Impossible. The Quest for "Perfection".

[Drekkor]

ON Serious Mass. i won't be using it the way they suggest-- they suggest 2 scoops, which = 1250 cals/50g protein. i'll be basically eating the way i have been to this point, but adding 1 scoop of Serious Mass each day in order to add 625 cals/day.

Holy ****, hopefully your metabolism is jacked enough to handle something that rich! I'd be nervous taking on any of that, but if you're a hardgainer I can see it.

1250 calories!! FFS!

[Drekkor]

Gonna make a few supplement recommendations:

Animal Pump (Pre-workout N0 sup, this is a no bull**** energizer man, first time you try it you'll explode in the gym)

PWO: Dark Matter (Starch/BCAA/Etc, so far so good on this) - Or another Waxie Maize Starch PWO drink w/BCAA's and Protein.

All depends on your $ situation but I'm liking these a ton.

[R_Bid]

Holy ****, hopefully your metabolism is jacked enough to handle something that rich! I'd be nervous taking on any of that, but if you're a hardgainer I can see it.

1250 calories!! FFS!

yeah, 1250 for 2 scoops... the scoops are those crazy-huge ones the size of laundry detergent scoops. i'll just be using 1 scoop of that **** each day. the first time i saw the nutritional info on that stuff, i felt fat just reading it.

when i went from 160 to 187, i was taking in over 4500 cals/day. it was nuts. i really had to work to cram down that many calories, even with 2 full servings of N-Large2 every day at the time. my natural tendency is to eat pretty clean when i'm not eating fast food, so i was even writing in arby's and burger king 1-2 times/day in my meal plan back then just for extra calories. people laugh a lot about that kind of thing as a practice, but during that time, i gained 27 pounds and actually lost bodyfat. i was pretty shredded at 187.

of course... i was also bartending at night, and doing 35mins of cardio 4x a week. bartending was nuts for burning cals. our bar was about 40 feet long from north well to south well, and on fridays it would be me and my buddy patrick doing drinks for everyone in the restaurant (450 capacity iirc), plus taking 11 barstools, 7 tables in the bar area, and anyone who would cram in standing. lots of busting ass going on there.

[R_Bid]

Gonna make a few supplement recommendations:

Animal Pump (Pre-workout N0 sup, this is a no bull**** energizer man, first time you try it you'll explode in the gym)

PWO: Dark Matter (Starch/BCAA/Etc, so far so good on this) - Or another Waxie Maize Starch PWO drink w/BCAA's and Protein.

All depends on your $ situation but I'm liking these a ton.

might have to give those a go. just got the Pro Complex Gainer for post workout, so i have to work through 13 more days of that before i'll be open to trying a new PWO, but i haven't been using an NO yet. i'll get into SNC and check that Animal Pump out!

[Drekkor]

might have to give those a go. just got the Pro Complex Gainer for post workout, so i have to work through 13 more days of that before i'll be open to trying a new PWO, but i haven't been using an NO yet. i'll get into SNC and check that Animal Pump out!

That gainer is a good pwo shake. If you haven't used an NO Product like animal pump becareful, you won't wanna leave the gym!

[R_Bid]

That gainer is a good pwo shake. If you haven't used an NO Product like animal pump becareful, you won't wanna leave the gym!

hahaha-- that might be a good thing this week. i only have 3 more days in the gym before i have another five days off for that ****ing wedding. since i just came off some solid rest, i may as well get nutty before i have that next break!

thanks for the suggestion, man!

