Iron's Recomp And Gfh Journal: Nothin To It But To Do It!

[IRONMANN1]

Hellllooo all. So I've decided to start logging my new Upper/Lower Split inspired by Danj112. I've been lifting for roughly 2 years seriouy, and cant get enough of it .

As of right now stats:

Age:23
Weight:220 and currently on a small cut.
Body Fat:20% (meh)
Height:6'2''
Arms flexed cold:16.25L 16.5R
Waist:34
Chest:49ish
Quads:26.5
Calfs:17
Forearms:13

My former split was a bodypart split that pretty much sucked . It got old, and i was crusing thru and talked with Dan and a others and they recommended an upper/lower. I was instantly intrigued.

Some of my lifts are:

Bench:285
Deadlift:475
Squat:385

So lets get this rolling...here's todays Upper:

DB Incline Press:
80x8
90x8
95x6

BB Bent Rows:
185x10
225x8
205x8

DB Shoulder Press:
60x8
70x6
65x5

Tricep Dips:
BWx8
BWx9
BWx7

EZ bar curls:
60x15
80x10
90x8

Supersetted with:

Skull Crushers:
50x10
60x10
70x10

Finished with some front raises on a machine.

Damn hell of a good first w/o, the change of routines is a breath of fresh air and damn i'm looking forward to some gains. No PRs tonight, as i took it kind of easy, being the first w/o. Rows felt great, incline presses felt great and the dips induced a great pump.

I'll be taking saturday and sunday off, and monday will be the first lower session.

Friday night!

[danj112]

Nice bro! *subscribed**5 stars*

Routine looks like a solid upper/lower. Looking forward to seeing how it plays out for you in the upcoming months.

So how long did the workout take, compared to the old bp split? (as in minutes) Did you think your body adjusted well?(even though you didn't hit it hard, so it might be hard to tell yet) Just curious, because that's one thing that I don't like about BP splits, is you're doing like 12 sets for one body part, and if you're going at a faster pace with like 1 minute rest, your weights really suffer at the end, atleast for me.

Again, big things to come soon man. And what the hell is wrong with us, with nothing to do on a friday night?!

[IRONMANN1]

Originally Posted by danj112

Nice bro! *subscribed**5 stars*

Routine looks like a solid upper/lower. Looking forward to seeing how it plays out for you in the upcoming months.

So how long did the workout take, compared to the old bp split? (as in minutes) Did you think your body adjusted well?(even though you didn't hit it hard, so it might be hard to tell yet) Just curious, because that's one thing that I don't like about BP splits, is you're doing like 12 sets for one body part, and if you're going at a faster pace with like 1 minute rest, your weights really suffer at the end, atleast for me.

Again, big things to come soon man. And what the hell is wrong with us, with nothing to do on a friday night?!

Yo dan! The workout took about 1hr15 minutes, where my former w/os would take a little longer because of longer rest periods. This is one thing i love about upper/lower. I'm fresh on every exercise just about because your hitting so many different muscle groups (basically what you said above).

hehe....i got 4 friends over and were watching the crazy-est (SP!) movie i've ever seen in my life.....its called CHUMSCRUBBER....you've really got to watch this....its un-focking-believable

got a big weekend planned tho, getting up early playing in a golf tourney then heading to a buddy's party tomorrow night..should be fun

hittin lower tomorrow right? Have a good workout bro, and i'll catch ya round these parts real soon

[IRONMANN1]

So here's the first lower session. This was a light workout because i had a big weekend. That sh!t's about to stop though

1hour 10 minutes

Squats:
135x10
225x8
315x5
315x5
315x5

SLDL on Platform:
135x8
225x6
315x5
315x5

Close stance Plate loaded leg press:
270x8
450x8
630x8

Finished up with some quad curls and calf work. I had a headache and was groggy from a weekend of abusing myself. However, that stuff is over, and i'm rededicating myself to this new routine. Squats felt real good as did everything else.

Next workout will be a heavy one. Max reps of 5 in working sets.

