Raffs Bulk! Phase 3 of 3 - 8 weeks to gain size

[TrainerRaff21]

Hello

I enjoy reading peoples progress so I decided to keep my own. I already collect all my workout data each day and I know what I eat daily and at what time (although im not to strict at the moment and i'll admit im too lazy to get specific calorie requirements hehe). Now im just looking to share my journey with you all and will be responsive to your constructive critisim and feedback.

Ok now some history on me. As of last janurary I was 82kgs and 31% bodyfat. By October I had gotten to 66kgs and 8% bodyfat and competed in my first competition which i placed a lovely 6th place out of 6 competitors. I wasn't expecting any better but it was an awesome journey and really got me to love and appreciate bodybuilding much more.
Unfortunately for me I didn't do everything correct, and ended up over training for about 2 months prior to the competition which was a shame cos I was busting my ass off (50mins cardio jogging on treadmill in the morning on an empty stomach and working out 4 times a week and then another 50min cardio at the end of a workout. Strict diet 6 times a week and then I had sundays off where i gorged myself which I shouldn't have done, but that is what i followed all year except my cardio varied).

Now my goals are to establish a good base, ive been bulking for the past 16 weeks or so and have another 8 week phase to go to gain as much muscle as I can before I diet down and hopefully achieve a better body then I had last year. Im about 85kgs and 20% bodyfat (I luv food and my body stores fat easy dammit). I am also studying to become a personal trainer and hope to set foot in the industry next year which is motivation to look the part.

Im working on 5 days a week, with a 4 day split and then repeating on the 5th day. I will be doing cardio 1-2 days a week which includes 1 boxing class.

Workout days as follows:
Mon - Quads & calves
Tues - Off
Weds - Chest/Tris/Abs
Thurs - Back/Bis
Fri - cardio 45mins on eliplication machine or train shoulders/hamstrings/calves. not sure would appreciate feedback on this.
Sat - boxing 1 hr. I havent decided a time yet, it will either be in the morning or afternoon and I was thinking because I have a fat problem I could train on saturday a few hrs away from the boxing class so I can burn more calories? Feedback welcome here also
Sun - repeat day 1.

My diet is fairly clean, mon-fri i eat 90% accurate and I allow a bit of indulgeant on the weekend. Im also a supplement freak so I like to experiment hehe.

7am - 3 nitrix and 300ml water
7:30am - 1 cup uncooked oats (the cup i use is 250ml lol but like i said im not too specific with calories atm i just eat until satifised). Sumtimes i have a spoonful of nutella and a dash of skim milk. 2 scoops optinum nutrition whey and 5g ast glutamine. 1 antioxidant tab, 1 multivitamin, 1000mg vitamin c, 1000mg fish oil, 1 super B complex tab.

10:30am - 1 and a half cup (250ml) brown rice/pasta or 3 pieces wholemeal bread. 200-300g steak/chicken/tuna/fish/egg whites. 1cup (250ml) vegetables.

1pm - 3 nitrix

1:30am - repeat meal 2.

4:30pm - repeat meal 2.

6:30pm - 2 scoops cytosport muscle milk with 500ml skim milk, 1 banana.

7:30pm (pre workout) - 1 pack Animal M stak, 1 pack Animal Nitro pack, Noxplode, 200ml grape juice.

8pm - train till 9pm

9pm (post workout) - 1 scopp cellmass, 1 pack Animal Nitro.

9:30pm - 2 scoops O/N whey and 5g glutamine in skim milk, 2 rice cakes. 1000g vitamin c.

10pm - carbs and protein meal. Whatever is cooked for dinner.

10:30pm - Animal multivitamin pack. 3 Nitrix

11pm - 2 scoops O/N casein or PM pro complex. 5g l glutamine. 5g AST Gaba.

11:30 - bed

Well thats what im sticking with this week hehe i may include some protein bars here and there and it may change slightly due to my busy work schedule (try 80 hrs a week sometimes and studying 2 days a week for 3hrs) but i can leave work to train and come back. Like i said im experimental with my supplements and im willing to learn more i just need to be taught or I need a new job so i can study more lol

anyway all comments r welcome, I will post tonights workout and diet next post.

Cheers

10:30pm -

[TrainerRaff21]

Ok I had a few days off last week as I had just worked an 80hr week the previous week and was on the last week of my 2nd phase so i was buggered! the rest has done me good

Tonight i have decided to try a new split with legs and keep hams/quads seperate so i can completly blast my quads. I have gone fairly light today to slowly work back up and keep my CNS from frying.

