Week 3 Training

[Beast]

These past two weeks have been some of the most stressful weeks of my life. To top things off, I got in a car accident on Friday (not bad at all, but I still have to pay a $500 deductable for my insurance). Lifting has been the only thing keeping me sane. Anyhoo, that's my personal rant :)

On to training
I completed week 3 of my 6 week program. This week went very well. I am making consistent improvements in strength and am handling the increase in volume will no problems at all.

I hit 475 for 5 reps on rack deads on Tuesday. My plan for this upcoming week is to use 485 on the first set, then 500 on the next set. This will be tieing my old PR on rack deads.

I had something I wanted to type, but I'm drawing a blank right now. I'll add it if I think of it.

I'll be increasing the number of sets I do for chest and back this week by 3 sets. So I'll be doing 19 sets for both chest and back. Should be fun :D

[Sixpack]

Sorry to hear about that bro , I hope you are ok. Do you perform your heaviest set first? I have seen many people do this then they taper down on weight etc. SOme go oppostite and start off light and increase weight pyramiding etc.

[bradp]

What's up with no pressing for shoulders Derek?

[Beast]

What's up with no pressing for shoulders Derek?

Since I am doing so much chest work, my shoulders are getting hit pretty hard. They are also one of my stronger points, so I am just directly hitting them with side lateral variations.

[bradp]

gotcha, shouldve realized that since you were doing rear and medial delt directly that the front was getting hit hard enough. thanks

[Mike4229631]

Derek, sorry to hear about your week, best of luck. I had a few questions about some of the exercises you are doing. First of all, the reverse dips, I'm not sure what these are. Another exercise I am not sure of are the donkey raises? And finally the hammer pulldown machines are not in my gym, all we have is a hammer-iso row. I was wondering if this would work along with v-bar pulldown for hammer machine #2? Or do you have any other ideas? I appreciate your help.

[Beast]

Derek, sorry to hear about your week, best of luck. I had a few questions about some of the exercises you are doing. First of all, the reverse dips, I'm not sure what these are. Another exercise I am not sure of are the donkey raises? And finally the hammer pulldown machines are not in my gym, all we have is a hammer-iso row. I was wondering if this would work along with v-bar pulldown for hammer machine #2? Or do you have any other ideas? I appreciate your help.

Reverse dips are dips done with your hands turned out. They are something Larry Scott used to do. They aren't very good (I was just trying them) and plan on dropping them.

Donkey Calf Raises are calf raises done bent over at the waist: http://www.exrx.net/WeightExercises/Gastrocnemius/LVDonkeyCalfRaise.html

On tuesday's I focus on all rowing movements, so I would use the iso-row here. On friday's I focus on pulldown movements. You could do Pull-up, lat pulldown, reverse lat pulldown, V-bar pulldown.

[Glutes]

Sorry To hear about how bad your week went derek, that sucks. But look at the bright side........your calves are still enormous.

[Beast]

Sorry To hear about how bad your week went derek, that sucks. But look at the bright side........your calves are still enormous.

(Looks down at 18" calves)
Your right Glutes, I feel better now, lol

[MynameisMike]

Do you have any soreness at all in your legs after the squats and leg extensions etc.
I know the rack deads don't hit your legs as much but I know I'd have some trouble doing squats then rack deads the next day.
-Thanks
Mike

[matt72178]

Derek,
Your progress is very awesome.
Would you mind to give me some suggestions on my diet? My diet is my weak point, since I have to work, I have no time to prepare my foods, but I try my best.
8:00am(before workout)
Egg and hams sandwich and 2 little cups of coffee.
11:30am(Post workout)
Whey protein(21g protein) ,1 medium banana mix with 500ml of 2% milk.
2:00pm(lunch)
Chicken meat rice noodles and one little box of vegetables.
5:30pm
Egg and ham sandwich and 500ml of 2% milk.
8:00pm(Dinner)
My mom cooks it, usually have rice, meat and vegetables.
11:30pm(before sleep)
Whey protein mix with 250ml of skim milk.
Do you think it's too little to gain 1 pound every week? My training program is 3-4 exercises for large muscle groups and 2 exercises for small muscle groups, and rep range is 6-10, try to add reps and poundage every week.
P.S. my height is 176 and weigh 165 pounds, bf around 15%
Thank you.
Hope to hear from you soon.

