The Callahan Project

[rookiebldr]

Good luck on the second round of HST. It seemed to do you well the first time so this time really should be a breeze.

[Relentless]

thanks Jeff... looking forward to it, actually.

[chris mason]

Sorry to hear about the knee. I have messed up both of my knees. I know it stinks.

[Relentless]

Chris: Thanks man. Nothing frustrates me more than my body 'betraying' me. It feels much better these days so hopefully that will suffice.


Updates:
Was going to test my 15s on Sunday for HST but rapidly discovered that after a month off from lifting, everything felt DAMNED heavy and that my shoulder is pretty much healed but still twinges a little when lifting. I'd hazard a guess that I've got a bit of bound fascia or some minor scarring in there. I'll work through it and see where it takes me. The net results are that I will need a little while of lifting to get back into the 'groove' before I feel I can properly test HST maxes so that's put on hold for now. The fact that 185 felt heavy on becnh, for instance, is a good sign that I need to get back in the groove. Dammit. Ah well, I'm sure it will just take a few weeks to ramp back up.

Monday:
On Labour Day I did something I've always wanted to try.

I went hang gliding.

I don't think I can adequately describe the sensation of being hundreds of feet in the air, with the wind rushing past my face, gliding and turning in the air while the land below dwindled in perspective until everything was reduced to relatively tidy blocks of colour and texture.

It was a tandem glider, so I didn't have to go it alone. A very nice fella from New Zealand was the instructor/pilot and he did all of the hard work. I was basically a very excited passenger for this flight but their whole instruction program is available through tandem modes to start, where you gradually learn to take control of the flight yourself.

Pictures forthcoming; we had 3 digicams and 2 real cameras in our group so there's a crapload of pix.

[JustinF]

Looking forward to those pics Cal! Sounds awesome.

[Relentless]

jhn

[Relentless]

p

[Relentless]

tty

[Relentless]

wheee!

[Relentless]

missed with the spit

[Relentless]

whew

[Relentless]

now that was fun!

[ElPietro]

Whatever, I think you used a stunt double. In none of the pics is it discernable that you are actually the one flying. Oh and Sarah seems to be enjoying herself whilst mounted to the instructor. :D

That is all for now.

[Scott S]

Looks like a lot of fun! Hang gliding is on my list of things to try someday. :)

[Relentless]

Originally posted by ElPietro
Whatever, I think you used a stunt double. In none of the pics is it discernable that you are actually the one flying. Oh and Sarah seems to be enjoying herself whilst mounted to the instructor. :D

That is all for now.

STFU assface.

You're just jealous because they haven't built a glider that can haul your carcass off of the ground yet!

:p

[JustinF]

Nice pics Cal!! Looks like a great time, guess I'm a bit too heavy for that huh?

[Relentless]

Nah, I was just buggin' pete.

Hang gliders can support hundreds of pounds. The one I was up on was rated for well over 400lbs... it was a tandem glider setup as well.

[Relentless]

Watched Identity (Cusack, Liotta, others) on the weekend. First reaction is "damn good movie". Second reaction was, "did I just like it because it was clever or because I figured it out early on".

[Relentless]

Well, I did it

and about damned time, too!

MY FIRST PAIN-FREE SHOULDER WORKOUT!!

All it took was a month off and lots of rest. Hm.

Anyway, I'm easing back into the stream of things, and kept the poundages fairly light, with decent results.

Arnold Press: 10x30s, 10x50s, 8x65s

Lateral Raises: 10x20s, 10x35s, 12x25s

DB Shrugs: 10x100s, 12x100s

BB Shrugs: 10x315, 8x315, 14x225

Reverse Flye Machine: 10x90, 10x120, 5x150, 10x120

finished off with a bunch of lateral raises and front raises with like 15s, pausing at the top of reps, pausing int he middle of reps and generally just ****ing around with the movement to ensure I was comfortable and strong throughout the ROM

Hoorah!

Diet has been good, with the exception of a bunch of drinking and such that was done early in the weekend. T'was hard to avoid as my mates in Pilate were opening for Matthew Good down in Kingston, so I had to drive down there to party on Friday night. It was a closed show, students only except for the bands and us 'friends of the band'.

It was actually kind of cute, the mostly-frosh crowd were like happy puppies and all energetic and innocent and stuff. We were the unattainably cool older people that were 'with the band' and such. Went to a student pub after the actual show and the whole gang of us drank for free, which was nice. :D

[Scott S]

Congratulations on the workout! May the rest be pain-free as well. :thumbup:



(And thanks again. You mods are cool. And I'm not just saying that to suck up. :D)

[Relentless]

of course we're cool

that's why we're mods

silly boy

[rookiebldr]

:rolleyes:

[JustinF]

Good to see ya back at it bro. HOpefully the pain stays away. Still looks pretty damn strong for a month off!

[Relentless]

Thanks J

Dunno about the strong part though; it was alright I guess. I'm starting my clean bulk now so with hard work and lots of food, those numbers oughta shoot up quickly enough.

[WillKuenzel]

Good luck with lunges today man. One of the best damn leg exercises I ever started doing. Make sure to start light enough (I know I don't have to say but I just want to emphasize it. :) ) that you can take long deep steps and test out the knee. Taking long steps is the key.

Good luck and glad there wasn't any shoulder problems in that last workout. Not a bad workout at all for having just recovered from some shoulder problems.

[Relentless]

Well, I owe Will a beer. Those lunges totally kicked my ass.


Workout today:

Squats (below parallel, full-on-powerlifting-legal-but-not-quite-ATF)
10x135, 10x225, 6x245
*felt ok thru the motion and generally strong. Didn't push things tho.

DB lunges with 60lbs per hand
6/6, 6/6, 4/4
*these totally kicked my ass... wasn't too heavy but any exercise that makes me feel this gimpy must be a good thing. Only sheer willpower kept me from collapsing in midrep at the bottom of the motion. Didn't do walking lunges because there wasn't enough space in my ****ty gym I go to... just did alternating standing lunges...

(Will, others, if you have any form/focus advice for lunges I'm all ears)

leg press
10x450, 10x450, 15x450
* nothing special here, just touching base with an old friend... we'll see about going heavier gradually

calf press @ legpress
15x450, 15x450
*again nothing special but I bet I'll feel this in my calves tomorrow.

[WillKuenzel]

Awesome!

To tell you the truth, I really like barbell lunges better. Balance is less of an issue.

Are you doing them like this guy? (http://www.exrx.net/WeightExercises/GluteusMaximus/BBLunge.html) Or if step right do you bring your left foot forward to meet it instead of stepping back? I've found that by stepping forward you get alot more hamstring and glute action going. I also like to take a bit larger step forward than what they have shown. When he goes down that front knee extends out over the ankle, I try to avoid that.

Glad you liked them! :D

[Relentless]

yeah, I was doing them standing in place like that dude because (as I said) there was no real room to do walking-style lunges

I definitely took larger steps than that guy, though on the last set maybe not... I am fairly certain I started to pussy out on them for fear that I'd keel over and die

I'll need to do 'em with a BB soon enough I guess; my assumption is that once I acclimate to the motion, I'll soon exceed 200lbs of resistance and need to go to BB.

[WillKuenzel]

It'd actually get easier once you move to the barbell so you could probably go up really quick there.

You might think about trying walking lunges and reverse lunges if you don't have much room. You could kind of incorporate them together to do both so that you didn't have to have that much room. Too bad you can't take the barbell out into the parking lot. That'd be tough. :evillaugh

[ElPietro]

Originally posted by Callahan
Squats (below parallel, full-on-powerlifting-legal-but-not-quite-ATF)

How do you know? Was there a judge there giving you white lights on every rep???!!!


;)

[Relentless]

yes.

yes there was.

assface.

:D

[Budiak]

Ooooh, ZING!

[Relentless]

Chest and Tris today

BB Bench: 10x125, 6x175, 2x195
* not too bad... a little stiff in the recovering shoulder but I think it's just bound-up fascia. I'll need to get some more massage to work this out, and then my bench oughta get back up into a decent range. Really focused on keeping chest big, lats tight and paused a bit at the bottom of each rep.

Incline DB Flyes: 10x40s, 7x50s, 16x30s
* haven't done these in AGES. Not too bad. Good ROM and really felt the stretch.

Triceps Pushdown
10xStack, 7xstack
*piece of cake

Machine Flyes
10x90, 6x180, 20x90

1-H reverse tri pushdowns
8/8x70, 20/20x40
*ooh, nice pump from the big set at the end. Vascularity in the arms is fun. I think I'm starting to get a vein popping out on my triceps as well. Neat.



Overall, I am really feeling the effects of eating to bulk again. I think I'm still not eating quite enough; I checked my total cals over the last few days and it was barely over 2500. I will revisit diet on the weekend and plan out some meals to that I can consistently hit 3000+ for the next while. Eating has become a bit of a chore.

[Relentless]

Back and Curl Jockey Day

NG lat pulldown: 15x120, 6x210, 3x240, 16x120
Seated Rows: 15x100, 7x150, 14x100
Chins 2xBW (should have done these first... I was tired!)
EZ Curls: 10x70, 3x110, 8x70, plus two dropsets 70-40-25, for as many reps as I could at each weight
Back to NG pulldowns; did 4 sets of 5 with just enough rest between each set to stretch a bit, then a set of 4, all at 120... found this was a good way to totally stretch and pump the muscle!

Overall, guardedly pleased with first day back at back day. Strength wasn't all there yet but it will come. I was especially happy with the soda-straw vascularity that emerged on my biceps during the curl jockey action. Being lean hath its advantages.

[JustinF]

Originally posted by Callahan
. I was especially happy with the soda-straw vascularity that emerged on my biceps during the curl jockey action.

:swear:

J/K bro, awesome job. Good looking session.

[rookiebldr]

Gazing at your arms, eh. Curl-jockey! ;)


Nice session though.

[Franjipani]

Originally posted by Callahan
I was especially happy with the soda-straw vascularity that emerged on my biceps during the curl jockey action.

yummy !!!:hump: ;)

Just goes with the territory.....being a top shelf perv and all:D

[Relentless]

J-Bro, rookmeister, franjilicious... thank you all for the kind words and support. You are all in my good books.

From here on out, and after I decide on some sexy new formatting for my journal, I shall be indicating forward progress (or lack thereof) in my workout logs. I've basically decided to tack on more volume at moderate weight as a general principle and will strive to just work the muscles more and harder to promote growth. I've generally been lifting for strength in the past and this marks a bit of a change I may or may not progress to HST at some point, we'll see how it goes.


Today: Shoulders & Traps

Arnold Press 15x35 (+5), 10x50(+2), 5x65(+1)
* a promising start to the new strategy. of course this is just my second week back in; of course my gains will be good. :/ A bit of shoulder hinkiness in the heavy reps but not pain per se.

Lateral Raises 10x20s(+0), 10x30s(+2), 15x20s(+3)

DB Shrugs 10x100s (+0), 15x100s(+3)

BB Shrugs 10x315 (+2), 7x315 (+1), 20x225 (+8)
* grip was really the issue on the heavier reps but I'm loathe to use straps if I can help it

Rvrse Flyes 10x90 (+0), 10x135 (+15lbs), 5x165 (+15lbs), 23x90 (new)


Finished off with a crapload of front delt raises and lateral raises to completely toast the shoulders, herds of reps with 15s and 20s.

[WillKuenzel]

Are you planning on increasing the times per week (or twice over a course of 8-9 days or something) you work a muscle group or sticking with the once per week kind of thing?

I've started to consider something like this based on some of the gains I'd seen with my chest in relation to this type of training and also from some of the reading I've been trying to do more of.

[Relentless]

For now, once per week per bodypart, but I'm increasing the raw volume of reps in each workout, and generally adding some kind of thing onto the end of each workout where I just rep out like a mofo with something.

I don't know if my body is up to training parts 2x a week these days although I may progress to that. Now that I've been eating to gain again, I find I have a ****load more energy/power.

For me it's all about experience and experimentation. I really enjoy trying new things and paying attention to how my body reacts.

[Relentless]

Leg Day

SQuats: 12x135 (+2), 10x225, 3x275 (+30lbs)
*felt oddly strong thru whole thing but didn't want to push it. I wobbled a bit getting out of the hole at 275 and my pos chain is bugging me a tiny bit so I didn't want to take any risks. Overall, happy with 'em. All solid depth and cadence.

SLDLs: 10x135, 6x225, 6x225
*just added these in so focused on form and tightness. Pos Chain and hams protested a bit but I threatened them with more squats so they quieted down.

BB Lunges: 6/6x95, 7/7x95, 7/6x95
* changed to BB. Will was right; they are easier to balance than DB lunges. Starting to feel less gimpy doing these and should be easier to progress weight with BB lunges.

Leg Press: 10x450, 10x450, 12x450 (+4)
Not bad. Was in the Barrie gym not my usual so I was a little uncomfortable in the sled and couldn't get a position I was totally happy with. FOcused on pausing at the bottom *just* before the pelvis starts to tilt and then driving back up. Piece of cake, really but again not rushing things.

Calf Press @ Leg PRess: 15x450, 21x450(+6!!)
*definitely need more weight here. Next week I'll probably move some of the leg press sets to 540 so I'll likely do that.

[JustinF]

Nice leg session bro. Do you do walking lunges or stationary? I'd like to give them a shot but I don't have a whole lot of room in my basement. ..

[Relentless]

stationary, for the same reason

as mentioned earlier in the journal, I never liked 'em but Will seems to think they're the shiznit so I'm tryin' them

so far they have totally kicked my ass. Thus, i shall keep them a while. Probably good for proprioception and various small muscles that dont' get much work, as well . . .

[Relentless]

Other movies I have recently watched, for those that may care:

Lost in La Mancha: The documentary about Terry Gilliam's attempt to make a movie about Don Quixote. Basically a lot of whining and crap about why it didn't work, how everyone around him was an incompetent fcukup and generally an object lesson in hiring competent production staff. Neat though.

Nick of Time: I had meant to watch this ages ago and finally got around to it last night. Neat little flick, interesting premise and it had a very solid pace that drew you into it. Johnny Depp and Christopher Walken are pretty good in it.

[WillKuenzel]

Glad to hear the barbell worked better for you. I found that with a better sense of balance, I was a whole lot more comfortable with adding weight and it quickly shot up there.

I think I remember hearing something about Nick of Time but never got to see it. Christopher Walken has to be one of my favorite all time actors. Johnny Depp has moved up a bit too. Once Upon A Time in Mexico was really good. He does well in that too. IMO, but I'm not the best critic. Me = easily pleased. ;)

[Relentless]

Originally posted by HomeYield
Johnny Depp has moved up a bit too. Once Upon A Time in Mexico was really good. He does well in that too. IMO, but I'm not the best critic. Me = easily pleased. ;)

LOL. Yeah, I really really liked Once Upon a Time... thought it was not QUITE as tight a flick as Desperado but then Rodriguez wasn't trying to make the same sort of movie... he was shooting for more of a sweeping/epic spaghetti western style thing.

Depp was wicked in that flick though. He played the part of the Ugly American perfectly, and ya gotta respect anyone that can convincingly act with no eyes. :)

[carolinagirl]

I saw your contribution to the 'funny sites' thread in chat - I LOVE the Acts of Gord, too! I totally wish I could make a pilgrimage to the store, but alas, it is closed. :(

(I envision Gord as being pretty much exactly like the comic book store guy from the Simpsons.)

[Relentless]

I rather suspect that the gord thought up a lot of his comebacks 'after the fact'

but some of the stuff is still damned priceless

I think my favourite is either:



Annoyances, 22
Japanese writing on signs is just sort of cool. So one day, The Gord had the painted sign in the window changed. Right below where it said "World Renowned Game Store of the Future", there was a collection of Japanese writings.

The translation: "Cute Japanese girlfriend wanted: Apply with management."


or perhaps



Annoyances, 21
Called 6/6/98 - Left message with occupant regarding MLB '99 late..

Called 6/9/98 - Told no longer live there, and that game was returned sans instructions.

Called 6/10/98 - Told contradictory story.

Called 6/16/98 - Talked to mother-no progress-she warned not to call back. (No one cares.)

