Becoming an Athlete

Yeah, that's a little bold and misleading.  I certainly didn't attend a Soviet or North Korean style re-education camp, but the impact has reached just as deep into my subconscious and changed me I feel like a different man; a better man.  Its a damn shame that my marriage had to end, but had it not, I'm not sure I'd be here today.  I'm at my 12% bodyfat goal, but that is not what is different.  Reaching the goal is simply an effect of me becoming something more. I have been self-disciplined for several months and it is automatic now.  Budgeting my time, energy, and finances is automatic.  I know what needs to be done every day and I do it.  I know what needs to be killed every day and I KILL IT!!!! My knee is still on the road to full strength, but following the Stack-10 plan, plus adding gobs of accessory work is paying off.  My overall conditioning and definition are on par with where I was when competing in MMA, but with a much higher level of muscle mass.

I stopped tracking bodyfat and weight.  My stomach keeps getting smaller, my weight has stabalized, my endurance is going up, my strength is going up, but most of all my work capacity has skyrocketed. I worked up another 10 pounds on squats, then killed it on other stuff. squats:  45x10; 65x10; 95x10; 115x10; 135x10; 155x10; 175x10; 185x5 Superset: a. Step-ups:  5 sets of 15 per leg b. 50lb Kettlebell swing:  10, 15, 20, 10, 15 hack squat drop-set:  240x6 - 190x6 - 140x6 - 90x6

I've been doing plenty of rehab and conditioning work, but I just started truly squatting on Monday, 9 DEC.  My knee is still the weak link.  I've recovered well from surgery, but the degradation to strength has been severe. One thing I did to make it more time efficient is to add 30 reps of calves raises from the floor (just bodyweight) between every set of every exercise.  My calves feel it today. Good old barbell back squats:  45x10; 65x10; 95x10; 115x10; 135x10; 155x10; 175x10, 8 hack squat machine: 50x10; 90x10; 110x10 single-leg extension: 20x20; 25x20; 30x15; 35x15; 40x10; 45x10; 50x10