ATHLETE SUMMARY:
PERSONAL THOUGHTS:
*My usual check in day is Monday but checking in a few days late since I couldn’t pose properly with lower back injury
Had some lower GI bloating this AM when taking progress pics. Just like last week and the few days prior to taking these it feels very hard to contract and squeeze my muscles when getting in to my poses. I tweaked my back last week Tuesday when going too deep on leg press. This lower back issue is nothing new and something I’ve been dealing with for years now. Every now and again I’ll tweak it and it will put me out for about a week. I was able to work around it by adjusting my cardio and training, but this past week was a difficult one. Going to the chiropractor and having rehab work done has helped with the lower back but it’s just one of those things that needs some time before I feel 100%.
Since I wasn’t able to get in my normal step count of 11,000 I opted for the Stairmaster as my main source of cardio. Since I can stay in a fixed position it feels the best on my lower back. Training adjustments were made as to not make back worse. I was only able to do Isolation movements from Wed-Sun, by Mon back seemed well enough to jump back on my normal training plan with the exception of RDL. I thought it best to stay away from those to be safe.
Overall not a great week physically or mentally. If I’m being honest there were more times than not that I thought about stopping prep.
DIET FEEDBACK:
Adjusted diet on training days with the exception of pre-workout meal since I couldn’t train or do cardio like normal. Calorie expenditure was down so it made sense to drop food back as well. Off day diet stayed the same. Hunger has been higher but still manageable. Since activity level dropped this week I had more GI bloating. I think staying active, especially after meals, keeps everything moving and GI more normal.
TRAINING FEEDBACK:
My last solid training day was on Tuesday, this was a great workout, strength was up. Unfortunately, on my last set of Cybex leg press, I went too low and tweaked my back. The rest of the week training had to be adjusted to accommodate for this. I could basically only do Isolation movements with a much lighter load than normal. I was able to do back supported squats like Arsenal and Hack but load was limited and I stuck with a higher rep range. The following week, Monday, my back felt well enough to resume my normal training plan with the exception of RDL.
COACHING SUMMARY:
EVALUATION:
Renee’s back injury was a slight set back, but she still made body fat reduction progress. It did serve as a deload somewhat and having to dial back training. In retrospect, we should have deloaded training earlier on, but her progressions and training fatigue have been managed very well.
Hitting a body weight low the high carb day to bring some life back and psychological break from the mental challenges of this past week. I don’t need to make any diet adjustments as she is pulling down at a great pace and is right on track.
We did get back her lab work and for the most part all is on point:
Labs: Chol 205; HDL 63; LDL 126; CK 1051; freeT3 1.8, freeT4 1.3, TSH 1.93, E2 50.6; testosterone 92; Progesterone 1.31; LH 4.7; FSH 5.1; DHEA-S 189.
Genetically I have consistently seen a slight elevation in her LDL despite dietary interventions, however her HDL is great, so the ratio is overall cardioprotective. Estrogen and testosterone are in a great spot for prep as well. DHEA-S is starting to lower which makes sense from a stress and adrenal function standpoint. We also see T3 has very low and thyroid function has declined. Main things is to add in Thyroid hormone as T3 to support metabolic function. She already has DHEA on board, so we can also support overall stress support with 700mg of Ashwagandha per day.
ACTION PLAN:
Diet: High day provided last week, hold current diet same
Cardio/NEAT: increased back to baseline post back injury
PEDs: Add 25mcg of T3 first thing AM
Training: cardio same, training back to baseline
Supplements: Remove Plant Sterols, add 700mg Ashwagandha
CURRENT WEIGHT: 134.8
LAST WEEK WEIGHT: 136.4
CARDIO:
7 days per week
Stairmaster (Level 7 x25 mins + 15 mins Treadmill 2% 3.0 Pace)
STEP COUNT: 13214
TRAINING SPLIT:
- Lower
- off
- Lower
- off
- Lower
- off
- REPEAT
PEDS :
- TRT 4mg E4D
- NPP 4mg E4D
- Arimidex 0.5mg E3D
- GH 1.6IU fasted AM
- Yohimbine HCl 7.5mg fasted AM
- Caffeine 100mg fasted AM
- Metformin 500mg w/ last meal
- Progesterone 100mg ED, 150mg day 14-28 of cycle
- Clenbuterol 20mcg first thing AM ED
- T3 25mcg first thing AM
FLUID INTAKE: 2 GALLONS
SODIUM: 1/4 teaspoon salt all meals
TRAINING DAY DIET:
MACROS: 134c/152p/26f
High day: 215c/150p/30f
OFF DAY DIET
MACROS: 55c/158p/42f
