You're welcome.
I am going to be brief with this coach log and use more of a bullet point approach today.
* Diet changed at 4 weeks and has not changed since. It is now 6 weeks (halfway to the 12-week mark).
*Body fat continues to drop with little to no effort.
* Not one minute of cardio and no plans to do any, either.
*Training remains at 4 days with the same rotation so that what I train on Mondays, I train again on Fridays (though different exercises, same muscle groups). I think the only change to my training schedule is that I am starting to add some work on Saturdays by doing a few muscle groups that I may opt out of during the week. An example would be arms and calves. I would rather workout an extra day and be able to really hit these muscle groups hard, than I would to try to cram them in at the end of a workout when I feel that I am not going to get much out of it. Plus, it's the only day I train early in the afternoon so I ride my motorcycle to the gym and enjoy a different crowd than I am used to. I am also not racing the clock to finish so I enjoy the Saturday workouts.
*Strength continues to climb.
*Only minor aches/pains. I still have a sore right wrist but it is MUCH better than it was 2 weeks ago. If it was an 8 on a 1-10 scale, it is now about a 4. Right shoulder is slightly sore, but this is not training related. I rolled over on it while sleeping - seriously. Left ankle was so sore late last week that I couldn't train calves on leg day. I had to train them a couple days later on a Saturday. This ankle issue has manifested itself before and I can't explain it. It almost feels as if it is sprained. I can usually warm up really good and then it will be fine but until I do, it hurts like a sprain about 3/4 of the way up.
*Skipload did get more aggressive this last Sunday. For the first time in 6 weeks, I had pancakes, a burger, pizza and a pecan pie milkshake. I had not had any of these things for the last 6 weeks. I will report later in the week whether I feel that the change in the Skipload was beneficial or not. I do know that I don't enjoy eating that much food but I admit that I didn't feel any more distended today (same notch on my lifting belt as before the Skipload) than I normally do. I also didn't feel any stronger or more full in the gym today, either. For reference, I ALWAYS feel full and strong on Mondays since starting back so my point is that I didn't feel or see any difference.
*DEXA Scan results: I wish I had done a DEXA at the very start of this 12-week phase but I didn't. I did manage to get one at the 6-week mark and I will do another one at the 12-week mark, for contrast. This DEXA has me at 14.3% and if you know anything about DEXA, they are accurate. This is a "TRUE" body fat measure so I was pretty happy with the number because the pics are going to show clearly that I started 6 weeks ago, fat as hell. It also means that I am likely on track to be around 10% by the time the 12-week phase is up and I shift into the gaining phase for 2019. A true 10% means I will have veins in my legs, no noticeable lower back fat, or fat titties.
I did a lot of these DEXA Scans back when I competed in 2004. I was doing one every month and it was an invaluable tool. Living as an Urbanite now instead of so rurally, I have access to options like this again and I plan to use the DEXA every couple of months for 2019 to gauge my progress. I will be glad to post the scans and keep you all informed if you are interested.
*I will be at Nationals for the first time this weekend because it is basically in my backyard. If you plan to be there and you see me, please say hi.
