Drudixon's See No Evil, Hear No Evil - Aesthetics Acquisition Log

[drudixon]

I haven't journaled in a while because frankly I get bored of it. Due to JVFranklin's thread about the cooling glove, I decided to make one and document it's efficacy. The point of the glove is to trick the body into thinking it hasn't worked out. What better regimen than GVT to see if Set 10 is the same as Set 1.

I ran GVT in April / May and gained 6lbs. A few differences from then to now is that I'm currently NOT taking Creatine or Beta-Alanine, both fairly useful in increasing strength and endurance.

Also, having done this before, I can say that the hardest sets are 4-7. Typically set 1 will feel very easy. For this experiment, I picked weights that were quite difficult to do in the first set (except military press which was too light).

Since I'm starting today, it's mid-week of a cycle.

Goal is to see how much mass I can add in 8 weeks using GVT and the Glove.

Calorie Range: 2900+
Supps: This week only: Fish Oil, Glucosamine, Optimen Multi, CyctoGainer, Mountain Dew (pwo)


Today's exercises:
Squats - (Low Bar to full calf hamstring compression) May weight 125 10x10 Today 155 10x10 (better form than May also do to bar placement change) (+32%)
Lying Hamstring Curls - May weight 60 10x10 Today 75 10x10 (+25%)
Military Press - May weight 65 10x10 75 10x10 (+15%)

Something interesting is that I'm very, very sweaty in my leg workouts. Today, hardly any sweat at all. Even though the weights were very challenging for 10 reps, I managed all sets.

Now, you may be saying, well, it's been 4 months since the end of that program, you've gotten stronger. Yes I have. Bear in mind. The comparison weights above are the end of my last GVT compared with Day 1 of this GVT. I haven't had 8 weeks to adapt to GVT again.

Looking at it more empirically, Day 1 of my first GVT, I was only able to use 45% of my 1RM and get 10x10. Today, I used 60%. That's a day 1 difference of 15%. Is it placebo, is it the glove? It's far too early to tell at the moment.

Here's a vid of what mine looks like:

Notes: I alternated hand between each set. I can't measure vacuum, but I can say there's enough the the glove pushes itself into my hand and I don't have to hold it. The glove didn't work as well at first because the water was a tad too cold. The temperature in the basement was 74f.

Things I don't like. My knuckles hit the edges of tube. I have to use alternate hand to pinch neoprene sleeve to create the seal. There's no way I could take this to a gym.



Anyway, GVT is a 3 day a week, so I'll try to post again on Thurs.

[Payton1221]

First. Yeah, buddy. Let's see what this (glove) thing can really do!

How will you determine how much mass is gained? Also, how many calories are required for maintenance?

[drudixon]

First. Yeah, buddy. Let's see what this (glove) thing can really do!

How will you determine how much mass is gained? Also, how many calories are required for maintenance?

I've found that at this weight (180 this am), anything over 2800 will slowly gain weight. I'll up it to 3000+ if/when I hit 190. That said, I do expect at least 5lbs next week when I pick creatine mono back up. I don't expect the creatine to have much impact on the lifts themselves however.

[drudixon]

Todays an off day, so not much to report. Have some doms but nothing major. Probably good consideeing 10x10 squats is no joke. Already had two naps today.

[drudixon]

Today's workout was inconclusive as far as the glove goes, but wasn't too bad. I'm thinking that the large compound movements benefit far more than iso movements. I also think my bicep set was skewed because the water was too warm, and the glove ripped a little further halfway through the workout. I traded out for a new, longer glove for CGBP on.

Straightbar Bicep Curls
70 x 10
70 x 10
70 x 10
70 x 10
70 x 10
70 x8
70 x 10
70 x 8
70 x 5

Close Grip Bench Press (switched to thumbless grip, made the weight too easy compared to last GVT)
95 x 10
95 x 10
95 x 10
95 x 10
95 x 10
95 x 10
95 x 10
95 x 10
95 x 10
95 x 10

Weighted Dips
45 x 10
45 x 10
45 x 10

Knee Raises
10
10
10

Cable Crunches
55 x 10
55 x 10
55 x 10

[drudixon]

Well, new week. This is the B side of the routine. I was feeling good physically except for my biceps, which were so sore Friday night, I had trouble sleeping. Today I'm sure won't help them much. Used the glove for the first two exercises, but not the third. These workouts are taking absolutely forever. Over 2 hours...