Called 6/18/98 - Informed mother we would call once a day, and that we would place her number on the wall and let random customers call her to remind her of the game not being returned.

6/19/98 - MLB ‘99 returned

[Relentless]

Back and Bi day (in Barrie)

very average lifting day, which I partly attribute to eating nothing but some cottage cheese and a protein shake in the morning before

made up for it after with a Wendy's triple burger with cheese afterwards though. :burger: :burger: :burger: Gotta love bulking.

Chins
15xBW-80@machine thing, 5xBW, 4xBW
*that sucked. But I guess after 4-5 months of cutting and a month off will do that. Going to put these first on back day and work 'em back up again

NG Lat Pulldowns
15x120, 5x210(-1 dammit), 17x120(+1)
* figger the crap chins hurt me here but I guess I'm resetting the order so no sweat

ISO Rows
10x90, 10x180, 6x270, 6x270
* found a HS machine to do this in Barrie, which is cool. Must work up to 10 plates again ASAP. :)

EZ Curls
10x75, 2x110, 10x75, 11x75, plus two dropsets 75-40-25, for as many reps as I could at each weight
* not bad; upped the 'medium' weight by 5lbs and got more reps. This will probably shoot up quickly so it'll be a bit hard to track process in reps but I won't worry until I stop adding weight a lot

Did a bunch of incline DB curls with 25s after this... damn they felt heavy after all those EZ curls

Then repped out with a crapload of additional narrow grip pulldowns... totally thrashed.


Overall, the high point of the workout was positioning myself so I could see both the front and the side while doing the EZ curls. The missus was saying just the other day that my biceps were looking more 'biceppy'. :) :strong: anyway, I felt like maybe the lack of food limited my strength a bit. Overall not as happy with it as I might have been but not bad.

[Budiak]

I am a big fan of narrow grip pulldowns. Do you ever do them with a parallel grip or just narrow on a straight bar?

[JustinF]

Nice session Cal!!

Gotta luv bulking.

:drooling: triple cheeseburger

[Franjipani]

Originally posted by HomeYield
You might think about trying walking lunges

*lol*

I reckon he's converted the entire wbb site to these..... they bloody well work though.....ouchie:eek:.

I "ass"ume that your bulk will be well and truly done by the time you arrive in Oz??;)

You have to let me know how much free time you will have and what your plans are..... and we MUST do a gym session this time round:angel:. I have soooo many people wanting to meet you hon:)

[Relentless]

Franji:

I will be done the bulk by the end of October and will spend November and early December getting extra lean as I expect to spend a lot of time in Oz on the beach. It simply wouldn't do to be looking chubby. :) I'd like to be a lean 205 or so come mid December.

As far as free time, I expect to have nothing BUT free time. Sara's working in the Dr's practice, but I'm completely at loose ends. I have no firm plans as of yet, but I simply know I want to soak up some Aussie culture, do some surfing, ande generally just explore and have fun.

[Relentless]

Today: Shoulders & Traps

Arnold Press 15x35, 6x65(+1) 10x50
* just squeaked out one more rep on the heavies... i suspect this will be a slow-progression exercise... I am always aware of the right shoulder when doing these but it's just a sensation of tightness, not of pain.

Lateral Raises 10x20s(+0), 11.5x30s(+1.5), 18x20s(+3)

DB Shrugs 13x100s (+3), 17x100s(+2)
*grip is more or less what's limiting here

BB Shrugs 13x315 (+3), 10x315 (+3), 22x225 (+2)
* I finally went to straps here... the calluses on my hands were actually HURTING for some goddam reason and I just couldn't lift without straps.

Rvrse Flyes 10x90 (+0), 10x135 (+0), 6.5x165 (+1.5), 14x105 (+15lbs)

Finished off with a crapload of front delt raises and lateral raises to completely toast the shoulders, herds of reps with 15s and 20s, as per usual. Vascularity starting to emerge again on the tops/fronts of my shoulders. :) Yay for veins!



All in all not a bad workout considering I was sick as a ****ing dog yesterday with a cold that kicked my ass worse than any illness I've had in the last 10 years. Runny nose, watery eyes, cough, aches, stuffy head, mild fever, etc, etc. all combined to make me a cranky and helpless little boy. The worst part was that the wife wasn't feeling well either (sore shoulder) so she wasn't inclined to take care of me very much. Not that I *expect* such coddling but it's nice when I can get it. She did bring me some chicken soup, which was sweet of her.





My thoughts on the gym today:
I was musing today about why I like the gym.

I like the occasional nods I get after a killer set from someone I consider a peer. You know, the same guys and occasional gal that you see in the gym at the same time, day after day, week after week, month after month. The dedicated. The ones you wouldn't hesitate to ask for a spot. No words need be exchanged. That nod says it all.

I like the way everything else seems to get the volume turned way down, kind of like what happens to the dude in Fight Club. Your focus narrows reality down to a finer and finer point until, one moment at a time, you are living in the moment of blood and steel and will and lifting. I wish I could live more of my moments like that.

I like the feeling I get the day after a workout, when the DOMS is starting to set in. It might not be killer DOMS, but the secret warmth and pain is something that sets me apart from the average dude on the street. In our pain, we are special.

I like the taste of my first real food after a workout. Not the shake that I gulp afterwards to ensure that I'm getting protein right back into the muscles I've just thrashed but the chicken or beef or fish that I'm eating an hour or two later... the REAL postworkout meal. Damn it tastes good.

[JustinF]

Nice session bro. The same thing happens with my calluses, probably because we never give our hands a chance to fully heal/recover. Hope you and Sara feel better.

[Relentless]

Originally posted by Budiak
I am a big fan of narrow grip pulldowns. Do you ever do them with a parallel grip or just narrow on a straight bar?

Almost missed this in the page change, sorry bud!!

I never do them with a parallel grip because I believe it's too easy to cheat with lowback swaying. Instead, I always take a narrow underhand grip on a straight bar. I find I can pull 'straight down' more easily with this grip and it's easy to be very strict. I'm not a TOTAL form nazi but I do tend to the stricter side on form.


Workout today: was going to be legs but I feel like crap after being sick and going to my mates' CD-release party last night and only sleeping 4 hours. So chest/tris instead.

Inc DB Press:
15x40s, 4x80s(+5lbs), 11x60s(+1), 8.5x60s(+1)
*decent throughout

DIPS (new)
6xBW, 6xBW
*these are crap amounts of reps. Must refocus on this exercise to progress again so I can add weight

Flye Machine:
15x105, 7x180(+1), 18x105(+2), 28x90(+3)
* I'll leave the warmup set the same but next week I need to do the follow-on sets with 120 instead...

Pushdowns
10xstack, 8xstack
*was hurried with these; had to rush out to go to the dentist. I had a loose filling, dammit.


Overall, a decent workout considering I was underfed, under-rested and under-motivated plus feeling like 3/5ths of my normal self.

[WillKuenzel]

You just needed a good 5th and you'd have been feeling pretty gooood. ;)

[Relentless]

I usually feel good after a fifth...

... a fifth of JD.

w00t!

[JustinF]

Originally posted by Callahan
I usually feel good after a fifth...

... a fifth of JD.

w00t!

:thumbup:

That'll do the trick!! :D

[Budiak]

Alcohol is baaaad.

[Saint Patrick]

nice shruggin' on tuesday cal.

[Relentless]

Thanks St. P but it ain't nothin... I'm damned disappointed about needing to strap up for that.

[Relentless]

Leg Day

SQuats: 15x135 (+3), 12x225 (+2), 5x275 (+2)
*Decent. Nothing special. Felt like I could have pushed harder again but wasn't about to shoot my whole wad up front.

SLDLs: 12x135 (+2), 7x225 (+1), 7x225 (+1)
*grip seemed to be theissue. hm..

BB Lunges: 6/6x115, 6/6x115, 5/5x115
* getting better. Feeling much more stable in the hole.

Leg Press: 10x450, 5x540 (+90lbs), 13x450 (+1)
I definitely could have tried a set at 630 but no rush. Next week maybe..

Calf Press @ Leg PRess: 16x450(+1), 20x450(-1)
*Instead of doing more weight, I added in a different calf thing

Seated Calf Raise: 10x135, 10x135, 11x135
*not too shabby. Calves were protesting by the end.

Tried some light leg extensions at the end to see how my quads were doing. I felt like a total gimp, straining to move 180 for reps... this is a good sign that my quads are totally thrashed by this point.

[Saint Patrick]

Originally posted by Callahan
Thanks St. P but it ain't nothin... I'm damned disappointed about needing to strap up for that.


oh, you were using straps?


I take it back! you suck.





j/k :p

[Budiak]

Felt like I could have pushed harder again but wasn't about to shoot my whole wad up front.

Are you afraid of using lower weights for the rest of the session? Whats the big deal? It doesnt matter if your last set of front squats is less than the bar as long as the weight is conducive to an intense training experience.

[Relentless]

Back and Bi day (in Barrie)

Chins
7xBW(+2), 6xBW(+2)

NG Lat Pulldowns
15x120, 8x210(+3), 13x135(+15 lbs)
* better

ISO Rows
10x180, 7x270(+1), 13x180
* enh

EZ Curls
5x100, 10x80, 9x80, plus two dropsets 80-45-30, for as many reps as I could at each weight
* not bad; upped the 'medium' weight by 5lbs and got more reps. Got more reps on the 100 as well.

Did a bunch of incline DB curls with 25s after this... damn they felt heavy after all those EZ curls Then repped out with a crapload of additional narrow grip pulldowns... totally thrashed.

Could have been better but ah well. I still think I may not be eating enough despite being back up to 208 already. Hm.

[Relentless]

Chest and Tris today.
Should have been legs but not. Why? Well, let me tell you. I was playing football on Saturday when this new guy was running a route in one direction while looking over his shoulder.

He was a bit of a sloppy big guy, maybe 250-260 at 5'10" or so... gut, etc, etc. He was trying real hard but wasn't playing especially well. Anyway despite having mass on me, I noticed him coming and set to, resulting in him bouncing off of me and landing on his ass in a big puddle of mud. In the process, he smashed my lower right leg with his knee. I thought at one point it might have been a hairline fracture in the fibula but after Sara checked it out, turns out that he damn near dislocated my fibula.

Thank God for live-in chiropractors. :) She fixed me up and I am almost back to normal... the head of the fibula was almost 3/4" out of place!!! it hurt like a sonofabitch when she did the manipulation to put it back in place. Anyway, I decided that giving legs a pass this week would not be a bad idea.



Inc DB Press:
15x40s, 6x80s(+2), 11x60s(+0), 7.5x60s(-1)
*I am willing to accept the -1 on the last set given that I got 2 more reps at the heavy set. Booya.

DIPS (new)
8xBW(+2), 7.5xBW(+1.5)
*feeling pretty good again already on these, getting into the groove. Want to see 10 reps next week. Note that these are good, deep, controlled reps, not the ****ing slight-elbow-bend-bob-up-and-down-horse**** I've seen people doing in the gym. These are PROPER dips.

Flye Machine:
15x105, 7x180(+0), 15x120(+15 lbs), 18x105(+15 lbs)
* was a bit spent from the first two exercises I think but this went alright.

Pushdowns
10xstack, 9xstack(+1)
*not great but not bad


Tried to do some cable crossovers to finish toasting my pecs but *BLAM*! it turns out they were already toast. I could barely get the cable handles down and in position. My chest *HURTS*.

Then I did a bunch of 1-H reverse tri pushdowns with 60, then 50 lbs, alternating immediately from one arm to the other until I couldnt' get at least 5 reps with one of the arms. It took quite a while and by the end my triceps were swollen as hell.

[JustinF]

5'10", 260 lbs running a route?? WTF?? LOL What the hell do your linemen look like? :D

Nice session bro. Good job on the dips.

[Relentless]

Originally posted by JustinF
5'10", 260 lbs running a route?? WTF?? LOL What the hell do your linemen look like? :D

Nice session bro. Good job on the dips.

We just play 7-on-7 (occasionally 8s or 9s) touch, so there usually isn't much in terms of Oline or Dline. We also play 4 downs for the field, on a 50-yard field... if you can't score in 4 downs it's a turnover... we do have some blocking but usually only worry about it on short yardage situations, where two blitzers can easily swamp the QB, so in some cases the offense will leave 1 or two guys back to buy the QB breathing/scrambling room. The bottom line is that everyone is an eligible receiver.

The last time we had an actual game-type game, we had 11s per side, and subs and everything. We used first down markers, etc. and went so far as to design audibles on the Dline to declare blitzes and stunts and such, to keep the Oline guessing. Basic codes that your average college lineman would pick up on quick enough but against a bunch of hacks, it was enough. I played LDE that game and had a number of sacks. :)

[JustinF]

Ahhhh, gotcha.

[WillKuenzel]

Good to hear that the training is going good. No problems with the shoulder now?

[Relentless]

Originally posted by HomeYield
Good to hear that the training is going good. No problems with the shoulder now?

it still twinges a bit on heavy shoulder and chest work but it's not really *pain* per se -- just sort of an extra awareness of the joint. I suspect it's scar tissue or some kind of crap like that.

I expect to be back up to 100s on DB incline bench before too long, so we'll see how it stands up under real stress.

[Relentless]

had a good weekend... lots of rest, plus a great game of football on Saturday. It was 6's and the field was good and muddy, which made for some interesting running

I had a monster day, with a pick, a sack, and a pair of TDs. It would have been 4 TDs instead of two, but I was stopped at the 1 yard line on one play and I had 1 foot out of the back of the endzone on another play. It was one of those days where everything was just "ON", ya know?

I also watched 'Boat Cruise' (Cuba Gooding Jr., Horatio Sanz, and a crapload of Playboy Bunnies) yesterday.

My expectations were low. However, the movie pleasantly surprised. The dialogue was mostly utter crap, the jokes were repetitive and obvious and much of the movie was obviously shot on a sound stage as opposed to on location. But the actors and actresses seemed to be having a lot of fun with it and the movie didn't try to be anything more than it was. It doesn't hurt that Cuba Gooding Jr. is an incredibly likeable guy. I also enjoyed the hell out of Roger Moore cast against type as a dashing older gay man... one of the high points in the movie is a speech given by Moore towards the end -- watch for it.

The DVD in particular is worth renting for the tits. The interface screen is 3 topless playboy bunnies suntanning and talking. There are numerous easter eggs, etc.

[Relentless]

Chins
6xBW(-1!!:(), 6xBW(+0), 12xBW-80

NG Lat Pulldowns
15x120, 5x210(-3), 15x135(+2)
* grumblegrumble

ISO Rows
10x180, 9x270(+2), 15x180(+2)
* enh

EZ Curls
4x115, 7x95, 10x75, 9x75

plus a bunch of DB hammer curls on the preacher bench
plus some more widegrip pulldowns at a moderate to light weight
plus a bunch of cable machine work for the ol' biceps



I attribute this pisspoor workout to poor nutrition on the weekend and a lack of proper sleep. I am not eating and sleeping like it's my job to do so, and I think I need to be doing this in order to grow. I'm still not getting enough calories in a typical day. DAMMIT!

Some sort of rededication is in order. I have only 3 weeks left before my cut. Which sucks.

[WillKuenzel]

If you aren't where you want to be when you bulk, you could always push the cut back a week or 2 and meet somewhere in the middle. Start the cut a little late because you haven't put on as much as you thought you would.

[Relentless]

the thing is, I seem to have gained mass quite well.. I was checking out the gunz in the mirrors while doing curls and stuff and they looked bigger for sure

I'm just frustrated with what I perceive as a lack of sufficient progress

[Relentless]

Today: Shoulders & Traps

Arnold Press 15x35, 7x65(+1) 12x50(+2)
* yay progress!!

Lateral Raises 10x20s(+0), 8.5x35s(+5 lbs), 20x20s(+2)

DB Shrugs 15x100s (+2), 18x100s(+1)


BB Shrugs 10x315 (-3), 12x315 (+2), 22x225 (+0)
* I don't know what happened here... I was spotting this dude on bench between sets and just kinda lost focus on the first set or something.

