Becoming the Iron Lion

[Montego]

Still fat but, we getting better

 

[Montego]

Last couple sessions.

Knees were achey on leg day so we did damage to the hams.

Push today was good. Added my intensity stuff back in so lost some strength later in the session.

 

[Killionb12]

Still fat but, we getting better

Looking good! That back is looking much improved!


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[Montego]

Looking good! That back is looking much improved!


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Thanks!

It better be better lol. I crushed the fuck out of it all year last year and this one

 

[Montego]

The best of the best.

 

[Montego]

Last couple sessions.

Prep is definitely starting to hit me a bit. I've been very low carb this entire week but hit another new low this morning at 242 from 242.8.

Pull day was great, didn't feel any real decrease in energy or strength, got better, but, I rested yesterday instead of training legs and waited until today to train them.

Knees have been feeling it for the last 2 weeks but not a pain from injury, it's just from getting leaner and I guess tendinitis.

I pulled back the weight on my big movement top set again like I did last leg day on the Pendulum. I HATE pulling weight off the bar but when it gets to the point where my joints hurt this bad I don't have an option since the reps would be shit anyways.

I crushed hamstrings extra hard again, pulled a set from the RDL's though for recovery sake and Subbed lying leg curl for the seated I had been doing minus a cluster set. I'll be able to load the lying machine more since I maxed out the seated one.

Everything is going well. Pretty much where I thought I should be at this point, and now I get into the mind fuck timeline where my lower back looks fat af from the loose skin.

 

[Montego]

Push today.

Fuuuuuck I'm flat. Had a pump for like 3 sets then the rest of the session was pancake city.

I'm still stronger than the previous session but, it's starting to slow and fatigue is getting there hard.

So, tonight, I have 250g of cooked rice with 2 meals instead of 150. Cheat meal.... Yay. I'll see what the weight does in the morning

 

[Montego]

No training today and no work.

Update on the extra carbs last night, weight went to 244, 2lbs up or something? Not what I expected with only 200g added total. I've lost all track of weights at this point though unless I'm hitting a new low.

So a semi rest day, just staying active.

40 minutes of fasted cardio after a cup of coffee.

Cleaned and vacuumed the wife's car.

Raked and bagged leaves in the back yard since it hasn't rained in forever and everything is dead at this point.

Cooked chicken enchiladas for the family, waiting on those to get done.

Other regular house work I do when I'm off to help my love, laundry, dishes, sweep, vacuum and so on.

Today's diet was minimal carbs -

Meal 1 -
16oz egg whites

Meal 2 -
250g chicken breast
100g cooked rice
1c baby Spring mix

Meal 3 -
50g protein from Whey
1 packet no sugar added oats

Meal 4 -
220g 90/10 beef
2c baby Spring mix
60g beets
40g no sugar bread and butter pickles
60g light ranch (yeah I weight that too)

Meal 5 will be similar to meal 4 but no beets and I'll add 25g protein from Whey......


So 60g of carbs from carb sources? Something in that area. Doesn't matter, what does matter is this fucking fat coming off.

I've still got options though. Cardio is very low intensity so that can be adjusted. I'm using a whopping 40mcg of clen for the last 12 days I think, that can go to 60 if I need. No t3, won't add that unless my labs are fucked when I get them pulled soon, I have been on 150mcg of synthroid for years and it keeps me in good range.

I haven't pulled the old shit load trick out of the bag yet, that's a very good option but, my training seems to suffer a lot when I get a few days back into the very low carb stuff. I have preferred more even carbs through the week and a bump on training days but, the loading definitely works well.

People think coaching is hard, it's NOWHERE near as hard as making your own judgment calls for yourself imo. I'm learning what I already knew though..... Keep crushing myself with low food and it's not gonna work..... I'm hard headed though

 

[Montego]

Oh here's back progress pics. From the start of my growing phase a few weeks post show to today. It worked.

 

[Jbswole40]

No training today and no work.

Update on the extra carbs last night, weight went to 244, 2lbs up or something? Not what I expected with only 200g added total. I've lost all track of weights at this point though unless I'm hitting a new low.

So a semi rest day, just staying active.

40 minutes of fasted cardio after a cup of coffee.

Cleaned and vacuumed the wife's car.

Raked and bagged leaves in the back yard since it hasn't rained in forever and everything is dead at this point.

Cooked chicken enchiladas for the family, waiting on those to get done.

Other regular house work I do when I'm off to help my love, laundry, dishes, sweep, vacuum and so on.

Today's diet was minimal carbs -

Meal 1 -
16oz egg whites

Meal 2 -
250g chicken breast
100g cooked rice
1c baby Spring mix

Meal 3 -
50g protein from Whey
1 packet no sugar added oats

Meal 4 -
220g 90/10 beef
2c baby Spring mix
60g beets
40g no sugar bread and butter pickles
60g light ranch (yeah I weight that too)

Meal 5 will be similar to meal 4 but no beets and I'll add 25g protein from Whey......


