Update... Many months later.

Well here's finally an update that has been long overdue. To be honest, I completely forgot about this blog for awhile, until recently. Anyways my cut was fairly successful, I'm down to roughly 175lbs now. From Aug 1 to Dec 1, I went from 206 to 174lbs. I let myself go for awhile over the summer, but finally got it together and had a successful cut. I've been eating at maintenance for awhile, but now I'm starting my cut again. I might go down to 170 or even 165, at least until I see my 2 lower abs.

The diet that really helped me cut down successfully was my own modified version of the Warrior diet. I've basically been lifting in the evening while fasted and then having a huge meal afterwards. That makes it so much easier to hit my macros and caloric goals for that day. So essentially, I'm only have 1 or 2 meals, but within a 2 hour time-frame. It was pretty rough for the first couple of days, but afterwards, everything was smooth sailing. If anyone is having trouble shredding weight, I'd highly suggest it. Here are some current pics at around 175lbs:

I started cutting again about 2 weeks ago, using the same modified warrior diet. I think I have approximately 5-10more lbs to lose until my lower abs will finally show. My lifts have shot up while on the warrior diet as well. It's pretty mindblowing. I went from benching 225 for 4-5 struggling, to hitting it for 12 easily. I also hit a 300lb bench PR @ 174lbs.

Layne Norton's Power + Hypertrophy Split

I've been using a slightly modified version of Layne Norton's split and I've definitely been noticing some results. I've been eating pretty clean and I never go overboard with the cals. 3.5 months in and I've gone from 183lb to 188lb with a noticeable size gain. My upperbody and lowerbody power has shot up as well: 225x4 on bench to 225x8 or 9. 225x3 ATG squats to 275x5 going as low as I possibly can. The only difference between my current split and the normal split (that's posted below) is that on hypertrophy days, I usually do 4-5 sets per exercise since I prefer high volume.

Here's the normal split (taken from http://www.simplyshredded.com/layne-norton-2010-training-series-featuring-paul-revelia.html)

Sunday: Upper Power

    * 5×5 or 3×5 for all lifts(5×5 on bulk cause recovery is better, 3×5 on cut)
    * Barbell Bench Press
    * Barbell Rows
    * Military Press
    * Barbell Shrugs

Monday: Lower Power

    * 5×5 or 3×5 for all lifts(5×5 on bulk cause recovery is better, 3×5 on cut)
    * Back Squat
    * Stiff Leg Deadlift, Or Romanian DL
    * 6-8 sets of Standing Calf, little higher reps, i like to do 6-8 on heavy days

Tues: Off (I usually do some cardio)
Wednesday: Hypertrophy Chest/Arms

(For hypertrophy days I never go to failure, always stop about 2 reps before failure)

    * DB Incline Bech 3×8-12
    * Barbell Close Grip Bench 3×8-12
    * DB Flat Bench 2×8-12
    * Preacher Curls 3×8-12 super setted with
    * Standing French Press 3×8-12
    * Push Downs 3×8-12 super setted with
    * DB Hammer Curls
    * Cable Crossovers 3×8-12
    * Machine Curl 3×8-12 supersetted with
    * Machine Dips 3×8-12

Thursday: Hypertrophy Shoulders/Back/Traps

(For hypertrophy days I never go to failure, always stop about 2 reps before failure)

    * DB Shoulder Press 3×8-12 super setted with
    * DB Front Raise 3×8-12
    * DB One Arm Row 3×8-12 super setted with
    * DB Arnold Press 3×8-12
    * Lat Pull Down (Wide Grip) 2×8-12 super setted with
    * DB Shrugs 2×10-15
    * Lat Pull Down (Close grip, palms facing in) 2×8-12 super setted with
    * DB Upright Row 2×10-15
    * T-bar row 2×8-12 (Usually too tired/dead to do this last exercise, but some times i do it)

Friday: Hypertrophy Legs/Calves

(For hypertrophy days I never go to failure, always stop about 2 reps before failure)

    * Hack Squat 5×8-12 super setted with
    * Standing Calf 5×10-15
    * Leg Extensions 5×10-15 super setted with
    * Sitting Leg Curls 5×10-15 super setted with
    * Sitting Calf Raise 4×8-12

Saturday: Off (cardio if you want)