RMorrison's Log

Training Logs
1

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Starting a Log, Current stats:

Height 5’7"
Weight 175
BF% about 15ish?

I have been training since September 2007, doing weights kinda haphazardly until mid-April when I really stepped up the diet. Started Chad Waterbury’s TBT program ( http://www.T-Nation.com/readTopic.do?id=508031 ) last week. I want to do this log to keep progress.

Some more facts:

-Before starting this program I had not deadlifted in 9 years.
-My grip is weak (which I have confirmed doing deadlifts).
-My goal is strength and size.
-I eat about 3500 calories a day, high protein (>200g), moderate carb and fat.

Pic Shows starting size Sept 07. Unfortunately, I didn’t do any flex poses then.

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Now-ish (June 9th, i look virtually the same)

3

Training so far this program

Day 1, week 1 (06/25/2008)
WT
C - Standard Deadlifts 3 x 5 265
C - Overhead Barbell Military 3 x 5 125
C - Decline Barbell Bench 3 x 5 250
C - Front Squats 3 x 5 185
SJ - Front Dumbell Raises 3 x 5 35
SJ - Seated Calve Raises 3 x 5 175

Did the deads with alternate grip. felt pretty strong on bench and pretty weak on front squats. Barely got the dumbell raises up. Not happy that I chose the seated calve raises. Ill steer clear from now on.

Day 2, week 1 (06/27/2008)
WT
C - Dumbell Military, Supine 3 x 8 40
C - Hack Squat 3 x 8 185
C - Incline Barbell Bench 3 x 8 165
C - Pullups, pronated grip, reg bar 3 x 8 25
SJ - Preacher Curls, Machine 3 x 8 70
SJ - Lying barbell Tricep Extensions 3 x 8 80

Never done hack squats before, for antagonistic, I will probably try to do them on the hack machine because I don’t really know what Im doing. Happy to get 3X8 pullups wiht 25 extra lbs.

Day 3, week 1 (06/29/2008)
WT
C - Good Mornings 2 x 15 135
C - Dumbell Bench Press 2 x 15 70
C - Dumbell Military, Pronated 2 x 15 30
C - Horizontal Rows 2 x 15 BW
SJ - Glute Curl Machine 2 x 15 85
SJ - Side Dumbell Raises 2 x 15 15

Nothing to report really, soreness from previous two workouts.

Day 1, week 2 (07/02/2008)

                                            WT

C - Standard Deadlifts 3 x 5 225
C - Overhead Barbell Military 3 x 5 125
C - Decline Barbell Bench 3 x 5 255
C - Front Squats 3 x 5 190
SJ - Front Dumbell Raises 3 x 5 35
SJ - Seated Calve Raises 3 x 5 180

Farmers walk until I couldn’t hold it X 3 with 45 lb dumbells.

Pumped to get into the gym today as I hadn’t been for three days and all my soreness is gone. Tried to grip deads with pronated grip and im just not strong enough (boo), so I lowered the weight, gonna concentrate on form until I get it down and I get my grip goin. Felt weak on military press, strong on bench. Front dumbell raises still very tough with 35s.

Next workout Friday!

4

Did HIIT with the dog yesterday. She wimped out around 5 minutes but I lasted ten (muahaha).

Day 2, week 2 (07/4/2008)
WT
C - Dumbell Military, Supine 3 x 8 40
C - Hack Squat (Machine) 3 x 8 280
C - Incline Barbell Bench 3 x 8 170
C - Pullups, pronated grip, reg bar 3 x 8 30 (failed last rep)
SJ - Preacher Curls, Machine 3 x 8 75
SJ - Lying barbell Tricep Extensions 3 x 8 95

Did antagonistic sets on military/hacks, imcline bench/pullups, and curls/extensions. I usually won’t do this since the even though the program calls for it cause I go to a crowded weak gym. Changed barbell hacks to machine hacks. Felt MUCH better. I think my arms might be too short to perform hacks correctly.

5

Dude… I cheated sooo bad yesterday… I dunno why I have to cheat so bad when I cheat… oh well…

The morning and afternoon was typical good eating. In the evening, I went to a July 4th party. I had:

-3 Sierra Nevada Pale Ales
-Chips and Salsa
-4 large pieces of brisket
-potato salad
-baked beans
-regular salad
-a healthy slice of apple pie
-a piece of ice cream cake
-3 large chocolate chip cookies…

dangit… oh well, it was fun at least. back on track tomorrow.

