Cutting Cycle - Week #37

NOTICE: This is article #37 of this series. Click HERE for the front page.

The end has finally arrived. I weighed in last week at around 188-190 pounds, which was my goal. Now it is time to try something new, but before I tell you what, we'll get into what I did this week.

Because I had a terrible week, last week, I decided to do something different this week. Instead of my usual MAX-OT style workout, I did a workout composed entirely of dropsets. This is where you start with a certain weight, do a set, immediately lower the weight, then do another set with little rest (15 seconds). I bolded the weight used so it would be easier to tell from the reps completed.

Diet and Supplements

Diet

I added 50 grams of carbs!

VIEW THE FULL DIET

Supplement Schedule

Same as last week.

7:45 AM

1000 mg Vitamin C
400 U.I. Vitamin E
200 mg AST ALA
1 Capsule AST NAC
7.5 grams L-Glutamine (In protein shake)
5 grams Creatine (In protein shake)
1 Capsules S.A.N. Tight

9:00 AM

1000 mg Vitamin C
400 I.U. Vitamin E
200 mg ALA
1 NAC
7.5 grams L-Glutamine (In protein shake)
5 grams Creatine (In protein shake)

12:00 PM

1 Multivitamin
1 Proflex
200 mg ALA

3:30 PM

1 capsule S.A.N. TIGHT

10:00 PM

1000 mg Vitamin C
400 U.I. Vitamin E
1 Proflex
5 grams L-Glutamine

10:30 PM

5 grams GABA

Monday, June 2nd

Chest/Triceps

NOTE: I did all drop sets this week!

Chest

Bench Press 250 X 6, 4, 225 X 6, 4, 185 X 6 - View Exercise
Incline Dumbbell Press 70 X 6, 60 X 6, 50 X 6, 45 X 6, 30 X 6 - View Exercise
Weighted Dips 50 X 6, 40 X 6, 30 X 6, 20 X 6, 10 X 6 - View Exercise
Machine Press 180 X 8, 8, 6, 150 X 6, 120 X 8 - View Exercise

Triceps

Close Grip Bench 115 X 8, 105 X 6, 85 X 6, 75 X 6, 65 X 6 - View Exercise
Pressdown 100 X 8, 90 X 8, 80 X 8, 70 X 8, 60 X 8 - View Exercise

WOW! What a workout. It is funny how not resting can make a weight that is usually light seem extremely heavy. Even the 30 pound dumbbells felt heavy on incline dumbbell press. The tricep portion of the workout went better than the chest portion. One reason is better weight selection. Tricep pressdowns were unbelievable! By the time I was done, my triceps were pumped to twice their normal size, even when relaxed. I expected to be completely dead after this workout, but I actually felt great.

Tuesday, June 3rd

My triceps are SORE!!! They have never been this sore.

Legs/Calves

Upper Legs

Squats 315 X 8, 5, 285 X 5, 265 X 5, 245 X 5 - View Exercise
Stiff leg deadlifts 285 X 6, 265 X 6, 245 X 6, 225 X 6, 205 X 6 (I thought I was gonna puke!) - View Exercise
Leg Press 440 X 8, 6, 420 X 6, 400 X 6, 380 X 6 - View Exercise
Leg Curl 120 X 8, 6, 5, 4, 110 X 6 - View Exercise
Leg Extension 120 X 6, 6, 5, 4, 110 X 6 - View Exercise

Calves

Donkey Calf Raises 300 X 8, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6 - View Exercise

Killer workout. Halfway through the stiff leg deadlifts I thought I was going to hurl. I feel that some exercises work well with this setup and some don't. Stiff leg deadlifts is one that doesn't. Leg press, leg curls, leg extensions, and donkey calf raises on the other hand are awesome exercises to do dropsets on. What was amazing to me was that I was able to do 6 reps for multiple sets on donkey calf raises while only resting for 15 seconds in between.

Wednesday, June 4th

REST

My hamstrings are extremely sore. I was thinking about doing cardio today, but when I woke up, I knew that there was no possible way I would be able to.

