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Assessment: Well today was my first assessment check.  I took pictures along with my weight and bodyfat. I was super excited about this check as I was hoping to be up a few pounds and notice some size difference in the photos.  Unfortunately, I ended up a little disappointed.  I was only up 1 pound and my pictures looked basically the same. So I thought about it a while and the more I thought , I realized that I shouldn't have expected too much.  The fact of the matter is that I was still only able to lift about 30%.  next week will be closer to 70% and I'm looking forward to the next check! Diet: I don't believe diet is the issue right now.  I'm sticking with my original diet from week one, which I'm following about 90%.  I'm always eating at least that much and sometimes having a few homemade cookies and a restaurant meal or 2 per week. Training: Weights: I will be keeping my routine the same, but the weights will be heavier (in the 5-7 rep range).  I

Training: Training felt great today.  It felt like I could have had no limits.  That being said, I stayed right around 40%.  I don't want to push it too early. Pulldowns BB Rows Cable Rows Deadlifts Shrugs 2 x 8 on everything. First assessment coming up: If you haven't taken your first assessment pics/ measurements yet, you should do so by Friday.  You also should have a basic plan of attack.  That means correcting specific things that you fell short on over the last 8 week.  Notice I said specific.  You need to identify exactly where you'd been falling short and make those changes.  Pick at least 2 things.  You should also have a plan.  My current plan is 4 days of weight training and 0 cardio.  That fits my current goals.  Yours may be different, but either way you should have a plan each week. Diet : My diet will stay as it has been since we started.  I won't make any adjustments until progress pics on Friday.

Weight Training: The goal this week is to get 6-8 reps on my working sets and come close to failure.  I should NOT need help getting your reps. Today's training: Shoulders and Triceps:  Because I'm still going so light, I'm not going to bother putting in my weights, next week I should be able to step it up quite a bit. Nutrition: My nutrition will stay the same this week.  I have basic plan that I outlined last week, but I'm not too concerned with being too strict with it.  I'm eating all the meals and I may have a few things "off menu" this week as well. Goals: This week will be an assessment week.  I'll take pictures and check my weight/bodyfat.  Ideally I'll be up at least 3 pounds.

Finishing acclimation week I finished up my acclimation workouts today.  Coming back from surgery , I kept the weights way lighter than I would on  a typical acclimation week.  Everything is feeling good, so starting next week, We'll add some more weight.  Still nowhere close to failure, but around 60-70%.  If you are following along, you should plan on going about 90% next week in the 6-8 rep range. WORKOUT: CHEST AND BICPES here is the current chest workout: Incline BB press: 3 x 8 Flat DB press: 2 x 8 Decline BB press: 1 x 8 Fly: 1 x 8 BB curls: 2 x 8 DB curls: 2 x 8 Cable Curls: 1 x 8 I'm not putting the weight up yet for the reasons stated above. DIET My diet is basically staying the same

Day Off: Tuesday was a rest day.  The current plan is 4 days of lifting and no cardio.  Eventually I may add in some cardio, but I believe cardio is a tool to be used as much or as little as needed to reach your goals. In other words, I never just randomly do a cardio session.  Every workout has a purpose. Rest day diet: I'm still tweaking what I want to do on my rest day nutritionally. Today I stayed away from all high energy carbs (no training).  My diet looked like this: meal 1: 2 scoop BLN COMPLETE, 2 BLN OMEGA-3 meal 2: 3 egg, vegetable omelet, 1 scoop BLN COMPLETE meal 3: 2 scoop BLN COMPLETE, 1 apple meal 4: Huge multi vegetable salad with FLAX OIL and turkey + a few carrots and hummus. CLA meal 5: 2 scoops BLN COMPLETE with frozen berries meal 6: An awesome chicken, riced cauliflower thing my wife made Meal 7: 2 scoops BLN COMPLETE This went pretty well so I'll probably do the same thing on Thursday Wednesday: Back Training Back day is still tough.  The

Gathering my beginning data This was probably the toughest part of the process.  I suppose the blessing out of this is that I think I have a little more understanding of why people don't want to take before pictures.  This was really hard on me.  That being said, that is exactly why we should all do it!  I knew that from not being allowed to workout, I had lost weight, but I didn't realize how much.  I'm starting off 10 pounds less that my normal weight. I also took all my measurements and bodyfat.   I suggest you do the same. Workout I'm still limited to lightweights and no straining so , I bumped up a little from last week, but still not heavier that the 20's. DB Shoulder Press - 3 sets Lateral Raises: 2 sets Rear delt Raises: 2 sets Pushdowns: 2 sets Skull Crushers: 2 sets Kickback: 1 set Diet: I started eating a little more food today, but still not like I will once I can train harder.  5:30: 1 scoop BLN 8:00: 1 scoop recovery 9:00: 3 eggs with

Welcome to the Follow Bill Blog. I will be using this blog to document what I do in order to get myself back where I was before and hopefully even better after having double hernia surgery. I invite you to not only follow along, but to participate and ask questions.  I will be documenting everything from workouts to nutrition. Starting next week (November 5th) We will be doing an acclimation or De-load week.  That simply means taking your foot off the gas and going about 50% and working on the mind muscle connection of each exercise.  2 sets of 8-10 reps on each exercise.  Possibly work on eliminating any bad habits you may have picked up. I will also be starting my meal plan.  I always structure my meal plan around my workout schedule.  If my workout time changes, my plan changes.  Here is the week 1 plan: 5:30 am: Shake (1 scoop BLN COMPETE mixed with one scoop of oat powder*) 7:00 am: 1 scoop BLN Recovery 8:00 am: 2 scoops BLN Recovery 9:00 am: Egg bake (1 whole egg, 3 w