Blood and Guts. Or atleast sweat and DOMs.

[hcoyle545]

Hey all, i'll start by saying my goal is a slow bulk for the next 12 weeks, a 4 day split based loosely around the workouts that Dorian Yates used to do, and its all about high intensity. I.e low rest times (1minute) between every set of every exercise in a workout but only one heavy set per exercise. There are arguments for and against this but i'm not concerning myself with those for the next 12 weeks because I love it, and every workout i've done so far has completely exhausted me. At the end of the 12 weeks I will look at my progress, and since i'll probably be wanting a change I may try something like PHAT, but I will leave any such decisions til the time of. Anyway, the point of the log is just to keep me motivated to hit bigger weights each time I go to the gym, so i'll just start off the thread by posting all my workouts from last week and starting tomorrow i'll keep them updated.

There will be some food pr0n along the way, but I can't say it will measure up to some of the other logs so sorry if you lurk solely for the f-pr0n.

Wish me luck.

[hcoyle545]

Monday: Chest and Biceps
Weight: 180.8lbs

Bench press
12 x 20kg
10 x 40kg
6 x 72.5kg

Incline DB Press
10 x 15kg
3 x 30kg (+3 heavily spotted reps)

Flat flyes
10 x 7.5kg
8 x 17.5kg feels so fuarkin good doin these to failure


Concentration curls
12 x 7.5kg
10 x 12.5kg

Straight bar curl
5 x 30kg/5 x 20kg drop-set


And that's it, pretty damn burnt out, got a great pump and sore as hell the next day.

[hcoyle545]

Tuesday: Back

Machine pullovers
12 x 20kg
10 x 29kg
10 x 36kg

Close-grip pulldown
12 x 35kg
10 x 63kg

1-Arm DB rows
10 x 15kg
10 x 25kg

Wide-grip cable row
12 x 40kg
10 x 75kg this is the number on the weight rack anyway not sure if kgs? Regardless think i'm gonna drop weight on these to get a fuller ROM and better squeeze

3/4 Deadlifts (down to mid-shin) Dorian says it keeps the tension placed on the lower back, who am I to argue?
8 x 50kg
9 x 90kg


Back is wrecked. Feels good, however I think I need to work on the mind-muscle connection alot more especially on the rowing movements so i'll concentrate on this next session.

[hcoyle545]

Thursday: Shoulders and Triceps

DB Shoulder Press
12 x 7.5kg
10 x 15kg
8 x 22.5kg complete failure

Side lat raise (DB)
10 x 7.5kg
8 x 10kg

1 Arm cable side-raise
8 x 20 (kinda alot cheated up, only supposed to be 1 set but wasnt happy so..
10 x 15 to failure, at the end was cheating it up and fighting it down, sick burn

Rear delt DB flyes
12 x 5kg
12 x 7.5kg Gotta work on the squeeeeeze alot more, but still feels heavy even at pissy weights


Tricep Pushdowns fuarkin love this exercise!
12 x 30kg
12 x 55kg really stressing the slow negative on every rep is killer

Skullcrushers
10 x EZbar +7.5kg
8 x EZbar + 12.5kg feels heavy enough really, will continue to move up though with impeccable form

Seated overhead DB extension(both hands around 1 DB)
10 x 15kg
8 x 22.5kg


Have to say shoulders/tris gotta be my favourite session after chest/bis, and I don't think my shoulders have ever been so sore the day after training them. Sticking to 1min rest and focusing on the negative portion of the lifts does some insane damage!

[hcoyle545]

Friday: Legs day


some dynamic stretching for the lower back and legs, then...

Leg Extensions
15 x 7 (rack number, not kgs)
12 x 11
13 x 18 near foaming at the mouth at this point ripping the negative down slowly on each rep. Some warm-up..

Vertical leg press
12 x 65kg
10 x 125kg
9 x 145kg mental and physical failure, brought my knees up to my chest for the 10th rep, pushed like **** but it wouldnt move. Rested 5secs tried again wouldn't budge. Took me and my spotter pushing like **** to get it back to the rack, kinda scary but never had such an intense set for my legs!

Hack squat don't have the machine so am doing barbell hack squats, takes some getting used to really
12 x 20kg
12 x 40kg
9 x 50kg after doing some reading on these it seems I need to focus on pushing through the quads more as opposed to deadlifting it up, will put to the test in my next workout

Few mins R+R as im struggling for breath.

