2012: Year of the novice bodybuilder - Parallel Journeys - Moses with 3DMJ

[FBZP]

Thanks buddy, mean a lot, and welcome to the party!

nice one, your advice about me having my cals too low in Dave's leangains thread has been invaluable

loving the cheesecake and the proats!!

[FrmrHoss]

I remember you and Dexter3000 from the good ole days In on this one as well!

[Bnizzle163]

We both have such similar tastes in proats! gotta love it lol

[Shazriki]

Solid work Shaz! I agree that even though 100kg is 100kg, the gym and atmosphere you feel good in can make everything a lot better/more fun.

BTW, is that SF choc syrup completely calorie-free? What brand is that?

Where I currently live, all those choc syrups are about 300 cals per drop.. brr

It's true, I mean the difference between my gym here and the one I go to in Spain is night and day. In Spain you have plenty of skinny runner dudes standing out chatting like it's some kind of social club, whereas here I see people actually doing work, keeping to themselves, doing legitimate exercises with proper form, etc.

It's not cal free, it's about 47 cals per 100g. It ain't no Walden Farms in terms of the low-calness but it tastes good and that's all I really care about.

Bro tell me about it, it was pretty difficult to find diet products in stores when I lived in Switzerland, I expect most of northern Europe/Scandinavia is the same. People in those places lead more active lifestyles in general so there's less demand for lower calorie food... they'll just walk it off anyway

nice one, your advice about me having my cals too low in Dave's leangains thread has been invaluable

loving the cheesecake and the proats!!

Glad you took it! I know it's counter-intuitive but sometimes down isn't always down with these things. Keep killing it!

Oh hell yea that cheesecake was good, perfect way to kickstart a diet lol.

I remember you and Dexter3000 from the good ole days In on this one as well!

Hey there - glad to have you following! Surely not from back in the fat loss forum days?

We both have such similar tastes in proats! gotta love it lol

Gotta have the mix-ins brah, errrry day.

[Shazriki]

Day 4: 25 weeks, 1 day out

I was still feeling sore from tuesday's workout today, so I decided that I pushed things a little too quickly after such a long break. Today the goal was simply to get close to my previous weights but with a little breathing room so I didn't have a repeat of tuesday when I tweaked my left adductor a little bit. Not to say it wasn't a good workout though, as it was an opportunity to get a feel for how I respond to the reduced volume of this prep routine. All I can say so far is that once I'm back to my limit poundages (I'll be there by the end of next week I expect) I should be able to make some solid progress. The mental load of only having to deal with 2 sets for the main compounds compared to 3 is... well... 33% less taxing

Squat wasn't quite as easy as I hoped it would be at 264 for my top set, but that fact alone proved to me that scaling things back today was a good idea. A lot of it has to do with rapid detraining that has been an issue for me in the past, usually it's pretty transient though and I'm back to full team within a few days. Considering the time away, benching and rowing felt particularly good, which surprised me especially my bench.

Relating to bench: does anyone find that they benefit from using a narrower grip for benching? I find that if move my grip much wider than shoulder width I lose quite a bit of strength in the lift, could be because I'm relying too much on triceps perhaps?

Well, tomorrow is my first day of HIIT on this prep, looking forward to it! I have previously only done HIIT a handful of times in my life... I think I can count them all on one hand so it's practically a new experience!

Morning weight 196

Training

Barbell Squat:

264 lb x 4 reps
236.5 lb x 6 reps

Barbell Bench Press:

176 lb x 2 reps
159.5 lb x 6 reps

Bent Over Barbell Row:

181.5 lb x 5 reps
181.5 lb x 5 reps

Seated Calf Raise:

253 lb x 13 reps
253 lb x 5 reps
253 lb x 5 reps
253 lb x 5 reps
253 lb x 5 reps
Myo-reps, exercise performed on a Rotary Calf press

Seated Leg Curl:

143 lb x 14 reps
143 lb x 5 reps
143 lb x 5 reps
143 lb x 5 reps
143 lb x 4 reps
Myo-reps

Nutrition

253P/252C/64F


Roasted chicken breast, brussels sprouts, and portobello mushrooms



Pumpkin proats with PB and cinnamon

[Dexter3000]

Bro tell me about it, it was pretty difficult to find diet products in stores when I lived in Switzerland, I expect most of northern Europe/Scandinavia is the same. People in those places lead more active lifestyles in general so there's less demand for lower calorie food... they'll just walk it off anyway

Haha yeah. It has two sides really; practically no obese (or even overweight for that matter) people around you, but no need for low-calorie foods either, so they're not really available. Gotta work with what you've got though.

