Achieving Physical Excellence

[MassIsAhead]

Bench presses
5 reps 100 kg (200 lbs)
2 reps 140 kg (308 lbs! 3 plates!)
2 reps 140 kg (308 lbs)
5 reps 120 kg (265 lbs)
- I know it's nothing special, but it's very nice to rep with 3 plates on the bench, even if it is only 2 reps

DB incline presses Super slow with fullll stretch
8 reps 72 lbs
8 reps 72 lbs

DB incline flyes inspired by Big D calling them one of his fav for pecs
10 reps 22.5 kg (50 lbs)
10 reps 25 kg (55 lbs)
10 reps 27.5 kg (60 lbs)
10 reps 27.5 kg (60 lbs)
Wow! I know I am not strong in these but they felt really really easy and the form was good. Will make good gains on these to blast my pecs!

---COMMENTS------
Pretty good workout, had really hoped to get 3 reps with 3 plates on bench, but too optimistic. Soon though. Will go lighter the next workouts.
Incline presses, went light on these to recover well from flat bench and to really hit the pecs.
And inc. flyes felt good!!
Skipped seated BB presses (again) to recover, felt wasted from the heavy pressing.
---------------------

[dpd555]

Originally Posted by MassIsAhead

Bench presses
5 reps 100 kg (200 lbs)
2 reps 140 kg (308 lbs! 3 plates!)
2 reps 140 kg (308 lbs)
5 reps 120 kg (265 lbs)
- I know it's nothing special, but it's very nice to rep with 3 plates on the bench, even if it is only 2

DB incline presses Super slow with fullll stretch
8 reps 72 lbs
8 reps 72 lbs

DB incline flyes inspired by Big D calling them one of his fav for pecs
10 reps 22.5 kg (50 lbs)
10 reps 25 kg (55 lbs)
10 reps 27.5 kg (60 lbs)
10 reps 27.5 kg (60 lbs)
Wow! I know I am not strong in these but they felt really really easy and the form was good. Will make good gains on these to blast my pecs!

Strong workout MassIsAhead! That's great weight for incline flies considering it's a new exercise and that it was easy for you. When going heavy on incline flies I now pause for 2 seconds in the fully stretched position (to prevent another pec tear). Pausing has dropped my weights by about 10% or 20%, but I'm working my way back up to previous PRs performed without the pause. I'd recommend pausing as you use progressively heavier weights on flies.
Looking forward to seeing you progress through 2007

[MassIsAhead]

Thank you so much D!
Great advice on the 2 sec stretch at the bottom, I will definitely start doing them like that! Not only to prevent injury, but also to really bring the pecs into the movement. My pecs are already sore from the workout!
D, thank you for monitoring my progress - I hope to live up to any expectations! I am so hungry for more and will work dedicated towards where you are at Thank you

[MassIsAhead]

And now it's 2007, thought I'd drop a little note to outline a few of my goals for the year first of all to identify what those goals are, secondly to check back during the year - and of course at the end!

Overall goal no matter the year: To move a hell of a lot weight and be big!!

More specific goals for 2007
Squats: Bring the numbers up- a lot!! Plan and simple.
Bench: I max out at around 320 or 235 now. I'd love to make it to 400!!
Deads: at the end of the year I wanna rep with 5 plates, so I need to gain about 80 lbs on deads.
Dips: reps with 5 plates, can rep 3 plates right now for about 8 reps.

Of course I wish for all the numbers - rows, curls, chin-ups, etc. to go up, but these are just some goals for 2007 that I've thought about. Won't be content will I've reached my actual genetic limit, which means I am in this game for life!

-- The gym was closed today, and on top of that I was skipping squats this week, and also my pecs are extremely sore from the benching, so next workout should be wednesday

[gymratluke]

Good luck with those goals man!!!

[PhreEkGarden]

Originally Posted by gymratluke

Good luck with those goals man!!!

x2, 5 plate dips!

[MassIsAhead]

Oly squats "week 1"
10 reps 85 kg (188 lbs)
10 reps 85 kg (188 lbs)
10 reps 85 kg (188 lbs)
Felt quite good!
As you can see, I am "starting over" with squats to build the basic strength..it's tempting to throw more weight on, but I don't have the strength for it so felt it better to "rebuild" it.