Rvrse Flyes 10x90 (+0), 10x135 (+0), 7x165 (+.5), 20x105 (+6)

Finished off with a crapload of front delt raises and lateral raises to completely toast the shoulders, herds of reps

------------------------------


Post workout, I had 3 scoops of Nitrean from AtLarge Nutrition.

Now in all honesty, this is probably the best tasting low-carb protein shake I've ever had. It mixed well, tasted smooth and had none of that chemical aftertaste I've come to associate with lowcarb protein powders. In fact, there was a *bit* of an aftertaste but I liked it... it was almost banana-ish or something... maybe it's the guar gum or something in there but Chris and the boys did a good job with that ****!! I will have to try making a milkshake with icecream and bananas and milk with this... betcha it'd be heavenly. It also didn't froth up too much and make me belch, which is a key failing of GNC's products. :D :eek:

[JustinF]

Nice session. Thanks for the review of the Nitrean. Did you say you ordered the MRP powder as well? I'd be interested in how you like that. I'll be ordering from AtLarge regardless next week, but I'd like to hear some opinions.

[Franjipani]

Originally posted by Callahan
As far as free time, I expect to have nothing BUT free time. Sara's working in the Dr's practice, but I'm completely at loose ends. I have no firm plans as of yet, but I simply know I want to soak up some Aussie culture, do some surfing, ande generally just explore and have fun.

Well....if you want to experience kite surfing..Noosa is one of the best spots in the world....There are heaps of things to do up the sunshine coast.... I can help you soak up the Aussie culture....take you to heaps of places and you can stay up here on some weekends as I'm only 1.5hours away. I also have heaps of mates in Brissy so can stay down there also. Can you email me the exact dates so I can work around it?? I am heading to Sydney for Xmas I'm driving....but I'm terribly excited about your visit... Ohh and I want to take you to my gym for a right laugh..heehee.

The weather here at the moment is just glorious so we're gonna be in for one hot summer hon.....be prepared :cool: ;)

[Relentless]

Franjilicious: Email sent.

J-Bro: I haven't tried the MRP but all the reviews I've read of it have been positive. If it's half as good as the Nitrean it's totally worthwhile. I have enough of my existing MRP to last out the rest of this bulk (3 more weeks) so i'm not in a rush to buy more just now. I'll likely order more Nitrean though.

[Relentless]

Chest and Tris

Inc DB Press:
15x40s, 8x80s(+2), 13x60s(+3), 9x60s(+1.5)
*up across the board. Felt very good, very strong thru the motion. It's still feeling a bit off in my shoulder on the heavy reps at the bottom of the motion but I'm really focusing on getting my chest up and out, and getting my shoulder blades under me and it feels OK. Going to up this to 85 next week I think.

DIPS
10xBW(+2), 10xBW(+2.5)
*wanted to get to 10 last week. I'm at 10. If I can get 12s next week (I should), I'm going to start adding weight to my first set again.

Flye Machine:
15x105, 10x180(+3), 17x135(+15 lbs), 14x120(+15 lbs)
* ****in rights!

Pushdowns
10xstack(+0), 9xstack(+0), 19x90
*not great but not bad.

Finished off with a bunch of 1-H reverse tri pushdowns and then some flye machine action wherein I used like 90lbs but held the handles with my fingertips only and went through extra-full ROM at extra-slow speed. Pecs where well and truly whaled by the end.

Now this workout was more like it. I dunno if it's just because I've been getting more calories lately (actually last night, I ate a medium pizza and 2 dozen chicken wings!), the Nitrean I'm taking, a sense of frustration being overcome or what. But this was a workout like I was used to back before my cut started in March. Progress, feeling strong, kicking ass. Every workout should be like this.

A special message for all of the crap workouts that I had in the past month:
**** YOU!

:D

[Budiak]

:D

[Relentless]

Today: Shoulders & Traps

Arnold Press 15x35, 5x65(-21) 13x50(+1)
* died on the heavy reps... right arm was well sore from throwing a football around a lot on the weekend... I will attribute it to that...

Lateral Raises 10x20s(+0), 9.5x35s(+1), 14x25s(+5lbs)

DB Shrugs 17x100s (+2), 18x100s(+0)


BB Shrugs 7x365 (+50lbs), 7x365 (+50lbs), 19x225 (-3)
* Not bad. Damn my calluses were hurting though.

Rvrse Flyes 10x90 (+0), 10x135 (+0), stopped due to pain in upper right arm.... likely the football thing.

[Relentless]

Legs

Squats: 10x135, 10x225, 5x275 (+2)

SLDL: 10x135, 10x225(+3), 12x225(+5)

BB Lunges: 6/6x115, 6/6x115, 5/5x115
*still feel like a gimp on these. But a stronger gimp.

Seated lever Calf Press
10x180, 12x180, 18x135

[rookiebldr]

Nice leg day, gimp!


*runs and hides

[JustinF]

Originally posted by rookiebldr
Nice leg day, gimp!

:withstupi

[WillKuenzel]

I actually just kind of bumped up the lunges every week and they just kept going up. Keep pushing them and you might be really surprised with what you can do.

I still hate that you can squat more than me though. :(

[Relentless]

rookie: Thanks. I will hurt you. Soon.

Jman: Thanks. I will hurt you. Later.

Will: I squat more than you? That's just broken... you do more than me in almost everything, IIRC.... get some powerlifting coaching; it worked for me. :) I used to squat up to 365 for a few reps but my form was crap. Now I'm doin' 'em PL legal, nice and deep and safe.... my quads are also ridiculously strong compared to the rest of me... I've legpressed 900 for a coupla reps before I hurt my knee. I intend, at some point, to build up to at least 1000 lbs for leg press just coz I think legpressing a half-ton is PIMP!

I think I will increase the lunges, part of why I haven't been progressing I think is because doign 6 reps per leg is 12 total reps without rest and that tires my core muscles. If I take it as read that 6 reps/side is OK, then I can likely do more. I also have started doing unweighted lunges as often as possible at odd moments throughout the week... basically I want to get a lot more comfortable with the movement.

[WillKuenzel]

Yeah, my squat is pretty damned pathetic. There is just something about it that screws me up. I don't know if its a form issue or just a stupid mind set but I've never been a big squater. I might see what I can do about finding a powerlifting coach around here. Good idea.

Partly due to room restrictions I only do 8 reps of lunges or 4 per leg. I have to do 4 steps down one way and then turn around and do 4 more. I think one of the big things is just holding the weight that long through everything. That sort of constant tension can help everything. I don't tend to go overboard on the reps because of that.

[Relentless]

Chest and Tris from Friday

Inc DB Press:
15x45s, 4x85s(+5lbs), 8x65s(+5lbs), 8x65s(+5lbs)
*yay for new weight.

DIPS
12xBW(+2), 9xBW(-1)
*I'm up net 1 so I guess that's good. Just died on the 2nd set for some reason

Flye Machine:
15x105, 8x195(+15lbs), 12x150(+15 lbs), 13x120(+15 lbs)
*yay

Pushdowns
I wont' bother recording the weight as I jsut did a bunch on a machine that wasn't my usual so I had no way to match the weights.

Finished off with a bunch of machine press stuff (HammerStrength ISO Bench, various others).

[Coke]

Chest and tri day looks good...Yay on the new numbers man! - :)

[Relentless]

Chins
10xBW(+4), 9xBW(+3)
*mo bettah

NG Lat Pulldowns
15x120, 7x210(+2), 16x135(+1)
* enh

ISO Rows
9x270(+0), 7x270(new) 15x180(+0)
* enh

EZ Curls
5x115, and a bunch at 80 for various sets

plus a bunch of DB hammer curls on the preacher bench


Then had to go. made the mistake of bringing the missus along and she was cranky/tired/etc. and wanted to go home. Hmph. Chicks. Actually, i shouldn't complain. She's normally pretty hardcore but she's been sick lately....


CoCoa: Thanks. :)

[Relentless]

Today: Shoulders & Traps

Arnold Press 15x35, 5x70(+5lbs) 13x50(+1)
* don't know why I wanted 70lbs today but I did. /pwned it too!

Lateral Raises 10x20s(+0), 8x40s(+5 lbs), 11x30s(+10lbs)

DB Shrugs 17x100s (+2), 18x100s(+0)
* must remember to breathe properly on these... grip is no longer an issue BTW... :D

BB Shrugs 5x405 (+90lbs), 5x405 (+90lbs), 14x315 (+90lbs)
* maybe it was the watching eyes of Dalhousie Chick(see below) but I just felt pumped for this... I was trying an experimental rep with 315 when initially loading and it went up so easy I went for 405. Pimpin'!

Rvrse Flyes 10x90 (+0), 9.5x165 (+2.5), 15x135 (+30lbs)
*cut out the second light set at the beginning... it wasn't helping much....

Finished off with a crapload of front delt raises and lateral raises to completely toast the shoulders, herds of reps

----


Dalhousie Chick
Ever see those track pants with lettering across the ass? Aside from the fact that you're always sitting on whatever's written there, they just naturally draw one's attention to the ass. Surely you must expect this when you wear such pants.

The wearer of a pair of pants like this in my gym today was apparently from or affiliated with Dalhousie University, because this is what was imprinted on her (appealing) posterior. The rest of her filled out the workout attire quite nicely. Blonde, maybe 25-26 (grad student?), 5'8", maybe 150 lbs... good shoulders, decent arms, nice rack, and the aforementioned caboose. A*bit* of a belly peeking out over the top of the sweats and below the crop top sport bra thingie. But clearly she was working on it, so that's OK in my book. More importantly, she was lifting with a high degree of seriousness and good form, which earned my respect. It also completely did not hurt that when she walked, her hips undulated like a sackful of ball bearings packed in WD40. Smooth. Sinuous. Like Salma Hayek in From Dusk Till Dawn. Choose your own appropriate word starting with S... :) Nice. Long story short, she caught me 'reading' her butt and I offer a slightly embarassed grin. Note to self: an honest, slightly embarassed grin can smooth over a lot of ruffled feathers. :)

[JustinF]

Nice couple of sessions bro. Great job on those shrugs! :thumbup:

[Relentless]

Legs

Squats: 10x135, 10x225, 3x315 (+40lbs!!!), 11x225
*woowoo!!! this feeling strong thing I've had this week continues here. Kickass. Nice, deep, controlled squats. I thought I could probably get out 1 or 2 more but I kept it easy for now.

SLDL: 10x225(+0), 6x275 (new), 12x225(new)

BB Lunges: 5/5x135 (+20lbs), 5/5x135 (+20lbs)
*Will was right. Doing more weight isn't an issue. If anything, the heavier weight seemed to force me into better form and I blasted thru these sets. Some creepy old guy started asking me how my set was after the 2nd set so I moved along.

Leg Press
8x540, 8x630, 15x450
*enh, not bad. my previously injured knee started to protest a bit in the heavy set so I didn't push heavier though I had lots of juice left. Give it a week or two more, going heavier each week, and then I'll get back to doing an insane Belial-style strip set. ;)

Seated lever Calf Press
12x180(+2), 14x180(+2), 16x135(-2)
*just ran out of juice on the last set. Good first 2 sets though so no big. Calves are SORE.

[JustinF]

Nice session bro. I noticed the same thing with the added weight on the lunges. :thumbup:

[Relentless]

Back and Bis

Chins
9xBW(-1), 7xBW(-2)
*dammit... last week was neutral grip tho, this week was palms-away. I think that really makes a difference in strength...

NG Lat Pulldowns
15x120, 7x210(+0), 16x135(+0)
* enh, no progress.

ISO Rows
9x270(+0), 8x270(+1) 17x180(+2)
* better; will move to 8 plates soon...

EZ Curls
5x115, 8x95, 8x95, plus a herd at 75 plus more at 75 on the preacher bench

was helping out a friend and co-worker with his form on various exercises (he came to the gym with me today) so i did a bunch of hammer curls and other stuff in between spotting and correcting his form for various shoulder stuff. Then we did some light squats and deads to work on his form.

[Relentless]

Chest and Tris

Inc DB Press:
15x45s, 5x85s(+1), 10x65s(+2), 8x65s(+0)
*alright

DIPS
7xBW+25, 7xBW+25, 8xBW
*added weight. Started with just a bit for now. I anticipate somewhat rapid progress.

Flye Machine:
15x105, 10x195(+2), 13x150(+1), 14x120(+1)
*yay

Pushdowns
10x170, 9x170, 20x90

plus a bunch of additional chest/tri stuff to totally whale both. I'm spent and the skin around my triceps feels like a sausage casing full to bursting.

[Franjipani]

Originally posted by Callahan
the skin around my triceps feels like a sausage casing full to bursting.

*lol*

Good god....thats it !!!! I know exactly how that feels......although its mostly my forearms that experience it;).

Not long to go now Cal.......:clap:

[Relentless]

Originally posted by Franjipani
Not long to go now Cal.......:clap:

I KNOW! Wooo!

*does the Snoopy dance*

[Relentless]

Today: Shoulders & Traps

Arnold Press 15x35, 5x70(+0) 13x50(+0), 6x50(new)
* just breakin' even here, but I'm happy with it given the new weight and the fact that I think I have tendonitis in my right elbow

Lateral Raises 10x20s(+0), 7x40s(-1), 13x30s(+2)
*not bad. Right elbow SORE.

DB Shrugs 18x100s (+1), 13x100s(-5)
* just choked on the last set... breathing was off, again possibly due to the damn elbow

BB Shrugs 6x405 (+1), 5x405 (+0), 15x315 (+1)
* not bad... the strain actually seemed to make the elbow feel a bit better, as the joint is somewhat elongated in this movement

Rvrse Flyes 14x135
*oww oww oww... this REALLY hurt on the elbow... called the workout short here. I will ice the joint tonite.



I know why my elbow is sore, too. I played QB a bunch in football on the weekend (threw for 2 TDs, received for 2 TDs and had some all around good play. My throwing mechanics are total crap and I was Rich-Gannon-sidearming it a bunch which led to a sore elbow. Numerous collisions with my friend Dan on blocks and kick returns didn't help it much either. If I do legs tomorrow, i expect the elbow will feel better by Thurs for some chest or back.

[Coke]

good shoulder work C! - :) ...hope the elbow shxt works itself out

[Relentless]

Thanks Cocoa

To those that are following this adventure, I will soon be able to post more pics

On the weekend, the missus and I picked up a KODAK EASYSHARE DX4530 Zoom Digital Camera.

- 5.0 megapixel
- 32mB onboard mem with 256MB SD memory card (extra)
- 3x optical zoom + 3.3X digital zoom = 10X zoom
- Movies: 320 x 240 pixels at 15 fps (can fit about 16 mins on the 256MB card)
PLUS
it has lens threads for 37 mm lens adapter. ;)

Not a bad digicam to start with... about as good as you can get without getting into 'Pro' cameras.

Budiak: Note that this doesn't mean that I won't be using my "real" camera. :) But I do like digicams because there is no film cost... plus they're good for 'garbage' photos and quick stuff. Maybe even for setting up and doing trial runs before using actual film on locations...

[Relentless]

<whine>
So I'm cutting again. Shooting for ~2000 cals/day at the moment, doing TKD to start and then I'll probably morph into something cyclical per some suggestions from Will.

But I am shocked at how easily my body slipped into carb-slut mode... hasn't been that long since I stopped the carbs and already the body is protesting. Stupid body.
</whine>

anyway, first refeed will be this Friday (Halloween! Woo!). Attending a costume party. I found a bottle of ersatz Absinthe (called Absente... get it?) that doesn't taste too bad and has a nice louche as well as a fairly complex flavour. I'm no Absinthe connoussieur so i don't know if it's great or not but it tastes alright to me. Could be because of the sugar cube in each drink though. ;) Anyway, I have my absinthe, I have my dark pseudo-victorian clothing and I am growing out my beard. I will go as an absinthe-swilling artiste from 1890s Paris. I haven't decided if I want to go as Rimbaud (carry around a book of nihilist poetry), Van Gogh (get an appliance to make it look like I'm earless and paint stuff) or perhaps Oscar Wilde. But I'll decide soon.

I'm also buying a pack of Gauloise cigarettes and will smoke then like a fiend... I have given up smoking but will make an exception for this party.

[Saint Patrick]

wo0t for the camera now let's see some progress pics!