So 60g of carbs from carb sources? Something in that area. Doesn't matter, what does matter is this fucking fat coming off.

I've still got options though. Cardio is very low intensity so that can be adjusted. I'm using a whopping 40mcg of clen for the last 12 days I think, that can go to 60 if I need. No t3, won't add that unless my labs are fucked when I get them pulled soon, I have been on 150mcg of synthroid for years and it keeps me in good range.

I haven't pulled the old shit load trick out of the bag yet, that's a very good option but, my training seems to suffer a lot when I get a few days back into the very low carb stuff. I have preferred more even carbs through the week and a bump on training days but, the loading definitely works well.

People think coaching is hard, it's NOWHERE near as hard as making your own judgment calls for yourself imo. I'm learning what I already knew though..... Keep crushing myself with low food and it's not gonna work..... I'm hard headed though

Nice update bro.very thorough. Enjoy the log

 

[Killionb12]

Oh here's back progress pics. From the start of my growing phase a few weeks post show to today. It worked.

Back grew a bunch! Nice work coach!


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[cdubw44]

Oh here's back progress pics. From the start of my growing phase a few weeks post show to today. It worked.

Look at those 4 boulder size lumps at the top. Freaking impressive

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[Montego]

FINALLY got in for some tissue work. Only on the left leg for now though to try and fix the knee.

Good thing is my guy doesn't believe it to be a tendon or ligament tear. He says it is chondromalacia. That's where the soft tissue in the knee rubs on bone or together which causes irritation and inflammation. It's fixable which is key but it's not over night. Essentially, as I expected, hip mobility, tight quads and hamstrings and training like a maniac has caused it.

He did some grasting, cupping, lots of stretching, electro stim. Also gave me a good list of stuff I will do daily to help get it going.

 

[Montego]

It's getting serious over here...... That's about fuck all for carbs and it's a third of my daily total on training days atm.

 

[Montego]

Well, weight hit a new low again.

241 this morning but I look like hell. I pulled back on training this week as well as cardio.

Leg day was just extensions and curls and some other hip hinge stuff since I wanted to make the most of the pt session. The next morning my left quad was separated EVERYWHERE so it definitely got unbound from the cupping and tissue work.

Push yesterday was uneventful, put in all new exercises besides the Pec deck to give the movement patterns a little break.

Pull today was 5 exercises, an upper/mid back bias row, the prime grip t bar row, upper back DB row with my head on a bench, strive curl and DB curl.

Cardio had been 30 minutes instead of 40.

Just giving the body a tiny break this week.

Tonight I'm going to load hard and see how the week goes. I'll have home made burgers and sweet potato fries.

I'm so flat right now I look like a fat shit so I'll get a better idea on my real condition the day after tomorrow.

I've also backed myself into a corner with show timing, the next show I could go to is too close and then the one after that is too far and I've been on a good amount of time already. I might have to pull back and restart but, I still need to get it figured out. This is the downfall of my work, I can't just jump in right now so it's gotta be nailed.

 

[Montego]

After a big load last night. Legs woke up.

 

[Montego]

Today's work.

Did some different stuff, Adductors had 5 second stretches so the load was cut a ton, I also super setted these with abductors since this is part of my rehab for the knee.

Gym got a new power squat machine. Old chain drive machine that's as smooth as fucking butter and didn't anger the knees at all! 5 plates a side, it'll hold 6,for a top set of 21. I'll Max this in weight and get 15 probably with a nice slow tempo but, I can figure out a way to band it for the future.

Followed by the belt squat, fucking things so heavy, rdls and extensions.

I never do extensions, like ever but a couple weeks back I put some in and, even though my knee fucking hates it, I can use a very light weight and feel the rectus femoris all the way into the hip. Very light, like 50-70lbs but extremely slow eccentrics, 3 count holds and tight tight concentric.

Gym also got a Nordic curl set up I played with for some ghr, and I guess I can make it a reverse hyper but, I didn't try to get that far into tinkering.

 

[Montego]

Well, things escalated quickly over here.

Woke up this morning back to my previous low. Abs were completely dug out in a way I haven't seen this prep and only at the end of last prep.

The lower back fat is starting to fade and I'm maybe a week or 2 away from what I looked like before I dropped water last show. I never get tight tight like you see guys get because of my shitty skin but, when the water is sucked out it tightens up a good bit.

May start looking..... May try a test run. May just keep hammering myself to see if I can get skinless without dropping under the 230 mark. 242 today.

 

[Montego]

Push day.

We're dragging ass getting to the gym but we're going full send on every set. Sticking with a top set and a backoff right now when I'm not full of food which is very rare. Keeping up the strength and holding onto the size best way I know how.

