Devian's Journal

[Devian]

So this is mostly for my own personal reference but I figured I'd post it on this site to amuse/entertain the lot of you. So basically here's some back story:

I lifted consistently from 8th grade till I was 18 so for roughly 5 1/2 years. I got involved with a girl and of course, she ruined my gym-rat life. I stopped caring about working out because I wanted to spend time with her instead (massive fail here) and stopped caring about how I looked or about my health for whatever reason. I took up smoking (smoked cigs from 17-21) which I quit 10 days ago now, and I was also eating fast food or the like sometimes twice per day for almost 2 years.

You'd think living eating like this would cause me to...i dunno....die....somehow I survived, I blew up to 220 lbs after being a lean 190-195...I became a massive porker. I left that girl about a year and a half ago and after living back with my mom for this period of time I have drastically lost weight, I've dropped down to a very skinny 165.

Now I'm just trying to get it all back. I've quit smoking, I haven't had fast food in almost a month, and I've been back to the gym 3 times a week for about 3 weeks now. I feel like I'm back into it, and I'm ready to kick it up a notch and really start training harder and focusing on my goals again. I've been with the same girl for about 6 months now, she's very supportive about me getting back on the fitness-train and is awesome about cooking me healthy food (and an abundance for this bulk) and making sure I get to the gym on time every day.

So, my goal now is to get up to 185-190 again, I'd like to lean out (drop from 18%ish bodyfat that I am now to around 7-9%) but I'll save that for after I put on the mass. To accomplish this I'm lifting 3 times per week, full-body workouts focusing on compound lifts for maximum gains (roughly 4-5 sets of 5-8 reps making sure I hit failure or get close to it each set) short rests (roughly 30-45 seconds) and I'm cutting out most all cardio for now (save for warm-up jogs or recreational walks in the park on weekends) to be sure all of my calories are going towards gaining weight.

I'm eating clean, I'm starting to count calories and with just whole foods I'm at around 3000 calories, I've picked up a weight gainer in hopes of adding an additional 500-800 cals or more per day with it.

My supplement list is:
Weight Gainer Protein
Whey Protein
Creatine
Glutamine
Multi

I'm starting with this as it's the essentials for now...when I get more advanced again I'll start experimenting with different things again.

I'm about to go mix a protein shake and head off to the gym (love late-night workouts, typically dead at the gym and allows me to really pound the plates hard). I will report back here with my workout results!

[Devian]

didn't have time to post this last night as I got home pretty late from the gym and crashed immediately in bed.

So I stated earlier I like going to the gym later at night, it helps me to avoid distractions, not having to compete for benches and machines is also a major reason I prefer the later time slot...as well as the fact I work retail and a couple of times per week I'm not out of work until 9:30-10...so anyway I got to the gym, it was quiet like usual, and I immediately got to work. I felt good and well rested from my workout on Monday, and my goal this workout was to increase the overall volume of my workout by doing 4 or 3 sets for each workout instead of 3 or 2.

The Workout

Bench Press:
Set 1 - 155lbs x 5
Set 2 - 145lbs x 7
Set 3 - 145lbs x 7
Set 4 - 100lbs x 8

Notes - I came out strong with set 1, and had to lower the weight for the next 2 sets. I took a smaller rest on set 4 (and have been used to only doing 3 sets for this the past 2 weeks) so I really had to lower the weight, my chest was just destroyed from this as I got one rep from failure on each set.

Squat:
Set 1 - 135lbs x 12
Set 2 - 155lbs x 10
Set 3 - 175lbs x 8
Set 4 - 195lbs x 6

Notes - Wasn't sure where to start for weights with this one so just went light for the first couple of sets, really picked up the intensity and weight the last two sets...feel I kind of let myself down on this, looking forward to Friday's workout so I can make up for a rather lackluster squat session

Military Press:
Set 1 - 85lbs x 12
Set 2 - 105lbs x 4
Set 3 - 95lbs x 5
Set 4 - 95lbs x 4

Notes - Went a bit too heavy I think with this exercise, had to cheat quite a bit the last two sets and didn't really rest too much in between sets. I will increase my rest periods next workout.

Deadlift:
Set 1 - 155lbs x 12
Set 2 - 185lbs x 10
Set 3 - 185lbs x 10
Set 4 - 185lbs x 10

Notes - This was a great workout, I felt strong the entire way through, didn't increase the weight because I was resting only 20-30 seconds between the final few sets, looking to break 200 on this soon.

Assisted Dips
Set 1 - 135lbs x 12
Set 2 - 140lbs x 8
Set 3 - 140lbs x 6

Notes - The weight is my bodyweight minus the assisted weight, not very good at dips or pullups, kind of one of my bigger focal points during this bulk, would like to be able to do 4-6 reps of just my body weight by the time I finish.

Assisted Pullups
Set 1 - 130lbs x 8
Set 2 - 130lbs x 5
Set 3 - 120lbs x 4

Notes - See notes for dips.



Overall this workout I give myself an 8/10. I worked out very hard, but definitely have room for improvement. Today is a rest day and I just plan to shove my face full of food, and work until close tonight.

Any critique of my workout program would be excellent.

