Northback Goes on the AD

[nwskier]

Chest/Lats

(Each set followed by 30-45 seconds of HIT jump rope)

DB Incline: 11x85, 10x85, 9x85, 8x85, 7x85 10x65
(twist inward at top of contraction)
BB Bench: 10x205, 6x245, 4x255, 7x240, 7x225
Cable Crossover: 8x80, 8x85, 8x85, 8x85
Lat Pulldown (behind the neck) 8x195, 5x205, 8x195
Lat Pulldown (underhand grip) 10x195, 8x210, 5x225, 10x195
*Superset with straight arm pushdown- 45x10
Decline BB: 10x185, 7x205, 6x215, 6x205, 8x185
Champagnes 45x8, 45x8, 45x7
*superset with Incline Flyes: 45x8, 45x8, 45x8
Low Cable Flyes on incline (skipped- there was a line to get back on the cables :mad


Comments: Great workout. I wasn't quite sure how it would go tonight because I'd been fighting a cold the past two days. For as tired as I felt during the day, I'm happy with the overall results. The cold caused me to carb load for 2.5 days - but was worth it. Started back on the AD again this morning.

[nwskier]

Legs/Abs:

Front Squats: 12x135, 10x185, 6x205, 5x215, 7x205, 6x205
Barbell Squats: 10x255, 8x295, 12x225
Lying Leg Curls: 8x170, 8x170, 7x170,
Seated Calf Raises on incline: 15x360, 12x380, 10x400, 10x400

Hanging Leg Raises - to failure x 3
Decline crunches w/35lb weight - to failure x 3
Cable Crunches 12x160, 12x170, 10x180, 10x180

Comments: Short, intense workout. Was hesitant to hit legs too hard the night before a big ski day- but decided to lower the volume, focus on form, and decrease weight on some exercises.

[nwskier]

Day 17: Cardio - skied for 5 hours today, legs were burning from yesterday's leg and ab workout. Woke up this morning (Day 18) and could definitely feel it!

Day 18:
morning picture after waking up





back later today

[nwskier]

Weight: 181.5

Shoulders/Triceps: (due to time crunch, moved traps to next day)

BB Shoulder Press: 10x135, 6x155, 5x165, 5x165, 4x165, 10x135
CGBP: 8x185, 6x205, 7x205, 7x205, 6x205, 8x185
Skull Crushers / Press Ups: 7x115, 7x115, 7x105
Arnold Presses: 7x50, 7x50, 7x50


Reverse Peck Deck: n/a
Side Laterals (machine): n/a
Tricep Rope Push Down: n/a
BB Shoulder Shrugs: n/a


Comments: Not bad, not great once again. Can't really figure out if it's the diet that's wearing me down or the time of day. When I work out in late afternoon or evening, I'm usually pumped with energy. Anytime my schedule forces me to workout mid-morning- I feel kind of lethargic. Though I was feeling tired throughout, felt pretty good about what I got done. I also tend to have crappy workouts when I'm pressed for time (like today). Not sure if anyone else experiences that- but when I have time constraints- my workouts end up feeling rushed or less intense.

[slippin]

I can definitely relate on feeling rushed when I'm pressed for time.

Pics and lifts are looking good, squats especially. Squats kill me on the AD.

Keep it up!

[nwskier]

Back, Traps, Biceps:

Deadlifts: 12x135, 10x225, 10x255, 8x275, 8x275* (see comments)
BB Shrugs: 12x225, 10x275, 10x295, 6x315, 6x315
BB Curls: 7x105, 7x105, 5x105, 8x95
One Arm Preacher Curls: 8x35, 8x35, 8x35 (each arm)
Hyperextensions w/weight: 15xbw, 11x35, 10x35, 8x35, 7x35
Seated Cable Rows: 8x180, 6x190, 6x190, 7x180, 10x130
Mid-Back/Rhomboid DB shrugs: 10x45, 10x45, 9x50, 8x50
Hammer Curls: 8x45, 7x45
Incline Hammer Curls: 10x35, 10x35
21's (Hammer Strength): 1x19 90 (+2 at 80)

Comments: 9/10 for intensity. Great workout, wasn't rushed today with any time committment. Felt good to just keep up the pace. For the first half of the workout, I included some fast paced 30sec rope jumping in between each set. Really helps get the blood pumping.

On the downside, I was feeling great on the DL's so decided to start working up in weight again. For the second time in a month, I strained something in my lower back so had to ease off. Did a lot of stretching and ice afterwards to help recovery. I've been told I have good form, but there has to be something I'm doing wrong. 275 is a moderately heavy weight for me, but I've been comfortable with 315+ for sets of 6-7 reps. Struck me as odd that it happened at the 275 level. Next time I'm going to bring a camera so I can post a video for some form critique.

Supplement Review: Xtend + SuperPump combo has been $$$ for my sessions. Overall, when I lift afternoon or evening I am experiencing great focus and intensity. Biggest difference is noticing how the addition of Xtend has really helped my middle sets with recovery and pace.

