Let the Gains begin! - Growth Stimulus Training (GST) by Sid

[rsid97]

Story of my life with this bi-weekly waves of weight gain. Finally breaking through 80kg, reaching 80.02kg exactly. This also wraps up the end of 12 macros on this program (including the time spent on the 3 day version of it) so probably will post up a bit summary report of the physique gains that were made.

[17mahmoods]

Story of my life with this bi-weekly waves of weight gain. Finally breaking through 80kg, reaching 80.02kg exactly. This also wraps up the end of 12 macros on this program (including the time spent on the 3 day version of it) so probably will post up a bit summary report of the physique gains that were made.

That's one strong bulk you got going. Glad to see your training is going great as well.

[cornman99]

Deadlifts (140kg) - 1,1 + (170kg) - 1 <--- Singles were going great so decided to go for that big PR. Ecstatic to have pulled that but of course my lower back hates me for it now.

Shrugs (57.5kg) - 15,15,15

Leg curls (55kg) - 15,15,15

Lat pull down (52kg) - 15,15,15

Cable crunches (30kg) - 15,15,15

Crush grip (25kg) - 15,15,15

Decided to wait a few days before posting this since my back is still achey and not in a mood to cooperate so just going to stretch out and do some mobility work instead of my next Bench day.

Way to go man!

[rsid97]

That's one strong bulk you got going. Glad to see your training is going great as well.

Way to go man!

Thanks guys! Typing up an overall progress report right now.

[rsid97]

This is probably the only time in my life that I've actually been happy to look back at my old measurements and photos. Going to write up a summary of the overall changes in size, weight etc

Measurements

These are going to be my current measurements. In brackets I shall follow up with the change in size since the point where I started GST.

Shoulders without flaring lats - 49.6 inches (gained 5.6 inches)

Chest - 40 inches (gained 8 inches)

Legs - 23.2 inches (gained 5.6 inches) <--- Am I out of chicken leg territory yet? No? Okay.

Arms - 14.88 inches (gained 3.48 inches)

Waist - 27.432 inches (this has only gone up by 0.232 inches which is fantastic. Giving me that nice 1.8 shoulder to waist ratio)

Forearms - 11.8 inches (gained 0.624 inches. Still got them pipe cleaners going on here, but on the same note I only started training them when I started logging, which was about half way through the year, so pretty happy with that, progress is still progress).

Body weight

I really couldn't be more satisfied with this. At the point where I started logging (6 months in) I had gained 10kg/22lbs. The most I had ever gained before that was 8kg/17.6lbs which took a whole year while I was still a novice lifter. So given my track record, I was expecting the gains to slow down there, so naturally I was shocked to see a perfect mirror of that, by gaining another 10kg/22lbs in the 2nd half of the year (while logging here).

Current bodyweight - 80.02kg/176lbs (gained 20.02kg since starting and still got my upper abs, mission success!)

Only question is whether or not to go full lumberjack mode and aim for 100kg bodyweight next year or be more realistic haha.


Strength gains

Current numbers are as follows. Pretty much all of them are recently set PRs.

Squat - 127.5kg/ 281lbs
Bench - 95kg / 209lbs
Deadlift - 170kg / 374.8lbs

Just as a little disclaimer these blue (20kg) plates do weigh something closer to 20.46kg rather than 20, but that just makes calculations messy so I just round them down to 20kg so its more like a 380lb deadift really. Does anyone else that lifts with kg plates and measures things in kgs have this issue?

Progress photo

Finally to wrap this up, here are some terribly unaesthetic transformation photos.

[cornman99]

Please go full lumberjack

[MynameisGregg]

Your photos wont load for some reason

[rsid97]

So, my lower back still been bugging me since last time so decided to just rest things out instead of squatting. Things got a bit better yesterday and today so thought of giving things a try but wasn't quite able to go all out just yet.

Pull ups (13.75kg) - 8,7 + (13.5kg) - 8 <--- Back felt fine here, but getting the last reps out on the last set were problematic so dropped down the weight a bit to get those done.

OHP (40kg) - 8,8,8 <---While warming up I could still feel some tension in my lower back so I decided just not to push it too hard here.