Workout - 8pm

Warmup/Pre exhaust - Leg Extensions 3 sets. 8 x 12, 8 x 12, 9 x 12

Squats ass to the floor - 70kgs x 15, 70kgs x 15, 70kgs x 15

Hack squats - 90kg x 8, 90kg x 10, 90kg x 10

Leg extension unilateral - 4 x 17, 4 x 17, 4 x 17

Standing Calf Raise heavy - 80kg x 12, 80kg x 12, 80kg x 12.
with my calf training i also include ballistic stretching at the end of each set. I do 20 reps.

Seating calf raise heavy - 40kg x 10, 40kg x 11, 40kg x 9
3 sets of ballistics, 20reps each.

I try to keep near perfect form, slow and controlled and feel the muscle. I have a bit of a naggy knee but I am trying to correct it.

Diet today was steady.

7am - 3 nitrix, 2 x Biotest redkat hehe

7:30am - 1 cup uncooked oats, dash skim milk, 2 scoops o/n whey with 5g l-glutamine. 2 egg whites cooked. 1000mg vitamin c, multivitamin, antioxidant, super B complex, 1000mg fish oil.

10:30am - 1 and a half cup cooked brown rice, 1 cup steamed green vegetables, 250g cooked bbq chicken breast marinated.

1pm - 3 nitrix

1:30pm - 1 and a half cup cooked brown rice, 1 cup steamed green vegetables, 200g bbq steak. (hey we had a bbq last night)

5pm - 1 and a half cup cooked brown rice, 1 cup steamed green vegetables, 250g cooked bbq chicken breast marinated.

7pm - 2 scoops cytosport muscle milk with 300-400ml skim milk, 1 medium banana.

7:15pm - 1 animal M stack pack.

7:45pm preworkout - noxplode, 1 pack animal nitro, 200ml grape juice.

8pm train

9pm - cellmass, 1 pack animal nitro

9:30pm - 2 thin rice cakes, 2 scoops o/n whey in 200ml full cream milk (ran out of skim) 5g l glutamine. 1000mg vitamin c.

10:30pm - 2 tablespoons fried rice, 200g minced beef.

11pm - Animal multivitamin pack.

11:30pm - 3 nitrix.

12am - 5g GABA in water, 2 scoops o/n PM pro complex.

Day off tomorrow as I have night school. I may include a protein bar in my 7pm meal as i will be at the gym. I will take my animal M pack in the morning and will only have cellmass in the morning also. Everything will remain roughly the same.

Weds I will be attacking chest/shoulders/abs! Update then!

train hard ciao

[FullyLoaded]

Brother if you want to add solid mass to your frame you gotta go heavy for atleast 4 weeks on. You cant just train slow twitch muscle and expect to get big. Fast twitch is just as, if not more important, for size and the most important for strength. Cycle it though. When you hit a plateau, switch to a dofferent style and weight. For example, do 4 weeks of 5 x 5s and then 6 weeks of 3x12. Take a break then get back into it.

Another important note is don’t overtrain!! I would say atleast 75% of guys do it. Hit your cores once a week ( Squat, Bench, Deadlift ) and a few auxillary ( Biceps, triceps, shoulders, calfs ) and spend the rest of the time eating and sleeping. Don’t forget the cardio though, keep that heart healthy.


FL

[FullyLoaded]

PS- Get more of your calories from food. Dont rely on just shakes and MRPs to do it for you. Calories and slow GI carbs is where its at

FL

[TrainerRaff21]

Brother if you want to add solid mass to your frame you gotta go heavy for atleast 4 weeks on. You cant just train slow twitch muscle and expect to get big. Fast twitch is just as, if not more important, for size and the most important for strength. Cycle it though. When you hit a plateau, switch to a dofferent style and weight. For example, do 4 weeks of 5 x 5s and then 6 weeks of 3x12. Take a break then get back into it.

Another important note is don’t overtrain!! I would say atleast 75% of guys do it. Hit your cores once a week ( Squat, Bench, Deadlift ) and a few auxillary ( Biceps, triceps, shoulders, calfs ) and spend the rest of the time eating and sleeping. Don’t forget the cardio though, keep that heart healthy.


FL

hey fullyloaded! thanks for your reply!
I do cycle my heavy weights through. Basically I have been doing 8-10 week macrocycles (phase 1-3) which start off high rep and then work down to 4-6 reps. I then break, lower the intensity to recover and change my exercises which should stimulate some new growth

I try not to overtrain although i have done before. The point of me having a 4 day split and 5 day working out is so that I can keep training 1 body part on the ultimate day before i go into de-training mode

My diet mainly consists of food meals, but i smash in the shakes to keep bumping up my protein levels. The diet plan i layed out isnt very strict and i give-take from it a fair bit depending on the day

I just think whey is an awesome qualitity protein so i will down it for extra any time i can.

