TGreggors' Second Training Log

Well everyone, I figured that I would just go ahead and make a new training journal since yesterday was such a monumental occasion for me. My name is Taylor Gregory, I am 22 years old and recently graduated with a BS in Nutrition from the University of Tennessee. I shall be attending UT Pharmacy School in the fall and have been training since December 24th, 2011. Yesterday, after nearly 4.5 years of training, I officially earned the title of "bodybuilder". I competed at the OCB Sunshine State Natural in Jacksonville, Florida, where I took fourth out of six competitors in the Men's Open Bodybuilding division. I prepped for 40 weeks and lost a tad over 30 pounds, going from 181 lbs. at the beginning of prep on August 23rd to my absolute lowest of 150.2 lbs. as of two weeks ago.

Here are photos from my contest yesterday.
[img]http://i.imgur.com/prCIvJt.jpg[/img]
[img]http://i.imgur.com/dJWOei7.jpg[/img]
[img]http://i.imgur.com/mcCMRdP.jpg[/img]
[img]http://i.imgur.com/tIbXp66.jpg[/img]
[img]http://i.imgur.com/46RNfgj.jpg[/img]
[img]http://i.imgur.com/XwGwcIY.jpg[/img]
[img]http://i.imgur.com/Gnq6nyj.jpg[/img]
[img]http://i.imgur.com/as0obmH.jpg[/img]

top 5 with trophies:
[img]http://i.imgur.com/EgxtrAp.jpg[/img]
[img]http://i.imgur.com/sU4vYIe.jpg[/img]

Prejudging:
[youtube]EzpJYFx-93U[/youtube]

Posing routine:
[youtube]LyrStft8M7g[/youtube]

I am now undertaking a recovery diet, where I shall be consuming roughly 2350 calories/day, will be tapering down cardio and will be ultimately attempting to return to at least a moderately normal, balanced life. I shall be running a full body routine that was created during a consultation with Brad Loomis of 3DMJ, and will be focusing on the big three since I would like to try my hand at competitive powerlifting at some point over my extended off season. I would like to put as much LBM as possible on my frame over the next several years, and am aspiring to return to the stage in 2020-2022. Join me in the next leg of my journey!

6/5/16:
153.4 lbs.

Front Squats:
45 x 10
95 x 10
135 x 5
185 x 3
220 x 5, 5, 5
215 x 5

Bench Press:
135 x 5
185 x 2
170 x 6, 6, 6

Deadlift:
275 x 3
330 x 3
320 x 3
295 x 7, 7

Seated BB Military Press:
100 x 8
95 x 7
85 x 9

HS High Rows:
2 45s + 10/side x 7
45 + 40/side x 9, 9

DB Hammer Curls:
30s x 10 *alternated*
30s x 10, 10 *non-alternated*

Standing Cable Overhead Extensions:
90 x 11
100 x 9
90 x 11

I am WEAK. Never have had a full body setup like this, and I think that I overdid the RPE on front squats, judging by my performance on bench and deadlift LOL. The strength will come back. Planning on going in tomorrow morning for another session.

1st.. hold on.. reading through everything one sec

Loved the write-up & you did an amazing job!!

------>>>> "Went out there and had one of the most intense adrenaline rushes that I've ever had in my life..." I hope you really enjoyed this part

Excited to see the gainz you make this offseason!

AWESOME job with the prep brother! Take advantage of this reverse and grow LEAN and MEAN ;)

[QUOTE=NaturalPursuit;1446131463]AWESOME job with the prep brother! Take advantage of this reverse and grow LEAN and MEAN ;)[/QUOTE]
Thanks, dude! I fully intend to. First time in a surplus in a LONG time and I cannot wait to put on some muscle. Probably going to try to make it to 160 or so on average by July but that may be more or less depending on how I'm feeling.

[QUOTE=IK9;1446088063]Loved the write-up & you did an amazing job!!

