Well, I went as far as I could go and figured I would need to cruise 3 weeks ago but held out because I felt great. Even this last week I felt great, putting up numbers I haven't put up in quite a while but by the time the last workout of the week rolled around, all the signs were there and it was obvious that I need to cruise this week.
I plan to only do 3 workouts this week and they will be brief, relatively light and quick. I will get a pump and get the hell out of the gym so that the following week I can come back blasting hard and hit some PRs. I never take it easy the week after a lighter week (or cruise week), opting instead to take advantage of the fact that energy reserves are high, I am recovered and my psyche is ready to rip the shit out of the weights. That is prime time for PRs.
The week I come back to blasting I also plan to start doing short vids of working sets, too. These will be different from the exercise video series I will start in a few weeks where I break down a specific exercise and show how to make it more efficient with specific angles, grips, technique, etc.. These vids of working sets will simply be snippets of sets that I am doing in my workouts this off seson for the Until I Collapse DVD coming out in 2016. I am confident that you will see some exercises, or variations of some exercises, that you likely haven't seen or at least haven't done before. I will post the vids in my coaching logs but also on IG and FB, as well.
My diet changed last week so that I am taking in more carbs than I have taken in in a long time. I was only taking in carbs for 3 meals and intraworkout before the change and the amount of carbs was relatively low or low to moderate. After this last change, my carbs are almost doubled and are in 4 meals plus intraworkout and yet my body weight hasn't moved, yet. I am quite a bit fuller which is nice but it is odd that my weight isn't up yet.
I will hear about my blood work results (6 weeks into my off season) tomorrow so I plan to most the results in a couple of days. I anticipate that they won't be out of range but will be elevated from what they were 6 weeks ago. How much? I will find out tomorrow. My BP is up some but that is to be expected considering my weight is up roughly 17 pounds in about 6 or 7 weeks. As my body gets accustomed to the added weight, the BP usually drops some over the next handful of weeks.
I am looking forward to this next blast as it has only been 7 weeks so far and my progress has been pretty good - no complaints at this point other than I am not as lean as I prefer but ... it is a necessary evil if I want a good, solid off season of growth.