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

[anuragp122195]

Nice rows. And couldn't help but notice, but those quads are jacked haha.

[Dexter3000]

You're not the first and not the last that has a hard time with OHP's. They are just tough. It's a love-hate thing really, I have the same.

You could look into some of (for example) Rippetoe's work to see if you can make any improvements or changes to your technique. You never know. Personally I have found significant differences in performance on the OHP after small changes in posture, foot placement, grip width, etc.



btw, those DB rows look solid man! great exercise and I'm starting to miss them now that I'm on a very primal routine.

[Vanderdd]

Reading through your Journals between classes and you have some badass food pics!! Now I'm starving!!

[Shazriki]

those rows look so damn money!

And they felt like a million bucks Taking them slow like that = MMCx1000

timing coffee = money...hard to do sometimes when the caps gets stuck in the throat

I am not going to say that is Moses

but is Moses

WO looking great, thanks for the support in the FB, sir!

Haha, gotta say that caps stuck in throat is not a problem I have. You made I drink water with my caffeine pills?

Thanks for the kind words bro, and I'm glad I was able to give you a bit of advice. Hope it works out for you.

Nice PRs Moses!!!! I bet that weight will come down.
I love it when it gets high one day and then starts coming down, because you KNOW darn well that a low is about to show its beautiful head

Thanks Andy! I'm hoping that tomorrow is the day I get back below 190... I also hope it's the day that Eric cuts my macros or moves things around. Strong masochism!

You know what the reason is? It's that SOHP is HELLA hard. I don't know what makes it so much harder, only that it is. I was doing DB shoulder presses with 70s for 8 reps at one point, but my best 5RM ever on standing press, even training it regularly, was like 140-145 and it was an absolute monster.

Yea I'm beginning to think that this is one of the few instances where the DB form is actually easier than the BB equivalent. The same rule certainly doesn't apply to my rows or bench, for example. I'm guessing it has partly to do with the fact that by having the bar in front of your head instead of in-line with your torso removes some of the maximum available power you can generate, whereas with DBs you can do the entire ROM in the same plane as your torso.

Great DB Row PR! Solid form.

Mmmm... Caffeine. Hellava drug.

Thanks Zack. Caffeine is a life saver. Without it I'd be a complete wreck.

Nice rows. And couldn't help but notice, but those quads are jacked haha.

Haha thanks man, I love my quads

You're not the first and not the last that has a hard time with OHP's. They are just tough. It's a love-hate thing really, I have the same.

You could look into some of (for example) Rippetoe's work to see if you can make any improvements or changes to your technique. You never know. Personally I have found significant differences in performance on the OHP after small changes in posture, foot placement, grip width, etc.

btw, those DB rows look solid man! great exercise and I'm starting to miss them now that I'm on a very primal routine.

Good point, I should do a review of starting strength and see if I'm missing something. Thanks for reminding me. I have to say I'm loving DB rows. It's been a long time since I did them and now that I've worked on improving my form I'm feeling them way more in my lats as opposed to my shouler/arm. It's funny because people at the gym must think I'm doing ******* weight because I'm not jerking the DB around

Reading through your Journals between classes and you have some badass food pics!! Now I'm starving!!

Haha - man, that's a risk you take!

[snrygo]

Re: rows, go tell manu that

[Shazriki]

Re: rows, go tell manu that

Haha, the BTK style isn't something I would want to bring to my gym. There are enough meatheads there throwing the weight around like they're the strongest dudes in the northern hemisphere. I'd much rather practice proper technique... and besides, for hypertrophy: targeting the muscle by using proper form + increased TUT by performing controlled reps = maximum results.

[snrygo]

Status: contest prep
Goal: hypertrophy.



Mind obliterated.

[FrmrHoss]

I actually think the back support has a lot to do with it too. Try a standing overhead press with dumbbells. I bet the carryover is like 60-70% of your seated press, and I say that having never done standing DB presses.

[Shazriki]

Status: contest prep
Goal: hypertrophy.

Mind obliterated.

