Krustster's lifting journal of DEATH: The Return!

**Ronald A. Strahan** · 02-12-2009, 05:04 PM

Hang cleans? Sweet!

You should get in on the new OBF contest.

**krustster** · 02-13-2009, 12:28 PM

Originally Posted by Ronald A. Strahan

Hang cleans? Sweet!

You should get in on the new OBF contest.

What is this OBF you speak of?

Military press
115 x 5
135 x 5
140 x 5 I found out after the set was done that I had a five on one side but not the other.

155 x 2 Terrible bar, very wobbly and hard to stabilize.
155 x 3 Switched to a different one.
135 x 5
Military press was pretty crappy but it was better than last time, at least.

Split jerk
45 x 5
95 x 3
105 x 3
Ugh. I did these on last shoulder day and they were good, but today I just wasn't in the mood for it. Also my left shoulder/RC was hurting because I slept on it funny.

Seated DB press
70 x 5
80 x 5
85 x 5
90 x 4
Okay, that's more like it.

Lateral raises
20 x 8
25 x 10
30 x 9
30 x 10
35 x 7
25 x 10->db press 45 x 9 (pre-exhaust superset thing)
I was pretty surprised at being able to use the 35s today. I thought it would be painful and/or crappy but it felt great and I still got a good squeeze at the top.

Rear delts on machine
150 x 12
162 x 12
162 x 12
175 x 12
175 x 12

RC stuff

LEG DAY TOMORROW!!! I haven't taken a day off in over 2 weeks now! Let the punishment continue!!

**krustster** · 02-14-2009, 02:19 PM

Here you go.

Deadlift
135 x 10
225 x 5
315 x 5
375 x 2
385 x 1 I planned to go 315-375-405 but 315-375 was apparently too big a jump so I took another increment.
405 x 2
415 x 2
425 x 2
Here's the 425 video. It technically went well but I couldn't get the burst of energy that I need to have a really good lift. As you can see, my legs were shaking from the effort, lolol. Kinda ugly.

Squat
135 x 5
135 x 5
205 x 3
225 x 3
245 x 3
255 x 2
Ugh, my brain was FRIED!! Tomorrow will be a day off for sure. Next leg day, squats will be first because I need to start increasing them again.

Leg press
400 x 8
500 x 5
500 x 5
By this time my legs and brain were completely dead. Next leg day will be better, I guarantee it. Hey, at least I got 425 I guess...lolol

**Ronald A. Strahan** · 02-14-2009, 11:40 PM

^^^^ As you know, I just renovated my legs train to trains legs and lo-back on different days. If you find yourself lacking that explosive charg over youtr next few legs sessions, you should give it a try, to worked for me.

Originally Posted by krustster

What is this OBF you speak of?

The OBF is the Online Bodybuilding Federation, the run a few contests a year. There's a huge one coming up, from March 9 June 3 (or around there) Some of them you have to run a log for, for this one you submit before / after photos and make a weekly post in forum thread to make sure you're still alive.

Here's the original post:

****Official "OBF" Slamming Spring Spectacular Contest Sign-Up Thread***

**Ronald A. Strahan** · 02-18-2009, 08:55 PM

Damn, you go deep!

Great ROM for a man of your size!

**krustster** · 02-20-2009, 08:40 PM

I followed my plans and did squats first as well as incorporating front squats. The results were both good and bad--good in that I really blasted those legs, and bad in that deadlifts went down. Of course I'll have to wait until a couple of workouts have gone by to gauge the results.

Squats
135 x 5
135 x 5
205 x 3
235 x 3
255 x 3
265 x 2 tssss

Deadlifts
225 x 5
315 x 3
365 x 3
385 x 2
405 x 2
415 x 1
My legs were ROASTED LIKE EVER from doing squats to near failure. Keep in mind, this is the first week in a while that I've done this (before deadlifts) and next week I ASSUME it'll be better.

SPEED DEADLIFTS
225 x 3
225 x 5
225 x 5
I think I did 3 sets. This **** was intense! I started deadlifting in my Chuck Taylors again and it kind of threw me off--it was kinda hard to get the "explosion" at the beginning since my start position was slightly lower than before due to the thinner shoes. So I was like hey, let's work on that! Speed deads are awesome and I shall do them now till the end of my days.

Front squats
135 x 3
135 x 5
135 x 5

Calf raises
225 x 12

I ran out of time at this point because I spent quite a long time getting used to the new routine. And I still haven't tried my new belt yet!

**krustster** · 02-20-2009, 08:57 PM

Originally Posted by Ronald A. Strahan

Damn, you go deep!

Great ROM for a man of your size!