Hamstring Curls
12 x 10 (number on the rack not KG)
12 x 14 (+2 halfreps)

Stifflegged Deadlifts
12 x 40kg
10 x 60kg

Calf press
12 x 5 (number on machine)
12 x 8
10 x 10 gettin a serious pump here, every rep feels like if I held it a second longer itd cramp

Definitely takes some getting used to, and is a huge stress on my cardiovascular system moving from set to set with only 1 minute rest, I'll be honest and say that I didn't maintain that after the heavy set of leg presses because I felt light headed and a bit sick, though I will work on this.

[hcoyle545]

So that was the past weeks training, I will update after each training session this week and I will report back with some PRs, I promise. Also, to break this wall of text i'll add in a photo of the nice homemade dessert I just demolished, think I finally got a decent recipe for brownies Here I've covered them with some thickly mixed vanilla whey/milk/tsp of cadburys drinking chocolate.



Sorry for the sh!tty picture quality. It was taken on my brick phone.

[hcoyle545]

Monday: Chest and Biceps
Weight: 182.4lbs. Yeah definitely reducing calories from 3300 to 3100 this week and hoping i'll still see close to a 1 lb increase on Monday, preferably under rather than over.

Bench press
12 x 20kg
10 x 40kg
8 x 72.5kg
4 x 72.5kg extra set simply because i wasn't satisfied that I failed on last set, bad move considering I think it really sabotaged me on my incline presses

Incline DB Press
10 x 15kg
4 x 30kg/Drop set 3x20kg not convinced I could've got it up for 4 alone I think i was spotted pretty heavily again, if I don't go up significantly in strength on these (without the extra heavy set of bench press) next week I think i'll take it down a notch.

Flat flyes
10 x 10kg
10 x 17.5kg quite happy with progress on these.


Concentration curls
12 x 7.5kg
7 x 15kg (+2 lift to top and exaggerate negative) to be honest i'm not loving these, I don't feel like im getting a great pump as much as I try to keep my form sweet? Feels like im spinning my wheels considering I'm only supposed to do 3 sets of biceps in total

Straight bar curl
10 x 20kg
6 x 25kg slow negatives


Overall, I do feel very tired from the workout, but I was sittin in the changing rooms kinda pissed afterwards because I was intent on going up in reps significantly on the incline presses. Definitely will not be adding in the extra set of bench presses next week and I WILL be getting 5 or 6 on my own in the incline DB press with 30kgs.

Another thing is that a long time ago in my gym one of the owners told me the olympic bars weighed 30kgs, and I did some research recently after hearing people talk about them being 20kgs, and finally asked one of the powerlifters at my gym and he confirmed the 20kg number, so my benching stats aren't correct, instead of being on 82.5kgs im on 72.5kgs so i'm not even benching my bodyweight yet. This is gonna change, just give me 6 weeks or so.

Will edit the previous posts containing exercises that make use of the olympic bar to reflect the 20kg bar.

Bought some chicken wings at the store today so for dinner i'm having 6 chicken wings brushed with Woodsmoke BBQ sawce! will post pr0n later

[hcoyle545]

Just wolfed this down, some nice eats. Hands all BBQ sawce, **** the knife n fork! Cals: 990. Protein: 66.6g (...). Fat: A whopping 90g- I ain't worried, so far i've been slacking off on gettin ma phats in.



Sidenote: My legs are still absolutely ****ed from Fridays session, never had leg doms this bad before, if i'm not walking around for any more than 10minutes they stiffen up and I need to lower myself down the stairs with the handrail and wall! Just hope they heal up before Friday or that's gonna be one sore ****in leg day.

Anyway, Back tomorrow. Gonna smash some PRs though i'll lower the weights on the widegrip rows for a better ROM. On each exercise gonna really think about the muscle being worked see if I can better establish that mind-muscle shyat...

Stay tuned!

[hcoyle545]

Tuesday: Back

Machine pullovers
12 x 17kg
10 x 23kg
10 x 29kg took the weight down a bit from last week, focused on the lats pulling it over for a full ROM. Felt much better than last week and i'll build on this now

Close-grip pulldown
12 x 28kg
10 x 56kg much better ROM than last week and pausing in the contracted position for a count of 2 before startin the negative.
5 x 63kg +3 negatives yeah so it's only supposed to be 1 heavy set per exercise, but since I need work on the mind-muscle connection front I'm going to do a 3rd set on those exercises where I don't feel the heavy set took me to failure. I'll play it by ear.

