Becoming the leanest, strongest 165 pounder I can be: blood, sweat and tears.

[musicianman]

Hey guys, I'm Andre. I've decided to start logging my progress, since my goals are a bit lofty (and always have been). I want people to tell me I can, not say "wow, that's a lot of weight" while giving me a complacent feeling. I want to become the best at what I do while, in this case, becoming much stronger than I appear.

I've posted my routine in the past, but I'm going to let this log grow post by post. Sub it - your constructive criticism and support keeps me going.

Here is what I look like today (164 pounds):



Here's last week's deadlift PR, for starters. Already had a lengthy critique here (http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showth...hp?t=124146141):

What's my first goal? Squats:


Smolov's write-up has inspired me, and I'm going to go for the most ambitious thing I've yet to do.

[musicianman]

Week 1: Monday

205x10x4 was no problem, other than cardiovascularly. I kept the rest between sets pretty short (~2 minutes), so the endurance aspect of it was the hard part.

I've done 205x20 with 3 breaths at the top before, but today felt quite good after yesterday's heavy leg day. I like the way this is set up: Sunday is heavy and low rep with lots of sets, and Monday is light and high rep with fewer sets.

[musicianman]

I redid the chart a bit:


Today I'm going for 5 sets of 7 with 215, which shouldn't be too bad. Next week, on the other hand, should be a moderate challenge. Week 3 is going to suck.

I'm doing double sessions today: getting my squats out of the way in the late-afternoon, and then doing my usual chest/abs routine tonight.

Results:
215x5x7 wasn't bad at all, other than the soreness that was left over from Sunday's leg day and Monday's 205x3x10. I kept my rest short between sets, which made it a bit tougher.

[musicianman]

Chest:
Benching 205x5x5: didn't get the last rep of the last set, but the others were accomplished without spotting. I haven't done 5x5 for a long time, so I'm hoping I will adapt quickly.

I feel like I lost a little bit of strength, but it's hard for me to tell. 205x6 is above 235, which was my strongest tested 1RM. 205x5 is ~231. Next Tuesday, I'll up the weight to 210 and try 5 sets of 5 with that.

Did two sets of incline dumbbell presses with 60 pounds (6 reps, I believe?), bodyweight dips 15 times without much trouble, and some cable decline bench pullovers. Followed that up with 3 sets of hanging leg raises with hanging L-sits to failure at the end of each set. Finally, I did incline crunches with my training partner giving me resistance and/or throwing me down for the eccentric portion of the contraction.

Since my shoulder injury about three weeks ago, I've developed forearm pain that shoots to the inside outer left side of my left elbow. I think it has developed as a result of the shoulder injury, even though I took 11-12 days off after the injury.

[MastaM]

Please correct the dead lift form before you get seriously injured brother.

[musicianman]

Please correct the dead lift form before you get seriously injured brother.

Thank you for your concern, but:

I beat my previous PR by 20 pounds - the form fell apart because it was truly my 1RM, which was discussed at great lengths in the thread I posted.

Not going to embed the links, but here's a 410 deadlift with better form (recorded on the same day): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WY_jMuKqXos

Here's a 365x2 warm-up set: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ttR16yNhrfM

[MastaM]

Thank you for your concern, but:

I beat my previous PR by 20 pounds - the form fell apart because it was truly my 1RM, which was discussed at great lengths in the thread I posted.

Not going to embed the links, but here's a 410 deadlift with better form (recorded on the same day): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WY_jMuKqXos

Here's a 365x2 warm-up set: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ttR16yNhrfM

Yeah, just realized it was your 1 rep max. Great job man. I would still advise against but if you feel it is necessary, then go ahead.

[musicianman]

Yeah, just realized it was your 1 rep max. Great job man. I would still advise against but if you feel it is necessary, then go ahead.

1RMs aren't something I test too often. I just felt like I was stuck at 405 for a while, so pushing through that was a good feeling.

[xPushItx]

Good luck, i will be following your thread.