I used to do quarter-squats, then I eventually increased my ROM to what I thought was parallel. Later, I got some Ironman bodybuilding book from the library and they had this article written by Tom Platz where he talked about how full squats were his key to incredible legs. That was when I decided to go "ass to grass" or whatever. My form now is better than it was then, but either way I've long thought that it was kind of pointless to use a full range of motion in everything except squats (unless you're a powerlifter, which of course I'm not). I figure if I go down all the way at all times, then there's no room for debate as to whether a squat was good or not.

Tom Platz's legs, for reference:

**krustster** · 02-21-2009, 02:32 PM

"Pendlay" BB rows
135 x 8
135 x 8
205 x 5
225 x 5
245 x 5
245 x 5
245 x 5
I found that I was standing straight-legged with my back parallel to the floor on my warmup sets ("pendlay" rows, in other words) so I decided to go with that for the rest of my sets. The results were excellent! I used to do these back in the day but I didn't know how to stabilize my core very well, so I always got rocked out. Today they were great.

Deadlifts
245 x 8
245 x 10
245 x 5
245 x 5
I did the last two sets as speed deads. Yes, I'm officially out of control. I remembered today that I had historically gotten good results on squats from doing additional lighter sets of them throughout the week, so I tried it with deadlifts. Also I haven't done high reps with anything over 135 in a long time so that was pretty nuts. AND, I figured that since my back was pre-exhausted by the rows, the deads would end up being mostly legs...and I was right!

Pulldowns
175 x 5
187 x 5
200 x 5
212 x 5
225 x 4 > 175 x 6

DB row
100 x 5
100 x 5
100 x 5
I gave up on cable rows because I don't want to lug an extra 150 pounds of dumbells over and stack them up any time I want to use the machine, so I did these....with a twist! I paused for a second or two at the top of each rep and also went slowly up and down. The pause seemed to really get my middle-back, so I'll keep these as my middle-back exercise for now at least.

Straight-arm pushdown
62 x 8
75 x 8
87 x 6
87 x 5
62 x 8
Another substitution, this time in place of the hammer pulldowns. A good isolation movement that also gets the middle back, thus making it suitable for my purposes.

Pull-throughs
120 x 8
150 x 8
150 x 8
150 x 8
I told you, I'm out of control.

DB curls
40 x 5
50 x 5
55 x 7
55 x 6
45 x 8

I think I'll be keeping this workout, as long as my legs aren't insanely sore tomorrow.

**Ronald A. Strahan** · 02-22-2009, 12:24 AM

Originally Posted by krustster

I used to do quarter-squats, then I eventually increased my ROM to what I thought was parallel. Later, I got some Ironman bodybuilding book from the library and they had this article written by Tom Platz where he talked about how full squats were his key to incredible legs. That was when I decided to go "ass to grass" or whatever. My form now is better than it was then, but either way I've long thought that it was kind of pointless to use a full range of motion in everything except squats (unless you're a powerlifter, which of course I'm not). I figure if I go down all the way at all times, then there's no room for debate as to whether a squat was good or not.

It makes sense. It's all about getting to the point where people are either so intimidated by you in the gym that they don't talk to you or you're big enough to tell Doubting Thomas to fcuk off.

**krustster** · 02-24-2009, 02:10 PM

I started wearing my Chuck Taylors again today for both squats and deads. Having different footing kinda threw me off on squats, so I decided not to go up in weight just yet, but 265 was certainly easier than last time. Things are back in order now for the most part. I will go up to 275 next week if all goes well. I also moved pull-throughs to leg day.

Squat
135 x 5
135 x 5
225 x 3
245 x 3
255 x 3
265 x 2

Deadlift
225 x 5
225 x 5 explosive!
315 x 3
365 x 3
385 x 2
405 x 3
415 x 3
425 x 2
435 x 1
Ahhh, now that's more like it. Despite being under-rested all week and not having much energy today, I was able to get worked up on the 400+ sets (with much effort, mind you). 435 is the most I've ever done so far but it was easier than I thought it would be. Although I didn't want to go any higher than 435x1 in the interest of saving my brain, I definitely felt that I could have gotten it for a double, or 445 for a single. So that puts me "only" about 50 pounds away from my goal! Yay!

I noticed a huge improvement in my hamstring strength already compared to last workout and it made quite a difference. My legs were shaking a little but not nearly as much as before.

Front squats
135 x 3
135 x 3
155 x 3
Only the second workout with these since I started them again, so my wrist/shoulder flexibility was kind of holding things back although I could feel I had more in the tank. I may go for 175 next leg day.