[R_Bid]

That gainer is a good pwo shake. If you haven't used an NO Product like animal pump becareful, you won't wanna leave the gym!

soooo... i decided i'd pop in at SNC in tigard and check up on that Animal Pump as per your suggestion. the owner has always been really blunt with me about her opinions of the various products they have there--if she thinks something is crap, she usually just tells me outright, or suggests a superior alternative. no surprise, she was enthusiastic about the Animal Pump, and i picked some up. i did some reading up on it, and the consensus here (on the supp forums) seems to be that it takes most people 7-10 days to see the full effects of it for some reason.

today was day 1 with it.

holy ****.

i had some Serious Mass at about 12:30 at work, came home and relaxed for a few, then downed the Animal Pump pack at 1:30 with 1 scoop of the Optimum Gold Standard 100% Whey and about 24oz of water. 45 mins later, i was getting into my first set.

here's how it went down:

i usually start with squats, and the squat racks are almost always wide open. i'd only ever seen 2 other guys do squats there, plus the one guy who does situps in the squat rack. when i walked into the weight room today, *both* squat racks had people just starting their first sets of squats in them. that blew my mind. it begs to be said that one of them was toting around a shaker cup full of water with the BB.com logo on it...

anyways, had to start with bench today.

bench:
5 @ 115
5 @ 135
5 @ 155
5 @ 175
4 @ 185--beat monday by 1 rep. 4th rep was work. i hate my weak bench.
8 @ 155--did my pump set with 135 on monday. 155 felt like 135 this week.

woots! rack was open by this point... but i figured i'd do squats third to give myself a slight upper body recharge between bench/rows and my accessory work.

bent over bb rows:
5 @ 135-- felt like a naked bar today.
5 @ 155-- still felt feather-light.
5 @ 175-- felt like 155.
5 @ 185-- started catching up to me. i'd been on about 30 sec rest between sets leading into this... got a little carried away.
5 @ 195-- PR, and i got 5 reps out. the last one came up with a grunt, and the veins in my forehead almost blew out.
8 @ 155...pump set.

squats:
5 @ 135
5 @ 185
5 @ 225...to this point, about 30 sec of rest between sets, and went about 1-2 inches deeper per squat than my usual 1 inch below parallel.
5 @ 255...waited about 1.5 mins between the 225 set and this one. still slightly deeper than usual. definitely felt the difference.
8 @ 285. yep, that's a PR. i waited about 2 mins after the 255 set, and went about 1 inch below my usual depth. the first four reps came out steadily. the next four were serious work, and i didn't rack the weight between, but had to pause and collect myself longer than usual between reps. when i got the 5th up, i thought i'd fail on 6... then 7... then i was positive i was going to fail on 8... got them all up, and i knew without a doubt that i'd keel over if i tried any more.

dips:
BW + 50 x 8. thought i was doing +40...set felt slightly heavy. realized what was up when i went to move the pin.
BW + 50 x 8. the set felt slightly easier this time--probably a trick of the mind.
BW + 60 x 8. this set caught up to me quick. by the 4th rep, i was having to pause at the top to collect myself for each subsequent rep. i typically do them like a slow piston--steady all the way through, with 0 lockout. i still avoided the lockout today, but definitely needed to take advantage of the easy part at the top.

pullups:
BW x 5
BW x 4
BW-20 x 3... i actually had to add 20 pounds assisting for the third set. definitely felt the effects of rowing heavy, but i was a little disappointed since i managed 3 @ BW in the third set of these while supersetting pullups with dips on monday. i shouldn't complain, given how much i prefatigued today. meh.

superset:
curls-- DB curls: 30s x 8, 30s x 6... DB incline curls: 25s x 6, 25s x 6
standing 1-arm overhead high pulley rope-grip tricep extensions: 20 x 8, 20 x 8, 20 x 6, 20 x 6 (each arm)

the superset was done with 0 rest between sets. all the recharge i got was bicep recharge during tri sets, and each tricep recharging during bi sets and while the other tri was working. i actually failed with both arms trying to squeeze out a 7th rep on the last set of DB incline curls, and my arms were shaking like a 9.5 earthquake on the final set of tris with each arm.

db laterals:
25s x 8
25s x 8
30s x 8

great shoulder pump. almost puked on the last rep of laterals. i really dislike nausea, but the horrid feeling of "ooohhhh, i'm ganna puuuuuke" was slightly overshadowed by the intense feeling of "i think i'm gonna exploooooode".

i don't know if it was the animal pump or a psychological boost from expectation, but... i felt herculean, and definitely took squats and dips in particular farther than i usually would have.