[musicianman]

Phew! Today was rough.

I got three hours of sleep last night, had an exam from 12 PM to 1 PM, got back to my room shortly after, and took a nap from 3:45 to 4:20 (took my jack3d before the nap).

Started off with day three of week 1 of "Smolov" squatting, but forgot what was written on my chart. I ended up doing 225x5x7 (seven sets of five) rather than 230, but the last few sets were a strain regardless.

Otherwise, my routine looked something like this. I was feeling rather light-headed and dizzy my entire workout:

BW pullups x 12
35 pound DB pullups x 3
315x12 deadlift
165x5 rows (exhausted!)
135x8 rows (ditto)
95x1x5 DB rows

I also tried something new today - I did a plank, and had my 215 pound training partner and his 120 pound girlfriend stand on my back while I did. Managed to hold it for about ten seconds.

[musicianman]

Today felt alright. I had 12 hours of sleep to compensate for yesterday, but felt a bit drained in the morning. Started the day off with ~35 grams of sugar from juice, a protein shake with 25 grams of protein, and a tuna sandwich.

Went to the gym three hours later (at 5), and did my shoulder day:

Standing press:
Not really sure what happened over the last few weeks: I was OH pressing 135x1 three weeks ago, and now 115 feels almost as hard. Maybe it's because of the minor shoulder strain I had, and I doubt it's because of the Calorie deficit I've been subjecting myself to (all my other lifts have stayed the same or increased).

Regardless, here's what I did:
Standing Press: Barx12, 95x5, 115x1, 115x3 push press, 115x1, 115x2, 125x1 push press
Barbell Front Raises: 45x2x10
Lateral Raises: 30x3x5-6
Single-Dumbbell Front Raise (palms facing each other): 50x2x8-10
Power Clean: 115x3, 135x2, 135x2 (need to work on these)
Overhand-Grip Shrugs: 225x12, 315x8, 315x12 (less ROM), 225x15
Wall Handstands, kicking off the wall and trying to free-balance: 5-6 sets for 5-8 seconds before I fell

[musicianman]

Today:
Squatting - 245x10x3 (ten sets of three)

Really not too bad. The drive was smooth, and I got to work on feeling my hip drive with a sub-maximal load. Tried to go as low as I could - I had two people walk up to me and congratulate me on ATG squatting today, but I don't know if I'd truly call it ATG. Either way, it was below parallel and as low as I could possibly go.

I revised the chart a bit:

[musicianman]

Today:

Squatting: 225x4x9 (four sets of nine)

First and second sets were smooth on all reps; third set required a bit more breathing; fourth set's last rep SUCKED. Still managed it.

I also did:
-Hanging leg raises: 4x6-12
-Hanging leg raises with a flip on the top, coming down and then flipping around again
-60˚ incline crunches: 3x12
-Lots of stretching
-2 sets of scott curls (standing on the "wrong" side of the preacher curl station): 75x9, 95x3
-20 or so minutes of stretching

Don't know why I spent so long at the gym today. Everything felt very slow, but I got it done regardless.

[musicianman]

Chest Day:
Benching: 210x4, 205x5, 205x5, 205x4 (5th rep assisted), 205x3 (4th rep assisted)
Incline Dumbbell Press: 60x7, 65x3
BW dips: 1x17, 1x10
DB flies with 5 second stretch at the bottom: 25x2x8-10

My posterior deltoid was the cause of weakness today: I wore it out quite a bit doing free-hanging flips yesterday, and it was sore throughout the entire workout. I feel I'll get 210x5x5 next week.

[musicianman]

Squatting:
Goal - 235x5x7 (five sets of seven)
Achieved (forgot to check what I was doing today) - 240x5x7

First three sets were no struggle at all. The last rep of the last two sets had a slight good morning in it, but was still smooth.

[musicianman]

Today was fairly high intensity and high volume. I didn't do my usual deadlift weight or sets, so I was able to save more energy for the other lifts and tomorrow's squatting.

