Will's MAX-OT Workout Journal

[willgreenzilla]

Just started getting back into the gym about 7 weeks ago after a good 2+ year absence (got out of the military and started working full time and going to school full time and my daughter was born so it's been busy!).

I started off with a work out program I found in a March Muscle & Fitness magazine called "Gain 10 pounds of muscle". Sounded good as I went from the avatar picture on the left (about 2 and a half year old picture @ 190lbs or so) to what I was when I started back in the gym (215lbs and no definition and getting flabby).

I did the work out in the magazine for about 5 weeks (did 1 full cycle but it took me about 5-6 weeks to complete because I got the flu half way thru that was pretty bad and I was unable to lift for an entire week). The program can be found on pages 80 and 83 in the magazine for anyone interested.

I got a lot stronger and my body started shaping up very quick from the program. After I finished the "4 week" cycle I decided on something more intense and settled on the MAX-OT workout program which sounded very solid.

I am now 1 week into the program and after my first week the journal looks like the following:

MAX-OT WORKOUT LOG
DAY 1 / 22 April 2008 / Weight: ?
Legs / Sets / Reps / Weight / 1 Rep Max
Squats.....3.....6....275.....319
Leg Press .....2.....6.....380.....441
Stiff Leg Dead Lift.....2.....6.....185.....215
Standing Calf Raise.....2.....8.....290.....360
45 Degree Calf Press.....2.....8.....135.....168

DAY 2 / 23 April 2008 / Weight: ?
Arms & Abs / Sets / Reps / Weight / 1 Rep Max
Straight Bar Curls.....2.....5.....105.....118
Alt Db Curls.....2.....6.....50 (per arm).....58 (per arm)
Straight Bar Cable Curls.....1.....6.....78.....90
Lying Tricep Presses.....2.....6.....185.....215
Tricep Cable Press Downs.....2.....6.....68.....78
Db Kickbacks.....1.....6.....35.....41
Wrist Curls.....2.....8.....95.....118
Db Wrist Curls.....1.....6.....55 (per arm).....64
Leg Lifts.....2.....15.....0.....0
Weighted Crunches.....2.....10.....15.....20
Weighted Ab Ball Crunches.....1.....30.....25.....129

DAY 3 / 24 April 2008 / Weight: 220
Shoulders & Traps / Sets / Reps / Weight / 1 Rep Max
Straight Bar Military Press.....3.....6.....155.....180
Db Arnold Press.....2.....5.....130.....146
Db Side Laterals.....2.....6.....25.....29
Barbell Shrugs.....2.....6.....205.....238
Close Grip Upright Rows.....2.....6.....115.....134

DAY 4 / 27 April 2008 / Weight: ?
Back / Sets / Reps / Weight / 1 Rep Max
Cable Pull Downs (Front).....3.....6.....120.....139
Seated Cable Rows (Alt 1 Arm).....2.....6.....120.....139
Bent Over Barbell Rows.....2.....6.....125.....145
Db Lower Back Bend Overs.....2.....6.....120.....139
Weighted Hyper-Extensions.....2.....6.....25.....29

DAY 5 / 27 April 2008 / Weight: ?
Chest & Abs / Sets / Reps / Weight / 1 Rep Max
Flat Barbell Bench Press.....3.....4.....250.....273
Incline Db Bench Press.....2.....6.....190.....221
Cable Cross Overs.....2.....6.....55.....64
Weighted Dips.....0.....0.....0.....0

*Had to combine Back and Chest day into one day against the wishes of the program but due to time issue it had to be done :-/.

The supplements that I am taking include cl orange triad, cl green magnitude, cl white flood, cl glycergrow, cl purple wraath, on zma, on casein, eas 100% whey, cytosport cyto gainer, primaforce carbslam, scifit bcaa powder 5000, fish oil, vit e, vit c, and twinlab glutamine fuel.

