This is the halfway week of JTF’s Mount Crushmore, y’all! It’s flying by and I still have so much to share!

I’m writing this on a Monday morning with arms and shoulders that are in permanent “typing” position — not because I am just SO HYPED about writing this post but because it’s nearly all I can do with my arms at this point.

If you follow me on Instagram you’ll know that I posted my 5/3/1 workout on Saturday that consisted of a 5/3/1 on squats, 5 x 10 on deadlifts and then a wild superset of 3 x 5 pull-ups with 3 x 10 push-ups. That was enough, honestly.

But then I did my MMA class on Sunday. I had a battle rope out from my 10am PT session and figured I’d leave it out just in case my class was small. What ended up happening was I had a near-capacity class that was curious about what’s up with the rope. I was basically forced to use it at that point. Our first 15 minutes was split between proper warmup, stretching and core work. We did the standard eight-round format for our class but then the last 15 minutes was spent doing a wild-ass circuit that I made up on the fly.

There were five stations, each station had two exercises. I paired my members up with a buddy and assigned them a station where Person 1 would do Exercise 1 and Person 2 would do Exercise 2 for one minute. After a minute, no breaks, just switch exercises. After another minute, they had 30 seconds to move to the next station.

What were the stations? I’m glad you asked.

Station	Exercise 1	Exercise 2
1	shadowboxing with 2.5-8 pound weights	alternating shoulder press with 2.5-8 pound weights
2	overhead tricep extension with medicine ball	speed bag
3	elbow plank	push-up plank
4	jumping jacks	jumping jacks with battle rope
5	chest press with 25/50 pound ground bag	rows with 25/50 pound ground bag

Sounds pretty rough, yeah?

Well, I know it was because after I had decided to pair my people up I realized that I had an odd number, therefore I had to be someone’s partner. Let me just say that there’s a reason I call my people the Firefly Freakshow because these people are absolute monsters. That circuit took us through an excruciating 12.5 minutes and my arms/shoulders are absolutely dead from it. I give props to my little freaks — they’re absolute killers in the gym and in life!

Anyway. On with the show.

Weekly Weigh-In: 222.1 Pounds (Goal: 210 Pounds*; 0.2 Pounds Gained)

*I’d like to take this time to say that I’m going to continue posting my weight with the initial weight goal but the goal, itself, wasn’t a good one. My intention is to drop my body fat and, as you’ve seen, I’m doing that. I’m looking forward to making a point on this next Monday so brace yourselves.

This Week’s Calorie Requirements and Macros:

I realize this needs to be updated a little. Going to be making a new meal plan for next week so I’ll adjust then. It’s still not a big enough difference to matter, honestly.

Calories:	3,000
Protein:	219 grams; 876 calories
Fat:	88 grams; 792 calories
Carbs:	334 grams; 1,336 calories

This Week’s Meal Plan

I’ll be following this meal plan with no changes. Again, look for a new plan starting next week!

This Week’s Workout Plan

This week starts another de-load week where I’ll still be benching, squatting and deadlifting only I’ll be doing so with a much lighter weight. I also hope to squeeze in a dedicated arms day because it’s tank top season.

• Monday: 5:45am — Boxing 60
• Tuesday: De-load: Deadlifts, Bench Press
• Wednesday: 5:45am — Boxing 60; 7:00pm MMA 60
• Thursday: 7:45pm — Boxing 45
• Friday:5:45am — Boxing 60
• Saturday: De-load: Squats, Pull-Ups, Push-Ups
• Sunday: 11:30am — MMA 60

Anything Else?

Yep.

On Saturday, May 4, we celebrated the nuptials of our owners Jesse and Lauren! Those two freaks have done amazing things for our club and we’ll only continue to grow under their leadership. Be prepared to hear about a lot of rad things coming down the pike now that they’ve made it official and have a fresh focus on making big things happen!

Also, I’m going to start detailing my workout plan on Thursday — brace yourselves for gains.

Ask questions if you have them.

Hire me as your personal trainer if you want one.

Otherwise.

Ever onward, fellow Heathens.