305 4x12 sounds horrible. I’m doing just slightly more than half of that and it is horrible haha.
You weigh more than me. lolol
Yo bitch, time to start my log eh
Yes, sounds like a splendid idea. You can follow Chris and me. By the way, I gave him a few cues and instantly increased his heavy squat 30lbs.
ACtually, my previous was 175x5x6, so really you increase it 50 lbs.
8/1 OFF (End of deloading week)
8/2 (Training w/ TheBigV)
A1 squat 305: 12 12 12I 12I
A2 smith mil. 145: 12 12 12 12I
B1 BB row 225: 6I 6 6 6 6
skip calf because there was no good way to stimulate straight leg calf raises…and I didn’t really care after that squat session.
C1 DB fly 60: 10 10 10
C2 EZ partial (top half) curl 75: 10 10 10
That squat session was without the doubt the hardest I’ve ever pushed myself physically in my entire life. I was afraid I would vomit and immediately kissed the floor in sweet appreciation of its ability to cradle my thrashed carcass after sets 3 and 4. (Read: dropped to the ground.)
The first set of curls I did on a machine, which I was excited to use as it was similar to mine, but 80lbs was really more like 40. I think I used it for the first set with it set to 145lbs, something I definitely cannot curl.
8/3
A1 pullups BW10: 12 12 12I 8F
B1 inc. bench 185: 6 6 6 6 6I
C1 RDL 295: 6 6 6 6 6
D1 2handDBext 102.5: 10 10 10
D2 rev. BB curl 70: 15 15 15
D3 garhammer raise: 15 15 15
I’m led to believe my glutes/hams are unbelievably strong due to the amount of weight I can handle on RDL. I was also very happy to be over and done with 185 on inc. bench in a single workout. I felt very strong. I’m trying very hard to make sure my pre/during/post workout nutrition is all identical from workout to workout because what I’m doing right now is yielding some serious gym performance. That 102.5 tricep extension felt pretty easy too!
8/4
30min fasted jogging
8/5
A1 squat 335: 5 5 5 5 5
A2 smith mil. 175: 4 4 4 4 4
B1 BB row 205: 12 12 12 12
B2 seated calf 95: 15 15 15
C1 facepull 130: 15 15 15
C2 EZ partial curl 80: 10 10I 10I
8/6
I broke my foot. Awesome.
8/7
Foot felt a lot better (couldn’t walk previously), and I was put in a removable walking cast/boot. No squats, but no ankle mobility is really needed for my RDL’s and BB rows…
8/8
A1 pullups BW35: 5 5 5 5 5
B1 inc. bench 165: 12 12 8I 7F
C1 RDL 265: 12 12 12 12
D1 2handDBext 105: 9F 8 8
D2 rev BB curl 75: 10 10 10
D3 rollout: 8 8 8
Not bad for a broken foot - a completely unamended day of training.
The bench sucked. I could feel I was spent and fatigued after the second set. Those last two were heavy. The RDL was fine - I elevated my right foot with a plate to make up for the boot deficit lol. The tricep exts. suck now because my dumbbells go by 10lb increments after 100, so I have to use 2.5lb PlateMates to make up the 2.5-7.5lbs between. This makes it really hard to load it up on my shoulder, especially since in a couple workouts I’ll have 3-4 of the stupid things in my way. I’m also going back on the rollouts, focusing on my form, making sure not to overextend.
In place of squats I’ll be doing right-leg leg pressing. I may use leg extensions as well/instead. Not sure.
Alright, been too lazy to update in a while, but now is as good a time as any.
8/9 OFF
8/10
A1 right leg leg press 45/side: 12 12 12 12
A2 smith mil. 155: 12 12 12 8F
B1 BB row 235: 6 6 6 6 6
B2 standing single calf raise 40: 5 5 5 5 5
C1 DB fly 62.5: 10 10 10
C2 machine partial 86: 12 12 12
Now, here’s something interesting. My standing calf machine goes up to 600, I think. I can handle somewhere in the 400-500 range with two good feet, but when I estimated my single leg load…I was stunned at how low I had to go. I could barely do 5 reps at 40 (which I think is just one plate in the stack). It was not unlike trying to do a pullup with just your fingers. Somehow you just can’t do it! I think it was just a neurological sort of issue.