[Scott S]

I haven't had much absinthe myself, but what I've had I liked. :D

Have fun at the party1 :thumbup:

[rookiebldr]

Maybe I can finally weight more then you! Good luck on the cut.

[Relentless]

St.P: Sure. In mid-December after I'm done cuttin again. :) right now I look almost the exact same as in the last pics from the end of the cutting contest with Pietro, the big difference being I've got a bit of a soft middle again. I figure, given that I've been bulking, if I get back to 195 or so, I'll be at the same BF I was at 190, but with extra LBM. Time will tell.

Scott S. Thanks man. I plan to have much fun with it.

Rookiebldr How cool would THAT be, eh? I'll still be MUCH prettier though. ;)

[Relentless]

Legs

Squats: 10x135, 10x225, 5x315 (+2), 12x225
*not too shabby

SLDL: 10x225(+0), 5x315 (new), 14x225(+2)
*315 went up surprisingly easily. Yay.

BB Lunges: 5/5x145 (+10lbs), 4/4x145 (+10lbs)
*Not too bad.. a little gassed from pushing thru squats and sldls coz I was un a rush but not bad at all

Leg Press
10x450, 6x720, 16x450
*720 felt ok... will push for more reps @ 720 next week and then maybe bump to 810

Seated lever Calf Press
10x190(+10lbs), 10x190(+10lbs), 16x135(+0)
*decent

[cphafner]

Callahan, checking out the journal. You're one strong dude.

[JustinF]

Nice leg day Cal!!

[Relentless]

Chest and Tris

Inc DB Press:
15x50s, 4x90s(+5 lbs), 11.5x65s(+1.5), 11x65s(+5)
*not too shabby... I will keep 'er at 90 for the heavy set next week, and progress to 70s for the medium sets. Right shoulder still hurts a bit on the heavy sets but it's not making me weak anymore... just very aware of my damaged shoulder

DIPS
5xBW+45, 7xBW+25, 10xBW
*yay, I'm dipping with a full extra plate. Is it just me, or do the chains on dip belts need to be longer...? when i threaded a 45 onto the chain, I managed to whale myself in the gonads when i hitched up the belt to rest across my hips.

Flye Machine:
15x105, 6x210(+15lbs), 13x150(+0), 15x135(+15lbs)
*decent

Pushdowns
10xstack, 9xstack, 20x90, 20x90, various 1-handed pushdowns at 50/40/30...
*I dont' seem to progress on this but granted it's at the end of the workout....



JustinF: Thanks man. ;) They're still nowhere near my pre-injury leg days but they're getting there.

cphafner: Thank you for the kind words. I'd disagree and say I'm only average for someone my size. But thanks.

[Wikked1]

:lurk:
I second the motion for longer chains on dipping belts! LMAO I've always held on to the 45 plate to make sure nothing gets in the way :redface:

[JustinF]

LOL @ the dip belt. Been there, done that! My 5'5" workout partner doesn't have that problem....

[Relentless]

Back and Bis

Chins
11.5xBW(+2.5), 8xBW(+1), 13xBW-80
*neutral grip again... don't know that I'm up to doing much more reps than this... must start adding weight I think...


ISO Rows
9x6 plates(+0), 4x8 plates(new) 8x6 plates, 14x4 plates(-3)
* I'll take the -3 on the last set given the extra heavy work, I think

DB ROws
10/10x60 (warmup) 8/8x100, 7/7x100
*haven't done these in ages. Now adding them in again.

EZ Curls
5x115, 6x95(-2), 7x95(-1), plus a herd at 75 plus more at 75 on the preacher bench. Just felt gassed after extra DB rows, etc.

Plus various other bis/back work including neutral grip wide pulldowns, cable curls, seated lever rows and machine curls. Bis and back are twitchy now.



Oh and I'm down 6 pounds already on this cut. Of course that is mostly water but who the **** cares. Not bad for the first week of cutting. I've been solid at getting between 2100 and 2400 calories or thereabouts which is alright. People have already commented that I look leaner, which I attribute to perhaps 3 of those 6 lbs being water lost from my face. ;)

[Max-Mex]

Good session Cal. How much do you weigh? Just wanna see how much you are dipping and chinning.

[Relentless]

Max-Mex: I weighed in this morning at 208, on my way down again towards a target of 195 or so before my upcoming trip. Hm. 6 weeks to lose 13 lbs. Almost too easy. I bet I can get down to nearly 190 if I add in some extra cardio. ;)

[rookiebldr]

Originally posted by Callahan
Plus various other bis/back work including neutral grip wide pulldowns, cable curls, seated lever rows and machine curls. Bis and back are twitchy now.


Don't forget to add the various flexes and gun shots in the mirror. :D :D Nice volume, Scott.


Nice cutting too. 6 weeks will be a breeze for you to take that 13 lbs off. 190 here you come.

[Relentless]

Today: Shoulders & Traps

Arnold Press 15x35, 3x75(+5lbs) 15x50(+2), 8x50(+2)
* Yo. Not bad. Given I was repeatedly able to get 5-6 at 70, and 3 at 75, this tells me 75 should be my heavy set. Goal next week: 4 reps at least, prefer 5.

Lateral Raises 10x20s(+0), 3x40s + 4x35s, 14x30s(+1)
*form started to disintigrate on the 40s, so I backed off... right shoulder still not 100% I guess. It's not HURTING so much as just not WORKING.

DB Shrugs 20x100s (+2), 13x100s(+0)
* Hurrah! Goal of 20 on first set achieved. Now to build up to 2 sets of 20 reps as a prelude to doing some HEAVY shrugs. ;)

BB Shrugs 7x405 (+1), 6x405 (+1), 15x315 (+0) plus some extras at 225 while I was unloading and waiting for the next machine
* decent!

Revrse Flyes 10x135, 5x180, 16x135
*better... joint felt ok given that I didn't play QB on the weekend..



Weekend: Football was alright. I don't think I had a TD all game but I had a decent day for catches, playing Keyshawn Johnson style receiver (lotsa yardage, no trips to the house) and a monster day on defense with a personal best of 3 INTs while playing zone D against a decent QB. He was a scrambler too so i had to come up on him for runs a number of times... highlight of the game for my play was when the other team picked off one of our QB's passes and this dude on the other team tried to block me when I went to tag the ball carrier. I pancaked the poor bastard. :) The BEST highlight reel play of the game came on a play by the other team where one WR went up in the air against two defenders, and then tipped the ball to another WR who was beside him but not jumping. That opened things up for the other WR to scamper in almost for a TD. Very athletic, heads-up play.

rookie: Thanks man. Yeah, I'm not too concerned about the weight itself dropping off, although I haven't started an ECA stack yet... I'm more concerned about the BF melting away. ALready started seeing that happen, more definition after water loss and all that so I reckon it'll work out alright. I don't posedown in the mirror much but maybe I should. ;)

[Budiak]

Want pounds to melt away? Dude, what you've got to do is short sleep, then drop a quad dose of ECA and severely limit your water intake while partaking in strenuous physical activity. Apparently thats what the coaches tell the baseball and football players to do.

[Franjipani]

Originally posted by Callahan
6 weeks to lose 13 lbs. Almost too easy. I bet I can get down to nearly 190 if I add in some extra cardio. ;)

:clap: .... I think I'm almost as excited as you !!!

[Relentless]

Legs

Squats: 10x135, 10x225, 10x225, 12x225
*just wanted lots of reps at a moderate weight

SLDL: 10x225, 10x225, 9x225
*was again keeping things moderate w. volume

BB Lunges: 5/5x155 (+10lbs), 5/5x155 (+10lbs), 3/3x155
*The 3rd set I staggered a bit coming up and decided that that was enough

Leg Press
10x450, 3x810, 8x630, 16x450
*woo! 810 again. good deep reps and I saw sparklies.

Seated lever Calf Press
10x200(+10lbs), 9x200(+10lbs), 14x135(-2)
*decent


Budiak:
Y'know, I don't think I'll try that. I'm not about quick fixes...

Franji:
I don't know if you're as excited as I am. I'm practically ready to explode.

[Relentless]

Chest and Tris

Inc DB Press:
15x50s, 3x90s(-1 rep dammit), 12x65s(+0.5), 10x65s(-1)
*that sucked. just didnt' have the reps in me today.

DIPS
6xBW+45, 8xBW+25, 11xBW
*I wanted at least 1 more rep on each. I got one more rep on each... just barely.

Flye Machine:
15x105, 7x210(+1), 15x150(+2), 15x135(+0)
*decent

Pushdowns
11xstack, 10xstack, 20x90

the 1-h reverse tri pushdown killer triceps thing as described by chris mason... ;) various 1-handed pushdowns at 50/40/30... by the end of it my triceps were so engorged with blood I was concerned that they were gonna rip right through my skin

I helped this dude out with some spots for incline bench and we commisserated that there were so damn few people at this suckass yuppie gym that we'd trust to spot us properly.


I weighed in at 206 this morning. Not down that much, but forward progress is happening. I need to add in more cardio but my work life has been a bear and my home life has been a mess due to some personal crap, so I'm too busy and stressed to go running at night. I must find time to fit in more cardio. Sara says I'm turning into a woman the way I whine about being too fat all the time. ;) I tell her I know I'm not fat... I'm just not as lean as I wanna be.

[Relentless]

Back and Bis

Chins
11xBW(-0.5), 9xBW(+1), 15xBW-80
*feh

ISO Rows
9x6 plates(+0), 5x8 plates(+1) 9x6 plates(+1), 17x4 plates(+3)
* booya. Noticed that my right shoulder was sore on the reps a bit... ****ing shoulder. Why can't it just be healthy!?!?!

DB ROws
9/8x100, 8/8x100
*starting to feel better with these... only problem is that there are no DBs over 100 in my crappy downtown yuppie puke gym... will have to start Belial rows

EZ Curls
5x115, 8x95(+2)

EZ Curl Platoons:
7-7-2x75, 7-7-0x75
*Ok, I'll work up to doing it at 75... I can get the half reps ok, but I am dying on the full reps. :)


Plus various other bis/back work including neutral grip wide pulldowns, cable curls, and t-bar rows.

[rookiebldr]

Originally posted by Callahan
DB ROws
9/8x100, 8/8x100
*starting to feel better with these... only problem is that there are no DBs over 100 in my crappy downtown yuppie puke gym... will have to start Belial rows


Besides these are more meatheadish

[Relentless]

true dat

[Relentless]

Today: Shoulders & Traps

Arnold Press 15x35, 3.5x75(+.5... almost got rep4 up) 15x50(+0), 9x50(+1)
* enh...

Lateral Raises 10x20s(+0), 8x35, 10x30s, 8x25, 12x20
*I'm not going heavy on these for now... ****ing shoulder!

DB Shrugs 20x100s (+0), 15x100s(+2)
* Hurrah! Goal of 20 on first set achieved. Now to build up to 2 sets of 20 reps as a prelude to doing some HEAVY shrugs. ;)

BB Shrugs 8x405 (+1), 7x405 (+1), 15x315 (+0) plus some extras at 225
* decent!

Revrse Flyes 10x135, 7x180, 17x135
*not bad

finished with some front raises and some military presses, at which point my right delt REALLY started protesting so I shut things down . . .



Weekend:
Went to see a production of "The King & I" at Stratford. Lavish sets and costumes along with very talented singers made it a memorable performance. Had a bit of a refeed at an Italian retaurant after the performance :angel: at which I had a lurvely dinner featuring seafood antipasti, strachiatella soup, some veal scallopini with a frickin' divine fetuccini alfredo, and a sliver of tiramisu for dessert. Simply outstanding victuals.

[JustinF]

Nice looking session bro. That Italian refeed sounds great!! mmmmmm :drooling:

[Relentless]

Legs

Squats: 10x135, 10x225, 10x225, 11x225
*ugh, tired by the end of these... the lack of carbs is hurting my endurance a bit I think...

SLDL: 10x225, 10x225, 10x225
*was again keeping things moderate w. volume.. got a 10th rep on set 3 which was nice/

BB Lunges: 5/5x165 (+10lbs), 5/5x165 (+10lbs)
*doesn't seem any harder than 155... weird...

Leg Press
10x450, 10x630
*wasn't going to go heavy today anyway, and my right hip made a 'pop' sound/feeling at the bottom of the motion. Just gas release/cavitation, i think, but the hip felt a bit weird after that so I called it done for now...

Seated lever Calf Press
10x200(+10lbs), 11x200(+2), 17x135(+3)
*decent


Justin: Yup, it was good, and I had some absinthe later on that night as well, marking my last planned 'cheat' before Dec 12. i was 205 this morning, and on track to easily be in the mid-190s by mid December. I have definitely gained LBM on the bulk and hope to keep nearly all of it.

[Relentless]

Chest and Tris

Inc DB Press:
15x50s, 1.5x90s(rt. shoulder just gave out), 9x70s(+5lbs), 8x70s(+5lbs)
*ah, **** it. maybe I'll drop out the heavy set here until I'm bulking again... I was reading something on berardi's site about not training for strength while you're on a cut anyway. I'm choked about it though. Traitorous shoulder!

DIPS
12xBW, 9xBW
*forgot the dip belt. Just as well, due to the goddam shoulder.

Flye Machine:
15x105, 7x210(+0), 9x165(+15lbs), 10x150(+15lbs)
*well nothing else really progressed. At least this one did.

Pushdowns
12xstack, 10xstack, 20x100

plus a bunch of:
-1-h reverse pushdowns
-DB pullovers
-light closegrip bench

tris are fried. pecs are fried. shoulder hurts. I'm starting to feel hungry more often now, which is a good sign. Eating more FOCs to compensate but the goddam fishoil burps are making my keto breath smell even worse.

[Relentless]

This morning, weighed in at 204. :D the weight continues to slip away without much effort and despite my ongoing lack of cardio. Hooray for controlled diet. ;)


Back and Bis

Chins
11xBW(+0), 9xBW(+0), 15xBW-80
*just maintaining this week. Ah well.

ISO Rows
10x6 plates(+1), 5x8 plates(+0) 9x6 plates(+0), 0x4 plates(skipped)
*not sure why I skipped the lightest set... something just told me to hold on to a bit of energy for the DB rows...

DB ROws
10/8x100, 8/8x100
*a bit better... my right elbow was sore as hell after playing football on the weekend. All the kiwis were bitter about the ABs losing to the Wallabies in the match that morning so they were playing hard.

EZ Curls
5x115, 10x95(+2)

EZ Curl Platoons:
7-7-7x65, 7-7-3x65
*dropping back to 65 was a good idea; huge pump on the biceps and could barely crank out 2 full reps at the end of the second platoon. Will work up to 7-7-7 on both, then increase to 75


Plus various additional bi/back work including neutral grip wide pulldowns, cable curls, and light t-bar rows.

[WillKuenzel]

Originally posted by Callahan
*ah, **** it. maybe I'll drop out the heavy set here until I'm bulking again... I was reading something on berardi's site about not training for strength while you're on a cut anyway. I'm choked about it though. Traitorous shoulder!

That was pretty much my thought process when I really got to cutting. I picked my favorite exercises and really stuck with them and cut the volume back quite a bit. Even for me. I would schedule workouts with high hopes around my refeed days. Depending on how often you refeed you could try to focus on strength the day after. As long as I focused all my energy early in the workout to one exercise I could gain in it but alot of my other lifts suffered.

[Relentless]

Arnold Press 15x35, 2x75(just died on rep 3) 15x50(+0), 11x50(+2)
* time for a refeed soon I think...

Lateral Raises 10x20s(+0), 8x35, 11x30s, 12x25,
*shoulder wasn't too bad on this today

DB Shrugs 20x100s (+0), 15x100s(+0)
* was gasping for air thru second set... dunno why

BB Shrugs 8x405 (+1), 8x405 (+1), 15x315 (+0) plus some extras at 225
* 1 more heavy rep. I'll live with that I guess

Revrse Flyes 10x135, 3x180, 8x135
*some kind of tendinitis in my right elbow (possibly from playing football and throwing a lot in scrimmage beforehand) caused exquisite pain. I stopped then.

added in several rotator cuff DB exercises, some front raises and some things that were sorta like pullovers but not quite, that worked the rear and side delts wonderfully.

