Really great and brutal Leg session today. Hit failure on squat twice today. Was not quite able to accomplish 300 for 3x10, which was my goal, but I believe this actually is a Tonnage PR for me. I started using a belt this week for squats which feels great, because it gives me some of that extra bracing and confidence in the bottom of the squat that I felt I felt when I was 16 pounds heavier and my waist was several inches bigger. I’m glad that it’s a tool that I’ve waited to use though. Going to rest from the gym for a couple of days to coincide with my wife’s days off. I left some notes in the log today that really reflect how I felt about some of the lifts, especially the way my hamstrings felt after those leg curls with 45 second rest periods! Excited for those Pump sessions in a few days!!
Really fantastic and quick lift today. Got in. Punished my pull muscles, obliterated my abs and it only took about 45 minutes. Hyped for a nice little push session tomorrow. Hope everyone had a great day!
Did Banded Bench for the first time today! I really liked it! I could’ve gone a good bit heavier, but it was basically my warm-up exercise so I’m not going to sweat that. I’ll keep it in mind for next time though. The different strength curve was kind of fun to learn and feel. Another thought is to use the same weight and use a thicker band next time. I think I’ll try the green bands next! So glad my wife got me the Mountain Dog band pack from EFS a few years ago, they’ve been absolutely tremendous and have been perfect for this program. I don’t think I could do a Mountain Dog program without the versatility that these bands provide for me!
The session was great today and I’m really loving the floor presses! My triceps were so burned up by the end, it was everything I had to lock out those last few reps! Most every exercise has me within a rep or so of failure by the last set, so I am doing a pretty good job picking my weights. I’m amazed to be recovering and flourishing so well with this program despite being down over 17 pounds in the 6 weeks since I’ve started it. I think I really have to chalk it up to my thorough approach to peri workout nutrition/supplementation, smart programming and exercise selection by the Mountain Dog and some good old auto-regulation dictated by years of experience on my part. At a certain point, I think the path to success is instinctual and the decisions you make even without consciously thinking about them are what lead to your greatest successes.
Got back to Grappling today for the first time in a month since I contracted staph. Went great! It was really awesome getting back on the mats! Only tough part was that I decided to go last second and only had 45 minutes between my lift and the Grappling session! Had to run home, eat my Cinnamon Toast Crunch and Protein Shake, Change into my rash guard and get back out there! Definitely had a great lift as well. Felt good to go so hard when I knew that the next two days will be rest days.
Going to go lift in the next hour or so but I did spoil myself with the Mountain Dog Memorial Day Sale and picked up a few programs I’ve been wanting for a while! Grabbed High Evolutionary, Odin Force and the Gamma Bomb!
I love the way John programs and the detail and information he includes. I had been a big follower of his YouTube channel since I was was a teenager and read his book two years ago, so it’s been kind of a long time coming that I would dive deep into his actual programs. @TrainForPain was definitely a big inspiration for this. Basically the Scott Steiner of T-Nation in terms of arm development! Looking forward to an epic Push workout today that I will share with you guys in a little bit!
Those are all awesome ones!
If I may, I’d go in this order:
- Odin Force
- High Evolutionary
- Gamma Bomb
In fact, tag me and I just may join you (so my feelings can get hurt when you’re 50 lbs stronger than me on everything). It’s time for me to actually do a program again - it’s legit the only way I improve.
I’ve definitely found a sweet spot combining this training with some of @T3hPwnisher’s conditioning “snacks” or whatever he calls them - basically throwing 5-10 minutes of unplanned suffering into the day whenever (usually when I start getting annoyed at work). I haven’t totally nailed a sustainable way of eating, but I’m playing with some things and I’m thinking I’ll have some strong thoughts by end of summer.
Ok heck yeah man! Sounds like a plan!! It’ll be super fun to run these alongside somebody! That will definitely keep motivation Super high! Thanks for letting me know! I’m on Week 7 of Creeping Death II, so there’s 5 weeks left. If you want to start sooner than that, I’ll start Odin Force early! Just let me know
I don’t want to mess you up, man! Keep crushing what you’re doing. I’m still on the road until June 19 anyway
Ok sounds perfect man, sounds like it’ll work out perfectly Time-wise! I’ll tag you once we’re close!
My cut has been seemingly in over drive the past week or so, it’s like the fat has been falling off me. Not sure if I’ll be back to massing, still cutting or just at maintenance by the time we start but I’ll be giving 1000% effort regardless!
Sounds awesome. Maybe we can convince some others to jump in, but everybody is off doing the JP stuff that’s too hard on my old joints these days.
I won’t be pure cutting or gaining. I’m 41 and as large as I ever want to be, nor do I really want to commit to what it’s taken to get really lean in the past. I’m trying to find a baseline, with which I truly struggle (come at me, grammar).
