# A Mediocre Transformation



## mediocre1645 (Dec 31, 2020)

[FONT=&quot]Last year around this time I was in a bad place mentally and physically and did a new years transformation challenge to get my ass into gear. That kicked off a year of pretty solid training/diet, but I've gained some fat back and am again suffering mentally as well, so I’m going to do the same type of thing to get my back on track. This will be ~3 months of hard diet/training. I am a pro at getting down to 10% bf or so, after that I stall hard. I'd like to get down to a true (my calipers are not accurate) sub-8% bf. I use two body fat calipers, on one of them I pinch it two different ways (hard to explain), so three numbers total and I use a three-point (chest, abdomen, leg) method to calculate it (I average three measurements for each area for each measurement method). The three methods show me at 10.5, 12.25, and 13.25% bf. I’d guess I’m closer to 15% if not higher. Weighed 226.5 lb this morning (normally about 230). I think this weight discrepancy is because my test was overdosed and my test was at 1000 on a cruise dose, so I quit pinning altogether for a few weeks. [/FONT]

  [FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
  [FONT=&quot]I’m going to start out at 2200 calories and aim for a 1000 cal deficit (~65% from diet, ~35% from exercise) over what I calculate to be my activity-corrected BMR. I’ll be lifting obviously but have a really broad variety of other workouts planned: yoga 1-2x/week, grip-specific training 2x/week (I find grip subculture to be interesting and one of the few areas that there’s a lot of real world carryover), plyometrics/sprints as one of my lower workouts, jiu jitsu 1-3x/week, and probably an intense run once a week along with 30-60 minutes on an elliptical 4-6x/week.  [/FONT]

  [FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
  [FONT=&quot]I’ll have a 4-day lifting split if you count the plyo/sprints as “lifting”. I’m only doing so in order to spread out the stress on my lower body/back/joints:[/FONT]

  [FONT=&quot]Upper 1: bench press, shoulder press, rows (and associated accessories)[/FONT]
  [FONT=&quot]Lower 1: squat, SLDL, GHRs, calf raises, abs[/FONT]
  [FONT=&quot]Upper 2: same but one day I’ll probably do lower reps and one day I’ll do higher reps, might switch up lifts a bit too.[/FONT]
  [FONT=&quot]Lower 2: plyometrics, sprints, abs[/FONT]
  [FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
  [FONT=&quot]Day 1 – 12-31-20 (Upper 1):[/FONT]
  [FONT=&quot]I haven’t lifted much lately, so don’t laugh at my numbers. I’m trying to not go too hard and be really sore and stressed out the first few weeks anyways.[/FONT]
  [FONT=&quot]Bench: 3 x 5 @ 225[/FONT]

  [FONT=&quot]DB Press: 3 x 10 x 50’s[/FONT]
  [FONT=&quot]Bent Rows: 3 x 8 x 135[/FONT]
  [FONT=&quot]Some really light fly’s, front/side raises, curls, and tricep extensions[/FONT]


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## CJ (Dec 31, 2020)

Did you say you "cruise" at 1,000 mg of Test? :32 (6):

Edit: nevermind, you meant your Test levels were at 1,000. I was gonna say!!!!  :32 (18):


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## mediocre1645 (Jan 1, 2021)

CJ275 said:


> Did you say you "cruise" at 1,000 mg of Test? :32 (6):
> 
> Edit: nevermind, you meant your Test levels were at 1,000. I was gonna say!!!!  :32 (18):




lol, yeah I can see how that might come off confusing. I was at about "150" mg/week, and levels were 1282 ng/dL. This pissed me off to be honest, I was having some hair loss and anxiety issues and I think it's probably because I was that high for so long. Hence why I quit pinning altogether. I'm ok with losing a bit of muscle so I'll start back up on "TRT" about a week into this diet. 

This is actually a diet competition, so I'm wondering as I get closer to the end, what compounds would one want to stop taking/start taking to look as lean as possible. I'm really ignorant when it comes to "show prep" type stuff, or at least the final weeks of it.


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## mediocre1645 (Jan 1, 2021)

My workout was a bit different than I originally posted. Shoulders got crazy tired/cramped, which is unusual for me. Well on track with diet, which isn't saying much since this is day 1!

Cardio: Elliptical for 25 minutes, 410 calories (note, I'm well aware these estimations are not good, this is more a track of my relative effort as I go along).


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## CJ (Jan 1, 2021)

How's the competition being judged? By weight loss? Pics? Inches lost? Bf% lost?


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## mediocre1645 (Jan 1, 2021)

CJ275 said:


> How's the competition being judged? By weight loss? Pics? Inches lost? Bf% lost?



I believe it's based on progress pics.


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## CJ (Jan 1, 2021)

mediocre1645 said:


> I believe it's based on progress pics.



Get a tan and shave. :32 (20):


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## mediocre1645 (Jan 3, 2021)

CJ275 said:


> Get a tan and shave. :32 (20):



What about using primobolan instead of test? Or maybe transitioning test to a cruise dose the last month and adding primo in? I'm really ignorant to primo, proviron, and the new peptides, all of which I'm considering using soon. Need to educate myself more. 

Day 2 – 1-1-20 (Lower 1):
Squat: 3 x 5 x 225
SLDL: 3 x 8 x 135
Inversion table abs: 2 x 10 (limited ROM due to some ongoing sciatica)

Day 3 – 1-2-20: Elliptical for 35 minutes, 575 calories

I know I haven't lost much fat but I look considerably better already. Eating clean and light exercise after eating like a pig for 4 months does wonders.


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## mediocre1645 (Jan 4, 2021)

Day 4 – 1-3-20: Hike, 38 minutes, 1.5 m, 600'. Should have been longer but the wind was so crazy and I had a mini-me attached to my back (45 lbs) and if it got much worse we probably would have been blown off the mountain.   I think I've decided to take masteron, var, and a little test. I think I can get all of that locally if I had to, but considering a few other sources.


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## mediocre1645 (Jan 5, 2021)

Day 5 - 1-4-21:

Upper 1:
Bench: 4 x 6,6,5,5 x 185, 225, 225, 225
Bent Rows (DBs): 3 x 8 x 45's
DB Press: 3 x 8 x 45's
One set of light band flys, band rows, and front raise/tricep extension

Elliptical for 25 minutes, 450 calories. 

Rant about calculated calories:
My fancy new garmin watch claimed ~400 calories based on the info I put in there. I think there is a big difference on these between trained and un-trained individuals, as we adapt and become more efficient, but that is really hard to quantify. 

This lead me to look into various ways to calculate calories burned. I found a formula on a few sites referencing a study in the journal of sports sciences: Calories Burned (for men) = [(Age x 0.2017) — (Weight x 0.09036) + (Heart Rate x 0.6309) — 55.0969] x Time / 4.184. Glaring problem: when all else is equal, the more you weigh the LESS calories you burn here. If distance/strides/strokes/etc are equal, clearly a bigger person burns more calories, but this formula doesn't take that into account. After thinking about this, I pulled up the article and looked at their formulas. The dipshits from these "fitness" sites converted and/or transcribed the formula incorrectly. In fact I was able to find it incorrectly written on more sites than it was correctly written (and found one site I have used in the past doesn't write it out, but uses the formula for its calculator). The correct forumula has one significant difference, and one minor. The first negative sign should be positive (properly correlating weight to calories burned) and the weight constant in the paper is for kg, and on the websites in lbs (so they transcribed that part right, but don't specify on most of the websites that I saw). Using this formula the wrong way calculates my expenditure at 178 calories, the right way, 430 calories, right in the middle of the elliptical and garmin estimations. There are also MET-based calculators. The best comparison to my elliptical intensity is about a 10 minute mile pace which equals an estimate of ~445 calories (11 minute mile is ~400 calories). I will continue to use the elliptical estimate to track intensity over time, in part because my garmin is not always accurate and I may not always use it for various reasons.


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## mediocre1645 (Jan 6, 2021)

Day 6 - 1-5-21:

Lower 1:
Squat 3 x 6 x 225 (last set paused)
SLDL: 3 x 8 x 135, 185, 185
Inversion abs: 3 x 8

Elliptical: 25 minutes, 450/400/438 (not to belabor this topic, not that anyone is following this lol, but I'll put the machine's estimate, my garmin's estimate, and the calculated estimate from the formula I discussed in the last post.

Day 7 - 1-6-21:

Probably going to do some yoga and fill up my heavy bag. First ever Jiu Jitsu lesson in the morning!


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## Jin (Jan 6, 2021)

mediocre1645 said:


> First ever Jiu Jitsu lesson in the morning!



Prison rules bro. To earn respect you’ve got to **** up the biggest, baddest dude on day one. 

In your case that’s the instructor. 

Make it a cheap shot. 

Kick him right in the nuts and nobody will **** with you ever again. 

Good luck.


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## mediocre1645 (Jan 6, 2021)

Jin said:


> Prison rules bro. To earn respect you’ve got to **** up the biggest, baddest dude on day one.
> 
> In your case that’s the instructor.
> 
> ...



LMAO! I'm actually doing a 1:1 lesson, so if I follow through with your advice, that is going to make for an extremely awkward and likely painful session. I'll consider it 

Going for private lesson for a few reasons, main one being I'm not sure how rolling will be on my back (herniated disc and a bulging one, ton of sciatica the past few months), so I figured that would be a good place to start before tossing with randoms.


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## mediocre1645 (Jan 8, 2021)

1-7-21:

1 hour of jiu jitsu. This was fairly laid back since it was my first time. I would venture to guess I burned less than 200 calories, despite sweating quite a bit. I didn't have the balls to kick him in the balls lol. 

Upper 2: 
CGBP: 3 x 5 x 185 (for speed, limited ROM), one set of 8-10 regular grip.
Bent Rows: 3 x 8 x 155 (also kind of for speed)
Side Raises: 3 x 8 x 25's
Front Raises: 3 x 8 x 25's
Pushups: 2 sets of 15

Elliptical: 27.5 minutes, 485/400/440


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## mediocre1645 (Jan 9, 2021)

1-8-21:

Lower 2:
Broad Jumps: 2 x 10
High Knee Jumps: 2 x 10
Side to Side Jumps: 2 x 20
Hop Down Jump Ups: 2 x 10
Front to Back Jumps: 2 x 20
Lunge Jumps: 2 x 10
Russian Twists: 3 x 20
29 Minutes, 138 bpm, 367/412 calories burned (Garmin/Calculator)

Elliptical: 25 minutes, 425/391/440

Might do a long run and/or jiu jitsu tomorrow, and a therapy session (also working on my mental health for the new year, weird how I have pretty much everything I want in my life but feel worse than ever mentally...****ing homo sapiens).


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## xyokoma (Jan 9, 2021)

Let me guess - the gymshark 66 day challenge? :32 (17):


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## mediocre1645 (Jan 9, 2021)

It's just a local challenge. Depending on my results, I may or may not post before and after pics. I guess if I don't win, I'll post, and if I do win, I'll post after I have the prizes in hand. I'm paranoid, worried someone will look on here and see that I'm taking various PEDs and cry foul.


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## xyokoma (Jan 9, 2021)

Just change the undies and body angle and use that photo here. :32 (20):


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## mediocre1645 (Jan 10, 2021)

Yeah I'll post something for sure at some point!

1-9-21

Elliptical: 35 minutes, 625/500/545

Got another jiu jitsu lesson tomorrow, and will try to get my lazy ass to do some yoga. I hurt pretty bad yesterday from the plyometric stuff, but feel fairly good today. I'm seriously considering some plasma treatments in my spine and knees. ****ing expensive but might be worth it, gotta do some research. 

I also forgot to update bf for the week. 
Starting BF: 10.5/12.25/13.25%
End Week 1: 9.35/11/12.25% (-1.15/1.25/1% from week prior)


This is on par with the diet I did last new years except I was about 10% higher in BF, so it's a solid start. Certainly better than the summer cut I did where I started out 1-2% leaner and averaged a loss of 0.55% bf/week for the first 4 weeks. My goal is to keep this pace up for at least 4 weeks, keeping in mind that I think my true BF is around 15%.


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## CJ (Jan 10, 2021)

Please don't use the Cals you're estimating to have burned to offset with food. There's no way in hell you're burning 500-600 Cals in 30 mins on an elliptical.

Even if that number were cut in half, I'd still say that it was too high. 

It's fine to track output over time, based upon those numbers, but for the love of God PLEASE don't eat that much to offset it, or you'll end up being a fat ass.


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## mediocre1645 (Jan 10, 2021)

CJ275 said:


> Please don't use the Cals you're estimating to have  burned to offset with food. There's no way in hell you're burning  500-600 Cals in 30 mins on an elliptical.
> 
> Even if that number were cut in half, I'd still say that it was too high.
> 
> It's fine to track output over time, based upon those numbers, but for  the love of God PLEASE don't eat that much to offset it, or you'll end  up being a fat ass.



I agree, the machines overestimate significantly, but I don't think  by double. Check out the post above where I discussed this in depth. The  third number I list when I report cals burned is from this study:  https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/figure/10.1080/02640410470001730089?scroll=top&needAccess=true  (you can find a pdf with a google search, with no figures). They used  fancy machines, VO2 measurements, etc on a baseline group, then  corrected for unknown VO2 to make up a VO2-independent model and tested  that against a another group. Authors call it accurate, but there's  still uncertainty (on order of 5-20% depending on how uncertainty is  determined). It's an old study, but that model is still used as a  standard in more recent studies. One paper used early machine learning  (2012) to refine it, and actually showed it under-reported expenditure  for a test group. Keep in mind, my *average HR is about 150 bpm* for these sessions, so it is fairly high intensity.

In  any case, as you suggest I don't use these numbers for anything more  than tracking. Even though lots of diet/fitness experts recommend  changing cals in a day based on work completed, personally I find it  easier to eat near the same numbers every day and then get workouts in  when I can (busy life) - too complicated otherwise. The one caveat being  that if I do a legit run or something (>60 minutes or >6 mile),  I'll let myself splurge a bit the rest of the day. 

