Memoirs of a Tough Old Bastard: the Resurrection of MHL

[mharrislove]

Looking very thick and in great shape MHL! Best of luck this year as you work towards a 2014 comp. Your dedication and strong work ethic will keep you on track. You already have a solid base to build and improve upon.

Thanks, Ms. L! I'll actually give it a go later in 2013, but it's true that the show that keeps me up at night will not happen until early 2014. I feel pretty focused at the moment. I have clear cut goals in the gym, so that sense of direction never wanes. What a show does is get my butt in gear regarding the diet - I find a show to be more motivating than just dieting for a certain look.

Good point.

We're all guilty of trying to chase numbers (risking injury, stubbornly hell bent on pushing the reps thru) ...the mind to muscle connection is lost as performance and technique suffers.

Make every rep count, do it well.

This is progression.

QFT. Bodybuilding is much more than moving weight.

Very true. My main point was that the magnitude of one's BBing progress may not necessarily match the magnitude in load progression - but of course, you know that already!

Wow some nice sessions going on here. Glad to see you are going more regularly. Im in to follow some contest prep. I cant look at your pictures then look at my arms lol you look huge

Yeah, things are almost at full boil, but not just yet. I still have 2 more winter trips to work around which will again interrupt training (the next one in a couple of weeks), but things will be rolling pretty good between spring and next winter, so all should be well.

Pay no mind to those pics; I could make your pet hamster look huge with the right lighting and angles. We'll see how much arm meat I keep after the diet! It will all come to head faster than I realize with the countdown starting in mid-July (I posted mid-August in an earlier post which was an error secondary to wishful thinking...)

I liked everything on your page today. Food for thought combined with a strong, compact workout. Perfect!

Yes, everything has fallen into place since returning to the home front!

Not too shabby for an 'experiment!'

LOL, yup, while not a world-beater, it's at least a competent lift. So, I may need to change that subtitle!

That's the first piece of the puzzle of putting together a schedule.

You got that right.

Good work!

Thanks!

I'm seeing similar reports in many other journals. The good thing is that it won't last more than a couple of weeks.


That one'll have the resolutioners shaking their heads!

You are correct on both accounts!

[mharrislove]

Chest w/triceps + calves
* yesterday's work *

warm up:

• standing DB presses, 1 x 15
• DB squats, 1 x 10
• DB RDLs, 1 x 10
• standing DB curls, 1 x 10
• pull ups, 1 x 10
• dips, 1 x 10
• hyperextensions, 1 x 10
• knee extensions, 1 x 15
• lying leg curls, 1 x 10

CHEST/TRICEPS

Flat BB bench press - phase II shoulder rehab
bar x 10
--------- two doubled red bands, high tension
45 - 135 x 5
100 - 190 x 5
135 - 225 x 5
155 - 245 x 5
185 - 275 x 5


Flat BB bench press, Pt 2 - phase III shoulder rehab
135 x 10
185 x 10
225 x 10
--------- shoulder test
245 x 1
265 x 1

Important work was happening in this nondescript session. While I didn't note it in the details of the log, I was trying a few variations of grip and foot placement throughout the session. Rather than drown in a sea of endless experimentation, the info I gained did set the cast for subsequent workouts.

My benching that involves target weight progressions will feature the PL form with the more narrow grip - this is mainly for the benefit of my shoulder. However, my BB style chest work will feature a wider grip - albeit at lower loads. I definitely feel more pec stimulation with the "Gironda" form, but my shoulder issues will not allow for me to generate my best power/strength with a wider grip unlike some powerlifters.

And this is all fine. In many ways it fits my powerbuilder ethos: pay attention to strength and pay attention to working the muscle. My pec work over the last 6 months or so has actually yielded some decent gains. I attribute most of the progress to my reintroduction of flye movements using Fisher Price weight, the cumulative effect of the "lazy Bastard" high frequency sets, and the slow recovery of my shoulder. My top weight lifted has not really changed a great deal in this time (although the quality of the reps and sense of "pushing power" have improved).

This is not to say that progression is not a critical element of the program. But it does speak to the fact that other training factors are important when it comes to hypertrophy - which shouldn't come as a surprise. It's not exactly a newsflash that bodybuilding is not synonym for powerlifting.


CGBP
225 x 7
205 x 10
185 x 12


Gironda presses
--------- two doubled red bands, high tension
45 - 135 x 10
100 - 190 x 10
135 - 225 x 10


Dip machine
170 x 15
170 x 15
170 x 15


Seated machine flyes (with 2-3 sec holds at peak contraction)
130 x 10
145 x 10
145 x 8


Tricep pressdowns
140 x 10
140 x 10
140 x 8



The "Take that you lazy bastard!!!" High Frequency Sets
_________________________________________

Leaning laterals
40 x 10
40 x 10
40 x 10


Reverse curls
60 x 10
70 x 10
80 x 8

_________________________________________



CALVES

Recumbent heel raises (stack weight)
170 x 15
190 x 15
210 x 12
210 x 10






Impressions:


- Ai Weiwei

[ironwill2008]

My main point was that the magnitude of one's BBing progress may not necessarily match the magnitude in load progression - but of course, you know that already!