[TrainerRaff21]

Wassup

Well im nice and sore in my quads and calfs today but its not too overbearing, im just preparing for the heavy stuff to come. I had a rest today and just worked and went to class tonight. We are learning our olympic and power lifts in class so we practiced some of them tonight. Luckily I was only using an olympic bar but i really need to focus on the form and technique.

Diet was steady today. I will be eating my 2nd last meal after i finish writing this tonight.

7am - 3 nitrix, 1 scoop cellmass

7:30am - Animal M Pack, 1 cup dry oats, dash of skim milk, 2 scoops o/n whey, 2 tablespoons egg omnlet. 1 antioxidant, 1 multivitamin, super B complex, 1000mg fish oil, 1000mg Vitamin C.

10:30am - 3 egg whites, 200g ground beef, 1 and a half cup cooked brown rice, 1 cup steamed vegetables, 2 tablespoons salsa

1pm - 3 nitrix

1:30pm - 200g bbq chicken marinated, 1 and a half cup cooked brown rice, 1 cup steamed vegetables.

5pm - 200g bbq chicken marinated, 1 and a half cup cooked brown rice, 1 cup cooked steamed vegetables

7:30pm - 2 scoops cytosport muscle milk, banana

8:30pm (after practicing powerlifts) - 1 powerade, 1 protein bar (22g protein, 4g carbs)

9:30pm - Egg omnlet with whole eggs, beef, chicken and rice. 1000mg vitamin c.

10pm - Animal Pak multivitamin

10:30pm - 3 Nitrix

11pm - 5g GABA, 2 scoops o/n PM Pro complex, 5g l-glutamine.

SLEEP

I have Chest and triceps tomorrow. I will update then.

Keep training!

[TrainerRaff21]

Wassup all

Today was pretty good..nice pumped workout! Just getting used to the movements and starting off slowly to really thrash it this phase. I also signed up for 24 weeks of boxing classes today which start on the weekend so that'll be good when it comes to dieting. More fun then the standard boring stuff. Hopefully I will have plenty of new muscle underneath all this flub!

Diet was good today, was trying to smash more meals downs but i finished work early and trained a hr early but its all good still had enough fuel before hand.

7am - 3 nitrix, 2 redkat. Water

7:30am - 1cup dry oats, 2 scoops o/n whey, 100g marinated bbq chicken breast. 1000mg fish oil, 1000mg vitamin c, multivitamin, antioxidant, super B complex.

10:30am - 1 and a half cup cooked brown rice, 200g ground beef, 3 egg whites, vegetables, 2 tablespoons tomato sauce.

12pm - Protein bar (22g protein, 4g carbs in a 50g bar), 400g lactose free fruit yoghurt

2pm - 3 nitrix

2:30pm - 1 and a half cup brown rice, 1/4 potato, 200g beef casserole with carrot, celery and beans

5:30pm - 2 scoops ctyosport musclemilk, 1 banana, 300ml skim milk

6:15pm - 1 animal M pack

6:45pm preworkout - 1 scoop noxplode, 1 aniamal nitro pack, 2 redkat, 200ml grape juice

7:15pm - train for 1 hour - 1 scoop cellmass, 1 animal nitro pack

8:30pm postworkout - 2 rice cakes thin, 2 scoops o/n whey with 5g l glutamine, 200ml skim milk

9:30pm - 300g marinated bbq chciken breast, 1 and a half cup brown rice, salad.

10pm - Animal multivitamin pack

10:30pm - 3 nitrix

11pm - 2 scoops o/n pro pm complex, 5g GABA, handful cashew nuts or 1 tablespoon flaxseed oil.

I also drink 4L water or more a day.

Training (all weights in KGs)

Incline BB press - 60 x 15, 60 x 12, 60 x 12
Flat bb press - 70 x 13, 70 x 12, 70 x 10
Incline db fly - 15 x 15, 15 x 15, 15 x 15
Dips bodyweight - 10, 11, 9
EZ Overhead Tri Extensions standing - 20 x 10, 20 x 10, 20 x 10
EZ Reverse Pushdown machine - 3 x 20, 4 x 15, 4 x 15
Straight Leg Raise - 15, 15, 12
Half Crunches - 12, 10, 10
Decline Situps - 6, 7, 7

Decent workout..might need to lower the volume maybe? Chest was pumped, triceps were so pumped it was hard to stretch, abs were pumped and are nice and sore now.

