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MSR9889 wrote:ok workout today. had a good pump and focus but my chest has gotten embarrassingly weak. i dont know if its due to my sleep or not, but im just about as strong as i was 2 years ago when i first started taking benching seriously. shoulder felt fine and arms feel great. overall my strength seems to have plummeted since a year ago.

bench- 95x5, 135x10, 145x7, 155x3

incline bench- 95x10, 105x8, 115x7

db shoulder press- 40x7, 40x5, 40x4

overhead cable pushdowns- 70x5, 60x3, 50x4, 40x5, 30x10 1 big dropset

Likely culprit here is the back and forth cutting/bulking cycles. I could be wrong, and please don't take this as a slam but I've seen it over and over.

Your truly btw, has made this mistake but gratefully, AFTER oh - 20 years of bulking... It is a maddening exercise to repeat The Blueprint Periodic for example, with the same weights you were handling years ago while re-building.

For this reason, I constantly counsel the following (particularly to younger trainees, in their prime hormonal years): The hell with six pack abs, being "cut", etc.. Do your absolute best to get as big as you can, and as strong as you can in your teens and 20's.

You can cut later, and trust me - you won't regret it.

well i guess ill see how things go in a couple weeks when i can get back to my normal sleeping hours and hopefully more sleep. as depressing as it is to lose strength, id rather get cut honestly.

poor sleep again, maybe ill catch up this weekend.

breakfast was 4 eggs, 1 serving steel cut oats, 1 tbsp brown sugar, 1 scoop trutein, 1 cup mixed berries, 1 scoop superfoods -- 15.5g fat, 71g carbs, 57g protein
took focus xt mid morning
lunch was 4 slices multi grain bread, 1 tbsp almond butter, 1 tbsp jelly -- 14g fat, 91.5g carbs, 24g protein
preworkout took xfactor, reduction pm, 4g citrulline malate, ~1.5 scoops focus xt (finishing off the tub)
intra drank most of 18g bcaas, 4g citrulline malate
pwo finished my intra, 3 scoops ONE, 1 scoop whey -- 2g fat, 39g carbs, 23g protein, 17g leucine
dinner is 7oz chicken, 3 servings seasoned stir fry veggies, 4 servings mixed veggies, 1 slice multi grain bread, 1/2 tbsp agave, 4 tbsp orange sauce -- 8.5g fat, 122g carbs, 63g protein

total -- 40g fat, 323.5g carbs, 167g protein

good workout today, some improvement from last workout. good pump and the focus xt probably helped give me a needed boost.

lat pulldown- 100x10, 130x5, 150x5, 170x8, 170x8, 170x10

cable rows- 130x8, 130x8, 130x11

db pullovers- 50x8

incline db curls- 30x8, 30x6, 25x7

close grip pullups- 6

going to add a 4th day to the rotation and do deadlifts, cleans, and shrugs

Really seems as if a good night's sleep is your kingpin, Matt.

Good night's sleep, good workout!!!

breakfast was 2 eggs, 4 egg whites, 3 servings cinnabon cereal, 1 scoop trutein, 1 cup mixed berries, 1 scoop pure synergy superfoods -- 15.5g fat, 107g carbs, 74g protein
lunch is 2 scoops trutein, 3 servings cinnabon cereal -- 8.5g fat, 85g carbs, 54g protein
dinner is 3 servings steel cut oats, 1 scoop trutein, 3 tbsp brown sugar -- 10g fat, 131g carbs, 39g protein

total -- 34g fat, 323g carbs, 167g protein

lazy day, didnt feel like cooking

breakfast was 2 servings steel cut oats, 4 tbsp brown sugar, 2 tbsp trutein -- 8g fat, 118g carbs, 58g protein
took xfactor, focus xt, and 6g citrulline malate preworkout
intra drank 18g bcaas, 2g citrulline malate
pwo drank 1 scoop whey, 3 scoops ONE -- 2g fat, 39g carbs, 23g protein
lunch was 2 chicken burgers, 1 serving shredded cheese, hot sauce, 3 servings mini wheats, half cup almond milk -- 20g fat, 136g carbs, 66g protein
dinner was half a serving of mixed nuts, 1 scoop trutein, 1 cinnabon bar -- 11.5g fat, 35.5g carbs, 26g protein

total -- 41.5g fat, 328.5g carbs, 173g protein

really good workout today despite again being tired and my back being stiff. more improvement form last time deadlifting.