Stiff legged deads
10 reps 110 kg (243 lbs)
8 reps 120 kg (265 lbs)
8 reps 120 kg

GH raises new exercise! Interesting set-up
Some negative reps, 2-3 sets...wow I REALLY need this exercise, I don't have the strength for it. Will come.

I am like really depressed right now... had my first exam here at college in family and inheritance law, and frankly it didn't go too well. I'd still guess I passed it, but... on top of this, my head is just CRAMMED with thoughts and problems.. I know my training will interfere with studies etc. but I really need this training and training in general to keep my hopes and spirit up.
Anyway, won't know the result of the exam until one month has passed!! So it's a long god damned wait. And I know I made some mistakes, but how bad are they? And what about the stuff I did right? I have no f-- clue since our public colleges suck, hell my whole country sucks. Gotta go to America.
-- anyway, squats felt good and went well. The weight was of course very easy, but it's always hard to do 10 reps I plan on adding 5 kg a week (11 lbs) and will try to keep the reps as high as I can during this cycle.

Luke> Thanks buddy! I hope to make it really far.. one lille "motivation" moment for me is to visualize squatting with 5 plates and so on, and that really keeps me going. Motivation is not a problem, but it still warms my heart to know I WILL reach those goals. Cause frankly right now my heart is not set on either law school or this country..must go to USA some day..

Phreek> thanks, it's very optimistic, but in theory it should be possible..5 plates is gonna rock!

[dpd555]

Originally Posted by MassIsAhead

[
I am like really depressed right now... had my first exam here at college in family and inheritance law, and frankly it didn't go too well. I'd still guess I passed it, but... on top of this, my head is just CRAMMED with thoughts and problems.. I know my training will interfere with studies etc. but I really need this training and training in general to keep my hopes and spirit up.
!

I found that training and school compliment one another nicely. I made the best gains in college. All I did was eat, study, work and lift. Training kept me mentally, physically and emotionally stable during the dreaded final exam weeks.
BTW...great workouts man!
-D

[MassIsAhead]

D, you're too kind I took it easy today since it's the beginning of this "leg training cycle", more lbs will certainly be added soon - hopefully lots of pounds I am so hungry for more!! Just wanna work my way up to reps with 500 lbs!!

Re: college.. D, I guess you are right.. exam today, just made some errors and f-ups that I could have avoided. I like "insurance", I like to have my bases covered - and I certainly don't have my bases covered in that kind of exam situation. I hope it turns out well..I just feel very demotivated from college work, but will probably just have to study more - really work at it even though it's boring as hell :/ - so I can finally make it to the states one day!!

Look at the attachment, what I've bought to hang in my new apartment

[PhreEkGarden]

Strong workout, I tried some GH raises the other day thinking I would be able to do a few.. lol boy was I wrong, had no idea they were that hard. Goodluck with your school man, nice flag. =)

[dpd555]

Originally Posted by MassIsAhead

Re: college.. D, I guess you are right.. exam today, just made some errors and f-ups that I could have avoided. I like "insurance", I like to have my bases covered - and I certainly don't have my bases covered in that kind of exam situation. I hope it turns out well..I just feel very demotivated from college work, but will probably just have to study more - really work at it even though it's boring as hell :/ - so I can finally make it to the states one day!!

Look at the attachment, what I've bought to hang in my new apartment

MassIsAhead,
USA is a great place to live. Only problem is that everyone wants to live here. I moved to Tampa FL recently and love it, but it's a busy place that's getting even more crowded by the day. Personally, I'd rather live in a rural town somewhere in the mountains of New England.
I'm sure you'll be squatting 500lbs in a year or two, and when that starts going up everything else will to, especially if it's a weak point in your overall strength.
Good luck in school man- always make that your main priority...even if it gets a little boring at times.

[MassIsAhead]

Hey D !

I can definitely follow you re: where to live, I haven't much of an idea on which state I'd even live.. plenty of time to figure that out!
- And you are right, school must be given #1 priority, and training #2 - and I mean literally #2, as in right after training and nothing before that My primary motivation for school I guess is so I can get out of here and to America. I lived in Texas for 3 years..loved it.. miss it.

(Btw, starting TOMORROW is force feeding with 500 grams of protein each day... lots of shakes and food. Can't control my diet completely until I move into my new apartment (<3 weeks))
D, your optimism in training and progress is inspiring. As I wrote in the above training entry I'm doing a 3*10 cycle on squats, and the reps will fall as the weight increases (quite logical). I had thought about adding 5 kg (11 lbs) each week,
- Does this approach sound reasonable? It would be AMAZING to do 500 for reps in 1-2 years

From the bottom of my heart, thank you for monitoring my training and helping me!