Typical day (since I haven’t posted one yet):

Meal 1: 3/4 (dry) Oatmeal with a bit of whey and 1% milk sprinkled on top OR 5 eggs, 3 whites, two with yolk.

Meal 2: Apple or fruit cup (in juice not syrup).

Meal 3: Almonds and String Cheese

Meal 4: 4oz. Chicken Breast

Meal 5: Lunch, either leftovers such as taco soup andmonterey chicken and mixed veggies, or lentil soup. Sometimes I go to grab a salad, ranch or olive oil dressing.

Meal 6: 4oz pork or 4oz Tuna

Meal 7: Lunch Meat, Turkey and mixed veggies.

Meal 8: Protein Bar

WORKOUT

Meal 9: PWO shake

Meal 10: 2 tbsp natural PB

Meal 11: Dinner, clean 85-90% of the time.

Meal 12: Cottage cheese, 30 mins or so before bed.

This is the typical routine. On weekends I don’t eat quite as often as my day isn’t as structured. I do stay clean though. My wife and I usually go out to eat and I get something like grilled salmon as often as possible.

Supps include Glutamine and Whey protein.

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Day 3, week 2 (07/06/2008)
WT
C - Good Mornings 2 x 15 135
C - Dumbell Bench Press 2 x 15 75
C - Dumbell Military, Pronated 2 x 15 35
C - Horizontal Rows 2 x 15 BW
SJ - Glute Curl Machine 2 x 15 90
SJ - Side Dumbell Raises 2 x 15 15

Felt pretty strong to day, the 2 X 15s aren’t my favorite. Still not used to doing good mornings. I may back off on weight to keep form in check. Excited for 4 X 5 wednesday.

7

(07/07/2008)

12 minutes Jump Rope, Front and Side planks.

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Day 1, week 3 (07/09/2008)

                                   WT

C - Power Cleans 4 x 5 155
C - Flat Barbell Bench 4 x 5 235
C - High-bar back squats 4 x 5 285
C - Pull Ups 4 x 5 40
SJ - Pronated tricep pulldowns 4 x 5 85
SJ - Rear DB Raises 4 x 5 20

Really nice set of lifts for me, I have only powercleaned once since high school and it felt very very good to do it again. I want to really work it into my program. Kinda depressed about the bench press. I have been around this level for a long time. Granted, I only started to eat with a calorie surplus a couple weeks ago but a lot of my other lifts have increased. I tried 245 for the first set of 5 and barely got it; so, I backed it off… oh well, hopefully better next week.

9

Day 2, Week 3 (07/11/2008)

C - Snatch Grip Dead Lifts 4 x 8 185
C - Seated Dumbell Press (Semi-Supinated) 4 x 8 45
C - Wide Grip Dips 4 x 8 65
C - Bent Barbell Rows 4 x 8 115
SJ - BB Curls 4 x 8 80
SJ - Standing Calf Raises 4 x 8 240

Farmers walk x3 with 45 lb dumbells till I couldn’t hold em anymore.

My grip is FAIL. I couldn’t hold onto the bar for the last set of deads. I only got 4 because I just couldn’t hold onto the bar. I am gonna start doing extra grip work cause if I am not doing mixed grip I can’t deadlift for crap…Other lifts were decent. Pretty happy overall.

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Day 3, Week 3 (07/13/2008)

C - Supinated Pullups 2 x 15 BW, 1 X 10 BW
C - Standing OH BB Press 2 x 15 85, 1 X 13 85
C - Front Squats 3 x 15 155
C - Decline Dumbell Bench 2 x 15 70, 1 X 13 75
SJ - Front Dumbell Raise 3 x 15 20
SJ - Seated Calf Raises 3 x 15 90

Overestimated myself a bit today. However, that gives me a good goal for next week: Hit all the missed sets and get 3 X 15 for everything that I missed.

I haven’t done sets of 15 front squats before. That winded me bad. I think I will be able to go up a bit next week for them however.

All in all, really great workout.

11

Today I started CT’s Carb Cycling diet. For me, that puts my moderate days at around 3300kcal. I have been eating with this type of surplus (not paying as much attention to nutrient breakdown) for about two weeks. My maintenance cals are around 2800.

