MKW’s “Making My Own Luck” Towards a 1,000 Pound Total Log

[VolumeFreak]

Sorry guys, so busy. Highlights from Thursday's power deads + hyper legs and Friday's power arms + hyper chest:

- 375 x 3: Sumo DL PR
- 285 x 6: SLDL PR
- 80s for 5-6 reps (depending on the spot): DB Military (these were so light, it was crazy. This is the first time I did them first in months. 90s for reps by the end of this semester)
- BW + 95 for 3: Dips

pr's all around looking good broski

[My_Legacy]

Let's see some PR updates cuzzz

[MKW]

Great progress on squats and deadlifts MK. Your DB Press is equally impressive. Too bad you're not hardcore like me and don't use a spotter. lulz. Actually DB press is one of those lifts where it's definitely beneficial. Sucks about the apartment brah. When will they fix the AC?

Do you go wide or narrow on dips? What dip belt do you use?

I know this is an old question but I go pretty neutral on dips I would say? Honestly not sure. I use this grizzly dip belt they have at the gym.

And AC finally got fixed. Yee!

pr's all around looking good broski

Thanks man!

Let's see some PR updates cuzzz

Update

I have 5 midterms + the LSAT between October 4 and October 13. All of my time over the last couple of weeks have been spent in class, studying, and lifting. I'm in a complete zone right now with studying so I've pretty much weaned myself off of any distractions outside of a few essentials (fantasy football, football in general, baseball). Aside from that I'm trying not to have too many things clutter up my head right now because this is the most critical time of my academic career without question.

That said, I'm still hitting it as hard as possible in the gym. I hit 260x3 on squats the other day (PR) and am shooting for a 300 pound rep in the coming months. I felt unusually powerful on them. Hmm what else, 230x3 on bench. BW+100 x 3 on dips. Deads haven't progressed I don't think since I last posted (been fiddling around with my sumo form to gain more power). 80sx6 on DB military.

I'll check in here now and then to look at your logs but for the most part I'll probably be very inactive here over the coming weeks. Once I get past October (applications hopefully completed around then and into early November) I'll be back on a more daily basis so bear with me.

Training as hard as ever though! And still lurking on the logs so keep updating, I'm there.

[My_Legacy]

Ready for those tests this next week?

[MKW]

Ready for those tests this next week?

So ready man, thanks for asking. I'm amped up for Saturday. I've worked harder than I ever have before so I pretty much can't regret anything. Just need to peak well which I'm in the midst of.

[MKW]

Update

After a few months of studying I finally took the LSAT today. It was pretty much as I expected so I'm confident enough but we'll see what happens when the score comes in. Worst case I end up taking it again in December but as of now that's not the plan. I'm still going to be a bit MIA on the forums because over the next 3+ weeks (aside from 3 midterms on Wednesday) I'm going to essentially work on my applications 24/7 so that I can send them in (roughly) when my score comes. I want that leg up on everyone else.

In terms of training, I hurt my back a few weeks ago so I had to sub out squatting + deads. I'll probably give squats another week but deadlift on Friday. The issue is whenever I get heavy weight on my back. Aside from that I can do pretty much everything without pain (played 28 innings of softball this weekend and was sliding all over the place, I just randomly can't get to my heaviest weight without a lot of discomfort on the lower right portion of my back. Once I'm done with my law applications I'm planning on a 5 week power/hyper but by that time I'll probably be back on the forums more regularly. Here is a back pic I snapped earlier tonight (on a whim because I was trying on some stuff I bought haha, so no pump whatsoever... took the LSAT this morning after all haha) to keep the log somewhat interesting:



I'm sub-180 still but I'm going to up the calories after my midterms on Wednesday and intentionally (but slowly) start gaining weight on my road to a solid 190 by February or so.

[patroclus32]

Update

After a few months of studying I finally took the LSAT today. It was pretty much as I expected so I'm confident enough but we'll see what happens when the score comes in. Worst case I end up taking it again in December but as of now that's not the plan. I'm still going to be a bit MIA on the forums because over the next 3+ weeks (aside from 3 midterms on Wednesday) I'm going to essentially work on my applications 24/7 so that I can send them in (roughly) when my score comes. I want that leg up on everyone else.