------>>>> "Went out there and had one of the most intense adrenaline rushes that I've ever had in my life..." I hope you really enjoyed this part

Excited to see the gainz you make this offseason![/QUOTE]

Tried to be super thorough ;)

I really did. That in and of itself aside from all of the other positive components of the contest made it all worth it.

6/6/16:
155.2 lbs. (Had a TON of sodium last night due to all of the salt from the hot sauce at the Mexican restaurant and woke up at 5 to train before work this morning, so may be misleading)

Bench Press:
45 x 10
95 x 5
135 x 5
160 x 8
155 x 8, 8

Chest Supported T-Bar Rows:
3 45s + 10 x 8, 8, 8

Front Squats:
135 x 5
200 x 8
195 x 8, 8

Lat Pulldowns:
170 x 12, 10
150 x 11, 3

Underhand Grip Pulldowns:
180 x 7
150 x 11
110 x 18

Standing Calf Raises: *paused*
100 x 14, 14, 15

Cable Triceps Pushdowns:
100 x 14, 14, 15

HS Crunches:
2 45s x 12, 12, 12

HS Oblique Crunches:
45 + 25 x 12, 13

Enjoyable session. Having a hard time finding loads to use to hit my prescribed reps since this is my first run-through of the program! Will get it sorted out soon enough.

In. You'll get the hang of it in no time, full body splits are a completely different monster. Congrats again

You already know I'm in! Looked awesome at the show man. I think it's a good idea to hold off the stage til your mid-later 20's as well. Taking a long off-season to make some good gains in both strength and muscle will benefit you for sure next time you step on stage.

Full body splits are rough for sure.. But I feel like they can produce great gains. Do you have any strength goals or specific numbers you're trying to hit by the end of your offseason?

[QUOTE=LoganBrown;1446343433]You already know I'm in! Looked awesome at the show man. I think it's a good idea to hold off the stage til your mid-later 20's as well. Taking a long off-season to make some good gains in both strength and muscle will benefit you for sure next time you step on stage.

Full body splits are rough for sure.. But I feel like they can produce great gains. Do you have any strength goals or specific numbers you're trying to hit by the end of your offseason?[/QUOTE]
Happy to have you back! And that does seem to be the general consensus. If I could push that stage weight into the mid-to-high 150s next time around, I'll be happy. Although I may end up at a similar or lower stage weight with way nastier conditioning. Who knows. None for the END of the off season. But I do have some big numbers in mind. Probably won't be hitting them this year, but I'd love to have a 405 squat, 275 bench and a 500 deadlift. I want to total 1200. Hitting a 315 front squat would also be pretty cool. Trying to build up quad strength since I feel that it is a limiting factor on my squat.

6/8/16:
155.2 lbs.

Deadlift:
135 x 5
225 x 5
275 x 3
305 x 5
285 x 8
265 x 11

Standing DB Overhead Press:
40s x 12, 11
35s x 11, 2

Incline Leg Press:
2 45s + 30/side x 12, 12, 13

HS Low Row Machine:
45 + 20/side x 14, 14, 13, 1

Neutral Grip Pulldowns:
140 x 14, 10
110 x 18

Cambered Bar Preacher Curls:
15/side x 10
7.5/side x 16, 16

Nunez Skullcrushers: (Not sure what to call these. Saw them in a video by Omar Isuf and Alberto gave a tutorial on this long head exercise)
12.5/side x 14, 12, 13

Great feels all around. My whole posterior chain is already feeling torched from this program. Energy and general mood are already feeling better in comparison to how they were just last week. Crazy how much some extra food can help. Have been consistently hitting 2350 calories/day for the last few days and am currently doing 900 calories of cardio/week. So cardio has been cut in half. Gf is coming to town for our two year anniversary today and I'm taking her out to eat lunch/for froyo after. Already have my lunch logged on mfp but I'm going to estimate the froyo as best I can. Just going to calculate the cals based upon the weight of the bowl at checkout, lol. Will be nice to take her out and to not be so neurotic. So watched the 3DMJ recovery diet video once again just for reference. Confirmed my plan of reaching about 5-10% over my stage weight by about four weeks post-show. So that puts me at about 160.5-168 lbs. by July 2nd. I think that I'll probably be around 160-162. But we will see. #1 priority is to rid myself of all of my prep-induced dieting symptoms, so the protocol will definitely change in response to how my recovery comes along. Think I'm doing pretty well for post-show. I'm a 3DMJ fanboy, in case you guys haven't been able to tell thus far. :D

