acumenjay's journal

[acumenjay]

I've been training for a few years. I've never kept a journal. I've got a few minutes now and figure I would start one and see if I can add to it every couple of days.

I'm at the end of a pretty big bulk that was interupted by me getting sick at the biggest and strongest point I had ever been at. I lost some size but fought through it. I went from 175lbs 10% to currently (2/18/04) weighing in at 215lbs. I am 5' 9". The journal will be starting with what I did this week and I will try and include training and nutrional information.

[acumenjay]

Monday 2/16/04

Day off from work because of presidents day. woke up late at 9:00. I needed the extra sleep. Took a VPX micellean shake mixed with a scoop of swole v2. at a turkey sandwhich with some chips (i'm easing in to eating less.) at 12. Had another turkey sandwhich at 2:30. another micellean mrp at 5. lifted at 6:
Chest:
started off with some incline dumbell's. I've been doing flat bar for a little to long.
75lbs for 10
100 for 10
125 for 8
125 for 7

went to flat:
did 4 sets pretty heavy all with 8 reps.

went to hammer strenght press machine did 3 sets. very strict movement. slow.

did 4 sets of fly's. haven't done them in a while. used a very strict and controlled movement. felt good and got a good stretch. (never really do these)

dips 4 sets.

I never do this many sets but felt like shocking my chest a little by changing things up. I usually do about 12 sets total for chest.

Had a whey shake with dextrose and swole v2 post workout and ate a ton for dinner (a bunch of junk too and I was a little pissed at myself). mowed some cottage cheese before bed.....

[acumenjay]

Tuesday 2/17/04

Half day at work because I have to go to the dentist at 3:30.

6 wake up. vpx mrp with swole v2

6:30 coffee (I know, i needed it I'm addicted. the v2 is still working thought)

10: vpx mrp (I don't eat enough real food it pisses me off but I take the train to work at 7 for an hour and get there at 8:30...excuses excuses. I deserve a slap in the face.)

12 - left work and ate a turkey sanwhich on whole wheat with mustard. (no cheese or anything...pretty boring).

1 - went to gym before dentist:
BACK:
pullups - widegrip
10
8 with 35lbs
6 with 40lbs drop it and 5 more with no weight
10 w/ no weight

DB ROWS
110 for 8
115 for 6
115 for 6

close grip pulldowns
8 reps
8 reps
6 reps
6 reps

some new machine in the gym. forget the brand. cybex or hammer strength probably. who cares.
sit down chest support 2 heavy row sets with two hands at once
8 reps
6 reps

screw this i'm pumped I don't care if I did deads on leg day saturday, I'm going to do a couple of sets today. just light ones
225 for 10
225 for 10
225 for 10
just to get a good stretch and pump the lower back up a bit. nothing crazy.

alright gotta go. it's been an hour...ease up champ or your going to overtrain...again a couple more sets than usual here.

2 - post workout - chug whey shake with v2 and dextrose
2:30 turkey sandwhich

3:30 dentist drilling on me. getting a filling..done pretty quick
can't eat for now the novacaine is bothering me...chug coffee to get rid of hunger.

6 going back to gym for double session (don't usually have time to do this because I usually wake up at 6 and get back from work at 6:30pm then go to the gym once in evening).

Just cardio- I'm officially cutting up
ran 3.5 miles nice and slow in 35 min. damn shin splints acting up on me....rode bike hare for ten min. total of 45 min.

whey shake

dinner
chicken and wild rice

before bed i had some gplenish

when all was said and done I had 2200 cal - 240grams of protein and 150 grams of carbs...fat??? not sure

not alot of eating compared to the bulk. I've eased down from about 4000 cals the past couple weeks. Cutting sucks and my girlfriend likes me bulked up (weird). I'll keep it going. Gotta make sure not to lose muscle. May revise upward and eat a bit more.

[acumenjay]

alright: just looked back at the journal and it looks sloppy and not as concise as i'd like it. I will now just post the workout in a clear manner and the total caloric intake and totals at the bottom of the post from now on...let this post serve as a reminder.

[Heisman]

Make sure you post up the weights, reps, and sets of each exercise you do. Sounds like you gained some serious weight.