I'm aiming  for 5+ elliptical/cardio sessions (not including jiu jitsu) per week. As  one gets more adapted, the machine numbers and model numbers diverge  more and more. At least for the elliptical workouts, I'm arbitrarily  starting at 25 minutes and adding 2.5 minutes per week to counter this.  I'm guessing around weeks 4-6 I'll have to jump more than 2.5 minutes  per session to keep at the same rate of fat loss (although I'll also be  lowering cals at some point so maybe not).


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## mediocre1645 (Jan 11, 2021)

1-10-21

Did jiu jitsu this morning. We sparred so I got in a good workout. I finally finished filling my heavy bag but didnt have time to hit it. Did a half hour of yoga, and went over (kind of on purpose) on my calories.


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## mediocre1645 (Jan 12, 2021)

1-11-21

Upper 1:
Bench: 5 x 5 x 225
Back fly's: 3 x 10 x 50's
DB SP: 3 x 10 x 50's

Heavy bag workout, 20 min, 350/382 (garmin/calc) (edit: been a long time since I hit a bag, felt ****ing awesome. Going to do a 30 minute tonight at a little lower intensity, hopefully my knuckles can handle it. Boxing wraps worked well but still ripped a little skin off my top pinkie knuckles)
Elliptical, 21 min, 450/310/340
Half hour yin yoga

I'm very pleased with this cut so far. Energy is really good, hunger isn't too bad, and I've successfully left myself a decent amount of room to cut more calories and add more cardio. I normally go too low too soon and see great results, but plateau hard. I think I've set myself up to at minimum delay that plateau, hopefully by about 4 weeks! I'm down about 2% bf and up about 3 lbs bodyweight (combo of going back on TRT and adding creatine is my guess) - can't argue with that.

Also, I'm either going to procure or weld up a sissy squat thing. A lot of people hate these, but I can't get a great workout in with squats due to my back - sissy squats nail my quads so I think it's a worthwhile addition to my home gym. I found one on line for $120, not bad.


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## mediocre1645 (Jan 13, 2021)

1-12-21

Lower 1:
Squat 3 x 8 x 225
def SLDL 3 x 8 x 225
Inversion Abs 4 x 10
Grip Holds: fat bar 2 x 13/35 x 185/135, reg bar 2 x 55/? x 135
I think my plan is to train grip/forearms twice a week. Once with regular "lifting" movements and one with endurance type stuff.

Heavy Bag Workout, 32 minutes 460/490 (garmin/calc) - probably stupid to go twice in a row with fresh knuckles. What doesn't kill you makes you stronger? Thinking about trying a long run tomorrow if the weather is ok.


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## mediocre1645 (Jan 14, 2021)

Yesterday was a rest day, minus some rolling, inversion table, and hour of yin yoga. Figured I'd show my last significant cut. Here's a pic of a cut I did last year. I was in pretty bad shape to start, probably 22% bf. I'd guess I ended up a little under 15%. Curious what others would guess, it's always a fun game. This year I'm definitely starting out somewhere in between, but these first two weeks have been good progress.



Bodyfat results this week were not great, granted last week I took them two days after the end of week 1. So it's kind of like a 6 day week (took them one day after this week). I'm also not doing these measurements at a consistent time of day, so I'm sure that has an impact. I definitely look better in the mirror. In any case, I'm averaging right at a 1% reduction in bodyfat per week. Might have been overly optimistic to think I could keep that up for 4 weeks. Going to work hard and give it my best though. Macros:
Week 1: 2074 calories, 50 g fat, 165 g carb, 243 g protein
Week 2: 2167 calories, 53 g fat, 178 g carb, 245 g protein
Week 3 goal: 2050 calories, 50 g fat, 150 g carb, 248 g protein. Only going this low because I have PRK lasik and they recommend not to exercise for a few days after. Hopefully I get can down a solid 1% bf this week. 

I was also able to pick up my supplements locally, everything seems legit on first glance. I'm also most likely NOT going to do a DNP cycle, I was seriously considering it, but I'll see how it goes before I do that. I am also considering some peptides that may aid fat loss, but I need to do a bit more reading on that.


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## CohibaRobusto (Jan 14, 2021)

That's a good transformation. I think your bf estimates seem accurate from it. You did it before, you can do it again!


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## CJ (Jan 14, 2021)

You have a nice shape to your physique. Can't wait to see the next results!!!


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## Jin (Jan 14, 2021)

The previous transformation was certainly not mediocre. And I agree with CJ: you’ve got nice proportions.


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## mediocre1645 (Jan 15, 2021)

Wow thanks gents, kind words. That was about a 12 week cut. I got kind of fat for a month after that, but then got much leaner later in the summer. 

1-14-21:
Jiu Jitsu in the AM, pretty good cardio workout.

Upper 2 ("dynamic day", pretty sore so it was kind of a mix of light slow stuff to get blood moving and some speed stuff)
Light bench
JM Press: 5 x 6 x 105 (15 rep last set, was going for speed on these)
Reverse bent BB Rows: 4 x 8 x 135 (15 rep last set, also goin for speed and a flex at end)
Side Raises 3 x 12, 10, 8 x 20
EZ Curls: 3 x 10 x 50
Lat band pulldowns: 1 x 12 each side
Chest band flys: 1 x 15 each side

Elliptical, 45 minutes, 945 (lol)/615/680. These rates of expenditure are diverging between the machine from workout to workout. I had to work my ass off to get my HR above 160.


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## PZT (Jan 15, 2021)

you have a physique similar to what I would like to obtain


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## mediocre1645 (Jan 15, 2021)

PZT said:


> you have a physique similar to what I would like to obtain



I wish I could give you some pointers on how to get it lol. Let me give some history on myself for anyone who cares. I'm mid 30's now, I lifted a lot in HS, maybe got to like 185 lbs @ 12-15% bf. Lifted here and there in college and kind of stayed fairly lean despite drinking a shit ton, started to pack on lbs near the end of college. First year grad school, I went on a pretty huge running/weight loss kick until I got a DUI after drinking what I would consider a moderate amount, then my mindset changed to "let's do roids and get huge" gained like 40 lbs on my first cycle with a mostly traditional bodybuilding routine (test, deca for a bit, dbol, stupid I know). I ended that cycle at probably 230, and haven't weighed below 220 since.  Then got in the powerlifting mindset of "more lbs the more lbs on the platform", got fat and kind of strong @ 250 (+20% bf if not more) when I moved mid-grad school and realized I had to cut. Over the next 2 years I was really focused on powerlifting routines and staying somewhat lean. I think I left there about 240 lbs and ~15% bf. Continued to powerlift in yet another city, this time at a hardcore members only PL/SM/BB gym where I stayed near that bf but got stronger, up till the point where I was about 245 lbs and hitting 1800 lb gym totals. All my powerlifting career I did upper twice a week and squat/DL twice a week, with what I would call a moderate amount of accessory lifts. Best meet was like 1785 lbs (242 w/o wraps), but only because I had a horrible bench day, and went for the gold on my last deadlift; 2nd attempt was 720 and nailed it, went for 760 on my 3rd and got it to my knees - keep in mind I had never pulled over 700 (699 in a meet prior and jokingly attempted 750 to **** with my buddies) because I never really did singles in training. Other than that 699, I think I tripled 675 once or twice. I did a few more meets, mostly ****ing around after that. A few back tweaks later, and now I lift at my home gym for health/aesthetics/becoming top of the food chain with a bow. And that is the story of this mediocre athlete  

TLDR: A lot of my muscle is from bodybuilding, but it was heavily refined via powerlifting. 

1-15-21:
Lower 2 (dynamic day):
Broad Jumps 2 x 10
Knee High Jumps 2 x 10
Side to side (switched from sandbag to piece of insulation for these, don't want to break my neck!) Jumps: 2 x 20
Front to Back Jumps: 2 x 20
Jump down from bench and up to sky: 2 x 10
Lunge Jumps 2 x 10

Heavy Bag, 22 min, 320/348 (garmin/calc)
Elliptical, 35 min, ?/483/508

All of this was done fasted since this morning. This is for a few reasons: 1) took my first pin of GH and the internet said for fat lipolysis it's best to avoid insulin spikes near injection window, 2) I'm not worried about losing muscle, 3) I won't be doing cardio for a few days so I wanted to get it in and get it in hard to counter the down time, 4) I'm probably going to start fasting in the AM anyways.


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## Jin (Jan 15, 2021)

Oh, oh, oh. I get it! I get it!

”Mediocre” is code for something else:32 (19):


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## PZT (Jan 15, 2021)

looking forward to more posts. I am enjoying


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## Jin (Jan 15, 2021)

Too many strong people on this board. I don’t even recognize it anymore.


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## mediocre1645 (Jan 15, 2021)

Jin said:


> Oh, oh, oh. I get it! I get it!
> 
> ”Mediocre” is code for something else:32 (19):



Lol I don't follow. I chose mediocre randomly and it has no meaning other than I am sort of good at a lot of things but not great at any haha


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## Jin (Jan 15, 2021)

mediocre1645 said:


> Lol I don't follow. I chose mediocre randomly and it has no meaning other than I am sort of good at a lot of things but not great at any haha



Right. 

It took me a year and a half of pondering to figure out “TinyMK”’s handle was ironic. I only needed a couple weeks for yours!


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## DEADlifter (Jan 16, 2021)

Alright bro.  Seems I've missed out on your journal.  I'm picking up what you're putting down.  Good work.


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## mediocre1645 (Jan 21, 2021)

Been a while, had lasik surgery last week and still can't see for shit. Have to bring screen about 6" to my face to see what I type.

1-18-21:
30 min elliptical, 640/?/?, probably about 370 calories with the calculation i rely on most.

1-19-21:
Upper 1: 
BP 4 x 8 x 185, 225, 225, 225 (7, with spotter would have gone for 8th)
Back Flys: 4 x 10 x 50's
DB SP: 4 x 10 x 50'a
Inversion Abs: 4 x 10
Light circuit of side/front raises and band flys

40 min elliptical, ?/511/568

1-20-21:
40 min elliptical, 843/461/520

Got my sissy squat in the mail and put together last night. Bout to go hit some quads. 

Any of you guys have a relied upon source for MT-II, MK-677, and/or Cardarine? Other than that and some stuff I'll get from a new source (clen/T3/GH), those will round out the remaining supplements i want to use on this cycle.


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## mediocre1645 (Jan 22, 2021)

1-21-21:
Lower 1:
Sissy Squat 4 x 10 x bw, 35, 35, 35

Def SLDL: 4 x 10 x 245

40 min elliptical, 835/519/574

Also forgot to update with my week 3 bf measurements. Basically down around 0.75% this week. Still optimistic about the pace because I have some wiggle room in diet and cardio.


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## mediocre1645 (Jan 24, 2021)

1-22-21:
60 min elliptical, ~1250/686/807

1-23-21:
Upper 2 (dynamic day):
Speed Bench: 5 x 3 x 185 (my speed bench isn't like a westside style, I go down pretty slow, pause, and then explode). 
Speed Shoulder Press: 5 x 3 x 95
BB Rows: 2 x 15 x 135
Chest Band Flys: 2 x 15 each side

60 min elliptical, ~1300/791/889

1-24-21:
Lower 2 (dynamic day)
Broad Jumps 2 x 10
Knee High Jumps 2 x 10
Side to Sides 2 x 20
Front to Backs 2 x 20
Jump down from bench then up 2 x 10
Lunge Jumps 2 x 10
Jump Squats 2 x 5 x 95
Garmin said 270 calories

45 min elliptical, 1060/560/626


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## mediocre1645 (Jan 26, 2021)

1-25-21:

60 min elliptical, ~1250/650/770


1-26-21:
Upper 1:
Bench: 5 x 5 x 225, 245, 265, 255, 235
Back Flys: 3 x 12 x 50's
DB SP: 4 x 12 x 50's
Chest Flys: 2 x 15 x 30's
Back Band Pulls: 2 x 15

40 min elliptical, 960/518/570

Also did abs yesterday, oblique leg raises 4 x 10, and did some grip stuff a few days ago.


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## mediocre1645 (Jan 26, 2021)

Transformation Introspection:

Overall:
Well it's about 1/4 way through this thing. I am happy with my progress; I've lost about 3% bf so far and I have adhered to my diet almost to perfection, only a few days that  could be close to considered cheat days (I don't think either was over  2500 calories with my regular days about 2100). I have still lost no weight on the scale - not too worried about it since the mirror is looking good, but frankly I want to weigh less to have less stress on my back and knees. With respect to diet, I am still nervous that I will plateau. Once again, I've gone too low in calories out of the gate, which may not have been avoidable given the fairly poor diet I had prior to this cut. It's really too late to change much now. I'm hoping with the added supplements, further decreases in calories (although I really don't want to go lower than 1800), higher volume lifting sessions, and a bit more cardio (and more intense cardio), I have enough options at my disposal to avoid plateauing. 

Workouts:
Quite happy with how much elliptical I've been able to do, but I really need to get out and run, and do a few HIIT sessions here and there to mix things up. I also need to get back to doing jiu jitsu and heavy bag. Wrecked my knuckles doing too much heavy bag too many days in a row, and just haven't had the motivation to go in and roll. Quite intimidated by this first phase of not knowing what the **** to do and getting the shit beat out of you by someone who weighs half what I do. I finally feel like I'm ready to up the volume/intensity with the weight lifting without overtraining.

Supplements: 
started mast E and var the other day. By the time they kick in I think I'll be lean enough to see some nice changes. I also started GH about 2 weeks ago, mostly pinning 3 IU fasted in the morning and trying to get in cardio about 2 hours after. Not a big fan of the broscience of fasted cardio, but the science on GH and fatty acid mobilization is fairly well established, so I figured it can't hurt. I may also start taking MK-677 before bed, but I think I need to shorten my eating window if I'm going to make much use of that. Starting some peptides soon (GW, MT2 for getting a better tan, and likely BPC and TB-500 to see if I can address some of my ailments). I will also be starting T3 on a 25-75 mcg dose for the remainder of this diet (starting in a few weeks), and likely 2 runs of clen. Debating on ECA, and I'm still on the fence about DNP. Should I do 2 weeks clen, 2 weeks dnp, 2 weeks clen? No DNP, and some combo of EC and Clen (not at same time!)?