/roar


Drekkor-- thanks for the suggestion. even if today's benefits actually came from a trick of the mind, i can say with certainty that i am farther ahead than i would have been had i not taken your suggestion and picked that stuff up. it sounds like the worst case scenario would be that it'd take me a week or 10 days to see the *real* benefits of Animal Pump, but i'll be in grants pass for 5 days out of the next 11, anyway.

this might have been the best workout i've ever had in terms of sheer intensity. i did the whole thing in 65 minutes on the button.

[R_Bid]

wow. i feel really fat in the middle right now. when i left for the coast, my abs were visible while standing relaxed. right now, i have to crunch to be able to see them. my stomach is still flat, at least. /sigh

i'll probably have to get used to it for a bit. i was bouncing up and down between 178 and 180 before i left. i've stabilized at 180 the past couple days, and adding 1/2 serving of Serious Mass (625 cals) to my daily caloric intake will mean some adjusting while i figure out how much cardio i need to do to keep the fat gains under control while adding LBM.

doms today in bis and tris. nothing crippling, but definitely there.

going to be doing my wednesday workout on monday. if i still have doms in the bis, i'll probably skip pullups that day and just do squats (light), seated smith machine overhead presses, and continuous tension deads, plus some ab stuff, and probably calf extensions of some sort.



aside:

as i'm typing this, i'm eating 1 cup steamed broccoli, and a lean ground turkey patty. i found this stuff that tastes like a light soy sauce that comes in a little pump-spray bottle, and it's actually relatively low in sodium. not too shabby. i could eat the turkey patty plain and straight off the grill (i often do), but this flavor stuff helps spruce things up a bit. pretty enjoyable meal, and very nice protein (about 40g all told). i've taken to eating this before bed rather than going with casein lately. may move this meal up earlier in the day and pick up another tub of the Gold Standard 100% Casein. we'll see how things go, and what tweaks i need to make with diet/cardio over the next couple weeks.

[Drekkor]

Idk about that 7-10 days thing, I had results just like that my first day.

[Drekkor]

squats:
5 @ 135
5 @ 185
5 @ 225...to this point, about 30 sec of rest between sets, and went about 1-2 inches deeper per squat than my usual 1 inch below parallel.
5 @ 255...waited about 1.5 mins between the 225 set and this one. still slightly deeper than usual. definitely felt the difference.
8 @ 285. yep, that's a PR. i waited about 2 mins after the 255 set, and went about 1 inch below my usual depth. the first four reps came out steadily. the next four were serious work, and i didn't rack the weight between, but had to pause and collect myself longer than usual between reps. when i got the 5th up, i thought i'd fail on 6... then 7... then i was positive i was going to fail on 8... got them all up, and i knew without a doubt that i'd keel over if i tried any more.

superset:
curls-- DB curls: 30s x 8, 30s x 6... DB incline curls: 25s x 6, 25s x 6
standing 1-arm overhead high pulley rope-grip tricep extensions: 20 x 8, 20 x 8, 20 x 6, 20 x 6 (each arm)

i don't know if it was the animal pump or a psychological boost from expectation, but... i felt herculean, and definitely took squats and dips in particular farther than i usually would have.

Drekkor-- thanks for the suggestion. even if today's benefits actually came from a trick of the mind, i can say with certainty that i am farther ahead than i would have been had i not taken your suggestion and picked that stuff up. it sounds like the worst case scenario would be that it'd take me a week or 10 days to see the *real* benefits of Animal Pump, but i'll be in grants pass for 5 days out of the next 11, anyway.

Haha, np! As a side note, I think supersets are generally with 2 different muscle groups, ie, bi's/tri's. I can't recall the term for a double set on the same muscle group but I'll check.

Worst case senario? All those PR's on a single day says to me there is no worst case!

Gj man.

[R_Bid]

Haha, np! As a side note, I think supersets are generally with 2 different muscle groups, ie, bi's/tri's. I can't recall the term for a double set on the same muscle group but I'll check.

Worst case senario? All those PR's on a single day says to me there is no worst case!

