Getting Back In The Game


Edit: Whoa it’s been this long since I last updated since 4/22/14? Anyways a lot has happened since then.

I got accepted into medical school and accepted into the Army HPSP to pay for it.

Without being accountable in someway I haven’t been consistent in a long time and have gotten fat like King Robert from Game of Thrones.

Anyways goals.

  1. Don’t get injured.
  2. Get Lean.
  3. Eat 4 times a day mainly informed by Layne Norton and John Meadows.
  4. Chest/Shoulders,Back,Arms and Leg split in the gym at least 4 times a week.
  5. Introduce running and ab work slowly and carefully to align with PT Scores for officers basic.
    [1/7/2014]
    I decided to start a log on here to better aid in attaining my physique goals. I started training consistently 4 days a week since the fall 2011 semester. Before that I was inconsistent with training while I did a bulk that I feel was complete failure taking me from 180ish lbs to 220 with really nothing to show for it other than fat gain and it took a photo that someone else took to realize it. Also injured my lower back twice during this time with what seems to be a posterior herniated disk around L5 S1 or L4 L5 by back squatting weight I wasn’t able to squat. No MRI but rehabbed back to health with no pain from a few articles from the authors on this site, now I’m cautious during leg workout.

When I started training consistently I unknowingly was intermittent fasting due to long school days + research in the summer by skipping breakfast working out in the afternoon and eating what I felt I need. I probably was eating less than a gram of protein(maybe .7) and this got me down to 180ish again. Once I realized I was intermittent fasting(near the end of summer) I decided to be more consistent with it to what I was already doing by feel and got myself down to 175 before the holidays such as thanksgiving.

When thanksgiving came around I stopped intermittent fasting and ate like most people do during the holidays. I felt I needed to start dieting again so commenced intermittent fasting again Jan 22 the beginning of the school semester. Sometime into February I figured I had no idea how much I was eating so I began tracking my protein consumption macros with the goal of consuming 1g/lb of body weight than I realized that I wasn’t consuming 1g/lb all that time.

Started some semblance of a log in Jan as well here.
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B7l-m_q1usixRG1pRk1tZk1OQkk/edit?usp=sharing

My goal is to cut down to 170 to see what body fat percentage I end up at, hopefully at or below 10%. I also feel like the main thing interfering with that goal is my diet and not my training but Ill post it up anyways. My training is mainly inspired from what John Meadows articles on the site. This picture was in late august weighing what I guess to be a little over 180 pounds.

Picture of my back in early October presumably a bit under 180.
Off to do chest and shoulders will describe workout and what I ate later.

Edit:
Training
Incline Db press
40x12
45x12
50x12
55x10
60x8
65x8,7
Flat Db press
40x20,15
45x12
50x10
1 Push up ladder done in the squat rack with a barbell 10 low, 10 med, 10 high
4 supersets of seated db shoulder press 20 lbx12 and six ways 5 lbx15
3 sets of partial laterals 45lbx35
4 incline bench rear delt flies 5x35
incline bench rear delt destroyer 40lbx60,20x30,10x12,5x12,2.5x10(these felt great)
looking in a mirror during delt work helped me keep even tension throughout the workout.
Chest portion took 35 min while delt took 45 min.

Diet: I didn’t intermittent fast today. For breakfast I had a scoop of whey isolate(30g protein) in 2 cups whole milk, lunch I had 6 boiled eggs with a tin of olive oil packed sardines(24g protein) with a bunch of bread and butter and for dinner .8lb of beef loin flap steak. I know I met 1g/lb today but I need to track the other macros as well

Diet:
Breakfast had 1 scoop of whey iso in 2 cups and milk and a 4 egg omelet with cheese.

Dinner took apart 18 oz of rotisserie chicken with peas and carrots. There’s a little over 2 pounds of meat and skin on them, for 5 bucks this seems pretty cheap.

Back and Traps today.

Diet:(Note to self, need new food scale.)
Preworkout 1 scoop iso(30g), 1.25 cups whole milk, half a banana, TBSP Honey

Pic is of how much fatter I got, surprisingly difficult to take a picture of my back with the phone I have with 1 mirror. Will put up leg shots, etc later on.

Postworkout 1 lb shredded rotisserie chicken mixed with 1 cup of my friends potato curry, 1 cup sweet potato with .25 cup of heavy cream , 2 cups of 2% cottage cheese with 3 clementines.

Training:(Took 80 min)
50 supinated chins
one arm barbell row/meadow row super set(weight is weight added to end of bar in form of 25 lb or smaller plates)
25x20
50x15
75x12,10,10(sweating intensely, lightheaded after theses; I’ve done theses with 125 before for 7 reps but the ability to keep the tension on my lats/scapula retractors for a few work sets with a weight around 75-85 pounds has allowed me to hit my back way harder than trying to row a weight I can’t handle. Video of exercise below.)

Dumbbell Shrugs with attempted 3 sec pause as they got heavier
40x12
45x12
60x12
65x12
70x12
75x12
Stretchers
80x12
90x12
100x10,8
Narrow grip pulldowns
120x8,7,7

Diet: 5 egg omelete with cheese, 4 shortbread cookies(argh! costco!), 1.12 lb of 88 lean ground beef(guessing had about 8 corn tortillas, 2 cups 2% cottage cheese with some pineapple.