Time to go watch the panthers whoop up in this HUGE divisional game

[danj112]

Nice, strong session bro! Good to hear you are going to be taking it easy on the partying. You will definately benefit in the weight room

[IRONMANN1]

Originally Posted by danj112

Nice, strong session bro! Good to hear you are going to be taking it easy on the partying. You will definately benefit in the weight room

Thanks dan. Yeah its been getting a little out of control. I still have to go out, as i like putting myself in situations to get laid often . But i plan on keeping my drinks to a very minimum. I'm the only one out of my friends who takes BBing/PLing serious, so it gets difficult when its time to go out. It will take committment, but i've got it

Might go for some running on a track today...need to hit the cardio, i'm a fat ass

[danj112]

Originally Posted by IRONMANN1

Thanks dan. Yeah its been getting a little out of control. I still have to go out, as i like putting myself in situations to get laid often . But i plan on keeping my drinks to a very minimum. I'm the only one out of my friends who takes BBing/PLing serious, so it gets difficult when its time to go out. It will take committment, but i've got it

Might go for some running on a track today...need to hit the cardio, i'm a fat ass

Go running at Carmel middle school. It will bring back old memories. Did you play baseball for the South Park league when you were little? Those were good times.

[IRONMANN1]

Originally Posted by danj112

Go running at Carmel middle school. It will bring back old memories. Did you play baseball for the South Park league when you were little? Those were good times.

haha good old carmel middle school. Oh the days . I played soccer for Park Sharon way back in the day, and basketball for South Park. And hell yeah dan, those were great times .

There were no matters in the world...........

[danj112]

Originally Posted by IRONMANN1

haha good old carmel middle school. Oh the days . I played soccer for Park Sharon way back in the day, and basketball for South Park. And hell yeah dan, those were great times .

There were no matters in the world...........

Park Sharon was for the rich kids. All us poor kids went to South Park.

[IRONMANN1]

Originally Posted by danj112

Park Sharon was for the rich kids. All us poor kids went to South Park.

Ahh dont give me that, I thought it was the other way around


1 hour

DB Incline press:
80x8
95x5
95x5
95x8-->Grabbed a spot from some dude who did way to much work for me. I asked him to not help me but that didnt stop him. ****ty spots

Bent BB Rows:
185x8
225x8
225x6

Dips:
BWx10
+45x5
+70x3
+45x4
BWx7

DB Curlz for gurlz:
30x8
35x8
40x6
35x6

V bar tricep pressdown:
80x15
120x10
150x10

Pretty solid workout for still not feeling up to par. I should of known better getting that guy to spot me, as he's done the same sh!t before. Shoulda just went with the weight by myself, but figured he could help me squeeze out a couple extra. The Bent rows felt great, but my form did get a bit sloppy on the last couple reps, still good lifts though. As for the dips, i dont think there was enough volume. I plan on working my way up starting with +45. When i was lighter i could rep +90 for 5 or so, but it aint that easy now . So, i'm gonna get to where i can rep +45 for 10 then move up some weight. Should be pretty close right now.

Good workout over all, one PR on bent rows, and i cant count 95x8 on incline press because the guy did some work for me .

Planning on running on the track today for some hiit, we'll see if that happens or not

[danj112]

Nice man! Mother f*cking newbass spotters I got 20 stories of stupid ass spotters ruining an exercise for me.

I'm going to go about my workouts closer to the way you do it. I do wayyy too many worksets, and it's really been catching up to me lately.

Nice workout bro

[IRONMANN1]

Originally Posted by danj112

Nice man! Mother f*cking newbass spotters I got 20 stories of stupid ass spotters ruining an exercise for me.

I'm going to go about my workouts closer to the way you do it. I do wayyy too many worksets, and it's really been catching up to me lately.

Nice workout bro

haha yeah them damn **** spotters The worst part about it is on dumbells you've already got them into position, so you may as well just finish the set. I mean he turned the 95's into 80's prolly...i said, dont help so much on like the 4th rep, he was like man i'm just trying to make your form perfect, i was like OMFG!

Yeah man i used to do a bunch of worksets too, but the problem with that is it just kills the rest of your workout, and kills your CNS for a long time. Then you run into trouble with recovery, which sounds like what's happening to you my friend.

I dont post my warmup set...I.E. last night i did 40x15 on incline press just to get the motion...then jumped to 80x8 still warming up. Then i'll usually perform 3 or so working sets, and maybe a back-off set.

I dont think your volume is out of control, or way high, but ya just have to measure it by how you feel

[danj112]

Originally Posted by IRONMANN1

haha yeah them damn **** spotters The worst part about it is on dumbells you've already got them into position, so you may as well just finish the set. I mean he turned the 95's into 80's prolly...i said, dont help so much on like the 4th rep, he was like man i'm just trying to make your form perfect, i was like OMFG!