Please feel free to tear apart my progress or plans


----------



## mediocre1645 (Jan 28, 2021)

1-27-21:
Lower 1
Squat: 4 x 5 x 225, 275, 275, 275 (8 easy reps, 275 still "feels" heavy, and I'm taking it easy for my back and knees)
Sissy Squat: 3 x 8 x 45
GHR: 4 x 8 x BW
Inversion Abs: 4 x 10 x BW
Grip Holds, Fat Gripz: 2 x 55s, 43s x 135, Reg Bar: 2 x 55s, 60s x 135

1-28-21:
4 mile run, just under 40 minutes, and 5 minute cool down walk. 623/700 (garmin/calculated)

Week 4 bodyfat results are in:
Starting: 10/5/12.25/13.25
End of W1: 9.35/11.0/12.25
End of W2: 8.5/10.5/11.0
End of W3: 8.0/9.75/10.25
End of W4: 7.0/8.7/9.0

Haven't changed at all in bodyweight, still sitting around 228-229.

Calories/Macros thus far:
Week 1: 2074 calories, 50 g fat, 165 g carb, 243 g protein
Week 2: 2167 calories, 53 g fat, 178 g carb, 245 g protein
Week 3: 2119 calories, 56 g fat, 172 g carb, 245 g protein
Week 4: 2125 calories, 56 g fat, 164 g carb, 252 g protein (first half of week was very low, 2nd half around 2300 calories)
Week 5 Goals: I'm really not sure what my macro goals are. I suppose I'll keep the average about the same and see if I can get another 0.75% bf drop. Anything less than that and i will drop to about 100 calories per day.


----------



## mediocre1645 (Jan 30, 2021)

This log is getting pretty lonely!


----------



## CohibaRobusto (Jan 30, 2021)

mediocre1645 said:


> This log is getting pretty lonely!



Dude, just keep at it. You're doing great. There are sometimes I might go a week without a comment on mine. I use it mainly for me to go back and look at what I was doing in the past, last weeks workout, compare myself to where I was 6 months ago. It's pretty awesome for that. I'd still do it if I never got a single comment on it.

But another thing I find gets people involved is when you post progress pics, videos for feedback on form (or just to show off if you can, I'm not there yet lol). Guys on here are very helpful when it comes to dealing with problem areas and form stuff.


----------



## Jin (Jan 30, 2021)

Still here..:.


----------



## mediocre1645 (Jan 31, 2021)

CohibaRobusto said:


> Dude, just keep at it. You're doing great. There are sometimes I might go a week without a comment on mine. I use it mainly for me to go back and look at what I was doing in the past, last weeks workout, compare myself to where I was 6 months ago. It's pretty awesome for that. I'd still do it if I never got a single comment on it.
> 
> But another thing I find gets people involved is when you post progress pics, videos for feedback on form (or just to show off if you can, I'm not there yet lol). Guys on here are very helpful when it comes to dealing with problem areas and form stuff.



Yeah I don't mind, I mostly keep this for tracking as well. I will take your advice though, progress pic attached. Right at 4 weeks, in the afternoon, no pump other than whatever the var has me walking around at 


	

		
			
		

		
	
 Comparing this to where I ended last year's new years cut, I'd say I'm about dead even with that, possibly a touch leaner. Got about 8 weeks, if I can get down 0.5% bf per week, I'm going to be ripped up. I won't bother posting vids of my lifts, I'm not strong anymore...maybe a vid of me doing some crazy cardio shit before archery season. 

The run the other day wrecked my calves, and the lower workout wrecked my quads. Been limpin around bad. 

1-29-21:
60 min elliptical with some light circuit stuff in between (75 min workout total), 830/986 calories

1-30-21:
Upper 2 (dynamic day):
Speed Bench: 6 x 3 x 205
Speed OHP: 6 x 3 x 105
Speed BB rows: 6 x 3 x 165

30 min heavybag workout (knuckles are finally healed up, this workout didnt' damage em too bad either), 382/408 calories
20 min elliptical, 291/302

Still staying around 2300 calories and i feel like I'm losing weight every day, hopefully the calipers prove me right this week. What do you guys think my bodyfat% is at right now?


----------



## mediocre1645 (Jan 31, 2021)

1-31-21:
60 min elliptical, 750/825 calories


----------



## CJ (Jan 31, 2021)

I'm guessing 15%, at most.


----------



## CohibaRobusto (Jan 31, 2021)

You're looking awesome dude! I'd guess 13-15% range.


----------



## mediocre1645 (Feb 1, 2021)

Thanks man. I would also guess just a touch under 15%, which is kind of disappointing; not because I'm unhappy with my progress but that I'm still so far from getting under my goal of a "true" 10% (by the time I get to that point my caliper methods show me at 3% or less). The leanest I ever was (last August/September) I'm guessing I was maybe 10% at the absolute lowest. I want to get to the point where even when I sit down to take a shit I have no flab touching my legs. If I don't get there, I'll do a diet break in April, then diet again in May, and I am going to force myself to put effort into reverse-dieting so that next time I cut, I can start out at much more calories.

2-1-21:
Lower 2 (dynamic day)
Broad Jumps: 2 x 10
Knee High Jumps: 2 x 10
Side/side and front/back jumps: 2 x 20
Jump down and then up: 2 x 10
Lunge Jumps: 2 x 10

60 min elliptical, 700/800 calories

I checked my bf mid-week to see what kind of impact the higher calories is having. It's hard to tell, and I find myself squeezing them a bit tighter. That said, I'm starting to feel "drained" so I'm going to keep calories at 2300 for the rest of this week.


----------



## CohibaRobusto (Feb 1, 2021)

It's so hard for me. I think probably 12% is the lowest I ever was. Once I get sub 15% it really gets a lot harder.

That being said, I was a lot smaller back then. I'm hoping that next time I decide to cut BF% I will be in the 225 lbs range and it will be a lot easier for me.


----------



## TeddyBear (Feb 1, 2021)

mediocre1645 said:


> Yeah I don't mind, I mostly keep this for tracking as well. I will take your advice though, progress pic attached. Right at 4 weeks, in the afternoon, no pump other than whatever the var has me walking around at
> View attachment 11357
> 
> 
> ...



You’ve got great biceps and abs, so you’re ahead of many of us.


----------



## PZT (Feb 1, 2021)

Looking jacked


----------



## mediocre1645 (Feb 2, 2021)

dted23 said:


> You’ve got great biceps and abs, so you’re ahead of many of us.



Not bad for not doing too many curls 



PZT said:


> Looking jacked



Thanks bro

2-2-21:
Upper 1
Bench: 5 x 6 x 225, 245, 265, 255, 225…that set at 255 almost killed me, I even tried to ditch the weight but realized I had it last second.
BB Rows: 5 x 8 x 135, 155, 175, 185, 185
BB SP: 5 x 8 x 95, 115, 115, 105, 95

45 min elliptical, 612/640 calories

Feeling great, i'm partially attributing this to the addition of T3 and cardarine.


----------



## ATLRigger (Feb 2, 2021)

CohibaRobusto said:


> You're looking awesome dude! I'd guess 13-15% range.


Closer to 11-12% I’d guess. Or his abs might just be strong and show through regardless of body fat.

Also let me know how u like the BPC157. I started a couple weeks ago too.


----------



## mediocre1645 (Feb 4, 2021)

ATLRigger said:


> Closer to 11-12% I’d guess. Or his abs might just be strong and show through regardless of body fat.
> 
> Also let me know how u like the BPC157. I started a couple weeks ago too.



I do have pretty beefy abs. Can see some definition at quite a bit higher bf. 

2-3-21:
5 mile run @ 10:15 pace. 733/771 calories

This freakin killed me for some reason, calves are already hard to walk with.


----------



## mediocre1645 (Feb 6, 2021)

2-4-21:
22.5 min elliptical, 267/272 calories
30 min heavy bag, 330/350 calories
22.5 min elliptical, 290/289 calories

2-5-21:
Lower 1
Squat: 4 x 6 x 225, 275, 275, 275 (8 reps)
Sissy Squat: 3 x 10 x 45
GHR: 4 x 10 x bw
Had meant to do abs and grip stuff but I suppose I'll do that today. 

45 min elliptical,. 650/660 calories. As you may have noticed, I have quit putting in the calories estimated from the machine. Mostly because I have been diligent about using my garmin, I'm doing other cardio stuff now (less elliptical, more running and HB), and I'm doing these broken up sessions so its a pain to track and record. In any case, the garmin and my equation method are converging, and I'm not quite sure why. 

I suppose this is my cheat weekend, I ate some cake last night (still probably under 2500 calories total), but since the superbowl is coming up, that will probably be a 3000 calorie day. I might even drink some bourbon, but I doubt it;


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## mediocre1645 (Feb 7, 2021)

2-6-21
Upper 2 (dynamic day)
Bench: 6 x 3 x 205, 225...
OHP: 6 x 3 x 95, 115...
BB Rows: 6 x 3 x 175, 185...

30 min elliptical, 350/370 calories
10 min heavy bag (meant to to more but I use a YT video and the internet signal out to my shop wasn't strong for some reason), 115/120 calories
35 min elliptical, 410/430 calories

I ate more cake yesterday and so I was considering killing myself with cardio again today so I checked my bf. I'm down like 1% already after what, 3 days. Granted I was pinching slightly tighter, but I'm going to take a rest day today!


----------



## mediocre1645 (Feb 8, 2021)

Ate my weight in cookies yesterday  Unfortunately my bf measurements this morning weren't as good as BEFORE I decided to pig out. Oh well, this was week 6 or something so about halfway through got me in a solid 3 days or so of cheating but kept the working out /cardio up. If I can hit about 0.75% reduction in bf this week, that is a pretty big win.

I'm going to lower my masteron dose, and probably anavar too. I'm getting fairly veiny already and I know it sounds weird, but I don't want to look too freaky for my final "after" photo...I don't think they would give the win to someone who is clearly on gear. For that reason, I don't think I'll win in any case. 

2-8-21:
Lower 2 (dynamic day):
Broad Jump: 2 x 10
Knee High Jumps: 2 x 10
Side to Sides and Front to Backs: 2 x 10 each
Jump down and then ups: 2 x 10
Lunge Jumps: 2 x 10
I did this pretty quick, so my quads had a pretty crazy pump. I'm considering adding some volume to this...maybe starting with some weighted jumps for height/distance, then going into volume work sort of like in powerlifting doing main lifts followed by accessory work. 

60 min elliptical, 830/860 calories

Going to go for <2100 cals for the rest of this week (through Wednesday), then probably back to 2200 for Week 7.


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## mediocre1645 (Feb 10, 2021)

2-9-21:
Upper 1
Bench: 5 x 8 x 225, 245, 235, 225 (5), 185 (quick superset, also 5 reps. had more but no spotter)
BB Rows: 5 x 12 x 155
OHP: 3 x 12 x 95

60 min elliptical, 776/839 calories

Got  a crazy schedule this week, hopefully I'll be able to run at minimum,  hopefully get my Lower 1 workout in too. BJJ planned for Thursday.


----------



## mediocre1645 (Feb 10, 2021)

2-10-21:
Lower 1
Squat: 4 x 8 x 275 First time i was able to get into a low bar position without my forearms hurtin too bad...holy Sh!t so much easier lol. 
Three rounds of:
GHR: 8 reps
Sissy Squat: 8 x 45
SLDL: 8 x 185
New ab exercise...found a link to some "functional" ab/core exercises and just practiced through some of those. 

50 min elliptical, 625/671 calories

Will likely be taking some progress pics tomorrow when I do my bf measurements for the week. 

Ok so I don't know if anyone reading this saw my statement about not winning this competition because it looks like I'm on gear, but that is a real concern of mine. The prize money is significant - should I drop everything but just a little test? Even on a low cruise dose and taking T3 I'm not that worried about losing muscle. The masteron and var are there just for ego strength and a freakier look - are they going to make me too freaky? Discuss.


----------



## Jin (Feb 10, 2021)

mediocre1645 said:


> 2-10-21:
> Lower 1
> Squat: 4 x 8 x 275 First time i was able to get into a low bar position without my forearms hurtin too bad...holy Sh!t so much easier lol.
> Three rounds of:
> ...



Nah, go hard with everything you got. People will be up to shenanigans. Photo contest is no way to judge actual results. I can take a photo on the same day and look ripped or like a fat ass. 

just have fun.


----------



## mediocre1645 (Feb 12, 2021)

Will do! 

2-11-21:
Jiu Jitsu, decent workout. Going to start doing regular classes I guess. 

Bodyfat measurements so far:
Starting: 10/5/12.25/13.25
End of W1: 9.35/11.0/12.25
End of W2: 8.5/10.5/11.0
End of W3: 8.0/9.75/10.25
End of W4: 7.0/8.7/9.0
End of W5: 6.2/7.75/8.1
End of W6: 5.3/7.25/6.75

Bodyweight is finally starting to go down a bit. Was 225 today. I'd really like to be down to 215. 

Macros so far:
Calories/Macros thus far:
Week 1: 2074 calories, 50 g fat, 165 g carb, 243 g protein
Week 2: 2167 calories, 53 g fat, 178 g carb, 245 g protein
Week 3: 2119 calories, 56 g fat, 172 g carb, 245 g protein
Week 4: 2125 calories, 56 g fat, 164 g carb, 252 g protein (first half of week was very low, 2nd half around 2300 calories)
Week 5: 2262 calories, 53 g fat, 199 g carb, 254 g protein
Week 6: 2298 calories, 58 g fat, 179 g carb, 255 g protein
Week 7 goals: 2150 calories

Very happy with my progress so far. Might be able to hit below 8% for first time ever. Progress pics to come this weekend.


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## mediocre1645 (Feb 13, 2021)

2-13-21
Upper 2 (dynamic day)
Bench: 6 x 3 x 225
OHP: 6 x 3 x 115
BB Rows: 6 x 3 x 185

45 min elliptical, around 600 calories. 

The wife is doing this diet challenge with me and is super butthurt that I'm progressing so well. Ordered some GH from a well reviewed source in the advertisers/shills section, excited to try it out and see if i can tell a difference between that and my local supplier. Went for a higher priced generic, so might not be miuch of a difference. Too poor for pharma.