Incline Press
135 x 10
135 x 10
135 x 10
135 x 10
135 x 10
135 x 10
135 x 10
135 x 10
135 x 10
135 x 10

Close Grip Chin Ups (full extension to touch chest to knuckles) - I fell off really hard after set 5. My biceps simply were trashed. Lats felt good.
10
10
10
10
10
9
8
7
7
6

Feet together standing calf raise (my outer calves need work, hence the together stance)
225 x 10
225 x 10
225 x 10
225 x 10
225 x 10
225 x 10
225 x 10
225 x 10
225 x 10
225 x 10

Glove observations. Glove still seems to be working. At no time in the workout did I actually sweat. That said, the chinups were very disappointing. My arms were seriously hurting from DOMS going into the movement, so that definitely played a part. Reckon I had hoped for a miracle with the glove. When I ran this last go around, I was doing lat pull downs with 60lbs, so this is definitely a big change.

Still eating a ton. My post workout meal will be 2 cheeseburgers! Yum.

[Payton1221]

These workouts are taking absolutely forever. Over 2 hours . . . At no time in the workout did I actually sweat.

Solid, solid workout. Interesting perspective on the sweating and the glove.

[drudixon]

Today's workout clocked in at 3:21. I'm definitely thinking of making my 3rd exercise only 3x10. It's too ridiculous to workout all day. I had to eat mid-way through as I was starting to bonk.Anyway, this leg day is far and away my hardest. I did have a massive revelation in my deads that made them easier. I just need to remember when I do them again in a few weeks. Hips, hips, hips.

Deadlifts
225 x 10
225 x 10
225 x 10
225 x 10
225 x 10
225 x 10
225 x 10
225 x 10
225 x 10
225 x 10

Front Squats
115 x 10
115 x 10
115 x 10
115 x 10
115 x 10
115 x 10
115 x 10
115 x 10
115 x 10
115 x 10

Military Press
80 x 10
80 x 10
80 x 10
80 x 10
80 x 10
80 x 10
80 x 10
80 x 10
80 x 10
80 x 10

The glove is still working well. Considering the last time I did GVT, my end deadlift working weight was 155. This is a 70lb jump in 5 months, so I'm definitely thinking the glove is helping.

[Payton1221]

Today's workout clocked in at 3:21. I'm definitely thinking of making my 3rd exercise only 3x10.

I had to double-check my last post, because I considered mentioning this (but didn't). Depending on how you want to priortize your body parts, for these three exercises, I would consider doing the front squats 3x10 since they're hitting similar muscles to the deadlift so that you still give your shoulders a good pounding, too. And a 70# jump in 5 months (all things being equal) is insane. So, "yes," I'd say the glove is working!

[drudixon]

Forgot to post this last Thursday. Good workout. Was pretty happy with the dips. Weight's still the same at the moment. We'll see when it begins to creep up. I definitely feel a lot more "pumped" all the time, and definitely more sore.

Preacher DB Curls
20 x 10
20 x 10
20 x 10
20 x 10
20 x 10
20 x 10
20 x 10
20 x 10
20 x 10
20 x 10

Dips (deep)
45 x 10
45 x 10
45 x 10
45 x 10
45 x 10
45 x 10
45 x 10
45 x 10
45 x 10
45 x 10

SuperSet
Cable Crunches 55 x 10
Leg Raises
Cable Crunches 55 x 10
Leg Raises
Cable Crunches 55 x 10
Leg Raises

[Payton1221]

Preacher DB Curls

Dips (deep)

Did you do the curls first or second? I know that they're opposing muscles, but considering the dips involve more muscles, I would have probably started with the dips. Regardless, GVT is sick, sick, sick. Great job!

[drudixon]

Hey bud! Thanks for dropping by. My one and only follower! LOL. I do appreciate it. I think for now I'll keep doing the 10x10 of both deads and front squats. It wasn't too terrible, other than the time constraint. I actually didn't get any leg DOMS, just a touch of lower back doms. I do eat a granola bar in between deads and squats to keep some sugar in the system.

For Thursday, I did the biceps first because I'm pretty good at dips, and my biceps are lagging IMO. I usually try to put my focus bodypart / move first so it's freshest. I love dips, and I don't think they suffered much, if any going after biceps.