Diet: I'm liking the AD diet overall, but still feeling like tweaking the total carbs a bit would be beneficial to me because of the all the intense HIIT I do during the week with skiing and ski touring. May throw a few extra carbs in for breakfast here and there. No doubt that I will burn them off.

[nwskier]

Originally Posted by slippin

I can definitely relate on feeling rushed when I'm pressed for time.

Pics and lifts are looking good, squats especially. Squats kill me on the AD.

Keep it up!

^^ thanks. I think squats hold up decently for me because of all the leg work involved in skiing / hiking so I'm constantly abusing them

[nwskier]

Chest: Figured it was time to mix up the order to shock the muscles- and holy crap did it work. Felt a little weak on some lifts but really made up for it with intensity. Fast 30 seconds of HIT Jump Rope between each set.. I can feel my body fat shrinking and today was probably one of the most pumped days I've ever felt on chest!

today's N3MB3Rs:

BB Incline: 12x135, 10x185, 8x205, 6x225, 5x230, 4x230, 8x205
Cable Crossovers: 10x90, 8x90, 8x85, 8x85
Champagnes: 8x45, 8x45, 8x45
*superset with Incline flyes- 8x45, 8x45, 8x45
BB Flat: 10x185, 10x205, 7x225, 6x230, 5x240, 7x225
Low Cable Flyes on incline: 8x50, 8x50, 8x45, 7x45, 7x45
Decline DB: 5x85, 5x85
*superset with decline flyes- 8x45, 8x45


Comments: No lats today. Taking a week off from a strain I got going heavy last week. Back felt better today after tweaking that yesterday on DL's. Taking tomorrow off lifting to give back a chance to heal up so I can attack legs on Wednesday.

First time in a long while that I moved flat bench into the middle of the workout. Probably could have started heavier but wasn't quite sure how I'd feel so depleted. As it turned out, sets kept feeling light- I feel like I definitely gained some strength today that will hopefully be apparent when I move back to my regular order. I'll mix it up again for another session or two before going back to my normal order.

Overall pretty darn stoked. I think time of day definitely makes a difference. Evening/Afternoon workouts are definitely better for me.

[nwskier]

change up today- Biceps/Shoulders/Triceps

35 seconds of jump rope/foot work between each set
Alt DB Curls: 45x8, 50x8, 50x7
BB Military Press: 10x135, 10x155, 7x165, 5x170, 4x175, 6x155
Tricep/Bicep Triple superset:
*Skull Crushers: 10x105, 8x115, 8x115
*Press Ups: 10x105, 8x115, 8x115
*EZ Bar Curls 8x105, 5x105, 5x105

CGBP: 8x185, 6x205, 6x205, 5x205
Arnold Presses: 7x50, 7x50, 7x50
Tricep Rope Press Down: 8x130, 8x130, 8x130

Cable Crunches - 11x180, 11x180, 8x180, 7x180
Hanging Leg Raises - 4 sets to failure (14, 11, 11, 8)

Comments: Tiring. First half of workout was great. The CGBP was tough- kind of hit a wall there today. Probably due to the lack of sleep the past two nights (5.5 hrs, 6 hrs). Need to fix that.

Though I was tired, military/shoulder pressing was strong. First time I've tried 175 in a few months- easily got 4, almost banged out the 5th rep. Would have been better with spotter but the gym was empty tonight.

Food: I'm hooked on the ground beef omelets Slippin posted. I tweaked it and added some blue cheese and sliced roast beef. Good stuff!

[nwskier]

Light Cardio: 30 minutes Eliptical Trainer

Might go back for another light cardio session of stairs tonight

Taking a break from legs this week b/c I've got some pretty intense plans for the President's Day Holiday weekend and I'm going to need every bit of strength for the mtns i'm looking at climbing and skiing. Upper Body / Abs / Cardio is this week's plan. Carb up planned for Saturday morning through Sunday.

[nwskier]

Updated back picture - I definitely feel like I've had some good success reducing bodyfat in the short period of time I've been fully on the anabolic diet (just over 3 weeks)

Haven't had a good back shot so here is the monthly update:





Relaxed front chest

[nwskier]

catching up from yesterday...

Day 25- Full Upper Body

Incline BB: 8x205, 7x225, 3x240, 6x225, 8x205
T-Bar Rows: 6x135, 6x135, 5x150, 5x150, 6x135
*superset with Tricep rope pushdowns 5x8x65
Seated Cable Rows: 7x180, 7x180, 7x180, 7x180
EZ Curl Bar: 6x105, 6x105, 5x105
BB Bench: 8x205, 8x225, 5x240, 5x250, 7x225
Low Cable Flyes on incline: 8x55, 8x55, 7x55, 8x50, 7x50
*superset with pullups
Cable Crossovers: 8x90, 8x95, 8x95, 8x90
Hammer Curls: 8x45, 8x45, 7x45, 7x45
*superset with Skull Crushesrs: 8x105, 8x105, 8x105
Tricep overhead DB extension: 8x75, 8x75
Lat Pulldown: 7x195, 7x210, 5x225
Military BB: 8x135, 8x135
Hanging Leg Raises x2 to failure superset with Cable cruches x2 to failure


Comments: Insane volume today, great intensity. Next few days I'll be ski touring so didn't want to hit legs- figured might as well hit the most the upper body so I don't feel guilty about being out of the gym for 3 days.