I dunno if you have yogurtland where you live but the cup is 0.5 ounces in weight

[QUOTE=IK9;1446547803]I dunno if you have yogurtland where you live but the cup is 0.5 ounces in weight[/QUOTE]
Noted, and accounted for! Not the chain where I got my yogurt from but I just went with that.

[img]http://i.imgur.com/lRt1ms7.jpg[/img]

Note to self: frozen yogurt, while delicious, is terrible for satiety! quite literally having the shakes like three hours after eating!

A little late but just wanted to say good job with the show!!!

I think that's the same size cup!

[QUOTE=IK9;1446649283]I think that's the same size cup![/QUOTE]
awh yeah, macros used may be somewhat accurate then. I had the nonfat cheesecake flavor and it was incredible

[QUOTE=JerG;1446619943]A little late but just wanted to say good job with the show!!![/QUOTE]
Thanks a lot, dude! So happy that I went through with it.

6/9/16:
155.4 lbs.

Front Squats:
45 x 10
95 x 5
135 x 5
185 x 3
220 x 3
205 x 5
195 x 6, 6

Bench Press:
175 x 5, 5
165 x 5, 5

Incline Bench Press:
145 x 3
130 x 8
115 x 11, 2

HS High Rows:
2 45s + 5/side x 8, 8, 8

Supinating DB Curls:
25s x 12, 12, 16
30s x 3, 7

Cable Triceps Pushdowns:
120 x 12, 10
100 x 13, 1

Seated Calf Raises: *paused*
2 45s + 35 x 11
2 45s + 25 x 13, 12'

HS Seated Crunches:
2 45s x 12, 13, 13

HS Oblique Crunches:
45 + 25 x 13, 13

Fatigue masking fitness :'( front squats were definitely "eh" today

Your strength will return rapidly once those calls start climbing higher and your body gets to a more comfortable composition. Im excited to see what kind of numbers you end up achieving.

Btw Im really digging the full body split you got going on right now man! How you enjoying it so far? I've always loved the concept of full body training and I know that's even how bodybuilders of old such as Steve Reeves and Eugene Sandow trained.

[QUOTE=LoganBrown;1446879493]Your strength will return rapidly once those calls start climbing higher and your body gets to a more comfortable composition. Im excited to see what kind of numbers you end up achieving.

Btw Im really digging the full body split you got going on right now man! How you enjoying it so far? I've always loved the concept of full body training and I know that's even how bodybuilders of old such as Steve Reeves and Eugene Sandow trained.[/QUOTE]
Numbers are currently a far cry from my strongest. Back in April of 2015, I did a mock meet put on by the bodybuilding club at UTK and hit a 375 squat (PR is 380), 235 paused bench (PR is 245 x 2 touch n go) and a 440 deadlift (PR) at a bodyweight of 181. Hoping to hit my goals at a lighter bodyweight than that.


So far I am loving it, though! So many compound movements. I feel like the amount of "fluff" in my program is substantially decreased. Sessions are exhausting but enjoyable. Kinda worried about giving some things enough stimulation, like I don't have any fly movements for chest and no lateral/rear delt isolation work, but just trusting the program for now.

First time ever trying full body as well, though. I've given bro splits, upper lowers, push/pull/legs and PHAT styles of training a go, but never full body, so I decided that it was time to try it out. But yeah, I could be wrong, but I do believe that full body training was the go to style of training up through the 1950s at least. I think that there is something to be said about full body routines for the natural athlete.