In terms of training, I hurt my back a few weeks ago so I had to sub out squatting + deads. I'll probably give squats another week but deadlift on Friday. The issue is whenever I get heavy weight on my back. Aside from that I can do pretty much everything without pain (played 28 innings of softball this weekend and was sliding all over the place, I just randomly can't get to my heaviest weight without a lot of discomfort on the lower right portion of my back. Once I'm done with my law applications I'm planning on a 5 week power/hyper but by that time I'll probably be back on the forums more regularly. Here is a back pic I snapped earlier tonight (on a whim because I was trying on some stuff I bought haha, so no pump whatsoever... took the LSAT this morning after all haha) to keep the log somewhat interesting:



I'm sub-180 still but I'm going to up the calories after my midterms on Wednesday and intentionally (but slowly) start gaining weight on my road to a solid 190 by February or so.

Glad to hear the test seemed to work out for you Mark. I'm dying over the fact that we have to wait three weeks for the score. It's seriously stressing me out.

[TigerStealth]

nice progress pic! delts are crazy

[JerG]

Looking stacked bro, if you flared your lats a lil more then that would be even more legit. Keep it up.

[My_Legacy]

BDB looks pretty good man...looking pretty lean still. Any front shots or wheel pics?

[MKW]

Yee just took my last midterm. Now I'm going to fullcourt press on my applications. Bang out the personal statement and then start picking apart the individual applications. My 25-30 days (whatever it is) before thanksgiving is ****ing brutal with applications + so many damn papers and tests but oh well, I'm not going to complain about it. It's going to be pretty amazing when I go home after first semester this year though haha. 2nd semester will be a breeze compared to this. Here is a little training update:

I went back to the power/hyper that I did over the summer + upped my calories to 3200 a day. I'll gain weight here for a bit but then I'll bump it to 3400 when I stall out. I'm not going to get to the 4000 range in the near future like I did last March unless I keep throwing on mass and my body needs it. It just led to way too much fat gain. The plan right now is to gain 10-12 pounds over the next 4+ months and then do a 4-5 week mini cut. Then I'm going to do a similar bulk if all goes to plan. I'm focusing on size gains quite a bit now whereas last year I was entirely devoted to trying to get stronger. Now I'm more a 50/50 split. My workout split:

Friday - Upper power + hyper shoulders
Saturday - Lower power + abs (right now my back is still injured so I can't squat but deads/leg press don't hurt so I'll stick with them and build my deads back up after taking a month off)
Sunday - Off
Monday - Hyper Chest/Arms
Tuesday - Power Shoulders + Hyper back/traps
Wednesday - Hyper Legs
Thursday - Off

I'm focusing a lot on TUT on my main lifts. Pretty much every power lift right now has some type of rep range to it unless I'm attempting a PR. Goals for the bulk are unclear because of my back. Assuming I can squat in the next 2 weeks or so and start building back up then my goals are probably 405x3 deadlift (would have had this sooner than the end of this bulk but oh well, **** happens), 300-315x3 on squats, 250x5 on bench. I would be thrilled with those numbers at 190. Just need to put in work on it.

Glad to hear the test seemed to work out for you Mark. I'm dying over the fact that we have to wait three weeks for the score. It's seriously stressing me out.

Haha yeah man, same here. I have no idea how I did but worst case I just take it again in December and score where I was during my final 3-4 practice tests. I just need to go all out on these applications now that midterms are done. I hope it went well for you man. Where are you looking to apply based off of how you scored on PTs?

nice progress pic! delts are crazy

Yee! Thanks Joe. Can't wait to watch Brock.

Looking stacked bro, if you flared your lats a lil more then that would be even more legit. Keep it up.

Thanks a lot man. Yeah I can't pose for ****. I tried flaring my lats more the other day and instantly looked a lot better haha. Oh well, I still don't have that much mass but it'll come. It's crazy how much posing can help/hurt.

BDB looks pretty good man...looking pretty lean still. Any front shots or wheel pics?

Thanks man. Yeah I'm still fairly lean because I haven't gained more than like a pound in 3 months haha. I got stronger at this weight though. Na no other pics, that was just a spur of the moment type of thing. I'll get some up post-bulk probably.

[My_Legacy]

Sounds like it's been a real busy semester...what law schools are you applying to and what are the top 3 you wanna get into?

What's with the back? Why don't you see a chiro?

