Uhm, whoops. Did a full Total Anabolism 3.1 HIT workout last night ("Wednesday") and when I was done, I just happened to scroll to the top of the Excel worksheet on my Blackberry. It then promptly informed me that I was on a "Wednesday" for HIT Mass cycle (good) and that it was now the end of Week 10 (doh!).
Normally, Mark structures the Total Anabolism workouts to last 10 weeks. Among other things, this helps to ensure that you don't get bored so that you're lifting intensely and in a positive mindset. I'm going to add on 2 weeks just because I don't want to switch up the content that the contest winners do. Mentally, it just seems easier to me to not switch cycles until after the contest is done at the end of the month.
Speaking of next cycle, here are some exercises I can't wait for: kneeling cable crunches, standing calf raises, incline dumbell press, incline dumbell curls! You might think, "Why doesn't he just start with some now?"
The answer to that question is because I like to keep it simple. I only do the work prescribed in the routine, except on HIT Consolidation days where if I have lots of kick left I'll target some isolations in areas where I want to develop more. I started that test with my calves, and lately I've targeted my chest, biceps and triceps. All seem to have responded well and it hasn't affected my progression in any measureable way negatively.
But, back on topic (finally). You should always pay attention to what's going on with your training, literally and metaphorically speaking. Had I been paying more attention to the column headers, I would have realized earlier on that this was my last HIT week. You might argue that a Blackberry isn't the easiest thing to manage a well laid-out Excel sheet with. It works just fine. I just wasn't paying attention.
This almost seems like a silly topic to write, but the underlying message is important - pay attentiont to what's in front of you, to the task at hand and to your goals - both short- and long-term!
Have a great weekend!
