New home here on the web, so here is a new training journal.
After the interesting (and slightly traumatizing) end to the last contest season in November of 09, I decided to come off the diet (62 straight weeks now seems foolish. HA!) and get back to eating well and training hard.
There was some debate in my head for awhile over when and where I am going to compete again and to be honest, I don't have the where, but I have honed in on the when. Right now, it's looking like fall of 2011. I have no idea when exactly or where.
I will say that am happy with how I have played my "off" season to this point. Came off the diet at 170ish, which honestly is a couple of pounds too light and was a consequence of too much catabolism over the course of such a long diet. Whereas most people get better the longer they diet, I found that there is certainly a parabolic curve to that statement. I hit a point where muscle started to wither away despite our best efforts. So knowing that, I really wanted to keep my body fat pretty low this time so I can start a diet much leaner. I topped out at 215 the last time and started my diet at 203...on my way to that 170-174 contest weight (based on what show at what point in the year). So knowing that you are looking at 30+ pounds of weight loss, the length of the diet was inevitably going to be longer.
My current weight is solid though. 187ish. That means that I am holding about 12-14 pounds over contest and that alone makes me very excited for hte next diet. I feel I can get a lot leaner and do so on a bit more food than last time...and do it on a much shorter period of time. Hard to say exactly where or when that diet will start, but it will likely be in the 16 week range. Much more managble.
In terms of training, all is going very well. Best ever actually. I am stronger than I have ever been, having hit a huge goal on deadlift (405) and am now pulling good numbers (for me that is!). 275-315 are my working sets these days with reps ranging based on what I am doing. Did 5 sets of 10 on deadlift the other day with 315 and was pleased with that.
My squat is good right now but at the beginning of this new growth period, I went back and really put a good premium on depth there, so my numbers are not as big as they used to be. 335 went up pretty easy the other day and that was with very good depth.
Chest is doing very well. Had a shoulder setback (who hasn't. LOL) and that cost me about 6 weeks. But I am back in action now and am getting the 100's on flat press for a handful now.
Overall I am healthy and feeling good...and I love being able to type that. I am really enjoying my training right now and have been varying the the actual protocols frequently. Averaging 3-4 workouts a week and I have been mixing up a lot of different things just trying to really prioritize some things. Hamstrings are near the top of the list, as are the pecs. Back development is critical for me, hence the deadlifts being my most agressive motion right now.
Food: Going well. Stopped actively tracking food a long time ago. I always threaten to continue that in the post-contest season and in my defense, I did for some time. But once I settled into my current weight, I stopped. I make sure to get at least 200g of protein a day and I moderate the less-than-heathy stuff very carefully. Still eating clean but also just enjoying some food.
Thanks for reading...will be updating this soon.
Sean