It's still something I need to remind myself of regularly.

[mharrislove]

Quads, Biceps, and Forearms

warm up:

• standing DB presses, 1 x 15
• DB squats, 1 x 10
• DB RDLs, 1 x 10
• standing DB curls, 1 x 10
• leg extensions, 1 x 12
• lying leg curls, 1 x 10
• pull ups, 1 x 10
• dips, 1 x 10
• hyperextensions, 1 x 10

QUADS

Front squats (in rack; with belt; no wraps)
bar x 10 wu
135 x 10
185 x 5
225 x 5
255 x 5
275 x 5
305 x 2


Front squats, Pt 2 (in rack; with belt; no wraps)
225 x 10
225 x 8
225 x 7


Adapted leg presses (narrow stance; using hip sled machine; stack weight)
330 x 15
330 x 15
330 x 15


Leg extensions
140 x 15
140 x 15
140 x 15


X-mas wares for the gym...








BICEPS/FOREARMS

Straight BB curls (using Oly bar)
45 x 10 wu
85 x 10
115 x 6
115 x 5
115 x 5


DB Hammer curls on Preacher bench
40 x 8
35 x 10
35 x 10


Standing DB curls
40 x 10
40 x 8
35 x 10


The "Take that you lazy bastard!!!" High Frequency Sets
________________________________________

Seated shoulder press machine
crappy machine, who knows? x 10
buncha' plates x 10
mystery plates/pulleys x 10

Completely wiped out - I think I'm done...

________________________________________








Impressions:

[mharrislove]

Delts w/calves

From here to there

warm up:

• standing DB presses, 1 x 15
• DB squats, 1 x 10
• DB RDLs, 1 x 10
• standing DB curls, 1 x 10
• leg extensions, 1 x 15
• lying leg curls, 1 x 10
• pull ups, 1 x 10
• dips, 1 x 10
• hyperextensions, 1 x 10

Wrapping up the first split routine cycle since the return from travel...



DELTS/TRAPS/CALVES

Standing BB OHPs
bar x 10 wu
95 x 5
135 x 5
155 x 5
165 x 5
165 x 4
165 x 4

Holding steady here before challenging the margins again.


Single-arm DB clean & press
55 x 5 / 55 x 5
60 x 4 / 60 x 4
70 x 3 / 70 x 3

All's good in the neighborhood, but I feel a slight tweak in the right shoulder joint from that damned machine that I used yesterday...


Seated laterals SS w/standing BB BNP
35 x 10 / 85 x 10
35 x 10 / 85 x 10
35 x 10 / 85 x 10

Not easy to get set up with the mounting gym crowd, but I stole someone's "line of vision in front of a mirror" and found a place to work.


Behind the back shrugs
135 x 20
225 x 15
315 x 10







Recumbant heel raises SS w/standing cable front raises
190 x 12 / 35 x 10
210 x 12 / 35 x 10
210 x 12 / 35 x 10
210 x 12 / 35 x 10

Things were feeling good at this weight, so I held it here and really focused on the movement.


Seated heel raises SS SS w/standing cable front raises, pt 2
2 plates x 15
3 plates x 15
3 plates x 15


The "Take that you lazy bastard!!!" High Frequency Sets
____________________________________________


Seated machine flyes SS w/seated machine rear laterals
130 x 10 / 115 x 10
145 x 10 / 115 x 10
145 x 8 / 115 x 10

All flye work with 2 sec holds at peak contraction


____________________________________________









Impressions:
















WTF? Gym Moment of the Day:




Now... Breathe deeply and repeat:



"Resolutioners pay for my equipment..."


"Resolutioners pay for my equipment..."


"Resolutioners pay for my equipment..."

[Raigs]

Nice training sessions. Good OHP presses. I cant wait to see you challenge yourself.

Nice quote at the end of the post lol

[mharrislove]

I cant wait to see you challenge yourself.

You and me both.

Nice quote at the end of the post lol

The shoe fits...trust me!

[Stncldsnake]

Great workout MH!! big weight!!

[SteveR40]

Solid day sir. Sorry to hear about the crowding that is going on. My guess..it'll back off in a couple weeks or so.

[howimliving]

best journal of the day, erry day

[Boomer29]

Love the tshirt and pics!

Another sesh for the books.

[FlaIronMind]

Brother, there is so much awesomeness here of late that I took a few moments to walk away from the laptop to come up with something non-trite to say and came back empty handed. Damn good work brother, damn good. Makes me want to head straight to the dungeon for some much needed iron work. This down-time with the flu and the recent BCS events here in town have left me literally aching to get back to the iron.