[MassIsAhead]

Pull-ups (oh grip)
8 reps bw
5 reps bw + 22 lbs
4 reps bw + 44 lbs
6 reps bw
Very short breaks, and long time since..= puny.

Yates rows
6 reps 110 kg (243 lbs)
6 reps 110 kg (243 lbs)
6 reps 110 kg (243 lbs)
6 reps 110 kg (243 lbs)
not too heavy, felt good!

BB curls
10 reps 110 lbs
5 reps 135 lbs - staying far from failure
8 reps 110 lbs
nice to do these again, will do them aggressively soon - figured it would be wise to start out light.

Seated hammer curls
6 reps 25 kg (55 lbs)
6 reps 25 kg (55 lbs)
6 reps 25 kg (55 lbs)

+ bent over laterals
+ "weighted hangs" with 105 lbs. No straps, so very hard to hang on to the bar - need to work on these!! Could only hang on for like 15 seconds haha

---COMMENTS--------------------
OK workout, just one of those that had to be done..boring..
Last night i dreamed that I was shopping groceries in Sam's club - I miss Sam's club, I miss America.
-----------------------------

[PhreEkGarden]

Wow strong arms. =P

Nice rowing.

[MassIsAhead]

Thanks Phreek! Thanks for bumping too, forgot to update. Btw arms are 17.75 inches so I need 0.25 inches and I'll finally have gotten those 18 inchers!

WELL today was a bad workout. I've - on purpose - shed about 5-6 lbs during the past few weeks, and because of the moving to a new apartment, school and other things my workouts have beens scattered. So today's strength was awful, really, but these kinds of fluctuations are hard to avoid - a few more workouts and it'll be back to normal.

Weighted dips
5 reps 3 plates
4 reps 3 plates - got distracted, silly
8 reps 2 plates
Wow weak, decided not to push it further.

BB incline
5 reps 220 lbs
6 reps 200 lbs
6 reps 200 lbs
Weak, and didn't wanna push these either

Incline DB flyes 2 sec. pause at bottom
7 reps 60 lbs
6 reps 60 lbs
Wow, 2 sec. pause felt great! - and very hard

Handled the 90 lbs on shoulder presses for a few reps, but could immediately tell there was no energy. Like the rest of the workout! Oh well, won't get me down

Now I'll fix a protein shake and have some walnuts.

[MassIsAhead]

Deadlift
Warm up
3 reps 170 kg ( 375 lbs)
1 rep 200 kg (440 lbs)
1 rep 210 kg ( 463 lbs)
3 reps 170 kg ( 375 lbs)

- new pr with 463 lbs... not a lot of weight but still nice to set!

Front squats - also starting submaximally on these as with back squats and doing regular progression:
5 reps 70 kg (155 lbs)
5 reps 70 kg (155 lbs)
5 reps 70 kg (155 lbs)
Of course not heavy

Leg curls
6 reps 4 units
6 reps 4 units
6 reps 4 units
6 reps 5 units - help on the concentric
6 reps 6 units - help on the concentric

Decline crunches with 45 lb plate
12 reps
12 reps

OK workout! Feel highly motivated, and 463 lbs isn't much but still nice to lift.
Looking forward to getting HUGE and STRONG!

[dpd555]

Originally Posted by MassIsAhead

Deadlift
Warm up
3 reps 170 kg ( 375 lbs)
1 rep 200 kg (440 lbs)
1 rep 210 kg ( 463 lbs)
3 reps 170 kg ( 375 lbs)

Strong session!! It's good to see you getting PRs Hey, my gym is pretty hardcore and I rarely see people going over 455 on deads.
I know most people on this forum are adamantly against higher rep deads, but I made great progress training in the 6 to 10 rep range when younger. You might want to try them from time to time. just a thought.
Overall your training looks great!
-D

[MassIsAhead]

Thanks Big D !!
High reps on deads sound interesting, long time since I've done that - I think it will be good for variation!!

D, re: squatting and getting to 500 lbs, which is something I really wanna do for reps, do you think my 3*10 approach is reasonable? I believe I may respond better to "high" reps on squats, which is why I've started with 3*10 and submaximal weight and I'll add 10 lbs each week. And the reps will naturally decrease as the load is increased

[MassIsAhead]

Lower back was REALLY sore from deads yesterday, so went lighter on t-bar rows.

