moshvr - Road to compete!

[moshvr]

OK so I've really been kind of a slack ass in the last year. Still been training but not nearly with the same dedication that I started with. New job, moved a couple times, lots of travel (really I'm just making excuses and trying to justify why I haven't been as dedicated...) but I'm back at it.

My girlfriend and I just got engaged and she's gotten herself way back into the gym and is really pushing me. Kind of sucks when I got her into this and I'm being called out for getting lazy ... that was my ass kick!

So I guess my goal here is to possibly compete next summer. I want to use the winter to try and pack on some good size with minimal fat gains, and then slowly start to cut down. I'll get some pictures up along the way and hopefully get some input from everyone about where I should compete. All out bodybuilding or just get into fitness shows. I've heard from a couple guys at my gym that I've more likely got the frame for bodybuilding.

So stats right now:

-5'8"
-185lbs

The split I'm going to be following for the next little while ... somewhat modeled after the Jim Stoppani workout on here. I like the rep changes weekly to keep my body confused. I was doing the same thing for a very long time which really contributed to my boredom and lack of motivation I think.

Day 1: Chest/Calves
Day 2: Back
Day 3: Arms/Abs/HIIT
Day 4: Shoulder/Traps/Calves
Day 5: Legs
Day 6: HIIT/Abs
Day 7: Rest

[moshvr]

Yesterday's workout: Legs (9-11 reps, rest pause set on final set)

-No pre workout supplement right now. Taking a bit of a break from them. Nutrabolics Anabolic State sipped on throughout the workout though
-Postworkout ON Whey Protein

Squats - 2 warm up sets and then get into it. I haven't really been squatting all summer (or working legs for that matter) as I've been spending a lot of time cycling. Didn't want to trash my legs and not be able to ride.
4 sets @ 185lb x 11, 10, 10, 9
Rest pause for 15 seconds after 4th set and I could only bang out 3 more lol

Leg Press
3 sets @ 3pps x 11, 11, 11 (more weight next week)
Rest pause - 5 more reps

Leg Ext
3 sets @ 120lbs x 10, 10, 8
RP - 4 more reps
Really noticed that my legs were getting pretty gassed at this point already ... guess when you don't train them hard all summer this happens ... who knew?

SL Deadlift (or Romanian .... slight bend in my knees and just really pushing my ass out. Whatever they're called
1 set @ 225lbs x 10, 2 sets @ 245lbs x 9, 8
RP - 4 more reps (really felt my hammies screaming at me here)

Lying Leg Curls
3 sets @ 100lbs x 10, 10, 10
RP - 3 more reps (and my hams were just on fire)

Finished up with some nice stretching. I'm thinking about investing in a foam roller ... thoughts from anyone?

[viennafat]

1st and subbed!

Good to see the new log.

Nice leg session especially not having trained them all summer.
I didnt train them for 3 weeks and I felt it sooo much the first time back.
I feel you on the Romanian/SL deadlifts. I never know which one I'm doing.

That's an intense split you have.

I dont own a foam roller, but I know people swear by them and they can be very helpful.
I'm thinking of investing in one as well.


Oh and congrats on the engagement!

[moshvr]

Thanks man! Welcome!

I thought about easing myself back into legs .... then the ipod went on and I said "faaaack this" ... DOMS is kicking my ass today though! Have to ride 75km on Sunday ... hopefully my legs work by then :s

The split works pretty well for me so far. I've kind of been following that sort of thing most of the summer. Each week the rep range changes up. Drop sets and rest pause sets at the end of each are really making things tough. So week one I'm aiming for 15 reps, week two is 11, three is 8, and then week 4 I try to top out at 3-5. Then I just go back up to 15 reps. As I said I've responded fairly well to it, I just need to get my consistency up there.

[viennafat]

75km? Are u serious?
holy shiit....

I like that type of training.
When I eventually transition to my lean bulking phase, I also plan on alternating rep ranges. High, medium, and low.
I like that variety and I think it's effective for hypertrophy.

Where about in Ontario are you?
I'm in the GTA.

[moshvr]

Yep ... serious. I got into road cycling this year. Wicked cardio ... and nothing (well ok probably some things) like going almost 70km/h down a hill on a bike

I'm just a bit south of you in KW.