[Relentless]

Legs

Squats: 10x135, 10x225, 10x225
*felt better doing these than last week, perhaps due to one fewer set... in general felt better thru ROM; last week was a bit shaky in the hole

SLDL: 10x225, 10x225, 10x225
*kicked ass, took names... not trying for PRs at this point, just working decently hard to help spare muscle

BB Lunges: 5/5x165, 5/5x165
*didn't progress these this week coz I wanted to focus on form, getting nice and low, and keeping my **** smooth when I do these

Leg Press
10x450, 6x720, 10x540
*not too bad... had some minor sparklies on 720. This dude I know wants to try a leg workout with me next week so no heroics this week. I'll do a strip set down from 810 next week and then see how he keeps up. :angel: :angel:

Seated lever Calf Press
8x225, 7x2225, 12x180
*don't think I'll go heavier than this for a while; ROM was barely adequate on the heavy set... gotta focus on the peak contraction without getting a charley horse in my calf, which i"m prone to do


weight: didnt' weigh in this morn. I feel leaner still tho.
diet: spot frickin' on. cheating is for wimps and whiners
drugs: I went back on ephedrine today, and cut out creatine for now with a view to shedding more water as I get into the final 3-4 weeks of leaning up for Oz

[Relentless]

no workout updates for today

I ruptured a tendon on one of the fingers of my left hand playing ball on Sat., and jammed the joint on another finger pretty badly... the ruptured tendon doesn't hurt, which scares me a bit because that probably means it's totally gone and I'll have a crooked finger forever. I've got it taped up for now.

The jammed finger hurts worse and it swelled up and discoloured prettily. I've been icing it and will resume lifting as soon as I can get a bit more movement in it without shrieking in pain like a little girl. ;) Actually it's not quite THAT bad and the swelling has been going down, which is good. It messes up my typing speed something fierce though! :)

[JustinF]

Damn football injuries!!

Sweet leg day.

[Relentless]

still not lifting

finger is possibly healing... it's starting to hurt again, which is a good sign

football injuries are worth it as one of the prices of playing

[Relentless]

found a site explaining in more detail what has likely happened

http://www.orthoseek.com/articles/malletinj.html

I gotta keep this thing splinted/taped for six friggin weeks?? :mad:

[Saint Patrick]

are we talking American football or Soccer?

[Relentless]

Originally posted by Saint Patrick
are we talking American football or Soccer?

pfft

If I was talking about soccer, I'd say soccer

[Franjipani]

:birthday: HaPpY bIrThDaY sPuNkY:birthday:


Hope you have a gorgeously decadant & festive day and may all your wishes come true...mmmmwwwaaaaahhhhh!!!

Ohh and you have another 14 sleeps to go.....:angel:

[Relentless]

Originally posted by Franjipani
:birthday: HaPpY bIrThDaY sPuNkY:birthday:


Hope you have a gorgeously decadant & festive day and may all your wishes come true...mmmmwwwaaaaahhhhh!!!

Ohh and you have another 14 sleeps to go.....:angel:


:redface:

thanks francesca!

[Relentless]

well, the weekend was mostly work, and no football (both ebcause of the work and because of the friggin' tendon problem in my finger....)

But we had a staff Xmas party on Saturday. I kept on track with diet for the most part, as Norwegian food largely consists of fish and pork. :) it was not too bad actually. I had to have a little piece of cake because they brought me a b-day cake and stuff along with apologies for running the party on my b-day for the second year running. But other than that I was pretty virtuous. I didn't even drink! :angel:

attached is a pic from the party of the missus and I, showcasing my lovely new beard action. :) it all started with being too lazy to shave for a week and all of a sudden it morphed into a beard that turns out to be more work to trim and groom than it would be to just shave off! It also grows in blondish/reddish in the moustache area and dark on the beard area. Weird.

At least my traps look good in the pic. :)

bah

[JustinF]

Happy Belated B-day bro.

Bummer 'bout the finger, hope it heals soon.

I get the same colors in my beard as well, but not on my head. :confused:

[Relentless]

thanks J

how can you tell what colour the hair on your head is when you got none? :)

[JustinF]

lol. I've actually got a bit now. I've just been too lazy to shave it, although I'm giving a little thought to growing it. It's been about 9 or 10 years since I've had hair..

[Franjipani]

Nice pic.... won't be long before you are both bronzed bunnies though after a bit of Aussie sun to give you a golden glow....:cool:

Only got 10 more sleeps to go !!!

:D

[Relentless]

h'lo all

I've been in australia since sunday but we're just now settling into the place we're staying and getting squared away. Finally got 'net access and all that (whew!) so I won't go completely cold turkey for this vacation although if I'm spending too much time online, I deserve a kick in the head --- I mean, who goes to a tropical friggin' paradise and then spends all their time inside? :)

Anyway, I've even found a gym here in Brisbane that is convenient and clean if not a real iron pit... Fitness First on Lutwyche Rd is near my wife's work, so it's easy to get to. They have NO squat cage and a single power rack :( :( but at least they have a decent selection of freeweights, some OK machines (mostly hammerstrength) and a pool. I am definitely enjoying being the guy with the foreign accent, as numerous folks at the gym made comment and chatted a bit. Aussie gymbunnies are :thumbup:

that's all for now; I'll post some pix when I get a chance to d/l from my digicam to a computer.

cheers,
Cal

[ElPietro]

Are you lactating in that picture? :scratch:

[JustinF]

Are you lactating in that picture? :scratch:
ROFL Kinda looks that way. Glad to hear y'all made it in one piece. Lookin forward to the pictures, have a blast.

[Franjipani]

They have NO squat cage and a single power rack :( :( but at least they have a decent selection of freeweights, some OK machines (mostly hammerstrength) and a pool.

*lol*

Just wait til you see my gym..... :evillaugh

Ohh and Im relishing the fact you are doing it tough with the conversion from "lb's" to "kg".... welcome to my world :smoke:

[Relentless]

got out to Surfer's Paradise yesterday, and did some body surfing and some low-key perving. ;)

had supper at a pub called something like O'Malley's on the beach, and then headed back to Brisbane... all in all the waves were just about perfect for doing some light bodysurfing as a beginner. Decent waves every so often with not too terrible currents and undertow. I managed to get up on a number of big waves and Sara thought it was very cool to see me playing the human surfboard in the waves. ;)

Must get proper instruction before attempting this with a board though; my ocean-swimming skills and surfing instincts are almost nonexistent. Got thumped on the bottom a couple of times and had one moment where I wasn't quite sure which way was "up". Sara also learned the folly of wearing a bikini in strong waves, and she gave some of our fellow swimmers quite the view. :redface::hump:

ta for now
Cal

[Relentless]

new update:

1. Spent New Year's with Franjipani in Noosa. The area is every bit as beautiful as she describes and she lives a few hundred feet from a gorgeous beach. New Year's itself is mostly a blur... I had a bottle and a half of Jack Daniels, with Coke for colour... I remember everyone getting naked around 10pm in the hot tub and at some point after that and before midnight, I think I passed out. A roaring good time was had.

2. Spent most of New Year's Day throwing up. Hangover like I've not had in over a decade. Ugh. I think I threw up **** that I ate in Canada back in December. It was THAT bad.

3. After recovering at Franjis, we took a tour catamaran on a day trip to Lady Musgrave Island, one of the most southerly coral cay islands in the Great Barrier Reef chain. The trip there featured 6-foot swells and moderately rough seas. I had a deja vu experience, and it was almost exactly like New Year's Day as I puked and puked and puked. Much fun. Once on the island, it was cool though. We snorkeled around the island and its protective reef, getting a close up look at all kinds of fish, sea turtles, clams, etc, etc. It was kind of like being in the movie "Finding Nemo", actually...

4. spent the night after diving in Bundaberg, which is the place that apparently supplies all of Australia with rum. Cute little burg, we stayed in the poshest hotel in the city and it only cost us $115 a night. ;)

5. Got back to Noosa yesterday and did some wave jumping and boogie board surfing with Franji. That was MUCH more fun than the actual surfing I did last week, mostly because I didn't suck ass at it. :D then I prepared dinner, which featured:
- chicken breasts stuffed with blueberries, chili pepper, and brie
- sauteed portobello mushrooms with fresh green onion
- stir fried zucchini and sweet orange peppers with oregano and dill
- some heavenly ice cream for dessert, chocolate with some kind of mint cookies mushed into them, courtesy of Franji -- I tell you, that girl knows how to break a diet!! First the Tim Tams and then the Mint Slices and Ice Cream! Woo!

that's all for now!
Cal

[JustinF]

Sounds like a great time!! (aside from throwing up all day)

Hope the new year treats ya well!!

[Relentless]

nose is now back at the grindstone...

did shoulders/traps yesterday, decent lifting overall I guess. I'll get settled back into my routine and then will be posting workouts properly again. I plan to clean-bulk for a while now, capitalizing on the success I had gaining in Australia. My secret: whole milk instead of water in the protein shakes... my body seems to respond really well to the milk, and I swole up pretty well in Oz, gaining about 18lbs in the 5 weeks I was there. Granted, some of it was fat, but I came back from the vacation much thicker, esp. in the upper body, and I was lifting the whole time I was down there as well. Bodes well I think...

I think I'll be changing to a push/pull split, looking to do half the body each workout, and lifting in a 2-on, 1-off, 2-on, 2-off schedule (Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday as lifting days) with the goal to hit each bodypart twice a week, while eating like a horse. I think I'll further split things up by making one of the days a 'heavy' day and one a 'medium' day and see how that feels. This is in contrast to the once-per-week 4-day split I've been running with for ages now.

So basically, it'll look something like this:
Monday: Heavy Push
Tuesday: Medium Pull
Thursday: Medium Push
Friday: Heavy Pull

This setup ensures that I'll have at least 2 full days between any heavy lifts, and 3 days between repeats for a particular body part.

Overall, my diet focus will be on getting enough calories for growth consistently, through a combination of Nitrean and milk, along with FOCs, vitamins and good solid whole foods. I also plan to start supplementing with some additional Zinc based on some reading I've been doing.... so supplementation will be:
- creatine
- 2000mg Vitamin C
- 250mg B6
- 40-50mg Zinc
- Multivatimin with green food concentrates

I think that's it for now. Any comments/insights about the planned direction of the lifting are much appreciated.

Cal

[Franjipani]

Glad you made it back safe and sound :thumbup:.
I just wanted to say thanks for your help in tweaking my programme and all of your advice. I lurrrve my protein shake & you got me drinking regular milk (although I hope I don't bulk like you did :eek: )
Although you probably don't remember it, that chat we had while waiting for our Network adjustment was fabuloso. It helped clarify some stuff for me.

I'm honoured to call you and Sara friends... :angel:

Thanks again !!

(p.s - please feel free to check on my progress with regard to my lifting & give me a swift kick when its warranted....ta muchly)

[JustinF]

:spam:

[Relentless]

BACK TO BASICS 2004: The New Workout

Well, after what amounts to a couple of years working out body parts 1x week for the most part, and getting into lower rep ranges and such (with a bit of HST in there for a month or two, it's time to shake things up. I'm going back to basics, as it were, and doing the classic Arnold workout, almost verbatim from his Encyclopedia.

The overall plan is to 'ease' into things a bit, using his 3-day split to start, and then moving to his 2 day split after a month or so, which will take me from hitting body parts 2x week to eventually 3x week. We'll see how it goes; if I'm totally thrashed with 2x week I may not go to 3x...

I expect the weights to be more modest but I also expect to see mass gains. Diet will be clean bulking, with focus on limiting but not eliminating carbs, and I think I'll stick with whole milk in the protein shakes for now at least. Come early April, I'll be switching the diet up, probably doing keto again to lean up for summer and I'm determined that this summer will be the Summer of Abs. Part of my dissatisfaction with the diet last year was that it took too long, I think I was cutting for too many months in a row. This year, the plan is to cut for 3 months with a lot more cardio than I had last time, and focus on diet with fanatical precision. I'll probably back off the workouts to 2x week for the cutting, as I expect to be depleted.

Except where noted, upper body movements are 8-12 reps for 4 sets, lower body movements are 12-15 reps for 4 sets. Rest in between sets is limited to not more than 90 seconds (but more than 60).

The workout:

DAY ONE:
Bench Press
Incline DB Press
Pullovers
Chin Ups (to 50 reps)
Bent Over Rows
Power Training: Deadlifts 10/6/4
Crunches 3x25

DAY TWO:
BB Clean & Press
DB Lateral Raises
Power Training: Heavy Upright Rows 10/6/4
Power Training: Push Presses 6/4/2
Standing BB Curls
Seated DB Curls
Close Grip Press (plan to substitute triceps pressdown)
Tricep Extensions (plan too substitute 1-h reverse pressdown)
Wrist Curls (may drop these,,pending time)
Reverse Curls (may drop these, pending time)
Reverse Crunches 5x25

DAY THREE:
Squats
Lunges
Leg Curls
Calf Raises 5x15
SLDL 10/6/4
Good Mornings 10/6/4
Crunches 5x25


One other minor change; where Arnold recommends a 1/2/3/1/2/3/rest schedule, I will alter this slightly to run on a 1/2/3/rest/1/2/3/rest schedule, which will rotate the days of the week and actually slide things slightly below 2x week some weeks but it will be better, I think. If I go to 3x week, I think I will use a similar structure, and go 1/2/rest/1/2/rest/1/2/rest, which will net out to 2.5/week or something but that's cool. I have to allow for my aging and non-gear-supplemented body... on the other hand, if things go really well, maybe I'll work my way up to 2-a-days. ;)

[Relentless]

well my goodness

today's workout was an exercise in humility; I'm clearly not going to have an easy time with the volume in this workout plan, but I kind of like that I'm not. The fact that I struggled gives me confidence that this is the right thing to be doing. At the very least, my muscular endurance will improve. ;)

Bench Press
175lbs 8/7/6/5
* drop down to 165 next workout; I must get at least 4 sets of 8 with a weight.

Incline DB Press
55lbs 9/8/6/6
* drop to 50s for next workout

Pullovers
50 lbs 12/12/10/9
* good weight for now; I bet I get 4x12 next workout

Chin Ups (to 50 reps)
5+5+3+2 = 15
* It was going to take me all day to get to 50 reps, so we'll make that a goal, with the progress measure being more reps every workout until I can get 50 reps without having to do half of them in 1-rep sets. ;)

Bent Over Rows
135lbs 12/12/10/8
* normally this is a piddling weight but by this point in the workout I was well knackered

Power Training: Deadlifts 10/6/4
225 x 10
275 x 6
315 x4
* These were the high point for me. Nice, solid, felt good. We'll see how I do with this workout on Friday and if I do as well, I'll up the weights for next week.

Crunches 3x25
* for time constraints, these will be done at home in the evenings.

Overall, i was a bit appalled at my lack of endurance but I reckon that will progress soon enough. I had the most beautiful pump in my pecs by the end of the DB pressing, so I guess that's a good sign. The workout seems a bit light on back work but then again 50 chins is nothing to sneeze at and I did nowhere near 50. ;)

[Saint Patrick]

Have fun w/ the new routine Cal.

[ElPietro]

Yeah good luck, let's see if you can manage to get to Jeff's strength levels! :D

Right now I'd pick him in a fight.

Sissy.

[Relentless]

Yeah good luck, let's see if you can manage to get to Jeff's strength levels! :D

Right now I'd pick him in a fight.

Sissy.

Get stuffed, Tons-of-Fun! :p

[JustinF]

New plan looks good bro. Good luck with it. :thumbup:

[Scott S]

Teh Arnold Routine! :thumbup:


Maybe someday (if my testicles ever descend) I'll try it. :D

[Relentless]

Arms & Shoulders Day

BB Clean + Press
125lbs 10/9/9/6
* triceps tired from yesterday, I know I've been able to Military Press 175 for reps before... hm. Ah well, new workout, new standard. I didn't clean it for every rep; rather I cleaned it and then pressed reps from there. I wonder if I should be cleaning every rep?

DB Lateral Raises
20lbs 12/12/12/13
* was able to get sets of 12 for all, so this is a tad light. Will move to 22.5 next workout.

