A lot of you may wonder why I am dieting so hard right now. I could have easily taken a slow cut, and gradually gotten to dehydration distance of 198, but I am an extremist (obviously) and with advice from some of my trusted friends, I decided to go this route.

I plan to get to sub 210lbs by January 1, and then have a maintenance range of 210-215 to remain withing distance of 198 for the 2018 Kern US Open. This will allow me a few months of solid training at that weight, and not have to worry about dieting or leverage changes going into the competition. This will keep stress to a minimum and allow me to focus on what is the most important thing of prep, the training!

My friend and fellow EliteFTS teammate/coach David Kirschen detailed a similar plan in his article https://www.elitefts.com/education/keeping-my-promise/ in which he details how he went from a sluggish 220/242 to compete at 181 at 40 years old. He has provided some very helpful guidance, and someone to look up to in this new challenge as I know I am not the only one who has done this.

The hardest part is the severity of my diet currently. It is VERY aggressive and I am lucky it has not effected my training sessions an incredible amount. This is likely due to the intelligence of Brandon Senn and the team over at Kabuki Strength Virtual Coaching. Without the use of their velocity based training I'm not sure I would be able to hold myself accountable. https://www.instagram.com/brandon_senn/

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I have the greatest group of individuals around me, and my decision to diet down will most certainly pay off in the future. I am planning to do some big things in the 198lb weight class, but even so, after reaching it the slow build back up will make me a bigger, leaner, and stronger 220 competitor as well. All of this is done with a purpose, and knowing that has helped the restriction very much. I am not doing this for vanity, nor for some ideal body fat %, I am doing this in order to optimize my performance.

This is very much in contrast to my belief that one should get as big and strong as possible while they are able to, but realistically, I do not have much more room to fill out a 5 foot 6 inch frame, and I was honestly too fat to consciously say I had reached my potential. I am very excited for not only this upcoming prep, but the competitions in the future as a more impressive and well rounded 220lb competitor. I wouldn't be able to do these things without the help of my wife, my family and friends, and my teammates.

My bench session was as follows:
CGBP
375x8
355x10
355x10

Duffalo Bench
295x10
295x10
295x10

Dips w/ BW

Rolling DB Triceps Extension
4x12

DB Rear Delt Flys
4x10

Rower High Pulling