[acumenjay]

Wed 2/18/04
Tri's and Bi's recap: Haven't directly trained bi's in a couple months as I was focusing on quality of my arms overall and my bi's seem to grow easier than my tri's. I've actually noticed the bi's haven't lost a step and have done alright just by keeping my back movements heavy. My tri's used to be a weak point of mine a couple years ago and then I started an all out assalt on them and have turned them into a strength. Anyway...

Tri's:
After some warmup stuff to get the blood flowing...

Skullcrushers: 135lbs for 10, 155lbs for 8, 155lbs for 7 into a few reps of close grip to finish off the movement.

Pushdowns (with a straight bar...been changing what I use every single workout...): I forget the weight on this one. It is the pully system for the crossovers. The heavier ones were all being used and I didn't want to wait.
So...the stack for 12, a quick break and 12 again...alright this is a joke and not doing anything except getting the lactic acid going.

Into one arm reverse grip (I love the feel of this exercise):
70 for 10
70 for 8 (started to feel heavy)
60 for 10 (went a bit lighter to ensure strict form)
50 for 12

one are overhead db extension:
25 for 10
25 for 10
25 for 10 (I like going light on this and really squeezing it, anyone can just throw a db in their hand and toss the weight up but that's not what this exercise is about).

Total sets for tri's not including warm up: 12 (hmm. a couple more than I've been doing lately but I'm a big believer in instinctive training and I like to increase the volume as I transition from the end of a bulk into the beginning of a cut....is this logical? for anyone who may be reading?...I might revisit my strategy and read up some more on this)

Biceps: (No rocket science here. Nothing to fancy. It's really the easiest bodypart to train IMO as long as just do the exercises right. Constantly seeing little punks trying to bite off more than they can chew for these.)
after warmup..
Standing DB curls (keeping palms forward at all time. not starting with palms at side and kind of twisting it on the way up..I don't like doing them that way...easier and not as effective IMO...am I right here???mmm..)
55lbs for 10
60lbs for 8
60 for 6

Straight bar (a medium to slightly wide grip here):
95 for 12 (nice and slow...now there burning pretty good)
115 for 10
115 for 8 (hmm...feeling weak. Is it because I did back yesterday? Is it because I haven't been doing direct biceps at all lately and the back work alone didn't maintain the muscular endurance I once had in my bi's? or Is it my diet since my calories have been lower than usual the past couple days and it is the beginning of my cut?

Hammer db curls (standing):
35 for 10
35 for 10 (very slow and strict...really squeezing. damn my arms are pumped at this point ...18 last time I measured but with the pump I had going here....I should bring a tape in the locker room for ****s and giggles.)

don't know what these are called (I go very light. Start like a hammer curl and bring it very slowly over my body and out passed my shoulder...reading that explanation it isn't very clear but hey it's my journal. )
25 for 10
25 for 10

Total bicep sets: 10 not including warm up. (endurance is clearly shot on my biceps and I'm tagging not working them directly lately as the culprit) Now I'm kind of pissed and am going to attack these little fu#*s harder.

Did some cardio after lifting (I hate doing it after I lift but I wake up at 6 as it is and get home from work at 6:30 so time is a bit of an issue here) Today nothing crazy just 25 min on eliptical while I watched the Uconn men beat up on Miami. I chugged a protein shake 4 sets into my bicep routine that had some whey, dextrose and v2 in it. then I finished up biceps and stretched briefly before doing cardio. Gotta preserve that muscle to the best of my ability.

Alright...cutting is going alright but I haven't had measurements or weighed myself in a couple days. I should do that thursday. I was 215 on saturday.

Daily nutritional recap: 2200 cals, 250g of protein, 100g of carbs, ? fat ( I just keep it within reason).

-seems a bit low to me. the carbs may need to be bumped up and could be a reason for my fatique after a good tri workout...

Sleep-never enough. 7 is all I can ever get and sometimes it's 6 hrs. Pisses me off but I gotta do what I gotta do. I'm a busy guy. I routinely get 10 hrs of catchup sleep on friday nights and sometimes 11 or 12 and then a solid 10 on sat night too...