[viennafat]

I cant even imagine cycling 75k. I'd be struggling at around 7.5.
I would also shiit my pants going those kind of speeds on a bike. Sometimes when I ride I probably hit 40 and start hitting the brakes.

Ah, cool. I got some friends and family in KW.

Good luck tomorrow and on your journey to possibly competing.
I'll stick around for the ride. (not the bike ride, the bodybuilding one)

[fittofattofit]

It's great to see you posting again!
Cycling is a great way to build aerobic fitness and leg strength, so I wouldn't imagine that your legs are too weak, it might just take a bit of 'tuning' to get them used to some of those heavy lifts again....if you are cycling 75kms then that's a god workout anyway

185 and 5'8" is a good weight so you've not been wasting away anyway
I'll be keen to see how your programme folds out and good luck with the contest plan
As for foam rollers, I prefer to use a tennis ball and really roll the sh!t out of my glutes/ITB/shoulders/anywhere that hurts! You can carry it with you in your gym bag and it's the perfect size and density to really get into the deep tissues

[moshvr]

I cant even imagine cycling 75k. I'd be struggling at around 7.5.
I would also shiit my pants going those kind of speeds on a bike. Sometimes when I ride I probably hit 40 and start hitting the brakes.

Ah, cool. I got some friends and family in KW.

Good luck tomorrow and on your journey to possibly competing.
I'll stick around for the ride. (not the bike ride, the bodybuilding one)

lol Chicken It is a little scary ... I come from a mountain bike background. First time I got on the road bike my biggest concern was staying upright on those damn tiny tires!

It's great to see you posting again!
Cycling is a great way to build aerobic fitness and leg strength, so I wouldn't imagine that your legs are too weak, it might just take a bit of 'tuning' to get them used to some of those heavy lifts again....if you are cycling 75kms then that's a god workout anyway

185 and 5'8" is a good weight so you've not been wasting away anyway
I'll be keen to see how your programme folds out and good luck with the contest plan
As for foam rollers, I prefer to use a tennis ball and really roll the sh!t out of my glutes/ITB/shoulders/anywhere that hurts! You can carry it with you in your gym bag and it's the perfect size and density to really get into the deep tissues

haha Andrew I've been maintaining my weight by an amazing regimen of beer, meat and potatoes all summer Carbs give me lots of energy for my bike rides!

And I'll look into a tennis ball ... probably a bit cheaper then the roller

[moshvr]

Today's session: Chest/Calves

Still no pre workout ... just my BCAA's sipped throughout. This week I'm in the 6-8 rep range and doing drop sets after my last set instead of a rest pause.
-Anabolic state
-ON 100% Whey post workout
-ON 100% Casein now before bed

BB Bench Press
1 set @ 135lbs x 10 reps (warmup I guess)
1 @ 185lbs x 6 reps (felt OK, but not really a challenge. Should have pushed the other two reps out)
1 @ 190lbs x 7
1 @ 195lbs x 5, drop set @ 135lbs x 10 reps (this really burned doing it right away)

Decline Hammer Press
3 @ 2pps x 7, 7, 6, drop set @ 1pps x 8

Dumbell "scoops" (Don't really know what else to call these ... dumbells hanging down to the sides, raised dumbells up to my chest with palms facing up)
3 @ 20lbs x 7, 7, 7, drop set @ 10lbs x 8
Chest was really burning and pumped after this ... writing it down it doesn't seem like it would be too bad, but I was feeling it.

Standing Calf Raises (hack squat machine ... just faced the other way to work calves)
1 @ 2pps x 20
1 @ 3pps x 15
1 @ 4pps x 15, drop set @ 2pps x 12

Didn't get out on my bike ride today. Everyone bailed so I worked a bit more OT. DOMS like crazy still from my leg day so it's probably for the better that I didn't bike... would have just been complaining

[fittofattofit]

Nice work with all those dropsets Michael
Good way to finish with a pump - chest, arms and calves would have been burning

Do you finish with a dropset on all of your exercises?

[moshvr]

Yep for this week and next week. When the reps are lower I'll be doing a drop set on the last set, when they're higher I'll be doing the rest pause. The weight wont be as high so I don't really want to drop set then.