I’ll stop clogging your log up for now, but I’ll outline some general thoughts as we get close. I’m excited! You’re a massive and strong dude, so this will be fun for me.
Sounds good man!! You’ve got me excited for a big summer of gains!
I had the best Push workout in a while today!! After taking 3 weeks off from Incline Benching, I smashed a massive PR!! The 275 that was too aggressive a weight before was PERFECT today! I was dialed in, focused and excited. The energy and mindset were right for a perfect day in the gym. The two rest days in a row were Undoubtedly a major factor going into this session. John Meadows’ Granite Stim-Free Pre and Recovery formula get huge thumbs up from me as well!
If you were to just read the internet, you’d almost think that it were impossible to smash Training and make progress while cutting in a fairly aggressive deficit. This has certainly not been my experience thus far, I’ve been feeling great and training has been phenomenal. I think getting adequate sleep every night and nailing peri workout nutrition has been vital in making this work.
I wish I knew what variables resulted in me getting good sleep, but I’m 100% with you on peri workout making a huge difference when cutting. As an added benefit, it makes you excited to work out because it’s the one fed time of your day vs dreading it because you’re dragging ass.
That is so extremely accurate. Going into the workout feeling fed and energetic makes such a massive difference. I’m usually pretty exhausted and hungry a few hours later, but as long as I had a good dinner, I find that exhaustion leading to some super fulfilling sleep. I’m a big caffeine guy too, I think my tolerance is pretty high though because I still pass out pretty much right after my head hits the pillow. I’m trying to scale back on the caffeine a bit though for heart health and hopefully even better sleep.
Had an extremely brutal 2 hours at an open mat today. 2nd session back to grappling and I was really feeling exhausted. The conditioning you get from lifting hard and vest walking just simply can not compare to the conditioning of wrestling/grappling/jiu jitsu. I had to show up though and show these Canadians what Oklahoma wrestling is all about lol!
Really was not planning on lifting today after that, but I was thinking about the thread from BSL today where somebody was asking about lifting and having a social life. I thought about the words I shared about falling in love with Bodybuilding to get the results you want, and RT Nomad talking about getting addicted to it… I thought that if I’m going to talk a big game like that, I better as hell back it up. So I hit legs today-and I hit them damn hard. I definitely underestimated how hard 265 for 3x12 was going to be as well as how much easier I’d gas out after 2 hours of intense grappling. My heart rate during this lift was continually elevated to 145-170 bpm for pretty much the duration. Quad pump was astounding after squats and then right into the barbell hack squats.
As an aside,I really believe sipping on the Surge during the grappling and then the Granite Recovery formula during the lifting greatly helped give me the energy to not only survive, but to thrive today.
I need to spend the next couple weeks maybe getting back into shape. We’re kicking off Odin Force fourth of July week by my math?
Yes sir! Your math is spot on! I just looked at the calendar and confirmed it! July 3rd looking like a good official start day!
Fairly easy session today with a few brutally tough final sets. Took the last set on every exercise to failure. Really was no issue since this exercise selection wasn’t too taxing. I’ve got Grappling in two hours, so this was exactly what I needed. About to crush a slice of pineapple upside down cake and a protein shake as my post workout meal. Then Costco dogs with black beans and salsa on the side for dinner!
Got this lift in RIGHT before going to grapple today. I’m definitely feeling beat up today. Ready to get the heavy pull session done tomorrow and rest up over the weekend! The more hardcore I go into the Grappling world, the more I realize how much I prefer Bodybuilding training than I do balls to the wall competitive jiu jitsu! I’d 1000% rather train to be Mr Olympia than ADCC Gold Medalist! But I don’t put myself through these things because they’re enjoyable. Something I reminded myself of often while wrestling in college.
Also the Mountain Dog said about this rear delt superset, “Be prepared for this to be so painful you have tears in your eyes”. That was such an accurate description of how that felt. Crushing rear delts like this is probably more painful than any other upper body part.
Started a little bit later today because as I mentioned yesterday, my muscles are beat to hell. The soreness when I first got up was just miserable. However as the day went on, walked around, had my coffee, got some work done, ate a nice hearty meal and drank quite a bit of water, I began feeling fresher.
I knew that this workout, my heavy pull day, was going to be an extremely hard session. I knew I had to be mentally ready because I needed to “bring it” today. No Grappling tonight, resting over the weekend. No excuses, earn that recovery. So once I was feeling physically and mentally ready to go, it was war time. Took me Stim-free pre and Recovery formula and set out to give this session everything I have.
85 degrees and probably even hotter than that in the garage. Even with the fan going, I was sweating profusely. My white Mike Mentzer “Heavy Duty” tank top was completely grey with sweat through the middle and my back. I’m so happy with how I handled the lead up to the workout and I’m thrilled to have it behind me and be on to the weekend.
Hell yeah!