[Elian Gonzalez]

derek, real quick, can you check this pic and tell me if my back is in proportion?

[JustBrowsin]

Derek, just wondering, what do you use to layout your work weeks like that? It's really easy to read and looks nice and i'd like to track my workouts in a similar fashion. thanks

[Beast]

Your diet looks fine. Though if you try and gain a pound a week, alot of it will be fat.


Derek,
Your progress is very awesome.
Would you mind to give me some suggestions on my diet? My diet is my weak point, since I have to work, I have no time to prepare my foods, but I try my best.
8:00am(before workout)
Egg and hams sandwich and 2 little cups of coffee.
11:30am(Post workout)
Whey protein(21g protein) ,1 medium banana mix with 500ml of 2% milk.
2:00pm(lunch)
Chicken meat rice noodles and one little box of vegetables.
5:30pm
Egg and ham sandwich and 500ml of 2% milk.
8:00pm(Dinner)
My mom cooks it, usually have rice, meat and vegetables.
11:30pm(before sleep)
Whey protein mix with 250ml of skim milk.
Do you think it's too little to gain 1 pound every week? My training program is 3-4 exercises for large muscle groups and 2 exercises for small muscle groups, and rep range is 6-10, try to add reps and poundage every week.
P.S. my height is 176 and weigh 165 pounds, bf around 15%
Thank you.
Hope to hear from you soon.

[Beast]

Derek, just wondering, what do you use to layout your work weeks like that? It's really easy to read and looks nice and i'd like to track my workouts in a similar fashion. thanks

I use microsoft excel.

[CanadianMofo]

Hi derek,

I was wondering how it's possible that you're ain't overtraining, using this routine... You're doing 16 sets for chest on monday and 16 again at thursday, so give me you're secret ;)

greetz,
Ron

[Mr-Mist]

Hi derek,

I was wondering how it's possible that you're ain't overtraining, using this routine... You're doing 16 sets for chest on monday and 16 again at thursday, so give me you're secret ;)

greetz,
Ron

Going non-failure on all sets plays a major role is how much volume the body can handle and how much more efficently it can recover. On top of that, I don't think Derek will be sticking with 16 sets per workout for the entire program. If you notice, Week 2 Derek was doing 10 sets for chest per workout and this week he's doing 16. I would assume he's increasing sets per week and will eventually peak, drop down to a reasonable deload amount and then start back up again.

[Beast]

Going non-failure on all sets plays a major role is how much volume the body can handle and how much more efficently it can recover. On top of that, I don't think Derek will be sticking with 16 sets per workout for the entire program. If you notice, Week 2 Derek was doing 10 sets for chest per workout and this week he's doing 16. I would assume he's increasing sets per week and will eventually peak, drop down to a reasonable deload amount and then start back up again.

Spot on.

On top of that, the volume for my other muscle groups has been greatly decreased. And eating 300+ grams of protein, 600 grams of carbs, and 70 grams of fat helps :)

[Mr-Mist]

600 GRAMS OF CARBS?

Christ, you must be putting every child of Quaker Oats employees through college.

[The Shizzy]

Beast, i've been using a split similar to your older cutting style.. upper/legs+arms/upper/legs+arms (heavy + light for each BP..)

any critique of this style split that you've noticed?

thanks..!

[matt72178]

Your diet looks fine. Though if you try and gain a pound a week, alot of it will be fat.

Thanks for your reply Derek.
Did you mean all my foods are bad quality?
What should I change my diet in order to gain 0.5-1 pounds solid muscle every week?
Thank you.

[Beast]

Thanks for your reply Derek.
Did you mean all my foods are bad quality?
What should I change my diet in order to gain 0.5-1 pounds solid muscle every week?
Thank you.