By the way, I know I said it above, but first thing I'm noticing from this program is that my posterior chain, from hamstrings to traps, is utterly TORCHED. so much stimulation. Not that soreness is necessarily indicative of progress, but just saying that good thing that they say that shows are won from the back ;)

That's some good squat/deadlift all-time PR's

[QUOTE=IK9;1447037513]That's some good squat/deadlift all-time PR's[/QUOTE]
We're still so far from those numbers at the moment. I have a long road ahead of me before I even touch those numbers again, let alone until I improve upon them.


Weighed in this morning at 153.8 (and that's even after going back to that same Mexican restaurant AGAIN last night LOL) which was exactly what I weighed on show day. Going to decrease cardio again just a tad this week and keep calories consistent. Then we'll see what happens with my weight. Not in a hurry to get fat but I am still chilling within a pound or two of stage weight. Aiming for 1.5-2 pounds/week for the next few weeks until my birthday (July 7th) or so so that I can start to feel more regular. I'm finding that I'm still hungry a lot of times. Just part of the game, I guess. I've gone a full week post show without gaining 20 pounds so I would say that I'm succeeding in my reverse-diet endeavors. My pharmacy tech job is increasing my energy expenditure drastically I would imagine. Being on my feet for at least 8 hours for 4-5 days/week and rushing back and forth to the medication racks/to the register to ring up customers may be serving as a lot of my "cardio" in the near future.

6/11/16:
153.8 lbs.

Front Squats:
45 x 10
95 x 5
135 x 5
185 x 3
225 x 3
215 x 5
220 x 4
215 x 4

Bench Press:
135 x 5
180 x 3
170 x 5
175 x 4, 4

Deadlift:
275 x 3
320 x 4
315 x 4, 4, 4

Seated BB Overhead Press:
110 x 5
100 x 7
105 x 5, 1

HS High Rows:
2 45s + 25/side x 6, 5
2 45s + 15/side x 7

DB Hammer Curls:
35s x 8, 7.5 *alternated*
30s x 9 *non-alternated*

Cable Overhead Triceps Extensions:
110 x 8, 8, 8

Performance still not the best but enjoyed it. I think I have been generating a good bit of fatigue in my legs because my numbers in this session are not as good as they were last week.

Increase in calories:rate of weight gain ratio is looking pretty optimal. That's awesome that mood is almost back to normal so quickly. Yea, full body routines take a huge amount of getting used to if you've never done them before. Who knows, you might end up deciding splitting up bodyparts a bit more throughout the week yields better results in terms of workout intensity and frequency without fatiguing too fast, but I think this is a great starting template regardless.

Keep on keeping on with the conservative but important caloric increases and watch strength/size go up... this will be a fun ride!

[QUOTE=DJaRiHardstyle;1447235143]Increase in calories:rate of weight gain ratio is looking pretty optimal. That's awesome that mood is almost back to normal so quickly. Yea, full body routines take a huge amount of getting used to if you've never done them before. Who knows, you might end up deciding splitting up bodyparts a bit more throughout the week yields better results in terms of workout intensity and frequency without fatiguing too fast, but I think this is a great starting template regardless.

Keep on keeping on with the conservative but important caloric increases and watch strength/size go up... this will be a fun ride![/QUOTE]
mood is getting there. general outlook on life is in a much better place than it was a few weeks ago. pretty crazy to think back to just how dark my overall mood was only like two-three weeks ago. Standing was a task. and i'm already normally stressed out a lot but I was freaking out about EVERYTHING. for no reason at all. I'm not 100% yet but I'm way better. Food-focus is still a thing as of now tho. But then again I am only averaging about a pound above that of peak week as of today. We'll see how I end up splitting it up, but I'll probably leave the training as is for awhile. Reps are for the most part lower than they were in the program that I was running before. I am eager to get settled in to a more strength-focused phase. and indeed it will! Just waiting for the strength to rebound

6/13/16:
154.8 lbs.

