Chevelle's [divine] Log

[chevelle2291]

Hey Guys,

I've got just a few workouts left on ABBH I before I start Madcow 5x5, so I figured I should start a journal now. The plan is to stick with 5x5 until it no longer works, then move on to 5/3/1.

Here's how my 5x5 split will look

Monday
Squat 5x5
Bench 5x5
Row 5x5
Assistance:
3 sets of incline dumbbell curls
3 sets of incline triceps extensions
2 sets of weighted hyperextensions
4 sets of weighted decline situps

Tuesday
Indoor sprints and/or interval training
Ab circuit

Wednesday
Squat 5x5
Military Press 5x5
Deadlift 5x5
Assistance:
3 sets of situps

Thursday
Tabata and/or intervals
Ab circuit

Friday
Squat 5x5
Bench 5x5
Row 5x5
Assistance:
3x10 weighted pull-ups
3x10 weighted dips

Saturday:
Sprints
Ab circuit

Sunday
Rest

As you can see, I've added pull-ups to the Friday workout and switched the barbell curls to incline curls and moved both the curls and the extensions to Monday so that I hit my biceps and triceps directly twice a week. If I have trouble progressing in the main lifts I'll probably do away with the extra assistance, but I don't think it'll be a problem.

I'm also going to be doing a lot of interval and sprint training as I enjoy this type of training and am trying to go for a very slow, very lean bulk as opposed to a quick and dirty one.

I'll be testing my maxes this upcoming friday. My max goals are listed below
Squat: 250x1
Bench: 215x1
Military: 135x1
Deadlift: 320x1
Row: 125x1

I haven't back squatted in a while because ABBH calls for front squats. The last time I did test for squats I hit 230x5 below parallel and with a high bar position. I'll be switching, or at least attempting to switch, to low bar position so that may bump my numbers up a little bit. I haven't done a standing military in forever so 135 may be a pipe dream. I think my deadlift is attainable but I may come up just a little short, maybe 315 or so. I have no idea how my rows will do as I have never done my bent-over rows with a deload at the bottom of the movement like I will be doing on 5x5.

My strength goals on 5x5 are:
Squat: 300x1
Military: 160x1
Deadlift: 375x1
Row: 160x1

Size goals:
Gain about ten pounds of lean mass. I'm looking for very minimal fat gain, hence the interval training. If I could be about 175 by the end of this program I'd be ecstatic.

I'll be tracking my calories on the Livestrong MyPlate page and will add in the calorie totals and macro breakdowns here after every day when I start 5x5. I'm shooting for about 3,000-3,500 calories a day, possibly more if I plateau. I'll be eating mainly clean foods, but my tracking won't be as consistent because I am in college and stuck with cafeteria food. The food here is pretty healthy though so I'm not too worried about it. I'm going to eat about 240 grams of protein a day (1.5xbodyweight), with the majority of that protein coming from meat and protein shakes.

Wish me luck guys!

Edit: I've changed programs from 5x5 to the WBB Bodybuilding Routine found here. Wish me luck on the program!

[StLRPh]

Good luck w/ the program

[Off Road]

Checking in...good luck.

[chevelle2291]

Hey Guys,

Tested my maxes today. I got a good amount of sleep but I've been fighting some sort of cold lately. I felt much better today than I have in a while so I decided to test today as this was the only day I could test before next monday. Here are the results:

Low-Bar Squat: Goal: 250. Max: 260--F yea!
Deadlift: Goal: 320. Max: 325
Bench Press: Goal: 215. Max: 215.
Rows (dead off floor): Goal: 125. Max: 155
Standing military: Goal: 135. Max: 115.--Fail

Overall, I'm pretty happy with my test results. With the squat, it was my first time trying low-bar squats and I have to say that they felt very, very natural. I definitely felt my posterior chain working more than with high bar squats and I definitely felt much more comfortable in the hole and descending. I don't think the low-bar squat position worked my legs as much as high bar squats do (high bar squats feel more quad-centric), but I definitely liked the low-bar squats more. My only problem with the low-bar squats was my hand/wrist position. My wrists felt like they were taking a little too much load during the lift. It's something I need to work on, but it wasn't much of a problem during the lift. Just a little numb afterwards. My depth was good, I was definitely below parallel, and felt much more comfortable below parallel than I usually do with squats. I also didn't feel my lower back rounding (buttwink) as I usually do with full ATG high bar squats. When I completed my 250 test, I accidentally bumped the safety catches on the olympic platform (the catches at my school are very sturdy, but very, very wide). This bothered me a bit and I might just remove the catches when I'm not working at a maximal effort.

