This first 4 weeks of this gaining phase I used the SCGS compound and increased calories, especially later in the week.  I was concerned I might gain some body fat but based on the current pics, if I have gained any body fat it is insignificant.  I am still very happy with my condition at this point and especially considering the improvement in the last 4 weeks.

I have decided to fall back to only 4 days of training per week as 5 was just becoming too much and I felt it was hindering recovery, especially when that 5th day was a repeat of the Monday muscle groups trained.  With only 4 days, I will only hit everything once per week.  

I am concerned that my sleep is not as good as it was and I can't put my finger on it other than my weight going up.  However, BP has not gone up and I don't feel body fat has gone up, either.  My deep sleep has dropped quite a bit and REM has, as well, though not as bad as my deep sleep.  I wear my FitBit every night to track my sleep, but I also just plain feel more tired, lately.  I have been yawning and stretching a lot more than usual.  I started this week with the plan to be in bed an hour earlier than normal so I will see how that plays out.

I seem to have this bizarre red rash all over my privates and my ass in the latest progress pics.  I can't explain this, either.

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I should note that I am continuing to take my progress pictures right before I Skipload after a week of workouts, so I am not anywhere near as full as I could be if I were to take the pics a couple of days after the Skipload.  I might show the contrast next time I take pictures in 4 weeks, but for now, I want the consistency of taking them at the same time so that I have an accurate measure of how well I am progressing.

I will do another DEXA Scan in another 4 weeks but at least so far, I don't anticipate that my body fat levels will be up very much.

I think most of the added weight in the last 4 weeks is from water weight due to changing my supplementation and from just plain being fuller.  I feel pumped all of the time so the feeling of muscle fullness most of the time right now is a nice side effect.

I am putting up PRs but the progression in strength is not as consistent as it was toward the end of the leaning down phase.  Right now, I seem to be up in strength on some days for random exercises and then when I try to push some of my compound exercises higher with more weight, I am definitely feeling it and not necessarily able to progress in reps from the last time.  Still, GREAT workouts and incredible pumps but the strength progression has slowed down quite a bit and is nowhere near at the same pace it was just over a month ago.

Supplementation has changed this month as I am using a preworkout that is quite "anabolic" and I will evaluate how this works over the next 4 weeks.  It should cause scale weight to go up, but how much, I am unsure.   My goal was to be around 230 at the end of this current 12-week gaining phase and be the same condition.  It is very possible that this will happen but there is still 8 weeks left to see how everything goes.

This month I am still going to push heavy, but I am not as focused on pushing strength even higher as much as I am maintaining this level of strength and using some high-intensity techniques like supersets or drop sets to take intensity higher - at least for this next 4 weeks.

The only nutritional change for this month (next 4 weeks) is that I dropped the intraworkout carbs on Thursdays and Fridays due to not needing them because of not using the SCGS compound.  Plus, the calories don't change because all I did was take the carbs for intraworkout from the postworkout meal.  So, I will just put them right back into the postworkout meal now.

Waist size is the same though I do think I have more distention as the day progresses due to the slightly higher volume of food now than during the leaning down phase. 

Nothing will change with Skiploads, either.  I am still starting on Saturday night and going all day on Sunday.  Only Sunday morning breakfast and Sunday night meals are "heavier" in carbs and fats as the rest of the food is relatively light vs. past years of Skiploading.  I detail my Skiploading in the last couple of coach logs if you are interested.

Growing is boring compared to leaning down but I am enjoying the process because the workouts are fun and challenging and I get to feel big and full most of the time right now.