1-Arm DB rows
10 x 15kg
10 x 20kg
8 x 25kg not very clean but did exhaust the lats that bit more. To be sure I tacked on an extra set at the end, holding the contracted position for a count of 2 and slowly lowering.
8 x 15kg

Wide-grip cable row
12 x 30kg
10 x 60kg Dropped the weight down for this second set, and made sure to squeeze the contraction on each rep, felt decent but still not alot going on in my traps/rhomboids
10 x 70kg

3/4 Deadlifts (down to mid-shin)
8 x 50kg
8 x 100kg up 10kg from last week, pleased with this

Yates Rows 2 Sets across to finish up the lats, this row feels ****ing great
10 x 50
8 x 50


Overall, much happier that I pushed my back closer to its limits than last week. I think next week i'm going to add in Yates row as a permanent fixture to finish the lats off at the end, so it'll be 3 sets 1 light, 1 moderate weight, then the last as heavy as I can go for low reps.

Also,

PANCAKE DAY IS WIN!!11!

[hcoyle545]

cmon no love?

[hcoyle545]

So I made a cheesecake based on this very popular recipe thread last night (http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showth...hp?t=141848361), and it turned out great. Already ate a quarter of it last night to hit my macros but i'll defs up a pic tonight when im updating my log. Today's shoulders/tris, love it. Last week DB pressed 22.5kgs for 8, i'm gonna shift 25 for 6 today.

[hcoyle545]

Thursday: Shoulders and Triceps

DB Shoulder Press
12 x 7.5kg
10 x 15kg
5 x 25kgPR Not quite 6 but still pleased drop-set 4x15kg


Side lat raise (DB)
10 x 7.5kg
8 x 10kg very sloppy, but this is nothing new, going to leave these alone for a bit until I can move them without swinging
Drop-set 4 x 7.5, 10 x 5 By fukk I was feeling the burn!


1 Arm cable side-raise
10 x 15 felt alot better than cheating the 20 up tbh
another drop-set! 10 x 10, 10 x 5 real slow reps so by the end of this dropset I was sweating like fukk and my shoulders felt like a heavy burden even just sitting relaxed

Rear delt DB flyes
12 x 5kg
13 x 7.5kg So these were much better reps than last week even though the weight didn't change, felt obligated to do an extra 1 though just so I can say i've made progress

Did alot of drop-sets today, and tbh I really like how it feels so I think i'll incorporate it a bit more, even though it's not strictly in keeping with the HIT program. Just utilizing another method to take the muscle to failure can't be a bad thing right?


Tricep Pushdowns
12 x 30kg
10 x 60kg PR Held for a count of 2 in the extended position then a slow negative on every rep.

Skullcrushers
10 x EZbar +7.5kg
8 x EZbar + 12.5kg PR felt I could've gone quite a bit heavier. So I will

Seated overhead DB extension(both hands around 1 DB)
10 x 15kg
10 x 25kg PR. Would've given up at 8 but the random guy spotting me demanded 2 more, thanks random mayne

What is this..?
Close-grip BP Added in cause I felt my triceps werent burnt out enough and cause i've never really done it before
10 x 20kg
8 x 40kg
8 x 40kg Now I know I could've gone alot heavier here, maybe 10-20kg more, especially if I had a spotter but since I was just coming to terms with the exercise I didn't bother

Overall a kickass workout, felt good and set a nice amount of PRs.

Stay tuned for the promised cheesecake pic.

[hcoyle545]

Calories in total 1450, macros unsure of, but over 100g protein anywhey. I'm just counting the calories after my dinner by which time I've already hit the protein soft-cap anyway -dem gamer terms-.

Topping is melted chocolate mixed with crushed cornflakes. Tastes good.

[hcoyle545]

Got legs today and have to say i've still got some pretty severe leg doms. Still plan on killin it though, shall report back with PRs.

[hcoyle545]

Friday: Legs

Leg Extensions
15 x 7
12 x 11
12 x 19 PR! Love these, my legs were still hurting from last week when I came in but after this there was only the pain from the last set, no aching doms

Vertical Leg Press
12 x 65
12 x 125
8 x 150 Another PR. Also despite the extra weight i'm sure I didn't push myself to true failure like the last week

Squats- Forget about hack squats, atleast with back squats I know i'm doing proper work
12 x 20
10 x 40
10 x 60 meant to be last set but i know what i was feeling wasn't failure, just cardiovascular fatigue so..
5 x 80 PR I suppose since I haven't done them so far.