*Other notes: I had 3 cups of coffee today and I'm not proud of myself. God I'm addicted to this crap. I'd like to not drink it while taking V2...but hey. I drink tons of water to stay hydrated. I may add more later if anything noteworthy comes to mind.


edit: I'm able to ramble on like this because of a slow morning at work ;-). This is definitely not written on my own time for the one or two people that might actually read this hehe.

[Heisman]

Nice workout. Your arms are strong. With direct training you will have more endurance in your biceps soon enough.

[acumenjay]

Shoulder day: I hate shoulders ever since I hurt my left one about three years ago. I haven't done any type of shoulder presses in a couple years or upright rows because of some type of shoulder injury that only seemed to hurt from those two movements (never went to doctor because I'm stubborn). Well after living off of lateral raises and bent over raises (God my rear delts annoy me. They just don't match up to the front and it pisses me off. I guess they could be worse though. Well finally easing back into shoulder presses as my shoulder hasn't bothered me lately....I just feel unsure because I've thought I was healed before and jumped back in and bam shoulder pain. Anyway easing back....

a ton of stretching..
DB presses seated:
20 lbs for a bunch not really counting just trying to get a good feel for the movement

50 lbs for a bunch...

70lbs for a bunch...hmm feeling pretty good for not doing these in such a long time...lets keep it going

90lbs for 10....feels good but I can clearly already feel fatique setting in

90s for 8...ya, I'm already getting tired (all and all not too dissapointed though since I didn't feel any pain and didn't feel quite as week as I thought I might but not as strong as I would like to be...shoulders always my weakest link.)

bent over later raises (sitting on bench):
25's for 10 just trying to isolate that damn rear head
35s for 10
30s for 10 just trying to keep it strict as possible...felt form slipping a little on the end of the last set

standing bent over raises (one are leaning on a incline bench and just using one arm... 2 sets of 10 with the 25

standing lateral raises(I like to keep my thumbs angles down, like pouring something out of a picture, I do these in very specific way that I don't see most people doing them...I like the way it feels and I think different things work for different people. This exercise is all about finding that groove that works best for you IMO.)

40s for 10
45s for 10
45s for 10...this has really been the bread and butter of my shoulder development I feel. My front delts get punished whenever I do chest and the side delt has really been coming out nicely. I usually do these first and even get as heavy as the 60s sometimes with a slight cheat and good slow negative. It really blasts my shoulders. I like doing these first...but I change it all up and do rear first sometimes, side's first....I feel like variety is very important for shoulders because of the different heads.....

Some shrugs
db a couple sets
bb a couple more sets
I do these all different leaning forward a bit, straight up...just trying to hit them from all angles. sometimes i do heavy power shrugs other time light db's...again a lot of variety here.

chugged a whey, dextrose, and swole shake

played halfcourt bball for about a half hour...(my legs have been sore as hell lately all the time and I'm going to do squats tomorrow they better feel better....enough rambling

calories for the day - about 2500 with 280g of protein and 100g of carbs...

I'll probably eat more on friday...

[Heisman]

Your shoulders look strong to me. Upright rows might have been the cause of your injury. Stretch your legs before you go to sleep and it will help with the soreness.

[acumenjay]

haven't had time to post.....trying to keep an accurate gage of progress....note: i cut calories too low last week and lost a little strength so I chowed this week and feel better again.

all bodyparts were at the same strength except my back was a bit stronger (db rows after two other exercises with the 125s for 8 reps and I used a different routine (worked out with my bro and one of my buddies who is at the next level above me, 5'9" 230 and pretty cut, which was good for motivation and a change of pace. I will be doing chest and back with him next week as well and then I'm off to Tokyo for a business trip for a week in which I may not be able to train...

other notes: been alternating caridio methods....running once, b-ball three times, and eliptical trainer a couple times over the past week or so and I like the variety. I'll weigh myself this week and try to get back on here and get some more comprehensive journal entries I've been a little strapped for time. I've also just booked a vacation house in july for a week in OBX so I'll be sure and be cut up for some surfing and beach bumming....back to work

[Heisman]

When you are with somebody who is at the next level it is always motivating.