[drudixon]

Today's workout kinda sucked. It wasn't the glove so much as how I have my workout laid out. My shoulder started hurting significantly on set 8 of bench press, so I had to bail on finishing the last two sets. I think I'm running way too much shoulder work, and Thursday's dips are far too close to my bench workout. Perhaps I should go less deep on the dips as well. I think I'm going to move dips in front of the incline bench session since inclines never bug my shoulder. I'll also traide one day of military presses for side raises to help strengthen the rotator cuff. When I had my injury, that was a key part of my therapy that seemed to help.

I decided to trade standard rows for pendlay rows. Everything I've been reading said they're better. My first few sets the form was off I thought, so I found some articles on stronglifts that seemed to help a lot. I also had to reduce the working weight to compensate for the stricter movement.

Bench Press
170 x 10
170 x 10
170 x 10
170 x 10
170 x 10
170 x 10
170 x 9 starting to hurt a bit here
170 x 6 major hurting
dnf
dnf

Pendlay Rows
135 x 10
135 x 10
135 x 10
135 x 10
135 x 10
135 x 10
135 x 10
135 x 10
135 x 10
135 x 10

Incline DB Presses
70 x 7
70 x 5
70 x 5 lol I really had no focus by this time and on 2 and 3 I lost the movement by going too deep on the stretch portion of the lift and gave myself no leverage to get back up. Not real worried about it though.

Total time today was faster as I'm getting faster at getting in and out of the glove and less doddling between sets. 2:05 hours. Granted, I did skip 2 sets of bench which would have added about 7 minutes.

[cmoore]

Hey bud! Thanks for dropping by. My one and only follower! LOL.

Been lurking [sorry, old habits die hard].

[drudixon]

Woot! Up to 2. Reckon I lurk yours too. I need to get more on the ball and visit more than the 3 journals that I do. I'm sure I'd learn a lot more than just the typical trash that rolls through the main 35. Definitely would be more beneficial than reading misc, lol.

[drudixon]

Today's workout was really good. Not sure where the strength came from, but it came. When I ran GVT last time, there were many weeks where I missed lifts, or when I made all lifts, I bumped up the weight by 5lbs. Today I incremented squats by 10 from the prior session and hamstring curls by 15lbs. It's weird because the prior sessions weights were very, very difficult. Maybe it's the glove, maybe not. I also figured out the pressure of the vacuum in the glove. It's 3.4 inHg

Squats
165 x 10
165 x 10
165 x 10
165 x 10
165 x 10
165 x 10
165 x 10
165 x 10
165 x 10
165 x 10

Ham Curls
70 x 10
70 x 10
70 x 10
70 x 10
70 x 10
70 x 10
70 x 10
70 x 10
70 x 10
70 x 10

Lateral Raises (instead of military press to help rehab shoulder from benching pain 2 days ago)
10 x 10
10 x 10
10 x 10

Face Pulls (no weight on the pully, might be about 5lbs)
10
10
10

[Payton1221]

Maybe it's the glove, maybe not. I also figured out the pressure of the vacuum in the glove. It's 3.4 inHg

Awesome looking workout 165x10x10!!!

Regarding your vacuum level, did you install a gauge or does your vacuum device include a gauge?

I've been using the vacuum drum that I use to pull motor oil through my daughter's car via the dipstick (too lazy to crawl underneath). It can provide plenty of vacuum, but I'm just guessing at how much to use.

[drudixon]

Awesome looking workout 165x10x10!!!

Regarding your vacuum level, did you install a gauge or does your vacuum device include a gauge?

I've been using the vacuum drum that I use to pull motor oil through my daughter's car via the dipstick (too lazy to crawl underneath). It can provide plenty of vacuum, but I'm just guessing at how much to use.

I used old fashioned math lol. It was kind of a pain, and I'm sure the margin of error is 10% give or take. Basically because the sleeve and end cap each suck in, the tube has a different volume before suction and after suction. So, I figured out before and after volumes.

Then I used the formula p1/v1 = p2/v2. I know the air pressure at 300 meters (Kennesaw is SL + 300m), and I know the before and after volumes, so I just solved for p2.

I can't find my thermometer, so I was thinking about using dew point to figure out the water temp since I get some condensation in the tube. I'll wait till another day to do that as my boss has some stuff for me to do.

