Journey to a natural pro card

[Jab1]

Holy phucking volume. How was walking after that?

[ebomb55]

7.18.12

Chest/Shoulders/Arms

Warmup

Decline Dumbbell Press (slight angle, 1 second hold at deep stretch, 1 second squeeze/flex...'perfect' reps per JM's instruction lol
30 x 10
45 x 10
60 x 8
80 x 8
100 x 8
105 x 8 (Nice!)

Incline Barbell Press
135 x 6
185 x 6
225 x 6
250 x 6
270 x 6

Banded Bench Press (monster minis this week!) hard flex for 1 count at top
Bar x 5
95 x 5
135 x 5
160 x 5
185 x 5 (nice)
205 x 5 (hard, good set)
135 x 5

Stretch Pushups
3 sets to failure
21, 14, 12

Pec Deck Rear Delt Flies (2 second flex at back)/Micro Mini Band Pull Aparts (flex hard)
140 x 10/15
140 x 10/15
150 x 10/15

Behind the Back Band Laterals (reps done as fast as possible)
Red band: 2 x 25 LR
Orange Micro Mini: 2 x 25 LR

Over and Back Press (1 rep = over and back)
Warmup
95 x 10
85 x 10

Reverse Grip Pushdown/Meadows Hammers
4 sets no rest
15, 15, 12, 12/4x10 LR

Awesome session. Pump was nasty. Decline dumbbell presses absolutely destroyed me with the full pause at the deepest stretch and the full second squeeze at the top. These fatigued me more than I thought, but I still worked up to a respectable incline set. JM had me move up to the monster minis on banded bench press and damn, big difference. The pump I get from these with the full second squeeze at the top is nice. Stretch pushups were just mean.

As usual, rear delt superset gave me a sick pump, and the banded laterals done as fast as possible were brutal. Over and backs were a good finisher, and threw in some added pump work for arms.

I might hit back tomorrow or Friday, have to figure out my schedule. Usually, it would be Friday, but things are getting busy and you have to adapt!

[ebomb55]

Holy phucking volume. How was walking after that?

Ahaha, not fun to say the least. JM really ramps up the volume progressively and we're reaching the peak!

[Spidey22]

Wow, sessions are looking awesome. All the different lifts and variations, sounds like you could never NOT have fun while training.

[ebomb55]

Wow, sessions are looking awesome. All the different lifts and variations, sounds like you could never NOT have fun while training.

Haha, it's very true. I love going in every week and putting everything I've got into the creations JM has for me. While there is a good deal of variety and almost a degree of spontaneity, there are very good methods of progression/overload at work :P.

[ebomb55]

7.19.12

HIIT

Agile 8 plus warmup

Aerodyne Bike Sprints
5 minutes warmup
5 intervals: 25 seconds all out/4 minutes 35 seconds rest
8 minutes cooldown

Just the usual off-day HIIT. Really enjoying doing this on my off-days. Back/Calves/Arms tomorrow morning , stay tuned, might try and get some videos!

[ebomb55]

7.20.12

Standing Calf Raise (1 second hold at stretch, 1 at top)
120 x 10, 180 x 10 warmups
200 x 10, 10, 10, 8 + 2 partials, 7 + 3 partials, 6 + 4 partials

Dumbbell Rows (normal, hand on the rack, get a nice stretch at the bottom)
2 warmups
Work sets
105 x 10 LR
120 x 2x10 LR
125 x 10 LR

Single Arm Low Cable Rows
60 x 8 LR
Work sets
70 x 8 LR
80 x 3x8 LR

Meadows Pullovers
75 x 4x10

Rickshaw Shrugs (no pause)
2 pps x 20
4 pps 20
5 pps 20, 20, 20

Banded Hyperextensions
Mini band x 20
Mini + micro mini (pink and orange) x 20, 20, 20
(woah. Lower back pump ridiculous at this point)

Dumbbell Hammer Curls w/Fat Gripz
20 lb x 5 x 10 with 10 seconds rest between sets. Took gripz off after 2 sets, squeezed as hard as possible on last 3.

This was probably one of my best back sessions to date. The dumbbell rows felt awesome. I got a video of them and will post to my YouTube. Nice stretch on them, and really tried to drive my elbow back.
The single arm low cable rows were done flexing as hard as possible and driving my elbow back as far as possible as well and my lower lats were literally cramping lol. Pullovers always feel amazing after hitting the back hard. Shrugs with relatively heavy weight and continuous tension felt great as well.
As usual, the Hypers were probably the most painful part of the workout lol. Bumped up resistance to the mini and micro mini today, and could definitely feel a difference, but pushed through.
Hammers with the 10 second rest between 5 sets left me with a nasty pump up and down my entire arm.

[AestheticAustin]

Solid workout Ev. Looking forward to the video. Somehow I stumbled upon your youtube earlier this morning and just saw the 655 deadlift again. Really got me pumped up to get something big this fall and how easy you made it look. Beaslty.