Relating to bench: does anyone find that they benefit from using a narrower grip for benching? I find that if move my grip much wider than shoulder width I lose quite a bit of strength in the lift, could be because I'm relying too much on triceps perhaps?

Based on my own amateur experience; yes, definitely. Especially if you're taller or have long arms (relatively), the wide grip is heavier. Coincidentally I switched to a more narrow grip a few weeks ago and I really like it. You should try

[Shazriki]

Haha yeah. It has two sides really; practically no obese (or even overweight for that matter) people around you, but no need for low-calorie foods either, so they're not really available. Gotta work with what you've got though.

Based on my own amateur experience; yes, definitely. Especially if you're taller or have long arms (relatively), the wide grip is heavier. Coincidentally I switched to a more narrow grip a few weeks ago and I really like it. You should try

In a way I think it has hidden advantages in the context of dieting. It basically forces you to do it all eating food which are more healthful and nutritious which obviously has inherent benefits in terms of satiety and (slightly) performance. To use an extreme example: if you're looking for some kind of low cal or low fat ice cream and you simply can't find one to fit your macros, what do you do? I don't know about you, but my natural inclination always tends to fruit when I just can't find any other substitute for something sweet... that or oats

Well I fall into both the taller and longer arms category, so that would explain it! It's interesting because the difference is pretty acute: we're talking a difference of a few cm to either side causing a massive change in strength.


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BTW for anyone wondering why there was no weigh-in yesterday it's because I forgot to note it down in the log, it's now in the above post. It was higher than the first because I'm now using a different scale (the one I have here at home) which is definitely more accurate.

No worries though, new low today!

[Dexter3000]

In a way I think it has hidden advantages in the context of dieting. It basically forces you to do it all eating food which are more healthful and nutritious which obviously has inherent benefits in terms of satiety and (slightly) performance. To use an extreme example: if you're looking for some kind of low cal or low fat ice cream and you simply can't find one to fit your macros, what do you do? I don't know about you, but my natural inclination always tends to fruit when I just can't find any other substitute for something sweet... that or oats

You are absolutely right. And it's funny (or creepy?) you mention that example. Yesterday I was lurking in the ice-cream department and checked out some labels.. I decided to buy frozen fruit and add it to my greek yogurt instead! At least as satisfying

[brendbro]

things are looking top in here shaz! food is just about fap worthy

I can definitely empathise with you there on the temporary strength loss; when returning to the gym after a break it can be such a bloody bitch to get back into the groove of things... I wouldn't worry too much about it (not that you are )

p.s if you got any recommendations for dymatize fudge brownie throw 'em my way! just bought my first tub, keen on some ideas

[NaturalPursuit]

Day 3: 25 weeks, 2 days out

Given that I spent the day travelling/settling back into my house at university, I took a rest day just to make sure I could get all admin stuff out of the way before studying. Mentally, of course, I was still very much ON since all I can think about is the progress I'm going to make on this prep - and of course the next workout, which is tomorrow (can't wait). Even though I got a lift in a few days ago, my home gym is bar none the best place I have trained in my life, and I feel much more focused there. So yes I am pretty damn excited to get into the gym tomorrow.

Today was also the first day I tracked macros in about 3 weeks, and surprisingly there was no real sense of loss or restriction in falling back into my usual precision of weighing out the food, and I was able to pretty intuitively throw a few meals together without thinking too hard about it. Couple this with the fact that I basically maintained weight and strength over the christmas holidays without, at least consciously, giving a second thought to what I put in my mouth, and I'm pretty happy.

The only lifting related thing I did today was hammer out my lifting goals of 2012. They're basic, just 4 lifts I want to improve on and let everything else fall into place (all 1RM):

Deadlift 407 to ~450 or more
Squat 319 to 360-380
Bench 203.5 to 230-240 (I suck at benching)
OHP 132 to 150 or more (OK, I actually just suck at pressing in general)

I intend to cover some of this ground while prepping, one way or another these numbers will become reality!

Weight 194.7

First official weigh-in of prep, and wouldn't you know it I actually lost weight after sushi and cheesecake yesterday! Bi-winning.

Training

Off.