There is no way you'll gain 0.5-1 pound of muscle in a week. Most people gain 10 pounds of muscle in a year and that's if they know what they are doing.

[Beast]

Beast, i've been using a split similar to your older cutting style.. upper/legs+arms/upper/legs+arms (heavy + light for each BP..)

any critique of this style split that you've noticed?

thanks..!

I like that setup a lot and see nothing wrong with it.

[matt72178]

There is no way you'll gain 0.5-1 pound of muscle in a week. Most people gain 10 pounds of muscle in a year and that's if they know what they are doing.

Thanks for your reply again.
I read your "Bulk Up" section before, and you did gain 25 pounds of muscle in 5-6 months. Of cause, my diet and training program may not as
scientific as yours, but I will try to reach my goal as soon as possible.

[JWangSDC]

Thanks for your reply again.
I read your "Bulk Up" section before, and you did gain 25 pounds of muscle in 5-6 months. Of cause, my diet and training program may not as
scientific as yours, but I will try to reach my goal as soon as possible.


no, I bet derek would say he's gained 10lbs of muscle at most a year, probably never even..

" seasoned IFBB veteran, not even Ronnie Coleman himself can put on 40 pounds of muscle in one year. What you have done is basically filled out what muscle you had and maybe put on about 6-8 pounds of new muscle.
A greater percentage of your weight is coming from the water retained in the muscle as well as body fat. Make sure you don't disclose this phenomenon to too many people because many will wait until you walk away and laugh their asses off
"

Though I do have a question for derek. THe water inside you rmuscle cells counts as Lean Body Mass correct? What constitutes muscle weight exactly?

[Beast]

no, I bet derek would say he's gained 10lbs of muscle at most a year, probably never even..

Though I do have a question for derek. THe water inside you rmuscle cells counts as Lean Body Mass correct? What constitutes muscle weight exactly?

I gained 25 pounds, but it sure wasn't all muscle.

The water inside the muscle is lean mass. Everything that is not fat is lean mass. I'll post something indepth about what actually muscle is later.

[waitlifter82]

There is no way you'll gain 0.5-1 pound of muscle in a week. Most people gain 10 pounds of muscle in a year and that's if they know what they are doing.

You're not talking about newbie gains here, right? B/c the first year working out (and knowing what I was doing), I gained 30 lbs w/ 1-2% in bf. There are also people on the board (Younglifter14) who have gained 50+ lbs in a year. However, as expected it's getting increasly difficult to add more lean mass

[Beast]

You're not talking about newbie gains here, right? B/c the first year working out (and knowing what I was doing), I gained 30 lbs w/ 1-2% in bf. There are also people on the board (Younglifter14) who have gained 50+ lbs in a year. However, as expected it's getting increasly difficult to add more lean mass

The 30 pounds you gained were most likely not all muscle tissue.

Skeletal muscle hypertrophy is an increase in a muscle cross-sectional area (CSA). An increase in CSA can be accomplished by two forms of hypertrophy: sarcomere and sarcoplasmic.

Sarcomere hypertrophy is an enlargement of a muscle fiber as a result of an increase in sarcomere number and size. Sarcomeres, which contain the contractile proteins actin and myosin are the “functional units” of myofibrils. Additional sarcomeres mean more actin and myosin proteins and therefore a greater ability to produce force (strength).

Sarcoplasmic hypertrophy is an increase of the sarcoplasm (muscle fiber semifluid cytoplasm) and noncontractile proteins. The fiber’s ability to produce force does not increase from sarcoplasmic hypertrophy.

When you start working out, you body creates more enzymes for glucose uptake and storage inside the muscle (so you can hold more glycogen). Remember that for every gram of glycogen stored, 3-4 oz. (around here, but not 100% sure off hand). So some of the weight you are gaining is water and glycogen. After a contest, it is easy to put on 10-20 pounds during the week after. Is that all muscle? Nope, mostly water and glycogen.