Upright Rows
75lb x 10
95lb x 6
115lb x 4
* This seemed a *bit* light but I haven't done 'em in ages so I wasn't sure. Increase next workout.

Push Press
105lb x 6
125lb x 4
145lb x 2
* had to try twice to get the last rep at 145 up. These are cool; it feels almost like the weight levitates up once you give it a bit of inertia with the leg thrust. Will likely increase this slightly across the board for next week.

BB Curls
75lb 12/12/10/9
* left front delt started spasming a bit on this for some reason. Ground thru it though.

DB Curls
25lbs 8/9/8/8
*felt like a total gimp curling this puny weight but ah well. it FELT heavy after my biceps getting thrashed already...

Triceps Pressdowns
150lbs 12/12/10/9
* normally I do the stack for this, but I backed off a bit in anticipation of triceps being thrashed. Good job I did. I'm not far from moving this up though.

1-H Reverse Triceps Pressdown
40lbs 9/8/8/7
* nice solid contractions and a wicked triceps pump by the end.


St. Patty, Justin, Scott S. --> Thanks for the kind words. Stay tuned for progress and updates. I will say that it's a bit demoralizing lifting the lighter weights but you kind of get past that.

[ElPietro]

If this is shoulder day why are you cleaning the weight anyway? Just set it up like you are going to squat, and pick it up with a front squat grip and then OH press.

[Relentless]

If this is shoulder day why are you cleaning the weight anyway? Just set it up like you are going to squat, and pick it up with a front squat grip and then OH press.

I'm cleaning it because Arnold said so.
I'm trying to stick as close to the official Arnold Workout(tm) as I can, despite my beliefs that parts of it are flawed.

On the 'positive' side, my arms are so sore I can barely type now, so I know I worked 'em.

[ElPietro]

Well if you were cleaning it, your lower back should also get sore, which is not part of a shoulder routine. This could interfere with your next workout considering you are doing all the lower back stuff in your next session. But I guess given that it's light weight, and you aren't actually repping it out, it shouldn't be too taxing. But then that begs the question of what the point of it is...

But whatever, if you want to go strictly by the program I guess there isn't any thinking required anyway. ;) I'm gonna go buy a mens health for my next routine. :cool:

[rookiebldr]

Yeah good luck, let's see if you can manage to get to Jeff's strength levels! :D

Right now I'd pick him in a fight.

Sissy.

hehehehe

[Relentless]

hehehehe

don't think that I won't beat you up just because you're smaller than me

[rookiebldr]

LOL I maybe short, but I'm scrappy. :angel:

[JustinF]

Sessions are looking good Cal!! Nice work.

[Scott S]

Push presses are so much fun. The nice thing about them is that if your shoulders fatigue, you can use extra leg drive and still do 'em. :thumbup:

[ElPietro]

Scott, are you taking glucosamine? Just wondering with the added volume, if you are or plan to supplement with it. Maybe right now you are just working up to old strengths, but I find whenever I go high-ish volume with heavy sets worked in my joints will start to aggravate a bit. I noticed that a bit lately for me so I'm gonna start it up.

[Relentless]

Leg Day

Squats
205lb x 12/12/9/8
* grunted and wheezed through the second 2 sets. Damn, this volume thing is hard. You'd think I'd remember it from the time I tried HST. I am all the more convinced that this is the right thing to do because anything this hard has got to be good for me. I'll leave this at 205 for now but if I can't bring it up to at least 4x12 I'll drop down another 20lbs to 185 and work up from there.

Lunges
85lb x 10s
* stopped at this point because my low back, which has been mildly traumatized since the deadlifts on Monday, finally sat up and said 'WHOA'.

Leg Curls
150lbs x 16/15/12/12
*enh, not bad. This actually made my low back feel better. Weird.

Seated Lever Calf Raises 5x15
180lb x 15/13/11/10/8
*hm. I think I will drop this slightly and see if I can jam thru to 5x15, then worry about increasing it... probably drop to 160 and see how that feels

SLDL 10/6/4
*skipped these because I didn't want to risk my low back; we'll pick them up again next workout

Good Mornings 10/6/4
85x10
105x6
125x4
*eased into this with some light reps and actually felt alright... after these my low back actually felt a bunch better as well. I'll add 10lbs all around next session...



Pietro:
That's a good idea, man. I hadn't felt it in my joints (just my aching muscles) but I still have heaps of Glucosamine kicking around and it can't hurt. I also started up on creatine and glutamine in my shakes as well, as I reckon I'll need all the help I can get with recovery.

rookie:
Scrappy? Like Scrappy Doo? Yeah, that seems about right... :D

Scott:
Yeah, but I kinda thought the point was to not use TOO much leg drive. I guess once the weights get a bunch higher, the focus becomes working the shoulders and tris in the lockout portion... kind of an overload exercise, really.

Justin:
Thanks bro. Hopefully my body will acclimate to the workload fast enough and then I can progress the weights into some more manly levels.

[JustinF]

Good looking session Scott. I'm looking forward to following your progress with this program. :lurk:

[Franjipani]

I reckon modeling stuff from Arnie is tops :thumbup:. I watched the video the other day and my new flatmate has his encylopedia too.....

I've shaken up my workout too...when i have it down pat I'd appreciate your input to tweak it slightly. I've also leaned up more too.....and I'm in my bulking phase....don't know what THATs about but hey, I have not lost any weight on the scales.....

Ohh and when am I gonna see some photos????? :nod:

Have fun in the snow :)

[Relentless]

Chest and back from Friday Feb 6th

Bench Press
155lbs 12/12/8/8
* yoik; thought I'd drop down to 155 instead of 165 to see how it felt and damn if it wasn't almost too hard to finish! Still, i felt better thru all the reps with this one

Incline DB Press
45lbs 9/9/8/7
* now this was just sad... dropped 10lb from last time and still couldn't break 10 reps. Buggar!

Pullovers
50 lbs 12/12/12/10
* damn, almost got 4x12, but I died at 10 on that last set. Damn near dropped the weight on my noggin, too

Chin Ups (to 50 reps)
5+4+4+4 = 17
* OK this is just dumb. I am moving to supported chins and reducing the weight so I can get closer to realistic amounts of reps per set.

Bent Over Rows
135lbs 12/12/12/8
* forward progress is good; 2 more reps on set #3.

Power Training: Deadlifts 10/6/4
225 x 10
275 x 6
315 x4
* These went OK. I shall increase the weight for Wednesday's workout.

[Relentless]

Arms & Shoulders Day, Sunday Feb 8th
this was supposed to be Saturday but I slept in too late and then had other commitments.


BB Clean + Press
125lbs 10/8/6/5
* backsliding! horrors! I attribute this to completely ass nutrition today and won't back the weight down unless I have another bad session

DB Lateral Raises
25lbs 12/12/9/8
* ok, 25s is the new working weight. Good, solid reps that were all delts

Upright Rows
85lb x 10
105lb x 6
125lb x 5
* Yeah, this was easy same as last week... I'll increase everything by 10lb again and then I ought to be in the proper working range.

Push Press
105lb x 6
125lb x 4
145lb x 3
* 3 reps at 145 with no problem; I think I'll increase this across the board next workout; note to self: DON'T ALLOW YOURSELF TO LEAN BACK on these.

BB Curls
75lb 12/12/11/9
* a BIT of progress

DB Curls
20lbs 12/12/12/13
*yeah, 20lbs is too light. Back to 25lbs for next workout.

Triceps Pressdowns
150lbs 12/12/9/8
* slightly off pace for this one, too -- I attribute it again to the poor nutrition and lack of sleep

1-H Reverse Triceps Pressdown
40lbs 12/12/12/13
* Time to bump this to 50lbs

[Relentless]

Leg Day - Monday Feb 9th

Squats
205lb x 12/12/12/6
* I just inexplicably died in the middle of the 4th set... I think I'll stick with 205 for now, and push on to 4x16

Lunges
* skipped as my low back was a bit twitchy after the squats and I didn't want to risk it.

Leg Curls
150lbs x 16/16/14/13
*progress on reps. Yay.

Seated Lever Calf Raises 5x15
160lb x 15/15/13/12/12
*Good working weight for now; I'll increase in 10-lb increments once I hit 5x15

SLDL 10/6/4
10x215
6x265
4x315
*not bad, not bad... the fact that I can do SLDLs at the same weight as my DLs means I should increase the DLs weight, no?

Good Mornings 10/6/4
85x10
105x6
125x6
* this was dead easy; adding 20lbs all around next session

[Relentless]

Franji: If you want a program critique, post it in its entirety in your journal and I'm sure Will, ectx, myself and others will have a go at it and provide feedback.

What pictures are you referring to? I sent you an email the other day with the Oz pics, finally... pics of me now will not be happening as this bulk has me a bit bloated :redface: but I'll no doubt post pics after my cut. I'm currently at 226lbs (I was 218 or so when I left Oz) and have oddly not gained horribly much BF except around my middle; I can still see ribs and arm/shoulder definition. it's weird. The up side of the bulking diet and the volume training is that my muscles feel very full and thick; my chest in particular is beginning to stand out like it never has before

[ElPietro]

Leg Day - Monday Feb 9th

Squats
205lb x 12/12/12/6
* I just inexplicably died in the middle of the 4th set... I think I'll stick with 205 for now, and push on to 4x16



WTF? Are you....toning? :eek:

[Relentless]

Chest and back Day - Weds Feb 11
I decided to try alternating chest & back exercises, which kinda made sense to me; a bit of stretching and recovery as opposite sides are worked. Felt good.


Bench Press
155lbs 12/12/10/10
* forward progress in the last two sets; I betcha I get 4x12 next week...

Assisted Chin Ups (to 50 reps)
-60lbs weight
10+7+6+6 = 29
* closer but still no banana; I will increase the assistance to 80lbs next session and work from there I think.

Incline DB Press
45lbs 12/12/12/11
* Arrrrgh... couldnt... quite... get... last .... rep for 4x12. It felt light going up but I couldn't close it out. Dammit.

Bent Over Rows
135lbs 12/12/12/13
* this bitch is mine. next session: 145

Pullovers
50 lbs 12/12/12/12
* hurrah! Time to increase this. I'll go to 60 I think.

Power Training: Deadlifts 10/6/4
225 x 10
295 x 6
335 x 3
* Smoked 295. Felt a minor twinge in the low back on rep 3 of the heavy set so I called it a day, given that I'm doing SLDLs on Friday anyway.



WTF? Are you....toning? :eek:
Yes. Yes I am. :rolleyes:

[rpffly]

How are you feeling as a result of this routine. I just switched to a high volume high frequency routine as well and surprisingly I feel pretty good. We'll see though in a few weeks.

[Relentless]

Arms & Shoulders Day, Thu Feb 12th

BB Clean + Press
115lbs 12/9/6/5
* I don't know why it is I keep reducing on this; maybe it's fatigue in my tris from chest day? Hm. I will bump down to 105 for next workout and work up from there I guess.

DB Lateral Raises
25lbs 12/12/12/9
* Nice. Almost finished out the 4th set, then it's back up to 30s.

Upright Rows
95lb x 10
115lb x 6
135lb x 3
* Crikey! I *almost* got the 4th rep on 135 but died just below chest height. I ought to be able to get it next workout though. Nice reps, felt solid throughout and had good ROM, nice and high.

Push Press
115lb x 6
135lb x 4
155lb x 0 (failed 3 times)
* yoiks; delts were feeling well tired by this point and 155 just wouldnt go up, though I tried 3 times. Damn. 135 went up quite easily, too! I will try it again next workout and if I can't get at least 1, I'll back off to 145. I love finishing off a shoulder workout with these; the inertia from the push with the knees moves the sticking point up to lockout, which is rough on the delts after all the previous sets. Maybe Arnold has something on the ball after all, despite all the criticism for his volume approach. :D

BB Curls
75lb 12/12/9/6
* Backsliding here again. Dammit. I noticed that the biceps were looking better though; bit more peak and fullness. Hm.

Triceps Pressdowns
150lbs 12/12/12/9
* better; almost finished out the set at 150. Soon the stack will once again be my bitch.

DB Curls
25lbs 12/12/9/8
* it still feels weird to be curling with so little weight but at this point my arms are quite tired so whatever

1-H Reverse Triceps Pressdown
50lbs 12/12/12/10
* hm; blasted thru these reps quite easily but couldnt' quite close the deal on the last set. I think alternating bis/tris is a good thing at the end of this workout; it lets me speed things up a bit

-----------------
oh, for those of you that are keeping score, there was a leg workout on the weekend too, but it was a strange gym with no book and weird equipment so we'll just take it as read that there was a leg workout of some sort and move along from there..

[Relentless]

How are you feeling as a result of this routine. I just switched to a high volume high frequency routine as well and surprisingly I feel pretty good. We'll see though in a few weeks.

I'm feeling thicker. That is to say, my muscles feel fuller and thicker and like they're getting larger as opposed to just stronger. Which is cool, because while I gained a lot of strength on a low volume approach, I felt like I stagnated with regard to size.

As mentioned earlier in the journal, my pecs especially seem to be loving this style of workout, and they're responding by filling in and coming up off my chest like they never have before. If this continues, they may even stop being a weak point in my physique.

[Relentless]

Chest and back Day - Monday Feb 16

Bench Press
155lbs 12/12/12/12
* w00t! 4x12. Move to 165 next week.

Assisted Chin Ups (to 50 reps)
-80lbs weight
10+9+6+5 = 32
* still not light enough, dammit; will move to -100 next week and see how that goes. I'm not doing 10 sets of 5, dammit.

Incline DB Press
45lbs 12/12/12/13
* Booya. Time for 50s

Bent Over Rows
145lbs 12/12/9/8
* not too bad; slowed the reps down some and got a good contraction. Me likey.

Pullovers
60 lbs 12/9/9/9
* 9 seemed to be the magic number after the first set. Weird. All sets to failure though. Failure is dangerous when you're jockeying a DB around your head, so that's a relative term

Power Training: Deadlifts 10/6/4
225 x 10
295 x 6
335 x 4
* smoked 335; I think next week I'll go for 225/315/345 and then keep sets 1 and 2 at those weights for a while and work on increasing the max weight set. I basically just bang the weight on the floor for the 2 lighter sets but for the heavy set I've been more careful and I'm actually re-gripping and re-setting a bit after each rep or two reps. I don't know if that's Arnold Approved but whatever... it's nice to end this workout on a high note with some nice deads though.

[JustinF]

Nice work Scott! Keep it up.

[Relentless]

Arms & Shoulders Day, Tue Feb 17th

BB Clean + Press
105lbs 12/12/10/8
* This is apparently the weight I should be working at. Ah well. Will work up from here.

DB Lateral Raises
25lbs 12/12/12/10
* Yoiks, only 1 more rep. Still, it's progress. Side delts felt especially thrashed after these.

Upright Rows
95lb x 10
115lb x 6
135lb x 5
* Well. I am definitely ready to increase the weight here again. Will move up 10lbs in each level to 105/125/145

Push Press
115lb x 6
135lb x 4
155lb x 2.5 (almost got up the 3rd rep)
* much much better. I felt like I had better focus on these reps. Smooth ROM and good squeeze at the top. Up everything by 10lbs.

BB Curls
75lb 12/12/12/12
* That's RIGHT bastiches! I finally sorted this one out. 85 is next.

Triceps Pressdowns
150lbs 12/12/12/12
* also sorted this punkass weight out. Time for 160

DB Curls
25lbs 12/12/12/12
* I will leave this one be for the time being, as I'm increasing the BB curl weight.

1-H Reverse Triceps Pressdown
60lbs 12/10/8/8
* could barely raise arms enough to attach handle to pulley. I expect that that means I had a good arm/shoulder workout.

[Relentless]

Leg Day - Wed Feb 18th

Squats
185lb x 16/16/8/0
* my low back is too ****ed up from all the deads and other crap I'm doing. I'm changing this to leg press as of next session.

Lunges
* skipped as my low back was FUBAR

Leg Curls
150lbs x 16/16/16/16
*150 was bitchslapped... 160 is next

Seated Lever Calf Raises 5x15
160lb x 15/15/15/15/15
*got charley horse action in calves on 2nd last set but pushed thru

SLDL 10/6/4
10x225
6x275
4x315
*bumped both light sets and still got 4x315; will bump hvy set to 335 next session

Good Mornings 10/6/4
105x10
125x6
145x4
* again easy; will start with 115 next session and perhaps increase the jumps in weight?