[MKW]

Sounds like it's been a real busy semester...what law schools are you applying to and what are the top 3 you wanna get into?

What's with the back? Why don't you see a chiro?

Yeah man, this semester has been INSANE. Second semester will be a breeze compared to this though. In terms of law schools, it all depends on how I did on the LSAT which I have yet to get back (hopefully in the next 7 days or so). Then I need to finish up the applications and send them in. I'd like to be in DC or NYC for law school ideally. I cannot wait to know where I'm going though haha.

No clue on my back. I hurt it like a month+ ago at this point. I can do everything but put heavy weight on my back right now (deficit deads the other day didn't hurt at all for example). I've been throwing heavy leg press in place of squats for now. Haven't bothered with a doctor because the pain hasn't kept me from lifting, just squatting. If it gets bad again though I'll see a doctor over thanksgiving.

[My_Legacy]

Yeah man, this semester has been INSANE. Second semester will be a breeze compared to this though. In terms of law schools, it all depends on how I did on the LSAT which I have yet to get back (hopefully in the next 7 days or so). Then I need to finish up the applications and send them in. I'd like to be in DC or NYC for law school ideally. I cannot wait to know where I'm going though haha.

No clue on my back. I hurt it like a month+ ago at this point. I can do everything but put heavy weight on my back right now (deficit deads the other day didn't hurt at all for example). I've been throwing heavy leg press in place of squats for now. Haven't bothered with a doctor because the pain hasn't kept me from lifting, just squatting. If it gets bad again though I'll see a doctor over thanksgiving.

Well if it's bad enough to keep you from squatting, then something is obviously messed up with it. You can get it checked out now and it may be a quick fix, or you could wait and it might be a more lengthy process. Just my $0.02.

[MKW]

Well if it's bad enough to keep you from squatting, then something is obviously messed up with it. You can get it checked out now and it may be a quick fix, or you could wait and it might be a more lengthy process. Just my $0.02.

Yeah I know what you're saying but it is getting progressively better. If it stalled out and was as painful as day one then I'd go see the doctor. Plus honestly I wouldn't have the time to go do it right now anyway. I'll just train around it and sooner than later re-introduce squats. I might try some front squats since the weight will be lighter.

[SgSpartan]

The thing about training is to never give up. Persevere!

[My_Legacy]

Let's see some updates duuudde. How's the back doin? Where the lifts at? What you weighin in at these days?

[MKW]

Let's see some updates duuudde. How's the back doin? Where the lifts at? What you weighin in at these days?

Yeah buddayyy. I'll give a quick update.

I'm in the midst of a crazy finals period right now (6 tests and 3 essays spanning yesterday through the 18th). No complaints though, I know we all have crazy work going on.

In terms of training, I started WS4SB on Monday. I actually had to skip yesterday's workout because I was in the library for 10 or so hours (final this afternoon) but those are the breaks during finals, no big deal. My back is finally starting to heal up. I'm able to manipulate it pain-free into positions that only 3 weeks ago were very irritating. Last week I was feeling really good so I decided to get under the bar and worked up to a painless single at 225 on squats. Then last Wednesday I was going to go for 225x3 but it was crazy light so I did 5 at 225 (not to failure), 3 at 235, 3 at 245. No sets to failure. I was completely thrilled because A) my strength isn't where it was on squats pre-injury but it's not decimated and B) I had some discomfort in my back but no pain. Very happy.

Anyway, my plan for the next 5 months or so (obviously could change it on a whim but here is my current idea): Westside focusing on BB bench and squats. I'm suspending deadlifts indefinitely most likely so my squats can reach a new level. Plus, this will give my back more time to get right. I started yesterday at sub-180 (probably around 178) and I'm going to work up to 190+ over the next 5 months or so. Maybe a mini here and there when I get to the high 180s. Goals are 315 for reps on squats and 275x1 on bench by graduation.

I'll also probably start logging again once my weights are back up + this semester is over. Keep updating guys, I read every day.

[JerG]

Great to hear from you bro. Sounds like we're in the same boat with school, it's just getting insane. That's great news about your back too! Looking forward to the logging again, your journal was always about steady, consistent progress which really motivated me as well as others I'm sure.

[My_Legacy]

Sounds great man. One more week til break!

[My_Legacy]

Think it's time to get this log up and rolling again!