Bench Press:
45 x 10
95 x 5
135 x 5
170 x 6, 6, 6

Chest Supported T-Bar Rows:
3 45s + 25 x 6, 6, 6

Front Squats:
135 x 5
185 x 3
210 x 6, 6
200 x 6

Lat Pulldowns:
170 x 10, 10, 10

Underhand Grip Pulldowns:
160 x 10, 10, 10

Smith Machine Standing Calf Raises: *paused*
2 45s/side x 12, 12, 12

Cable Triceps Pushdowns:
110 x 12, 12, 12

HS Seated Crunches:
2 45s x 13, 13, 13

HS Oblique Crunches:
45 + 25 x 13, 13

Solidish. Bench is feeling smooth even though the numbers aren't good at all. Liking getting into the gym at 5:45-6 AM.

6/14/16:
155.8 lbs.

Deadlift:
135 x 5
225 x 5
275 x 3
300 x 6, 6, 6

Standing DB Overhead Press:
25s x 8
50s x 8
40s x 11, 11

Incline Leg Press:
2 45s + 40/side x 10, 10
3 45s/side x 11

HS Low Rows:
45 + 30/side x 12
45 + 35/side x 12, 11, 1

Neutral Grip Pulldowns:
150 x 12, 12, 10, 2

Preacher Curls:
12.5/side x 13, 12, 12

Nunez Skullcrushers:
17.5/side x 10, 10, 10

Energy was good. Shins are starting to bleed from all of the deadlifting!

I really liked doing standing db shoulder presses until my low back starting giving out lol

You gonna invest in some shin sleeves? or whatever the fck they're called?

PS.. new avi looks good!

Deadlifts looking solid man! Deadlifts have always been a favorite of mine despite the fact most gyms that I've been to don't allow them. I'm sure you'll be pulling 500+ easily at some point during your offseason. It'll be awesome watching your progress since you plan on taking such a long off season.

Also, on your standing DB overhead presses, are you doing them Jeff Alberts style where he does it one hand at a time or pressing them both at the same time?

PS; That new avi is sickkkkkkk

[QUOTE=LoganBrown;1447638773]Deadlifts looking solid man! Deadlifts have always been a favorite of mine despite the fact most gyms that I've been to don't allow them. I'm sure you'll be pulling 500+ easily at some point during your offseason. It'll be awesome watching your progress since you plan on taking such a long off season.

Also, on your standing DB overhead presses, are you doing them Jeff Alberts style where he does it one hand at a time or pressing them both at the same time?

PS; That new avi is sickkkkkkk[/QUOTE]

They're fantastic. So much fun to pull heavy weight. I know how a lot of gyms do not allow them, but fortunately the staff at the gym that I currently train at doesn't care one bit if I make a bit of noise. Just have to hope that the UT health science center gym staff is as tolerant in the fall, as I may have to consider joining a more serious gym if that's not the case. Hopefully so! That will help out my total a lot. Would maybe have an easier time getting that total up if I were to switch to sumo but I think that I'll just stick with conventional for the foreseeable future.

And I'm actually pressing them both at the same time, not Alberts style. That way of doing them looks appealing but I do my pressing for both at the same time just for the sake of timeliness. I actually don't do any exercises, with the exception of HS oblique crunches, in that kind of manner just because it increases the total time spent by so much. Maybe at some point when I don't have as much going on I'll give them a go! lol

and thank ya. Just got access to some professional photos from the contest as of yesterday and I'm too pleased with how they turned out.

[QUOTE=IK9;1447620613]I really liked doing standing db shoulder presses until my low back starting giving out lol

You gonna invest in some shin sleeves? or whatever the fck they're called?

PS.. new avi looks good![/QUOTE]
Using my inzer on these. Just a change of pace that I'm really diggin'. I have some knee sleeves but I don't like to wear them on deads just because the bar can kind of get caught on them as I'm pulling. I may start just wearing my long socks on deadlift days if it gets too bad. But for now, I don't mind the blood :D

And thanks, dude! Will be posting up all of the professional photos taken here in a bit.