8/11 OFF
8/12
A1 pullups BW15: 10 10 10 10I
B1 inc. bench 195: 4 4 4 4 4
C1 RDL 305: 6 6 6 6 6
D1 2handDBext 105: 10 10 10
D2 rev BB curl 75: 15 15 15
D3 knee raise: 20 20 20
8/13 OFF
8/14
A1 single leg press 70/side: 6 6 6 6 6
A2 smith mil. 175: 6 6 6 5F 4F
B1 BB row 215: 12 12 12 12
B2 one leg calf raise BW: 20 standing, 15 donkey, 20 standing, 15 donkey
C1 DB fly 65: 10 10 9F
C2 machine partial 90: 10 10 10
8/15 OFF
8/16
A1 pullups BW35: 6 6 6 6 6I
B1 inc. bench 165: 12 12I 8F 10F
C1 RDL 275: 12 12 12 12
D1 seated EZ ext 85: 10 10 10
D2 rev BB curl 80: 8 8 8
D3 cable crunch 110: 15 15 15
8/17
A1 leg ext. (with hips extended) 180: 12 12 12 12
A2 smith mil. 165: 10 10 10 9F
B1 BB row 245: 6 6 6 6 6
B2 one leg calf raise BW: 20 20 20
C1 facepull 135: 15 15 15
C2 machine partial 90: 12 12I 8F
8/18 OFF
8/19
A1 pullups BW15: 12 12 10F 9F
B1 inc. bench 195: 6 5 5 4F 5F
C1 RDL 315: 6 6 6 6 6
D1 seated neutral bar ext. 80: 7F 8 8
D2 rev BB curl 80: 15 15 15
D3 rollout: 12 12 12
I got sick of using 2handDBext since after 100, my dumbbells go in 10lb increments, meaning I had to use a bunch of platemates. I tried the EZ extension but my wrists didn’t like the angles. Today using the neutral grip bar “-(][)-” felt a lot better. The bar is heavier though, I think it’s 20lbs or a little more.
Everything is beginning to feel hard and the progress is slowing pretty bad. I’m thinking of switching out almost all the exercises.
I don’t really feel like copying all my recent logs at the moment, so I’ll just give some highlights.
Got my broken foot cleared this week.
Started a higher volume bodypart split routine to give my CNS a break and give my muscles some more stress (quads literally sore and immobilizing for like, 4-5 days).
Just pulled 405, crushing my last PR by 40lbs (just like the last time I tested), about an hour ago.
I’m writing a new program with the inspiration of a friend’s success last summer, DoggCrapp tenets, and Kelly Baggett’s article on training philosophy.
My goal is to better organize my volume and my deloads. I’m perpetually taxing my CNS without letting it recover, even though my muscles are fine. This is why my strength gains are so slow…yet when I come back from a lighter week or week off, I always feel amazingly strong.
The program will be posted when I have it completed.
So here’s what I plan to do. My training week will be a 7 day cycle (except this first week is 6 because of Independence Day) using an upper/lower split. On each day, there will be ‘primary’ and ‘secondary’ muscles being trained. The opposite will be trained on the next respective day. Visually, it becomes:
Day 1: Quads, calves (primary) and then hams (secondary)
Day 2: Chest, biceps, triceps (primary), and then back and delts (secondary)
Day 3: Hams, calves, core, forearms (primary), and then quads (secondary)
Day 4: Back, delts (primary), and then biceps/triceps/chest (secondary)
Calves are worked the same both lower days because they suck. I’m not too concerned with direct forearm and core work just yet, but I may do some on the quad-dominant lower day as well eventually.
Now, primary just means this is the muscle group I’m trying to increase my strength on. I will perform 4 sets of 10 while trying to avoid going to failure. Rest times will be comfortable. Immediately after I will perform a fatigue exercise where the reps are above 10, typically 12-15. Rest times will be strict (starting with 45sec and progressing to less) and the weight will be limited by the rest time. Increasing the weight on this exercise isn’t so important, but reducing the rest time and getting all the reps is.