Cable rows (47kg) - 8,8,8 <--- Lower back really didn't like these. Each time I tried to tighten up to get set up before pulling,just felt uncomfortable and wasn't allowing me to maintain a stiff posture so had to drop the weight. Was meant to be doing 72kg.

Incline dumbell bench (22kg) - 8,8,8 <--- Pec wasn't causing too much discomfort but yet again, my back wasn't happy with my picking the dumbells off the floor and rack.

Bicep curls (53kg) - 8,8,8

Reverse grip curls (22.5kg) - 8,8,8

Leg raises - 8,8,8

All in all, looks like I need to give this back some extra rest. Seems to be pretty pain free when just moving around but that doesn't seem to be the case when it's under loads or tension.

[rsid97]

Please go full lumberjack

Shall be aiming for it!

[rsid97]

Your photos wont load for some reason

I'll try to fit them in as an attachment in this reply then.

[cornman99]

I'll try to fit them in as an attachment in this reply then.

Looks like you went from boy to man in this transformation.

The beard will be very appropriate as a lumberjack.

[MynameisGregg]

Nice gains. You are still really lean as well. Plenty more months of bulking ahead. 100kg is well in your reach before going on a cut.

[rsid97]

Kinda dead inside with life at the moment. Exams and a bunch of other things made it difficult to keep this updated. Was still getting in my workouts but I don't feel that I did them due diligence so I'm going to run through this micro again. Moving deadlift day to Monday and Squat day to Friday since I've been meaning to do it for a while but never got round to it. Back is still not fully recovered but managing to get it moving around now. Throwing in some extra hyperextensions at the end of the workouts to help with that.

Deadlifts (60kg) - 8,8,8 <---These are meant to be like 100+ but just working my way back up to it. Still feeling the lower back tensing up way too much despite keeping straight so probably still recovering from the back pain.

Shrugs (65kg) - 8,8,8

Lat pull downs (51.5kg) - 8,8,8

Leg curls (57kg) - 8,8,8

Reverse grip curls (25kg) - 8,8,8

Leg raises - 8,8,8

[17mahmoods]

Just finished exams today so I totally understand your pain. My diet and sleep goes to complete **** during exam period.

[rsid97]

Looks like you went from boy to man in this transformation.

The beard will be very appropriate as a lumberjack.

Haha, thanks man, perhaps I'll grow it out more and make some beard gains while I'm at it.

[rsid97]

Nice gains. You are still really lean as well. Plenty more months of bulking ahead. 100kg is well in your reach before going on a cut.

Thanks man. My only issue is that my body fat distribution is such that majority of it deposits right on my abs so they're the first to go. My trap and upper chest are still paper thin. So I'm stepping into that territory where the gut may get out of control at some point. But at the same time, all this new weight is definetly uncharted territories for me so I'm looking to explore it further so I may just aim that high. Hopefully things go alright over the next 3-4 months since I won't be stuck in any one country during the time.

[rsid97]

Just finished exams today so I totally understand your pain. My diet and sleep goes to complete **** during exam period.

I totally get you man. This was my final semester so there was ridiculous amounts of content. My diet generally doesn't get too messed up since I just end up stress eating but my sleep goes right out the window. Especially since I study better at night. But the stress stops me from falling asleep when I do try to sleep.

[MynameisGregg]

Thanks man. My only issue is that my body fat distribution is such that majority of it deposits right on my abs so they're the first to go. My trap and upper chest are still paper thin. So I'm stepping into that territory where the gut may get out of control at some point. But at the same time, all this new weight is definetly uncharted territories for me so I'm looking to explore it further so I may just aim that high. Hopefully things go alright over the next 3-4 months since I won't be stuck in any one country during the time.

My bodyfat distribution is pretty similar, my stomach looks distended at times, something I've always struggled with.

[rsid97]

Pull ups (13.5kg) - 8,8,8 <--- Might have to deload on these soon but am going to have some distractions with travelling and changing accommodations coming up in 10 days so just going to hold off on that till then.

OHP (44kg) - 8,8,8 <--- Weight was moving pretty well but still got some discomfort in the lower back so took the conservative increase in weight here.

Cable rows (68kg) - 8,8,8 <---- Raising this up a bit after lowering the weight because of my back last time. Things were feeling quite a bit better but still needing to rely on my legs a lot to keep myself in place which is why I didn't go for the 72kg which I would have otherwise.

