JohnB's Journey

[dopamine72]

lol @ the soreness

nice deads man

[PeterGibbons316]

yup. i did it for so long that i now know my ball park. two chicken dense meals and 1-2 scoops of whey alongside each of those meals = plenty of protein. add in beans for carbs and protein, some potatoes or quinoa and some delicious guilty pleasure (currently in a Lucky Charms phase ) and i will hit my carb intake more or less whilst keeping fats low. all that on training days, of course, since i do the carb cycling deal.

it's a nice mental break for sure. may start dialing in on the scale again next week until christmas week just to double check what i'm doing and help get the fat loss moving a bit faster again so i can get to bulk/strength routine sooner than later.



seems to be the consensus on gangbang thread, too. thanks man!

I've been eyeballing my meals as well. Weight gain was a little faster than I would like, but seems to have trailed off. I've added ice cream and Halloween candy all month and still haven't gained all that much. Gonna make a better effort to carb up before both volume and intensity days.



Gotta say - it's great to have you back man!

[jcranston]

Glad to see you back in here!

[MatTheCur]

Gotta say - it's great to have you back man!

Glad to see you back in here!

These!

[johnblythe]

lol @ the soreness

nice deads man

it's still too soon for me to laugh at it. was prettttty terrible

and thanks mang, trying to catch up w/ your swole status

I've been eyeballing my meals as well. Weight gain was a little faster than I would like, but seems to have trailed off. I've added ice cream and Halloween candy all month and still haven't gained all that much. Gonna make a better effort to carb up before both volume and intensity days.



Gotta say - it's great to have you back man!

i really enjoy eyeballing, but it certainly can't work forever. glad to be back.

Glad to see you back in here!

thanks man, glad to have returned.

These!

<3

[johnblythe]

RPT - Squats - November 11, 2012

Barbell Squat:
45 lb x 10 reps (+42 pts)
135 lb x 8 reps (+75 pts)
225 lb x 4 reps (+110 pts)
265 lb x 3 reps (+127 pts)
295 lb x 1 reps (+106 pts)
[static hold: 385 - 10 secs]
325 lb x 1.75 reps (+160 pts)
295 lb x 3 reps (+155 pts)
295 lb x 3 reps (+155 pts)

Working on form a good bit cause my depth has sucked lately. Legs wider out. Can feel it in the groinal region already

the 1.5 rep was weird. i came out of the hole just fine. i think i let off the gas (unintentionally) a bit because i got more than half way up and was doing fine and then all of the sudden got stuck higher than what would usually be the sticking point. once i started driving hard again, however, i apparently overcompensated in my left leg and started having that side of the bar drive forward getting me in a twisting position. the balance and the integrity of my back's positioning were completely compromised so i bailed for safety.

didn't keep pyramiding down because i wanted the intensity more than the volume. i tried doing a static hold but it did more harm than good, i think. the issue areas were my left shoulder and my elbows, they were real tender after that with each set which made it hard (read: impossibur) to stay tight in the upper back and thus made the weight feel heavier rather than lighter. oh well.

Chin-Up:
5 reps (+32 pts)
5 reps || weighted || 25 lb (+47 pts)
5 reps || weighted || 25 lb (+47 pts)

cliffs: good session overall. didn't want to be out there at all cause the holiday, so i feel good about it considering my mental fight. hope everyone had a good thanksgiving.

[Woody-5]

Nice squatting mate
It's alway a victory to get in there and do work when you don't feel like it

[johnblythe]

Nice squatting mate
It's alway a victory to get in there and do work when you don't feel like it

indeed. thanks man

[moshvr]

Nice session man ... enjoy the DOMS lol

[MatTheCur]

Static hold ... *shudder*

Nice sesh! Again, squatting more than I can right now, so you're doing faaaaaaaaaaaantastic!

[johnblythe]

Nice session man ... enjoy the DOMS lol

ha, thanks man. i was expecting worse, actually. nearly immediately after the sesh i had that growing pains type of dull ache, but today i feel good. can tell i worked, but not any true/inconvenient soreness aside from left side of my lower back/upper butt which i guess is from the stabalization ordeal that went down during that weird failed second rep.

Static hold ... *shudder*

Nice sesh! Again, squatting more than I can right now, so you're doing faaaaaaaaaaaantastic!

ya, idk what i'll do in the future w/ them. in the past i sorta did them by way of bb calf raises or squat lockouts, but i always did them after i was done with my squat session. in those cases it was a general CNS adaptation thing (instead of immediate and preparatory) and the elbow/shoulder deal didn't matter cause i was done for the day after finishing them up. this go round it seems to have done at least as much, if not more, harm than good.

oh well. live and learn.

thanks mang.