That DL t-shirt....

Outstanding.

[cmoore]

Been quiet, but haven't missed an update. Killing it!!!

[ironwill2008]

"Resolutioners pay for my equipment..."


"Resolutioners pay for my equipment..."


"Resolutioners pay for my equipment..."

Although I don't have to deal with that these days, I still remember the January chaos from back in the day. take heart; you'll easily outlast it.

[VoxExMachina]

Although I don't have to deal with that these days, I still remember the January chaos from back in the day. take heart; you'll easily outlast it.

At some point, it all became chaos for me.

Home gym, FTW.

[mharrislove]

Hams and Back

Fired up...

Time for a new phase of training - I'm ready for what's next. Let's get this...



warm up:

• standing DB presses, 1 x 15
• DB squats, 1 x 10
• DB RDLs, 1 x 10
• standing DB curls, 1 x 10
• pull ups, 1 x 10
• dips, 1 x 10
• hyperextensions, 1 x 10
• knee extensions, 1 x 15
• lying leg curls, 1 x 10

HAMS

Jefferson lifts (from platform; belt; Vgrips on top sets)
135 x 6
225 x 6
315 x 6
365 x 4
405 x 4

This is more like it. Definitely showing signs of getting reacquainted with this lift. All of the pulls felt pretty good. Low back feels great.


Back squats - posterior chain emphasis
----------- using red bands, doubled, very high tension
bar x 10
45 - 145 x 10
135 - 235 x 10
165 - 265 x 10
185 - 285 x 10
205 - 305 x 8

The look of my wheels have been lacking their usual "pop." I think that I am falling into the trap of doing too many sets in the 5 rep range; I need to keep my ego in check and drop down a bit for some quality reps a little more often...


Lying leg curls (stack weight)
140 x 15
140 x 13
140 x 10


BACK

Combined standard deads --> Bentover BB rows (all done with a dead stop for each rep)
----------- using red bands, 2 points of contact (standard width), high tension
135 - 225 x 5
185 - 275 x 5
185 - 275 x 4

God, I hate these... They're probably not as hard as BB C&Ps, but they are in the same misery category.


Seated high cable row (using cable handle attachments)
140 x 10
160 x 10
160 x 10


Single arm bentover laterals
75 x 10
75 x 10


The "Take that you lazy bastard!!!" High Frequency Sets
_____________________________________________


Seated DB presses
55 x 15
60 x 15
65 x 12


Reverse curls - no rest
60 x 10
70 x 10
80 x 8

_____________________________________________











Impressions:















The WTF? Gym Moment of the Day:




Bumper plates for squats???

Alrighty, then...


I know, I know...it's looks like more tonnage in comparison to iron plates.

I get it.

I just wish that I didn't...

[mharrislove]

Great workout MH!! big weight!!

Not many dings or injuries to report as of late (I mentioned my shoulder and back a few days ago, but even they feel good today); running on close to all cylinders these days...

best journal of the day, erry day

Awesome comments; much appreciated!

Love the tshirt and pics!

Another sesh for the books.

That shirt is sweet, huh? I have a few more items to break in (need to get some pics)...

Brother, there is so much awesomeness here of late that I took a few moments to walk away from the laptop to come up with something non-trite to say and came back empty handed. Damn good work brother, damn good. Makes me want to head straight to the dungeon for some much needed iron work. This down-time with the flu and the recent BCS events here in town have left me literally aching to get back to the iron.

That DL t-shirt....

Outstanding.

Hey, it's good to hear from you man; no worries about the comments - all of the long time journalers know what you mean. Just stopping by and lending a word of encouragement is more than enough (especially for us guys that don't really share our iron life with family and friends).


(PS: thanks for the shirt props, too!)

Been quiet, but haven't missed an update. Killing it!!!

Just tryin' to keep up around here - thanks again!

Solid day sir. Sorry to hear about the crowding that is going on. My guess..it'll back off in a couple weeks or so.

Hey Steve! It's all good; being on the early shift helps!

Although I don't have to deal with that these days, I still remember the January chaos from back in the day. take heart; you'll easily outlast it.

At some point, it all became chaos for me.

Home gym, FTW.

Believe me, I envy both of you guys - trust me. I've trained at home, but I never had a "real" home gym. One sweet day I'll drive down to Bill's house and give it a go...

[howimliving]

HAMS

Jefferson lifts (from platform; belt; Vgrips on top sets)
135 x 6
225 x 6
315 x 6
365 x 4
405 x 4

This is more like it. Definitely showing signs of getting reacquainted with this lift. All of the pulls felt pretty good. Low back feels great.

i see very, very few people use this movement. and even less that do it correctly



definitely one that forces people to leave their ego in the locker room

unless, of course, they're able to pull 405 for reps

[baker]

Epic journal indeed.