Gj man.

re: supersets-- yeah, the superset was basically a long one with curls alternating with the tricep extensions-- i just switched what type of curls i was doing after the 2nd set, and did 2 of the other type. doms were brutal saturday. i should have made it more clear what i was talking about @ that superset in that entry. i'll edit and see if i can format it better.

yeah, though-- looking back at that workout, i just have to shake my head a little. i still really hate my bench at the moment, but i can't really bitch with the way my rows and squats have been coming along. eventually bench will get up there. i just have to remember i'm still making steady progress week to week. looking at my 7/14/08 workout, i failed after 2 @ 175. adding 10 pounds and being able to do more reps at the higher weight in 2 weeks isn't too bad. i guess it's like you were talking about in your own journal (regarding the compliments you got this past weekend)-- you don't realize how far you've come until you really step back and look in the rearview mirror.

thanks for the support, man. i was stoked to see you back in action today! since i don't lift 4/7 days each week, i live vicariously a little through your journal. as weird as it may seem, it makes me less antsy to have your journal to read on my off days.

after i post today's workout, i'm going to pop over and see how your leg entry went!

[R_Bid]

weight this morning-- 180.

food so far today:

4:00am: 1/2 cup oats, 1/4 cup raisins, 1 scoop ON Gold Standard 100% Whey + 24oz water. multi, 2 ON Creatine 2500 caps.

7:00am: 1 scoop whey, 1 scoop ON Gold Standard 100% Casein, 1 banana, 24oz water.

9:30: 3oz whole wheat pasta, 1/2 cup low sodium tomato sauce, 8oz chicken breast, green tea.

12:00: 1 scoop ON Serious Mass, 24oz water.

2:00: 1/2 cup oats, 1/4 cup raisins.

2:45: 1 scoop whey, 24oz. water. Animal Pump (rrrRRROOOAARRRRRrrrr!!!)

3:15: weights.<--- these are loaded with minerals.

4:15: PWO shake-- 1 scoop ON Pro Complex Lean Gainer.

5:15: (sandwich) 2 slices whole wheat bread, 1 lean ground turkey burger patty, 1/2 cup raw spinach. 24oz. water.



Monday 8/4/08 workout: slightly out of sequence so i can do my friday workout again on wednesday. did my wednesday workout today, with a couple minor tweaks...

warmup: 3 mins eliptical. resistance 10, x-ramp 6.

squats:
5 @ 135
5 @ 185
5 @ 225
5 @ 255-- light day. 255 feels really light now. still... my legs are more defined than before, but not much bigger despite how much stronger they've become.

pullups:
5 w/ 40lbs assisting
5 w/ 30lbs assisting
5 @ BW... not sure why. this set felt easier than with 30lbs assisting. weird.
5 @ BW
4 @ BW + 6 w/ 50lbs assisting (drop set)

pullups felt great today. i think i'm going to stick to doing warmup sets with light assistance before i get into the meat of them. form feels better when i ramp up rather than starting at BW, and i find that i finish stronger this way for some reason.

seated smith machine overhead press (weight listed doesn't include bar):
5 @ 90
5 @ 110
5 @ 140... felt about how i remembered it from 7/23/08 workout. heavy by 5th rep.
5 @ 140.. going into this set, i was just going for 3 reps as an intial goal. didn't think i'd be able to get 5 out. surprised myself on this one. next wednesday, i think i'm going to go for 5 @ 90, 5 @ 110, 5 @ 130, 5 @ 150.

continuous tension deadlifts--went down to 1" above the floor today, rather than 3-4 inches below knees as normal:
5 @ 135
5 @ 155
5 @ 185
5 @ 215... this set felt like i was still barely doing anything. no idea wtf was going on with these. since i never touch the bar down between reps, i usually have my heartrate up, and feel a good bit of tension through my back when i do my high set. this week, i considered tossing on another 30lbs and going for broke, but figure i'll wait for next week. don't want low back doms to sneak up on me the way arms did this weekend. that would suck to have hanging over me while i'm on my trip to grants pass thursday-sunday.