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## mediocre1645 (Feb 15, 2021)

2-14-21:
Lower 2 (dynamic day)
Broad Jumps: 2 x 10
Knee High Jumps: 2 x 10
Side to side and front to backs: 2 x 20 each
Jump down then ups: 2 x 10
Squat Jumps: 2 x 5 x 95
Lunge Jumps: 2 x 10

30 min elliptical, 450 calories

2-15-21:
Upper 1
Bench: 5 x 5 x 245, 265, 265, 265, 255
OHP: 4 x 6 x 115, 115, 125, 125
1-Arm Rows: 4 x 8 x 70, 90, 90, 90
Random ab stuff

60 min elliptical, 800 calories


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## mediocre1645 (Feb 16, 2021)

2-16-21:
Lower 1
Four rounds of stupid circuit:
Squat: 225 x 8
GHR: bw x 8
Sissy Squat: 40 x 8
SLDL/RDL: 185 x 8

Behind the back BB wrist curls: 4 x 10 x 135, 115, 95, 95
Reverse BB wrist curls: 4 x 10 x 55, 55, 45, 45


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## mediocre1645 (Feb 19, 2021)

2-17-21:
45 min elliptical, 595 calories

2-18-21:
Jiu Jitsu, first regular class, was fun. 

Upper 2 (dynamic day)
OHP: 5 x 5 x 115
BB Rows: 5 x 5 x 185
BP: 5 x 3 x 205

Progress pic from beginning to this morning, about halfway done with the cut.


----------



## mediocre1645 (Feb 19, 2021)

Forgot, macros this week were 2200 calories, 50 g fat, 198 carb, 254 protein. I'm going to keep it right about there this week.


----------



## Jin (Feb 19, 2021)

mediocre1645 said:


> 2-17-21:
> 45 min elliptical, 595 calories
> 
> 2-18-21:
> ...



Wow. Nothing mediocre about that. And only halfway? Shit man. You’re gonna be peeled.

how long in between photos? You look leaner and I think you are definitely bigger.


----------



## DEADlifter (Feb 19, 2021)

x2 on what Jin said


----------



## CohibaRobusto (Feb 19, 2021)

Awesome progress man!


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## mediocre1645 (Feb 19, 2021)

Jin said:


> Wow. Nothing mediocre about that. And only halfway? Shit man. You’re gonna be peeled.
> 
> how long in between photos? You look leaner and I think you are definitely bigger.



That is exactly 7 weeks between those pics. From the last progress pic I put here in the log, that was probably 2-3 weeks ago. 



DEADlifter said:


> x2 on what Jin said





CohibaRobusto said:


> Awesome progress man!



Thanks everyone! Hopefully I won't plateau  after week 8 like I normally do!


----------



## mediocre1645 (Feb 20, 2021)

What would you guys guess by bf% is at?

2-19-21:
20 min elliptical, 230 calories
35 min heavy bag, 390 calories
15 min elliptical, 210 calories

I'm ****ing exhausted. Thus far, ive only had to deal with hunger, not the typical diet exhaustion, but I think that is starting to kick in more. I've definitely decided to not mess around with DNP, at least not on this cut. I have some clen, but I also decided that there isn't much point in me using it. However, with the exhaustion I'm considering it. Maybe I'll hop on EC since I'm already taking quite a bit of caffeine.

Should I totally drop test the last few weeks of the diet, will that leave me a little less bloated?


----------



## Jin (Feb 20, 2021)

I’d say around 12% maybe 11. 

What all are you running? Generally i
think dropping test completely should only be done if you’re aiming for a peak day: contest/photo shoot. Otherwise I wouldn't advise it.


----------



## mediocre1645 (Feb 20, 2021)

Jin said:


> I’d say around 12% maybe 11.
> 
> What all are you running? Generally i
> think dropping test completely should only be done if you’re aiming for a peak day: contest/photo shoot. Otherwise I wouldn't advise it.



I'm running 150 mg test, 400 mg masteron, and 50 mg var ED. Then some T3, cardarine, and GH. Will be adding BPC and TB-500 once my order gets here.


----------



## Jin (Feb 20, 2021)

mediocre1645 said:


> I'm running 150 mg test, 400 mg masteron, and 50 mg var ED. Then some T3, cardarine, and GH. Will be adding BPC and TB-500 once my order gets here.



I would not drop
the test. You don’t seem to be holding water anyhow. You could take some extra Ai before you “peak” to ensure there’s as little bloat as possible.


----------



## mediocre1645 (Feb 21, 2021)

Jin said:


> I would not drop
> the test. You don’t seem to be holding water anyhow. You could take some  extra Ai before you “peak” to ensure there’s as little bloat as  possible.



Sounds good, I may bump up var near the end. 

2-20-21:
Was  going to do my plyometric workout but my body is fairly wrecked.  Herniated disc giving me issues, knees aching, and jiu jitsu beat me up a  lot more than I expected. So anyways, I did:

40 min elliptical, 520 calories
~1 hour yin-vin yoga and other stretching
Grip work with 150 and 200 lb captain of crush things

Cravings are getting crazy!


----------



## CohibaRobusto (Feb 22, 2021)

Mediocre, I have a question about ju jitsu.

My son and I have been doing kickboxing with a personal trainer the past few years, and we have an interest in learning ju jitsu together.

My biggest fear though, is getting injured, since it seems like everyone i talk to who does it has gotten hurt at some point in time.

I'm 45 yrs old, not very injury prone, and we would do it at our own pace with a personal trainer (rather than a classroom setting). Also my son is a pretty timid, anxious kid (13 yo) so he is not gonna be aggressive with me like a normal classmate might.

Do you think it's pretty safe or is it kinda inevitable to get hurt some kind of way?

I don't want to get hurt and **** up my lifting goals.


----------



## PZT (Feb 22, 2021)

mediocre1645 said:


> 2-17-21:
> 45 min elliptical, 595 calories
> 
> 2-18-21:
> ...



looking great man


----------



## mediocre1645 (Feb 22, 2021)

CohibaRobusto said:


> Mediocre, I have a question about ju jitsu.
> 
> My son and I have been doing kickboxing with a personal trainer the past few years, and we have an interest in learning ju jitsu together.
> 
> ...



I'm probably not the best person to ask, but I have a buddy who is a  blackbelt, and another that has been training for 2 years. Light  injuries are quite common (black eye, small muscle pulls), but not much that I've seen that would limit anyone doing  weightlifting. If you're going at your own pace (my first 4-6 lessons  were all one on one like you're talking about) I think it's a really  safe sport. 



PZT said:


> looking great man



Thanks! Hey you were asking about BPC and TB-500 right? In any case, I never got on it, but I'm expecting my package today. 

I actually have something tweaked in my shoulder...they were sore from BJJ but then I carried 45 sheets of drywall and dinged it somehow. I was going to hit my Upper 1 workout but bench and OHP weren't gonna happen. Overall I feel kind of like crap...exhausted, bruised up (yeah from BJJ, first time in a real class was more brutal than one on ones), super hungry (who woulda thought)? I'm starting Clen, F-it. 

What is too high of a dose of T3?

70 minute elliptical, 845/922 calories. After, I weighed 219.8. First time under 220 in probably 11 years!


----------



## mediocre1645 (Feb 23, 2021)

2-23-21:
Lower 1
Squat: 4 x 8 x 275 (went up to 300 even on my last set)
SLDL: 4 x 8 x 235

3 rounds of this circuit:
Inversion Abs (focus on obliques): 12 x bw (did 4 sets)
Sissy Squat: 8 x 25
GHR: 8 x bw
Light upper body stuff (chest bands, back bands, curls, raises)
Grip Holds with 155 lbs: Fat Gripz: 40s, 35s, Regular Bar: 55s, 50 s

20 minutes elliptical, 245 calories
10 minutes heavy bag, 105 calories
20 minutes elliptical, 245 calories

Holy shit im ****ing exhausted, and im really worried I'm plateauing hard. I upped T3 to 100 mcg/day and am going on the clen like I mentioned in a post the other day. Any words of encouragement?


----------



## CohibaRobusto (Feb 23, 2021)

Just keep it up man, it looks like you're working hard. It will pay off.

Where do you think you are hitting a plateau?


----------



## Jin (Feb 23, 2021)

When’s the last time you had a cheat day/refeed?

Progress is never linear and your progress has been remarkable. 

Keep the course, trust the process and have a big cheat meal. 

Upping the t3 is risky man. It’s super catabolic.


----------



## mediocre1645 (Feb 24, 2021)

CohibaRobusto said:


> Just keep it up man, it looks like you're working hard. It will pay off.
> 
> Where do you think you are hitting a plateau?



On fat loss...although I checked bf this morning and I should still hit my goal for the week. 



Jin said:


> When’s the last time you had a cheat day/refeed?
> 
> Progress is never linear and your progress has been remarkable.
> 
> ...



Thanks man. You are right about T3, I'm shedding lbs pretty fast, was 216 this morning, which is crazy for me. I'm goin to say something blasphemous though...on this cut (and last years) I didn't really care if I lost muscle since I would like to be very lean and lighter than I was for knee/back health. However, 215 at 10% bf is creeping too close to where I don't wanna be. If I could be about 210 and 8% and maintain that most of the year, I'd be happy. So anyways, I'm going to keep T3 at 75 and up the gear, at least the mast and var depending on how much I have left. I normally cut on 100 var and 700 test give or take, so maybe the drop in lbs is because I'm on less gear (similar quantities, but less muscle building potential given the replacement of test for masteron). Been counting on some GH to get here but the weather in the states has jacked up my peptide shipment, so I'm assuming my GH is also on the way. 

Refeed...two weeks ago I had a day close to 3000 cals. No cheat days since then, so I half took your advice and had 2500 cals yesterday. I feel MUCH better this morning, and given the good bf measurements, I'm going to have a rest day (minus some stretching in my office). Back at it with BJJ and an upper workout tomorrow though, maybe a long run Friday if I can sack up.


----------



## CohibaRobusto (Feb 24, 2021)

mediocre1645 said:


> On fat loss...although I checked bf this morning and I should still hit my goal for the week.



Ok, yeah that makes sense. I have found for me personally that it gets exponentially harder as bf gets lower and lower.

Keep it up though, you will get there.


----------



## mediocre1645 (Feb 26, 2021)

CohibaRobusto said:


> Ok, yeah that makes sense. I have found for  me personally that it gets exponentially harder as bf gets lower and  lower.
> 
> Keep it up though, you will get there.




Thanks man. It definitely gets harder. The fact that  I've had linear progress, even this week, is freakin insane. I  attribute this to the T3, GH, and cardarine, at least some combo of  those. 

Week 8 bf measurements are in:
Bodyfat measurements so far:
Starting: 10/5/12.25/13.25
End of W1: 9.35/11.0/12.25
End of W2: 8.5/10.5/11.0
End of W3: 8.0/9.75/10.25
End of W4: 7.0/8.7/9.0
End of W5: 6.2/7.75/8.1
End of W6: 5.3/7.25/6.75
End of W7: 4.4/6.7/6.1
End of W8: 3.5/5.15/5.0

Bodyweight is down a ton to 215.

Macros so far:
Calories/Macros thus far:
Week 1: 2074 calories, 50 g fat, 165 g carb, 243 g protein
Week 2: 2167 calories, 53 g fat, 178 g carb, 245 g protein
Week 3: 2119 calories, 56 g fat, 172 g carb, 245 g protein
Week 4: 2125 calories, 56 g fat, 164 g carb, 252 g protein 
Week 5: 2262 calories, 53 g fat, 199 g carb, 254 g protein
Week 6: 2298 calories, 58 g fat, 179 g carb, 255 g protein
Week 7: 2204 calories, 50 g fat, 198 g carb, 254 g protein
Week 8: 2326 calories, 48 g fat, 236 g carb, 260 g protein
Week 9 goals: 2300 calories, 50 g fat, 230 g carb, 260 g protein

Great news, my GH is here! Will be pinning 2  IU fasted every morning about 2 hours before some type of cardio. I'd  like to pin 3-4 IU per day, but based on the literature 2 IU is sort of  an asymptote for fatty acid mobilization - when would another good time  to pin be? Some say before bed, but that doesn't make a ton of sense to  me. 

Did killer BJJ class today and then did a bunch of real mans labor, solid day.


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## mediocre1645 (Feb 26, 2021)

2-26-21:
Upper 2 - normally a dynamic day but since I took it really light on Upper 1, I did some other stuff:
CGBP: 4 x 8 x 185, 225, 205, 185
Back Fly's: 4 x 10 x 50's
Front Raise: 3 x 12 x 45
Side Raise: 3 x 10 x 20's
Curls: 3 x 12 x 20's
Fly's: 2 x 15 x 30's

20 min elliptical, 240 calories
25 minute heavy bag, 250 calories
15 minute elliptical, 190 calories

I've been eating more than usual lately, but I'm still exhausted. Really not sure why, hopefully I'm still losing fat with these macros.


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## mediocre1645 (Mar 2, 2021)

So I fell off the wagon, kind of on purpose at first and then today because I have no self control. A day at 2700 cals, one at probably 3500, one at at least 5000, and then today, which will probably be around 3500. Back on it hard tomorrow (then again I said that yesterday). I am feeling ****ing awesome though, and did get a hell of a lower workout in though.

3-1-21:
Lower 1
Squat: 4 x 10 x 275 (8 on last set)...10's...fml.
SLDL: 3 x 10 x 235
Inversion Abs: 4 x 10 x bw (tried pausing for a quick 5-count on these, worked until the last set. I also worked on obliques on these)
Sissy Squat: 2 x 10 x 25
GHR: 2 x 10 x bw
Back ext on GHR: 2 x 10 x bw, going to start incorporating these a lot more, I think it's one of the few things that makes my herniated discs better
Grip Holds: 2 x FatGripz x 40s, 38s, 2 x regular bar x 50s, 43s

CohibaRobusto, I take back what I said about jiu jitsu being fairly free of injuries. After talking to more people and my own close calls recently, there is some risk involved. I'd also consider doing the full classes. Classes might "bring it out" of your son better than one on one or with an instructor. How big is your son - the adult classes might be too much. If they offer a teen-ish class, that's up in the air. Younger folks are probably more "testy" and potentially cross a line, but would get him around kids his experience/size level. The other reason I would consider classes is just the amount you learn. The classes are really fun and the atmosphere great. 