Rope pull-throughs
150 x 10
150 x 10
150 x 10
Such a good exercise. I did these reps at high speed for best results.

Calf raise
245 x 12
295 x 12
315 x 12
I missed these for a couple weeks so I kept the sets low, but I didn't seem to have lost much strength (although my calves got noticeably smaller already, tssss)

**krustster** · 02-28-2009, 07:18 PM

Hey, I am still here. I have been battling with a "trojan" on my computer for the last couple of days though (whoops) and also back & shoulder day were nothing worth reporting because I didn't get enough sleep and felt like crap. However, chest day went well. I went back to normal sets for the day to see what was up.

Bench
135 x 12
225 x 5
245 x 5
265 x 5
275 x 5!
285 x 3
265 x 4
Oh hell yeah son.

Incline
205 x 5
215 x 5
225 x 4
205 x 4
I went a little nuts on regular bench so incline suffered of course.

CG bench
135 x 8
175 x 8
175 x 8
175 x 6

Pushdowns
???
??
???

A good day!

**krustster** · 02-28-2009, 07:21 PM

I got plenty of sleep last night so I decided to go nuts on deadlifts.

Squat
135 x 5
135 x 5
225 x 3
245 x 3
265 x 3
275 x 1
Taking it easy on squats, going for 275 x 3 next time.

Deadlift
225 x 5
325 x 4
385 x 2
415 x 2
435 x 1
445 x 1
455 x 1 !!!!!
Yeeeeaaah buddy! What a bargain!

Pull throughs
150 x 8
150 x 8

Then I had to leave for work.

**krustster** · 03-01-2009, 09:25 PM

AAAAHHHH MAX DAY for the first time in ages.

Bench
135 x 12
225 x 5
245 x 3
265 x 1
275 x 1
285 x 1
295 x 1
305 x 1
315 x 1!!!!

There was a workout after that but it doesn't matter. Does it??? Does it even matter?? I GOT 315 WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOo

I was hoping for 305 at best but I smashed it! Haha I'm the loooooorrrd of dis castle! RIGHT GUYS??? GUYS????

Dammit, all my fans are dead.

**krustster** · 03-04-2009, 09:25 AM

I decided to do dumbell press first because military press has been roasting my bad shoulder like ever.

DB press
40 x 12
65 x 10
80 x 5
85 x 5
90 x 5
95 x 5!!!
90 x 3
Wow, not only did I work up the guts to finally try the 95s, but I got 5 reps! ha haha!

Military press
115 x 8
125 x 8
135 x 5
Dammit, my shoulder got rocked out again. I might just take these out completely for a while.

Lateral raise
25 x 10
30 x 10
35 x 8
40 x 6
I don't know why or how I can do the 40s for lateral raises, and with good form to boot, but there you have it.

Machine press
225 x 10
265 x 10
285 x 9
These are pretty good for a burnout at the end of everything.

Cable rotations

Good shoulder day other than BB being terrible, but that has been the trend lately.

**krustster** · 03-10-2009, 07:04 PM

Another leg day! This time a really good one! I had the power of the universe behind me this time.

Squats
135 x 8
205 x 5
225 x 3
255 x 3
265 x 3
265 x 3
225 x 3
I figured I might as well do more sets/reps of the same weight rather than moving up at all times. I think I'll go for 265x5, 265x5 next time and then move up? maybe.

Deadlift
225 x 5
335 x 3
385 x 3
405 x 3
425 x 3
435 x 3!
What a bargain! The speed sets have really been paying off!

Speed deads
265 x 3
265 x 3
265 x 3

Front squats
135 x 5
155 x 5

Then I ran out of time and had to leave for work. I originally wasn't going to lift at all but I decided at the last minute to go for it.

**Ronald A. Strahan** · 03-10-2009, 08:14 PM

Your workout look like they're going very well... Sweet!

Originally Posted by krustster

I started wearing my Chuck Taylors again today for both squats and deads. Having different footing kinda threw me off on squats, so I decided not to go up in weight just yet, but 265 was certainly easier than last time. Things are back in order now for the most part. I will go up to 275 next week if all goes well. I also moved pull-throughs to leg day.

I've been curious about this Krustster. A few weeks ago I got a message on one of my youtube vids that I should start squatting in chucks. I was out of town and low and behold I forgot my shoes so I went to an Academy Sports and picked up a pair of the smoked out ones. I haven't had a chance to use them yet... What should I expect when I do?

**krustster** · 03-11-2009, 06:46 PM

Originally Posted by Ronald A. Strahan

Your workout look like they're going very well... Sweet!