Incline dumbell bench (24kg each) - 8,8,8 <---Pecs are finally feeling better now

Bicep curls (53kg) - 8,8,8

Cable crunches (31.25kg) - 8,8,8

Crush grip (27.5kg) - 8,8,8

[rsid97]

Squats (60kg) - 4,8,8,4 <-- Back is still a work in progress.

Leg press (107.5kg) - 8,8,8

Leg curls (57kg) - 8,8,8

Leg extensions (9kg) - 8,8,8

Face pulls (30.75kg)- 8,8,8

Reverse grip curls (25kg) - 8,8,8

Leg raises - 8,8,8

[rsid97]

Flat bench (62.5kg) - 8,8,8

Close grip bench (52.5kg) - 8,8,8

Rows (122.5kg) - 8,8,8

Tricep extension (21.875kg) - 8,8,8

Cable lateral raise (2.5kg) - 8,8,8

Cable crunches (31.25kg) - 8,8,8

Crush grip (27.5kg) - 8,8,8

[rsid97]

Current weight is at 80.11kg. Can't really give an accurate measure of how much it's gone up since it's been going up and down over the last couple of weeks where I couldn't weigh myself daily till now.

[rsid97]

Deadlifts (80kg) - 6,6,6 (still building back up)

Shrugs (60kg) - 15,15,15

Lat pull downs (47.5kg) - 15,15,15 <--- Not sure what was wrong with these today. I suspect my grip was still shot from my last workout which got pushed late to yesterday evening and I had to get into the gym really early this morning.

Leg curls (53kg) - 15,15,15

Reverse grip curls (20kg) - 15,15,15

Leg raises - 15,15,15

[rsid97]

Pull ups (13.5kg) - 6,6,6

OHP (47.5kg) - 6,6,6

Cable rows (51kg) - 15,15,15

Incline dumbell bench (24kg each) - 15,15,15

Bicep curl (46kg) - 15,15,15

Crush grip (25kg) - 15,15,15

Cable crunches (30.75kg) - 15,15,15

[rsid97]

Back squats (80kg) - 6,6,6 <-- Slowly getting back into the groove here

Leg press (105kg) - 15,15,15

Leg curl (53kg) -15,15,15

Leg extensions (7kg) - 15,15,15

Face pulls (28.75kg) -15,15,15

Reverse grip curls (20kg) - 15,15,15

Leg raises - 15,15,15

[rsid97]

Bench press (72.5kg) - 6,6,6

Close grip bench (51kg) - 15,15,15

Rows (97.5kg ) - 15,15,15

Cable tricep extension (21.25kg) - 15,15,15

Lateral raise (1.875kg) - 15,15,15

[rsid97]

+0.458kg to put me at 80.575kg.

[rsid97]

Deadlifts (100kg) - 4,4,4 <-- Backs starting to feel better

Shrugs (65kg) - 8,8,8

Leg curls (55kg) - 8,8,8

Lat pull downs (52.5kg) - 8,8,8

Leg raises - 8,8,8

Reverse grip curls (27.5kg) - 8,8,8

[rsid97]

Changing countries and at a new gym so forced into changing some things around.

Pull ups (15kg) - 4,4,4 <--- This wasn't as heavy as I'd like since I was having to deal with the old dumbell between the legs method since there wasn't a pull up belt. Might ask them to see if they're going to get one or will change to a mechanical pull down machine.

OHP (52.5kg) - 4,4,4

Cable rows (60kg) - 8,8,8

Incline dumbell bench (25kg each) - 8,8,8

EZ bar Preacher curl (30kg) - 8,8,8

Cable crunches (31.5kg) - 8,8,8

Wrist curls (5kg) - 8,8,8

[rsid97]

Squats (90kg) - 4,4,4

Leg press (107.5kg) - 8,8,8

Leg extensions (8.25kg) - 8,8,8

Leg curls (40kg) - 8,8,8 <--- Well these were confusing since its a lying,plate loaded,single leg hamstring curl as opposed to the usual cable hamstring curl so had to adjust the weights.

Face pulls (30.25kg) - 8,8,8

Reverse grip curls (25kg) - 8,8,8

Leg raises - 8,8,8