I know you're kidding around, but this is a point I actually want to expand a bit on. From my relatively short experience, relegating yourself to just 'maintaining' on all your lifts and not progressing while dieting is a surefire way to stagnate and eventually start losing strength while dieting. A huge part of this game is mental and if you believe you can do it, there's a good chance something positivite will come of it.

I made the above point because, yes, even though I'm dieting for a contest, my intention is to keep lifting progressively until I physically can't any longer. Because of this mentality my lifts have kept going up despite spending the majority of the past 6-7 months or so in deficit. Proper programming and non-retarded dieting will do that.

Also, because I do IF there may be some supercompensation/nutrient partitioning voodoo working to my advantage. See this article: http://www.reactivetrainingsystems.c...as-are-awesome for an example of a MUCH more advanced trainee than me who reports LBM gains while dieting. Not saying I'm that guy. But I'm certainly not the guy who is content to just "go through the motions" even though he's dieting.

I actually think the back support has a lot to do with it too. Try a standing overhead press with dumbbells. I bet the carryover is like 60-70% of your seated press, and I say that having never done standing DB presses.

That's a good point, there's DEFINITELY something to be said for having the support of a bench at your back while doing them seated. Less stabilizing required.

[Shazriki]

Day 81: 15 weeks, 2 days out

Solid session today, felt really good to do some unbelted lower work, I was pretty determined to do squats without it. In general I was feeling pretty damn good today actually, no crazy stiffness or DOMS from yesterday's upper hyper also energy was good. I'm going to make a massive assumption and say that my body has probably acclimatized to the combination of training and calories for the moment, might indicate it's time to drop cals or make a change since weight hasn't moved much this week. Gonna wait to see what Eric says tomorrow when I send in my log.

Back to the session: DAMN it's been a while since I've done higher rep squats. I would argue that mentally they are harder than ME squats, only because the half way mark is more like at 6 reps instead of 2-3 Good stuff though, legs felt huge after pumping out two sets at 242. There were definitely some rest pauses in there too, I was getting out of breath towards the end of each set! For RDLs I wasn't sure where to set the weight so I played it safe and went with 198 which ended up working nicely for a couple of sets, will increase the weight on those on the next rotation. For once the machines were all free when I needed them today so I was able to pretty much blast through the accessory work, leaving me with the good old jelly legs as I left the gym. I'm fully expecting some John Wayne action tomorrow. Wet ropes for legs etc.

On a more serious note, I'm out of pop tarts, so tomorrow I'm hitting the town and going to try a flavor I haven't had yet. Maybe two. Needs those HFCS to have any chance of succeeding in the gym. So tomorrow is going to be a relaxing day of playing Mass Effect, calculating aerodynamic characteristics of the plane my group is designing using ESDU data sheets, buying pop tarts, and doing cardio in the PM.

Also I'm now on easter break so for the next couple of weeks I'll be able to cook all my refeed meals at home instead of bringing a crappy packed lunch to campus. It's the little things...

Morning weight

190.2

Training

Barbell Squat:

242 lb x 11 reps
242 lb x 11 reps

Romanian Deadlift:

198 lb x 11 reps
198 lb x 11 reps

Leg Extensions:

137.5 lb x 12 reps
137.5 lb x 5 reps
137.5 lb x 5 reps
137.5 lb x 5 reps
137.5 lb x 5 reps
Myo-reps

Seated Leg Curl:

132 lb x 12 reps
132 lb x 5 reps
132 lb x 5 reps
132 lb x 5 reps
132 lb x 5 reps
Myo-reps

Seated Calf Raise:

253 lb x 12 reps
253 lb x 5 reps
253 lb x 5 reps
253 lb x 5 reps
253 lb x 5 reps
Myo-reps

Elliptical Trainer:

0:11:00 || Moderate
~125kcal burned

Nutrition

227P/249C/50F

Chicken, mushrooms, red peppers and onions with chopped tomatoes and cream cheese; roast eggplant



Fudge brownie proats with PB and frozen vanilla protein pudding

Sweet tooth flaring up like nasty lately

[IrishPilot]

...Fudge brownie proats...

Yup...gonna need that recipe. Im sure its simple so forgive me, but if it tastes as good as that pic alleges...