seated 1-leg calf extensions:

i've been neglecting calves a bit in the gym lately, so i decided to get a little rowdy pumping them up. my first "set" was basically one long set. left, right, left, right with zero rest between sets. i put on one 25lb plate and did 10 + 10, then 8 + 8 nonstop.

next set, 35lb... 6 + 6

next set, 40lb... 4 + 4, then dropped to a 25 for 6 + 6, 6 + 6, all nonstop.

i really prefer doing calf work one leg at a time. i've got this semi OCD thing relating to my calves being even. whenever i do calf work with both feet at once, i have this bug in the back of my head that i may be favoring a leg. i hate that. oddly, this is the only muscle i have that concern with.

nautilus machine weighted situps:
10 @ 150
10 @ 160
10 @ 170
10 @ 180

easy. next week, 160-190 sets on wednesday.

great workout, all in all. i LOVE seated smith overhead presses. hands down, one of my favorite lifts. still a goal of mine to get back to doing 2 plates on each side. i think i can get to that point in 5-6 weeks. that looks like a lot when i type it, but when i sit back and consider how long it took me to get to that point years ago, i have to smile and feel good about my program and the joys of muscle memory.


regarding supps:

my total supp list & use looks like this...

ON Gold Standard 100% Whey... used first thing in the morning, and to fill gaps as needed.

ON Gold Standard 100% Casein... pre-bed, or mixed with whey during my first break at work.

ON Serious Mass... for my last break at work, or on off days if i expect to be out and about for a couple hours.

ON Pro Complex Lean Gainer... PWO only.

ON Creatine 2500 Caps... 1st thing in the morning, and in the afternoon and evening on non-training days (when i'm not taking Animal Pack)

Animal Pump... 30 mins pre-workout on training days. not used on off days.

generic multi... first thing in the morning, and another in the evening.


some of the stuff may sound redundant, but i've actually found that having this spread of products has been really good with my weird work schedule. adding the 1/2 serving of Serious Mass has my daily calorie count up around 3500-3600 right now. there are a truckload of vitamins & other goodies in both the Pro Complex, and the Serious Mass, and using the 2500 caps on non-training days will hopefully keep me from building up a tolerance to the Animal Pack goodies while still keeping my muscles saturated with creatine.

ultimately, one of the main benefits is that having all of these products makes it very convenient to get what i need, when i need it.

[Drekkor]

Deadlifts and Squats on the same day, beastly. You should be packing on the mass over the next few months... insane!

[R_Bid]

Deadlifts and Squats on the same day, beastly. You should be packing on the mass over the next few months... insane!

maaaaaaan, i sure hope so. i don't want to be stuck trying to take in > 4500 cals/day again like i did when i was younger to gain size. that's a ****ton of food...

[R_Bid]

i'm actually almost annoyed right now at how many days off i've had. i've had a lot of momentum going in the gym lately, and have seen a ton of strength progress. either of my two recent blocks of time off would have been fine, but having two of them practically right on top of each other has me gnashing my teeth a little.

still, i had 3 great workouts between the times off, and lots of time to recover and reset a little.

here's wednesday's workout:

warmup: 3 mins eliptical. resistance 10, x-ramp 6.

bench:
5 @ 115
5 @ 135
5 @ 155
5 @ 175
3 @ 195... had to get myself prepped for this one mentally after 4 @ 185 friday. felt like i could almost get one more out, but didn't want to push my luck. so close to the 200 mark!
8 @ 175... really surprised myself here. the 8th rep was a lot of work, but it wasn't too long ago that i failed at 2 or 3 @ 175. doing 8 @ 175 for a pump set felt great.

another big note--this was my first week going to a thumb grip. i've been doing bench with suicide grip up until now. felt a little weird, but i'll get used to it.

bent over barbell rows:
5 @ 135
5 @ 155
5 @ 175
5 @ 185
4 @ 200! that felt awesome.
5 @ 185...felt ambitious. tried for 8 @ 185 on pump set, ran out at 5.

squats:
5 @ 135
5 @ 185
5 @ 245
5 @ 275
3 @ 295... didn't have any more reps in me after bringing up the weight in my warmup sets.
6 @ 275... i was going for 8 here. didn't quite have it.