My eating is pretty solid which usually goes like the following:

- Wake up, drink 60g 100% whey, 5g bcaa powder, 1 banana, and either 2 pieces of whole wheat bread or a bowl of grapenuts (around 6:45am).
- Get to work and eat 2-3 hardboiled eggs, some almonds, and an apple (around 8am).
- Eat a turkey sandwich on whole wheat bread, some carrot sticks, and some mozerella cheese (around 11:30am).
- Drink 30g WMS 30 min pre-wo (around 12:30pm).
- Drink 2 scoops WF, 1 scoop GM, 3 scoops GG and eat 2 ricecakes (unsalted) (around 1pm).
- Workout, drink 2 scoops PW (around 1:30pm).
- Post workout drink 30g WMS (around 2:45pm).
- Post post workout drink 60g 100% (+5g bcaa powder) (around 3:15pm)
- Eat a turkey sandwich on whole wheat bread and some almonds (around 4:30pm).
- Eat 60g 100% whey (+5g bcaa powder) around 8pm and some carrots/apple/or some other form of carb (I drink a weigh gainer shake in place of the 100% whey on leg and chest days).
- Eat dinner (usually steak, chicken breast, or salmon and broccolli) (around 11pm).
- Drink 30g casein protein + 3zma pills before bed (around 12pm or so).

I also drink around 1.5 gallons of water per day.

My old diet before I started working out again was pretty much pizza, wendys, arbies, and random unhealthy food that I fit in between work and school :-/ lol. So this is a huge diet change for me!

Before/after pictures soon to come!

[willgreenzilla]

Ok, hit the gym today during my lunch break. Diet today wasn't too hott, didn't have much time (was a busy day) and only had 2 pieces of whole wheat bread and 60g protein for breakfast and nothing really all day until before my workout (except for some plain almonds and some mozerella cheese) in which I drank 30g WMS about 30 min pre-wo, then 3 scoops gg, 2 scoops wf, 1 scoop gm 15 min pre-wo and then 2 scoops pw intra wo... just finished my workout a slammed 30g WMS and waiting about 15 more min before drinking 60g of protein. When I get home from work I will be eating 2 turkey sandwiches on whole wheat, some carrots, and an apple.

During class tonight around 8 I will slam my weight gainer (did legs today) and then have a solid dinner most likely of salmon and brocolli.

Workout went ok today and is as follows:

DAY 6 / 28 April 2008 / Weight: 219
Legs / Sets / Reps / Weight / 1 Rep Max
Squats (Proper & on Smith Mach).....3 .....6.....225.....261
Leg Press .....2.....6.....400.....465
Stiff Leg Dead Lift (Proper).....2.....6.....195.....226
Calf Raise (in leg press machine).....2.....8.....320.....397
45 Degree Calf Press.....2.....8.....150.....186

For the stiff leg deadlift I am still a bit unsure if I am doing the form correctly so I am working on bettering that... today I actually stacked 2 45lb plates high on the floor and 2 more next to that and stood on these plates and did the dead lifts down to the floor from that higher elevation... felt it in my legs much more this time.

As for squats, a guy showed me where I was doing my squats incorrectly (wasn't sitting back far enough which he said could jack my knees up) so I dropped some weight and moved over from free weight to the smith machine to work on proper form. Before doing so I did do 285lbsx6 free style but incorrectly as I don't "sit" back far enough. After moving to the smith machine I worked on perfect form and knocked out 225x6x2 and it def felt better in my legs versus my ankles/knees as it has been.

[cbs]

Sweet bro! Keep up the good work...

I will be monitoring your progress.....

[willgreenzilla]

Sweet bro! Keep up the good work...

I will be monitoring your progress.....

thanks man! :-D

[willgreenzilla]

Forgot to post this earlier but my ultimate goal is 235lbs bodyweight and <10% bodyfat, 315lbsx6x3 benchpress, 405x6x3 squats, and an overall improvement of 25% on all my other lifts would be nice as well! No real time frame on these goals but the sooner the better without injury.

Also plan on adding cardio to my offdays (30min or so) starting this weekend.

[willgreenzilla]

Hit the gym Tue and Wed and the results were... ok. Wasn't feeling too hott Tue on arms & abs day... I warmed up with straight bar curls and it seemed to torque my forearms and was kind of painful. The results for the 2 days were as follows...