Thursday, June 5th

Delts/Traps

Shoulders/Traps

Shoulders

Military Press 185 X 4, 165 X 4, 145 X 4, 135 X 4, 4 - View Exercise
Side Lateral 50 X 6, 40 X 6, 30 X 6, 4, 20 X 12 - View Exercise
Dumbbell Press 60 X 8, 4, 50 X 4, 40 X 4, 30 X 6 - View Exercise
Bent Over Lateral 50 X 8, 6, 4, 40 X 6, 4 - View Exercise

Traps

Barbell Shrug 375 X 6, 355 X 6, 335 X 6, 315 X 6, 4 - View Exercise
Dumbbell Shrug 120 X 6, 110 X 6, 100 X 6, 6, 6 - View Exercise
Seated Machine Shrug 210 X 8, 8, 8, 8, 8 - View Exercise

Another killer setup. It's been a long time since I've used 20 pounds on side laterals. This type of routine is not for one with a frail ego. I really don't care if I use a heavy weight or not, as long as I am lifting to my full ability. Of course when I lift MAX-OT style, it usually is a very heavy weight ;)

I'd say the trap exercises went better than the shoulder exercises. This is especially true for the seated machine shrug. The way that this machine is set up allowed my to hit my traps from a completely different angle. I will incorporate this exercise into my later routines.

Friday, June 6th

Back/Biceps

Back

Bent Over Row 285 X 4, 265 X 4, 245 X 4, 225 X 4, 4 - View Exercise
Reverse Pull Down 150 X 6, 140 X 6, 130 X 6, 120 X 6, 110 X 6 - View Exercise
V-Bar Seated Row 150 X 6, 140 X 6, 130 X 6, 120 X 6, 110 X 6 - View Exercise
1-Arm Dumbbell Row 70 X 8, 6, 4, 50 X 6, 6 - View Exercise

Biceps

Barbell Curl 110 X 6, 4 90 X 6, 4, 70 X 6 - View Exercise
DB Curl 50 X 6, 40 X 6, 30 X 6, 20 X 12, 10 - View Exercise

These are some killer workouts! I like the pace of this type of setup. Very fast, very hard, and intense. This was a good end to the week.

Saturday, June 7th

REST

Sunday, June 8th

REST

Weekly Reflection

This routine was a nice change from my normal workouts. It added some variety and was pretty fun to do. I am beginning to become more experimental with my training. Because of that, I will be starting a program called Hypertrophy Specific Training. This program was developed by Bryan Haycock, and looks very promising. I will still be doing an online journal. So be on the lookout for the new journal. I'd like to thank everyone who has read my journals. This is my last week of cutting! I hope you learned something that you can incorporate into your own endeavors.

I weighed in at 188 pounds this morning. I am happy with my results. Now that I think about it, I lost 20 pounds in about 15 weeks, without having to lower my calories to an extremely low amount. I believe the lowest I went was around 2,400 calories a day, which is more than most people normally eat. I believe I may have lost a little muscle during the process, but not much. My strength was steady climbing up until about week 13. It is now time to try to add some lean mass over the summer. Here are my new pics and measurements.

Caliper Measurements

*My caliper measurements have been relatively the same throughout even though I look leaner.

Measurements are in millimeters.

DATE	3-May	11-May	17-May	25-May	1-June	8-June
Abdomen	5	5	5	5	5	5
Bicep	2	2	2	2	2	2
Calf	2	2	2	2	2	2
Kidney	6.5	6	6	6	6	6
Pectoral	3	4	2	3.5	4	4
Quadricep	9	7	10	9	10	10
Subscapula	8.5	7	7	6.5	6	6
Suprailiac	5.5	5	5	4	4	4
Tricep	5	6	5.5	5	5	5
TOTAL	46.5	44	44.5	43	44	44
Bodyweight	195	194	196	192	190	188
Weight change from previous	-	-1	2	-4	-2	0
Total/Bodyweight	0.23846	0.22680	0.22704	0.22395	0.23157	0.23404
(Total/Bodyweight) * 0.27	0.06438	0.06123	0.06130	0.06046	0.06252	0.06319
((Total/Bodyweight) * 0.27)*100 = % Bodyfat	6.43846	6.12371	6.13010	6.04687	6.2526	6.31914
% Bodyfat (Bodyweight) = lbs Bodyfat	12.555	11.88	12.015	11.61	11.88	11.88
Fat change from previous	-	-0.675	0.135	-0.405	0.27	0
Bodyweight - lbs Bodyfat = lbs Lean Mass	182.445	182.12	183.985	180.39	178.12	176.12
Lean mass change from previous	-	-0.325	1.865	-3.595	-2.27	0

Weight: 188
Height: 5'10"
Waist: 31
Chest: 46
Biceps: 15
Biceps (flexed): 16 3/4
Shoulders: 50
Thighs: 25
Calves: 17 1/8
Calves (flexed): 17 3/4
Forearm: 13 1/2
Forearms (flexed): 15

More Pics From This Week

Click To Enlarge!