Yeah man i used to do a bunch of worksets too, but the problem with that is it just kills the rest of your workout, and kills your CNS for a long time. Then you run into trouble with recovery, which sounds like what's happening to you my friend.

I dont post my warmup set...I.E. last night i did 40x15 on incline press just to get the motion...then jumped to 80x8 still warming up. Then i'll usually perform 3 or so working sets, and maybe a back-off set.

I dont think your volume is out of control, or way high, but ya just have to measure it by how you feel

For me, it's not even the total volume, it's the total number of worksets that I do, and how often I come almost to failure (depending on one's definition of failure).

But I'll get myself figured out, don't you worry

[IRONMANN1]

Originally Posted by danj112

For me, it's not even the total volume, it's the total number of worksets that I do, and how often I come almost to failure (depending on one's definition of failure).

But I'll get myself figured out, don't you worry

I dont see anything wrong with almost coming to failure every time you lift. I believe there's a difference at coming to failure at 95x8 vs. 80x15. I dont know exactly what it is, but higher volume failure is easier to recover from imo.

I'm going to tinker with a heavy/light session each week. I reckon the aim is to get in the gym 4 days/week hitting upper/lower twice each. But i'll be getting close to failure even on my light day, with higher reps. Maybe this could be your answer dan?

Cardio:18 minutes

Ran outside with my roomate @ roughly 8pm; and got back at 820 or so. Thought i'd fly thru the run which consists of 2.2 miles, but holy sh!t my legs were sore from lower on monday. Didnt feel it till we started running and i said to my roomate, holy sh!t lol. So we got to running, first half is all downhill, so that was no problem. Second half my damn quads and CALFS started cramping. But i didnt stop, ran that sh!t out. Got done and my left calf was cramping and legs were all wobbly. Can you say out of shape?!?!
Well, i blame it partially on the soreness, but as im typing this my left calf is sore as hell...

Good run tho, after we finished we went and grabbed some sushi. Taking today off and will be back in the gym tommorrow

[danj112]

Originally Posted by IRONMANN1

I dont see anything wrong with almost coming to failure every time you lift. I believe there's a difference at coming to failure at 95x8 vs. 80x15. I dont know exactly what it is, but higher volume failure is easier to recover from imo.

I'm going to tinker with a heavy/light session each week. I reckon the aim is to get in the gym 4 days/week hitting upper/lower twice each. But i'll be getting close to failure even on my light day, with higher reps. Maybe this could be your answer dan?

Well I did it every single set basically. But it's not like I failed on an attempted lift all the time. I knew when I could do no more after my last completed rep of a set, and unless I was going for a PR, I never fail on a rep. But that's how people's definitions of failure are different. My aim, is to save my CNS.

[IRONMANN1]

Originally Posted by danj112

Well I did it every single set basically. But it's not like I failed on an attempted lift all the time. I knew when I could do no more after my last completed rep of a set, and unless I was going for a PR, I never fail on a rep. But that's how people's definitions of failure are different. My aim, is to save my CNS.

I dont think your hindering yourself much. Upper/lower allows for you to recover with more off time than a bodypart split. We only get in the gym 4 times/week now, and i used to go 5-6 times, which is rediculous. Absolutely nothing wrong with changing things up tho


Elapsed Time: 1 hour 05 minutes

DB Incline Press:
80x8
95x5
95x4
95x5

Hammer Grip Chins:
BWx8
BWx6
BWx6 (damn, I really need to improve my BW exercises)

BTN BB Military Press:
95x8
135x6
135x5

V Bar Seated Cable Rows:
150x8
195x8
195x8

DB Side Raises:
25x8
25x8
25x8 (dunno why i did them so light;strange hrmm)

Skull crusher/lying tricep extensions:
45x10
95x8
95x8

My incline dumbell strength wasnt as strong as i was hoping. But, i did lift with my roomate yesterday and found out that him helping me get the DBs into position saves a hell of a lot of energy. The first two sets i got em up by myself, but on my final working set i got him to assist me. The final set of 5 reps were done flawlessly. The previous set I struggled a bit getting them into position initially, then cranked out 4 reps with the fourth being a struggle. I like to get them in position without help though, so this is something i'm going to continue doing. I have noticed that I really need to concentrate on improving my pullups/chins and dips. Its quite embarassing really. I weigh 220 pounds upon waking right now, which is way to heavy. I've got plenty of BF and it needs to be reduced. I plan on cutting down to 205 by the new year in time for my test cycle (omg i cant wait ). Anyways i'm really gonna focus on improving my BW exercises. Losing some fat weight will def. help that. BTN BB Military felt real good, which is awesome cause i've had serious problems with that exercise in the past. I always use full ROM, so the Barbell was nearly touching the base of my neck, which is 10x farther down than most people go...