I've noticed with all of the cycling though that it takes a lot more to get the calves burning. They get so much out of my rides just from where I have my clip placed on my shoes. Hopefully with hitting them twice a week though I'll start to maybe see some growth? I've also REALLY slowed down calf raises in the last little while with pauses at the top of the lift for an extra squeeze. I hate that they don't grow!

[viennafat]

Nice session! Drop sets are always killer.
For chest, do you typically do BB and then a hammer press? Do you ever mix in DB presses or flyes?

[moshvr]

Normally I'd throw in incline DB/BB and some flyes ... but it was a late night workout and I had to train at a gym I don't really like much anymore (mine was closed for some reno's). I just threw some stuff together for a quick "in and out" workout.

[moshvr]

No training yesterday. Just some light cardio and brisk walk around the neighbourhood with the lady friend.

Spent most of the night ironing out wedding details. It turns out this is actually a lot more time consuming than I thought it would be

My weight training will be kind of off most of the week as well. I'm doing a bike race this coming Saturday so most of my time will be spent on my bike making sure my endurance is up there. Next week I'm off to Chicago for work so I'll have to find a gym down there. I want to make sure I don't fall off on my schedule!

Back workout tonight/tomorrow morning (not sure which one yet) and I'll be trying the Magnusson Ortmayer deadlift routine. My one rep max was 370lbs (no straps) before but I don't think I'm going to use that as my max for this routine. It's been a long time. Last time I did any DL's I topped at 330lbs. I'll use that for this routine and see what I can jump up to.

Wish me luck!

[viennafat]

Good stuff, Michael.
Watchout for those deep dish pizzas in Chicago.

See, the key to wedding planning is to leave it all for the wife-to-be to do.

Good call on the Mag-Ort routine.
Andrew followed that a while back and I thought it was good.
I may be doing something similar as well for DL's.

[moshvr]

Hmm ... yea unfortunately I have this weird thing of wanting to really be involved. I should maybe step back a bit ... I keep hearing I won't get my way anyway

And yea Andrew was kind of the reason I thought of giving it a try ... like I said the race to 405 is on (Andrew if you read this I'm sorry haha)

[fittofattofit]

No training yesterday. Just some light cardio and brisk walk around the neighbourhood with the lady friend.

Spent most of the night ironing out wedding details. It turns out this is actually a lot more time consuming than I thought it would be

My weight training will be kind of off most of the week as well. I'm doing a bike race this coming Saturday so most of my time will be spent on my bike making sure my endurance is up there. Next week I'm off to Chicago for work so I'll have to find a gym down there. I want to make sure I don't fall off on my schedule!

Back workout tonight/tomorrow morning (not sure which one yet) and I'll be trying the Magnusson Ortmayer deadlift routine. My one rep max was 370lbs (no straps) before but I don't think I'm going to use that as my max for this routine. It's been a long time. Last time I did any DL's I topped at 330lbs. I'll use that for this routine and see what I can jump up to.

Wish me luck!

Hmm ... yea unfortunately I have this weird thing of wanting to really be involved. I should maybe step back a bit ... I keep hearing I won't get my way anyway

And yea Andrew was kind of the reason I thought of giving it a try ... like I said the race to 405 is on (Andrew if you read this I'm sorry haha)

When is the wedding Michael?

I'll be looking forward to the Mag-Ort post! I do seriously love this regime and I managed to really add to my strength when doing it even if I didn't get to the 405 before injury intervened.
And I'll still be there trying for the 405, so the race is ON!

[moshvr]

Awesome I look forward to it!

Wedding isn't until 2014 so we do have a bit of time to relax after we get our plans out of the way. She's still got a contract for a job in England for this year so we had to push back the wedding a bit. No complaints from me really. Just means I get to go over to England a couple times and have a place to stay

I'll update my last couple sessions later today. Vacation day yesterday at work and now I've got to play catch up with emails and **** ... woo.

[moshvr]

Tuesday September 11 workout: Back/Biceps/Bike Ride

So I didn't get my deadlift session in here, but I did get out for a pretty quick paced 40km ride. Someone wanted to go out, it was a nice day, I said why not Kind of shortened my back workout though, but I still felt pretty good about it.