[ebomb55]

Solid workout Ev. Looking forward to the video. Somehow I stumbled upon your youtube earlier this morning and just saw the 655 deadlift again. Really got me pumped up to get something big this fall and how easy you made it look. Beaslty.

Haha, thanks Aus! I'd like to get back to those weights for deads at some point in the future!

[ebomb55]

Weight here is 120 or 125, forgot. Goal here was to get a good stretch at the bottom and drive the elbow back as hard as possible while flexing my lats hard. Success!

[jaredmus]

good set man keep up the good work and improvement!

[ebomb55]

good set man keep up the good work and improvement!

Thanks man, appreciate it!

[ebomb55]

Here's an updated back pic. I'm holding at 217 right now.

[Jab1]

Crazy.

[ebomb55]

Crazy.

Thanks bro!

[ebomb55]

7.21.12

Cardio/Abs: Car Pushes!

Agile 8 Plus Warmup

5 intervals of the following:
25 seconds all out push, 1 minute walk, 1 minute of ab work, 1 minute walk, push (25/3 minutes)

Glad I started doing these again, they're awesome. Going all out on these for 25 seconds is pretty brutal. Arms tomorrow, then legs monday. Pumped!

[ebomb55]

7.22.12

Arms/Calves

Occluded Seated Calf Raise
80 x 45, 23, 17, 15

V-Grip Pushdowns
2x20 warmup with fat gripz
Work sets
70 x 15
90 x 12
110 x 10
90 (with gripz again) x 8

Dumbbell Same-Time Hammer Curls
warmups
40 x 10
45 x 10
40 x 10
35 x 10

HS Dip Machine (3 second eccentric, goal was failure in the 8-12 rep range)
warmups (1 pps x 12, 2 pps x 12)
3 pps x 12, 9
2 pps + 25 x 12, 9

Reverse Incline Concentration Curls
15 x 8
20 x 8, 8, 8
15 + FG x 8

Incline EZ Bar Extension (nice stretch with pause)
30 + bar x 12
50 + bar x 12
60 + bar x 12
30 + bar x 12

EZ Bar Curls with 3 second eccentric
30 + bar x 8
50 + bar x 8
70 + bar x 8
40 + bar x 8

Palms-Forward Seated Dumbbell Curls
20 x 3x8, 15 x 1x8

Ridiculous pump today. That pretty much sums it up. Couldn't even curl the dumbbells the entire way on the final exercise.

[ebomb55]

7.23.12

Legs
Seated Leg Curls
2 x 15 warmups
160 x 10
170 x 10
150 x 10
170 x 4 to 150 x 4 to 130 x 4 to 120 x 4

Box Squats (slightly above parallel)
135 x 8
225 x 8
315 x 8
365 x 8
Work sets
405 x 8
455 x 8

Banded Leg Press (this week mini + monster minis!)
1 pps x 8
3 pps x 8
5 pps x 8
7 pps x 8
8 pps x 8
9 pps x 8
10 pps x 8 (powerful!)

Hard Hack Squat
1 pps x 6
2 pps x 6
3 pps x 6
3 pps + 25 x 15 (as deep as possible, 1 second pause at bottom)

Barbell RDL using 25s
95 x 12
145 x 12
Work sets
195 x 12
205 x 12
215 x 12
195 x 12

Adductor Machine
150 x 10, 180 x 10, 170 x 10, 155 x 10

Pretty nasty session today. The leg curls really wrecked my hamstrings, especially the 4 rep dropset.
The box squats were done just above parallel, with a full pause on the box, not a deload though, see box squat form. Weight wasn't super heavy on these, but felt good and powerful.
This week we added minis to the monster minis so the band tension was pretty strong, but I was very strong on these, hitting 10 pps for 8 easily. I left the 11 pps or more set in the tank for next week which will conclude band work.
Hacks were only 1 set, but brutal. RDLs always feel great with a hard flex.

[ebomb55]

7.24.12

Cardio + Abs

Agile 8

Hanging Leg Raise Pyramid (1 second squeeze hold at top)
Bw x 30, 5 lb x 17, 7.5 lb x 12, 5 lb x 12, Bw x 15

Bike HIIT: 'Normal' Intervals
3 minute warmup
13 intervals: 15 all out/45 medium
2 minute cooldown

The usual off-day stuff. Chest/Shoulders tomorrow.

[ebomb55]

7.26.12

Cardio, Calves, Abs

Agile 8

Medicine Ball Vacuums (10 seconds rest between sets, 1 second hold at top)
25 lb x 8x8

Bike HIIT
5 minutes warmup
2 intervals: 30 seconds all out/4 min 30 seconds medium
3 intervals: 25 seconds all out/4 min 35 seconds medium
5 minutes cooldown

Occluded Leg Press Calf Raise
2 pps x 30, 15, 15, 15

The usual off day work. Will look to hit occluded calves 2-3 times a week in addition to my regular calf work...we'll see if this sparks some growth.

[ebomb55]

Forgot about chest/shoulder/arms!

This was done Wednesday:


Machine Chest Press:
Warmups: 50 x 15, 100 x 10, 150 x 8
Work-Sets: 180 x 8, 190 x 8, 170 x 8

Decline Dumbbell Press:
Warmups: 50 x 12
Work-Sets: 85 x 12, 9, 7

Incline Barbell Press: Pyramid, continuous tension
95 x 8, 135 x 8, 185 x 8, 225 x 8, 245 x 8

Banded Bench Press (monster mini bands, 1 second flex as hard as possible at top)
95 x 5
135 x 5
185 x 5
205 x 5
155 x 5

Shoulder Tri-Set
Bentover Dumbbell Rear Delt Flies: 20 x 15
Micro-Mini Band Pull-Apart x 15
Spider Crawls with micro mini band x 2 times up and down wall
4 sets of this

Rope Pushdowns/EZ Bar Reverse Curls
5 sets, 10-12 of each, no rest

[ebomb55]

Update side chest. Pretty happy with leanness upper body thickness, and especially lower body. Hamstrings have come up a lot in the past few months.

[jdudeck1]

IN on this, it was nice meeting you at the cam Evan. I think we trained together every day. You are a beast man!

[ebomb55]

IN on this, it was nice meeting you at the cam Evan. I think we trained together every day. You are a beast man!

We did Josh, and it was awesome meeting you too! You've got a ton of potential, unbeatable drive and motivation that will help you reach your goals.

[ebomb55]

7.27.12

Back/Calves/Biceps

Standing Machine Calf Raises
2 x 15 warmups
200 x 6 sets: 15, 12+3, 4 x 10+5

Meadows Rows
2 warmups: 1 plate x 8 LR, 2 plates x 8 LR
Worksets
2 plates + 25 x 8 LR, 2 plates + 35 x 8 LR, 3 plates x 8 LR, 3 plates + 10 x 8 LR

Chest Supported Rows
1 plate x 8
2 plates x 8, 2 plates + 25 x 8, 2 plates x 8, 8

Meadows Pullovers
50 x 15
Works: 80 x 10, 10, 10, 10

Single Arm Pulldowns
70 x 8 LR, 80 x 8 LR, 70 x 8 LR, 8 LR

Banded Hyperextensions (mini + micro mini)
4 sets to failure (ughh)
35, 24, 21, 20 = 100 total reps...low back pumps insane at this point.

Icarian Preacher Curl
With fat gripz: 50 to 60 to 70 x 15, 15, 12 no rest
No gripz, single arm:
50 x 8 LR + 8 2 arms
40 x 8 LR + 10 2 arms
20 x

Pretty sick session. Checked out JM's 'Meadows Row' video on YouTube for a refresher and tried to mimic his form even more...these felt awesome.

Chest supported felt good, nice squeeze, and the stretch from pullovers was awesome. I've always loved the single arm Pulldowns; my lower lats were literally cramping up today lol.

Hypers, as usual, were the toughest part, hitting 4 banded sets to failure.

Some nice biceps pump work to finish it off as well.

[Jab1]

Need to get on that banded hyper time. Looks awesome!

[ebomb55]

Need to get on that banded hyper time. Looks awesome!

Ya man, they're brutal...definitely helping to both strengthen up my lower back/chain and add some nice thickness.

[ebomb55]

7.28.12

Cardio/Calves

Bike HIIT
5 minutes warmup
5 intervals: 25 all out/3 minutes 35 seconds medium
10 minutes cooldown

Smith Feet Elevated Occluded Calf Raises
1 plate/side x 30, 15, 15, 15 (ouch)

The usual off day work. Occluded work is brutal. Reduced the rest periods today for intervals and it was rough, but gym was closing so had to do it!

Arms tomorrow.

[ebomb55]

7.29.12

Arms
30-45 seconds rest between all sets

V Grip Pushdowns
3x15 warmups
85 x 15, 100 x 12, 105 x 10, 115 x

Pronated Dumbbell Kickbacks
20 x 8
30 x 8
35 x 8
30 x 8, 8

Bench Dips
45 lb x 2 sets to failure
Bw x 2 sets to failure

Incline EZ Bar Extensions
30 + bar x 3x15

Decline EZ Bar Extensions
30 + bar x 12
40 + bar x 12
50 + bar x 12, 12

Seated Palms Forward Dumbbell Curl
20 W/gripz x 8
30 x 2x8
25 x 1x8
20 w/gripz x 8

EZ Bar Preachers
40 + bar x 8
50 + bar x 8, 8, 8
20 + bar w/gripz x 8

Incline Concentration Curls
15 w/gripz x 8
20 x 8
25 x 8
20 x 8
15 w/gripz x 8

Narrow Curl Grip Chinup
1 set to failure

Smith Elevated Occluded Calf Raises
1 pps x 30, 15, 15, 15

Pump today was nasty. The 30-45 seconds rest between everything made this session quick and brutal. Weights used were actually heavier on the first few exercises. Big leg session tomorrow. High volume week next week, stay tuned.

[Jab1]

Vooooollllluuuuummmmeeeeee yyyyeeeeaaaaahhhhh

Are the pronated kickbacks for the short head?