[img]http://i.imgur.com/WrNec7b.jpg[/img]
[img]http://i.imgur.com/BVOSX4e.jpg[/img]
[img]http://i.imgur.com/id1nO9V.jpg[/img]
[img]http://i.imgur.com/IbUDcJk.jpg[/img]
[img]http://i.imgur.com/YOlIPzx.jpg[/img]
BOOM. Most muscular and front lat spread are mah faves of these

Just out of sheer curiosity, would anyone care to offer their opinions on what my primary weaknesses would be in terms of muscular development? I have some in mind and have already gotten feedback from Brad as well as the judging panel at the contest but I wouldn't mind having more opinions from the unbiased eye.

[QUOTE=TGreggors;1447777573]Just out of sheer curiosity, would anyone care to offer their opinions on what my primary weaknesses would be in terms of muscular development? I have some in mind and have already gotten feedback from Brad as well as the judging panel at the contest but I wouldn't mind having more opinions from the unbiased eye.[/QUOTE]

Those pro pics look great!

Legs definitely need some work. Has nothing to do with amount of weight lifted but just overall development/conditioning.

Upper body looks great. Shoulders look good.. arms look good.. can prolly add some back width.. can add mass to upper chest.. back & lat development look good.. back thickness looks good

Can add size/mass to all parts of body obviously but overall for having baby muscle..... impressive! Can see you as a huge threat in 4-5 years time!

[QUOTE=IK9;1447806163]Those pro pics look great!

Legs definitely need some work. Has nothing to do with amount of weight lifted but just overall development/conditioning.

Upper body looks great. Shoulders look good.. arms look good.. can prolly add some back width.. can add mass to upper chest.. back & lat development look good.. back thickness looks good

Can add size/mass to all parts of body obviously but overall for having baby muscle..... impressive! Can see you as a huge threat in 4-5 years time![/QUOTE]
Tanks for the feedback m8. It's so strange how strength doesn't correlate with development all the time. That's exactly how one of the judges described my musculature..."baby muscle". Time to make it mature!

Like Inna said, I think overall growth and maturing your muscle will be your best bet. Your proportions are great and you have a great structure to be a threat on stage for sure. One area Id really hammer though is your hamstrings. I can't speak for bodybuilding because I've only competed in physique, but I feel that hamstrings are one area many competitors lack and having a strong set of hammies will set you apart.

[QUOTE=LoganBrown;1447880433]Like Inna said, I think overall growth and maturing your muscle will be your best bet. Your proportions are great and you have a great structure to be a threat on stage for sure. One area Id really hammer though is your hamstrings. I can't speak for bodybuilding because I've only competed in physique, but I feel that hamstrings are one area many competitors lack and having a strong set of hammies will set you apart.[/QUOTE]

Thank you for the input. But I could see that. Not gonna lie, not having any leg curls/RDLs in the program is making me a bit worried about hamstring and overall leg development, but just going to see how it goes at the moment. I think the posterior chain is insanely important in BB. and, by the same token, I think deadlifts are a powerful tool. We'll see what happens. for now

6/16/16:
154.8 lbs.

Front Squats:
45 x 10
95 x 5
135 x 5
185 x 3
220 x 3
210 x 4
205 x 5
210 x 5

Bench Press:
135 x 5
175 x 4, 4, 4, 5

Incline Bench Press:
135 x 6, 6, 6

HS High Rows:
2 45s + 20 x 6, 6, 6

DB Supinating Curls:
35s x 9
30s x 11, 10

Triceps Push-downs:
130 x 10, 10, 10

Seated Calf Raises: *paused*
2 45s + 40 x 10, 10, 10

HS Seated Crunches:
2 45s x 13, 13, 14

HS Oblique Crunches:
45 + 25 x 13, 13

Had to use the metal plates for my front squats today, which are supposedly like 47 pounds at my gym for whatever reason, so numbers may be misleading. Actually pumped about that bench performance. Solid. Going in tomorrow morning to do what was supposed to be my Saturday/Sunday session in order to free up my Saturday so that I can spend time with my dad and family. Gotta work all day Sunday :'(

Body weight shifts are making me pretty positive that I'm going to go ahead and eliminate all formal cardio while keeping calories at 2350/day. Strange how little the bodyweight is responding.