[drudixon]

It's not a workout day, but figured I'd report in. Started tracking food again. I usually don't track when bulking, just cutting, but periodically I monitor it, mostly to see if I get enough fats and protein. So far through lunch I'm at 2267 calories, 80gm fat, 80gm of protein. I imagine by dinner I'll have 120 protein, then a shake before bed, so about a gram per lb of body weight. I'll have to watch my carbs tho so I'm not too far over for the day on total cals.

So aside from making some nice gains in rep weight for GVT. I'm now a sleep aholic. I wonder who else has run a high volume routine and how sleepy they were all the time. I'm just dog tired, even taking daily naps. Last night went to bed at 9 and got up at 5. I would have slept later but I had to take a leak, and once I was up, I was up. 8 hours isn't excessive, but if you add in the 2 hour nap I had yesterday, that's 10 on the day.

[ArchAngel'73]

I sleep alot lately, probably due to dieting but do not underestimate how taxing GVT can be, its hard work creating sattelite cells.
Great idea combining the idea Dru...I've been lurking.

[drudixon]

I sleep alot lately, probably due to dieting but do not underestimate how taxing GVT can be, its hard work creating sattelite cells.
Great idea combining the idea Dru...I've been lurking.

AA, thanks for dropping in.

Glad to know I'm not the only one who's sleepy. Weird thing tho. I googled GVT + Sleep, and came across an article where Poliquin says "trouble falling asleep, too much intensity. Can't get enough sleep, too much volume." WTH?!? Isn't he the one who came up with GVT (or at least is a huge proponent of it)? Poliquin also recommends changing the tempo of the lifts every two weeks. I'm not sure if I'll do that, but maybe. I'm not too sure how much that'd help. First go around, I did the first half of the program following his super slow tempo and didn't really get much out of it (or maybe I did, but the weight games came in GVT when I switched back to regular tempo).

[drudixon]

Today's workout was pretty good. I felt well. I was concerned yesterday because my forearms and joints in general were hurting. A 2nd night in a row of 10 hours sleep, and 4100 calories really helped lol. Still using the glove. It's working well. The curls went way better today, so attribute that to the glove. The bicep pump was really great, borderline painful.

Straight bar curls
70 x 10
70 x 10
70 x 10
70 x 10
70 x 10
70 x 10
70 x 10
70 x 10
70 x 10
70 x 9

CGBP (hands 8") 20lb jump, still too ez
115 x 10
115 x 10
115 x 10
115 x 10
115 x 10
115 x 10
115 x 10
115 x 10
115 x 10
115 x 10

Dips
70 x 10
70 x 10
70 x 10

Super Set Cable Crunches and leg lfits
60 x 10
10
60 x 10
10
60 x 10
10

[drudixon]

This week is the last week of 10 reps. Next week I'll be doing 10 sets of 3 reps, so the weight will be bumping up quite a bit. A month of that, and I'll go back to 10 reps, but very slow tempo, I'm trying to follow Poliquin's tempo scheme changes to see how they do. Weird doing something for only 1mth, but maybe it'll work. I'm also curious as to how the glove will help with such a low rep scheme. Yesterday's workout was good. I was very please with the pull ups.

Oh, almost forgot. I killed my vacuum cleaner (overheated motor), so I had to go out and get a brake bleed kit to hand create the vacuum. It worked pretty well. Creating the seal around the forearm is now challenging.

Incline BP
140 x 5
140 x 5
140 x 5
140 x 5
140 x 5
140 x 5
140 x 5
140 x 5
140 x 5
140 x 5

CG PullUps
10
10
10
10
10
10
10
10
10
10

Calf Raises
245 x 10
245 x 10
245 x 10
245 x 10
245 x 10
245 x 10
245 x 10
245 x 10
245 x 10
245 x 10

[Payton1221]

This week is the last week of 10 reps. Next week I'll be doing 10 sets of 3 reps, so the weight will be bumping up quite a bit. A month of that, and I'll go back to 10 reps, but very slow tempo, I'm trying to follow Poliquin's tempo scheme changes to see how they do. Weird doing something for only 1mth, but maybe it'll work. I'm also curious as to how the glove will help with such a low rep scheme. Yesterday's workout was good. I was very please with the pull ups.

I've heard of some folks who have a revolving rep scheme done weekly: 12 reps (week 1), 8 reps (week 2), 5 reps (week 3), then repeat (or possibly a 4th week using triples). For those who do this, I would hope that they journal so that they know if they're truly making progress or not.