DAY 7 / 29 April 2008 / Weight: 219
Arms & Abs / Sets / Reps / Weight / 1 Rep Max
Straight Bar Curls.....2.....6.....105.....122
Alt Db Curls.....2.....6.....50.....58..... (50x6/45x5)
Straight Bar Cable Curls.....1.....6.....68.....78..... (62.5x6/67.5x6)
Lying Tricep Presses.....2.....6.....195.....226..... (***Wrong workout, was actually doing close grip bench press! Opps!)
Tricep Cable Press Downs.....2.....6.....78.....90
Db Kickbacks.....1.....6.....35.....41
Wrist Curls.....2.....8.....125.....155..... (115x8/125x8)
Db Wrist Curls.....1.....8.....120.....149
Leg Lifts.....2.....15.....0.....0
Weighted Machine Ab Crunch.....2.....10.....155.....207
Weighted Ab Ball Crunches.....1.....30.....25.....129

DAY 8 / 30 April 2008 / Weight: 222
Shoulders & Traps / Sets / Reps / Weight / 1 Rep Max
Straight Bar Military Press.....3.....6.....165.....192... (165x6/165x3/135x6)
Db Arnold Press.....2.....6.....130.....151
Db Side Laterals.....2.....6.....30.....35
Barbell Shrugs.....2.....6.....225.....261
Close Grip Upright Rows.....2.....6.....125.....145

Not sure on the Lying Tricep Press what that even is... so far I've just been doing extreme close grip barbell presses but I'm going to look around to see if I'm doing the wrong workout or not.

The 1 rep max number is just a "calculated" 1 rep max and not something I'm actually physically doing.

[willgreenzilla]

Any suggestions, tips, etc would be great! Thanks!

Also, further reading into the massive MAX-OT pdf indicated crossover cables on chest day is worthless so I will be removing that workout today for chest day. I need to figure out how to do these weighted dips... lol.

[willgreenzilla]

Did chest today. Felt pretty solid. Results as follows...

DAY 9 / 01 May 2008 / Weight: 220
Chest & Abs / Sets / Reps / Weight / 1 Rep Max
Flat Barbell Bench Press.....3.....6.....250.....290..... (Did 250x6/250x4/250x3)
Incline Db Bench Press.....3.....6.....200.....232... (Did 200x6/200x6/200x4)
Weighted Machine Dips.....2.....6.....185.....215

Need to find a belt that I can attach weights to for weighted dips so I can do free style dips versus the stupid dip machine thing.

[Raindrop11288]

awesome, subd as well. ur gunna like it man. best program ive followed to date. i suggest going up 5lbs a week on each heavy lift (80-100lb's or up) my rate is about 5lbs every 3 weeks for things like curls and such. Just keep the journal running, how long do u plan on running the program???

[willgreenzilla]

awesome, subd as well. ur gunna like it man. best program ive followed to date. i suggest going up 5lbs a week on each heavy lift (80-100lb's or up) my rate is about 5lbs every 3 weeks for things like curls and such. Just keep the journal running, how long do u plan on running the program???

not sure yet, lol, for as long as i can! haha.

i did a workout program from a mag for 4-5 weeks had a cpl off weeks and then started this program last week. Overall this is like week 6 in the gym after 2-2.5 yrs out of the gym so its nice being back!

[Raindrop11288]

yea, kinda makes you wonder why you ever stopped lifting. I took way too much time off. does feel good to be back. ill be keeping up with ur progress. I plan on putting the +gains to strength every 8 weeks during the off week. It will be interesting to see what weight gain you get having less bodyfat. my gain seems up down from 230-240. i think im burning fat gaining muscle at an odd rate

[willgreenzilla]

yea, kinda makes you wonder why you ever stopped lifting. I took way too much time off. does feel good to be back. ill be keeping up with ur progress. I plan on putting the +gains to strength every 8 weeks during the off week. It will be interesting to see what weight gain you get having less bodyfat. my gain seems up down from 230-240. i think im burning fat gaining muscle at an odd rate

ya, right now my bf was like 18%, the avatar pic on the left is a few yrs old when I was into working out and was in pretty solid shape. I have a pre-wo picture (took it before my first day after 2.5 yrs of non training the night before day 1 of my first day back in the gym) somewhere on another machine I will post this weekend with a current picture that I'll take sat or sun :-).