My deadlift went okay. I think that I pushed my hips forward too quickly so that my shoulders and hips didn't rise at the same rate, but I'm going to give myself some leeway here because it was a max effort. I think some of this problem (which isn't a problem at all during non-maximal deadlifts) can be attributed to my grip slipping so I was in a hurry to complete the lift before I lost it. I may end up buying some wraps or at least a chalk ball so this doesn't happen again. What's a popular wrap company?

Bench wasn't bad, but it wasn't pretty. I felt comfortable with the weight when I was lowering to my chest. Didn't bounce it off my chance. Just touched and slowly kept on moving up. I got stuck a few inches above my chest, but was able to muscle through it, although my lifting here was a little lopsided, with my right side rising up slightly quicker than my left side. My spotter didn't assist me at all. No lift-off, nothing.

Rows. Meh. Don't know what I think of these. I could tell my back was rounding when I was in the starting position. I don't think it was horrible, but it definitely wasn't ideal and I won't allow it to continue to round. I think I just need to spend some more time on form and reading up on form. The row I was doing was the one described here. I think I need to push my hips back more and maybe stretch the hamstrings out a little before the lift. That'll probably help. Weight felt okay. Definitely couldn't lift more without further deterioration of form.

Standing Military was okay. I definitely overestimated my strength on these. I haven't done a shoulder press movement in a while (fail) so my body definitely was not familiar with the lift. I kept my heels together, and started the lift from my clavicle. The weight was pretty hard, and my elbow clicked near the top of the lift, which I definitely didn't like. It didn't hurt, but I've had trouble with standing presses before because my right elbow is weak. I'll keep these in as I could feel it in my core and shoulders alot, but if it bothers my elbow too much I'll probably just switch to a barbell seated military press instead (these never bother my elbow).

Calories for the day:
See attached. Carbs were too high, protein is too low. I'll probably have another protein shake before I go to bed. I wanted to hit about 2500 or so calories today with a 40p/30c/30f breakdown. Most of the time, I'm pretty close, but my day has been crazy today and I just haven't been able to get the cals in.

[chevelle2291]

Thought I'd post my workout schedule with weights/set/rep parameters if anyone's interested.

[Mark!]

Hey man keep at it. I'm anxious to see the results you'll be putting out in no time.

[chevelle2291]

Thanks Mark!

I ended up downing a protein shake and a chicken quesadilla last night. I also calculated the half an order of chips I had from On The Border. I try to eat cleaner than this most of the time, but I went out with my girlfriend last night so I cheated a bit. . Most of the time, though, my diet is relatively clean. I'm at college and the only food I can afford is the cafeteria food along with whey and PB sandwiches so my macros are basically at the hands of the cafeteria unless I want to low-carb it, which I might near the end of the school year to get a little more cut before summer.


I uploaded my final diet from yesterday also if anyone's interested.

[chevelle2291]

No training today. Taking the weekend off until Monday. May possible do sprints tomorrow. We'll see

Diet: (it's the weekend, meh)
Trying to keep the carbs low and the overall calories below 2500. Not a whole lot of activity today so no reason to be near 3000.

[chevelle2291]

Last day before Madcow. Really pumped to get back lifting in the gym after a few days of no exercise. I feel like the rest was needed though. I'll attach calories for the day. I'm about 160 over where I wanted to be, and I don't like my macros where they are, but my macros will get more in line once I return back to my normal schedule (I happen to eat at a 40/30/30 breakdown naturally most of the time.) I'm really shocked by the calories in this Spicy Italian sandwich. I think next time I'll switch to a chicken-based sandwich just so I can spread my calories around a bit and get a little more protein in.