Ham Curls
12 x 9
12 x 15 PR really workin on dat squeeze here, going til cramping point.

SLDL
12 x 40
12 x 70 PR! +super lower back pump luckily I stretched out my lower back before hand.

Calf press
12 x 8
12 x 10
10 x 12 drop-set 3x

Overall i'm happy as a pig in sh!t with this session, didn't let the failure set of leg presses hold me back from lifting reasonable poundages on the squats (all things considered). Next week i'll cut the squat sets back down to 3, and start off with 40 instead of the bare 20 and work my way up to 80 for 8-10reps.

I'm writing this entry as of the day after that above session and only my calves are getting it tight today so it'll be nice not to have crippling doms all week in my quads, though I won't really know until tomorrow...

[Tommyobrien]

In on this mate..good program and lifts are good..

I struggle getting the mind/muscle connection on rows too, i try to slow it down and do a really slow tempo, it definitely helps

[hcoyle545]

In on this mate..good program and lifts are good..

I struggle getting the mind/muscle connection on rows too, i try to slow it down and do a really slow tempo, it definitely helps

aye that's what i'm working on. I might even take the dumbell row weights down if I don't feel a proper full contraction soon.

[DanSB]

Subbed to this bro. What are your goals? e.g. gain 10kg on bench etc.
Good luck, kill it.

[hcoyle545]

Subbed to this bro. What are your goals? e.g. gain 10kg on bench etc.
Good luck, kill it.

Thanks man, welcome.

tbh I hadn't even set any short term goals apart from to gain weight by march. So I thought about it and my goals for 1month from now are:
-Bench my BW for reps (80kg). That's an increase of 7.5kg over the next 4 weeks.
-Squat 95kg. Increase of 15kg (not currently going to failure with 80kg)
-Deadlift 115kg. Increase of 15kg.

The plan longterm is to finish this short bulk (10 weeks left)with:
-Bench at 90kg
-Squat at 120kg
-Deadlift at 140kg

then get cut in 3 months no excuses. I know i'm going to do it this time purely because beforehand I wasn't in the least aware about IIFYM and felt like when dieting I was severely limiting myself.

If I achieve the above lifting stats i'll be very happy as it will mark a serious milestone in my lifting life, and i'm gonna bust my balls to get there.

[DanSB]

Thanks man, welcome.

tbh I hadn't even set any short term goals apart from to gain weight by march. So I thought about it and my goals for 1month from now are:
-Bench my BW for reps (80kg). That's an increase of 7.5kg over the next 4 weeks.
-Squat 95kg. Increase of 15kg (not currently going to failure with 80kg)
-Deadlift 115kg. Increase of 15kg.

The plan longterm is to finish this short bulk (10 weeks left)with:
-Bench at 90kg
-Squat at 120kg
-Deadlift at 140kg

then get cut in 3 months no excuses. I know i'm going to do it this time purely because beforehand I wasn't in the least aware about IIFYM and felt like when dieting I was severely limiting myself.

If I achieve the above lifting stats i'll be very happy as it will mark a serious milestone in my lifting life, and i'm gonna bust my balls to get there.

With the right nutrition and heavy lifting you'll smash those goals mate! Im training chest/ bi's tomorrow also so if I aim to hit 105kgx4-5 on bench (+5kg) you gonna try and smash 77.5kgx4-5 (+5kg)? lets kill this sh!t..

[hcoyle545]

With the right nutrition and heavy lifting you'll smash those goals mate! Im training chest/ bi's tomorrow also so if I aim to hit 105kgx4-5 on bench (+5kg) you gonna try and smash 77.5kgx4-5 (+5kg)? lets kill this sh!t..

Good man, strong as fukk. I'm trainin the same, but gonna keep it down at 75kg (+2.5kg) for 6-8 purely cause I wanna shift 30s on incline DB press for 8 since i failed hard last week.

[DanSB]

increasing your bench by 2.5kg a week is alot anyway buddy thats 10kg on your bench in 4 weeks! smash those dumbbells. enjoy your slutty glass of chocolate milk..

