Ebomb's Offseason Journey: Leave No Stone Unturned!

[AdamMcD]

whats the reasoning behind switching the intervals to 30 seconds now that you've transitioned to offseason? Is this your own choice?

[ebomb55]

11.16.13

Chest/Shoulders/Calves

Flat Dumbbell Press
30 x 15
45 x 15
65 x 10
80 x 8
95 x 8
105 x 8
120 x 8
130 x 7 (nice, moving up!)

Low Incline Smith Machine "double sets"
1 pps x 20
1 pps + 25 x 10
2 pps x 10 + 15
2 pps + 10 x 8 + 8
2 pps + 10 x 6 + absolute failure (full reps, to partials, to partner-assisted partials)

Flat Bench Press (guillotine style, paused on chest, 3/4 lockout)
135 x 8
185 x 2 x 8
185 x 8 + partials

Flat Dumbbell Flies
40 x 12
Iso tension sets
40 x 15 + 4 Iso tension reps
40 x absolute failure (30) + 3 Iso tension reps

Bentover Dumbbell Rear Delt Flies
1 giant set
25s x 150-200 total reps

Seated Dumbbell Laterals (very strict)
20 x 2 x 12
15 x 2 x 12

Over and Back Press
95 x 3 x 8 to bar x failure

Donkey Calf Raise/Short Band Dorsiflexions
300 x 15/Short mini x 15 LR
4 sets

Couch Stretch x 4 minutes each leg
Foam rolling on legs

Awesome chest/shoulder session. Intensity was crazy high. I had to train a bit later today, as I was at my trial advocacy competition from 7:30 till 7 PM, which, we unfortunately didn't advance in because we came in 5th out of 14 and top 4 advance. We missed it by a point : /.

So, I took out that anger in the gym :P. Crushed flat DB presses today, 130 x 7 feeling great. I decided to go ape**** on the incline smith final set, having a partner essentially force me to do as many reps as possible on the second set.

The iso tension flies were pretty tough, especially the last set where I took the first set to absolute failure, 30 reps, then did 3 Iso reps.

I decided to go wild on Bentover dumbbell flies. I hit around 50-60 on the first set, then did partials to failure, then tried to crank out as many as possible, dropping the DBs for a second if need be. I must have hit somewhere between 150-200 total reps.

Overall, very intense session with some good volume.

Secondary arms tomorrow with some Abs and calves.

[ebomb55]

whats the reasoning behind switching the intervals to 30 seconds now that you've transitioned to offseason? Is this your own choice?

Yes. I enjoy them more. More pain and I find them more effective tbh lol.

[ebomb55]

11.17.13

Arms/Calves/Abs

Alternating Incline Dumbbell Curls (palms up entire time)
2 warmup sets (20 x 15)
30s x 2 sets to failure (17 LR then 14 LR)
30s x 1 set to failure plus standing alternating hammers to failure (12 LR to lost count + some bottom partials)
30s x failure plus Iso holds

EZ Bar Preachers
20 + bar x 3 x 15 (30 second breaks)

Standing Occluded Standing EZ Bar Curls
20 + bar x 4 x 15

Straight Bar Pushdowns
1 x 30
2 x 30 to failure
1 x 30 + forced sets of 5 (3 sets) + 2 Iso holds for 10-15 seconds

Lying EZ Bar Extensions (30 second rests, deep stretch behind head with a pause in the fully-stretched position)
55 x 4 x 8

Standing Calf Raises
3 x 8
1 x failure + partials to failure

V-Ups
75 reps with 8 kg Kettlebell over 8 sets

Couch Stretch x 4 minutes LR
Hamstring stretches

Awesome secondary arm day. Got in and got out pretty quickly. I stole most of the from Shelby's log on elitefts who was doing his own version of a Meadows/Platz arm session. The incline dumbbell curls were brutal with all of those intensity techniques along with the Pushdowns. Taking that one or two sets to absolute failure really forces you to push your body beyond what you thought it could do.