[Devian]

Last night was a decent workout. I've seen a little bit of results in the 3 weeks I've been back at the gym, feeling a lot stronger than I have in the past few years...it's keeping me motivated and constantly looking forward to my next workout. Anyway here was my workout:

Bench Press
Set 1 - 150lbs x 10
Set 2 - 160lbs x 6
Set 3 - 150lbs x 8
Set 4 - 150lbs x 7

Deadlift
Set 1 - 190lbs x 8
Set 2 - 190lbs x 8
Set 3 - 200lbs x 8
Set 4 - 200lbs x 8

Squat
Set 1 - 140lbs x 10
Set 2 - 160lbs x 8
Set 3 - 170lbs x 8
Set 4 - 190lbs x 6

Standing Overhead Press
Set 1 - 70lbs x 10
Set 2 - 80lbs x 6
Set 3 - 80lbs x 6
Set 4 - 80lbs x 5

Barbell Row
Set 1 - 70lbs x 12
Set 2 - 90lbs x 8
Set 3 - 90lbs x 8
Set 4 - 90lbs x 8

Tricep Pressdown
Set 1 - 40lbs x 8
Set 2 - 40lbs x 8

Barbell Curl
Set 1 - 50lbs x 8
Set 2 - 60lbs x 6

Workout notes - wasn't able to do assisted pullups and dips since the machine was broken, had to settle on isolation exercises instead which kind of irritates me.

Day off today, from work and working out, headed to see Thrice tonight actually!

[Devian]

Bench Press
Set 1 - 150lbs x 12
Set 2 - 160lbs x 10
Set 3 - 160lbs x 7
Set 4 - 160lbs x 5

Barbell Rows
Set 1 - 110lbs x 12
Set 2 - 130lbs x 8
Set 3 - 130lbs x 5
Set 4 - 120lbs x 6

Standing Overhead Press
Set 1 - 70lbs x 14
Set 2 - 80lbs x 7
Set 3 - 80lbs x 6
Set 4 - 80lbs x 5

Deadlift
Set 1 - 200lbs x 8
Set 2 - 200lbs x 8
Set 3 - 210lbs x 6
Set 4 - 210lbs x 7

Assisted Chins
Set 1 - 120lbs x 8
Set 2 - 125lbs x 5
Set 3 - 120lbs x 4

Assisted Dips
Set 1 - 135lbs x 12
Set 2 - 140lbs x 8
Set 3 - 140lbs x 8

Notes - The barbell rows were done on the smith machine b/c it was all that was available at the time, so it helped with the weight quite a bit.

[Devian]

Yesterday was a pretty good workout, I felt strong on most lifts and broke a sweat I haven't in quite a while.

Bench Press
Set 1 - 140lbs x 12
Set 2 - 150lbs x 6
Set 3 - 150lbs x 4
Set 4 - 140lbx x 5

Squat
Set 1 - 150lbs x 12
Set 2 - 160lbs x 10
Set 3 - 180lbs x 6
Set 4 - 180lbs x 6

Deadlift
Set 1 - 210lbs x 8
Set 2 - 210lbs x 8
Set 3 - 220lbs x 6
Set 4 - 220lbs x 6

Standing Overhead Press
Set 1 - 70lbs x 12
Set 2 - 80lbs x 8
Set 3 - 90lbs x 6
Set 4 - 90lbs x 5

Barbell Rows
Set 1 - 80lbs x 12
Set 2 - 90lbs x 8
Set 3 - 100lbs x 7
Set 4 - 100lbs x 7

Assisted Chins
Set 1 - 140lbs x 5
Set 2 - 140lbs x 5

Assisted Dips
Set 1 - 150lbs x 10
Set 2 - 150lbs x 10

[Devian]

So after a month of consistent lifting I'm changing it up and splitting my workout into a 3 day split that will follow a 3 on 1 off 3 on 2 off cycle.

My goal is to save time in the gym and give each muscle group a little extra time to rest and recover after each workout. So my split (starting yesterday) looks something like this

Day 1 - Chest/Triceps
Day 2 - Back/Biceps
Day 3- Legs/Shoulders
Day 4 - Off
Day 5 - Chest/Triceps
Day 6 - Back/Biceps
Day 7 - Legs/Shoulders
Day 8 - Off
Day 9 - Off

So that's the split...here's yesterday's workout:

Bench Press
Set 1 - 140lbs x 10
Set 2 - 150lbs x 5
Set 3 - 140lbs x 7
Set 4 - 140lbs x 6
Set 5 - 140lbs x 5

Incline Bench Press
Set 1 - 100lbs x 6
Set 2 - 100lbs x 8
Set 3 - 100lbs x 7

Cable Crossovers
Set 1 - 50lbs x 10
Set 2 - 50lbs x 10

Assisted Dip
Set 1 - 170lbs x 6
Set 2 - 170lbs x 6
Set 3 - 170lbs x 5

Tricep Pushdown
Set 1 - 50lbs x 10
Set 2 - 57lbs x 6

This was a very good workout, blazed through it in just under 30 minutes, I definitely feel like I hit on all cylinders for the most part, and I'm excited to get in the gym tonight to hit back/biceps hard.