[hcoyle545]

increasing your bench by 2.5kg a week is alot anyway buddy thats 10kg on your bench in 4 weeks! smash those dumbbells. enjoy your slutty glass of chocolate milk..

aye i'll be very happy if I can keep that up every week. What kind of grip do you use for benching? If I go too wide (like middle finger on the rings) I feel it's kinna too wide for me to be strong, so i'm going to go with a shoulder width grip tomorrow. I'm slightly wary that this will involve my tris more but I guess i'll know soon after if it hurts.

yeahhh buddayy cookie doughs in the fridge firmin up and milks chillin like a champ

[DanSB]

Ive answered your question in my log buddy. Haha I bet waiting for the cookies to firm up is torture!

[hcoyle545]

Just wolfed down a bacon and egg sammich, my sammich overfloweth..

Chest and Bis incoming in a few hours, just gonna chill now for 2 hours then watch Dorian yates train for a bit then head on out. WILL report back with some PRs!

[hcoyle545]

Sooo... I'm feeling slightly deflated after today's session. I did not hit the PR I was aiming for (75 x 6) and really struggled to shift it more than twice on my own. I've noticed that my strength has not improved much over the past 3 weeks of bulking and doing this program (only logged 2 of these) and I was planning to run it for 9/10 more weeks before changing the program up but I decided today i'm going to change it up with immediate effect.

What I was looking into was the 5/3/1 program that I see so many people getting great results on. What I like about it is its customizebility, the fact that it allows for gains in every session without everything coming down to the 'one' set like in HIT and more importantly it starts off modestly using weights that are based on 90% of your 1 rep max. In addition, I think i'll enjoy this alot more than SS, not only because of the assistance work (which I can't do without really, enjoy it too much) but because it doesn't involve squatting 3x a week (pu$$y I know).

So although I was dissapoint son at my performance today there's the Upside of me realising HIT isn't for me, i'm unable to train with the intensity of Mr Olympia which is central to the system working and it was arrogant of me to think that I was in the first place in spite of everyone else I see focusing on volume. But ah well, live and learn and gonna continue the rest of this week as normal to acquire a solid idea of what my 1Rep maxes are for Bench/Deadlift/Squat/Overhead Press (so i'll sub out dumbell presses on thursday for these).

/RANT!

[DanSB]

Most likely diet related bro.. up your daily kcals ?

Dont feel deflated about not hitting a PR buddy, next time!

[hcoyle545]

Most likely diet related bro.. up your daily kcals ?

Dont feel deflated about not hitting a PR buddy, next time!

I'm at 3100 this past week and I've stayed at exactly the same weight as last week, though I don't think it's my maintenance yknow. I'm upping to 3200 this week since I ran 3300 couple weeks ago and gained a bit much. I think it comes down to me overestimating how much I can truly bench since I always have my spotter assisting on the last few reps... Taking 90% of my max and structuring the 5/3/1 program around that should sort me out well, and in 6 months time i'll be benching 15kg more/squatting and deadlifting 30kg more. I think that's a good goal and a bit more realistic than upping it by 15kg in 10weeks lol.

As I mentioned above somewhere i'm not starting it until next week though, so this week i'm just gonna play about with different exercises really and make sure to go heavy and to failure. Tomorrow is back and instead of doing 3/4 Deadlifts last i'm gonna do full deadlifts first and find out what my true 1RM is. Will do the same for Overhead press on thursday and Squats on Friday

[jshaw5]

Subbed for the lifts and the food. I love me some pancakes, but I'm trying to eat as clean as possible Are those brownies any kind of high protein low carb/fat, or just regular brownies with all the delicious fat and carbs?

By the way, what happened to your starting strength log?

[hcoyle545]

Subbed for the lifts and the food. I love me some pancakes, but I'm trying to eat as clean as possible Are those brownies any kind of high protein low carb/fat, or just regular brownies with all the delicious fat and carbs?

By the way, what happened to your starting strength log?

Alright bud good to have you again! Nah those brownies were pure sugar/fat and tasted gooood. Kinda embarassing about the SS log, I convinced myself that because I didn't have microloading plates (and I didnt like squatting 3x a week) that I should move onto something else. Also my problem was I started much too heavy and started hitting a wall almost after just 2 weeks.

I'm moving onto another proven strength program now the 5/3/1 system that only involves squatting once a week though and this log will continually be updated I promise you that. Gonna check in on your log now to see the progress you've made!