercises, the next 2 weeks shouldn’t be too bad but after that it’ll get tricky.
Didn’t split up pull workout this week, was pretty hard to get in the weighted pullups. Think I’ll handle the volume increase well the next week or two, will shoot for deloading after week 5 but we’ll see how things feel as I get closer to it.
Also feel like I’m making some progress on dl technique, we’ll find out in Dec/Jan when I attempt a pr
Legs:
Squat 2x8x135 5x185 5x225 5x10x255
Hip thrust 15x235 5x15x285
leg press 15x270 5x15x360
Smith machine squat drop set 12x140 15x90
Push:
Incline bench press 2x8x135 4x8x165 8x175
DtS 7x15
Standing ab roll 7x8
Weighted dips 5x12x45
cable fly 5x20x30
Overhead press 4x12x95
Tri press down drop set 20x100 15x80 15x60
Pull:
Deadlift 8x135 2x5x225 4x5x295 5x315
ring pull ups 7x10
Leg lifts 7x15
haha it’s going to be a little boring the next few months but I’m planning on putting on at least 15 lbs (which is quite a bit on my frame). Before and after pics should be crazy, focusing a lot on the legs.
Expect the exciting stuff and PR after PR in Dec/Jan
Another week down. Overall not too bad except for the hamstrings, Saturday workouts absolutely kills them. Farmers walks got a little hard too, within 10lbs of bodyweight in each hand. Hoping for some big grip gains because it’s always been a weakness of mine.
Let’s try to survive 2-3 more weeks of increasing volume until deload!
Deads were rough today, it wasn’t until the last set that I remembered I was supposed to start with my hips higher which felt a lot better. Still dialing in the form. I think I’m going to do 1 more week before deload, noticing the fatigue starting to set in so we’ll give it 1 good overreaching push for good measure.
Legs:
Squat 2x8x135 5x185 5x225 6x10x255
Hip thrust 15x235 6x15x285
leg press 15x320 6x15x360
Smith machine squat drop set 12x140 15x90
Push:
Incline bench press 2x8x135 4x8x165 2x8x175
DtS 8x15
Standing ab roll 8x8
Weighted dips 6x12x45
cable fly 6x20x30
Overhead press 5x12x95
Tri press down drop set 2x(20x120 12x100 10x80)
Pull:
Morning
Deadlift 8x135 2x5x225 4x5x295 2x5x315
ring pull ups 9x10
Leg lifts 9x15
Yea 1 more week to deload sounds perfect.
Leg workouts this week were pretty rough, may have to start a bit harder with some upper body exercises next time around.
Discovered the importance of chalk on farmer walks, it doesn’t help my grip but does make it so the handles get stuck on my calluses. Hurts but they don’t slip out so I’ll get used to it.
Ended on a high note, last 2 workouts were great. Deload then restart with a few small tweaks (mostly just small bumps in weight), thinking 1 more cycle (maybe 2) then back to strength work, going to start strength work for dl because my form falls apart too easily with even moderate sets/reps.
1 more day and I’ll post up the whole deload week. I really am addicted to the grind but trying to be intelligent this time around to see if it makes a difference. Kept intensity up but dropped volume to 1/2-1/3 of last week. Not driving all the way out to strongman gym for an easy day so just kinda substituting things for sat/sun workouts
Main changes I’m thinking for next week:
Start strength phase for dl
Sub smith machine squat dropset for leg extension
Chase weights a little more aggressively on some movements
Add face pulls to leg day so I do them 3x a week
Myo reps are freaking awesome. Lots of different ways to do them but I’m following general advice from a podcast I listen to. Go to (or close to) failure. Rest 30 seconds and go to failure again. Repeat until you hit the total number of reps from your first set.
I think a slight problem with my last mesocycle was too many straight sets near the end of the workout when I was tired. Could be argued I was doing junk volume. Switching those straight sets with a couple myo rep sets seems promising.
This is where I first heard of them. I think the big difference in rest pause and myo reps is myo reps tend to be for higher reps and metabolite build up. They have the benefit of metabolites like a drop set but you don’t lower the weight so you maintain high mechanical tension. 2 sets on lat pull down and I have a little DOMS from it.