[QUOTE=TGreggors;1448092623]Thank you for the input. But I could see that. Not gonna lie, not having any leg curls/RDLs in the program is making me a bit worried about hamstring and overall leg development, but just going to see how it goes at the moment. I think the posterior chain is insanely important in BB. and, by the same token, I think deadlifts are a powerful tool. We'll see what happens. for now[/QUOTE]

I know my legs are my strongest bodypart in terms of development/conditioning.. I never trained hamstrings from 2008 to 2013 but now I usually start with hamstrings
I don't deadlift at all & my deadlift is complete chit but

What worked best for me is high rep single-leg standing leg curls w/ slow negatives & squeezing at the top & leg press w/ positioning my feet super high up on the pad

Also lotsa drop sets for lying leg curls & leg presses but overall.. I think super high reps is where it is at with legs.. I rarely find myself going less than 10 reps nowadays

What supplements are you taking?

Overall, you just need to get bigger and stronger everywhere... but that's the same for 99% of us.

[QUOTE=JerG;1448177383]What supplements are you taking?

Overall, you just need to get bigger and stronger everywhere... but that's the same for 99% of us.[/QUOTE]
Not much at all. I take five grams of creatine every morning and a multivitamin. I also use whey for convenience and as an economical way to hit protein requirements.

and that seems to be the general consensus! Maaaaaaaaaaannnn the next few years are going to be a blast. I had been in a deficit for so long that the prospect of gaining size/muscle/strength is too exciting.

[QUOTE=IK9;1448132793]I know my legs are my strongest bodypart in terms of development/conditioning.. I never trained hamstrings from 2008 to 2013 but now I usually start with hamstrings
I don't deadlift at all & my deadlift is complete chit but

What worked best for me is high rep single-leg standing leg curls w/ slow negatives & squeezing at the top & leg press w/ positioning my feet super high up on the pad

Also lotsa drop sets for lying leg curls & leg presses but overall.. I think super high reps is where it is at with legs.. I rarely find myself going less than 10 reps nowadays[/QUOTE]
That they are. Still have serious quad envy over here LOL. I think you have something there with the really high rep style of training, but I don't think that should be the only rep-range that one should include. Idk. maybe going through periods characterized by a high rep, traditional "hypertrophy" style of training and then having a "strength-focused" period of training could be advantageous. I do what you're talking about with the leg press on the day that I include that exercise.

But as for not including leg extensions and legs curls at the moment, it really is a period of experimentation. I guess that the thought behind not having them in the program would be that if I can get more volume on my legs by using squats, leg presses and deadlifts as opposed to isolation movements, then I will be optimizing my time spent in the gym and will be getting the most bang for my buck. May be transitioning somewhat soon to low bar squats instead of front squats in my next macrocycle of the program since my hip is truly feeling 100% right now which would probably shift some volume to the hammies and glutes, but we will see. All depends on how much of a groove I'm in on my front squats by next week. They're feeling glorious right now.

6/17/16:
156.0 lbs.

Front Squats:
95 x 5
135 x 5
185 x 3
225 x 3, 3
230 x 3
235 x 3

Bench Press:
135 x 5
180 x 3, 3, 3, 4

Deadlift:
275 x 3
325 x 3, 3
330 x 3, 2, 1

Seated BB Overhead Press:
115 x 4, 4, 4

HS High Rows:
2 45s + 35/side x 4, 4, 4.5

DB Hammer Curls:
45s x 5
40s x 7, 8

Standing Cable Overhead Triceps Extensions:
120 x 5
110 x 7, 6

Feeling energized and strong. Beginning of my third week on the program which calls for increased loads and decreased reps. I must admit, reps feel a tad on the low side on the program, but I will trust what Brad has written. I think that a more strength oriented phase of training will be good for me. Feels great to be able to blast some loud music in my headphones, to get amped up and to move some heavy weight (for me anyways).