Weight lifting also provides a stimulus for bone growth (width), so some weight gain could be due to and increase in bone density.

If one was truly interested in measuring changes in muscle, you could Dual-Energy X-Ray Absorptiometry (DEXA) scans, which measure bone density, muscle density, body fat levels, etc. But it would be expensive...

[Gibblets]

The 30 pounds you gained were most likely not all muscle tissue.

Skeletal muscle hypertrophy is an increase in a muscle cross-sectional area (CSA). An increase in CSA can be accomplished by two forms of hypertrophy: sarcomere and sarcoplasmic.

Sarcomere hypertrophy is an enlargement of a muscle fiber as a result of an increase in sarcomere number and size. Sarcomeres, which contain the contractile proteins actin and myosin are the “functional units” of myofibrils. Additional sarcomeres mean more actin and myosin proteins and therefore a greater ability to produce force (strength).

Sarcoplasmic hypertrophy is an increase of the sarcoplasm (muscle fiber semifluid cytoplasm) and noncontractile proteins. The fiber’s ability to produce force does not increase from sarcoplasmic hypertrophy.

When you start working out, you body creates more enzymes for glucose uptake and storage inside the muscle (so you can hold more glycogen). Remember that for every gram of glycogen stored, 3-4 oz. (around here, but not 100% sure off hand). So some of the weight you are gaining is water and glycogen. After a contest, it is easy to put on 10-20 pounds during the week after. Is that all muscle? Nope, mostly water and glycogen.

Weight lifting also provides a stimulus for bone growth (width), so some weight gain could be due to and increase in bone density.

If one was truly interested in measuring changes in muscle, you could Dual-Energy X-Ray Absorptiometry (DEXA) scans, which measure bone density, muscle density, body fat levels, etc. But it would be expensive...

nah, they were probably just taking cell tech

[waitlifter82]

The 30 pounds you gained were most likely not all muscle tissue.

Skeletal muscle hypertrophy is an increase in a muscle cross-sectional area (CSA). An increase in CSA can be accomplished by two forms of hypertrophy: sarcomere and sarcoplasmic.

Sarcomere hypertrophy is an enlargement of a muscle fiber as a result of an increase in sarcomere number and size. Sarcomeres, which contain the contractile proteins actin and myosin are the “functional units” of myofibrils. Additional sarcomeres mean more actin and myosin proteins and therefore a greater ability to produce force (strength).

Sarcoplasmic hypertrophy is an increase of the sarcoplasm (muscle fiber semifluid cytoplasm) and noncontractile proteins. The fiber’s ability to produce force does not increase from sarcoplasmic hypertrophy.

When you start working out, you body creates more enzymes for glucose uptake and storage inside the muscle (so you can hold more glycogen). Remember that for every gram of glycogen stored, 3-4 oz. (around here, but not 100% sure off hand). So some of the weight you are gaining is water and glycogen. After a contest, it is easy to put on 10-20 pounds during the week after. Is that all muscle? Nope, mostly water and glycogen.

Weight lifting also provides a stimulus for bone growth (width), so some weight gain could be due to and increase in bone density.

If one was truly interested in measuring changes in muscle, you could Dual-Energy X-Ray Absorptiometry (DEXA) scans, which measure bone density, muscle density, body fat levels, etc. But it would be expensive...

I thought weightlifters were supposed to be dumb?? :D

I have a question (unrelated). Are you still carb cycling? If so, how much carbs are taking in on your low and no carb days. You mentioned you take 600 carbs, and I'm assuming that is high carb day (god, I hope so).
I'm doing the same thing, however, to a lesser extreme. Ie. My high carb day is "only" 450-500g, while my low carb day is around 200g. I must say, I'm getting some of the cleanest gains during this bulk doing it.

[Beast]

I thought weightlifters were supposed to be dumb?? :D

I have a question (unrelated). Are you still carb cycling? If so, how much carbs are taking in on your low and no carb days. You mentioned you take 600 carbs, and I'm assuming that is high carb day (god, I hope so).
I'm doing the same thing, however, to a lesser extreme. Ie. My high carb day is "only" 450-500g, while my low carb day is around 200g. I must say, I'm getting some of the cleanest gains during this bulk doing it.