dips:
8 @ BW + 50
8 @ BW + 60
8 @ BW + 70

incline db curls:
8 w/ 25s
8 w/ 27.5s
5 w/ 30s...tried for 8. ran out on 5th.

low pulley cable flyes:
8 @ 60 each side
8 @ 60 each side... i squeeze really hard at the top on these. had a great pump, barely got the 8th rep out.

low pulley 1-arm overhead tricep extensions with rope grip:
8 + 8/8 + 8 @ 30. no break between.
8 + 8 @ 40
5 + 5 @ 50/4 + 4 @ 40 with no break in between. last reps at 50 and 40 barely came out.


i pushed it really hard this workout knowing i would have until monday for the CNS and muscles to recover. glad i did. doing the same thing leading into my beach trip was productive. unlike my previous time off, i'm not going to do any bodyweight exercise on my normal workout day. just going to completely rest up and enjoy the time between now and my next workout.

[Drekkor]

maaaaaaan, i sure hope so. i don't want to be stuck trying to take in > 4500 cals/day again like i did when i was younger to gain size. that's a ****ton of food...

Yeah it is... 4500 cals/day would put me into INSULIN SHOCK! But serious, hope the mass comes clean...

Also, nice workout Wed. but add deadlifts to it, even if it's only like 185 lb - 225 lb deads, you won't regret it.

*EDIT* My mistake, I didn't see that Wed was almost a full body WO. In that case I have no recommendations since squats will hit quads/lower back to a degree.

[R_Bid]

Yeah it is... 4500 cals/day would put me into INSULIN SHOCK! But serious, hope the mass comes clean...

Also, nice workout Wed. but add deadlifts to it, even if it's only like 185 lb - 225 lb deads, you won't regret it.

*EDIT* My mistake, I didn't see that Wed was almost a full body WO. In that case I have no recommendations since squats will hit quads/lower back to a degree.

definitely agree @ deads! i'll be back to my normal routine starting monday, which will have me doing continuous tension deads for 4x5 every wednesday. i love and hate deads all at the same time, but i found i enjoyed the hell out of them on friday when i did them, and i'm pretty fired up to get back to the normal routine.

[R_Bid]

tired of breaks right now. got another wedding coming up in about a month and a half, but i'm stoked to have this upcoming 6 or so weeks straight to buckle down, keep the nutrition locked in, and mash out my workouts on my usual schedule.

i ate like crap this past 4 days...made sure to keep taking in protein along with the junk, and i got a lot of rest, but i'm glad to be here at home with my blender, my grill, and all the food and supps i keep stocked up.

one minor change to my workout routine--probably going to add standing calf raises on mondays, and seated calf raises on wednesdays. been neglecting those a bit lately. beyond that, i'm thrilled with the strength gains i've experienced, and i'm looking forward to making more. benching and bb rowing 225 aren't too far away-- i'm hoping to hit both marks by the time i break for the next wedding--and i should be hitting 315 on squats within a month unless my progress slows at this point.

[Drekkor]

tired of breaks right now. got another wedding coming up in about a month and a half, but i'm stoked to have this upcoming 6 or so weeks straight to buckle down, keep the nutrition locked in, and mash out my workouts on my usual schedule.

i ate like crap this past 4 days...made sure to keep taking in protein along with the junk, and i got a lot of rest, but i'm glad to be here at home with my blender, my grill, and all the food and supps i keep stocked up.

one minor change to my workout routine--probably going to add standing calf raises on mondays, and seated calf raises on wednesdays. been neglecting those a bit lately. beyond that, i'm thrilled with the strength gains i've experienced, and i'm looking forward to making more. benching and bb rowing 225 aren't too far away-- i'm hoping to hit both marks by the time i break for the next wedding--and i should be hitting 315 on squats within a month unless my progress slows at this point.

The one thing about weddings is there's always plenty to eat for you hardgainers!

[R_Bid]

The one thing about weddings is there's always plenty to eat for you hardgainers!

3 words...

bacon... wrapped... chicken...