So, back on the wagon tomorrow with a goal of 2.5 weeks at ~2100 calories. If I can lose like a solid 1% bf in the next 3 weeks, I'll be about where I wanna be. I have a shot to win this thing. I also started tanning today.


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## CohibaRobusto (Mar 2, 2021)

Thanks for the follow up on that. I did talk to a trainer today. I'm going to talk to him about all that stuff.


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## mediocre1645 (Mar 2, 2021)

3-2-21:
BJJ in the morning, really solid. Starting to learn things. Compared to other dudes near my size my cardio is on point. I'm also able to submit people at my experience level about as much as they submit me..i guess that's a good thing lol. This was at least half hour of all out sparring, I think I probably burn 400-500 calories in that last half hour of class. I need to wear a HR monitor in there to get a good handle on how much work im putting in.

Upper 1
Bench: 3 x 15, 15, 12, x 185
BB Rows: 3 x 15 x 155, 155, 135
Shoulder Raise: 2 x 12 x 20's
Lat band pulldowns, chest flys with bands. 

Then a half hour of elliptical. I wasn't kidding when I said I was gonna get back at it today!


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## mediocre1645 (Mar 3, 2021)

3-3-21:
45 min elliptical, 525 calories
Felt pretty good this morning but after pinning peptides and GH my energy took a dive. It was very difficult to get that cardio in.


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## snake (Mar 3, 2021)

mediocre1645 said:


> .... It was very difficult to get that cardio in.


But you did.


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## mediocre1645 (Mar 5, 2021)

snake said:


> But you did.




True!


So I took bodyfat today since it's the start of a new one. According to calipers I gained a bit of fat back, and I didn't look great. Im' wondering if it was just water because even later in the day I feel like I'm leaner than when I woke up. Had a few days of strict dieting and already I feel like I'm back in fat loss mode. I also started tanning and taking MT2. The color I've got from two sessions seems like it's already making a difference. 

3-4-21:
BJJ this morning. Humbling, as usual. Meant to do a light lower workout but my body is pretty banged up.


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## mediocre1645 (Mar 5, 2021)

3-5-21:

Light plyo/circuit/elliptical workout, 20 minutes (170 calories)

~3 mile hike carrying 40 lbs of smaller mediocre on back. Somewhere between 600-800 calories probably. I ate a few of my kid's fries and soda, so we'll call it 600


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## mediocre1645 (Mar 7, 2021)

3-6-21:
BJJ in the morning...had no stamina - been at ~2200 cals for last 4-5 days. 

3-7-21:
Upper workout:
Incline BP: 3 x 8 x 165, 1 x 10 x 145 (focus on lower half)
CG Incline BP: 2 x 8 x 135
Flys: 2 x 15 x 30's
Skullcrushers: 2 x 15 x 45

BB Rows: 3 x 8 x 185
1-Arm Rows: 3 x 12 x 65
Pullovers with bands: 2 x 12
Frontish raises face down on incline BP: 2 x 10 x 10's
Rear Delt Back Fly's: 2 x 10 x 20's

60 min elliptical, 660/740 calories

I think I'll wait till Tuesday to go to BJJ again, I'm pretty beat up. I have a giant adam's apple and that thing has been getting ****ing wrecked with forearms. Also have a forearm issue - like carpal tunnel syndrome but it's my radial tunnel. Used to get it from high volume/intensity bench and squat due to compression, fighting arm submissions has exacerbated it in my left side pretty good. If anyone has experience with this, I'm all ears. I've talked to lots of doctors about it and there doesn't seem to be a good suggestion other than rest. So tomorrow I'll hit a hard lower workout and do my best to eek out another hour on the elliptical.

Edit: right at 4 weeks left of this. Depending on this week's fat loss results, I'll probably hit up some clen and slightly higher dose of T3 for the two weeks or so after that. That will give me one solid week to do any other "prep" like messing with water/salt/carbs.


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## Jin (Mar 7, 2021)

Do you have a deep giants voice to go with your Adam’s apple?!?!


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## mediocre1645 (Mar 7, 2021)

Jin said:


> Do you have a deep giants voice to go with your Adam’s apple?!?!



Yes and it's even worse now that it's all swollen lol.


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## mediocre1645 (Mar 8, 2021)

3-8-21:
Lower 1
Squat: 4 x 5 x 275, 315, 315, 315
SLDL: 4 x 5 x 235, 275, 275, 275

3 Rounds of:
GHR x 8 x bw
GHR Back raise x 8 x bw
Sissy Squat x 8 x 45

P90X Ab Ripper (75 calories)
P90X Cardio X (240 calories)
20 min elliptical (200 calories)

The level of exhaustion I'm feeling cannot be normal. Am I doing something wrong?


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## CohibaRobusto (Mar 9, 2021)

mediocre1645 said:


> The level of exhaustion I'm feeling cannot be normal. Am I doing something wrong?



I've been battling some fatigue myself lately. My bloodwork looks like shit. Apparently I now somehow have an iron deficiency?!?! There are so many health markers off balance for me right now, I'm just trying to fix each one a little at a time. It started with high blood pressure.

I say just monitor your vitals, get bloodwork done when you can. Don't try to fix it with drugs. If anything try to get back to your natural state and go from there.


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## mediocre1645 (Mar 9, 2021)

CohibaRobusto said:


> I've been battling some fatigue myself lately. My bloodwork looks like shit. Apparently I now somehow have an iron deficiency?!?! There are so many health markers off balance for me right now, I'm just trying to fix each one a little at a time. It started with high blood pressure.
> 
> I say just monitor your vitals, get bloodwork done when you can. Don't try to fix it with drugs. If anything try to get back to your natural state and go from there.




I considered anemia being a possibility. I might get an iron supplement till I can get in and get bloodwork done since the symptoms match up fairly well. I got a call from my clinic (local place that does the TRT and anti aging stuff along with a bunch of other semi-sketchy things) that I had an appointment so I was like "cool, can I repeat my bloodwork"...no word back. But I'm pretty sure it's with a shrink person anyways. In any case, I'm calling to get the bloodwork order done today. I COULD order it myself, but the closest place to my location that will do it is 2 hours! 

Was going to do BJJ today but I'm thinking a 1.5 hour walk at the park while training grippers instead. Save BJJ for tomorrow and give me another good day of "rest". This is the last day of the week, so I'm considering hitting right at 2000 calories to bring my weekly average to what my goal was. I did check bf this morning, and I'm SLIGHTLY leaner than I was before the little diet break. So maybe all this pain and exhaustion is worth it.


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## mediocre1645 (Mar 10, 2021)

I think maybe my fatigue is related to HGH. I'm only taking 3-4 iu per day but it seems to kick in after pinning it. It has gotten better the last few days so maybe I'm getting used to it.

3-9-21:
45 min elliptical

3-10-21:
Going for a 90 minute walk, going to TRY to do P90X yoga later, and going to go for 1950 calories. Also, given that my bf hasn't really moved even after a week of hard dieting/working out, I'm going on clen and upping T3 slightly. Will do this for maybe up to 3 weeks.


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## mediocre1645 (Mar 10, 2021)

Couldn't find my keys so I didn't do that walk, did 60 min elliptical (575-650 cals). Not sure I'll be up for P90X yoga but going to at least give another session a try. Also did forearms.

Question: if I'm ~8% bf by the time I'm finished, is that lean enough to bother with things like a traditional "peak week" (salt/water/carb/glycogen manipulation for example)? Will probably post a progress pic tommorrow.

My weight is also quite high for some reason, about 220. Could this be from GH...does it make you retain that much (>5 lbs) water?


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## Jin (Mar 10, 2021)

**** yeah, if you hit under 10% it’s worth it to peak for a day and get some photos IMO. 

exciting!


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## mediocre1645 (Mar 11, 2021)

Jin said:


> **** yeah, if you hit under 10% it’s worth it to peak for a day and get some photos IMO.
> 
> exciting!



Ugh, I was hoping you'd say that there is no point lol. Should I do the whole shebang: load water/salt, drop them, ZERO carb 7-2 days out, then a carb up on photo day?  Other question is, if I screw the water/salt/carb manipulation up somehow, what are the chances that I look WORSE than had I just kept everything the same? Or that same question, but what if I just upped my calories to near maintenance the last week?

Ok so I took my weekly BF measurements. Between my chest, abdomen, and thigh, I've lost about 1 mm of fat (equating to about 0.33% bf). This ain't bad, and I think I could squeeze out another 0.33%...only question is, is that going to take me one more week or two. I really want to get down two more millimeters which would put me at 2.5% according to my calipers, and what I think would be about 8% in real life. 

Going to hit day 1 of this week hard since this could potentially be my last week on the diet (my brain is telling me that this is not worth it lol).

Progress pic: really not a big difference from last one, but this is in the AM, after a day of only 2000 cals. Actually as I'm looking at these I see ****ing NO difference...FML.


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## PZT (Mar 11, 2021)

this is motivating!!!!


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## Jin (Mar 11, 2021)

Do it. 

No, you won’t look worse. I followed something by lane Norton. Google “lane Norton peak week”. 

Your Delts are going to look nasty!!!!


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## mediocre1645 (Mar 11, 2021)

PZT said:


> this is motivating!!!!



I feel the opposite right now lol.



Jin said:


> Do it.
> 
> No, you won’t look worse. I followed something by lane Norton. Google “lane Norton peak week”.
> 
> Your Delts are going to look nasty!!!!



Sounds good to me. I was actually reading Layne's article/guide prior to seeing your message - I get the impression the other folks I've talked to on this board prefer the classical peak week that Layne sums up with this:


Sunday through Tuesday: Low or no carbs. Super high water consumption, high sodium intake, and high-rep "depletion" workouts.
Wednesday and Thursday: Begin super-aggressive carb load. Beginning  Thursday, reduce sodium and water. No more workouts or cardio beginning  Wednesday.
Friday: Continue carb load and water and sodium reduction. By this  point, most of these plans will have you consuming less than half your  normal water intake; some may draw you down to zero. Sodium is usually  zero by this point, at which point potassium loading typically begins.  Begin taking a diuretic.
Saturday: Continue carb load. Consume almost no water and no sodium while continuing to load potassium and take a diuretic.
 

If others think Layne's less extreme approach works, I'm all for it. Considerably easier and not much different than what I would have done anyways (upping cals/carbs a bit more than normal). 

3-11-21:
BJJ in the morning - it was a lot less intense because the first guy I sparred with was injured so we just played pass the guard, then I had another sparring round where I had no partner. 

So I decided to work out a bit, did my plyometric workout (~150 calories):
Broad Jumps: 2 x 10
Knee High Jumps: 2 x 10
Front/Back and Side/Side: 2 x 15 each
Jump Down from Bench and up: 2 x 10
Lunge Jumps: 2 x 10

30 min elliptical, ~320 calories


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## mediocre1645 (Mar 12, 2021)

3-12-21:
Was going to do BJJ but i was just ****ing exhausted, more on that in a sec. So instead I did:
Upper 2
Decline BP: 5 x 10 x 205
Back Flys: 4 x 12 x 50's

50 min elliptical with some DB shoulder press and oblique crunches every ~10 minutes, ~575 calories, total of:
DB SP: 4 x 12 x 50's
Oblique Crunches: 2 x 12, 2 x 10
Decline Chest Flys: 2 x 20 x 30's

Ok so on my lethargy...I got my bloodwork back today and everything was tip top (though they didn't look at thyroid or cholesterol which I would have liked since I'm on anavar and T3, but whatever). Iron was great (feritin a bit high). *Therefore, I'm confidently attributing the lethargy to the GH*. It is a really common side effect. I pinned GH before bed for the first time last night, and although I slept great, I was still exhausted all morning. Any positive fat loss effects I'm experiencing are almost guaranteed to be offset by my considerably lower NEAT. So I'm going to experiment with a 0.5 IU dose in the AM. If this causes the lethargy, I MIGHT try 0.5 IU before bed. If that still causes lethargy, I'm going to go off until this diet is over.

Edit: they also did not test IGF-1 again, which would have been a good determiner if my GH is legit or not. Given the lethargy, I assume it is unless HCG causes lethargy too. I don't mind that they were trying to save me $$ by not doing the tests, but I called in there and the lady said "all the same tests as last time", which obviously wasn't true.


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## mediocre1645 (Mar 13, 2021)

Ok I've got some good news and bad news. 

Good news is that this morning my weight is back down and I measured by bf and I've made some good progress. I think I was just really bloated for some reason. My goal for the end of this thing was a measurement of 8 mm between my three spots I measure (original goal was under that but I re-evaluated and I've had the 8 mm mark in my mind for about a month). I was damn near that today. So I think I'll keep on keepin on, maybe get down to 7 mm and leaner than I've ever been. 

The bad news: I tore my bicep at BJJ. It's not terrible, but definitely at least a partial tear of my left distal bicep. So, that may change my training significantly over the next 3 weeks. 

More good news, I didn't take GH last night or this morning and although  I'm still kind of lethargic, it's nothing like it was before. So I  think I'll go off for a few days, then maybe try a 0.5 IU dose at night.  Given this tear, I'm keen to stay on it if I can avoid side effects.

3-13-21:
BJJ - only ~1 sparring round because of the tear. 

45 min elliptical, 460-510 calories.


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## mediocre1645 (Mar 15, 2021)

3-14-21:
5.3 mile hike/run, about 80 minutes.

Bicep is definitely tore, hurt pretty bad today and I catch myself using it too much or doing something while not thinking about it and get the shooting pain. However, I can still do cardio. Elliptical yesterday and run today. I don't think I'll be able to lift anything though so I don't know what the **** to do.


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## Jin (Mar 15, 2021)

mediocre1645 said:


> 3-14-21:
> 5.3 mile hike/run, about 80 minutes.
> 
> Bicep is definitely tore, hurt pretty bad today and I catch myself using it too much or doing something while not thinking about it and get the shooting pain. However, I can still do cardio. Elliptical yesterday and run today. I don't think I'll be able to lift anything though so I don't know what the **** to do.