The secondary muscle group will usually get something like a higher-rep fatigue workout in just 3 sets. The purpose is only to stimulate it a little a second time in the week. I feel like higher frequency training is the way to go, but managing CNS burnout is top priority.
For the strength exercises, I’m shooting for 4x8-10 reps and in 2-3 weeks upping the load to 5-6 sets of 6-8 reps. After another few weeks 6-8 sets of 4-6 reps. Then a week or two will be taken to cruise and do whatever…before starting over.
Haven’t touched this in a while but thought I’d briefly update for the time capsule effect.
Last Saturday I squatted 395 for 5. Deadlifted 405 for 5.
Today I squatted 315 for 20 (15 groove, 5 digging). Military press 165 for 6.
I’ve been benching 255 for 5-6. 265 feels heavy and I feel stuck. I’ve been one-arm rowing 150s, the heaviest DB at my gym, for 8. Crazy oblique work.
I weigh 172ish.
The time since my last post has been less than productive, so it’s time to get back on track. I just took girth measurements across my entire body for reference.
head: 56cm
neck: 37.5cm
upper arm (relaxed): L 33.4cm R 33.7cm
upper arm (flexed): L 37.5cm R 38cm
forearm: L 29cm R 29.7cm
wrist: L 17cm R 17.3cm
chest: 100cm shoulder: ~117.5cm
waist: 78.5cm
hip: 94.2cm
thigh (R gluteal): 60.8cm
thigh (R mid): 56.6cm
calf: L 36cm R 36.1cm
ankle: 21.6cm
One week ago I weighed 160lb. Yesterday I weighed 166.8, today 165.6. Over five pound gain in one week is pretty crazy. I loaded creatine all week and have felt full (muscle wise) with all the carbs I’ve been eating.
Following stripped down hypertrophy 4x a week instead of 5. The only issue so far is lower back fatigue from deadlifting so much. On 4x10 deadlift days I’ve been cutting back to 3 sets. Calf raises about 3 times a week, and I’m going to try a separate short bicep/tricep workout once a week to see if anything comes of it.
One week ago I weighed 160lb. Yesterday I weighed 166.8, today 165.6. Over five pound gain in one week is pretty crazy. I loaded creatine all week and have felt full (muscle wise) with all the carbs I’ve been eating.
Following stripped down hypertrophy 4x a week instead of 5. The only issue so far is lower back fatigue from deadlifting so much. On 4x10 deadlift days I’ve been cutting back to 3 sets. Calf raises about 3 times a week, and I’m going to try a separate short bicep/tricep workout once a week to see if anything comes of it.
I have been kicking my focus into high gear all through 2013. I have decided to compete in a bodybuilding competition in Sep/Oct. Since February, after having finished working briefly with John Meadows, I began a 12wk MountainDog program and began ramping up calories according to weight gain. I’m currently consuming 3100-3400 on non-training days and 3700-3900 on training days.
I was initially going to use a “GameOver” Showtime Cut Diet (Scivation) approach, but have since changed my mind and would prefer to see how I can manipulate carbs while holding onto them as long as possible. I am thinking of using a Shelby-styled carb cycling approach with high, med, and low days. I’m worried about the end of the dieting process, when my decisions will really matter, and I will be (hopefully) breaking new dieting territory.
I have biweekly photos since September. These will continue up to showtime.
Since my last contest, I am most excited to apply what I learned in how to appropriately reverse the dieting process, as opposed to just “letting it go”. I will slowly ramp calories back up and be right back on a strict diet the day following the show. This will have to happen especially for the first show, as I plan to do two.
I plan to use this log to keep records of the experience and where my mind goes along the way.
Quick update on where my curiosities and knowledge are:
- I am 175p into the NSCA CSCS text.
- I am almost finished Joel Jamieson’s Ultimate MMA Conditioning (super excited)
- I am about to leave MD training for a modified Texas Method, to get back into lifting heavy weights frequently, especially while my cals are still high.
- I am considering buying Joel Jamieson’s BioForce HRV because I want to learn about recovery and associate numbers with feelings.
- I am gearing up to go to the eliteFTS LTT6 seminar in a few weeks, when I will bring home a baby Prowler to call my own.