This is the first serious back day involving upper back that I've had in nearly a month, since I slightly strained my left posterior deltoid and suprispinatus about five weeks ago. I also was dealing with three weeks of golfer's elbow symptoms, which are now gone.

Back day:
Parallel bent-over rows to lower chest: 135x10, 155x8, 155x8
Normal bent-over rows to lower stomach: 185x6, 185x6
Deadlifts: 225x8 warmup, 315x8 (not difficult, but I'm saving energy for my 4x/week squatting)
Pullups: 1x11, 1x5
DB row: 95x2x7 on each side
Cable row with pause at end of ROM: 120x2x8
45 pound hyperextensions (cool down): 1x20

[musicianman]

Jesus.

Squatting:
250x7x5 (seven sets of five)

-First set was moderately difficult.
-Second set was slightly more difficult.
-Third set was hard.
-Fourth set was a little bit easier.
-Fifth set sucked, and I thought I was going to die.
-Sixth set, I asked someone to stop me in case I failed - surprisingly, it was about as easy as the second set. My upper back did round a bit, though, which I was especially aware of because of yesterday's back day. My lats and entire upper back BURNED.
-Seventh set, I died but finished.

Now I'm posting from purgatory.

[musicianman]

Today was the highest volume I've gone in a while. It took me nearly two and a half hours to finish, since I gave myself ample time to rest between sets. These exercises are listed in order performed.

Question marks indicate that I am not entirely sure of the amount of reps that I did.

All in all, I have only had a 6" ham and swiss cheese sub, two protein shakes, and some waxy maize mixed with jack3d pre-workout. I've been eating a lot for the past week, so my glycogen stores are full and I felt quite energetic until the very end of my workout. I used purple intrain with 32 fluid ounces of water while at the gym.

Shoulders, Traps and Arms:

Shoulders:
Clean & press (one power clean followed by multiple presses with legs locked): Barx8, Barx5, 95x5, 115x5, 135x1, 135x1 (followed by 135x1 push press), 135x3 push press

Incline barbell bench press: Barx8, 95x2, 115x2, 135x8, 135x7
Lateral DB raises: 30x3x7-12
Front barbell raises: 45x3x8-12
Front dumbbell raises (palms facing each other): 20x2x15-20

Biceps:
DB hammer curls: 45x8, 50x3
Reverse BB curls: 75x2, 65x7, 65x5
Concentration curls: 35x5, 35x6

Traps/grip:
Shrugs: 225x15, 315x8
Static mixed-grip hold: 315 for 23 seconds (left over), 315 for 28 seconds (right over)
Shrugs: 315x5?

Triceps:
CGBP: 135x12?, 155x7
Decline skull-crushers with triceps bar: 75x6
Triceps cable pushdowns: 120x5
Decline skull-crushers with triceps bar: 75x5
Triceps cable pushdowns (on a different cable apparatus): 80x4?, 60x4?, 40x8?, 25x7?

AND NOW IT'S CHOW TIME!

[musicianman]

Today was another epic squat day.

265x10x3 (TEN SETS OF THREE).

I took a LOT of time off between sets to let myself recuperate. I was still sore from Friday's 250x7x5, and really didn't think I would make it through today's routine.

Still, I made it. For sets 7-10, I had someone spot me. Psychology kicked in, and the sets seemed easier than sets 4-6. On set 9, I bottomed out completely (and paused) on the first rep and thought that I was stuck. I still managed to get it up, and performed the other two reps fairly smoothly.

There were no extreme good mornings, and my back doesn't feel tense at all. I'm thinking that my deadlift being 150 pounds ahead of my squat is causing legs to be the only weak link of the lift.

At the end of my routine, which took nearly an hour and a half, I did some stretching for about 20 minutes. I also used the hip adductor machine, set it to its maximum stretch (so the bars you place your feet on are parallel), and used weight to stretch myself out. I managed to nearly get into a split in this position. I don't feel nearly as achy as I did earlier thanks to the stretching.