Nutrition

253P/251C/62F

Ground turkey, green pepper, onion and broccoli bro-fry with pita bread



XF Choc PB proats with Reese's Miniatures Bells and SF choc syrup



First time having proats in like 3 weeks. I came a little.

mmmmmm lookin delicious

[Shazriki]

You are absolutely right. And it's funny (or creepy?) you mention that example. Yesterday I was lurking in the ice-cream department and checked out some labels.. I decided to buy frozen fruit and add it to my greek yogurt instead! At least as satisfying

Lol I must have been thinking about it because yogurt+berries was one of the things I wanted to eat today (as well as ice cream). BTW I've heard that you can make legit frozen yogurt with greek yogurt and an ice cream maker. Froyo is AT LEAST as good as ice cream, but probably better, as usual it's down to the mix-ins which you can then customize yourself.. but you need an ice cream maker.

things are looking top in here shaz! food is just about fap worthy

I can definitely empathise with you there on the temporary strength loss; when returning to the gym after a break it can be such a bloody bitch to get back into the groove of things... I wouldn't worry too much about it (not that you are )

p.s if you got any recommendations for dymatize fudge brownie throw 'em my way! just bought my first tub, keen on some ideas

Thanks bro! Yea it's always a slight pain to get back into the groove, but usually the funk doesn't last much longer than a few workouts, cardio also helps to kickstart the body a bit as well I find. Pretty much anything to remind your body that it's their to work, not to slack

Dymatize fudge brownie is probably the best protein I've ever tasted for protein pudding (just powder + water + sweetener if you want). It also goes really well with cottage cheese since it thickens up the mixture nicely and the curds start to taste like brownie chunks. I found it wasn't especially good in oats or greek yogurt though. Didn't thicken oats up as much as I would like and just seem to got lost in GY every time I mixed it up.

Could probably do some baking with it, but I've never tried. Just make up some protein pudding (leave it thick) and grab some rice cakes: it's an awesome snack!

mmmmmm lookin delicious

Hehe cheers bro.

[phozosado]

Holy shyt this is even better than your last log. Workouts, food pron..........hmmm hmmm hmmmmmmmmm.

Volume and weight is nuts.

[oats_addict]

Would be rude not to, wouldnt it!?

You know ill be following pal - good luck with everything!!

[Shazriki]

Holy shyt this is even better than your last log. Workouts, food pron..........hmmm hmmm hmmmmmmmmm.

Volume and weight is nuts.

Aww shucks you're just saying that.

But thanks dude, means a lot from a dude who rows an airplane fuselage as a warm up.

Would be rude not to, wouldnt it!?

You know ill be following pal - good luck with everything!!

EASY EASY was wondering where you'd been Thanks mate glad to have you in and hope everything's well your end!

[Shazriki]

Day 5: 25 weeks, 1 day out

HOLY SHYT HIIT is good fun. Decided to do my intervals on the bike today, and after screwing around with the settings for a bit to try and make a "customized" interval workout I just said "screw it give me big hills to climb" and did it that way. I haven't breathed so hard during cardio in a LONG time. Every time my rest period ended I pumped that bike like it owed me money, my lungs wanted me to stop, but my mind wanted me to keep going. I think doing HIIT is going to be a fun way of adding a bit of variety to my cardio routine on this prep, I'm already looking forward to my next session. Tomorrow will just be some MISS cardio, but that in itself has some charms, I use it as a time to reflect on things and these days with studying being my main occupation it's a welcome break.

Morning weight 194.6 - prep low

Well, first low of the prep, even with the slightly higher weight on my usual scale taken into account, feels good to be making progress again.

Training

Stationary Bike 30s work - 90s rest intervals, 400 cals burned in 28:42

Nutrition

254P/246C/66F


Chicken salad with caramelized onions, red peppers, sweet corn, cherry tomatoes, tossed in balsamic vinaigrette



ON CnC whey SF/FF vanilla jello sludge with frozen raspberries and Strawberry poptart crisps with choc syrup



Stir-fried ground turkey, red peppers, onions, baked beans and chopped tomatoes with brussels sprouts



B&J's Caramel Chew Chew with Oreos

[franko man]

Subbed! From your Nutrition Log to here, it's been almost a year since eh? Your dedication and consistency are admirable and they'll definitely play a critical role to your success. Keep up the great work! And I absolutely love your eats..!!

[Bnizzle163]

I'm excited to see what you come up with food wise when you get DEEP into prep.

Dis gon b good

[Shazriki]

Subbed! From your Nutrition Log to here, it's been almost a year since eh? Your dedication and consistency are admirable and they'll definitely play a critical role to your success. Keep up the great work! And I absolutely love your eats..!!

Welcome in brother! It has indeed been about a year since the start of my old log, time seriously flies, it feels like it was just yesterday. Thanks for the words of encouragement dude, means a lot! All I am trying to do is emulate some of the blood, sweat, and tears that others have put forth to make this journey - so no worries, I'll keep workin' errrry. single. day.