Regarding the glove, my gut feel is that it'll have less of an affect with the lower rep scheme. Even accounting for the increase poundage, I'm sure that the "work" (i.e., sets x reps x weight) will be less, so the fatigue (IMO) will be less, but by all means, give it a try!

[DocHoss]

Very interesting journal! I'm really interested to see how well the cooling glove works (I need to look up how it works - sounds a bit complicated). GVT sounds really brutal, but I'm intrigued. Will try to stop in here more often now that I have found this thread.

Good Luck!!

[drudixon]

I've heard of some folks who have a revolving rep scheme done weekly: 12 reps (week 1), 8 reps (week 2), 5 reps (week 3), then repeat (or possibly a 4th week using triples). For those who do this, I would hope that they journal so that they know if they're truly making progress or not.

Regarding the glove, my gut feel is that it'll have less of an affect with the lower rep scheme. Even accounting for the increase poundage, I'm sure that the "work" (i.e., sets x reps x weight) will be less, so the fatigue (IMO) will be less, but by all means, give it a try!

Yeah, I'm not real optimistic that the glove will do much, but oh well. Hopefully my strength will do well. It's anybody's guess as to what my starting weights should be. I'll try and feel it out as I go.

Very interesting journal! I'm really interested to see how well the cooling glove works (I need to look up how it works - sounds a bit complicated). GVT sounds really brutal, but I'm intrigued. Will try to stop in here more often now that I have found this thread.

Good Luck!!

Thanks for coming by. GVT takes forever, but you can definitely gain some mass on it. I'm up 4 lbs since starting this, but likely that's due to resuming creatine, and not GVT so much.

From 2 weeks ago, I was able to do an extra 13 pull ups. The weights have gone up on everything for the most part, so I'm definitely thinking there's something to it. Even tomorrow, front squats and deads, I doubt I'll sweat. Kinda weird.

[Payton1221]

It's anybody's guess as to what my starting weights should be. I'll try and feel it out as I go.

I have a table that suggests going from 10 to 3 reps will allow you to increase 24% for upper body exercises but only 11% for lower body ones. Seems like too big of a disparity to me, but I would think 20-25% is a great place to start for things like bench press, curls, etc. It'll be interesting to see how much more you can lift.

[drudixon]

OK, OK, OK, I've been slacking on updating the journal. Not sure why really. I had plenty of time to do it. Here's last Tues. I did skip last Thursday's arm workout due to general fatigue.

Dead Lift
235 x 10
235 x 10
235 x 10
235 x 10
235 x 10
235 x 10
235 x 10
235 x 10
235 x 10
235 x 10

Front Squat
120 x 10
120 x 10
120 x 10
120 x 10
120 x 10
120 x 10
120 x 10
120 x 10
120 x 10
120 x 10

Military Press
85 x 10
85 x 10
85 x 10

[drudixon]

Here's the first session of 10 x 5. It went great. After skipping arms day, I felt like a million bucks. One sucky thing was I ripped my glove mid way through my rows. Funny, I was sweating within one set of the rip. I was able to finish everything, but was getting hot for sure. I ordered a calf compression sleeve which should be longer, and help against tearing as there will be no need to cut it. I'm so serious about the glove I paid $14 just to overnight it, lol. I won't have it in time for today's workout tho (my schedule changed to accommodate a busy day yesterday).

Bench (googled shoulder pain and started not only forcing shoulder blades back, but down also. Really helped)
205 x 5
205 x 5
205 x 5
205 x 5
205 x 5
205 x 5
205 x 5
205 x 5
205 x 5
205 x 5

Pendlay Rows (tried to use shoulder blades in back / down position) too light
165 x 5
165 x 5
165 x 5
165 x 5
165 x 5 (tore glove)
165 x 5
165 x 5
165 x 5
165 x 5
165 x 5

Incline DB Press (no glove )
70 x 7
70 x 5
70 x 6

[Payton1221]

Dead Lift
235 x 10
235 x 10
235 x 10
235 x 10
235 x 10
235 x 10
235 x 10
235 x 10
235 x 10
235 x 10

CrAzY!!!

What vacuum level are you using? I bought a $25 brake bleeder at Harbor Freight, and after discovering that keeping the glove at vacuum was becoming a separate workout for my forearm, I added the vacuum gauge to my glove. So for $25, all I have to show for it is 2' of plastic hose that I reused and a $5 (+/-) vacuum gauge.

Regarding the vacuum level, my hand felt kinda tingly at 5" Hg.