Tomrorow I have Back and biceps...im a bit stuck on what exercises to do..i intend to do preacher curl and incline db curl for biceps, bent over row, deadlifts and hammer strength row machine for back thickness but not sure on what exercises to do for width? Wide grip chinups and then lat pulldowns? Any feedback would be appreciated otherwise I will play around tomorrow night.

Peace

[TrainerRaff21]

Hello

Well been awhile since i updated. Just been lazy. Lucky I document everythin already. I can't provide my diet, but tis been high everything with a 2-3 hour bracket for meals.

Anyway heres my first workout:

Deadlifts - 80 x 15, 80 x 15, 80 x 13
Bent over BB row (prone grip) - 50 x 12, 60 x 12, 60 x 12
Hammer Strength Row (closegrip) - 20kgs each side x 15, 30 x 12, 30 x 12
chinups (wide) - bodyweight - 6, 5, 5
Lat Pulldown machine - 10 x 8, 10 x 10, 10 x 10
Preacher Curl (closegrip ez) 20kg total x 10, 20 x 10, 20 x 7
Incline db curl - 10kg each arm x 10, 10kg x 10, 10 x 10

Just getting used to all the exercises. I am very weak on wide grip chins.

[TrainerRaff21]

First weekout of this type.

DB shoulder Press - 17.5kg x 13, 17.5 x 12, 17.5 x 13
Alt DB Raise Front - 10kg x 15, 10kg x 15, 10kg x 15
Cable Side Lateral - 3 x 10, 3 x 8, 3 x 9
Rear Delt Row standing on seat - 6kg x 12, 6 x 15, 6 x 15
Stiff Leg Deadlifts no platform - 40kg x 12, 60kg x 8, 60kg x 8
Seated Hamstring curl - 40kg x 12, 40kg x 11, 40kg x 10
Calf Press - 110kg total x 21, 130 x 20, 130 x 20
supersetted with
Calf Press Machine - 30kg total x 15, 30 x 15, 30 x 15

Hamstrings were sore the next day. Any feed back is welcome
I had boxing training for a hour the next day which is my cardio plus we also get in extra ab training that day. I follow a similar pre/post workout for that training aswell.

Time to repeat the routine and bust up the weights

[TrainerRaff21]

Ok here we go again - decent workout!

Leg Extension - 8 x 15, 9 x 15, 9 x 15
Squats - 80kg x 15, 100 x 10, 100 x 10
Hack squats - 90 x 10, 90 x 10, 90 x 12
Leg Extension unilateral - 5 x 15, 6 x 15, 7 x 15
Standing Calf Raise - 85 x 12, 90 x 12, 90 x 12
Ballistic stretching for 20 each calf straight after every set
Seated calf raise - 45 x 10, 45 x 10, 45 x 10 + 2
Ballistic stretching for 20 each calf straight after every set

Its on its way up!!

[TrainerRaff21]

Ok here we go

Incline BB press - 70 x 12, 70 x 12, 70 x 11
Flat BB Press - 80 x 10, 80 x 9, 80 x 10
Incline DB fly - 17.5 x 15, 20 x 15, 20 x 15
Dips - bodyweight x 15, +10kg x 5, +10kg x 3 + 5 bodyweight
Overhead Tri Extensions ez bar - 20 x 12, 25 x 8, 25 x 8
Reverse pushdown ez bar - 4 x 20, 5 x 15, 5 x 15

Done in a little over a hour.

[TrainerRaff21]

Off we go...

Deadlifts - 90 x 15, 90 x 12, 90 x 11
Bent Over Row prone grip - 65 x 12, 65 x 12, 65 x 11
Hammer Strength Row closegrip - 35kg each side x 12, 35 x 12, 40 x 12
Chinups wide - 5, 5, 5
Lat Pulldown - 10 x 11, 10.5 x 10, 10.5 x 10
Preacher curl - 20kg total x 11, 20 x 8, 20 x 8
Incline db curl - 10kg each arm x 12, 10 x 12, 10 x 15

Straight Leg raises - 16, 15, 10
Double crunches - 12, 12, 15
Decline situps - 8, 5+5, 8

Had a cramp half way through 2nd set of decline situps so i stopped then started.

[TrainerRaff21]

Hello

No calves today because I will be working them tomorrow.

DB shoulder press - 20kg x 12, 20 x 12, 20 x 10
Alt DB raise front - 12.5 x 12, 12.5 x 12, 12.5 x 12
Cable Side Lateral - 3 x 10, 3 x 10, 3 x 10
Rear Delt Row standing on seat - 7.5 x 15, 7.5 x 15, 7.5 x 15
BB Shrugs - 60kg x 10, 80 x 10, 80 x 10
Stiff Leg Deadlifts - 60 x 10, 60 x 10, 60 x 10
Seated Hamstring Curl - 40 x 12, 40 x 12, 45 x 6

Bit of a rushed workout. Was on a time limit and gym was a bit busy. It wasn't done in exactly that order.