Glad you like the eats, will keep them going for as long as I can, but I hear that Helms has a new diet for me planned which involves low days of eating nothing but rocks and water, with a refeed every three weeks of a slice of bread and a strawberry. Might be difficult if that happens.

I'm excited to see what you come up with food wise when you get DEEP into prep.

Dis gon b good

Oh I can tell you what's going to go down: you'll be able to gauge how deep into prep I am by the height of the mound of roast brussels sprouts on all my dinner plates

[Shazriki]

Day 5: 25 weeks out

Not much to report from today, hopped out of bed early to get cardio out of the way so I could study ALLLL day. Looking forward to training tomorrow: I've decided that as things stand I will be refeeding on mondays, so tomorrow will be my first high day of the diet: going to be lots of sludge, cereal, ice cream, and bagels. Not looking forward to: my first exam, aerospace structures. Should be OK, but I could have done with an extra week of studying this year.

Morning weight - 194.8

Tad up from yesterday, though my weight tends to move up during the weekend since I'm fairly sedentary on these days.

Training

Elliptical 400 cals burned in 31:20

Nutrition

245P/250C/66F


Chicken in tomato sauce with red onions and wilted spinach; spaghetti

[andyboi]

Goodness! Moses the pizza!!

Don't worry about the bad weigh ins, we all get those

[Bnizzle163]

Studying all day... sounds a lot like my weekend lol.

Looking forward to your refeed

[Shazriki]

Goodness! Moses the pizza!!

Don't worry about the bad weigh ins, we all get those

Andy, you are straight up SEEING things! Where's the pizza?? You know you're prepping when...

Yea weight always ping pongs around, can't do anything about it but ignore it.

Studying all day... sounds a lot like my weekend lol.

Looking forward to your refeed

Oh yeah it's all sorts of fun! AND I have another exam tomorrow so my refeed will basically be a case of cramming in food while reviewing notes. Indigestion FTW!

[brendbro]

Andy, you are straight up SEEING things! Where's the pizza??

LOL, my thoughts exactly

[snrygo]

y u no post link in old log? i an now on 2nd page and cant be 1rd


IN!

[lakergreat1]

y u no post link in old log? i an now on 2nd page and cant be 1rd


IN!

He did bro!! It was the last post in his log.

Funny you mention benching bro.. here's a recent note I wrote to coach:

"Watching the Rippletoe video's while pysching myself up for 1RM yesterday, I picked up 2 pointers.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iMq1r...eature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kauc-...feature=relmfu

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UwQyFoD6E80

1. Position on the bench should be your eyes just under the bar (rather then my old position that was right at the end of the bench)
2. My grip should be wide enough so that when i bring the bar down to my chest, my forearm is perpendicular to my upper arm, not pointing inwards or outwards (outwards being more of a powerlifting grip).

I made those 2 changes yesterday and felt some great improvement in my lifts."

E's response was - "Good vids, I agree with Rippetoe on probably 95% of his form coaching"

So although against yours and dexter's last points, figured I'd put it out there.

[Shazriki]

LOL, my thoughts exactly

y u no post link in old log? i an now on 2nd page and cant be 1rd


IN!

VVVV What he said reading comprehension fail! Welcome in tho

He did bro!! It was the last post in his log.

Funny you mention benching bro.. here's a recent note I wrote to coach:

"Watching the Rippletoe video's while pysching myself up for 1RM yesterday, I picked up 2 pointers.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iMq1r...eature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kauc-...feature=relmfu

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UwQyFoD6E80

1. Position on the bench should be your eyes just under the bar (rather then my old position that was right at the end of the bench)
2. My grip should be wide enough so that when i bring the bar down to my chest, my forearm is perpendicular to my upper arm, not pointing inwards or outwards (outwards being more of a powerlifting grip).

I made those 2 changes yesterday and felt some great improvement in my lifts."

E's response was - "Good vids, I agree with Rippetoe on probably 95% of his form coaching"

So although against yours and dexter's last points, figured I'd put it out there.

Interesting stuff Mike, thanks for posting! I must admit that I have never paid much attention to my grip width past making sure it's narrow enough to be comfortable for me. That's how I've always gauged it in the past: whether it's comfortable or not. I'll try experimenting with a grip position that achieves a perfectly perpendicular arm/forearm position on Friday.

[oats_addict]

EASY EASY was wondering where you'd been Thanks mate glad to have you in and hope everything's well your end!

Haha I have been here of there abouts.

Alls good man, i dont track cals or macros anymore, well not since starting the F1 job anyway, so christmas was nice and relaxed and I have just continued it. Each to their own is an understatement.