6/20/16:
156.2 lbs.

Bench Press:
45 x 10
95 x 5
135 x 5
180 x 4, 4, 4

HS Low Rows:
2 45s + 25/side x 5, 5, 5.8

Front Squats:
135 x 5
185 x 3
220 x 4
225 x 5
230 x 5

Lat Pulldowns:
190 x 8, 8, 8

Underhand Grip Pulldowns:
180 x 8, 8, 8

Standing Calf Raises: *paused*
140 x 10, 10, 10

Triceps Push-downs:
130 x 10, 10, 9, 1

HS Seated Crunches:
2 45s x 14, 14, 14

HS Oblique Crunches:
45 + 25 x 14, 14

Surprised myself with my front squats today. Progression! Average BW for the week is ~155.5. Moving in the right direction.

Nice to see the reverse going well!

[QUOTE=IK9;1448696893]Nice to see the reverse going well![/QUOTE]
Hard to really tell if I'm nailing the reverse correctly or not, but no binges so I'd say that is a good sign! Can't tell if too fast or too slow.

6/21/16:
154.8 lbs.

Deadlifts:
135 x 5
225 x 5
275 x 3
325 x 4, 4
320 x 4

Standing DB Overhead Presses:
50s x 8, 7
45s x 9

Incline Leg Press:
3 45s + 30/side x 5
3 45s + 10/side x 10, 9

HS Low Rows:
2 45s + 5/side x 10, 10
2 45s/side x 10

Neutral Grip Pulldowns:
160 x 10, 10, 10

Seated Cambered Bar Preacher Curls:
15/side x 10, 10, 11

Nunez Skullcrushers
22.5/side x 8, 8, 7.7

Good stuff. Felt sleepy coming in but cranked it out. Went to see Finding Dory yesterday afternoon. I recommend :-)

Nice deadlifting! I wish I can move 3 plates lol

I heard Finding Dory was good too

Great job on the show, Taylor. Looking good!

[QUOTE=happydude101;1448954223]Great job on the show, Taylor. Looking good![/QUOTE]
Thank you! Good to see you back on the forums

[QUOTE=IK9;1448909383]Nice deadlifting! I wish I can move 3 plates lol

I heard Finding Dory was good too[/QUOTE]
It's because you don't deadlift! I am pretty confident that you could pull more than that if you trained it regularly.

6/23/16:
154.8 lbs.

Front Squats:
95 x 5
135 x 5
185 x 3
235 x 3
230 x 3, 3, 3

Bench Press:
135 x 5
185 x 3
180 x 3, 3, 4

Incline Bench Press:
145 x 4, 4, 4

HS High Rows:
2 45s + 40/side x 4, 4, 4

DB Supinating Curls:
40s x 8, 7
35s x 8, 1

Triceps Pushdowns:
140 x 8, 8, 8

Seated Calf Raises: *paused*
3 45s + 10 x 8, 8, 8

HS Seated Crunches:
2 45s x 14, 14, 14

HS Oblique Crunches:
45 + 25 x 14, 14

Good session. Strength is moving up noticeably. Weighed 154.8 for three consecutive days now. If I don't average out to at least 155.5 by Monday morning, there will be an increase to 2450 kcal/day. Becoming a big fan of the superset, which I have never really done too much of in the past. Supersetted curls w/ pushdowns and calf raises w/ crunches.

Good to see that kind of excitement going into the off season. Agree with what every1 else here has already said. Legs are so hard to bring up... only method I've ever seen noticeable results from is increasing frequency to 3-4x a week (w/volume equated), and like Inna said, starting with hamstrings. Something I used to do and no longer really do, I guess cuz of the tendency to think "powerlifting = good for bodybuilding and everything else is broscience" haha.