deadlift- 135x10, 185x5, 225x5, 275x10, 280x8, 285x9
used straps on working sets for a double overhand grip
abs held me back a little bit again. i really cant grasp why they are being so much more stressed than ever before, but deadlifts is leaving my abs tight and sore.


cleans- 95x10, 115x8, 135x failed twice
couldnt get any power from my back on the last set

shrugs- 135x12, 185x10, 225x7 dropset to 135x10

5 neutral-wide grip pullups

breakfast is 4 egg whites, 3 cinnabon bars, 1 cup mixed berries, 1 scoop pure synergy superfoods, 1 scoop trutein -- 15.5g fat, 110g carbs, 54g protein
lunch will be 3 servings granola, 2 scoops trutein -- 17g fat, 121g carbs, 63g protein

Way to pull out another great workout, Matt!

again, poor sleep last night. up at 430 today and ill be up at 430 the rest of the week. friday is my last day at work and friday night ill be going to jersey for a few days to visit some old friends so hopefully i can get some sleep and recover nicely with 5 days off from lifting.

breakfast was 2 eggs, 2 egg whites, 2 servings granola, 1 scoop trutein, 1 cup mixed berries, 1 scoop pure synergy superfoods, 1 scoop focus xt -- 20g fat, 102g carbs, 61g protien
lunch will be 1 scoop whey, 2 servings granola -- 12g fat, 77g carbs, 32g protein
took reduction pm, xfactor and 4g citrulline malate preworkout
intra drank 18g bcaas, 2g citrulline malate
pwo drank 1 scoop whey, 1 srving 100% grape juice -- 2g fat, 43g carbs, 23g protein
dinner is 6oz lean ground turkey, 5 servings mixed peppers, 3 servings mixed veggies, 4 tbsp sesame ginger sauce, 1 cinnabon bar -- 5.5g fat, 112g carbs, 49g protein

total -- 39.5g fat, 334g carbs, 165g protein

RobRegish wrote:Really seems as if a good night's sleep is your kingpin, Matt.

Good night's sleep, good workout!!!

I'd be willing it's that way for a lot of people, Rob...

good night sleep=lower amounts of cortisol, the stress hormone and anti-anabolic...when you don't sleep well, your body interprets it as a stress and releases large amounts of cortisol, which will negatively impact any muscle building you might want to do. It also releases less testosterone, so it in effect becomes a double whammy.

Since cortisol cancels out testosterone, releasing more cortisol and less testosterone is like an anabolic nightmare....

matter2003 wrote:
I'd be willing it's that way for a lot of people, Rob...

good night sleep=lower amounts of cortisol, the stress hormone and anti-anabolic...when you don't sleep well, your body interprets it as a stress and releases large amounts of cortisol, which will negatively impact any muscle building you might want to do. It also releases less testosterone, so it in effect becomes a double whammy.

Since cortisol cancels out testosterone, releasing more cortisol and less testosterone is like an anabolic nightmare....

never thought about it from a cortisol stand point, but that would make sense given how my body has been developing. only have significant fat left on my stomach and inner thighs, less horny than in the past, etc. and i certainly cant build muscle which is miserable.

another awful chest workout. while everything else has been improving, my chest felt weak again today, though i did get even less sleep than usual due to being up an hour earlier.

bench- 95x10, 135x10, 145x6, 150x2, 135x4

shoulder press- 40x8, 40x8, 40x9

overhead vbar pushdowns- 70x6, 70x6

skipped incline bench due to how shitty my chest felt. my shoulders felt great, possibly due to not doing incline. i also felt bothered/less stable in my traps so maybe ill move shrugs to the same day i do upper back and bis. ive never had my traps get as soar as they did from my last workout, maybe thats the xfactor finally kicking in...