And Now I Know . . . .

. . . . . . I truly am burned out.

I am still toast after Thursday's workout. Not nearly as sore but just beat up. With that and about 2 weeks of inconsistency, I'm pulling the plug on this cycle. I will still walk in the mornings and do Abs Class 2-3 times a weeek, and I started doing the Elliptical in the afternoons. But no weights. Better to stop, than be stopped.

Did I hit my weightlifting goals? Small "no" but big "yes". Did not test my numbers and with no deload would have not hit them. The one thing I never planned for was a deload leading up to a test week. But looking back, I got stronger and better and more balanced structurally. From April or whenever I first started doing the lift, to December, these were some of the improvements:

1.) Reverse DB Lunges w/Front Foot Elevated: from 50x5 to 100x5
2.) Can now do 1 Clean Pistol, nice and low
3.) Went from not being able to do a pullup to 7 pullups and 1 pullup wearing 32 pounds of body armor.
4.) Hammer ISO High Rows: 90x5x3 to 95x15x3
5.) Hammer ISO Rows (Elbows In): 65x15x3 to 95x15x3
6.) Bulgarian Split Squat w/Front Foot Elevated: 40x5x4 to 110x5x5
7.) Incline Bench Press: 95x10 to 135x13 and from 185 (3rm) to 195x2x12
8.) From Deadlift off 2" Block of 345 to Deadlift off 4" Block of 365.
9.) Smith Machine Box Squat: 285 max to 285x4x6 to 290x2x12
10) Can now barbell curl 115, old PR was 100

And most importantly, I did this while dropping about 32 pounds tops. And I didn't have to diet too hard to do it. As of this morning, I was 209 pounds which was about 3 pounds more than my lowest weight this cycle of 206. I might get close to that before I go home on Monday but even if I don’t, I have come a long way and I get to also walk away with ideas for next year.