T-bar rows not counting the bar
8 reps 200 lbs
8 reps 195 lbs
8 reps 195 lbs
Lower back was just too sore...

Chin-ups Underhand grip
8 reps bw
4 reps bw + 45 lbs
4 reps bw + 45 lbs
- 3rd set followed by 6 reps bw

DB rows
6 reps 112 lbs
6 reps 112 lbs
6 reps 112 lbs

DB preacher curls
10 reps 50 lbs
6 reps 55 lbs - not bad!
10 reps 45 lbs
8 reps 45 lbs - wasted

Well lower back was just so sore so t-bar rows sucked, chin-ups were only mediocre. But DB preacher curls went pretty well! Nice to handle the 55 lb dbs with relative easy since I haven't done this exercise in a long time.

[PhreEkGarden]

Nice workout man.. the deadlifts. Youre too hard on yourself that IS alot of weight, and if its a PR then youre doing good. Nice db preachers too. =P

[iron619]

Damn kid I'm very impressed with your strength, especially your pushing and deadlift strength. I really think you have some untapped potential, just give yourself time.

Squats obviously needs work, but keep at it man, progress will come. Keep a positive mental attitude and believe in yourself and your program.

I'll be watchin .

[MassIsAhead]

Gym was PACKED today so no possibilty of flat BB bench, anyways thought it would be wise to skip them this week- a short break.

Haven't done heavy incline presses in a looong time, only handled the 100s for some medium reps..

DB incline presses
3 reps 124 lbs - damn heavy, my brother helped a little on the 3rd rep. PR. I've done 5 with 112 lbs before.
6 reps 100 lbs

inc. flyes 2 sec pause at bottom
7 reps 66 lbs - felt good! great stretch
6 reps 66 lbs

Seated bb presses - not done for several weeks
6 reps 143 lbs
6 reps 143 lbs
6 reps 143 lbs
Very lame, but oh well.

LAteral raises
some sets with 15-10 kg.

+ lying triceps extensions, 10 reps with 50 lbs DBs - pain, I need my elbow "wraps" back.

+ push downs, 2 sets with the stack, 12 and 10 reps.

I lost my elbow "wraps" (they're not wraps they just warm the area) some weeks ago, i need to buy some new ones. With them my elbows don't hurt at all, without they do.

OK workout, surprised I actually got 3 reps with 124 lbs on inc. presses, but when I think about it I SHOULD be able to do that. So... actually not that good at all haha
- we're getting a pec deck machine (the one you can do rear laterals on too) soon, so I will use these in my chest workout, pump out some high-rep sets for chest mass.

[MassIsAhead]

Originally Posted by PhreEkGarden

Nice workout man.. the deadlifts. Youre too hard on yourself that IS alot of weight, and if its a PR then youre doing good. Nice db preachers too. =P

Thanks Phreek Hopefully it will improve soon.
I like those preachers!

iron> Thanks for your input!! I appreciate it Inspirational words!

[MassIsAhead]

As I maxed not long ago on deads I figured it wise to skip them this week, incluiding stiff legged. So today was just squats and leg curls (and abs).

Squat week 2
10 reps 200 lbs
10 reps 200 lbs
10 reps 200 lbs
Next week, on with another 10 lbs, and so on
All were ATG and with good form! My form has improved. I focus on keeping the u. body upright, chest pushed out, and the weight over the whole of the foot.

Leg curls
8 reps 5 units
8 reps 5 units
8 reps 5 units
Improvement!

Decline abs
15 reps + 45 lb plate
13 reps + 45 plate
I like the feel of these.

OK workout, kinda boring with the low weight on squats but it is necessary. Will be fun in some weeks!!

[dpd555]

Originally Posted by MassIsAhead

Squat week 2
10 reps 200 lbs
10 reps 200 lbs
10 reps 200 lbs
Next week, on with another 10 lbs, and so on
!

Great work man!
So, is your plan to get 3 sets of 300 x 1 in 10 weeks? When you get that you could start that cycle over with 210 x 10....and so on

[PhreEkGarden]

Originally Posted by dpd555

So, is your plan to get 3 sets of 300 x 1 in 10 weeks? When you get that you could start that cycle over with 210 x 10....and so on

Sounds like a plan. Sounds like I need to do something like that.