I've only eaten about 1,000 Calories today, but I've been feeling quite energetic. I had a protein shake in the morning, some peanuts (200 Cals) for lunch; a footlong sub with grilled chicken, salami, blue cheese and honey mustard for late lunch; a protein shake pre-workout, and another protein shake mixed with waxy maize post-workout. Going to have 300 Calories of muscle milk before I go to bed.

Tomorrow is my computer science final; gotta get an A to get an A in the class! Hope it goes well.

[musicianman]

Guess what?

Squatting:
245x4x9 (four sets of nine)

2x10 hanging leg raises (all the way up!), before I felt like it was interfering with my squats.

Today was the second to the last day (until next semester) that I get to see my friend and lifting partner, so I spent nearly two and a half hours at the gym. I haven't been eating much today and yesterday, I had a final today, and I got less than five hours of sleep. I overall feel like crap, am hyper-caffeinated, and have never in my life experienced CNS failure like I did today.

I decided to burn myself out, but called off my bench pressing after a 185x2 warmup set felt like 225x2... I worked up to deadlifting 390x1 and thought I was going to rep out a few 405s, but got to 405 and couldn't even lift it off the ground once.

I felt lightheaded and was seeing stars for most of the latter two hours at the gym.

Definitely ready for a week off. My body is telling me that I'm done, so I'm going to listen to it.

I might do some celebratory beach muscle lifting tomorrow - abs, curls, flies, and all the other exercises that are wholly overused by gym rats. My lifting buddy and I thought it would be a good way to end the year.

I have my physics and differential equations final exams on Wednesday... Looks like I'm probably not going to get much sleep Tuesday night. Yet another reason to take a week off - I can't remember the last time I was this stressed.

[Ironlife]

Music man, you got a journal nice son!

[musicianman]

Music man, you got a journal nice son!

Chyeah boi!

[musicianman]

I haven't lifted since Monday, and my body's gotten some rest.

Between 1 PM on Tuesday and 4 AM on Friday, I only got 2 hours of sleep (60 hours awake!).

I had to cram for two final exams that I had on Wednesday, stayed up all night to celebrate with my friend on Wednesday, and then had to pack up my dorm the following day. On my way driving home with my mom, I drove 120 miles IN THE WRONG DIRECTION and ended up four and a half hours away from my house. At that point, I decided to pass out in the back seat and let my exhausted mom drive.

I've been sleeping 12-13 hours for the past two nights, napping a few hours during the day, and needing it. I think I'll feel normal tomorrow, and will be back to lifting on Monday. The week off has been good to me, despite not much sleep during the first few days.

Also, eating real food has been amazing. I didn't realize how sick I was of school food until I got home and my mom made me a dinner of chicken breast, corn on the cob, salad, and home-made pickles. I missed this stuff so much!

SUMMER'S HERE!

[musicianman]

Today: Chest

I'm finally back from five full days away from the gym, and I felt great today. I got to see my best friend from home, and we put in some solid lifting time. Lifting with someone stronger than me is always such a great motivation for me, yet even then I feel like I can contribute to his growth through my observation.

I was debating what to do, and decided that I wanted to go for 5x3 with 225. It didn't quite work out, but nonetheless I got what I was unable to do previously.

Benching: Barx8, 95x5, 135x4, 185x2, 225x3, 225x2, 225x1, 225x1
On the third working set, the bar came back a bit as I was pushing up on the second rep. My friend reracked it, gave me a fresh lift-off, and I failed the third rep. Regardless, 225x3 came up smooth on the second rep of the first set like it never had before, and the third rep was still clean with no spotting.

Incline BB benching: 135x8, 135x8 (ended up hitching myself up on the last two reps), 165x3 (hitched the last rep) (PR!)

Incline DB benching: 55x8?, 60x5, 65x3

DB pullovers: 80x6
DB flies with 3 second stretch on the bottom: 25x8
DB pullovers: 80x5
DB flies with 3 second stretch on the bottom: 30x6

Cable pushdowns: 50 rep drop set starting at 160x2?, 150x1, etc...