Supplements: Xtend is just kicking butt. It's been 2 weeks now since I've incorporated it into my workouts - and has definitely been part of the success I think I'm experiencing. I went shopping yesterday- and have a cabinet full up supps that I'm going to start in March. Until then, just finishing up SizeOn, Xtend, and Animal Paks.


Triceps shot from today:

[nwskier]

Took a break from lifting to get in some outdoor cardio

Weight: down to 178 (thanks to intense weekend)

quick stats:

day 27 - hike 3000 vertical feet
day 28 - hike 4000 vertical feet

some pics ~ day 27 hiking the stairmaster couloir


day 28 - pic of what we hiked/skied


view from across the valley


gotta run, update more later

[nwskier]

I've been able to avoid it while everyone around me picked up that nasty flu. Last night bailed on my workout not feeling quite par- passed out on the couch and woke up in cold sweat at 12am. Drank a bunch of tea and against my better judgement ate a bunch of carbs (Sticking to AD feels awful with a cold), slept in... and now downing some Emergen-C and tea to keep the cold from getting a good grasp. On the plus side I think it's working - but am not terribly psyched to have to break off AD for a few days to avoid getting sick.
Modifying diet for the next two days to include some extra carbs for breakfast and lunch.

[nwskier]

Legs:

Felt a bit better tonight after drinking gallons upon gallons of tea so decided to go and try to sweat out the rest of this minor cold. It seemed to work.
Did a semi-light session on Legs- but very pleased with the front squats considering how tired I was. Overall not too bad for kinda feeling like crap!

Front Squats: 12x135, 6x205, 8x205, 6x215, 5x225, 4x225
Squats: 8x275, 8x295, 8x275, 8x225
Leg Curls: 7x180, 5x180, 7x150
Seated calf extensions/incline: 15x340, 10x340, 10x340
Leg Press wide stance/feet outward: 8x450, 8x450, 8x450

[nwskier]

Continuing to change up my workouts, today rotated some bicep work in with chest.

*New PR*!!!

Chest/Biceps:

(Each set followed by 30-45 seconds of HIT jump rope)

BB Incline: 15x135, 10x205, 8x225*, 5x245*, 7x225, 8x205
BB Curl, Medium Grip: 10x85, 8x95, 6x100
Cable Crossover: 10x80, 10x85, 8x90
DB Preacher Curls: 10x35, 9x40*, 8x40 (8R, 7L)
BB Bench: 10x205, 8x225, 6x235, 8x225
Decline DB Flyes: 10x50, 10x50, 10x50
Superset with decline pullovers and decline abs to failure
Decline DB: 10x85, 10x85, 10x85

Cardio: 15 minutes of medium impact eliptical

Comments: Awesome workout. Strength felt up- set new PR's on incline bench and db preachers. Endurance lacked a little bit as workout progressed. Felt a bit light headed- eventhough I made it a point to over-hydrate. Left the gym wanting more! 9.5/10

Diet: Much better, hoping to get the abs to start popping again now that I've gotten rid of the cold and can deload off the carbs.

[nwskier]

Day 32: Abs

Day 33: Ski Touring - 4,000 vertical feet / 5 hours

Day 34: Skiing

Carb up started yesterday- ate some pretty bad crap today, looking forward to getting back on track with the low carbs starting with dinner tonight.

I'm spent

[nwskier]

Tweaking my rouine a little bit. I'm tired tonight just gonna post the #'s

Shoulders/Lats:

BB Military Press: 10x135, 10x155, 7x165, 5x175, 5x180, 5x155
Wide Grip Lat Pulldown (front): 10x195*, 8x165, 8x180, 8x195
*superset with 10 reps / 45lb straight arm ab pushdowns
Close Grip Lat Pulldown (underhand): 10x205, 5x225, 5x225
*superset with 10 reps / 45lb straight arm ab pushdowns
Arnold DB Presses: 8x50, 8x55, 6x60

[nwskier]

Biceps
BB curls
DB Preacher curls
DB hammer curls
Forearms
21's
Wide Grip BB curls

variety of ab exercises to failure

[nwskier]

Chest/Triceps

10 minutes of mellow jump rope/warmup

listing only working set ranges - in a rush today
Incline BB 185-225
Decline BB 185-225
Cable Crossovers 90-100
Low Cable Flyes 50-60
Flat BB 205-255
Champagnes 40-45
DB Pullovers 85* max db is 85 at the gym

Skull Crushers/Tricep Press/EZ-Bar Curl triple sets: 105
Rope Extensions- 90-130
CGBP decline- 185-215

Diet coming off the Anabolic Diet plan for a week or so. I've got a few vacation days and it's a pain to try and stick with it when out of the normal routine. Tons of cardio coming up with a heavy dose of skiing and ski touring on the agenda. Nice break from the weights for a week. Hoping to be all charged up and ready to go again in 8 days.