Its friday!!

Gonna hit lower tomorrow, and hit deads heavy for the first time in awhile. With new and improved form. Will bring digi camera and get a vid shot

[danj112]

Wow, strong BTN presses. You don't ever feel any pain from them?... me neither...

I hate it when people come on this site and tell people not to do BTN pressing because it supposedly hurts everyone who does them. Keep up the good work.

[IRONMANN1]

Originally Posted by danj112

Wow, strong BTN presses. You don't ever feel any pain from them?... me neither...

I hate it when people come on this site and tell people not to do BTN pressing because it supposedly hurts everyone who does them. Keep up the good work.

Sup bro! I used to have pretty rough pains with BTN presses. But lately all my pressing movements have felt great, including BTN presses.

11/18/06 - LOWER -1 hour 30 minutes

Deadlifts:
135x10
225x5
315x5
405x5
315x5x2
225x5x2 (explained below)

BB Lunges:
95x6
135x6
155x6

Then did some bicep work.... lolz
ez bar standing curl:
65x15
85x10
105x8

Did some dumbell curlz for gurlz
40x6
35x6
35x6

dumbell preacher curlz:
35x8x2
30x8

Finished off with 15 minutes of cardio on the treadmill...did 7 minutes of HIIT, then 8 minutes walking on an incline.




My deadlift session was more of a trial and error session on my form. I was trying to get down lower to recruit more of my quad power, but its so damn tough bein pretty tall. I actually lose power trying to get down that low, cause im not able to use my back as much. My form is perfect now on 315, but starts to get a little sloppy around 405. I've learned that my power comes from my back on my pulls, which is like most other power lifters and taller individuals. I'll get it figured out here soon, because i have high aspirations to pull a huge number, and I dont want to be doing it with sh!t form. My ass is sore today from lunges .

[danj112]

Nice session man.... I see you've been listening to ZZYXY or whatever his name is

Strong BB Lunges, and deads man. Teh curlz 4 teh gurlz are one of my favs! Always has the ladies heads turning

[IRONMANN1]

Originally Posted by danj112

Nice session man.... I see you've been listening to ZZYXY or whatever his name is

Strong BB Lunges, and deads man. Teh curlz 4 teh gurlz are one of my favs! Always has the ladies heads turning

I aint listening to that clown ...lol

I just really need to nail down my form, in order to get larger numbers, and most importantly, stay safe. I can pull a hell of a lot more weight with my former way thats for sure. I had my room mate watching every pull. I could feel my back begin to round on the last 2 reps. The last 4 sets of my pulls were done in sets of 5, but actually they were a bunch of singles. I deloaded every rep and took my hands off the bar then went thru my setup process and performed another single. It will be perfected soon my friend

lolz at my curlz man. I've never been a curler so i'm pretty weak at them. Barbell curlz i'm relatively strong, but dumbells PWN me lolz. But i must say, my form is very strict LOL

holla dan!

[IRONMANN1]

11/21/06--Upper--1 Hour 35 minutes

Dips:
BWx10
BWx10
+45x8
+70x5
+70x4
+45x5

Seated DB Press:
Assclown was on the upright seat that i needed. Yeah he got some dirty looks. Of course he you know what he was doing...So i tried doing them on a bench with no back...lol didnt work so well..(cant really use the fold up benches because they are too low and cant kick the weight up on heavier sets.
50x8
60x5
60x5-->all over the place without a back to the seat. Imagine if i went any heavier...so i just quit...giving the tool a nasty look.