BAREFOOT ATG SQUATS:
I decided to see how much my squats had gone up after my 2.5 weeks of squatting 4x a week and not letting myself recover fully. As I had expected, it flew up!

275x4, 275x3, 300x1: ALL BELOW PARALLEL! My friend watched me from the side on all my reps... I didn't expect to be able to do 275x4 below parallel, considering I had only done 285x1 TO parallel three weeks ago. Definitely some major progress, and it looks like I might have a 315 squat in me by June.

On one of the reps during the second set, I forgot to abduct my hips and my knees came in a bit on the drive. My right LCL is a bit bothered right now, so I'm going to hold off squatting until I feel no discomfort. I feel great with the PR, but I'm not going to push myself to an injury.

[Ironlife]

Great workouts above man!!

I find 225lbs benching hard, i can push out 4-5 then it just gets ridiculously heavy.

[musicianman]

Great workouts above man!!

I find 225lbs benching hard, i can push out 4-5 then it just gets ridiculously heavy.

Hey man, 4-5 reps at 225 is nothing to laugh at. You've still got all the time in the world to push it wayyy up.

[musicianman]

I am having caffeine withdrawals, and it sucks. I took 1.5 scoops of jack3d on my chest day two days ago, but today and yesterday I had no caffeine at all. I've been feeling drained and like I REALLY need a cup of coffee since I got home from school last Thursday, and hopefully this will stop in a few days. Last week, I was up to 400-500 mg of caffeine a day.

Another thing to note: I had about 600 Calories worth of food in the three hours before coming to the gym. Only about 120 of those were from carbs, and that might have contributed to my overall feeling of weakness today. The 30g of waxy maize I put in my Purple Intrain didn't really help me today.

Back
Pullups: 14
Bent-over rows: 135x8, 155x8, 165x5, 165x8

On most of the BB rows, I was bringing the bar to just under my chest with only slight leg drive. I ended up using body momentum to push the last three out in the 165x8 set.

Squats: 135x8, 135x8, 185x5, 225x3, 275x1...
DEAD. 275x1 came up, but I decided to call it because of how weak I was feeling. I blame the food.

Deadlifts: 135x8, 225x8, 315x5, 365x1 (I thought this would be a warm-up set), 385xFAIL

What the hell happened? I was throwing up 385 like nothing three weeks ago. I guess I'm just drained. I don't think I lost any strength - certainly not enough to drop from 425 to 365.

DB rows: 70x8 warm-up, 100x8, 100x8

Lat pulldowns: 120x3 before I said **** it, due to blisters that had formed on my hands today. I went back and did 130x4 but wasn't really feeling it, so I called it quits on that.

Cable rows: 120x8, 130x8

Hanging leg raises: 3x8

Incline crunches with my partner giving me lots of resistance on the eccentric portion: 15, 8

The gym I'm going to for the next week has REALLY fine grating on the bars and dumbbells... It really tears my hands up:

[musicianman]

5/25/2010:

I forgot how much it rocks to eat clean. I really missed it, being at college for the past nine months.

People always talk about how "counting macros is all you need." In terms of gaining and losing weight, I suppose there's nothing more to it. I have to disagree that "it's all you need", however, when considering the long-term health effects of eating a bunch of unhealthy foods that combine to make a solid macronutrient profile. It's not easy on your digestive system, and who knows what sort of things are in some of that stuff.

I went to the supermarket tonight and loaded up on all the things I love to eat; $87 well spent. Should last me about a week. Thankfully my parents say that food is the one thing they never mind me spending money on - best parents ever.