[JerG]

Think it's time to get this log up and rolling again!

x2.

[IWantIt]

West side is a great program - I ran part III for a while. Happy holidays man, get some new pics up when you get a chance!

[MKW]

Great to hear from you bro. Sounds like we're in the same boat with school, it's just getting insane. That's great news about your back too! Looking forward to the logging again, your journal was always about steady, consistent progress which really motivated me as well as others I'm sure.

I never posted because I was too busy with exams but this post meant a lot, thanks bro

Sounds great man. One more week til break!

So good to be home, it is AMAZING

Think it's time to get this log up and rolling again!

x2.

I will soon. I'm going to post updates much more often though. Maybe not daily, but bi-weekly.

West side is a great program - I ran part III for a while. Happy holidays man, get some new pics up when you get a chance!

I'll definitely post up some pics once I hit some real progress. Stupid injuries pretty much killed my semester. I lifted through them but I didn't make the progress that I wanted to. I'm going to get smarter about it though. Awesome to hear from you.

[MKW]

Update

Of course I ****ing re-injured my back since my last update. Not nearly as serious as the first time though. I'm doing WS4SB III and it only calls for 1 working set. So I did my working set at 250 and it was light as hell, and idiotically said hey let's deviate away from the program and add 10 pounds. Leaned forward too much in the hole and re-pulled something. The good news is I'm almost back to where I was before the re-injury in terms of back health right now. I foam rolled post workout the first day I lifted following the injury and couldn't believe how much better it made me feel. Now I've been foam rolling post-workout every time (and sometimes before) and spending around 30+ minutes total stretching. Sucks to have gotten injured but I think it might help me in the long-term because I'll make much smarter choices.

I'm most likely subbing out squats for box squats for the time being. I've read nothing but amazing things about box squats and I think it will help prevent future aggravation as my back heals up. And just for a little context on the level of back pain, I'm able to do the 8 sets of 3 box jumps without any pain. Obviously could never do that if I was still seriously injured so I'm progressing.

I'm planning on adding some weight/size over the next 5+ months. I've done a good job staying lean since my cut but for what? I haven't added nearly enough strength overall. I'm just going to get to 190+ and cut for 4+ weeks and then do it again. I really, really want to get strong as hell (relatively for me of course) so it's time to add some cals and get it done. Time to get stronger yeee.

[My_Legacy]

Glad your turning the bad stuff (injuries) into good things by doing stuff to prevent future ones....learning from your mistakes is real important. I think the best way of staying lean year around is to just limit how long you bulk for - like instead of bulking for 4-8 months straight, only bulk for 2.5-4 months straight and then do a short mini cut of like 4-6 weeks; that way you'll be staying lean and don't have to end up doing a long 3-4 month cut. I suppose some people like going longer both ways, but after my last 14 week cut, I've learned that it just sucks being in a deficit that long and knowing that I'm not putting on any muscle lol

Anyways, how did school go this last semester? What classes are you taking in the Spring semester?

[MKW]

Glad your turning the bad stuff (injuries) into good things by doing stuff to prevent future ones....learning from your mistakes is real important. I think the best way of staying lean year around is to just limit how long you bulk for - like instead of bulking for 4-8 months straight, only bulk for 2.5-4 months straight and then do a short mini cut of like 4-6 weeks; that way you'll be staying lean and don't have to end up doing a long 3-4 month cut. I suppose some people like going longer both ways, but after my last 14 week cut, I've learned that it just sucks being in a deficit that long and knowing that I'm not putting on any muscle lol

Anyways, how did school go this last semester? What classes are you taking in the Spring semester?

Yeah man, I never want to have a 12-14 week cut again like last spring. That was just miserable. I'm planning on 4-6 week cuts (6 weeks max) as needed. I got to 199 last spring before cutting. No way I do that again until I have the muscle to carry it. Going from ~199 to ~176 was a pain in the ass and not nearly rewarding enough.

School was brutal but I think my GPA is going to be very good when the grades finally roll in (waiting on 2 classes... no respect for the ****ing professors who take two weeks to get these done, what a joke). I'm taking 19 credits 2nd semester so that I can go out with a GPA bang. I really think I can 4.0 the 19 credits which will really help my total GPA when I'm applying again to grad schools. I'm taking some chemistry requirement, some creative writing requirement, politics classes, and a 1 credit weightlifting class (lolz).