[dchan8]

Yup...gonna need that recipe. Im sure its simple so forgive me, but if it tastes as good as that pic alleges...

Fudge Brownie Dymatize Elite XT?

Great food; long time lurker, probably something like first time poster. Subbed a while ago, forgot to say :P
Good luck with contest prep!

[DTrulez616]

Elite XT Fudge Brownie makes ridiculously good Proats. You ever had the Banana Nut. That stuff is amazing!

[IrishPilot]

Fudge Brownie Dymatize Elite XT?

Great food; long time lurker, probably something like first time poster. Subbed a while ago, forgot to say :P
Good luck with contest prep!

Ah I didnt even figure that the "Fudge Brownie" was just describing the protein. I assumed it must be a basic chocolate protein with other ingredients (cocoa, baking soda, etc.)

[Shazriki]

Yup...gonna need that recipe. Im sure its simple so forgive me, but if it tastes as good as that pic alleges...

See below

Fudge Brownie Dymatize Elite XT?

Great food; long time lurker, probably something like first time poster. Subbed a while ago, forgot to say :P
Good luck with contest prep!

Good call bro, that is indeed the protein I was referring to! And thanks for subbing in, glad to have you along!

Elite XT Fudge Brownie makes ridiculously good Proats. You ever had the Banana Nut. That stuff is amazing!

Not tried the banana nut yet but damn I need to, I've only heard good things.

Ah I didnt even figure that the "Fudge Brownie" was just describing the protein. I assumed it must be a basic chocolate protein with other ingredients (cocoa, baking soda, etc.)

The protein IS Dymatize XT Fudge brownie but that alone doesn't make the oats THAT good. In this case to really maximize the chocolate flavor I used (for everything)

95g oats
35g dymatize xt fudge brownie
4g cocoa powder
4g sf/ff choc jello mix
4g splenda
+cinnamon
+water

and prepared the oats in the microwave as usual.

[snrygo]

overly jellly of yo squats

[4backcracks]

I know you're kidding around, but this is a point I actually want to expand a bit on. From my relatively short experience, relegating yourself to just 'maintaining' on all your lifts and not progressing while dieting is a surefire way to stagnate and eventually start losing strength while dieting. A huge part of this game is mental and if you believe you can do it, there's a good chance something positivite will come of it.

I made the above point because, yes, even though I'm dieting for a contest, my intention is to keep lifting progressively until I physically can't any longer. Because of this mentality my lifts have kept going up despite spending the majority of the past 6-7 months or so in deficit. Proper programming and non-retarded dieting will do that.

Also, because I do IF there may be some supercompensation/nutrient partitioning voodoo working to my advantage. See this article: http://www.reactivetrainingsystems.c...as-are-awesome for an example of a MUCH more advanced trainee than me who reports LBM gains while dieting. Not saying I'm that guy. But I'm certainly not the guy who is content to just "go through the motions" even though he's dieting.



That's a good point, there's DEFINITELY something to be said for having the support of a bench at your back while doing them seated. Less stabilizing required.

Bro that's the spirit! I can honestly say I've made hypertrophy progress even within the last couple of weeks (im currently 2 weeks out).

Being in a deep deficit just forces you to be a more thoughtful and crafty lifter, it doesnt necessarily mean you have to stagnate.

[Dexter3000]

I see we were in the same threads at the same time posting very similar things this morning, lol.



Oh, and I lol'd hard when I read this:

]So tomorrow is going to be a relaxing day of playing Mass Effect, calculating aerodynamic characteristics of the plane my group is designing using ESDU data sheets, buying pop tarts, and doing cardio in the PM.

I don't think I have ever heard anyone say these things in 1 sentence. The life of a bodybuilding aerospace engineering student..

[Shazriki]

overly jellly of yo squats

Thanks dude. With what you know by the time you're my age you will probably be outlifting most of the 30-yr olds on these boards. And again sorry to hear about your pops.

Bro that's the spirit! I can honestly say I've made hypertrophy progress even within the last couple of weeks (im currently 2 weeks out).

Being in a deep deficit just forces you to be a more thoughtful and crafty lifter, it doesnt necessarily mean you have to stagnate.