WG Lat Pull Down
2 @ 120lb x 10 reps (warm up sets with some good stretching)
3 @ 190lb x 8 reps, drop set @ 120lb x 8 reps

Single arm seated hammer rows
3 @ 3pps x 6 reps, drop set @ 2pps x 5 reps

Single arm cable pull downs
3 @ 100lbs x 8 reps (no drop set here, just really good squeeze and pause at the bottom of every rep)

Cable EZ bar curls
3 @ 110lbs x 8, drop set (for each set ) @ 60lbs x 8

Pre-workout/Intra: Nutrabolics Anabolic State
Postworkout: ON 100% Whey (two scoops ... figured after the bike, and then the weights I could use it)

Before bed: ON 100% Casein (one scoop)

Shoulders/Calves are on the bill for tonight.

[fittofattofit]

Strong work on those WG pulldowns and HS seated rows!
I'll allow you the 40km cycle instead of the deads .......but only this once

It's nice that your fiancé will be in the UK so you can have plenty of romantic side trips to Europe!

[moshvr]

Oh jee ... you're really too kind!

Yea Andrew that seems to really be the only perk to her being gone. I mean I'd like to say that I get more workouts in when she's not here (less distraction ), but she comes with me ... so the perk is Europe. I went over spring time last year and we spent two weeks in England. I think this year we're going to go into Germany for a bit (we've both got some family there) and then explore some other parts of England. Great beers and great pubs over there ... I spent a lot of money!

[viennafat]

Nice WG pull downs!
I like those single arm pulldowns, too.

I'll be waiting patiently for the deadlift session.

Yup, a few trips to Europe sound good to me!

[moshvr]

Thanks guys! I may actually head to the gym Sunday morning before I head to the airport for the deadlift session. They always used to be a pretty strong lift for me ... hopefully I can get it back

[moshvr]

Well I'm off to the gym in a couple hours to get my deadlift session in. Might try to train some shoulders after I do 'em too. We'll see how I feel.

For those who have done the Mag-Ort routine and may read this before I go *ahem* Andrew ... did you use straps? Or just use the routine to work on grip strength as well? I'm leaning more towards just chalking up my hands and going for it. Thoughts?

[d.nguyen]

I personally use straps for deads. I feel like I can concentrate more on the working muscles rather than the secondary muscles (Grip)

PS i am working for aesthetics LOL and not having grip strength

[moshvr]

Hey thanks for stopping by man!

Today I'm going to just go with chalk ... when the weights get up there I'll get back to the straps.

[moshvr]

Ooooook the moment Tom has been waiting for the start of the Mag-Ort deadlift routine! It's really not all that impressive, and I'm not thrilled about posting sub 300lb deads on here .... buuut here we go.

September 15th workout: Deadlifts/Shoulders

I assumed a 350lb 1RM for the start of my routine. It's a lift I've done pretty consistently. 370lbs is really my best lift with no straps or belt but it's been a long time and I wanted to be kind of conservative so as not to hurt anything after a long time with no deadlifts.

Deadlifts
2 @ 135lbs x 10 (warmup)
1 @ 185lbs x 4 (warmup)
4 @ 245lbs x 4 (felt pretty easy, de-load on each rep so it was a true "dead" lift)
2 @ 280lbs x 2 (again, not too hard here)
1 @ 245lbs x 10 (felt really good here)

DB Shoulder Press
3 @ 65lbs x 7
1 @ 65lbs x 8
Really nothing impressive ... I guess the DL's gassed me more than I thought

DB Side raises
3 @ 25lbs x 8, drop set @ 12.5lbs x 10
Awesome pump here

Cable "face pulls" with rope
7 @ 70lbs x 15 (30 second rests between sets and stretching rear delts for the whole rest ... really started to burn!)
My rear delts really lack so I try to get a few more sets and higher reps in to stimulate them

Pre: Superpump Max (don't normally take this but I was feeling pretty tired today ... late night last night and then a full day of work before the gym)
Intra: Nutrabolics Anabolic State
Post: ON 100% Whey

Not sure if I'll get a workout in tomorrow. Off to the airport earlier than I thought. But Monday I'll find a gym where I'm heading and see about a week pass.

[Anthony21]

What up Mosh. Just wanted to stop by and show some support. Keep killing it bro.

[moshvr]

Hey thanks brother! Welcome to the party!