BTW, I know you'll like this because you're a wrestling fan. Well my brother and I used to be huge fans in the late 90s early 2000s. Anyway, we were flipping through the channels around 10:45 on a Monday in early June and came across Raw as Nexus was first debuting ripping apart the ring and ****. It was nuts so we've kept watching since. Point of that background is for christmas we bought all of these clearance sale old wrestling shirts (couple eddie guerrero's, brock, rock, austin, angle, and then the white cena deadlifting t because it's sick haha) and now they're the sickest/cheapest sleeveless T's I own haha. So good.

December 24, 2010: Lower Power

I did some very light box squats and then PR'd DB lunges with the 95s for 2 sets of 5. Upper power today. Just shoveled for so ****ing long though so it's essentially my 2nd workout of the day. Feels great, I randomly love shoveling haha.

[My_Legacy]

Hear you on the weight gain...definitely sucks when you lose 20 lbs on a cut and you don't even end up being that cut up (I guess you were prob. a lower bf than I was at the end of your cut though).

19 credits? What the..? How does that work? Isn't that like 6 classes? At my college, 12 is full time, and you have to get special permission from the Dean to even go over 15...19 almost sounds like suicide haha, but maybe your school works differently than mine in terms of credits you receive per class. But yeah, since you mentioned only 4 classes, they probably are worth like 6 a piece and the weight lifting one 1 credit?

The Nexus storyline was pretty cool even though all of them besides Barrett/Gabriel were pretty boring..I usually only watch if I'm bored on Monday's nights with nothing to do, which happens a lot since Monday's are usually pretty dead besides MNF. I don't even bother with the other brand that lands on a Friday night lol

[JerG]

Yo man sounds like we have a lot in common as far as goals. I know you went light on them, but do you think box squats felt better on your back than free squats? I may have to try box squats again. Nice db lunges btw.

The only thing different is I think I'll end up doing a long cut/recomp this summer. My cut was stopped short last year and I really want to see what I'm made of this year, I think if I go slow 12 weeks will be plenty to get in prime shape

[MKW]

Hear you on the weight gain...definitely sucks when you lose 20 lbs on a cut and you don't even end up being that cut up (I guess you were prob. a lower bf than I was at the end of your cut though).

19 credits? What the..? How does that work? Isn't that like 6 classes? At my college, 12 is full time, and you have to get special permission from the Dean to even go over 15...19 almost sounds like suicide haha, but maybe your school works differently than mine in terms of credits you receive per class. But yeah, since you mentioned only 4 classes, they probably are worth like 6 a piece and the weight lifting one 1 credit?

The Nexus storyline was pretty cool even though all of them besides Barrett/Gabriel were pretty boring..I usually only watch if I'm bored on Monday's nights with nothing to do, which happens a lot since Monday's are usually pretty dead besides MNF. I don't even bother with the other brand that lands on a Friday night lol

Na our classes are 3 credits each. It's going to end up as 6 classes + the 1 credit weightlifting class. I'm taking the 15 credits I need to graduate + an easy A exercise science class + the 1 credit weightlifting class. I take 5 3 credit classes each semester so those 4 are the additional credits. We can take 19 credits without getting permission. 20 or more though and we need consent like you mentioned.

In regards to WWF (I don't call it WWE and never will) it is completely unwatchable without a DVR or youtube. So much of it is crap. I'll watch a 2 hour show in like 35 minutes generally. Gives me something to do on Monday's though.

Yo man sounds like we have a lot in common as far as goals. I know you went light on them, but do you think box squats felt better on your back than free squats? I may have to try box squats again. Nice db lunges btw.

The only thing different is I think I'll end up doing a long cut/recomp this summer. My cut was stopped short last year and I really want to see what I'm made of this year, I think if I go slow 12 weeks will be plenty to get in prime shape

I think the box squats definitely were better on my back than regular squats. My injury occurred in the hole on squats so pausing on the box should in theory help that out. We'll see though because I only did 185 to try them the other day. Once they're heavier who knows. I'll keep you updated though. I also thought they were just an incredible exercise. I felt like I was working so damn hard on them. Apparently the carryover to regular squats is very good too so I'm going to give them a shot.

12 week cut for you would be so sick once you get your physique back to where it was.