Yes, I am carb cycling. I get 600 carbs on Mon, Tues, Thurs, Fri and 200-300 on Wed, Sat, and Sun. The reason why I am eating so many carbs is my workload in the gym is very high right now. Ideally, if someone wanted to do a similiar program, you could do (for high carb days): Week 1 = 300, Week 2 = 400, Week 3 = 500, and Week 4 = 600, Week 5 = 500, and Week 6 = 400 then repeat back at week 1. I like to eat, so I choose to start and stay at 600 grams. I have been making great gains so far on this. I am also taking Avant Lab's SesaThin while bulking, which helps prevent fat gain.

[Glutes]

When exactly do you take your Sesathin While bulking? I was thinking about picking some up but not sure what the best times to use it would be.

[Beast]

When exactly do you take your Sesathin While bulking? I was thinking about picking some up but not sure what the best times to use it would be.

I take one serving post-workout (100+ carbs) at 7:30 AM, one serving at 10 AM (100 Carbs) and my last serving at 4 or 7 PM depending on how strict the meal is. So you basically want to take it with your hishest carb meals.

[Jahkaya]

Derek:

I can't get enough of how you break your gains, (be it muscle density, bone density, or fat), to the smallest minutia, I love the Science of it all. I look forward to more articles by you if you ever decide to start writing again.

I may have missed it in your section, but are you intending to post a your diet along with your training? I am highly interested, in th philosphy of carb cycling during bulking as well. I can only imagine it would be to minimize fat gain and to shock the body into growth.

Thanks for letting us all pick you cranium.

[Sixpack]

On your high carb days do u only include 4 meals with carbs in to get 600 grams or do u go like 5-6 meals to get 600 grams in so like 4 high carb meals 2, no carb meals?THat is would I got from TP carb cycling

I take one serving post-workout (100+ carbs) at 7:30 AM, one serving at 10 AM (100 Carbs) and my last serving at 4 or 7 PM depending on how strict the meal is. So you basically want to take it with your hishest carb meals.

[Beast]

Thanks buddy. I wish I had more time to devote to writing and to this section, but I am swamped this semester. Hopefully next semester will be better. I am revising my diet tomorrow and will make sure to post it for you.


Derek:

I can't get enough of how you break your gains, (be it muscle density, bone density, or fat), to the smallest minutia, I love the Science of it all. I look forward to more articles by you if you ever decide to start writing again.

I may have missed it in your section, but are you intending to post a your diet along with your training? I am highly interested, in th philosphy of carb cycling during bulking as well. I can only imagine it would be to minimize fat gain and to shock the body into growth.

Thanks for letting us all pick you cranium.

[Beast]

On your high carb days do u only include 4 meals with carbs in to get 600 grams or do u go like 5-6 meals to get 600 grams in so like 4 high carb meals 2, no carb meals?THat is would I got from TP carb cycling

My meals go like this:
5:45 AM (preworkout)- 50 carbs
6-7 AM (During workout)- 50 carbs
7:15 (post workout)- 100 carbs
8:30- 100 carbs
10:00- 100 carbs
1:00 PM- 50 carbs
4,7,10 PM- 10 to 20 carbs with each meal.

So I guess I am getting 500 not 600 grams of carbs. I knew I wasn't a pig :D

[Sixpack]

Are including veggies in your carb intake bro? DO u just eat them with your low carb meals etc and do u count fiber

My meals go like this:
5:45 AM (preworkout)- 50 carbs
6-7 AM (During workout)- 50 carbs
7:15 (post workout)- 100 carbs
8:30- 100 carbs
10:00- 100 carbs
1:00 PM- 50 carbs
4,7,10 PM- 10 to 20 carbs with each meal.

So I guess I am getting 500 not 600 grams of carbs. I knew I wasn't a pig :D