I've been curious about this Krustster. A few weeks ago I got a message on one of my youtube vids that I should start squatting in chucks. I was out of town and low and behold I forgot my shoes so I went to an Academy Sports and picked up a pair of the smoked out ones. I haven't had a chance to use them yet... What should I expect when I do?

The big deal with "Chucks" is that they're really flat and have no cushioning or arch support, so you get a really flat and solid surface that translates into both greater stability (from your feet being closer to the floor) and better balance because it's flat. And solid. Well, you know. Stuff like that.

Bench
135 x 12
225 x 5
255 x 5
275 x 4
275 x 4
285 x 1, 1, 1
I was hoping for sets of 5 with 275 but my tendons were hurting due to my lack of sleep for the past straight week. Bizarrely enough, I started to feel better as the workout went along.

Incline
185 x 5
205 x 5
225 x 5
225 x 4
235 x 2, 1, 1, 1

Close grip bench
175 x 8
195 x 8
215 x 7
225 x 5

Other stuff like wrist curls, machine shrugs and pushdowns were in there, but I forgot the details for those.

**krustster** · 03-11-2009, 08:58 PM

**Ronald A. Strahan** · 03-11-2009, 09:24 PM

Thanks! Good bench work, you made up for not getting 275x5!

**krustster** · 03-13-2009, 10:56 PM

Originally Posted by Ronald A. Strahan

Thanks! Good bench work, you made up for not getting 275x5!

I was pretty happy with the incline! Well tomorrow is bench day again, and I'm pretty overtrained (and drunk at the moment) so we'll see what happens.

**baseballmaui** · 03-15-2009, 11:23 PM

duuuuuudddde whats up??
looks like your smashing prs everywhere
keep it up bro

**Kyle.Huwer** · 03-16-2009, 09:50 PM

I've been busy myself. Just now checking in on my subs to see how everyone is doing.

Looks like you are doing well, too!

**krustster** · 03-18-2009, 07:35 PM

HI GUYS! I ended up having to re-image my computer entirely because everything (as I later found out) was infested with w32.virut.cf, and I just got things up and running not long ago. Well, let's just move on to back day, shall we?

BB Row
135 x 8
135 x 8
205 x 5
225 x 5
245 x 5
255 x 4
255 x 5

255, SWEET! I've been blasting the hammer curls, and I think my arms were the weak link here because it made a big difference.

Hammer Strength pulldown
315 x 8
365 x 8
405 x 8
405 x 6
315 x 7

Straight-arm pushdown/regular pulldown superset
75 x 9 / 187 x 5
87 x 8 / 162 x 5
75 x 7 / 159 x 5

"Face pulls"
100 x 8
120 x 8
120 x 8
120 x 8

DB curls
40 x 10
50 x 5
55 x 5
60 x 5

Hammer curls
70 x 5
75 x 5
80 x 5
60 x 10
50 x 10

That's about it, I think.

**krustster** · 03-18-2009, 07:39 PM

Today was leg day. The last one was a big pile of **** (got 425x1 for deads and failed it the second time, lolol) but today I was so ****ing hyper I couldn't stop shaking. It was like in Baki the Grappler, you could see my brain glowing blue through my skull and someone said in awe, "Endorphins..!!" Maybe not. ****ing intense though. It actually wasn't the most productive day because the first part of it was spent trying to get used to squatting with a belt. That ****er hurts but I finally think I'm getting the hang of it.

Squats
135 x 10
205 x 5
225 x 3 (belt from here on)
245 x 3
265 x 3
275 x 1
295 x 1

Well that was neat. I could have gotten 315 without too much hassle, I think. Next time I figure I'll go for a proper max out, just because I haven't in ages. Pretty cool though, aside from feeling like my lungs and intestines were going to collapse, the belt helped a lot and my back felt a lot better afterward than it normally would; the "fear factor" of loading the spine was a lot less as well.

Deadlift
225 x 8
315 x 3
365 x 3 This was with the belt, then I decided to take it off after that. Way too much pain and suffering. Not only that but it was almost impossible to get into the start position, lolol. I should probably try it a notch looser for deads if I use it at all. My form was definitely going into the ****ter though, so I decided to forgo the belt.
385 x 3
405 x 2
425 x 2
445 x 1
455 x 1
465 x 1!!

That's right. 30 pounds away. Here's my 455 video. 465 was BRUTAL. I got it up to the knees, just barely, and a voice in my head said "never give it up if you're past the knees!!" so I ground it out, the pressure behind my eyes building to almost unbearable levels, my entire body shaking like a paint mixer!! But I did it! Too bad we didn't tape that one because it was insane.

Negro, please.