CGBP: Hands 6 inches apart; feet elevated
135x10
185x5
185x5
135x5

Barbell Bent Rows:
135x12
185x8
225x8
245x5
225x6

Power shrugs:
225x10
315x10
405x8
315x8

supersetted with

Standing Lateral Raises:
20x10
30x10
30x8

15 minutes cardio walking on 5.0 incline @ 3.9. Burnt 153 calories

That *** really pissed me off. Little pissant red-head that was wearing an underarmor shirt sitting on my dumbell press seat doing curls and overhead tricep extensions with 20lb weights. I mean he can do that anywhere. Fueled me up for the rest of my workout tho. Set a PR on rows though, so was pretty happy about that . Looking back i wish i had never touched PH's. I got strong as fock while on them, and like most PH's you end up losing quite a bit of your strength. So all my PR's are higher than what i can do right now. Dips were fun to start out with. Got me good and warmed up for the rest of the workout. Deep, full ROM on them too. Cant wait to get them strong

[danj112]

Nice Rows big man! Why didn't you just ask the guy if you could work in. I always do if I need something, never been turned down

[IRONMANN1]

Originally Posted by danj112

Nice Rows big man! Why didn't you just ask the guy if you could work in. I always do if I need something, never been turned down

U know i thought about it dan. But the guy just looked so freakin gay i couldnt do it. Imagine carrot top in underarmor...but skinny as fawk with a narrrow head.

[IRONMANN1]

11/22/06--Lower--1 hour


So, I got into the gym and set up my deadlift station. I just couldnt get my form right and was getting really frustrated. I had a trainer and gym rat helping me with my form. I dedicated this entire session to getting my form closer to perfect. Its a struggle but i'm going to get it right. I stayed with 135 (ehh) pounds the entire workout and was doing tons of singles and triples trying to get my setup and decent correct.

So, that was the so called workout

[IRONMANN1]

Just for a bit of change, i hit arms and cardio in the gym today. Felt great to get that all over arm pump again. After watching milos sarcev's arm workout on the fit show I figured i'd give it a try. I supersetted all sets.

Arm training: Biceptz and triceptz--1 hour 20 minutes

Preacher curl:
75x10x3

supersetted with:

Skull Crushers:
75x10x3

Cable ez bar curl:
110x10x3

supersetted with

CGBP:
135x10x3

Lying on an incline bench doing curls with arms hanging..straight bar:
50x10x3

supersetted with:

Pressdowns:
120x10x3

Overhead tricep cable extensions:

100x10x3

supersetted with:

Partial straight bar curls pronated:
50x10x3

Cardio: Treadmill for 20 minutes walking at 3.9 @ 5.0 inline: Burned 210 calories...


Wow i havent felt a pump in my arms like this since i had an arm day...and thats been over a year. It was fun to get in there and blast them with high volume. I was flying inbetween exercises...it was nearly cardio

Fun workout, and intense too....

Legs tomorrow....more deadlift form work

[danj112]

New avatars looking nice Arm workout looks like good volume.

Dead day with only 135lbs huh?! Wow, exciting!

[The Real Deal]

Nice journal man. Danj is your inspiration? Why shooting so low?

anyway strong deadlifts. 405 for reps aint easy. Incline presses and rows look good too.

[IRONMANN1]

Originally Posted by danj112

New avatars looking nice Arm workout looks like good volume.

Dead day with only 135lbs huh?! Wow, exciting!

Yeah dan this deadlift thing really has me bummed. I'm going in for lower tomorrow since i didnt really have one on wednesday. I'm gonna give sumo stance a try in an effort to get my hips lower at the start and my upper half more upright...

The arm workout was light today, but volume/reps was HIGH so the pump got up there...it was fun

[IRONMANN1]

Originally Posted by The Real Deal

Nice journal man. Danj is your inspiration? Why shooting so low?

anyway strong deadlifts. 405 for reps aint easy. Incline presses and rows look good too.

Thanks bro!

Dan helped me put together an upper/lower. Just tryin to figure out a routine that works...i guess we all are right?

But I'm changing it up again...and its gonna look like Dominiks...

Bench/rows
deadlifts/squats
Overhead presses and chins
and possibly a fourth day for arms/or whatever i need to catch up on...

Still setting it up...

[danj112]

Originally Posted by The Real Deal

Nice journal man. Danj is your inspiration? Why shooting so low?

anyway strong deadlifts. 405 for reps aint easy. Incline presses and rows look good too.

You son of a bitch

Scott just notices a well put together routine, and say to himself "if this man, can get the body of a god off of this, than why can't I?!" And he followed suit