[ebomb55]

2 pics also. Cool vascularity...really washed out lighting though.

[Bnizzle163]

"I do longer intervals in the offseason because I love the pain." Spoken like a true champ (or psycho, I can't figure out which ).

[ebomb55]

"I do longer intervals in the offseason because I love the pain." Spoken like a true champ (or psycho, I can't figure out which ).

Haha, well, right now, just a psycho...gotta work on that champ thing!

[IK9]

dat bicep vein doe!

[The Solution]

What did Layne have to say E?

[ebomb55]

What did Layne have to say E?

We only update once a week...This past Thursday I got another cal bump and this morning I weighed in at 196.0, so I'm guessing we'll get another next week.

I'll certainly send along these pics to give him an idea of where we're at tho!

[ebomb55]

dat bicep vein doe!

Haha, ya, vascularity is off da chain right now...ahh the benefits of increasing cals/reducing cardio + Meadows/Platz training!

Recipe for serious offseason gains!

[The Solution]

We only update once a week...This past Thursday I got another cal bump and this morning I weighed in at 196.0, so I'm guessing we'll get another next week.

I'll certainly send along these pics to give him an idea of where we're at tho!

Be at 400g of carbs before you know it

[ebomb55]

Be at 400g of carbs before you know it

Haha, hope so man!

[jaredmus]

great workout plus looking great man

[ebomb55]

11.18.13

Back

Meadows Row
25 x 12 LR
50 x 8 LR
1 p + 25 x 8 LR
2 p x 8 LR
2 p + 25 x 8 LR
3 p x 8 LR
3 p + 10 x 8 LR
3 p + 10 x ape****...see video
2 p + 25 x 8 LR

Assisted Pull-ups
2 x 10
1 x 8 + 2 isotension reps
1 x failure + partials out of the bottom + isotension

Rack Pulls (lowest pin setting, mid to low shin)
135 x 5
225 x 5
275 x 5
315 x 5
365 x 5
405 x 3
495 x 3
555 x 3
575 x 3 (NICE) video

Cable Wide Neutral Rhomboid Rows
4 x 10 (rest was partner going)

Banded Hypers
Doubled monster mini x 27
Doubled monster mini + doubled mini x 20 (ouch)

Awesome back session. Absolutely crushed it today. I was training with a partner that I'll likely be training with more often in the future, and we really pushed each other. Bumped up weight on meadows rows a lot higher than last week, and reps too haha! Didn't count, they're on video, but somewhere between 25-35 on the top set.

Rack deads felt amazing today as well. Really smashed through last week's top set of 545 x 3.

Banded Hypers were awful and left both of us struggling to stand up straight for a good minute or so. I didn't think I was going to do 20 with both bands doubled, but I pushed through that pain barrier.

[ebomb55]

great workout plus looking great man

Thanks man!

[The Solution]

You taking any pre-workouts? how long do you eat before you train on something high volume like that? Anything within 2 hours after i eat and i may be throwing it up ahha

[ebomb55]

You taking any pre-workouts? how long do you eat before you train on something high volume like that? Anything within 2 hours after i eat and i may be throwing it up ahha

Yep, I actually am alternating right now between Core Fury and Cellucor's C4 :P. Love them both.

I usually eat about 45-60 minutes before going to the gym and it's a small meal consisting of a moderate amount of carbs, medium fat, and protein. It usually is either cream of rice, whey, and almond butter or protein fluff, almond butter, and 2-3 slices of cinnamon raisin Ezekiel bread.

[ebomb55]

Here are two vids from today.

[ebomb55]

11.19.13

HIIT/Abs/Mobility/Squat

Agile 8
Foam Rolling
Couch Stretch x 4 minutes each leg

Back Squat (focus on speed, 45-60 seconds between sets...work up until speed slows)
135 x 6
185 x 6
205 x 6
225 x 6
245 x 6
265 x 6
285 x 4 x 6

HIIT
"Ab Shredder Routine"
Aerodyne Bike Sprints/Abs
5 minute warmup
6 Intervals
15 second "work up" into a 30 second all out sprint at as high resistance possible/1 minutes of ab work: 3 sets decline reverse crunches/3 sets weighted crunches
1 minute bike
Repeat
Cooldown

Awesome session. Electors and back was pretty destroyed from yesterday, making speed squats a bit less enjoyable haha, but still put in the work there. Hopefully hitting them twice a week will help me get that movement pattern back down.