Carbs are non existent atm. 100g on training days and 50ish on non training days. Pushing but the brain fog is starting to set in and if you read the last few weeks of my log, my head is all over the place..... Good one day, bad the next. Not having someone there to just plan for me has been as difficult as I had expected it to be and the constant wavering has been mentally exhausting.

Today was fine until I posed after training and my bad leg looked like a toothpick.... I'm sure it's ok since I'm just so fucking flat but , as good as I felt yesterday, I feel as shit today.

We keep going or we just fucking break at this point, no other options.

 

[Montego]

Pull today.

Good session but as the trend has been, pretty drained. Weights held but I lost a rep or two here and there.

Pushing on. Rest tomorrow with physical therapy on the leg then legs Friday which should be interesting to say the least.

 

[Killionb12]

Pull today.

Good session but as the trend has been, pretty drained. Weights held but I lost a rep or two here and there.

Pushing on. Rest tomorrow with physical therapy on the leg then legs Friday which should be interesting to say the least.

Keep pushing brother! Don’t know how you coach yourself. I couldn’t do it. Glad I have you!


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[Montego]

Rest day

Went to the pt for therapy.

He worked on my ankle mobility first with some chiropractor work and adjustments that were loud af.

Did some dry needling in the bad leg, especially the outer sweep and bent about 3 needles. That's partly from scar tissue build up from injections but, it's also because everything is just so fucking tight and bound up. Bending a dry needle is no small feat so bending 3 is a bad sign lol.

After he turned me into a pin cushion he hooked up the electro stim to a few spots to help loosen everything up more and, while he did that, he needled around and under the knee cap and the tendon, fuck me was that painful. He told me it would be painful and said let him know when it hurt but I didn't expect it to be like that. After the initial shock it wasn't as bad but, still unpleasant.

After electro stim he worked out the quad and IT band a good bit by hand which hurt but, I felt a ton of relief.

Then, he hooked up these neat little occlusion bands around my quad that are Bluetooth so you can adjust the pressure from your phone. Cool shit but they barely fit my tiny quad and popped off once. We did some stability work with weighted step downs and static stance stuff tossing a weighted ball and catching it.

Really good session and I can tell a huge difference in the knee immediately after he works on the leg and the day after so it'll just take time.

 

[Montego]

Legs today.

Getting in work while trying to not undo all the progress made on the knee. Pause reps and static holds and slow negatives and all that.

Did super sets today with biceps thrown in to keep the heart up. At this point I can't load the quad enough to matter so gotta use other avenue to hold onto what I've got.

Reverse hypers ss DB curls 3 sets of each to failure

Lying hamstring curls ss DB curls 3 sets of each to failure

Leg press low close ss walking lunges 3 sets to failure, 20 reps each leg

Squat machine as Calf Raise 4 sets to failure

Adductors ss ez bar curl 3 sets to failure

Not great but it should suffice. The quads are in, I just gotta hold onto them for a few more weeks while I try to tighten up the lower back some more.

If the left knee gets worse or the left quad starts to atrophy , I will abandon this prep. Not going to embarrass myself due to injury.

 

[REHH]

Lifting heavy for many years does a ton of damage, I’ve had one knee surgery and now need the other done. Also my shoulders are about shot now too.

 

[Montego]

Some news.

I'm starting to send some update pics to @Killionb12 for a second eye.

New low today 240.4 which is down a lb from 6 days ago. Tighter then last week. Holding my shit together.

Push yesterday, strength was down but it was a good session.

This has been much much harder then anticipated. I can easily follow a plan, never an issue and, I know what I need to do diet, training and cardio wise, I just can't see myself correctly and I'm always unsure. Killonb12 has said I'm on track and I trust him so we keep going.

 

[Pete44]

Following for sure

 

[Montego]

Fish time

Tilapia
Chopped fresh mushrooms, parsley, onion, garlic, green onion

Blackened seasoning
Cinnamon
Lots of sea salt

I'll douse it with lemon juice as well

 

[Montego]

Finally a day of rest!

No work, no gym.

Worked with Sam yesterday through his show, very simple on my part really when your guy is dialed in and ask the variables are figured out. He killed it, and took home a bunch of hardware so hats off to him and his hard work.

Trained push in the morning as I mentioned. Went well.

Did client work in the morning as well between his updates then went to a wedding, they had a giant buffet with bbq and burgers and fries and fuck me, I ate chicken and spinach I packed.

After the wedding I finished up client programs and did cardio before bed.

Today was 45 minutes of fasted cardio in the morning and mostly chill. Coming some food for a few days and doing laundry as my Sunday tradition is.

Gonna make dinner for the family shortly and then tomorrow morning more fasted cardio, pull then back to work.

 

[Killionb12]

Fish time

Tilapia
Chopped fresh mushrooms, parsley, onion, garlic, green onion

Blackened seasoning
Cinnamon
Lots of sea salt

I'll douse it with lemon juice as well

Actually looks good! Haven’t had fish in a long time.


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[REHH]

Great job on the log and prep.

You going for your pro card this time?