Now for today’s workout

Day 1, week 4 (07/16/2008)

WT
C - Power Cleans 4 x 5 160
C - Flat Barbell Bench 4 x 5 245
C - High-bar back squats 4 x 5 300
C - Pull Ups Pronated 4 x 5 45
SJ - Pronated tricep pulldowns 4 x 5 87.5
SJ - Rear DB Raises 4 x 5 25

Today is the first day that I actually feel noticeably stronger. Likely that is attributed to the calorie surplus described above (go figure!). I improved on every lift from last week which is very nice. Last week I barely got the set of five pullups with 40 lbs, this week I was able to take it up to 45 and go every rep.

This is encouraging, especially since I took some pictures yesterday, asked my wife if she thought I looked bigger at all, and she’s like “ya, you can really tell in your stomach”… thanks honey.

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Day 2, Week 4 (07/18/2008)

C - Snatch Grip Dead Lifts 4 x 8 190 (Grip is still limiting factor here)
C - Seated Dumbell Press(Semi-Supinated) 3 x 8 45, 1 x 8 50
C - Wide Grip Dips 4 x 8 70
C - Bent Barbell Rows 4 x 8 135 (Nice improvement here, felt nice)
SJ - BB Curls 4 x 8 80
SJ - Donkey Calf Raises 4 x 8 135

-Farmers walk x3 with 65 lb dumbells till I couldn’t hold em anymore.
-Hanging Leg Raises 3x10

Switched out of standing calf raises. I need to find something better for my calves. I need to do more grip work, not being able to lift crap from the floor because of it is annoying.

13

Day 3, Week 4 (07/20/2008)

C - Supinated Pullups 2 x 15 BW, 1 X 12 BW
C - Standing OH BB Press 3 x 15 90
C - Front Squats 3 x 15 165
C - Decline Dumbell Bench 2 x 15 75, 1 X 12 75
SJ - Front Dumbell Raise 3 x 15 20
SJ - Seated Calf Raises 3 x 15 100

Changed the order, did Front squats first. As a result was able to add 10 lbs there. Unfortunately, that translated to not being able to finish all chins again and weak bench. Going home for vacation next week. Not looking forward to paying some gym $10 a day for day passes. Gotta do what ya gotta do I guess.

Halfway through the program. Im up about 5 lbs since I started this program to 180. Hopefully most of it is muscle and hopefully it continues hehe.

14

So I stopped doing TBT. I stopped it because I don’t like working out three days a week. I can’t stand taking two days off in a row. As of today, I am starting ABBH I. Here are my lifts for the first day

Flat BB Bench 10 x 3, 250 lbs
Bent BB Rows 10 x 3, 185 lbs

Aux- Farmers’s Walk, 55 lb DBs, 2 x 1 minute, 1 x 50 seconds.

Interval running, 60 seconds jogging 6mph, 30 seconds running fast, 10mph, 15 minutes. I don’t like how I can see my stomach getting bigger but nowhere else.

Seems like a short workout to me (the written part of the workout lasted 30 minutes), Ill give it at least 4 weeks as I did with TBT before I nix it.

15

Yesterday’s Workout:

5 X 10 Front Squats - 205
5 X 10 Hanging Pikes - BW (I don’t know how Im gonna increase the weight on this one. I guess I can put a light dumbell between my feet?)
5 X 10 Seated Calf Raises - 90

Im working out at a cruddy gym cause Im on vacation. The clock is in a bad place and my watch broke so my rest periods are estimates. Even though this workout had lots more volume than the last, it still seems like the workout is really short. I think I might need more stimulation than this program is providing. We will see.

16

OK, I can’t stand the ABBH Program, so… against CT’s advise of sticking with a program for at least 4 weeks, I have decided to write my own program. I asked for advise on it in the Bodybuilding forum but nobody answered. Oh well, lol. Here is that thread

http://www.T-Nation.com/tmagnum/readTopic.do?id=2363023

and here is the workout:

Alternating between 5 x 5 and 3 x 10 for each exercise, each week:

Day 1: Upper Body Horizontal Push Pull

-Barbell Bench Press
-Bent BB Rows
-Secondary Chest (Switch between incline, decline, BB and DB)
-Secondary Back (Switch between T bar rows, horizontal rows)
-Tricep Extensions or pulldowns
-1 curl variation