I ended up not sprinting today because I didn't want to be fatigued before my first workout tomorrow. Will definitely be sprinting/tabata/hiit 3 days a week though along with Madcow. It may hurt my bulking gains a bit, but I'm after a lean, muscular physique with an impressive strength-to-weight ratio, and I'd like to put the weight on gradually to keep the fat away.

I'll check in tomorrow and update on how the workout went.

[Cmanuel]

Where are you in school at? I ran madcow a few times (both the intermediate and advanced), so if you need any advice just come over to my journal. Great program, I put some serious size on it back in 2007, looking forward to seeing big gains in here!

[chevelle2291]

Did my first day of Madcow today. Went pretty easy. I'm still having a little trouble with the rows, need to keep my back much flatter. I'm hoping I can get this down soon.

Workout

Squat
110x5
135x5
160x5
185x5
218x5

Bench
90x5
110x5
130x5
155x5
175x5

Row
65x5
80x5
95x5
110x5
125x5

Incline Dumbbell Curls
20x3x10-focused hard on contractions, never fails to give me a pump

Tricep extensions
35x3x10-my right elbow felt good on these until the last few reps on the last set. I'm going to see how far I can progress in these until my elbow gives me trouble.

Workout was relatively easy. Bench gave me a little trouble on the last set, but not much. Squats were pretty easy, but I still need to work on my hand position. Rows went okay, my form is improving but it's still not quite perfect. :/. I still have some upper back rounding, although my lower back seems to be pretty flat. I'm chalking it up to long legs and a short torso . I'll get the form down though. Lookin' forward to Wednesday! Tomorrow I'll be doing an ab circuit and sprints. I decided to skip the weighted hypers and crunches and place those on wednesday to even out the assistance work a bit. I'll post my diet for today tomorrow when I'm done eating.

Also, started my two day creatine loading. Took 10g this morning and another 10g 30 minutes ago.

Weight: 163 at the gym with clothes on (obviously). Not disappointed, but not excited about it either. I think I'll need to bump up the calories while doing Madcow/HIIT work. May shoot for 3500 a day or so.

Hey thanks Cmanuel! I'm at Drake University in Iowa. Gym here is real no-nonsense. Two rows of platforms/power cages, a row of benches, some pulley stations, dumbbells, and that's about it. I don't know what the hell was up today, but I felt like everyone just started a 5x5 routine. I'm usually one of two or three people using the racks when I'm there, but today there were only one or two racks open (total of 12 racks). WTF. Still, I love it here. I'll definitely check out your journal and appreciate the offer for help. Thanks!.

Edit: After watching some videos on barbell rows I've decided I need to put my body over the bar more and move the bar closer to my belly buton instead of near my chest. We'll see how this helps.

[Mark!]

Solid looking workout bud. Keep it up.

[Cmanuel]

Mehdi over at stronglifts.com has a great writeup on the pendlay row
http://stronglifts.com/how-to-perfor...ect-technique/
check it out and see if it helps any.

[chevelle2291]

Yea, I've checked Mehdi's site and check out the videos a few times a day just to keep my mind fresh on what proper form is. I may go do a few light rows tomorrow to see if I can correct the issue.

Thanks Mark!

[chevelle2291]

Diet for the day.
Carbs too high, as is fat. Chalk it up to the smoothie I had after my workout. I'm probably going to adjust and shoot for 3,500 calories. I doubt I'll gain any fat with 3x a week sprints/cardio and I'm going to need all the food I can get when Madcow starts getting harder and harder.

[chevelle2291]

Tuesday (off day) Workout

10 min dynamic warmup

dumbbell swings-#25x3x20

weighted leg raises-#10x3x15

Clean and Jerk Hold-#134x3x1

Bicycle crunches-BWx3x15

Cardio: Tabata interval sprints

5 minute static stretch cooldown.

Total workout time: 50 minutes

Off day workout today was actually pretty hard. I really underestimated how hard those Tabata sprints would be. If anyone is wondering what the Clean and Jerk Hold is, I just perform a standard clean and jerk and try to hold the weight above my head in the finishing position as long as possible. I think it helps to build core stability.