Leg Press
8x450, 8x450
* I was knackered by this point but wanted to try it out prep to next session. By this point my low back was so stiff I could barely rep out at a pissant weight like 450

[WillKuenzel]

Damn, you could do good mornings but no lunges? I've actually found lunges to be pretty easy on my lower back and will sometimes use them in place of squats or SLDL's.

How are you liking building up the weight instead of doing heavy sets first?

[ElPietro]

Hey Scott, if you had to take one thing out it might be better to take out Deadlifts. Yes, it actually physically pains me to say that, but deadlifts could interfere with quite a few of your lifts, and if you had to take one thing out to allow you to do more other movements other days then I'd say that's your best bet. Besides, I think you'd garner more results from higher rep squats and lunges than you would high rep deadlifts. I've always been a proponent of low rep deads and don't see them as such a great exercise in the high rep range.

Just my advice anyway. It certainly would help with the lower back fatigue which could be impacting you much more than you think.

[Relentless]

Will: Once my lower back is bothering me, I find I'll go down into a lunge and get stuck there coz my back is screaming... it's weird. I'm only 'building up the weight' for the "power exercises" (all other weights are static) but I'm enjoying it; i'm probably being limited in strength gains somewhat by taking that approach, but I rather like the notion of progressively increasing and thereby exhausting the muscle. Per my comments on shoulder day, I'm ****ing LOVING those push presses even though I'm only doing 6/4/2 reps in progressively higher weights. Just that sense of achieving what amounts to near-total muscle failure is damn cool. It's also having an impact on my physique, I think. I feel thicker all over after only 3 weeks. I can't wait to see the changes after 2-3 months and then I'll be starting my summer cut. :)

Peter: You know that makes a lot of sense. But my problem is that I LOVE doing deads on back day because it makes me feel good about lifting after what I feel like is some pussy lifting for chest and back. And the SLDLs are kicking ass on my hammies so I don't wanna drop them.

I'm not actually doing high rep deads in any case, either... I'm 'warming up' with lightish sets at 225 or so, then progressing to a set of 6 and a set of 4. Not high volume by any definition. Personally I think, based on my body's reaction, that all the smaller/supplemental muscles are simply not yet prepared to do 16 rep sets for squats. **** it, maybe I should just drop the weight even further until I can rep out at 16 comfortably and not worry if I have to go down to 135 or something. My rationale with going to leg press was that I know I can whale on my quads really well with that and that was the priority...

I also have a sense that if I stick with it, I will get past that lower back fatigue... I mean, my other body parts were protesting earlier in this workout cycle but now they are settling down. Maybe the low back just needs time to catch up to this level of training?

[Relentless]

Chest and back Day - Monday Feb 22

Bench Press
165lbs 12/12/9/8
* I thought after smoking the first two sets I'd be able to shoot up to 175. No such luck... started to slow down after about rep 6 on set 3 and then ground out the remainder... ah well.

Assisted Chin Ups (to 50 reps)
-100lbs weight
15+12+9+9+5 = 50
* Mwa ha ha... turns out I just needed to be 100lbs lighter to rep out to 50 for chins. Hm. anyway, as I was able to get to 50 pretty easily on -100, next workout I'll move to -90.

Incline DB Press
50lbs 12/12/9/8
* same deal as with flat bench; strong start and the lost momentum. Ah well...

Bent Over Rows
145lbs 12/12/12/10
* almost there; reckon i'll close this one out next workout

Pullovers
60 lbs 12/12/12/12
* almost too easy. Next session: 65

Power Training: Deadlifts 10/6/4
* skipped this session... I tweaked my lower back playing football on the weekend and didn't want to push things... I'll get my chiropractor to sort me out and then all will be fixed. ;)


I had a wicked pump coming out of this workout in my arms, chest and back. Fun stuff. I was just swole.

-----

The weekend was my first time back playing football since before Oz. it was a blizzardy day, at 0 to -1 C outside (that's around 32 degrees for you yanks). The field was 1" of crusty snow atop 3" of slush. Lovely. Had a great first game back though, dragging in a couple of TDs and playing solid D. Actually two of the TDs were great. One was a stop-and-go with a pump fake to draw the defender, and I toasted the defender on the deep route and nabbed the ball over my shoulder despite stumbling in the treacherous slush. The other was the game winner. It's late, we're all cold, and our team was on the 15 or so. The other team had been staging a comeback but we wanted to put it away with this score (we play to 11 TDs most of the time and were leading 10-7 at this time).

Setting the stage: we're playing 5 on 4 in a small field, and our team with the man advantage is limited to 6 seconds to make a play, then its dead. It's 4th down. I call a bunch right formation against a spread zone D, with the other receivers to loiter right while I run a long out along the front of the endzone. The defenders didn't really bite on the bunch, so the zone stayed intact and I had to dodge defenders in my route. The QB pump fakes into the crowd and then sails one to the front corner of the endzone and I have a step on the defender. The wind takes it a bit so I have to put on a burst of speed to catch up. I grab the ball and the defender is there a heartbeat later, trying to wrestle it away. We crash to the slush/ice just out of bounds (I made the catch inbounds and was forced out) and I guess all this high volume curling has done SOMETHING because I found the strength to rip the ball away for the win. The downside: I tore up both knees prety good on the ice (did I mention i was wearing shorts?). it's a good thing I made the catch or I'd have been pissed about all the blood.

anyway, all the running in slush tweaked my low back and I've been getting these odd, sharp, radiating pains in my lowback and down my hip/leg so I skipped deads today

[Relentless]

Arms & Shoulders Day, Wed Feb 25th

BB Clean + Press
105lbs 12/12/12/12
* Smoked it. Woooooooo doggy. Bump to 115 for next week.

DB Lateral Raises
25lbs 12/12/12/12
* yeaaaaah... progress again... bump to 30s next week

Upright Rows
95lb x 10
115lb x 6
145lb x 3.5
* doh, I must have been snoozing because I forgot to increase the lower weights by 10s. missed the new upper weight by a bit on rep 4, so next week I'll just increase the lower weights slightly and try again

Push Press
125lb x 6
145lb x 3.5 (had a too-narrow grip and kinda tweaked it a bit)
155lb x 2.5 (almost got up the 3rd rep)
* next week I'll leave everything as is except for the heavy rep, which I'll push to 165... despite missing rep 4 on the medium set if I can try for a 3rd rep at 155 I can surely get at least 1 rep at 165.

BB Curls
85lb 12/12/10/8
* it's so weird; I keep increasing the weight, and the first 2 sets fly up like nothing at the new weight and then I slow down. Then a week or two later, i close out the set. The magic of hypertrophy i guess.

Triceps Pressdowns
160lbs 12/12/12/10
* damn, almost closed this one out. next time. Then I'll move to 170 and then I'll need to move to the lat pulldown machine to get enough weight

DB Curls
30lbs 12/10/8/7.5
* turns out I didn't leave it as is. LOL. Still, this is a good working weight for now.

1-H Reverse Triceps Pressdown
60lbs 12/12/9/9
* progressed again



I was rather surprised that I was able to get a good workout in today. Why? I was at the Foundation Night Club in Barrie last night, hangin' with my good buds Pilate and watching them rock the crowd. They are becoming pretty popular and have sold out shows in Toronto... yet 1 hour north there was room in the venue and tickets left over. Toronto people are dumb.

Anyway the net result was that I didn't get to sleep till around 2am and then I got up at 5:15 for work. *yawn* damn that is hard to do and harder still to workout when you're that tired. Still, the workouts have been getting me jazzed lately so I am loathe to miss them.

Actually today's workout was intense. Good pace throughout and I had an amazing pump by the end... damn, my arms were tighter than a virgin's nuts on prom night, I tell ya. In a good way though. I was checking them out in the mirror a bit and I must say I'm really pleased with this bulk. I won't post bulk pix for another month or so but the results have been outstanding so far and I expect this to continue. If things proceed at this pace, I'll have excellent results to show. The only challenge for me is getting enough quality calories into me every day. My body is responding extremely well to this training and I'm very happy with it.

Some dude in my office is keen to have a cutting contest later in the spring, so I'll use that to help drive motivation and such I guess. Not that I need much. I am actually looking forward to eating uber-clean on a cut again. My body gains mass so easily that while I enjoy bulking I feel a bit guilty about the bodyfat that I've gained. I mean it's totally minor (a few percent at best... I reckon I've shot up to around 15% from 12ish or 11ish before Australia). But I stress about it. ****, I sound like such a woman. LOL!

[ElPietro]

Come drink friday.

[JustinF]

Good to hear these sessions are working for ya. can't wait to see the pics!!

[Relentless]

monster football game on Saturday

4TDs, something like 20 catches, a forced fumble on defense and the best block I've made in over a year to set up another TD (on a QB bootleg).

Dizzamn! This is probably the best game I've ever had. I was on fire! I was catching **** in coverage, behind me, above me. I was going deep, going short, going everywhere on the field. The big thing for me was not just making my own plays but following through on other plays, being there to block for others, etc.

To boot: The field was total crap... basically slush through and through that was the consistency of broken glass when you fell on it. Got away with minor scrapes though, which was cool. made COD really hard tho... this is both a blessing and a curse

[Relentless]

Chest and back Day - Monday March 1st

Bench Press
165lbs 12/12/9/7
* I am a filthy filthy backslider. I completely don't understand why I keep having trouble with bench. Mind you, I DID have a rib out for this workout, which had me in a lot of pain. But why did it affect my bench but not my other lifts? I'm just a pussy, I guess.

Assisted Chin Ups (to 50 reps)
-90lbs weight
20+11+9+8+2 = 50
* OK, I seem to be adjusting to this. Will move back to -80 for next session and see how that goes.

Incline DB Press
50lbs 12/12/12/9.5
* almost there on this one... reckon I'll get it next session. If only regular bench was going this well.

Bent Over Rows
145lbs 12/12/12/10
* Probably could have gotten 2 more reps with crap form but I didn't want to push it with my back tweaked.

Pullovers
* skipped - back was protesting too much after B-O Rows

Power Training: Deadlifts 10/6/4
* skipped this session... this is the second time in a row I've had a back issue. This time it's a rib that's out.

[ElPietro]

Any joint issues? I guess 12 rep range shouldn't be too bad.

[Relentless]

Arms & Shoulders Day, Wed March 3rd

BB Clean + Press
115lbs 12/10/8.5/7
* unnnnngh.... struggled in the 2nd half here

DB Lateral Raises
30lbs 10/8/8/7
* hm. Maybe I'll see how 27.5 feels. ;)

Upright Rows
95lb x 10
115lb x 6
145lb x 3.5
* not only did I forget to increse the lower weights by 10s, the upper weight missed 4th rep again! dammit!

Push Press
125lb x 6
145lb x 4
165lb x 2
* solid stuff... had a spotter on the 165 so I felt confident and just ground it out... up by 10 all around next week I think... 135/155/175

BB Curls
85lb 12/12/12/12
* hm. Managed full sets but I had a bit too long a pause before set 4 so I don't trust it. I'll likely leave this the same next session and see how it feels.

Triceps Pressdowns
160lbs 12/12/12/12
* w00t! closed out 160. 170 (stack) is next

DB Curls
30lbs 12/12/8/7.5
* 2 more reps on set 2. Not bad.

1-H Reverse Triceps Pressdown
60lbs 12/12/10/8
* blew my wad getting 10 on set 3 and then couldn't manage even 9 on set 4. ah well.



-----

ElPietro: no, no joint issues to this point. Feeling good and strong in the joints, actually.

[WillKuenzel]

Where the hell is the leg days? I've seen 2 chest and back sessions each followed by an arms and shoulder day but not legs in a couple weeks. What are you doing? :p

[Relentless]

injuries, Will... injuries... have had back problems the last few weeks that have been nagging and making me reluctant to chance a leg day.

That said, i'm due for one tomorrow and plan to do it.










Either that or my subconscious is trying to turn me into some kind of curl jockey..

[JustinF]

Where the hell is the leg days? I've seen 2 chest and back sessions each followed by an arms and shoulder day but not legs in a couple weeks. What are you doing? :p

He's one of the "beach muscle" pretty boys! :p



Sessions are looking ace, Scott. Awesome work!!

[rookiebldr]

Either that or my subconscious is trying to turn me into some kind of curl jockey..

Turn? bahahahahaha ................................. ;)

[Relentless]

Leg Day - Thursday Mar 4th

Leg Press
450lb x 16/16/16/16
* Dead easy. Will bump to 540 next week and see how that feels.

Lunges
95x 16/16/16/16
* a few twinges but not bad... switching to leg press really helped I think. I may have some problems with my squat form; I'll have to get that rechecked at some point.

Leg Curls
150lbs x 16/16/16/16
*Lightweight baby. 165 next session.

Seated Lever Calf Raises 5x15
170lb x 11/10/11/11/11
*some calf cramps but not bad. Will work up to 5x15

SLDL 10/6/4
10x225
6x275
4x315
* Piece of cake. Increase by 10lb all around next week

Good Mornings 10/6/4
125x10
145x6
165x6
* this was dead easy; adding 20lbs all around next session. Feeling v. strong thru this motion.

[Relentless]

Justin: Thanks for the kind words man. Your unrelenting positive comments almost make up for the utter lack of Franjiliciousness that has been around here lately. But "pretty boy"? Seriously? I'm not that pretty.

Jeff: Laff it up, little man. A reckoning will be visited upon your house and yea it will be reckoned as mighty and wroth and overwhelming. Thus spake the prophet.

[pruneman]

hey man nice leg day

[rookiebldr]

Excellent SLDL's.

[Saint Patrick]

Yeah :withrookie:

Nail those 12 plates on the leg press next week.

[Relentless]

pruneman: Thank yew fer yore sew-port!

rookie: Ah, finally a positive comment instead of incessant wisecracks. To be fair, I do the same to you so I guess it's a goose/gander thing.

St. Patty: I'm not anticipating any problems with 12 plates; I may slow down a bit but should be able to get 16x4 and then bump to 14 plates where I expect to slow down. Given that I've been able to grind out 6 reps at 18 plates before I kinda expect that progress will be decent here. It will be just a case of acclimating to the volume.



BTW, I've got hella bad DOMS in my hammies already today. In retrospect, that leg day is a LOT of hams.

[ElPietro]

Ah good mornings, I need to add these in. Are you doing it with bent legs with your glutes back? I think everytime I've seen clips of these things, I've seen a different form. Even though most people say they are getting close to parallel to the floor, I've yet to actually see a clip of the phenomenon.

Although, the more I think of it, if you go to true parallel, the bar could conceivably move up onto your neck, which I'd think could be quite disastrous.

[Relentless]

I put the bar as low on my shoulders/back as I can, much as Bill Jamison instructed us for squats.

http://www.exrx.net/WeightExercises/Hamstrings/BBGoodMorning.html

Personally I think this guy is doing it WRONG. He doesn't have any arch in his back. The same thing applies as in squats/deads/bench. Big chest and arched back = strong torso. He also has the bar way to ****ing high on his shoulders/neck. To do this with any kind of weight would be disastrous. That said I've seen some people recommend rounded back GMs at light weight as a way to strengthen spinal erectors, while arched-back (as I prefer) is a more glute/ham exercise. I'm doing it on leg day so I reckon I've got it going the right way for me at least. Rounded back GMs at light weight would be a better back rehab exercise for you than weighted hypers, I'd think. Although spinal compression may be an issue. I've seen some sites recommend that you work your rounded back GM up to 40-60% of your best deadlift. I think that's borderline insane but if you could round-back 400lbs you'd have a beastly low back. :)

I do it with a very slight (5 degree?) bend in the knees just to take the edge of strain off the hamstrings and avoid injury. Feet shoulder width or slightly narrower, toes externally rotated a bit. Hands pulling down slightly on the bar to snug it up against my traps and shoulders. Head up and looking ahead/up and not at the ground.