Will hit arms tomorrow, was pretty tired today. Maybe some walking in the morning.

Never really took my arm training serious but I plan to change that.
Training: Supersetted biceps with triceps.
Cross body hammer curls 4x35x12
Rope push downs 40x12,50x12,60x12,12

Cable curl bar (multiple pulleys) 70x12,80x12,90x15,100x15
Rope push downs 50x12,12,12,12

Machine Preacher curl 4x(55x12,40x15)
BW dips 12,20,20,20
Diet: 1 scoop iso,tsp creatine in water, went to Texas Roadhouse, got salmon(waiter said it was 8oz) sweet potato, broccoli and carrots and had 3 or 4 rolls with cinnamon butter and unknown amount of peanuts.
After workout 1lb 88% lean ground beef and 1 cup whole milk and 1 scoop iso.

Diet:
5 egg omelete with toast, 1 lb 88% lean ground beef with rice a can of wild pacific albacore tuna and a cup of 2% cottage cheese with pineapple.

Going to start tracking my macros other than protein itself and have a plan. I will try Carb cycling with a set amount for back, chest and leg day and a lower amount for arm and rest days. Also plan on using fitday to track macros more easily.

Edit: Using this article as a guide A Beginner's Guide to Carb Cycling
Will have my back/trap,chest/shoulder day as my high days, leg and arm day as moderate and the other 3 as low days.
For my base weight ill use 190 lbs and will have 190g of protein for all three days.

For high days I will consume 380-400 grams of carbs and my protein choices lean such as boneless skinless chicken thighs or canned fish.

Moderate days I will consume 190-200 g of carbs and slighty more fatty meat like the 88 lean ground beef and cottage cheese.

Low days will have 95-100 g of carbs mainly from non starchy veggies but allow myself stuff like roast chicken.

Trying to get a hang of fitday.

Diet: The food scale I have finally gave up the ghost so I won’t be mentioning what I eat until my new one comes in the mail and will try to play things by ear nutritionally.

Training: Leg day, ugh my most dreaded training day and work capicity/strength wise my weakest body part. Anyways
Foam roll entire lower body and thoracic extension,
Bunch of leg curls
Foam roll hip flexors(especially left one)
Back squat bar warm up x20
Back squat 95x20,20, 15 rest pause 5(Theses were done breathing style lol)
Leg press 2 plates x 20, 3 plates x 12 with 3 second descents

2 Supersets of 1 plate hack squat x8 and 2 plate leg press calf raises x 50(I’ll increase it to 3 plates next time)
Dumbbell RDL’s 45x12,12

Today’s leg day felt quite weak except for the improved performance in back squat from last week(which was 95x20,12,8) everything else went down after that and felt incredibly stiff and unstable through the hips.

Training:
Flat dumbbell twist press
40x15
45x15
50x15
55x12
60x12
65x10,8,8
Incline bench press(I feel I’m stronger/push harder with a false grip.)
95x10
135x8
155x6
Smith Machine ladder pushups
Low x15
Med x12
High x7
(Superseted Shoulder press with six ways)
Seated DB shoulder press
30x12
35x8,8,8
Six ways
5lb plates x15,15
2.5lb plates x15,15
Partial laterals
45x35,35,35
Incline bench rear delt flies
5lbx35,35,35,35
Incline bench rear delt destroyer 40lbx60,20x30,5x10

Training: Back and trap day!!! My favorite workout
Foam rolled pecs and shoulders and did some thoracic extensions.
50 Chins (35 pronated, 10 supinated, 5 neutral)
T-bar row
1 plate x20
1 1/2 x 15
2 x 12
2 1/2 x 12
3 x 10 (this set felt better than 3 1/2 plates)
3 1/2 x 7
one arm barbell row
50 x 12
75 x 12,12,12
Dumbbell Shrugs with attempted 3 sec pause as they got heavier
50 x 12
55 x 12
60 x 12
65 x 12
70 x 12
Deadlift Shrugs(wished my gym had some chains)
135 x 8,8,8
Medium width neutral grip pull down
120 x 12
130 x 12
150 x 12

Pic of my wheels from Wednesday

Also got about 4 pounds of whole red snapper, not sure how to prepare it.

Training: Arms
Supersetted biceps with triceps.
Cross body hammer curls
25x20,20
30x12,12
Rope push downs (Replaced the old frayed rope with a nice new one, also felt better in the tris)
40x12,20
50x12,20

Rope curls (multiple pulleys) 90x15, 100x 15, 120x 12,12
Rope push downs (multiple pulleys)(Same as above)

Machine Preacher curl 4x(55x12,40x15)
BW dips 12,20,20,20

I don’t have much variety for arm days and probably should change it up a bit. My new scale and working earbuds that don’t fall out my ear came in today. Pretty good to listen to the music you want and not the gym music they play.