[johnblythe]

Macenko 2.2 - November 24, 2012

Barbell Bench Press:
45 lb x 10 reps (+42 pts)
95 lb x 6 reps (+53 pts)
115 lb x 8 reps (+65 pts)
140 lb x 6 reps (+72 pts)
150 lb x 5 reps (+73 pts)
160 lb x 4 reps (+71 pts)
160 lb x 4 reps (+71 pts)
150 lb x 8 reps (+83 pts)
140 lb x 8 reps (+77 pts)

Macenkos 2.2. Elbows hurt big time :/

Barbell Shrug:
140 lb x 15 reps (+32 pts)
185 lb x 10 reps (+40 pts)
185 lb x 10 reps (+40 pts)
135 lb x 20 reps (+32 pts)

In a rush to get to a wedding, ~30 second rest in between each.

cliffs: hoooooly crap. my elbows were killing me. my first rep of 160 came straight down onto my chest cause my elbows were screaming during the bottom of my descent. i'm guessing it's from the heavy static holds the other day on squats. caused them to get pretty tender that day. i've gotta start downing the fish oil again, too, to help offset this kind of thing.

besides the elbows and being rushed (heading to a wedding), the session was good. would've had more for the AMRAP sets had it not been so painful. i was bullheaded to get as many as i did. i'm sure that'll pay off in the long run. deads tomorrow, first real session in 3 weeks, can't wait!

[MatTheCur]

Here's hoping that it's from the squats. Speaking of taking fish oil, I need to get back on that supplement time. Also known as multis and fish oils...

Awesome work on 2.2!

[johnblythe]

RPT - Deads - November 25, 2012

Barbell Deadlift:
45 lb x 10 reps (+42 pts)
135 lb x 10 reps (+77 pts)
225 lb x 6 reps (+128 pts)
315 lb x 3 reps (+178 pts)
375 lb x 1 reps (+182 pts)
415 lb x 3 reps (+349 pts)
375 lb x 4 reps (+303 pts)

these felt great. haven't had a legit dead sesh in 3 weeks! better still, the gym (normally completely empty on sundays) was full of some real bros. was gratifying to destroy 415, first rep flew up.

Hammer Dumbbell Curl:
20 lb x 15 reps (+19 pts)
20 lb x 15 reps (+19 pts)
20 lb x 15 reps (+19 pts)
20 lb x 15 reps (+19 pts)

jeez, elbows still tender. so much that i couldn't do normal curl. brb, overdosing on fish oil.

Barbell Shrug Superset:
135 lb x 10 reps (+29 pts)
135 lb x 10 reps (+29 pts)
135 lb x 10 reps (+29 pts)
135 lb x 10 reps (+29 pts)

slow, 1-2 second hold at top. wanted to make up for my quick shoulder hit yesterday without overdoing it since i did do some yesterday.

cliffs: great session. deads felt super strong. 375 was easy breezy. first working rep flew up really well, too. 3 was more a grinder than i'd have guessed considering the first two reps. i'll chalk it up to tiredness. been pulling the night shift w/ our kid the past few nights. was up w/ him from 345 to 630 this morning before catching a quick hour nap before heading to worship.

and, like i mentioned above, there were half a dozen bros in there. made me a bit more nervous as to whether or not i was up for the working set since i hadn't touched it in a few weeks. they were certainly all eye balling me. when i looked up at the mirror before pulling it i could see everyone watching, lol. two of the dudes walked around bowed up the whole time, coaching each other during their to-failure, partial-rep tricep pushdowns. another guy knee-bended 315 with his spandex shorts for the lolz.

but, though it was real gratifying, it was also slightly demoralizing cause they were all really stout. i'm busting my arse here and stay relatively skinny-fat. laaaaaame.

in it for the long game, though, so it's all good. great session!

[johnblythe]

Here's hoping that it's from the squats. Speaking of taking fish oil, I need to get back on that supplement time. Also known as multis and fish oils...

Awesome work on 2.2!

for sure. i think it's primarily from the squats, but they were already a bit weary from the big increase in bench volume that recently hit. add the two and boom, elbows suck.

[Woody-5]

Awesome pulling!

[johnblythe]

Awesome pulling!

thanks man. was hoping/partially-planning on going for 5 but the 3rd rep was too slow to push it further. will be back in a groove and pr'ing starting next week ftw.

[MatTheCur]

I agree, SOLID session!

thanks man. was hoping/partially-planning on going for 5 but the 3rd rep was too slow to push it further. will be back in a groove and pr'ing starting next week ftw.

Probably better to scale it back a tiny bit like you are. Good thing the elbows aren't bugging you on these...