The difference of 7 weeks already is insane tho, and even more so since starting MAX-OT last week.

[willgreenzilla]

my weight has been fluxing between 218 and 222 lately. hope it'll start going upppp lol. overall up from 212-215 from 7 weeks ago tho so thats good since im also losing fat.

[Raindrop11288]

yea man well best of luck! and keep postin

[willgreenzilla]

yea man well best of luck! and keep postin

thanks man! you 2!

[willgreenzilla]

Hit the gym again today. Today was back day. Went pretty good. Felt solid on all my lifts.

Results are as follows...

DAY 10 / 02 May 2008 / Weight: ?
Back / Sets / Reps / Weight / 1 Rep Max
Cable Pull Downs (Front).....3.....6.....145.....168 (Did 130x6/145x6/145x6)
Seated Cable Rows (Alt 1 Arm).....2.....6.....180.....209 (Did 150x6/180x6)
Bent Over Barbell Rows.....2.....6.....135.....157
Db Lower Back Bend Overs.....2.....6.....130.....151
Weighted Hyper-Extensions.....2.....6.....25.....29

I'm looking forward to the weekend and relaxing for 2 days... going to do some light cardio and see how that goes to get myself into the swing of things as far as cardio is concerned. Next week should be solid, hopefully I will improve all my lifts at least by a little. The following week I will be on vacation and most likely have no access to a gym for 9 days, ugh! :-/ going to do some cardio in its place and continue supplementation and eat as clean as I will be able to, which, most likely won't be that good as I won't have my usual food choices!

Forgot to weigh myself today, oops :-/

[Raindrop11288]

Forgot to weigh myself today, oops :-/

haha happens to the best of us

[willgreenzilla]

Pictures! Finally took a couple pictures.

Here is one I took the night before my first day back in the gym after a couple years of inactivity! March9-2.jpg.

The 3 other pictures I took a few minutes ago after eating half a pizza (cheat day! lol).

Not sure how to link the pictures in the actual thread as all normal linking tags don't seem to work on this site for me :-/

[Raindrop11288]

nice pictures man i wish i took pictures 6 weeks ago, i need to get a camera and get some posted on my journal. another good way to motivate urself. you gotta good frame to start building back up on. best of luck still watching progress

[Raindrop11288]

what does scifit bcaa powder 5000 have that purple wratth doesnt? i thought they were both BCAA / EAA's? and how does the bcaa powder taste?

[willgreenzilla]

what does scifit bcaa powder 5000 have that purple wratth doesnt? i thought they were both BCAA / EAA's? and how does the bcaa powder taste?

the bulk BCAAs I take with my morning and post wo shakes and it pretty much just has more JUST BCAAs versus the everything combo that PW has. So i drink PW just for intra wos and then bulk for everything else.

[Raindrop11288]

oh nice, im gunna have to look into that, just got a 140$ visa for signing a lease early gunna buy some more supps, or bulk salmon/chicken when i get home. gotta love free money

[Raindrop11288]

how many grams of protien are u taking a day? Im trying to add up the supplements is 180 + meals right?
and i found this quote about casien protien "scientists are now recognizing that micellar casein is much more important in preventing muscle breakdown" (http://www.bodybuilding.com/store/mic.html) I ran into this same problem when thinking about taking glutamine. when it prevents muscle breakdown, is it ultimately prevented maximum muscle growth? everytime u lift u're tearing down ur muscles and rebuilding them stronger. Is casien still good for bulking?