Will post diet probably either tonight or tomorrow. Macros so far are looking okay, fat is too high however. I am now shooting for 3500 calories a day as 3,000 is probably not enough for working out 6 days a week. My macro breakdown is taking a backseat for now. I'm still going to shoot for a 40p/30c/30f split, but if I don't reach it, it's not a big deal. As long as I eat my BW in protein I'll be happy.

Looking forward to my workout tomorrow! Squats, military press, and deadlifts. F yea! Can't wait!

[chevelle2291]

Wednesday Workout 5x5
10 minute dynamic warmup
Squat
105#x5
135#x5
160#x5
160#x5
Military
60#x5
70#x5
80#x5
95#x5
Deadlift
165#x5
200#x5
235#x5
270#x5

Decline situps x4x10x25#
Hyperextensions x2x10x25#

Total time: 50 minutes.

Workout went pretty well. Squats felt decently easy. Still need to get my hand position right though. MIlitary press felt really good, I actually like this lift a lot. My shoulders were a little sore from the static holds so I may need to cut those out next week on my off day. Deadlifts went okay, but my form went to **** on the 270 set. My legs were coming up way before my hips came forward. Something to work on, but I'll be more conscious of it next time. I think it had more to do with the 35 increase in weight from set to set; my body wasn't ready for the load yet. Am definitely shooting for 3,500 calories today, if not more. May even add a little ice cream to my dinner tonight.

Posted my diet from yesterday too.

Tomorrow will be another ab circuit+cardio. May do HIIT on the indoor track or outside.

[chevelle2291]

Just calculated my calories needed to "get jacked" using Nate Green's formula on his website.

Total came out to 3379.38. Rounding up to about 3400 calories a day. About what I had been shooting for already. (I calculated my bf percentage to be about 9%--guesstimate)

[chevelle2291]

Just did a second calorie estimator designed by John Berardi. That one came to 3602 calories. May split the difference and shoot for 3500 calories still

[chevelle2291]

Calories for 3/31/2010

Not too bad overall.

[chevelle2291]

Workout and Diet for 4/1/2010

Workout (off day workout)

Suitcase crunches 15#x3x60 seconds
Weighted oblique twists 25#x3x60 seconds
EZ Bar Powerclean to overhead press 30kgx3x60
Lying leg raises BWx3x60

HIIT Workout
30 seconds run/30 seconds walk
10 minute cycle



Workout left me pretty exhausted today. I'm also fighting allergies and have been outside throwing the football or frisbee around for a few hours today. So, I pretty much ate until I wasn't hungry. Result:500 cals over goal. I'm not too upset about it, honestly, I probably need more with my allergies kicking in and being outside.

Sounds funny when I'm trying to gain weight but I just ate too much calorie dense food today. I probably overestimated my cals for the spaghetti and maybe (big maybe) for the half meatball sub, but I'm not sure.
Diet overall was just a little bit sloppier today with the hamburger and all...will try to avoid that in the future.

Macros didn't look too bad overall. Definitely got a solid amount of protein in. Tomorow I'm doing squat, bench, and row, plus pullups and dips. Psyched!!

[chevelle2291]

Sooooo,

I've been pretty sick for the past three days. Friday, I felt like absolute crap (allergy related) so I didn't do much of anything. I did my 5x5 workout and got out, felt weak as hell though. My calorie intake for friday was abysmal. I didn't even track it I was so wiped out. Saturday, not much better. I tracked it from memory, about 1500 calories. WTF, I"m eating like an emo teenage boy. The medication I've started lately has definitely been f-ing with my appetite . Today, though, I felt a lot better. My only gripe is that my calorie intake is really high for the day...about 370 calories over goal. Damn Perkins late night breakfast!! . Honestly, though, I think the overeat was probably a bit good for me considering how sick I've been lately. I did eat a little bit of just pure crap (couple of whoppers eggs, pack of Big League Chew (gum is my worst weakness), some Razzles) that I didn't track because I have trouble finding that on MyPlate in large enough quantities, so there's prolly another 200 cals of just pure crap tacked onto my caloric intake for the day. Oh, well, it was Easter. Tomorrow will be a day of clean eating. I felt like my weight was really low after I got sick so it's prolly good for me. I'm going to try and minimize the amount of crap like gum I eat. I've been doing good with that lately, and I rarely eat candy, usually just a few bites from my girlfriend's pack of Hot Tamales or something. Oh well, not gonna lose sleep over it.