**krustster** · 03-22-2009, 09:59 AM

I haven't been writing things down in my notebook lately, because somehow I'm able to remember what I did the previous week when I'm actually at the gym... but I can never really remember what I did when I'm trying to post them here. I'll write down shoulder day today for sure but here are some highlights from the past week.

Chest day key lifts
Bench 275 x 5, 275 x 4
Incline 225 x 4, 225 x 4
Close grip bench 225 x 5, 225 x 4

Back day key lifts
BB row 255 x 5
Hammer pulldown 405 x 8, 405 x 6
1-arm "face pulls" 125 x 8, 4 sets
DB hammer curls 80 x 5
DB regular curls 60 x 6

Shoulder day key lifts
DB press 90 x 5, 90 x 5 (this was the previous week/cycle, today is shoulder day again)
Seesaw DB press 60 x 7 (doing these instead of BB press to save my shoulder)
Lateral raise 40 x 6
Machine shoulder press 365 x 7 or something. I think so. This may or may not have happened.

I will be back with a complete report of today's workout when I get done in a couple hours!

**krustster** · 03-23-2009, 12:38 PM

As promised.

DB press
40 x 12
65 x 10
80 x 5
85 x 5
90 x 5
95 x 4
95 x 2
Not bad I suppose. I was hoping for 5 with the 95s, but that's fine. Form was good.

Seesaw DB press
55 x 7
60 x 6
65 x 4
Didn't really feel like doing these so I sort of slogged through it.

Lateral raise
25 x 10
30 x 10
35 x 8
40 x 7
25 x 8

Machine shoulder press
315 x 10
365 x 8
385 x 4
315 x 4

RC stuff

Not a bad day. I was hoping to do cardio but I left late... oh well, I have been getting pretty good cardio the rest of the week.

**krustster** · 03-23-2009, 01:06 PM

Maxed out on squats today. The results were pleasantly surprising!

Squats
135 x 10
225 x 3
255 x 1
275 x 1
295 x 1
305 x 1
315 x 1
325 x 1
225 x 5
Good stuff! Having a belt has made a world of difference. I can go a lot harder now than I could before.

Deadlifts
265 x 8
355 x 3
395 x 3
415 x 3
425 x 2

Speed deads
265 x 3
265 x 3
265 x 3

Time to go!

**krustster** · 04-02-2009, 01:18 PM

All right, I'm more motivated now that I stopped being an alcoholic and also got over most of my anxiety and depression nonsense. Today I was taking no prisoners. Notice that I increased the weight of my warmup sets and it worked fairly well.

Deadlift
185 x 8
275 x 5
365 x 3
405 x 2
425 x 2
435 x 2
445 x 2

Squat
135 x 5
135 x 5
225 x 3
255 x 3
275 x 3
285 x 2
Coulda had more but my brain was completely melted by this point because I forgot to take my lecithin pre-workout.

Front squat
165 x 3
185 x 3
195 x 3
195 was brutal.

Hamstring curl Cable machine was taken so I decided to get some direct ham work.
90 x 8
135 x 5
160 x 5
180 x 5
135 x 8

Calf raise
265 x 12
265 x 12
265 x 12

Weighted crunches (on the EXTREME BALL)
40 x 12
50 x 8
40 x 8

Woo

**krustster** · 04-03-2009, 06:28 PM

Bench
135 x 12
225 x 5
265 x 5
285 x 2, 1, 1, 1
295 x 2, 1, 285 x 1, 275 x 1
245 x 8

Incline
205 x 4
205 x 5
225 x 5
235 x 3
205 x 8

Close grip bench
185 x 8
205 x 5
215 x 5
135 x 10

Pushdowns
75 x 10
87 x 8
87 x 8
100 x 5
75 x 6

**krustster** · 04-05-2009, 02:02 AM

Back day

Rows
135 x 8
205 x 5
225 x 5
245 x 5
At this point I was dizzy and nauseous to the point of near vomiting. I'm not sure why, but I had to cut it short.

Hammer strength pulldown
315 x 10
365 x 8
405 x 6
405 x 6, 315 x 6
See above; I'm not sure how I even made it this far. BAD day.

1-arm "face pulls"
100 x 10
110 x 8
120 x 8
130 x 8

Superset pushdown/pulldown
75/150 x 9/7
75/150 x 7/6
75/150 x 8/5

Followed by random bicep nonsense. ANNND... my gym finally got an actual GOOD piece of new equipment instead of random ****ty machines: A wrist/forearm roller thing! What a bargain! It's permanently set up with a 10lb plate, aka worthless, but I was able to jury-rig another 10 on there for an astounding forearm workout.

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