Glad to see I'm not the only one who thinks this way The bold basically embodies what I was trying to say with the above. You need to deload more, you need to know your body, and you definitely need to know when to ease off to save some for tomorrow. If you do all of that then you can keep lifting pretty well!

Thanks for chiming in bro and good luck with the last two weeks, bring it!

I see we were in the same threads at the same time posting very similar things this morning, lol.

Oh, and I lol'd hard when I read this:

I don't think I have ever heard anyone say these things in 1 sentence. The life of a bodybuilding aerospace engineering student..

Lol strong subconscious coordination of thread choice

And haha as crazy as it sounds all these very different aspects of who I am as a person are playing off each other really nicely right now. The workouts provide a nice break from the project work and the gaming lets me switch off completely from time to time. It's perfect!

[Shazriki]

In addition to misc impulse buys I have now just purchased 2kg of dymatize XT banana nut. My angus is thoroughly paprika'd.

[snrygo]

^in4jizz


waitwut?




btw, it was my grandfather

[Shazriki]

btw, it was my grandfather

I know, "pops" is my word for grandfather, that would have been a strong reading comprehension fail otherwise.

[snrygo]

I know, "pops" is my word for grandfather, that would have been a strong reading comprehension fail otherwise.

Ah ok. For me, pops means father. Thanks again

[Shazriki]

Ah ok. For me, pops means father. Thanks again

No worries dude

[Shazriki]

Day 82: 15 weeks, 1 day out

Today went exactly as I wanted it to. Mostly chilled out with a bit of work here and there, some shopping, and some cardio. Gaming didn't feature so I'll have to make up for that tomorrow

Went on a bit of a shopping spree today and picked up a box of Wild Grape and Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough pop tarts which should cover me for pre-WO for the next couple of weeks. More interesting though is that I stumped upon an asian grocery store today which, amongst MANY other things, sells sriracha (the insanely spicy variety) and the shirataki noodles, the latter of which they sell at a much better price than the miracle noodles you can buy online (works out to almost have price per kg). This is good news because my carbs got kicked in the nuts today.

Yep that's right, the long awaited macro drop has occurred and I am now dealing with 200g cho on normal days with all other macros unchanged for now. Am I the only one that thinks it's ironic that the day my macros get dropped big time I find a local source of probably one of the greatest dieting foods in existence?

Other purchases today include some pumpkin I bought off amazon and another supp order (Dymatize XT Banana Nut, caffeine pills, and fish oil). Really needed to get more caffeine pills because I'll probably be popping them like tic tacs now that I'm on 200g cho. Can't wait till the banana nut arrives, I've heard good things.

Very VERY excited to see what the next few weeks bring. If this doesn't put the pedal to the metal then I'm going to have to look into liposuction.

Morning weight

189.6

Cardio

Elliptical Trainer:

0:37:19 || Moderate
501kcal burned

Nutrition

228P/252C/49F

Turkey burgers topped with cheddar and sriracha; asian-style coleslaw

Recipe for the slaw below because it was very macro friendly and insanely tasty



Curried turkey bolognese with shirataki noodles




Moses's asian-style slaw:

250g red cabbage, shredded
2 tomatoes
A few stalks of celery
160g chopped beetroot
~50g chinese pickle cowpea (can omit if you can't find this anywhere)
30g sriracha
50g low-fat mayonnaise
dash of salt and pepper to taste

Can add more things of course, but that's how I like it

[hcoyle545]

Mouthwatering eats, making the most of your dwindling macros. Also, 500cals burned in 40mins is good effort, I should be putting more effort into cardio myself. Bitch making me feel bad.

[anuragp122195]

In addition to misc impulse buys I have now just purchased 2kg of dymatize XT banana nut. My angus is thoroughly paprika'd.

Just picked up 4 lb. of Banana Nut.

[snrygo]

30g sriracha eaten at once with more for burgers



















soniamproud

[dchan8]

30g sriracha eaten at once with more for burgers



















soniamproud

30g sriracha is meh. 30g cayenne, on the other hand...

[snrygo]

30g sriracha is meh. 30g cayenne, on the other hand...

he said he gt the extra potent sriracha