Day 2: Rest or HIIT, Jumprope

Day 3: Lower Body Quads Dominant, core

-High Bar Back Squats
-Hanging Pike
-Secondary quads (Switch between Hack squats, front squats)
-Seated Calf Raises

Day 4: Rest or HIIT, Jumprope

Day 5: Upper Body Vertical Push Pull

-Chin Ups
-OH BB Press
-Upright Rows
-Dips
-OH DB Press
-DB Raises

Day 6: Rest or HIIT, Jumprope

Day 7: Lower Body, Hips Dominant

-Power Cleans
-Deadlifts
-Standing Calf Raises

I will also do Farmer’s Walk when I have shorter workouts to help with my totally shitty grip (the limiting factor for my deadlifts atm).

17

I jumped to Day 5 in the workout because I had just done horizontal push/pull and quads dominant exercises in the ABBH program, 2 and 4 days ago.

So, today (07/26/2008):

-Chins - 5 x 5 - 45lbs
-Standing OH BB Press - 5 x 5 - 130lbs
-Upright Rows - 5 x 5 - 95lbs
-Dips - 5 x 5 - 90lbs
-Stndng OH DB Press(Pronated) - 3 x 5 -55lbs,2 x 5 -50lbs
-Front DB Raises - 5 x 5 - 30lbs

I think it may be a tiny bit shoulder heavy. I might switch out the standing OH DB press for something like a lat pulldown or something.

18

Still on vacation and therefore at a cruddy gym. (The only benefit is that they do have a nice 45 degree donkey calf raise machine).

(07/28/2008)

-Power Cleans, 2 X 5 - 165lbs, 3 X 5 - 160lbs
-Deadlifts, mixed grip 5 X 5, 245
-Donkey Calf Raise Machine 5 X 5 - 210 lbs (totally arbitrary since Ill probably never use it again).
-Farmers walk, 55, 65, 75 lb DBs

Doing power cleans and deads in the same workout was tiring but I don’t think there is anywhere more appropriate for them to go and I want to include them both. Today I did one set of 5 on deads with 225, pronated grip. It barely held out. I want to be able to do the deads with a pronated grip. Until then, I will continue to use the mixed grip; because, if I don’t, the grip will be the only thing to improve.

The weights used today were slightly moderate. I could have done all three sets with 165 for cleans but on the last set with 165 I found myself moving my feet a bit far out and not driving through the floor. On deads, I am just a bit wary to start much higher than Im starting as I have a bad back and want to ease into it, not increasing the weight by more than 5-10 lbs ber bi-weekly cycle.

19

(07/29/2008)

-Flat BB Bench - 3 x 10, 205 lbs
-Bent BB Rows - 3 x 10, 155 lbs
-Incline DB Press - 3 x 10, 70 lb DBs
-Seated Horizontal Row (Cable) - 3 x 10, 110 lbs
-Standing Tricep Pushdowns - 3 x 10, 110 lbs
-Standing Close Grip BB Curls - 3 x 10, 70 lbs

Could have done a little bit more on bench, Rows were pushing it, Incline Press was perfect, Seated Rows were a bit light, can go a bit heavier here I think but it will probably be different at my normal gym for the horizontal rows and the pushdowns because of the different machinery. Going home tomorrow so next workout will be from regular gym on thursday.

Food on vacation has been kinda shoddy. Im trying to bulk a bit so I guess it’s better than if I was trying to cut. The total calories are about on but the breakdown of nutrients and timing are quite a bit off. One thing that I have kept consistent on is oatmeal in the morning with a whey topping and my PWO nutrition. Everything else is kinda spotty.

20

(07/31/2008)

Back Squats - 3 x 10, 250 lbs
Hanging Pike - 1 x 10, 10 lbs, 2 x 10, 5 lbs
Lunges - 3 x 10, 135 lbs
Seated Calf Raise - 3 x 10, 115 lbs

Shaky legs. I think I could have gone a tad heavier on the back squats but the Lunges finished off the job. Kinda feels like a short workout but I guess I did what I came to do.

Im back from vacation and weighed myself for the first time. 187. Up from 175 when I started to eat big a month ago. Im sure that a decent amount of it is fat but all of it can’t be lol. I have been really dilligent about eating big in the mornings and PWO nutrition.