Training: Legs
Foam rolled and stretched a few hours before workout.
Leg curls
100x20
115x20
130x12
145x12 drop set
100x8
70x8
40x12
Alternating lunges with Curl bar
(Left hip unstable and tight hip flexor compared to right, also think I have weak hip flexors/addcutors so more lunges in the future.)
40x10
60x10
80x10
100x5(though it was too heavy and so stopped it there)
Back squat(wasn’t really a workset mainly mobility work)
Barx20
95x10
Leg press(these felt great by this time(
1pps x 20
2pps x 20
3pps x 20
4pps x 10
Dumbbell RDL’s 50x12,12, 12 trying to stretch out my hamstrings.

Training: Chest and Shoulders
Incline Db press
40x12
45x12
50x12
55x12
60x12
65x9
70x10
Flat Db press
35x20,
40x15
45x15
50x12

Superset
Machine Press 100x10,10,10,10
Pushups 10,7,7,5

4 supersets of seated db shoulder press 25lbx12 and six ways 2.5 lbx15(really slowed down the tempo)
3x15x12 full rom lateral raises
3 sets of partial laterals 45lbx35
3 incline bench rear delt flies 10lbx35
incline bench rear delt destroyer 40lbx60,20x30,10x12,5x12,2.5x10(these felt great)

I find it strange that there were as many people in the gym especially at the time I went which was 10:20 PM. It may seem that I got stronger in some exercises but that mainly resulted from the increased rest time of not being able to find the necessary dumbbells that were scattered all over the place.

Gotta get my diet easier to adhere to, thinking of poaching a bunch of chickens (or boneless skinless thighs whatever cheaper), shredding and weighing the meat.

Yesterday
Training: Back and traps
Chins 35 supinated, 15 neutral
one arm barbell row/meadow row super set
25x20
50x15
75x12,12,12
Dumbbell Shrugs
4x60x12
70x12
Stretchers
80x12
90x12
100x12,12
Narrow grip pulldown
120x10,10

Gym was closing soon so I went through this workout faster than I usually do but my MMC suffered.

Training: Arms
Supersetted biceps with triceps.
Cross body hammer curls
30x12,12
35x12,12
Rope push downs (Replaced the old frayed rope with a nice new one, also felt better in the tris)
40x20,20
50x20,20

Rope curls (multiple pulleys) 90x20, 100x20,110x12 120x10
Rope push downs (multiple pulleys)(Same as above)

Machine Preacher curl 3x(55x12,40x12),(55x20,40x12)
BW dips 20,20,20,20

Had a nice intensity and pump going on today.

Training: Legs
Leg curls
100x25
115x15
130x10
145x8 drop set
85x8
40x12
Back Squat
barx8
135x8
185x8
Leg Press
2ppsx20
3ppsx20
4ppsx12
80lb Curl bar SDLSx 12,12
Today was brief, Left hip still very unmobile though the heavier weight helped, gonna do more sets of 185 next time.

Training: Chest and shoulders
Flat dumbbell twist press(reduced rest times quite a bit)
40x20
45x15
50x15
55x12
60x10
65x9,6,7
Incline bench press(I feel I’m stronger/push harder with a false grip.)
95x10
135x8
155x8
165x4
Machine Chest press
50x12
70x10
90x10
110x7
BW Pec Minor Dips
12,12,12
(Superseted Shoulder press with six ways)
Seated DB shoulder press
4x35x7
Six ways
4x5lbx15
Partial laterals
3x45x35
Rear delt machine Drop set
110x20
90x20
70x20
50x20
30x20

Training: Back and traps
Chins 50 supinated and pronated
one arm barbell row/meadow row super set
25x20
50x15
75x12,12,12
Dumbbell Shrugs 3 second hold at top
4x50x12
Stretchers
80x12
90x12
100x12,12
Narrow grip pulldown
3x120x10
130x7
Low pulley cable row
4x100x10
Today’s back training was much better than last time with a nice intensity and focus. Focused more on the quality of each set and exercise than trying to finish before the gym closed last session. Surprisingly didn’t take all that much longer than I usually do and got a better workout.

My workout week starts Monday with Legs so I will make sure to finish Arms by tomorrow morning.

Training: Arms
Supersetted biceps with triceps.
Cross body hammer curls
30x20,20
35x12,12
Rope push downs (Replaced the old frayed rope with a nice new one, also felt better in the tris)
40x20,20
50x20,20

Rope curls (multiple pulleys) 90x20, 100x15,110x12 120x10
Rope push downs (multiple pulleys)(Same as above)

Machine Preacher curl 55x20,40x12,3x(55x12,40x15),
BW dips 20,20,20,15(with 10lb dumbbell)+5Bw
1 Arm Machine Preacher curl 25lbx10 on each arm

Training: Legs
Leg curls
100x20
115x15
130x12
145x12 drop set
85x12
40x12
100x12
Front squat
barx8
95x8
135x8
Back squat
135x20
Leg Press
2ppsx20
3ppsx20
4ppsx12
5ppsx7
45lb Db SDLS 3x 12

Did a little bit of running/walking this morning with tons of dynamic hip mobility drills and by the time of the leg workout everything was moving/feeling much better during the workout, still felt a bit weak though.