Good workout. Mass is ahead! =P

[MassIsAhead]

Originally Posted by dpd555

Great work man!
So, is your plan to get 3 sets of 300 x 1 in 10 weeks? When you get that you could start that cycle over with 210 x 10....and so on

Thanks Big D! I am so glad to have you watching man Yeah, basically, well I have done 315 for 1 rep some time ago, couldve pushed it for 320-235 I think but for some reason my squat "strength" just "vanished", I mean it was really bad already, but the little I had just went away!! Only my squats though, nothing else... so..."rebuilding from scratch" - Hope to live up to any expectations you may have, Big D Btw, I told a guy at my gym about your lifts and told him to check out your journal (he's not a member here though). His jaw dropped when hearing about your lifts!!

Phreek> It sure is man!! Thanks

Yates rows
5 reps 220 lbs
6 reps 243 lbs
6 reps 243 lbs
20 reps 220 lbs - soo easy! I shoulda pushed it for 25 reps. PR Kinda pissed off I didn't go for 25 though.I think in some weeks Ill try for 30.

Pull-ups Those rows affected my pulling strength though.
8 reps bw
6 reps bw
6 reps bw
Very dead today, but no biggie.

BB curls
10 reps 110 lbs
10 reps 110 lbs
My plan is to go a little light on these the next couple of times, then go back on 135 lbs - and then to 140. The 55 lbs db preacher curls I did the last time I think took a little of my strength today.

COMMENTS ---
Nice with the 20 reps with 220 on yates rows, I like that. My thighs are REALLY sore from squats yesterday, I like that too! Just can't WAIT to gain on squats, it's very boring to start submaximally like this but I think it'll work. I am constantly visualizing squatting with 500 lbs (for reps). Conceive, believe, achieve

Btw, there was some guy from India or Pakistan in the gym today, who did some bench presses with I think the bar and 10 lbs. He called his wife on the cell phone and put the phone next to the bench, and then he was like moaning and yelling while bench pressing like "yeah baby", it was like phone sex or something. Very weird.

[MassIsAhead]

Considering how ridiculously weak my delt pressing strength was the last few workouts I thought it wise to skip them today.

Weighted dips "week 1"
10 reps 2 plates
10 reps 2 plates
8 reps 2 plates - kinda slipped on the bar :/

note: will add 10 lbs each week. I was kinda staling on 3 plates, so..

BB inc. presses.
6 reps 210 lbs
6 reps 210 lbs
6 reps 210 lbs

note: felt strangely heavy??

DB incline flyes 2 sec pause at bottom of the reps
5 reps 77 lbs
6 reps 61 lbs
6 reps 61 lbs

note: nice to do 77!!

Lying tri. extensions with dbs
10 reps 55 lbs
10 reps 50 lbs
a strange elbow pain, but it'll go away
so instead I did:

Rope push downs
12 reps with the stack
10 reps stack + 5 lbs
8 reps stack + 5 lbs
10 reps stack
I like the feel of these in my tris, but I need heavier weight! Gotta think about this.

COMMENTS-----
Well, a good workout Content with the 77 lbs for 5 reps on paused incline flyes, but it's also around my max, so it would be wise to do lower weight the next couple of push workouts.
BB incline felt weak, but oh well
Dips felt good. It was def. time to back off on these and to "build up" again so I could get past my plateau of around 6-7 reps with 3 plates.

[dpd555]

Originally Posted by MassIsAhead

Weighted dips "week 1"
10 reps 2 plates
10 reps 2 plates
8 reps 2 plates - kinda slipped on the bar :/

note: will add 10 lbs each week. I was kinda staling on 3 plates, so..

.

Nice! by "2 plates" you mean 20kg plates (44lb plates)? That's strong man. I need to start doing heavy weighed dips soon.
Any workouts lately?

[dpd555]

Originally Posted by MassIsAhead

Yates rows
5 reps 220 lbs
6 reps 243 lbs
6 reps 243 lbs
20 reps 220 lbs - soo easy! I shoulda pushed it for 25 reps. PR Kinda pissed off I didn't go for 25 though.I think in some weeks Ill try for 30.

.

Wow!! I just noticed your 20 rep set with 220lbs on Yates rows. Nice!!
So were you holding back on the sets before that (6 reps 243 lbs)??- maybe they were warm ups sets. You should be able to get 250 for at least 10 reps if you're doing 220 x 20.