[TrainerRaff21]

Time to get big

Leg Extensions - 9 x 15, 10 x 12, 10 x 12
Squats - 110 x 7, 110 x 6, 110 x 7
Hack squts - 90 x 12, 100 x 7, 100 x 7
Leg Extension unilateral - 7 x 15, 8 x 8 8 x 10 on right leg, 8 on left leg cos of sore knee
Standing Calf raise - 90 x 15, 100 x 11, 100 x 10
Ballistics 20, 20, 20
Seatd Calf Raise - 45 x 12, 45 x 10 +1, 45 x 10

Phew was gone afterwards

[TrainerRaff21]

Ok well i had boxing on saturday which was my cardio for a hour, but then i had a night out and missed training on sunday cos i slept all day nearly (apart from when i ate) so i am training mon - fri this week to fit it all in

Incline BB press - 80 x 10, 80 x 10, 80 x 10
Flat BB Press - 90 x 6 +4, 90 x 5 +3, 90 x 3+3 I had a spot and the + are forced reps where i was helped through my sticking points.
Incline DB fly - 22.5 x 10, 22.5 x 10, 22.5 x 10
Dips - +10kg for all sets , 8, 5, 4
Overhead Tri Extensions - 25 x 10, 25 x 8, 25 x 8
Reverse Pushdown ez bar - 5 x 20, 6 x 11, 6 x 10

Chest was real sore for 2 days!

[TrainerRaff21]

More more more...

Deadlifts - 100 x 11, 100 x 10, 100 x 10
Bent Over Row prone grip - 70 x 10, 70 x 10, 70 x 10
Hammerstrength Row closegrip - 50 each side x 8, 50 x 9, 50 x 8
Chinups wide - 4, 6, 5
Lat Pulldown - 10.5 x 12, 10.5 x 12, 10.5 x 12
Preacher Curl closegrip - 22.5 x 11, 22.5 x 10, 22.5 x 11
Incline DB curl - 12.5 x 6, 12.5 x 8, 12.5 x 8 +2

Didnt get much of a feel on the hammerstrength rows..may have gone too heavy this day
Still weak as piss on my chins..
Forearms were going to explode during preacher curl sets

phew

[TrainerRaff21]

DB shoulder press - 22.5 x 12, 22.5 x 12, 22.5 x 11
Alt DB raise front - 12.5 x 15, 15 x 8, 15 x 7
Cable Side Lateral - 3 x 12, 3 x 12, 3 x 12
BB Shrugs - 80 x 12, 80 x 12, 80 x 15
Rear Delt Row standing on seat - 10 x 10, 10 x 12, 10 x 15
Stiff Leg Deadlifts no platform - 60 x 12, 60 x 12, 60 x 12
Seated Hamstring curl - 45 x 10, 45 x 8, 45 x 7

Done!

[TrainerRaff21]

Ok hit some PR's on this one..

Leg Extensions - 10 x 15, 10 x 15, 10 x 15
Squats - 110 x 10, 120 x 6, 120 x 6
Hack squats - 100 x 9, 100 x 8, 100 x 8
Leg Extensions unilateral - 8 x 10, 8 x 10right leg, 9 left leg, 8 x 10
Standing Calf Raise - 100 x 12, 110 x 10, 110 x 10
Ballistics - 20 20 20
Seated Calf Raise - 50 x 10, 50 x 10, 50 x 10
Ballistics - 20 20 20

Ok i have only squatted 120 x 3 before so im happy i made 2 sets of 6. My goal is to squat 3 plates (140kg) for 3 sets of 6-8 by week 8.

Legs r nice and sore still.

[TrainerRaff21]

Ok normally i would have 1 more day rest before i hit my bodypart for a second time but i cant train this weekend so i am squeezing it in.

Incline bb press - 85 x 8 +2, 85 x 7 +3, 85 x 7 +1
Flat BB Press - 95 x 5 +3, 95 x 4 +4, 95 x 4 +3
Incline Db fly - 22.5 x 11, 22.5 x 11, 22.5 x 12
Dips +10kg - 6 6 5
Overhead tricep Extensions - 25 x 12, 25 x 12, 27.5 x 7
Reverse Pushdowns ez bar - 6 x 15, 6.5 x 10, 6.5 x 8

Done.

Wasnt a very good workout. I had lots of spots through my sticking points.

Had boxing today. Was good. got extra ab training in.

Any feed back is welcome

Thanks.