I ended up not doing cardio Saturday. I was on a deficit and didn't feel like pushing it, plus family was in town so I didn't really have time.

Monday I'll be doing 5x5 around 11 a.m.. Nothing too stressful, just Squat, Bench, Row, with a 220 top set on Squat that shouldn't be that bad at all. Looking forward to it! May try to do the workout with just a protein shake in me instead of a larger breakfast so that I use up some of the cals I had today. We'll see.

Calories for Sunday, 4/4/2009

[chevelle2291]

Monday 4/5/2010 Entry

Workout
10 minute dynamic warm-up
Squat
110x5
140x5
165x5
190x5
220x5

Bench
90x5
115x5
140x5
160x5
180x5

Row
65x5
80x5
100x5
115x5
130x5

Incline dumbbell hammer curls
25#x3x10

Seated tricep extensions
35#x3x10

bosu ball crunches
35#x4x10

hyperextensions
25#x2x12

Workout notes:
Overall a really good workout today. Couple of minor things to gripe about though: I had a weird sensation in my left knee when I was squatting. Don't quite know what it was, it just kinda felt hot for a second and then when I racked the weight it had a little ache for a few seconds. I'm not too worried about it, probably just my knee getting warmed up (hehe ). Also, the last set of squats with 220 was a lot harder than I expected. I don't know why, but 220 felt a bit heavy in the hole. I'm chalking it up to not enough food intake before working out.

Curls and extensions felt good, I'll be increasing weight with those next week I think. Thinkin' 25s on incline and 40 for dumbbell extensions.

Speaking of chalk, my chalk ball arrived today! It was wrapped in a cheese cloth with two ziploc bags around it. Only took a week or so to get here. Definitely helped keep my grip for squats/rows. I have pretty sweaty hands when I work out so this'll negate that.

Also, I'M F-ING HUNGRY!! . I've gotten in a little over 3500 (my caloric goal) calories today and I'll prolly eat a few hundred more. I'm just starving!! Growin' maybe? I think so....

Tomorrow will be a cardio/ab training day. I'm not gonna push it too much, prolly just Tabatas. The workout today took a bit out of me and I need to rest up for deads/militarys/squats on wed. Can't wait.

I'll post calories with macro breakdown tomorrow morning.

[Off Road]

Squats will make you hungry

[chevelle2291]

Haha Off Road that's for damn sure! I've been hungry as hell since Monday, and I'm debating eating above 3500 today to stop the hunger.

I didn't do my cardio/abs training today. I was exhausted all day from lack of sleep (normally get 7-8 hours, got 5), so I fell asleep when I was going to go to the gym . Oh well, it's probably good for me anyways. If my body's saying "rest" then I should probably do what it tells me. I may do a cardio workout later in the day after my 5x5 workout tomorrow, but I'm not sure if I will yet.

My body still feels fatigued from Monday's workout. No DOMs really, just an overall feeling of fatigue. May bump up the protein... .

I'm excited for squats, militarys (spelling, is it really "militaries" when its plural?), and deads tomorow. Deads should be fun, pulling 275x5. Need to remember to get the hamstrings and glutes activated beforehand with some glute-ham raises and leg curls.

Have I mentioned how much more I enjoy being on a strength routine than a hypertrophy routine? In ABBH, although hard at some parameters, I felt like the intensity/advancement wasn't there much at all. Sure I was tired at some points, but it just isn't the same as it is on 5x5 after doing heavy squats and bench presses.

Nutrition from yesterday (April 5, 2010):
Yes, I ate more than 3500 cals. Sorry, I was f'n hungry!!