[Drekkor]

3 words...

bacon... wrapped... chicken...

All my ears hear are two words...


no carbs!

Good to go son!

[R_Bid]

i was a little pensive going into this one. i had this nagging feeling i wasn't going to have a surge of progress coming off 5 days between workouts. here's how it went:

warmup:
3 mins eliptical. resistance 10, x-ramp 6

changed order of exercises from squats -> bench -> rows to bench -> rows -> squats. i like doing them in the same order monday and friday, and doing them in this order gives me a recharge between bench/rows and dips/curls on fridays.

bench:
5 @ 115
5 @ 135
5 @ 155
5 @ 175--last rep felt oddly heavy, which tipped me off to go with matching my high weight from wednesday rather than pushing for 195...
5 @ 190. got 3 at 190 wednesday, so i feel good about this. the 5th rep really wanted to be failure, but i eeked it out. glad i didn't push for 195. happy with the progress, and i have a good feeling about friday.

bent over barbell rows:
5 @ 135
5 @ 155
5 @ 175
5 @ 190-- bumped up the weight on 4th set from 185 on wednesday so i could make a little extra progress given that i hit 4 reps @ 200 last week.
5 @ 200. baaaaarely, but we got there. between upping the weight for my 4th set and getting the 5th rep out at 200 this workout, i feel great about this.

squats:
5 @ 135
5 @ 185
5 @ 245
5 @ 275...felt stronger on 275 than 245. i had a crazy wind hit me when i was mentally prepping for this one, and felt really good.
5 @ 295. goddamn. third straight exercise where i tried to fail on the 5th rep of my final set. looking back, these could easily have been "4 @ X" on all 3 exercises so far. thank god for force of will. i'll give credit to Drekkor's Animal Pump suggestion, with a nod to my own being a stubborn ass.

nautilus machine seated/weighted ab crunch:
10 @ 160
10 @ 170
10 @ 180
5 @ 190 + 2 @ 180. no mas. abs were D O N E.

weighted hypers:
10 w/ 45lb
10 w/ 45lb

been using a 45 pound plate on these for a while now. no plans on adding more weight. i just do these to keep the low back conditioned for deads on wednesdays.

standing 1-leg calf raises:
bw+25 x 6+6
bw+25 x 5+5
bw+25 x 5+5

veeeerrryyy slow reps on those, pause at bottom and pause at top.

good workout. being smart and not pushing for new PRs on this workout turned out to be a good call, obviously. still, i got the target reps for every lift (except abs--was going for 10 @ 190, but meh), so i'm happy.

stoked for my wednesday workout!

/pro complex

[IWantIt]

nice journal man...I haven't read the entire thing but I see great progress..looks like you were benching 155 at the start and now 190? Good stuff, I'm going to to subscribe

[R_Bid]

nice journal man...I haven't read the entire thing but I see great progress..looks like you were benching 155 at the start and now 190? Good stuff, I'm going to to subscribe

thanks, man! this is actually the 2nd journal i started here. i had one going right after i started lifting again, but i wasn't as good about updating it as i have been with my paper journal. i started this one up when i became as resolute about logging it online as i was about doing it at home.

the first workout i did when i came back after 4 years was on 6/3/08... bench at that point was 135 for 5, squats were 115 for 10, bb rows were 115 for 7.

hrm.. i was thinking it had been 2.5 months since i came back, but it's just been 2 months, 8 days as of today. i guess that's why we keep logs!

[Drekkor]

What's this, gains? Impossible!

[R_Bid]

What's this, gains? Impossible!

****, man... i'm busting my balls just to try to keep up with you in terms of progress from week to week! already doing 115s on incline db press? you're gonna kill me if you keep upping the poundage like that! for you that's a 10lb bump in weight in a week on presses... i'm happy right now just making 5lb jumps on bb bench!

for a brief period, i thought i might actually get close to you with squats, but that 5th rep @ 295 told me otherwise. as things stand right now, i'm looking at stopping pound progression at 315 when i get there and just focusing on adding reps for awhile from that point on. even at 5lbs a week i still have 4 weeks before i'm there, though... by then you'll be at 335/340!

i need me some of that CELLTECH, and not the regular variety... the stuff that says HARDCORE right there on the tub!