[willgreenzilla]

how many grams of protien are u taking a day? Im trying to add up the supplements is 180 + meals right?
and i found this quote about casien protien "scientists are now recognizing that micellar casein is much more important in preventing muscle breakdown" (http://www.bodybuilding.com/store/mic.html) I ran into this same problem when thinking about taking glutamine. when it prevents muscle breakdown, is it ultimately prevented maximum muscle growth? everytime u lift u're tearing down your muscles and rebuilding them stronger. Is casien still good for bulking?

From what i've heard that casein protein is still good but only take it before bed as its benefits outweigh the negatives.

Also heard a lot of ppl say they only really take glutamine during cut phase and not bulk phase.

And ya man, free money is the best! def looking forward to my stimulus check! lol.

How much protein? not 100% sure, lol. but i take about 50gs in the morning + 5gs of bulk bcaa... then around 10am I take 25gs protein.... then post workout i take about 50gs protein + 5g bulk bcaas.... then during class (around 8pm or so) i drink either weight gain shake (like 60gs or so protein, 600 cal) if its chest or leg day or 50gs protein on other workout days... and then before bed i take around 25gs casein.

So, just from powder form each day i take around... 200gs protein. Also, every day, I eat 2 turkey sandwiches which has a decent amount of protein, almonds, and steak/chicken or salmon for dinner, and sometimes a can of tuna as well. Trying to shoot for around 400gs per day, but not sure if i'm actually hitting it. Going to keep more accurate track after my vacation next week so I can see if I need to eat more or not.

And you? 180gs + meals should be good if you eat protein heavy stuff like steak, chicken, salmon, etc, etc. I think they say shoot for 1.7g per lb or something. I just aim for 400gs.

[Raindrop11288]

I just aim for 400gs.

I think im going to have to start doing that man, im getting caught up trying to measure out 360grams of protien a day, why not just straight up go for 400grams. better more then less

[willgreenzilla]

I think im going to have to start doing that man, im getting caught up trying to measure out 360grams of protien a day, why not just straight up go for 400grams. better more then less

haha ya man, i've just been guesstimating, prolly need to calc it all out, but def gonna shoot for a solid 400g protein. as you said, more is better than less... rather not have my body eat the muscles i'm working to add! lol.

[willgreenzilla]

The stats I measured on sunday (my second full day of rest... and right after eating a half pizza, so values may be a bit skewed lol!)...

Height: 6'2.0" (1.88 m)
Weight: 223.5 lb (101.6 kg)
Waist: 37" (93.98 cm)
Thighs: 26.5" (67.31 cm)
Bodyfat: Will calculate later!
Calves: 16" (40.64 cm)
Chest: 40" (101.60 cm)
Forearms: 13" (33.02 cm)
Arms: 15" (38.10 cm)
Shoulders: 49.5" (125.73 cm)
Hips: 42" (106.68 cm)
Neck: 17" (43.18 cm)

And here I am thinking MAX-OT will work miracles... but WTF... i still haven't broke out of the 6'2" range!!! LOL, jp! :P

[Raindrop11288]

And here I am thinking MAX-OT will work miracles... but WTF... i still haven't broke out of thge 6'2" range!!! LOL, jp! :P

hahahahahahahaha

[willgreenzilla]

Ok, yesterday was legs day. Was pretty solid work out tho my heel has been hurting for the past half week or so after I was jumping over one of my daughters toys and full speed and force bashed my heel into the bottom of the coffee table :-/ ouch.

Work out went as follows...

DAY 11 / 28 April 2008 / Weight: 223
Legs / Sets / Reps / Weight / 1 Rep Max
Squats (Proper & on Smith Mach).....3.....6.....265.....308
Leg Press .....2.....6.....430.....499
Stiff Leg Dead Lift (Jacked up).....2.....6.....205.....238
Toe Raises on Leg Press.....2.....8.....360.....447
45 Degree Calf Press.....2.....8.....160.....199

Stiff leg dead lift just does not feel right. I feel more in my lower back than anywhere in my legs. I'm pretty sure I'm jacking the workout all up so I will do some research and see if I can figure it out better for next time around.

[willgreenzilla]

Oddly I cannot edit the above post, but I just noticed the date was wrong... did legs on May 05 2008. Opps lol.