[Relentless]

Chest and back Day - Friday March 5th

Bench Press
165lbs 12/12/11/8
* Forward progress again. :cool:

Assisted Chin Ups (to 50 reps)
-80lbs weight
20+14+10+6 = 50
* Dizzamdamdam good sets. I think my body just needed to acclimate to these. Bump to -70 next session.

Incline DB Press
50lbs 12/12/12/13
* bump to 55s next session. w00t!

Bent Over Rows
145lbs 12/12/12/13
* yep. I was able to close this one out. Next session 155.

Pullovers
70lbs 12/8/8/8
* good first set then felt weaker. This is one exercise I never intend to do to true failure. I ensured I had gas left in the tank on every set.

Power Training: Deadlifts 10/6/4
10x225
6x275
4x345
* rib still felt a bit tweaky when I unracked the 345 but otherwise was ok. repped out the heavy ones no problem and the light ones just flew up. next session: 355.


I should have had a rest/cardio day today but given that football is on tomorrow I elected to sneak in a workout. I've not been getting enough workouts in per week so i really want to focus on getting 2x a week (or almost that) with a stricter 3 on 1 off schedule. Life has just been so ****ing complex lately. I won't whine about it but I will say it is making things hard to schedule.

[Anthony]

What do you mean when you say "unracked the 345"? Don't you start from the floor?

[ElPietro]

I'll usually just leave the bar on the edge of the rack too if it's not anything heavy or near max. Easier to slide the plates on and off that way too.

[Relentless]

I'll usually just leave the bar on the edge of the rack too if it's not anything heavy or near max. Easier to slide the plates on and off that way too.

:nod::nod::nod:
yeah, exactly..

345 aint that heavy (I've pulled over 400 I just working up to it again) so when time came to put on the extra 45s after 275, I put it on the rack to ease loading them on. Then before doing the reps at 345 I picked it up and put it on the floor to start.

I really shouldn't though; the extra liftnig from the awkward height prolly isn't good... I'm essentially doing an extra rack pull before the heavy set. I should just put 5lbers on the floor and roll the plates up on them like you do, pete.

[ElPietro]

Yes, I'm rather proud of my ingenious methodology for adding new 45s. :)

Although, I guess it really isn't needed with the weight I'm lifting right now. :(

[Relentless]

what would be better would be one of those pimp little rack-things that Bill had... just wedge them under the bar and lever them up and *POOF* easy to load on the plates.

[Relentless]

Arms & Shoulders Day, Monday March 8th

BB Clean + Press
115lbs 12/12/9/8
* progress = :thumbup:

DB Lateral Raises
30lbs 12/9/8/8
* turns out we don't have 27.5. Gutted it out with 30s and made progress

Upright Rows
105lb x 10
125lb x 6
145lb x 4
* got it finally. But the form was a touch shaky on the last 2 reps so I'll repeat this next week

Push Press
125lb x 6
145lb x 4
165lb x 2
* was feeling weak for some reason so I decided not to push this. repped out as per last session and barely got 2 at 165... maybe it was from football on the weekend... my shoulder took a bit of a beating while making a fumble recovery.

BB Curls
95lb 12/9/8/7
* Decided to push ahead on this one anyway. Wicked pump. A pump that HURT I was so swole.

Triceps Pressdowns
170lbs 11/8/8/7
* elbows were sort during this... ungh.

DB Curls
30lbs 12/12/12/8
* smoother reps throughout and closed out the 3rd set. I suspect I'll close this out entirely next session

1-H Reverse Triceps Pressdown
60lbs 12/12/11/8
* a bit of progress. Good enough for now

[ElPietro]

Respond to my PM! :mad:

[WillKuenzel]

Are you doing db pullovers or ez-bar pullovers?

[Relentless]

Are you doing db pullovers or ez-bar pullovers?

DB. Why?

I'll have to move to EZ bar before long tho, as my DBs only go to 100 :(

[JustinF]

Nice work bro. Sessions are looking ace.

[Coke]

Nice arms and shoulder effort Cal...check your messages dude, lol

[ElPietro]

Let me know if you are up for a road trip, not this weekend but next. It's the 2004 Nationals, and it's in Waterloo. Should be some good lifters there. Harnek asked if I wanted to come, and I'm hoping I won't get dragged into doing too much work this time.

Anyway, should be interesting.

[Relentless]

Leg Day - Tuesday Mar 9th

Leg Press
540lb x 16/16/16/16
* Again no problems. Lets try 630 next week and see how that slides.

Lunges
105x 16/14/14/12
* geh. I am not feeling the love here and my low back is still hurting when i do these. Ah well. I'll keep at it. My legs are plenty strong and if it was just a quad issue I could lunge a lot more weight I'm sure. It's the rest of me that can't handle it.

Leg Curls
165lbs x 16/16/16/16
*hm. odd that this just shot through as well. Ah well, on to 180.

Seated Lever Calf Raises 5x15
170lb x 15/15/14/13/13
*forward progress... prolyl get 5x15 next session

SLDL 10/6/4
10x225
6x275
4x325
* forgot to add 10 until the last set. Still no worries.

Good Mornings 10/6/4
145x10
165x6
185x4
* does anyone else notice their stomach sticks out when they do this? when I glanced in the mirror beside me I saw my abs rounding outward as I went deep into it, despite keeping them tight... is it just a function of the movement?

-----

Peter: A MAYBE on the road trip. I'm at loose ends on the weekend in terms of Sara being away but I have a commitment sat. afternoon and possibly something sunday afternoon. What hours are the nationals?

[Anthony]

You're supposed to push your abs out on squats and I assume you should do the same on GMs. Nice work on the SLDL. :)

[Relentless]

Thanks Anthony

I'm not pushing too hard on the SLDLs because my focus is more on the DLs I do on back day. Between leg curls, SLDLs and GMs, my hams are getting heaps of work so I reckon they don't need to be pushed along too fast anyway.

I may accelerate my progression on deads a bit, and bump by 20lbs on the heavy set for the next few weeks so I can get back up to 405. 405x4 will be a nice feather in my cap as I don't think I've ever managed more than 3 at that weight.

[Coke]

Great leg day, with all them reps you ought to own the 630 leg presses next session!

[Relentless]

Chest and back Day - Thursday March 5th

Bench Press
165lbs 12/12/12/12
* That's right biatch! 175 next session. w00t!!!

Assisted Chin Ups (to 50 reps)
-70lbs weight
16+12+10+8+8 = 54
* Starting to slow down a bit on these but still good progress. I apparently can't add properly as I only needed 4 on my 4th set yet I did 8. Ah well. Next session shall be -60.

Incline DB Press
55lbs 12/12/12/9
* Just fell apart on the last set. Still had a good push throughout. Reckon I'll close these out next session and move to 60. Man it's going to be depressing when I get to my plateau and start having to settle for an extra rep or two each week instead of jacking the weight every week or two.

Bent Over Rows
155lbs 12/12/12/13
* Hella strong through this. Weird, I was able to progress no problem. Some sort of acclimation? Maybe diet is just better? Whatever. 165 next session.

BB Pullovers
75lbs 12/12/12/9
* found it much easier with more weight using the BB instead. Cool. Reckon I'll stick with these for now.

Power Training: Deadlifts 10/6/4
10x225
6x275
4x365
* decided to bump by 20. Barely got 4 reps because of a 'chunky burp' after rep two that resulted in bits of the sausage and eggs I had for brekkie refluxing into my throat and needing to be choked back down. Ugh. I think next session maybe I'll leave the heavy set at 365 but bump the middle set to 315.... hm. I want 405 by early april though. maybe I'll bump middle set to 315 and shoot for 4x385 anyway. I'll need to ensure solid diet and rest between now and then though.
----


CoCoaPuff: Yeah I've put up 810x8 before so I don't anticipate any problems with the lower weights except for repping out as much as I want.

[Relentless]

Arms & Shoulders Day, Friday March 12th

BB Clean + Press
115lbs 12/12/12/11
* damnit, just couldn't get that last rep... so close.... ah well, forward progress was made and I'll close out this bitch next time

DB Lateral Raises
30lbs 12/12/11/9
* zoiks, yo! this really started a slow burn in my shoulders but it was good, ya know?

Upright Rows
105lb x 10
125lb x 6
145lb x 5
* /pwned; increase by 10 all around next session

Push Press
125lb x 6
145lb x 4
165lb x 2.5
* just couldn't get the 3rd rep at 165 but I think I'm ready to progress... 10lbs more next week all around

BB Curls
95lb 12/9/7/6
* uhhhrrrrllllmmmmmmuurrr .... so much wrist pain. Ouchie. Looks like this is a not bad weight to work at for now.

Triceps Pressdowns
170lbs 12/12/9/7
* moved ahead with this. Soon I will need to change machines to get more weight. Woo.

DB Curls
30lbs 12/12/10/8
* nope, turns out I couldn't close this one out. Ah well. Backslid a bit actually but I think it's coz of the wrist pain from the BB curls. I'll keep pluggin' away at it.

1-H Reverse Triceps Pressdown
60lbs 12/12/12/12
* closed the deal here. Time for 70s.

[Relentless]

oh and I forgot to take creatine preworkout today. dunno if that made a diff. Took it post with shake.

[WillKuenzel]

When you do the bb clean and press, do you clean it from the floor?

[Relentless]

just for the first rep

[Saint Patrick]

Damn Cal that's some nice work on those upright rows!

lol @ the chunky burp.

[Relentless]

Leg Day - Monday Mar 15th

Leg Press
630lb x 16/14/13/12
* Ladies and gentlemen, we have found a working weight. Was seeing sparklies in the last set tho. Damn that was intense. I'll work to close this out and then will bump to 680 instead of 720... at this # of reps I don't think I should be jumping 90lbs at a time... 50lbs is fine. ;)

Lunges
105x 16/15/15/13
* forward progress is ok

Leg Curls
180lbs x 16/16/14/13
*Not too bad. Lost focus on the 3rd set, else I might have had 16 there too... one of the staff at the gym was standing in front of me and began gesticulating and wiggling her ass while talking to some other girl at the front desk (the leg curl machine is near the front counter). She was there throughout the set and it took all my willpower not to gawk. That said I made use of my peripheral vision while I pretended to focus on my set. :angel: :hump::angel: :hump: Now I'm not saying that she was doing it on purpose to give me a show but I will note that she looked back at me as she then crossed the room and I noticed her friend at the desk watching me to see if I checked her out. :thumbup: I think married guy here still has it goin' on. ;)

Seated Lever Calf Raises 5x15
170lb x 15/15/15/15/15
*closed this out despite a bit of a cramp in the right calf. Next session: 180

SLDL 10/6/4
10x225
6x275
5x325
* you know, I'm not keen to push too hard along on this one. got a 5th rep on the last set though so I SHOULD add 10s all around...

Good Mornings 10/6/4
145x10
165x6
185x6
* well I am all set to increase this with a very strong finish. +10lbs next session. I think I'm still working up to my strength level as I acclimate to this exercise.


Pattycakes: Thanks dude.

[ElPietro]

She probably just felt sorry for ya after seeing the weight you were using! :p

[Relentless]

She probably just felt sorry for ya after seeing the weight you were using! :p

this from a dude whose last leg curl workout was:

March 10th
80x8/110x8

:bash:

[ElPietro]

I'll bet you $50 you can't do that on the same machine. Care to take a bet? :evillaugh

[Relentless]

the point being, its a machine so how the hell would one judge how hard an amount of weight is?

my SLDLs and GMs are quite decent so I'm fairly certain my hamstrings are not weak.

I'll try your machine when next we lift at your gym though

[Sh!mA]

Wow Calahan, your amazing leg ability never ceses to amaze me

[ElPietro]

Hey you brought it up not me foo! Anyway, it's the lying hamstring curl, and I know my hamstrings aren't weak since I've rehabbed, and I also judge by what other big guys at the gym do. Most are using it in the 40-60lb range, and I've never seen anyone go over 100lbs, so it's not the easier ones that you sit and curl downward.

Never said you were weak, just not as strong as me. :cool: So pfft!

[Anthony]

select * from planet where elpietro.strength > callahan.strength
0 rows

[ElPietro]

Oh, forgot to mention that it'll probably be saturday that I'm gonna head over to the nationals. I think you said you'd probably be busy, but if not you're welcome to come. I'll probably be taking the new gal. It's in waterloo, and I'll probably head out around 10am or so, and come back sometime early evening I guess.

There'll be a Titan booth setup too, so I may get some equipment as well.

[ElPietro]

Ant you do not meet the minimum height required to post in this journal. Haters.

[Relentless]

select * from planet where elpietro.strength > callahan.strength
0 rows

Oh he's stronger than I am, no question of that.

But I'm lighter, leaner and prettier.

Plus I'm not THAT keen on powerlifting. Being strong is fun but having a body people envy is more fun. Does that make me shallow? Maybe. But I just don't care.

According to the PL coach we trained with, I'm a naturally built squatter so I expect if I eclipse Petey in any lift, that'll be it. But again, no rush. I'm actually off squatting at the moment because my low back just ain't lovin' the volume. But we'll see. No rush, really.

[Relentless]

Oh, forgot to mention that it'll probably be saturday that I'm gonna head over to the nationals. I think you said you'd probably be busy, but if not you're welcome to come. I'll probably be taking the new gal. It's in waterloo, and I'll probably head out around 10am or so, and come back sometime early evening I guess.

There'll be a Titan booth setup too, so I may get some equipment as well.

I'll have to pass. Pilate is back in town so we have Todd playing QB for football again and the field is pretty clear if muddy. That and my game has been tight so I'm hyped to play.

Gots ta have my football. How late is it open? I *might* be able to come by after football but that'd put me in Waterloo around 5-6pm?

[ElPietro]

Hmmm...the big boys weigh in at 1:00pm - 2:30pm according to the site. There are over 25 lifters in two flights, so I'm thinking it will be going to maybe 6 or 7pm max. So I don't think it would be worth it for you to drive there for at most an hour or so.

I'll give you lighter, and MAYBE leaner, but prettier I don't know about. ;)

Anyway, if you think you can make it earlier than that gimme a shout. Or you can just call my cell around when you'd be leaving and I can update you on where things are at and if it's worth it. It's the nationals so dunno how quick things will move along, especially with the number of lifters going.

[Relentless]

Chest and back Day - Tuesday March 16th

Bench Press
175lbs 12/12/9/8
* on track as per usual; first two sets flew up then I slowed down. This is a trend, it seems.

Assisted Chin Ups (to 50 reps)
-60lbs weight
15+12+10+8+5 = 50
* going to do it at this weight again next week as I didn't feel like the reps were as smooth as i'd like

Incline DB Press
55lbs 12/12/12/13
* /pnw3d

Bent Over Rows
165lbs 12/12/11/8
* just slowed down a bit at the end. Good solid controlled reps.

BB Pullovers
75lbs 12/12/12/12
* no problemo; 85 next session.

Power Training: Deadlifts 10/6/4
10x225
6x315
3x385 (failed 4th)
* well... 315 just flew up like it was nothing; note to self -- must respect 315 even though it seems light now. It is still enough weight to hurt me if I'm careless. And the 385? Well that was not bad. I had more chunky burps... I think I need to allow more time between having my protein shake and going to the gym... :) Anyway I felt pretty good on 3 and tried a 4th but my grip was a bit slick because I was sweating like a hog. I probably could have reset and gone for another rep but I reckon there's no need to rush things. I'll clean up this weight next week and then after that bump to 405 for the heavy set... a big thing to note here is that aside from a bit of sweat I don't have the same grip issues I did a year ago with this kind of weight. I may sneak in a little chalk or something to sort this out...


Sh!mAThanks for the kind words!

Anthony it would appear that:
select * from planet where elpietro.deads < callahan.deads
1 rows: elpietro=2x285, callahan=3x385
:D
For now at least. I have no doubt that Peteypants will rip up 405 (and more)for some reps soon and I grant that he is rehabbing and all that. But as of this week I have pulled 3x385 and the most he has pulled is 2x385.
oooh he's gonna rip on me for this I can just sense it....

Peter: if I can make it out at all I'll call you on your mobile and check things out... although would I be a 3rd wheel if you're taking the new gal along? I'd hate to cramp your game.



OH. And this is post #1000 in my journal. :cool: