Huntermc6 Bulking in 2012 and Beyond

[HunterMC6]

HunterMC6’s Bulking Log 2012 and beyond

After reading the "Congratulations" sticky I have decided to start a Journal. I have been far to inconsistent with my training and will use this journal to hold myself accountable for completing my workout every day. Come join me on my journey, correct my form, motivate me, help me modify my workout when it’s necessary, also enjoy my food pron, I have been cooking fairly regularly and have grown to love it.

Background:
I had a whole book written out here for background information but I am sure it is regurgitated **** that we have all read over and over again in this section so I am going to spare most of your time here and leave you with a quick summary/cliffs of how my training has gone in more recent times:

• Ran Starting strength inconsistently
• Gave up due to job hours and travel
• Picked up SS again after layoff
• Pulled muscle in my back
• Cut for 2 months with no lifting
• Healthy and ready to strength train

Goals:
Strength gain - Simple and straight forward, going to add lbs to my body and lbs to the bar.


Starting weight: 150.8lbs
Height: 5' 10"

I will be using the principal of IIFYM
Calories: 2800, This puts me about 10% over maintenance will adjust as necessary to add weight going to shoot for .5 to 1lb per week on average.
Protein: 150g
Fat: 113g
Carbs: rest of calories


Supplements:
Fish oil
Multi

I am going to start with SS in attempt to max out linear progression again after my injury. I am not going to set any numerical goals for my lifts, I feel as though running the program until linear progression stops or becomes very difficult is going to be the ultimate goal where ever that happens to fall in terms of numbers.

Starting Lifts:
Squat: 135
Bench: 115
Deadlift: 155
OHP: 75
Rows: 85



"When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left, and could say, 'I used everything you gave me'"

[HunterMC6]

First post was getting a little long so I decided to start my first workout in a new post.

Starting Strength is where I have decided to start this bulking progression. For those who don't know the program:

This is the Kethnaab version (slightly different from the original)

Workout A
3x5 Squat
3x5 Bench Press
1x5 Deadlift

Workout B
3x5 Squat
3x5 Standing military press
3x5 Pendlay Rows

You train on 3 nonconsecutive days per week.

So week 1 might look like:
Monday - Workout A
Wednesday - Workout B
Friday - Workout A

Week 2:
Monday - Workout B
Wednesday - Workout A
Friday - Workout B

8-28-2012

150.8lbs

Calories: 2830
Protein: 193
Fat: 107
Carb: 263

Squat:
1x5 45
1x5 75
3x5 135lbs
Was fairly easy I am going to jump this 10lbs. I also am thinking about adding in a larger range of warmup sets. I plateaued hard on squats when I ran SS before hoping this will help me make some progress.

Bench Press:
1x5 45
1x5 65
3x5 115
This was also fairly easy. Looking to take this up 10 lbs.

1x5 Deadlift 155
This was super easy and far to light. Wasn't sure how this was going to go with the back injury but it felt great. Man did I miss deadlifting. Going up 15 lbs next time on deadlift.

Overall I was so pumped to get back into running starting strength. The workout went well and I was in and out fairly quickly. Will likely run deadlift every workout til it starts to stall out and the progress becomes slow. I know this is suggested in version 3 of starting strength. I am going to get some videos up as soon as I get my camera figured out, I just bought it a week ago for my recent vacation and have yet to record with it so I didn't get a chance to try it today but I will have videos ready by the end of the week.

I lift to EDM so here we go:

[JustBulk]

A bulking journal...guess I must make a post here.

[Woody-5]

In on this fellow Maine brah

[HunterMC6]

A bulking journal...guess I must make a post here.

Glad to see someone join in.

In on this fellow Maine brah

A fellow Mainer nice! Subbed to your journal for motivation and possibly some ideas once I get to an intermediate phase.

Todays journal post is coming after I go play some basketball got to leave right now though.

[HunterMC6]

Date 8-29-2012

Weight 150.8

Calories 2799
Protein 206
Fats 125
Carbs 220

Date 8-30-2012

Weight 149.8


Calories 2860
Protein 232
Fats 75
Carbs 305



Squats:
1x5 45
1x5 75
1x5 95
3x5 Worksets 145

Notes: Everything went fairly well. The first workset was slower then I would have like on the way up but improved vastly in the next 2 sets. I am going to film my form on Saturday forgot my camera today.

OHP
1x5 45
1x5 45
3x5 Workset 75

Notes: This was pretty easy I am going to jump this 10lbs and then slow it down after that. OHP has always stalled quickly for me.

Deadlift
1x5 Workset 170

Notes: Still way to easy this is going up 15 lbs again and I am going to continue to do the deadlift in place of the row until it slows down for me.

Final Notes So it seems the last 3 days my body weight has decreased. I am going to weigh myself daily in the morning before I eat or drink anything. I will stick to around 2800 calories and see what happens by the end of the week. If I continue on a steady decline I will have to adjust my intake a little, or I may possibly wait 2 weeks to see what happens.


This was lunch:
Venison 8oz
Green Pepper and Sweet Peppers
Egg Noodles 170g
Corn on the cob

[Woody-5]

Nice work!
Definitely get some vids of your lifts, you can get some good advice & critiques on here
I'd definitely bump the calories up if you're weight had been dropping. The SS sessions can get brutal fast once the weights get heavy. Enough food for Recovery is huge

[HunterMC6]

Nice work!
Definitely get some vids of your lifts, you can get some good advice & critiques on here
I'd definitely bump the calories up if you're weight had been dropping. The SS sessions can get brutal fast once the weights get heavy. Enough food for Recovery is huge

Yeah videos will be coming after tomorrows workout. What works best for each lift? I have looked around a bit it seems with squat a side and a behind video is recommended. For bench just a side video. Deadlift I have no clue it seems most just do a side shot?

Weight was down another .8 of a pound this morning could have been due to the hour and a half of basketball I played last night. I think still I am going to bump calories a little maybe 200 and give it a go from there for a little while. I wanted to wait a week but I think I can see the writing on the wall already. I am getting plenty of water too 3+ liters a day so I don't think it's dehydration.

[Woody-5]

Side view is best for all 3 I reckon

[HunterMC6]

Date: 8-31-2012

Weight 149
Calories 3036
Protein 171
Fats 110
Carbs 333

Notes: Bumped the calories since I was losing weight every day so far when I weighed in this week. 3000 is the new target


Date: 9-1-2012

Weight 149.8
Days not over yet no macros to post.

Squats:
1x5 45
1x5 75
1x5 115
3x5 Worksets 155



Notes: First set seemed easy, the video is of the second set. A few things to note that I can see right off, my back seems rounded a bit and also when I drive out of the hole on the last 2 reps my shoulders lag behind and a sort of drop my chest a little. Maybe the rounded back is partially to blame for that? Seems as though I break parallel fine. The final rep on my last wet was slow I didn’t film it but I have to assume it was a little more of the same.

Bench
1x5 45
1x5 65
3x5 Workset 125



Notes: Bench seems easy still, I thought my form was good but I am sure there are things to change. I wish I had put my shoes back on for this as my socks slipped on the concrete floor which threw me off on my second set. The filmed set is the first work set.

Deadlift
1x5 Workset 180



Notes: Obviously the only set is the filmed set. Whole thing seemed easy. I am not sure but it looks like I may be out over the bar a hair to far? I know in Starting Strength Rippetoe likes to see about a 10* angle with your arms this looks a little exaggerated to me. Back also looks slightly rounded upon starting.

anyways feel free to critique away. I am going to post these in the exercise section as well I am sure they will get ripped apart in there.

[Woody-5]

Excellent depth on those squats! Definitely try to keep your upper back tighter. Really pinch your shoulder blades together before you unrack the bar and keep them that way.

Bench setup looks good (although make sure you wear shoes next time so you don't slip lol)

Deads look ok, although I'm not the best one critique them (I'm more of a grip it and rip it guy rather than a technical one). You might benefit from lowering your hips a bit when you start the pull

Awesome stuff! Keep on piling on the weight and the food! All lifts looked easy for you So theres a lot of room for progression!

[HunterMC6]

I was thinking with the deadlifts it might be a combo if lowering my ass a little and making sure my chest remains high before I pull on the bar. Squats have always been my weakness. I got up to 215 for reps before my injury but my form as atrocious I want to surpass that with at least good form this time so I am going to work real hard on these. probbaly going to be a lot of squat videos coming up. By the way thanks for the help.

also dinner tonight:
Venison burger 8oz
fried egg on top
corn on the cob
home made salad
12 oz milk



Not sure on the macros but venison burger is extremely lean which makes it hard to grill it falls apart when you flip it but this burger stayed together fairly well some how. Venison is also really high in protein.

[Woody-5]

Mirin that venison burger! Yeah those don't stay together worth a chit- no fat to hold it together lol

[HunterMC6]

Date 9/2/2012

Weight 150.2
Calories 3010
Protein 176
Fats 110
Carbs 340

Date 9/3/2012

Weight 151.4
No macros or calories since the day isn’t over yet.

body weight seems to be jumping right up now I am going to have to watch it closely since I don't want to be packing on a ton of weight. Was shooting for a slow bulk but I'm not going to be too worried about a few extra pounds. I also wanted to note I didn't tale 2 days off this week in a row because I want my routine to be MWF not T,TH,SAT because it fits my schedule a little better.



Squats:
1x5 45
1x5 85
1x5 115 meant to bump this a little
3x5 Worksets 165

Notes: Workset 1 rep 3 was slow for some reason but 4 and 5 were fine. Workset 2 4th rep was slow but 5th was perfect speed. Worset3 was actually a struggle. I did the ol butt wink I believe it’s called on the 3rd rep and 5th rep I dropped my chest just slightly again. I really focused on keep my shoulder blades pinched and my chest up. I feel good about the form but I don’t think I will be making 10lb jumps any more. +5lbs next time and probably going to film another workset this week for comparison.

OHP
1x5 45
1x5 45
3x5 workset 85

Notes: Not much to say here pretty easy still going to go for another +10 lbs next workout. Forgot my camera so this is going to be filmed later this week.

Deadlift
1x5 Workset 200

Notes: Relly really hammered on my form this time. I lowered my butt pushed my chest up and reset my form after every rep trying to make sure it was correct. Felt as thought I was pulling the bar from my heals on ever rep which I was told to achieve this feeling from the post I made in the exercise forum. I felt really good about this. It still seems easy to me which is sort of surprising. Going to film this again this week as well.

So I added to sets of chins to the workout right at the end. I know this might seem a little premature but I have run this program for a few months before my injury, also in the 3rd edition of the book Rip puts chins in fairly early on in the programming so I decided to give it a whirl. Pretty disappointed in what I was able to accomplish though. I am going to look into this and see if there is more information on these in the book, maybe I am not suppose to do them following deadlifts?

1x7 BW
1x5 BW

This song has been on repeat for me lately this guy needs way more recognition:

[LiftingObjects]

Good goin so far man!!

You got a nice lifting space, I'm jelly!.. Lifts all look strong. Try to keep your chest UP & back set nice & tight before you unrack the bar or squat & focus on maintaining that throughout, if your chest drops it will generally lead to your back rounding. If you find you're rounding at the bottom (butt wink) try decreasing the depth of the squat. Also if you take a deep breath of air & hold each rep it'll help keep your core tight. It could just be a lack of awareness/feel for the correct back position & once you know the feel you'll be fine, perhaps spend some time with low weight or even bodyweight squats but really focussing on back position. Bench & deadlifts looked good, I'd say you could probably drop your hips lower on the deads. All looking good though, keep at er!!

[HunterMC6]

The setup is alright. It's really not the safest thing in the world but with lighter weights it's not a big deal at all. A cage would be ideal but I cant find one that is affordable. Will end up using the school gym soon anyway so I guess it is not worth buying anything new for the time being.

[HunterMC6]

Journal Templates:

Date: 9-4-2012

Weight 151.8
Calories 3032
Protein 197
Fats 91
Carbs 382


Date: 9-5-2012

Weight 151.0

Forgot my music today It didn't deter to much from my session though. Actually my squat felt better today than it did last session. Well here we go...

Squats:
1x5 45
1x5 85
1x5 135
3x5 Worksets 170

Notes: Workset 1 rep 5 was slow. Workset 2 rep 3 was slow but 4 and 5 were fine. The last set went really well no reps were slow. Jumping 5 lbs next session. I really worked on form again. I am going to film a lot more on Friday maybe multiple sets to see if everything looks right. If I get time I am going to review some squat form material before that session.

Bench
1x5 45
1x5 70
3x5 workset 135

Notes: All sets were easy going up another 10 lbs. I remembered my shoes this time!

Deadlift
1x5 workset 215

Notes: Again I really hammered the form. Made sure every rep felt perfect and reset the form on all reps. This weight was a little bit of a struggle but I think I can go another 15 lbs next workout. Again I will film this and see if everything looks better.

I like these journals seems to keep me honest. Forgot how much I missed SS too. I am sure that will wear off eventually though. Last run at this it got a little stale but I will not let that stop me. Really want to get everything out of this program possible.

[Woody-5]

Awesome stuff my man! Sounds like everything is feeling good especially considering the planned bumps in weight. Keep it up!

[HunterMC6]

Awesome stuff my man! Sounds like everything is feeling good especially considering the planned bumps in weight. Keep it up!

Thanks! I am hoping the weights keep going up, but I am not going to sacrifice form for weight as much as I did earlier this year on this program. Injuries are no fun and seem easily preventable with a little control on progression. By the way your lifts are impressive I need to read through your journal some more and gather some ideas for the future.

[HunterMC6]

Starting Strength Week 2 Day 3


Weight 151.0

Squats:
1x5 45 (was actually 1x7)
1x5 85
1x5 135
3x5 Worksets 175

Notes: Got some video footage of all 3 sets.The video is set 2. I actually struggled with this weight today for some reason. I had some really slow reps and I am little disappointed. Set 3 had some extremely slow reps they went up but I struggled to try to keep form and get to “lock out”. I think the form was a little better than the last video but it was also so close and not at a good angle really that it may be hard to tell. I am going to film from a slightly different position next time and see if it looks any better. Music is a little loud in all 3 videos so might want to mute your speakers or turn them down, music is also playing through my phone and I got a txt that's why it stops if you leave the volume on.

OHP
1x5 45
1x5 45
3x5 Worksets 90

Notes: These all seemed easy, will go up another 5 next time. Also filmed the first set so take a look. I noticed after reviewing some videos that I want my elbows under the bar more when I start the upward push. I think I got the pressing the chest/head thing right the bar looks like it goes up fairly straight to me.


Deadlift
1x5 Workset 230

Notes: Holy moley I failed this hard with regards to form. Not happy with that at all I could not keep the back flat when trying to pick the bar off the floor. This seemed so easy at 200 and 215 wasn’t bad guess my jump was to high. I am thinking about bringing the weight back down and filming this every session til the form is right and going from there. The one good thing I can take out of this is I think I fixed my starting position a bit.

Chins
1x8 BW
1x8 BW


Edit: None of the videos are working I need to work on this but I also need to eat some supper. I will be back later with the video footage of each lift.

[HunterMC6]

Here are the videos:

Squats:


OHP:


Deadlift (cringe worthy at best):

[Woody-5]

Squats and OHP look good, excellent depth on the squats

Little bit of back rounding on the deads, but it's not like you're cat backing them
Good scheme to work on the form now before you've got 300+ on the bar

Nice work mate

[HunterMC6]

Squats and OHP look good, excellent depth on the squats

Little bit of back rounding on the deads, but it's not like you're cat backing them
Good scheme to work on the form now before you've got 300+ on the bar

Nice work mate

Thanks Woody it is always nice to hear from the more experienced trainees/lifters in here.

I am thinking the calories are going to creep up slightly. I want to start seeing some progression in my weight it seems to me that it's bouncing up and down a little and it's not going up steadily like I hoped. Probably just due to water weight but I have a big desire to make the most of my progress on this routine and that means I have to gain weight to build up muscle strength!

[JustBulk]

A bulking log?

Guess I have to be here.

[HunterMC6]

A bulking journal...guess I must make a post here.

A bulking log?

Guess I have to be here.

Glad to see you are back


After a few more decreases in weight when I weighed in the last 2 mornings of my off days I have decided to bump my weight again. On average I am some how down from where I started 2 weeks ago. I am hammering water to me the same way I drank beer back in college (round 1) I can't imagine it's dehydration.

Calories will now be 3200 - Going to make sure I start progressing on the scale so I don't hinder my strength gains.

Also steak supper this evening with garlic and herb rice, carrots, broccoli and some other random vegetables and 12oz milk

[PeterGibbons316]

In on this! Home gyms are awesome. Maine sucks (sorry ). That steak would be better if it were twice as big. Definitely makes me hungry though!

Will check out vids later.....

[HunterMC6]

In on this! Home gyms are awesome. Maine sucks (sorry ). That steak would be better if it were twice as big. Definitely makes me hungry though!

Will check out vids later.....

Hey now easy on my home state. Couldn't agree more on the steak but the old man needs to eat too I still got 8oz to myself. Thanks for checking in looking forward to your input and suggestions!

Probably another deadlifting video coming today, will be doing less weight and orient myself more on the form of the lift before the weight gets to high.

[HunterMC6]

Starting Strength Week 3 Day 1


Date: 9-10-2012

Weight 152.2

I did not get to film today. My buddy is airing out his tent in the basement right now and it is taking up almost all of my workout space so I can’t get a good place to put my camera for anything. Will try filming Wednesday instead of there is room by then.

Squats:
1x5 45
1x5 85
1x5 135
3x5 Worksets 180

Notes: The first two sets went pretty well. Bar speed was a little slow but over all I was really happy. The bar didn’t feel too heavy when I unracked it like it had in my previous attempt at SS with this weight. Set 3 was going great til rep 5 and I did the ol butt wink. I ended up way to deep at the bottom of the squat and obviously rounded my lower back so I lost my driving force. It was a huge struggle to get the last rep back to a standing position. I can’t really tell you why this happened maybe I lost focus or I was tired.

Bench
1x5 45
1x5 70
3x5 Worksets 145

Notes: All sets were good but they all had slower bar speed than previous sets. I think it’s the increase in weight that is causing this. I think I am going to try for another 10 lb jump on Friday and see how it goes then asses the situation again.

Deadlift
1x5 Workset 205

Notes: Dropped this back down to work on the form. The weight feels light but something still doesn’t seem right. I feel as though there is a problem with my technique because I feel myself hitch my back a little when I get to the first phase of picking the bar off the ground. I can only go by basic mechanics since I have no film of today but I think it’s because I am not keeping my shoulder blades pinched and my chest up and tight. Maybe I am relaxed just enough to cause this hitching or rounding?


"Any fool can see the sun set, but a dawn you have to earn"
-Unknown


"Courage is being scared as hell but saddling up anyway"
Clint Eastwood

[Woody-5]

Good stuff my man!
If bench is starting to slow down I'd suggest a 5 pound jump instead of 10. Even if you get all your reps with 10, it might bring you closer to stalling out. If you can hit 5 pound jumps you'll probably get to a higher weight before you stall.

[HunterMC6]

Good stuff my man!
If bench is starting to slow down I'd suggest a 5 pound jump instead of 10. Even if you get all your reps with 10, it might bring you closer to stalling out. If you can hit 5 pound jumps you'll probably get to a higher weight before you stall.

I thought about that, I feel as though I have another 10lb jump in me. The bar speed wasn't significantly slower. It may have not even been noticeable without being under the bar and knowing what the weight felt like (I'm hoping this doesn't sounds as stupid as it looks when I read it on paper). I wish I had been able to film today might have helped to see my bench in action. Thanks for your input as always Woody!