Mirin shirt too!

[llahhsoj]

Strong Jeffersons! I forgot all about those. I was thinking of doing legs tomorrow instead of an off day. I'm going to do those. I better watch some videos because I haven't done those in a few years.

[mharrislove]

i see very, very few people use this movement. and even less that do it correctly

[IMG]http://i.imgur.com/JPCbC.gif[IMG]

definitely one that forces people to leave their ego in the locker room

unless, of course, they're able to pull 405 for reps

LOL, I know what you mean!

I used to do 'em at about half the current work load, then a couple of things happened. My low back was giving me fits with standard deads (this was before I got my Sumo DLs into gear) and I needed a replacement lift, and David ("2nd_Chance") basically told me (in a roundabout way) to get my head out of my ass and challenge myself a bit. Based on some of my other lifts, he thought that I had more in the tank for Jeffs - and he was right.

I was careful about it and took my time since I've been injured before and value my safety over gym challenges, but the lift is a close cousin of the deadlift and responds to many of the well-known DL progression schemes just like a standard DL. I rotate the lift in the progression now, but it still remains an old favorite.

Epic journal indeed.

Mirin shirt too!

Hey, Bakes - yeah, that shirt is awesome!

Strong Jeffersons! I forgot all about those. I was thinking of doing legs tomorrow instead of an off day. I'm going to do those. I better watch some videos because I haven't done those in a few years.

Definitely give 'em a go! The trick is matching the proper mixed grip relative to the stabilizing leg; play around with it a bit at 135 and then launch...

[Raigs]

Man come in here seeing some huge weights being tossed. I forgot about Jeffersons as well and at 405 wow!

I think they must get stares for doing that lift

[Stncldsnake]

Another great session, glad to hear that you have healed up and going strong!!

[mharrislove]

Man come in here seeing some huge weights being tossed. I forgot about Jeffersons as well and at 405 wow!

I wish... I'm just trying to stay in the same universe (on any lift) as this guy: FlaIronMind

(N B4, "uhm, good luck with that...")

I think they must get stares for doing that lift

I get stares for multiple reasons in the gym, but especially when doin' Jeffs (or using bands on the rack pins)...

Another great session, glad to hear that you have healed up and going strong!!

Thanks, bro; I'll be around soon to check on your progress as well!

[llahhsoj]

Definitely give 'em a go! The trick is matching the proper mixed grip relative to the stabilizing leg; play around with it a bit at 135 and then launch...

Thanks for the advice. I probably wouldn't end up going too much over 225 because I am not familiar with this excercise. I probably should use a platform as well. Dat der manlet ROM, ya know.

[Big_Sky_Guy]

Looks like your coming into good form and moving nice weight!

[howimliving]

I needed a replacement lift, and David ("2nd_Chance") basically told me (in a roundabout way) to get my head out of my ass and challenge myself a bit. Based on some of my other lifts, he thought that I had more in the tank for Jeffs - and he was right.

david kinda has a way of doing that

i ran a journal with a guy that rotated jeffersons, squats, deads and then rack squats every third day. that was humbling

Dat der manlet ROM, ya know.

at least you're one that does more work to increase the difficulty, rather than the opposite

[Boomer29]

(need to get some pics)...

and the lifts duh, am always so in awe.

[mharrislove]

Thanks for the advice. I probably wouldn't end up going too much over 225 because I am not familiar with this excercise. I probably should use a platform as well. Dat der manlet ROM, ya know.

Ha! I know that feel, bro...I'm sure you'll do great.

Looks like your coming into good form and moving nice weight!

Thanks - things at the iron office are going well this week.

david kinda has a way of doing that

i ran a journal with a guy that rotated jeffersons, squats, deads and then rack squats every third day. that was humbling

Oh, man. That rotation got my attention; it dimly reminds me of my Smolov runs. It takes some dedication (and a strong stomach) to keep that stuff up long term.

at least you're one that does more work to increase the difficulty, rather than the opposite

Yup, he exhibits many of the signs of a good bodybuilder.

[IMG]http://i197.photobucket.com/albums/aa294/hashbrown7782/Gif/wut/4X0S.gif[IMG]

and the lifts duh, am always so in awe.

LMAO (I saw that pic on my phone first), I'll see what I can do - thanks again for the props!

[FlaIronMind]

Great looking session yesterday brother. Quick question with those Jeffs - are you abbreviating Versa Gripps or are you referring to an actual V-Grip (i.e., one used for cable exercises; or one such as I use when doing T-Bar rows with the Oly)? At this time of day, my mind is at a dead-stall trying to envision what it must look like trying to do Jeffs with:





Anyway, solid work all around. I am tremendously looking forward to seeing this new phase, and progression, brother.

And, thanks again my brother.