Day 10

Routine today: 5 sets of 5 reps of deadlifts at 110 lbs. Fairly easy, but I really got a burn in my legs as they are still pretty solid from this weekend’s hike, Monday’s front squats, and stationary biking everyday. However, I felt minimal stress in the rest of my body, which means I should increase the weight significantly next time to better work my core and my back.

I am trying to be a lot more conscious in the food I am eating, focusing on not consuming more than is necessary to satisfy me. I don’t have a particular need to lose weight, but I realize that I have been in the habit of eating to finish my meal (even when my meals are really small). This is not optimal from a nutritional standpoint, it also makes my grocery bill higher than necessary. I am hoping that cutting back on the calories I consume will help me lose some fat and increase my energy levels. As I mentioned above I am not concerned about weight since my weight is healthy and also because I will probably gain muscle (higher density than fat) to replace some of the fat I lose. Thus if I concentrated on just losing weight I would probably become discouraged.

I can feel a definite disproportionate muscle development in my quadriceps and hamstrings versus the rest of my body. I am considering doing something like a set of maximal reps pull-ups on a daily basis to counteract this. The pull-up is probably my favorite upper body exercise since it works your biceps, chest, and of course back. It also works your core muscles and helps you develop your ability to stabilize your body during lifting (if you do your pull-ups correctly).

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