-Natural peanut butter
-Natural low-sugar berry jelly
-Whole grain bread (110 Calories per slice)
-1 pound of honey roasted turkey
-1/2 pound monterey jack cheese with jalepeños
-Honey bunches of oats
-1 gallon of organic whole milk
-Rice pudding with raisins (pre/post-workout!)
-Mayonaise
-Cranberry honey mustard
-Smart Balance butter replacement (I don't mind eating butter, but I like the way this stuff tastes and I suppose it's "better" for me; it also has omega 3's in it.)
-Cottage cheese (4% milk fat)
-50% reduced sugar/Calorie mango pineapple tropicana juice (morning and pre/post-workout, 11g sugar/8 fl. oz.)
-12 organic jumbo eggs (BEST tasting eggs I've ever had; I missed getting these so much)
-12 morning star vegetarian breakfast patties (LOVE these)
-12 breakfast sausages (not vegetarian)

I forgot to buy berries and fruits!

A pecan pie was a really big temptation for me, but I'm moving to Florida in 9 days and couldn't convince myself that 2,000 Calories of food completely void of protein was worth it.

With that said, it looks like a delicious week of food ahead. If I eat 2,500 Calories a day, I FEEL FULL. It's amazing. At school, I could eat 4,000 and hardly feel as full as I do now - I certainly felt like my stomach was less happy about what I was eating.

I CANNOT believe how different organic whole milk tastes from the **** I've been drinking for the past nine months. It's a world of a difference. The stuff at school leaves this disgusting feeling on my throat when I drink more than 2 glasses of it. Here I just had 3 and felt completely fine.

I just made myself a turkey & monterey jack sandwich with mayo and cranberry honey mustard. SO ****ing delicious. Downed it with about 450 Calories worth of whole milk like it was nobody's business.

A few hours ago, I heard this loud "bang" about 1000 feet from my house; it was followed by a power outage a fraction of a second later. Power came back five seconds later, but now they're doing repairs or something and my house is completely disconnected from the power grid; Turns out a power line transformer exploded.

I typed this up with the power down and there's nothing else to do; Even my router doesn't work.

[musicianman]

I've decided to start logging most of my meals. I'm probably going to miss a few days here and there, but overall I think doing this will be good for me. I'll be able to see my eating trends, and adjust my Calorie intake with a bit more ease if I'd like to gain or lose weight.

Morning shake (12 PM):
125 Calories, 21g protein, 5g carbs

Breakfast of champions (1 PM):
4 jumbo eggs, scrambled with monterey jack jalapeño cheese and light cream (I ate a slice of cheese and put another one in): ~500 Calories, 42g protein
2 Morning Star vegetarian breakfast sausage patties: 160 Calories, 16g protein
2 Jimmy Dean sausage links: 160 Calories, 5g protein
1 cup pineapple mango juice: 50 Calories, 12g carbs
Cooking oils I used: ~100 Calories
Total: 980 Calories, 63g protein

Snack (4 PM):
1.5 cups honey bunches of oats with 2 cups whole milk: 540 Calories, 20g protein, 70g carbs

Dinner (7:30 PM):
1 pound sirloin steak tips marinated in bourbon: 850 Calories, 135g protein
5 small potatoes cut and fried in ~5 tbsp olive oil (~1.5 tbsp absorbed?): ~800 Calories, ~15g protein, ~150g carbs
Total: 1650 Calories, ~150g protein, ~150g carbs

Snack (9 PM):
1/8 cup Kozy Shack raisin rice pudding: 70 Calories, 2g protein, 12g carbs

Night shake (10:30 PM)
110 Calories, 22g protein, 2g carbs

Midnight Snack (11 PM)
Macaroni and cheese: 230 Calories, 9g protein, 39g carbs

AM "snack":
1 cup whole milk: 150 Calories, 8g protein, 12g carbs

Net total: ~3800 Calories, ~295g protein (31%), ~302g carbs (32%), ~158g fat (37%)

I can't decide whether I want to bulk or recomp. I know I can gain strength either way, but I also need to put focus into looking good for the beach - I'm moving to Florida in a week. Perhaps I'll train harder, do more cardio, and eat like a champ.

[Ironlife]

These have been some great posts to read man, good to see you wrote down what you have eaten, i like reading what people buy from the supermarkets.

* With the deads the other day, its only because you were low on carbs i think..
* great 1 arm rows.