Decided to try out a routine I've done before called the "ab shredder," coined in a Tnation article, where you intersperse ab work with high intensity cardio. I was beat after these. Felt like I was back at football practice running sprints, getting that fiery burning sensation in my chest/lungs.

Arms/Calves tomorrow.

Also, weighed just under 196 this morning...hitting another reverse low and matching contest weight. More cals plz!

[The Solution]

More cals are a coming! How aggressive are laynes bumps? Very small?

[ebomb55]

More cals are a coming! How aggressive are laynes bumps? Very small?

They're pretty small. 10 grams of carbs and 2-3 grams of fat usually.

[ebomb55]

11.20.13

Arms/Calves
Stretching
Couch stretch x 4 minutes LR
Neck stretches
Biceps and triceps stretches x 15 seconds each

Rope Pushdown/Cable Curl warmup
2 x 15 each

Seated Dumbbell Curls
20 x 12
25 x 10
30 x 8
35 x 8
40 x 2 x 8
40 x failure (12) + alternating to failure + partner assisted reps + 2 Iso tension reps
2 sets of the above

Dumbbell Hammer Curl
30 x 12 + 8 partials
30 x 12 + 8 partials
25 x 12 + 8 partials
25 x failure to alternating x failure to partials x failure

Occluded Incline Barbell and Dumbbell Curls (alternate each set)
Short bar x 25
15s x 15
Short bar x failure + partner assist
15s x failure + partner

Heavy Rope Pushdowns (lean forward, keep constant tension, flare out)
Stack x 12, 12, 12
130 x 12

Seated OH Rope Extensions
40 x 30 (just shy of failure)
40 x 20 (same)
40 x failure + 3 Iso tension reps
40 x failure + 3 Iso tension reps

Lying EZ Bar Extensions (get a deep stretch on each rep, pause in stretched position on last few)
40 + bar x 4 x 12

Standing Calf Raise/Tibia Raises
245 x 10/70 x 15
300 x 10/50 x 25
345 x 10/50 x 20
405 x 10/50 x 15
495 x 10 + 20 partials/50 x 15

Sick arm session. I was able to train with a partner again today and we just went at it. We were both dead after the seated curls, where we each pushed each other a ton to eke out as many reps as possible.

The Iso tension work on the OH triceps extensions was brutal. I'd definitely recommend it to anyone that is looking for something new on triceps.

[The Solution]

They're pretty small. 10 grams of carbs and 2-3 grams of fat usually.

Does wonders though for keeping you lean in the offseason

Slow and steady.

[ebomb55]

Does wonders though for keeping you lean in the offseason

Slow and steady.

For sure man. It takes some discipline, but doing this will really help me come next contest prep.

[ebomb55]

Here's a video of the occlusion from today...this was the second or third set, can't remember.

[The Solution]

Good god you look more vascular every video/set of pics.

[ebomb55]

Good god you look more vascular every video/set of pics.

Haha, well, this was occlusion training..soo.

That being said, I definitely feel much fuller and vascular 3 weeks post show due to the increased cals and drastically reduced cardio. Very exciting stuff.

[ebomb55]

11.21.13

Today is a full off day right now, but it's also my weight update day.

I weighed in at 194.4 this morning, which is -1.2 lb from last week and an all-time low for contest prep as well. Definitely looking for a nice calorie bump this week!

[The Solution]

11.21.13

Today is a full off day right now, but it's also my weight update day.

I weighed in at 194.4 this morning, which is -1.2 lb from last week and an all-time low for contest prep as well. Definitely looking for a nice calorie bump this week!

Cannot complain with losing, and getting more food!