[johnblythe]

I agree, SOLID session!



Probably better to scale it back a tiny bit like you are. Good thing the elbows aren't bugging you on these...

thanks man.

if my elbows hurt on deads i think i'd have some REAL BIG issues with them, ha. they did hurt, however, on curls, so i went to hammer grip to take away the torque

[moshvr]

Awesome pulls man. Jelly.

[PeterGibbons316]

Strong deads.

What is up with your elbows?

[johnblythe]

Awesome pulls man. Jelly.

no need to be jelly, brah, they're just my jam.

Strong deads.

What is up with your elbows?

thanks man. they've just been real achey, quasi-tendonitis'ish lately. i think the big increase in benching (and changing back to bb bench at that) had gotten them a bit worn and then the other day i did some static holding before squatting and i really felt them take too much pressure/weight at that point so they've been terribly sore during workouts since then.

[johnblythe]

Macenko 3.1 - November 27, 2012

Barbell Bench Press:
45 lb x 10 reps (+42 pts)
95 lb x 10 reps (+59 pts)
115 lb x 8 reps (+65 pts)
140 lb x 6 reps (+72 pts)
150 lb x 5 reps (+73 pts)
160 lb x 4 reps (+71 pts)
160 lb x 4 reps (+71 pts)
160 lb x 4 reps (+71 pts)
150 lb x 10 reps (+86 pts)

notes: not much to say besides elbows feeling a ton better, no real issues there. wrist wraps help to alleviate that pain point, too. huge pump on AMRAP set. 10 wouldn't have white-lighted. i was seriously at like 99% lockout, just could actually 'click' it in, but was high enough to re-rack it, ha. anyone else totally let their butts go wild the last 3-5 reps of your AMRAP? at about 7 reps in my hips/butt were flying all over the place to get the job done! ohwell, work is work.

[jshaw5]

Nice job man, 10 reps is solid. I missed those deadlifts too, nice job with the heavy triple.

[johnblythe]

Nice job man, 10 reps is solid. I missed those deadlifts too, nice job with the heavy triple.

thanks dude.

i hate you have a hurt back, but i'll enjoy being ahead in one area while it lasts

[moshvr]

Nice job with that Macenko session man

[jshaw5]

thanks dude.

i hate you have a hurt back, but i'll enjoy being ahead in one area while it lasts

Back is no longer hurt, it's just very weak. Hopefully mixing in RDL's, GM's, and hypers will bring it up to par and I can actually make some deadlift progress for the first time in god knows how long.

[mstatefan91]

Good stuff John. I'm about to go take care of macenko's 2A right now

[johnblythe]

Nice job with that Macenko session man

thanks broseph.

Back is no longer hurt, it's just very weak. Hopefully mixing in RDL's, GM's, and hypers will bring it up to par and I can actually make some deadlift progress for the first time in god knows how long.

oo, that's great man. glad to hear it. keep it healthy. can't do much w/ a bad back! what/how did you hurt it to begin with? i'm pretty sure i've seen you say it was deads, but what about them in particular?

Good stuff John. I'm about to go take care of macenko's 2A right now

thanks man. get'r done brah.

[johnblythe]

RPT'ish Squats - November 29, 2012

Barbell Squat:
45 lb x 10 reps (+42 pts)
135 lb x 6 reps (+70 pts)
225 lb x 4 reps (+110 pts)
135 lb x 6 reps (+70 pts)
285 lb x 1 reps (+99 pts)
305 lb x 3 reps (+166 pts)
275 lb x 4 reps (+154 pts)
275 lb x 6 reps (+180 pts)

325 has been a sticking point lately so i dropped it down to work on things a bit better. had a marine buddy with me who helped me stay more upright, was nice to have the help and motivation, thus the repeat of 275 instead of another taper down

Chin-Up:
10 reps || weighted || 25 lb (+116 pts)
10 reps || weighted || 15 lb (+100 pts)
super setted with the wide grip pull-ups. did as many in a row as i could. would take a few seconds of rest when needed. ended up jumping for final few reps as need be, just getting the work done.

Wide-Grip Pull-Up:
5 reps || weighted || 25 lb (+48 pts)
10 reps || weighted || 15 lb (+103 pts)

Barbell Shrug:
135 lb x 15 reps (+30 pts)
185 lb x 10 reps (+40 pts)
185 lb x 10 reps (+40 pts)

cliffs: was good to have a workout partner again. just got back from afghanistan a month ago and is getting back in the gym. pretty fit dude. doesn't workout the same way i've learned the past year, but it has worked for him and it'll be good for me to have some slight variation in my methodology and approach.