[Drekkor]

Uh, no, 115's on flat db bp! TBH, I think CellTech is supposed to be a postwo shake... I'm just jacked up on all that sugar because I keep my carbs so low... If it affects my cut I'll be peeved!

[R_Bid]

Uh, no, 115's on flat db bp!

/headslap

for some reason i keep reversing your order in my head and seeing it as incline db press first, then flat bench db...

either way, your progress with both is retarded.

[R_Bid]

back to my regular wednesday workout, with the slight adjustment of adding seated calf raises. as much as i appreciate the value of having had two periods of extended rest (especially since they landed basically right on top of each other, and right around the 2 month mark since my return to working out--great deload timing!), i'm VERY happy to be back to the regular routine.

had to wake my ass up early today since i start work at 11:30am today, and 6:45am tomorrow. wouldn't have been able to lift after work tonight and still keep protein streaming in the way i like.

here's how it went down today:

warmup: no surprise here, the usual. 3 mins on the eliptical. resistance 10, x-ramp 6.

squats:
5 @ 135
5 @ 185...eh, oh... a little tightness in the hip abductors...
5 @ 225
5 @ 255...still tight here. got through everything fine, but stuck with the exact same weight/set that i did last monday (my last "wednesday" workout). i'm considering adding some non-strenuous flexibility stuff tuesday/thursday since i cut out the extra core + cardio work i was doing on those days.

pullups:
5 @ BW-50
5 @ BW-40
2 @ BW +30, 3 @ BW... dropped the belt and did the 3 @ BW immediately.
1 @ BW +30, 4 @ BW... and again.
5 @ BW

pullups are progressing nicely. i was pretty stoked to actually get even 2 and 1 reps out with +30, and i think i'm going to stick with this set/rep structure until i get to where i can do 5 @ BW+30 for the final 3 sets.

seated smith machine overhead presses: (only plate weight listed)
5 @ 90
5 @ 110
5 @ 140...once again, felt very heavy. still...
3 @ 150...had to try it! my plan last time i did these was to do 5 @ 130 for my 3rd set, then go for 5 @ 150. decided to stick with 140 on the previous set and go for it with 150, anyway. as hard as it was, i'll take 3 and be happy.
8 @ 90... about 30 sec after the 3 @ 150. the first 6 reps were cake. by the 7th and 8th i wasn't struggling, but my shoulders were swearing at me in what i think was an eastern european dialect of some sort.

continuous tension deads*:
5 @ 135
5 @ 155
5 @ 185
5 @ 205...felt especially strong again. had only about enough rest to add plates between sets to this point. heartrate reflected that.
5 @ 225... rested about 1.5 mins between 4th set and this one, just to collect my breath a little. felt great.

*i did these standing on a mini platform today so i could add some depth. on the downward portion, i went about 2 inches deeper than usual (lowering the plates about 1" below my feet).

superset:
seated 1-leg calf raises: 10+10 @ BW+25, 6+6 @ BW+35, 5+5 @ BW+45, 8+8 @ BW+35, 5+5 @ BW+45
swiss ball crunch/pauses: 10, 10, 10... 2 second pause at the top, and rolling pubic bone up hard towards sternum at the top of the movement. these suck.

obviously did 2 more sets of calf ext than ball crunch/pauses. just did them as a superset to speed up the end of the workout since i had been in the gym right around 1 hour when i started these. basically zero rest in between the superset work. didn't stop moving until i was done with all 3 sets of crunches, then rested about 45 sec before each of the last 2 sets of calf ext.

very happy with today's workout.

looking ahead to next wednesday:
-going to probably keep squats the same since i progress with them M & F and have deads to get through.
-already fired up for pullups...hoping for 4 @ BW+30, then 2 @ BW+30.
-going for all 5 @ 150 on OH press. 3 was hell.
-deads...maybe bump up to 235, depending on how my breathing is through sets 3 and 4.

[Drekkor]

No chest work?