Have you seen a doctor?


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## mediocre1645 (Mar 15, 2021)

Jin said:


> Have you seen a doctor?



No, it happened Saturday so today I'll be calling my GP and my ortho place to try and get in asap. Do you know what kind of imaging they would do first? That might help me figure out where to get in first. If it's just x-ray or ultrasound an urgent care can probably get it ordered. If mri I might as well wait for ortho appt.


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## Jin (Mar 15, 2021)

mediocre1645 said:


> No, it happened Saturday so today I'll be calling my GP and my ortho place to try and get in asap. Do you know what kind of imaging they would do first? That might help me figure out where to get in first. If it's just x-ray or ultrasound an urgent care can probably get it ordered. If mri I might as well wait for ortho appt.




You need to see an orthopedic specialist eventually. Just wait for that appointment IMO.


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## DEADlifter (Mar 16, 2021)

Damn dude.  Sorry about your injury.


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## mediocre1645 (Mar 16, 2021)

Jin said:


> You need to see an orthopedic specialist eventually. Just wait for that appointment IMO.



I got in quick...



DEADlifter said:


> Damn dude.  Sorry about your injury.



Thanks, it aint too bad compared to some of the torn biceps I've seen during powerlifting meets. I was always a nazi about not using my biceps during deadlifts and came away from powerlifting unscathed...too many of my buddies really wanted to flex that bar though lol.

Ok so I saw the ortho this morning, got a MRI scheduled for tomorrow (two MRIs in about a week, impressive lol...had one on my lower spine the other day).

On diet: I cheated HARD yesterday (probably at least 5000 cals). Because of that, and because the timing makes sense, I’m going to give it 10 more days of HARD work. I have some bf/caliper measurement goals in mind but gotta settle on that after I take a new "initial" measurement. That 10 days gives me enough time for a solid peak week. I set out some guidelines for this 10 day block:
-Zero snacking (so hard for me especially with two little kids leaving lots of leftovers of high calorie delicious foods). 
-10 hours elliptical and/or 5000 calories worth of cardio. Might try to wake up early and knock out half of this each day.
-2000 calories per day
-No eating after 9:30 PM
-Finish getting tan 

I think sticking to those restrictions will keep my mind on track. It is ****ing crazy to me how the mind (at least mine) can play tricks on you. Be it for my troubles with alcohol in the past or when I'm balls deep in a diet like this. I used to have so much more self control. How do I get it back?!

3-16-21:
Sissy Squat: 6 x 10 x 45 (squats don’t bother the bicep too bad, but figured I’d be safe…will squat next lower workout probably).
GHR: 6 x 10 x BW
Inversion Abs: 6 x 9 (mid, right, left, repeat, etc)
GHR Back Raise: 6 x 9 x bw
Grip turns and reverse wrist curls, 6 sets


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## mediocre1645 (Mar 16, 2021)

Edit: after the lifting I did 60 min elliptical, 620-700 calories. Assuming I stay on track on calories, that's 10% closer to this being over.


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## mediocre1645 (Mar 17, 2021)

Met my calorie goals, sorta, for yesterday. 1957 listed calories, 2100 calculated from macros.

3-17-21:
30 min elliptical in the morning, 330-345 calories

Upper Workout
Bench: 5 x 8, 8, 7, 6, 5 x 225

30 min elliptical*, 370-415 calories
*I can't really do much else for upper work, but I took breaks on the cardio and did a bunch of band stuff (pullovers, flys, rows, etc). This didn't bother the bicep too bad if I concentrated. Total time with the band stuff and a phone call was 38 minutes. 

Got the MRI today, will get results back soon.

Two days out of the 10 down (assuming I don't eat everything in my house tonight).


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## mediocre1645 (Mar 18, 2021)

They want to operate on this bicep as early as Friday...what the hell I thought I would have longer.

What should I do about this diet? The surgery is somewhat minor but restricts movement in the entire arm for several weeks. Should I continue my cut, and then just train my right side and legs best I can?


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## Jin (Mar 18, 2021)

mediocre1645 said:


> They want to operate on this bicep as early as Friday...what the hell I thought I would have longer.
> 
> What should I do about this diet? The surgery is somewhat minor but restricts movement in the entire arm for several weeks. Should I continue my cut, and then just train my right side and legs best I can?



thats tough man. 

I don’t think it’s unreasonable to postpone until you’re done you’re cut. 

You’ve put in a shit ton of work and IF it’s important for you to finish and there’s no/minimal risk of complications then tell them you’re going to wait. 

Seriously, what you’ve done is no small feat. Don’t be afraid to do what’s important to you. They aren’t your boss. 

OTOH you have the ability to put in the work anytime and if you want to go ahead with the surgery, go ahead.


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## mediocre1645 (Mar 19, 2021)

Jin said:


> thats tough man.
> 
> I don’t think it’s unreasonable to postpone until you’re done you’re cut.
> 
> ...




I was supposed to talk to the doctor on the phone so I can get some more info but either missed it or they didn't call. 

I  was planning on doing the Layne Norton peak thing. If I get surgery on  Monday (they want to), ill have 3 more days of diet and then I can do  the peak starting that Monday which would line up somewhat close to the  due date for progress pics. 

The nurse said that if its not  attached right away then you can lose a lot of size and strength and  that the tendon becomes more difficult to attach. I talked to several  buddies who have torn em, and they said I should do it sooner rather  than later, that the operation is really quick and easy, and recovery  is...moderate? II'm going to look into  that further. The other thing pushing me to get it earlier is that 1)  turkey season starts in a few weeks and I want to be able to hunt (one  guy said I should be able to shoot a gun with my right hand if its my  left bicep which it is, another guy said not to but he is kind of a  pussy) and 2) I have a  leisure flight/trip right after that which I'd like to be as healed up  for as possible.. 

3-18-21:
45 min elliptical, 410-460 calories
15 min walk, 130-150 calories

Stayed  somewhat on track with calories, i forgot to count some pumpkin pie I  used for my anabolic pancakes so I was around 2100/2250 calories from  the label/calculated.


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## Jin (Mar 19, 2021)

Sounds like you should
get the surgery ASAP.


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## mediocre1645 (Mar 20, 2021)

Jin said:


> Sounds like you should
> get the surgery ASAP.




Yep, looks like wednesday. Not sure if that changes my plan for diet and effort over the next two weeks. I am getting pretty lean - I can see veins on my abs, striations and veins on my neck, and veins on my quads and calves. I went to look at by "before" photos again and it's a pretty wild transformation - I have a shot at winning. 

*Question: how does a peak week like Layne's change if you start it on maintenance calories?*

3-19-21:
5.1 mile walk pushing two mini-me's in a stroller that was really annoying. Without calculating for the calories that pushing a stroller adds, this is 640-690 calories based on HR, and 680-700 for various distance calculators. I think all of these calculations are not subtracting BMR, which is lame (although pointless to worry about now since it has done good for me so far). I saw a study that showed a ~20% increase in calories burned when pushing the weight of ONE kid. So I'd guess I burnt at least an additional 25%. 

I suppose I'll do a lower/leg workout tomorrow. Maybe a solid squat workout if it don't bother the bicep.


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## mediocre1645 (Mar 20, 2021)

3-20-21:
Lower Work
Squat: 3 x 8 x 225 (close stance, last set paused)
SLDL: 3 x 8 x 185
Behind the Back wrist curls: 4 x 12, 12, 11, drop set x 115
Reverse Wrist Curls: 4 x 12, 12, 11, drop set x 55
Back Raise: 3 x 8 x bw
Turkish Sit Ups: 4 x 12 x 20
Oblique Crunches: 3 x 10 each side

I intended to do cardio but I was just totally exhausted...this after eating at slightly above maintenance yesterday. Big hike planned tomorrow, but if I felt like I do today I'm going to skip out on that. At this point I'm considering going up to maintenance calories slowly until operation day. My bf measurement is a solid 7 mm, 6.5 mm at one point so I'm about where i want to be I guess.


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## mediocre1645 (Mar 21, 2021)

3-21-21:
Upper Work
Decline BP: 5 x 6 x 205, 235, 255, 235, 225
DB SP: 4 x 12 x 50's
BB Rows: 4 x 12 x 115, 135, 135, 115 - surprisingly didn't really bother my bicep. 

45 min elliptical, ~400 calories. Obviously not adhering to my "10 day plan" since I didn't do cardio yesterday and only did the 45 today, half assed at that. I keep going back and forth on what I want to do...I guess eat over my calorie goal these last few days before the bicep reattachment. My energy level is total shit right now, and I really think this is the end of the diet. I need to get back up to maintenance calories for a while. My plan several months ago was to do this cut, diet break for April, then do an additional 4 weeks of cutting in May...that sounds like a good plan.


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## mediocre1645 (Mar 23, 2021)

Well, I cheated hard yesterday. It's quite clear to me that my relationship with food is not a good one, at least not right now. I have been really anxious over how I am going to find moderation when this thing is done and maintain a low bf%. The anxiety got to me and so i had a breakfast that was low calorie, that lead into more breakfast, that lead into complete high calorie junk and felt awful. Told myself that was it for the day...it wasnt. Ate about the same amount in the evening. Total of over 7000 calories.

So anyways, I'm sabotaging myself, though I doubt it will make much difference how I look - I don't think my look has changed significantly relaxed/not pumped over the last month. When I get pumped/stretched up, I look pretty good. Leg pic after some quad stretching last night for example:



And now I'm not really sure how to approach my "peak". I really need your guys help - I'm not talking to anyone else about this stuff, certainly no one knowledgeable. 

Pics are due anywhere between March 29 and April 5, So I have some time, and I don't mind doing a deficit after surgery (wednesday) since it's relatively minor. what should I do? 
-Should I try to negate that cheat day and/or go FURTHER and submit my pic on the last day?
-Should I just continue with my peak as normal? That is not really possible since i didn't plan to eat 7000 calories two full days before my high carb day, but I could eat maintenance or below until March 29th and submit it then?
-Should I do some combo of the two options?

I'm leaning towards dieting hard again (about a full week) and re-peaking (about a full week). After the guilt of that cheat day, I think I could actually accomplish that. What should I do, Can you help me?


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## Jin (Mar 23, 2021)

I can’t advise you. I’ve only done one peak. Just remember: you’ve already done the hard work and it’s more likely to be the angle
or the photo rather than your peak protocol that results in the best pictures. 

your leg is covered in dick skin. Great work.


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## mediocre1645 (Mar 25, 2021)

Jin said:


> I can’t advise you. I’ve only done one peak. Just  remember: you’ve already done the hard work and it’s more likely to be  the angle
> or the photo rather than your peak protocol that results in the best pictures.
> 
> your leg is covered in dick skin. Great work.



Yeah, I went ahead and decided I'll give it a few more days of  effort. If I don't I'll regret it (maybe not as much as I regret that  binge day). I think I can lose a touch more fat before now and when I  start to peak (again). 

3-23-21:
Lower

Sissy Squat: 4 x 10 x 45
SLDL: 4 x 10 x 115
Inversion Abs: 4 x 10 x bw
GHR Back Raise: 4 x 10 x bw
Total of 80 minutes elliptical, 690-800 calories


3-24-21:
Upper
BP: 4 x 10 x 185
Incline DB BP: 2 x 15 x 40's
Rows: 4 x 12 x 135

80 minutes elliptical, 677-830 calories

Also had surgery, went well.

Maybe go for a walk/hike today.


----------



## mediocre1645 (Mar 25, 2021)

here is a pic from 2 weeks ago not pumped compared to a pic after getting a little pumped up yesterday. What do you think bf% is at?


----------



## Jin (Mar 25, 2021)

Shit. A little drying out/peak and you’re a fitness model. Very impressive. I’ve never looked that good.


----------



## mediocre1645 (Mar 27, 2021)

3-26-21
5 mile walk, 750 calories or so



Jin said:


> Shit. A little drying out/peak and you’re a fitness model. Very impressive. I’ve never looked that good.



Thanks man! Looks like I'm done with the diet. Not killing myself to get like a fraction of a fraction better looking over the next few days. Instead, going to slowly carb up, or at least try to  Gonna hit a lower workout, we'll see what I can do with this cut open arm.


----------



## mediocre1645 (Mar 28, 2021)

3-27-21:
Lower
Sissy Squat: 4 x 12 x bw
GHR: 5 x 10 x bw
Bulgarian Squat: 2 x 12 x bw
Inversion oblique abs: 4 x 12 or something


----------



## CohibaRobusto (Mar 28, 2021)

mediocre1645 said:


> here is a pic from 2 weeks ago not pumped compared to a pic after getting a little pumped up yesterday. What do you think bf% is at?




Damn dude! 8-10% maybe? Tight.


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## Thewall (Mar 28, 2021)

Nice work. Looking good


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## PZT (Mar 30, 2021)

great work mayne


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## mediocre1645 (Apr 3, 2021)

Well my cut is over, put in my official submission of the "after" photo last night, then ate everything! Here it is:



As far as the peaking, I think I did ok. The intersection of my father passing about a week ago, the surgery on the bicep I had the day before that I tore 2-3 weeks ago, and just being in a bad mood made it tougher to hit my macros the last week. I basically ate at or just under maintenance other than the last binge day I mentioned. Of course now I'm questioning if I look better now after a big cheat day - doesn't matter though the photo is submitted. I'm really happy with my results, this may be the last ~12 week cut I'll ever do. I always make GREAT progress over 8 weeks and still seem to hit a wall. This time I climbed over that wall a little, but it's just not worth it. Plus I don't want to do 12 week blasts and cut the whole time, it would be nice to be able to blast the last 4 weeks at maintenance calories or maybe just above to get some muscle back on. That is another thing I should mention, when I went into this I had a mindset that I don't care if I lose some muscle because I don't want to carry that much weight around (due to back/knee problems). I got down to 202 one day, lighter than I've been in >10 years. Great, but now I miss some of that muscle - I'm kind of between L and XL for shirts and it would be nice to be right at XL. And I can wear 32" waist jeans....granted my legs are stuffed in there enough that if I squat down I'll rip em, but 32! I'm not going to bulk, but I'm going to set a goal of being 220 @ 10% bf year round. Thanks everyone in this forum, it was really my only outlet some times, so I appreciate those that chimed in or had positive things to say, really appreciated.