Lingering around 175lbs at the moment, higher BF% than I would like but it is gradually creeping down, whilst strength is without a doubt increasing. Getting good compliments and stuff, so cant complain.

BUT...
NEW LOG = NEW MOTIVATION!

(on spread btw)

[oats_addict]

EASY EASY was wondering where you'd been Thanks mate glad to have you in and hope everything's well your end!

Haha I have been here of there abouts.

Alls good man, i dont track cals or macros anymore, well not since starting the F1 job anyway, so christmas was nice and relaxed and I have just continued it. Each to their own is an understatement.

Lingering around 175lbs at the moment, higher BF% than I would like but it is gradually creeping down, whilst strength is without a doubt increasing. Getting good compliments and stuff, so cant complain.

BUT...
NEW LOG = NEW MOTIVATION!

(on spread btw)

[Shazriki]

Haha I have been here of there abouts.

Alls good man, i dont track cals or macros anymore, well not since starting the F1 job anyway, so christmas was nice and relaxed and I have just continued it. Each to their own is an understatement.

Lingering around 175lbs at the moment, higher BF% than I would like but it is gradually creeping down, whilst strength is without a doubt increasing. Getting good compliments and stuff, so cant complain.

BUT...
NEW LOG = NEW MOTIVATION!

(on spread btw)

Sounds like you've discovered a perfect balance between diet and training if fat is creeping down and strength going up, nice one! Counting cals is definitely NOT required for people who know a thing or two about nutrition and you know what needs to happen for strength to continue increasing, so you have the knowledge to make adjustments as necessary.

So the F1 job has become a more permanent thing then?

And you're damn right about the motivation, I'm waking up every day ready to kill it, it's great!

[Shazriki]

Day 6: 24 weeks, 6 days out

OHH YEAHHHH awesome day today! Literally everything was perfect. Woke up feeling rested and refreshed, the first proper night's sleep I've gotten since getting back to the UK, amidst all the studying and anticipation of exams I just couldn't rest, but last night I conked out. On to the exam: as soon as I turned that cover page I knew I had nothing to worry about - everything inside was everything that I knew best. Given my level of preparation, it was as if the exam had been written expressly for me to do well. I know that comes across as arrogant, considering I don't know the end result yet... but I have pretty intuition about these things.

Naturally upon leaving the exam hall I was buzzing for a good workout - and I got EXACTLY what I expected. Mental power ftw. Finally moving back towards my pre-vacation numbers, which feels great. Squats went up with relative ease, as did DB bench and lat pulleys. AND I'm finally at a stage where I can up the weight for skullcrushers for 'dose triz. I was so damn fired up today that I almost wanted to go to failure on everything, to just keep on going until something snapped. Days like these are few and far between at the best of times, but when you're in a groove you're in a groove, and you should cherish every moment of it.

Refeed was interesting today, just as I was about to start cooking my pancakes the fuse box decided that the connection for JUST THE COOKER would stop working, leaving me with only an oven to work with today. So I experimented with some "pancake bread" and it sort of worked. See below.

Morning weight 195.8

I was almost tempted to write to Eric about the weight trend the past few days, but then I thought "you've been dieting for like 5 mins brah, chill" and thought better of it. One way or the other, there will be a lot less food and a lot more cardio in my future and there's plenty of time so no need to rush things.

Training

Barbell Squat:

280.5 lb x 4 reps
253 lb x 5 reps

Dumbbell Bench Press:

71.5 lb x 9 reps
71.5 lb x 7 reps

Close-Grip Front Lat Pulldown:

165 lb x 13 reps
165 lb x 4 reps
165 lb x 4 reps
165 lb x 3 reps
Myo-reps

Lying Barbell Triceps Extension ("Skullcrusher"):

71.5 lb x 12 reps
71.5 lb x 12 reps

*Moving up weight next workout

Pallof Press (each side)

41.25 x 10
41.25 x 10

NB: for those wondering I copy-paste my workouts from fitocracy, hence the weird notation with always writing out "lb" and "reps."

Nutrition

226P/477C/60F (Refeed)


Ham, lettuce and tomato on wholewheat multiseed with mayo and mustard



Blueberry-pumpkin pancake bread topped with Choc-PB cream cheese

This was just a normal pancake batter baked at about 190C for 35 mins. Texture was beautifully dense and creamy inside due to the melted blueberries



XF CnC, vanilla jello sludge with Raisin wheats, Chocolate poptart crisps, chopped apple and choc syrup



Smoked paprika and chipotle tobasco rubbed chicken breast sandwich



Brown sugar poptart ice cream sandwich