----------



## Jin (Apr 3, 2021)

Hands down on of the most impressive transformations I’ve seen in the time given. 

You sir, should be very very proud. 

Absolutely amazing work!!


----------



## CJ (Apr 3, 2021)

You look fukkin awesome bud!!:32 (2):

Well done, now let's hear some tips for when you get deep into the cut.


----------



## DEADlifter (Apr 3, 2021)

Freaking amazing dude!!!!


----------



## Jin (Apr 4, 2021)

Got a PM from CJ entitled “official request”



			
				CJ275 said:
			
		

> Consider this an official request to change Mediocre1645's name to BetterThanAllOfYouSoEatIt1645 :32 (18):



And I am definitely considering it.


----------



## Robdjents (Apr 4, 2021)

Wow dude!!! Amazing


----------



## Thewall (Apr 4, 2021)

Wow!! Awesome transformation man. You look great.


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## mediocre1645 (Apr 5, 2021)

Jin said:


> Hands down on of the most impressive transformations I’ve seen in the time given.
> 
> You sir, should be very very proud.
> 
> Absolutely amazing work!!



Thank you!


CJ275 said:


> You look fukkin awesome bud!!:32 (2):
> 
> Well done, now let's hear some tips for when you get deep into the cut.



Thank you. I was going to list some tips in this reply, but once I got started it was really long and I want to give it more thought. 



DEADlifter said:


> Freaking amazing dude!!!!



Thanks man!



Jin said:


> Got a PM from CJ entitled “official request”
> 
> 
> 
> And I am definitely considering it.



Haha, let's not get ahead of ourselves. 



Robdjents said:


> Wow dude!!! Amazing





Thewall said:


> Wow!! Awesome transformation man. You look great.



Thanks guys! What would you all estimate my final BF% is? My 3-spot caliper measurements are somewhere between 2-8%, but I trust that measurement for accuracy about as much as I trust my wife going a week without buying a plant or farm animal.


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## CJ (Apr 5, 2021)

Totally guessing, but I'm thinking 8%, maybe 7%. Chest striations are starting to show themselves, quad muscles are showing some separation.


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## Thewall (Apr 6, 2021)

I’d say 6-7%.  Sick!!!


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## mediocre1645 (Apr 11, 2021)

Ok so I've been ok on diet since I updated (at least no binging over 3000 calories) and my exercise has been pretty sub-par. Between my herniated discs and the bicep, it's tough to do much. I've still been so exhausted though, I don't know what is going on. 

But the good news...won't go into detail, but I'd say there is a really good chance i win this competition. IF I do, there is a photoshoot and stuff some time in May. I've come off the masteron and var like 10 days ago or so. so if I win, what would you guys do for diet and exercise (given my level of exhaustion) and gear? For gear I would probably just hop on var at 100 mg/day, start walking in the mornings first thing, and do what I can with weights. I would also go on clen/T3 I suppose. What say you?


----------



## CohibaRobusto (Apr 11, 2021)

Amazing transformation dude. You seem like you really know what you're doing. I'd go with your gut. Good luck with the energy levels, hang in there.... it might just be because your bodyfat is so low right now?


----------



## eazy (Apr 11, 2021)

amazing and inspirational. nice work.


----------



## BigSwolePump (Apr 12, 2021)

mediocre1645 said:


> Well my cut is over, put in my official submission of the "after" photo last night, then ate everything! Here it is:
> View attachment 11776
> 
> 
> As far as the peaking, I think I did ok. The intersection of my father passing about a week ago, the surgery on the bicep I had the day before that I tore 2-3 weeks ago, and just being in a bad mood made it tougher to hit my macros the last week. I basically ate at or just under maintenance other than the last binge day I mentioned. Of course now I'm questioning if I look better now after a big cheat day - doesn't matter though the photo is submitted. I'm really happy with my results, this may be the last ~12 week cut I'll ever do. I always make GREAT progress over 8 weeks and still seem to hit a wall. This time I climbed over that wall a little, but it's just not worth it. Plus I don't want to do 12 week blasts and cut the whole time, it would be nice to be able to blast the last 4 weeks at maintenance calories or maybe just above to get some muscle back on. That is another thing I should mention, when I went into this I had a mindset that I don't care if I lose some muscle because I don't want to carry that much weight around (due to back/knee problems). I got down to 202 one day, lighter than I've been in >10 years. Great, but now I miss some of that muscle - I'm kind of between L and XL for shirts and it would be nice to be right at XL. And I can wear 32" waist jeans....granted my legs are stuffed in there enough that if I squat down I'll rip em, but 32! I'm not going to bulk, but I'm going to set a goal of being 220 @ 10% bf year round. Thanks everyone in this forum, it was really my only outlet some times, so I appreciate those that chimed in or had positive things to say, really appreciated.



12 weeks? Jesus man....Mighty impressive.

I haven't read through the thread but can you give some highlights of what you did to achieve this? Obvious cardio and diet. Did you have a trainer, gear?

Definitely going back through this log.

Awesome job!


----------



## Send0 (Apr 12, 2021)

Holy f... amazing transformation.


----------



## sfw509 (Apr 12, 2021)

Outstanding! Awesome transformation.


----------



## dreamtempo (Apr 12, 2021)

jeeeez dude i'm in the middle of a lil bulk and this is mad inspiring, shout out to you~


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## Voyagersixone (Apr 12, 2021)

Holy shit dude. Incredible and inspiring transformation. Well done and thank you for sharing!


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## mediocre1645 (Apr 13, 2021)

Wow thanks for the kind words everyone. It was hard work and my metabolism is ****ed lol. Exhaustion is just crazy, even creeping up calories. No word on whether I won or not. I'm guessing I'll know in 24 hours.

In the last week I did an upper workout (was only able to get up to 165 on bench with the torn bicep, mostly a stability issue) and a lower workout (focused on knees over toes stuff that's the new crazy...again). I could squat but i didn't want to chance the bicep. So that workout was one legged stepdown/up off slant board elevated 3.5" (3 x 12 each side), nordic hamstring curls (with green band, 4-5 x 5 reps), knees over toes split squat (3 x 5 each side), and a couple other things I can't remember.

3-12-21:
Upper
Bench 5 x 12 x 185 (quick improvement over last week, this thing is recovering nicely)
One-arm row (right side only...obviously): 5 x 12 x 85
Inversion Abs: 5 x 10
GHR Back Raise: 5 x 10
Some curls and shoulder press (again, right side only)

If anyone has a comment on what I should do for gear IF (big IF) I win this thing and have 3-4 weeks before a photoshoot, please chime in!


----------



## mediocre1645 (May 19, 2021)

So I'm 99% sure i did not win that competition. I did make it to the "semi finals" though, whatever that means. The semi final round had a questionnaire that was basically "what is your shirt size and when can you come to las vegas" - so I must have got pretty close. The weeks after the end of this diet did not go well. The combination of alcohol, hunting (lots of camp food, pack out bars, eating out, etc), facing the facts (a little) associated with my father's recent passing, the torn bicep, and a herniated disc that flared up badly....I fell off the wagon(s). I gained probably 8 lbs of fat and looked like shit - bloated in the face and stomach. I quickly realized that if i stay on that path, my life will be in shambles before i know it. So I did what any sane man would do - I decided to blast tren and winny and get back on a diet! Last time I took tren I swore I wouldn't again, only because of tren cough and I'm not powerlifting anymore. Not sure what made me decide to take this approach and do tren, but I'm glad I did cuz I feel great. I didn't want to post in here until I was confident I was on a good path, so here's what I'm doing:

*Sups:* 75 mg Winny ED, ~400 mg tren ace/week, ~150 mg test/week, GH 3-4 IU/day, and BPC/TB protocol for arm/back recovery. I will likely add in some stims and T3 soon.

*Diet:* First 1/2 week was just kinda getting my bearings at just under what my maintenance calories should be, first full week was right at 2200 calories with spot on macros, and so far this week I've been at 2000 calories with even better macros. 

*Cardio:* so far not much - my elliptical broke and I can't do much because of my back. So progress isn't super fast, but my current energy level is great and I've been really active around my property (small farm type property)

*Lifting:* again, I'm somewhat limited because of my back and arm, but I'm going good. My split is 4 days/week, two upper (one hypertrophy, one focused on strength), two lower (one focused on "knees over toes" stuff and one that is meant to be focused on strength but will be more like hypertrophy work until my back is better). 

Has anyone has a discectomy before? I'm leaning towards surgery on this disc (not a fusion) - the disc above it herniated a couple years ago and mostly healed on its own, but with Elk season approaching I don't know if I can chance this one healing up magically. 

*So what's my goal/plan? *I'm really not sure. I guess get back to where I finished that diet off, hopefully in 6-8 weeks (I won't go any longer than 8 weeks anyways), but if I'm approaching the level of sanity, or lake thereof that I experienced when I got really lean on the last cut, I will stay on this blast and reverse diet slowly.


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## mediocre1645 (May 19, 2021)

I guess they announced the winners a few weeks ago, I didn't know cuz I don't have instagram. Signed up to take a look...I honestly can't believe I didn't get in the top 3. I'm pretty ****ing pissed off about it to be honest. What do you guys think? 
First: https://www.instagram.com/p/COuuW_3NuUJ/
Second: https://www.instagram.com/p/COp97fwNkSj/
Third: https://www.instagram.com/p/COaRgjHBF3u/


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## eazy (May 19, 2021)

mediocre1645 said:


> I guess they announced the winners a few weeks ago, I didn't know cuz I don't have instagram. Signed up to take a look...I honestly can't believe I didn't get in the top 3. I'm pretty ****ing pissed off about it to be honest. What do you guys think?
> First: https://www.instagram.com/p/COuuW_3NuUJ/
> Second: https://www.instagram.com/p/COp97fwNkSj/
> Third: https://www.instagram.com/p/COaRgjHBF3u/



I think you are first place. 

You smoked 2nd and 3rd. Your legs are better than 1st place finisher.


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## Send0 (May 19, 2021)

mediocre1645 said:


> I guess they announced the winners a few weeks ago, I didn't know cuz I don't have instagram. Signed up to take a look...I honestly can't believe I didn't get in the top 3. I'm pretty ****ing pissed off about it to be honest. What do you guys think?
> First: https://www.instagram.com/p/COuuW_3NuUJ/
> Second: https://www.instagram.com/p/COp97fwNkSj/
> Third: https://www.instagram.com/p/COaRgjHBF3u/



How the hell? I'm not just saying this, but your transformation completely blows all of those 3 out of the water.

How the f' did they decide who were the winners? Did blind people select the top 3?


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## Jin (May 19, 2021)

I think
no matter what any
body says or whether you
placed or not:

you won big and you impressed the hell out of all of us. 

And I do think your transformation was more impressive than all of the above.


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## mediocre1645 (May 20, 2021)

Thanks everyone. My ol lady made the point that none of those dudes have a lot of muscle, so maybe they were just looking for less athletic ppl who got skinny for the first time. There is a comment on the #1 guy's pic, kind of bitching about how athletic he looked. I mentioned my fear of being too roided looking earlier in the log lol...I wouldn't have changed anything for the most part though. 

3-16-21: Knees Over Toes WO
Nordic Curls: 3 x 5 assisted with push at bottom
ATG Split Squats: 3 x 10 x bw
GHR: 3 x 10
One Leg Squats: 3 x 10
Toe Raises 3 x 10
Step Downs from Incline: 3 x 10
Russian Twists: 4 x 30

3-17-21: Upper 1
Bench Press: 5 x 5 x 185, 225, 245, 225(6), 225
1-Arm Rows: 4 x 8 x 80-85 (10 reps on weak side)\
OHP: 3 x 10 x 95
I then did some circuit accessory stuff...I tried to do decline fly's but the weakness in my hand from the bicep surgery was really noticeable and almost dropped a 40 on my face!

3-20-21: Lower 2
Walking Lunges: 4 x 20 x 50 lb DBs
Sissy Squat: 3 x 10 x 25
GHR: 3 x 10
Leg Raise: 3 x 12
Back Raise: 3 x 12
Hands Out Crunches: 2 x 12 x 20 lb
Super Mans: 2 x 5 (5-count hold at top)


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## Send0 (May 20, 2021)

You know, your transformation is so incredible that maybe they didn't believe it was actually you in the after photo?


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## mediocre1645 (May 22, 2021)

Send0 said:


> You know, your transformation is so incredible that maybe they didn't believe it was actually you in the after photo?



lol maybe. They have also "shared" like two dozen or more other transformations on their IG and FB accounts, but not mine (yet). I find that somewhat suspect, and it supports either theory. 

Anyways, back to life:

5-21-21: Upper 2
Decline BP: 4 x 12 x 185, 205, 205, 185 (not quite to failure, I need to build a standalone bench to put in the squat rack, set the pins, and go HAM)
OHP: 3 x 10 x 95 (little something bothering me on left side, no big deal though)
Back Flys: 3 x 15 x 20's
Side Raise: 3 x 10 x 20's
Front Raise/Tricep ext: 3 x 10 x 10/20 (each front raise rep I bring the plate behind my head and do 2 overhead tricep extensions)
Band Flys: 2 x 10 x green
Band Pullovers: 2 x 10 x green
Bicep Curls (L side only): 3 x 8 x 20


----------



## mediocre1645 (May 25, 2021)

3-24-21: Knees Over Toes WO
Nordic Curls: 3 x 6 assisted with push at bottom
ATG Split Squats: 3 x 10 x 40 lb
GHR: 3 x 10
One Leg Squats: 3 x 10 x 40 lb
Toe Raises 3 x 15
Step Downs from Incline: 3 x 12
Russian Twists: 4 x 30 x 25

Did not lose as much fat as I wanted last week, but I started on clen/T3 sunday. This clen/tren/T3 combo feels really good and my energy level is really high. I'm optimistic for a good week of fat loss.


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## mediocre1645 (May 28, 2021)

5-25-21:
BP: 6 x 4 x 185, 225, 245, 265, 265, 265 (could have gone up in weight or reps with a spotter, I really gotta build a stand alone bench to put in my rack.
1-Arm Rows: 4 x 10 x 80-85 (12 reps on left side)
OHP: 4 x 8 x 95, 105, 105, 105
Decline Flys: 2 x 15 x 20's

5-27-21:
Walking Lunges: 4 x 20 x 50 lb dumbbells
Sissy Squat: 3 x 10 x 35
GHR 3 x 10 x bw (hands behind head, normally I put them on my chest)
Leg Raise: 3 x 15
Back Raises: 3 x 12 x bw
Hands Out Crunch: 2 x 12 x 25
Super Mans: 3 x 5 (10 sec count)

The improvement in the mirror this week is really noticeable. Diet adherence has been pretty good, had a few days I went over on accident.


----------



## mediocre1645 (May 29, 2021)

5-28-21:
Decline Bench: 4 x 10 x 185, 225, 225, 195
OHP: 4 x 10 x 95, 105, 95, 95
Back Flys: 4 x 12 x 30's
Side Raise: 3 x 8 x 30's
Band Flys: 3 x 10 x green
Band Pulls with lats: 3 x 10 x green
Concentration Curls: 3 x 10 x 20's


----------



## mediocre1645 (Jun 3, 2021)

6-1-21: Knees Over Toes WO
Nordic Curls: 4 x 5 assisted with push at bottom
ATG Split Squats: 4 x 8 x 60 lb
GHR: 3 x 10
One Leg Squats: 3 x 8 x 60 lb
Toe Raises: 3 x 15
Step Downs from Incline: 3 x 10 x 1.5"
Russian Twists: 4 x 15 (full twist) x 35

6-2-21: 
Bench: 5 x 5 x 225, 245, 265, 255, 245 (4 reps cuz I did long pauses on first 3 reps)
1-Arm Rows: 4 x 10 x 90-95 lb
OHP: 4 x 8 x 95
Fly's: 2 x 15 x 30's
Back Band Pulls: 2 x 15 x green

I've done almost no cardio, yet I'm dropping bf pretty quickly. I think I'll have to start adding it in soon though.


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## mediocre1645 (Jun 8, 2021)

6-5-21: Upper 2
Decline Bench: 5 x 8 x 185, 225, 245, 245 (5 reps, didn't want to get pinned), 225 (7)
Skipped OHP, I think I'll make that my main lift on my Upper 1 day instead of doing it half assed twice a week.
Back Flys: 4 x 8 x 35's
Side Raise: 3 x 8 x 35's
Front Raise: 3 x 12 x 45
DB Curls: 3 x 8 x 25
Band Flys: 3 x 12 x green
Band Pullovers: 3 x 12 x greens


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## mediocre1645 (Jun 9, 2021)

6-8-21: Lower 1 (KOT WO)
Nordics: 4 x 6 - I can't tell if I'm getting any better at these or not. I think to maintain consistency in effort and track progress I'll start using a band again as opposed to pushing myself up with my hands/arms.
KOT Split Squat: 4 x 8 x 80 lb
GHRs: 3 x 10
1-Legged Squat: 3 x 8 x 80 lb - does anyone do these...what is the best way to set up your back leg to get the deepest ROM?
Toe Raises: 3 x 15
Stepdowns: 3 x 12 x 2x4
Knee Raises: 3 x 10 x green - I need to find a way to jimmy rig something so I can use straight weight instead of bands on these
Russian Twists: 4 x 20 x 35 lb

So my bf is right at where I was about two weeks before the transformation challenge ended. I've had a pretty hardcore cheat day (ok...3 days) so I'm considering one solid push to the "finish line" for the rest of June, followed by taking all of July to consciously reverse diet and try out this weird thing I heard about called "moderation". 

Those crackheads over at Renaissance Periodization still have not shared my before/after photos. I'm still stewing over the whole thing, and I'm assuming the reason why they don't put it up is because people will be like "wait why the **** didn't this guy win?". The ****ing winner only lost like 16 lbs. What a crock lol.


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## CJ (Jun 9, 2021)

mediocre1645 said:


> 6-8-21: Lower 1 (KOT WO)
> Nordics: 4 x 6 - I can't tell if I'm getting any better at these or not. I think to maintain consistency in effort and track progress I'll start using a band again as opposed to pushing myself up with my hands/arms.
> KOT Split Squat: 4 x 8 x 80 lb
> GHRs: 3 x 10
> ...



Yeah, that's crazy. My gf obsessed over the RP transformation photos.... So that means I have to look at them too.

Maybe you're TOO different now, and they don't want people to be steered towards drugs. Or maybe if you win people would assume drugs, and not participate in the future, so lost revenue stream???  Just a guess.


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## mediocre1645 (Jun 10, 2021)

CJ275 said:


> Yeah, that's crazy. My gf obsessed over the RP transformation photos.... So that means I have to look at them too.
> 
> Maybe you're TOO different now, and they don't want people to be steered towards drugs. Or maybe if you win people would assume drugs, and not participate in the future, so lost revenue stream???  Just a guess.



I'm sure it's something like that, or at least one of the things we've speculated. I DID find my transformation photo listed in their searchable transformation database but no one sees that unless they search for someone in my age range, weight, diet length, etc. I just wish someone there would have given me a shout out like "hey man so you ****ing killed that but we can't in good conscience let you win because x,y,z"...I'm the type of guy that would have taken that attaboy and felt almost as good as if I won the money. If the bb.com misc was what it once was, I would probably campaign to spam or review them to death or something. Maybe I should get into the 4chan fitness community...

6-9-21: Upper 1
Bench: 5 x 6 x 225, 245, 265, 265, 255 - only tough rep was maybe the 6th on that 2nd set of 265. I REALLY have to get a bench that i can set up in my squat rack. Too many other chores to do for now though so I'll let my bench stay weak for a little longer  Word of advice...if it sounds like a fun plan to have a small family farm...get 1/3 of an acre in a suburb instead!
OHP: 3 x 5 x 95, 115, 135
1-Arm Row: 3 x 12 x 90-95 (15 reps last sets)
Band Pulls: 2 x 15 x green
Flat Flys: 2 x 12 x 40's - really happy with how my bicep/forearm is recovering. 2-3 weeks ago I almost let 30 lbs fall on my face doing these. 

I've also been going to PT for my most recent herniated disc. It is helping, at least in an acute way. My plan is to go enough that I can prove to insurance that I need steroid shots or surgery, the latter being my honest preference at this point. Depends on scheduling and what the doctor says about carrying 150 lbs of elk and camp/hunt gear 10 miles back and forth in September. 

Today was another cheat day, but tomorrow and the rest of June I'll be dieting hard. That's 3 weeks exactly. As far as compounds, here's what I've been doing and my plan for the remainder:
*Tren*: starting to get some gyno sides so I'm going to get some caber and lower my dose to 300-350 mg/week. This will allow me to stay on a little tren during my reverse dieting phase. 
*Test:* no change, been taking 250 mg/week. 
*Winny*: been taking 75 mg/day and plan to continue that, likely into July same as the tren. I have a trip back to my old stomping grounds at the end of July so I'd like to look at least a little bit ridiculous. 
*BPC/TB-500*: I stopped taking a week or two ago since my arm is mostly healed and I see ZERO impact on my herniated disc.
*GH*: been taking about 4 IU per day (split morning and night) and plan to continue for the remainder of the summer. 
*T3*: going to stay on 70 mcg for "week 1", then up the dose those last two diet weeks, then probab ly stay on 50 mcg the first half of July.
*Clen*: going to quit cold turkey for "week 1", then get back on those last two weeks. 
*Cardio*: have done almost no cardio this whole minicut, but plan to start an average of a half hour per day for the next week, then up that through the rest of the month.


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## mediocre1645 (Jun 14, 2021)

6-10-21: 70 min walk pushing the kids in stroller....holy chaffed inner  thighs batman...even with goldbond powder. Hey FYI for anyone paying  attention, the goldbond (or other brand) "stick" (like a deodorant  stick) works way better than the powder for chaffing. 

6-11-21: Lower 2
Walking Lunges: 4 x 16 x 135
Sissy Squat: 3 x 8 x 50 (10 on last set)
GHR: 3 x 8 x 15 on chest (10 on last set)
Leg Raise: 3 x 15
Back Raise: 3 x 10 x 10 on chest
Hands Out Crunches: 3 x 12 x 25
Super Mans: 3 x 8 (5 set count at top)

6-12-21: Upper 2
Decline BP: 4 x 10 x 205, 225, 245, 235 (9)
OHP: 5 x 5 x 85, 115, 125, 125, 125
Back Flys: 4 x 8 x 40's
Band Bicep Curls (L side only): 3 x 12 x 30 lb band
Band Pullovers: 3 x 10 x green
Band Flys (R side only to start trying to fix some symmetry issues): 3 x 10 x green

Calipers  read 9 mm for chest/belly/leg this morning which the guide says is like  3% bf (lol). I would say this is closer to 8-9%. If you look at post  105, I'm slightly leaner than that and ended the first cut around 6.5-7  mm. It would be nice to hit that low again, in any case if I can  maintain 8  mm through July while reverse dieting and having a few party weekends,  I'll  be really happy. At that point I'll be training for elk season which  means I'll be running/hiking/lifting 6 days a week and should have no  problem getting my maintenance calories up while staying lean.


----------



## mediocre1645 (Jun 15, 2021)

6-14-21: Lower 1
Nordic Curls: 5 x 4 aided by 60 lb band
KOT Split Squat: 4 x 8 x 80 lb, changed form to make em a little harder
GHR: 3 x 6 x 20 lb on chest
1-Leg Squat: 3 x 8 x 80 lb
Toe Raises: 4 x 10
Step Downs: 4 x 10 x 2x4
Russian Twists: 4 x 20 x 35
Thigh Raise: 4 x 8 x 10 lb

Starting to feel pretty exhausted again, pretty excited to get back on the clen and up the T3 tomorrow. I forgot to mention that I had a major prolactin/estrogen issue...I've had some gyno in my left nipple for years. It's not visible even when inflamed, but can hurt pretty bad and isn't getting any smaller. This time it showed up because the combo of drugs and a weekend of eating/drinking. So I got some caber and adex. Taking 0.25 mg caber and 0.5 mg Adex every 3 days. The gyno pain quickly started subsiding after I started taking them (about one week ago).


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## mediocre1645 (Jun 16, 2021)

6-25-21:
70 min walk/hike and Upper 2:
OHP: 5 x 3 x 115, 135, 150, 165, 155 (5 reps)
BP: 4 x 3 x 255, 285, 300, 275 - first time pressing 300 in a while. I'd like to get to a 315 5rm by end of summer. Once my calories go up, I think that's doable. 
1-Arm Rows: 4 x 10 x 110-115
Flat Flys: 3 x 15 x 40s
Band Rows: 2 x 15 x green

6-16-21:
Did a 45 minute walk at a track (i think this was 2.25 or 2.5 miles), 10 minute walk at PT, the PT stuff, and parked somewhat far away at work...I'm calling that a 60 minute cardio!

Upped dose of T3 and started back on Clen today.


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## mediocre1645 (Jul 8, 2021)

Been MIA for a while eh guys? Been kinda bouncing back and forth between dieting and not dieting. Still trying to find some moderation...getting there slowly but surely. I'd say about about 9-10% bf, 225 lbs at the moment. I have a trip to see some family at the end of the month, I'm considering a final diet push to get me a bit leaner before that. However, I have some upcoming travel and busy month so I'll likely not post until I start up my elk season training. Hope everyone is doing well!


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## PZT (Jul 8, 2021)

enjoy bro


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## mediocre1645 (Jul 16, 2021)

I talked my doc into doing back surgery...doing it today! Getting a discectomy...the pain has been so bad lately that I can't even imagine not having it in 8 hours...I am excite!


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## DEADlifter (Jul 16, 2021)

mediocre1645 said:


> I talked my doc into doing back surgery...doing it today! Getting a discectomy...the pain has been so bad lately that I can't even imagine not having it in 8 hours...I am excite!


Good luck man


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## mediocre1645 (Jul 19, 2021)

Surgery went well, I'm not too mobile obviously and I'm going to have to re-cut...AGAIN once i can work out again lol. I'm also a little skeptical that I'll be able to elk hunt this year which sucks...maybe I'll get a muzzleloader and give myself a few more weeks of recovery.


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## Spear (Jul 19, 2021)

Great work man, I know i'm a bit late, but that was a massive change.


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## sfw509 (Jul 20, 2021)

Glad to hear things went well. And i second your thought on the new muzzleloader.


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## Send0 (Sep 20, 2021)

Hey man, just checking in on you. You doing okay and healing up?

Your transformation was incredible, but don't be a stranger! Rehab/recovery is worth logging too... I know I for one could learn from what you're currently going through. 

Take care brother!


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## mediocre1645 (Mar 16, 2022)

Sorry I dropped off the face of the earth. My recoveries have gone ok. I wasn't lifting for a while, been having some depression and substance abuse issues but I'm on the right track again. Currently doing my annual new years cut, though certainly not as hardcore as last year. Sitting around 10% bf and just started a DNP cycle, first one!


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## mediocre1645 (Mar 18, 2022)

Figured I'd update on my cycle and the DNP run. 

Cycle so far has been:
Test E: 250 mg/week
Tren A: 350 mg/week
Mast A: 350 mg/week
Var: 100 mg/day

For DNP the first 3 days I took 300 mg. Took 400 mg today. So far not that bad, I'm hotter and only slightly sweatier. No fatigue, no problem sleeping, overall seem totally fine (knock on wood for long half life of DNP lol). I'm hoping I can get down to 8% bf after this DNP run, then I'll be able to reverse diet while I'm still taking some roids.


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## Spear (Mar 18, 2022)

Do you notice mast being higher than test, that it drops your e2 super low?


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## mediocre1645 (Mar 18, 2022)

I think my last cycle with mast was similar, and I don't recall E2 being out of the ordinary. At this low of a concentration I'm not too worried about it. I admittedly have not had a chance to do bloodwork yet, and am dosing Prami/Adex based on my left nipple's level of irritation. Gyno sucks can be a great indicator of when your hormones are off lol


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