Chevelle's [divine] Log

[Behemoth]

Well, you progressed. But yes stubborn and dumb. Take the ibuprofen for sure but DONT EVEN THINK ABOUT TAKING IT SO YOU CAN LIFT. If you can lift completely pain free without it then do it, otherwise rest it dude. Take care of your back dude, coming from someone whose had to baby his for years you don't want to be in my situation...

Looking that diet over in the fitday photo thats a really clean bulking diet. It's very impressive actually. Couple things. One, don't stress 25 cals under. Two, if you're happy eating that clean all that time thats great, but don't be afriad to eat a little away from it either. Like the night you went out with your girlfriend... picking a meal off the menu solely for lifting is for precontest diets and thats it, just remember to stay human when you can if you know what I'm saying...

Bravo's tastey ****. Twice I've taken girls there on first dates that also ended up being last (at least formal) dates. That place is cursed, don't take yo girl there mang haha

[chevelle2291]

Well, you progressed. But yes stubborn and dumb. Take the ibuprofen for sure but DONT EVEN THINK ABOUT TAKING IT SO YOU CAN LIFT. If you can lift completely pain free without it then do it, otherwise rest it dude. Take care of your back dude, coming from someone whose had to baby his for years you don't want to be in my situation...

Looking that diet over in the fitday photo thats a really clean bulking diet. It's very impressive actually. Couple things. One, don't stress 25 cals under. Two, if you're happy eating that clean all that time thats great, but don't be afriad to eat a little away from it either. Like the night you went out with your girlfriend... picking a meal off the menu solely for lifting is for precontest diets and thats it, just remember to stay human when you can if you know what I'm saying...

Bravo's tastey ****. Twice I've taken girls there on first dates that also ended up being last (at least formal) dates. That place is cursed, don't take yo girl there mang haha

Yep, Bravo was pretty good. Our waiter was absolutely fantastic, which may not seem like a big deal but here in Des Moines good service is a tough thing to find. One waitress even badmouthed me to my girlfriend when I went to use the bathroom. Clearly, she did not understand that I'm paying her tip and that I have no problem giving her jack if she's a b!tch.

I actually hate eating crap food. Seriously. If I eat a piece of cake I can't get my mind to switch off from estimating how many calories from fat, sugar, etc. The dirtiest I'll eat (usually) is ice cream if I'm low on calories and the occasional snack wrap from McDonald's.

I knew you were going to say something about the ibuprofen so I could lift haha. I just took it so I could get through the day. It's still pretty tweaked, and moving around and picking stuff up is a pain (literally). I'm hoping it'll feel better tomorrow. I'm hoping I can be good to go for Wednesday's workout. Worst case scenario is I take a week off I think. I'm going to stop taking the ibuprofen after today to see how my back is feeling. I'm hoping for a dull ache tomorow and then no pain Wednesday. Are there any exercises you do to strengthen your back?

[chevelle2291]

Diet for Today, April 26, 2010

Took some of Behemoth's advice and have started replacing fats with carbs. Went over 3,500 calories today. I forgot to add the honey from my workout shake into the total near the end of the day, so I had the peanut butter to get the calories in. Oh well...

Back is still bothering me. I'm hoping a night's rest will take care of most of the pain. I've been progressing pretty well on Madcow and I really don't want to take time off. If it turns out that I can't do my normal lifting routine, I think I'll focus on doing pressing exercises for a little bit, such as military press, leg press, etc. Will probably do some curls and all that isolation jazz too if that's the case.

[chevelle2291]

Log for Tuesday, April 27, 2010

AM weight: 161.2

Sleep: 6.5 hours

Notes:
Diet went well today. Dirtiest thing I had was a slice of low-calorie, good macros cheese pizza. I didn't get as much protein in as I wanted, however. I seem to be responding well to the higher carb intake, I don't seem to get the tiredness some have with a high-carb diet.

Back was still bothering me today, but not as bad as yesterday. Still debating going back to high bar squats. Idk. If my back is 100% by tomorrow, I'll prolly go to the gym. If not, I'll move my wednesday workout to thursday.

[Behemoth]

Liking that weigh Ryan!! I think your feelings on the diet are dead on. While your diet is damn good overall, a trade off of maybe 50 grams worth of those carbs in return for 50 worth of protein may be a little more optimal over the long term. The carbs are really only going to make you tired in very extreme cases... IE, very, very large amounts of carbs eaten alone with no protein or fat to slow them down. This would especially be the case if they were very high GI in which case they leave you with a big drop in blood sugar shortly after being consume. Rice, potatoes, ww bread or such like you're eating with full meals (and even though at the end of the day adds up to a lot of carbs) really only have a positive effect on your energy. Enjoy them, I'm pretty envious on days like today where I'm draggin' ass....

Where'd those 40g of alcohol come from in the diet? Fitday has them accounted for yet I don't see anything listed containing it? I'm baffled?

Sucks about that back bro, stay patient with it though don't wanna hurt it worse... Do you wear a belt for heavy sets of deadlifts and squats? Also do you have a history of back problems/issues/flare ups?

[chevelle2291]

Liking that weigh Ryan!! I think your feelings on the diet are dead on. While your diet is damn good overall, a trade off of maybe 50 grams worth of those carbs in return for 50 worth of protein may be a little more optimal over the long term. The carbs are really only going to make you tired in very extreme cases... IE, very, very large amounts of carbs eaten alone with no protein or fat to slow them down. This would especially be the case if they were very high GI in which case they leave you with a big drop in blood sugar shortly after being consume. Rice, potatoes, ww bread or such like you're eating with full meals (and even though at the end of the day adds up to a lot of carbs) really only have a positive effect on your energy. Enjoy them, I'm pretty envious on days like today where I'm draggin' ass....

Where'd those 40g of alcohol come from in the diet? Fitday has them accounted for yet I don't see anything listed containing it? I'm baffled?

Sucks about that back bro, stay patient with it though don't wanna hurt it worse... Do you wear a belt for heavy sets of deadlifts and squats? Also do you have a history of back problems/issues/flare ups?

WTF, I don't know where that alcohol came from. I may have entered in carbs for a food at the wrong point...weird..

Yea, weight was up the other day. Maybe from the increase in carbs?? Got my body fat calipers and measuring tape also. I plan on measuring both every Monday morning. I'm not gonna freak if my body fat goes up, as long it seems like I'm growing in the right places.

Yea, protein was a little low yesterday. I didn't eat my cottage cheese at lunch so that's probably way. I don't wear a belt on heavy squats and deadlifts, do you think it'd be a good idea? I just never have because I always thought not having one would strengthen my core.

I don't have that great of a history of back problems. I think I've briefly injured it twice in the past four months or so. We're talking like 3 days out of the gym max, mostly from nerve tweaks. This injury feels a little different, almost like that feeling you have when you need to crack your back except there's pain involved when I bend over and move, etc. I'm thinking it's just a pulled muscle or something. It IS getting better, but I'm not sure if I'll be able to get in the gym this week, which really sucks.

Rory, do you find that low bar squats aggravate your back more than high bar squats? I've never had an issue before with high bar squats and I think I might go back to them. My back seems to struggle more with shearing (sp?) force than compressive force...

Edit: Accidentally put the protein grams from the tacos into the alcohol slot. Now at around 250g of protein for the day, which is right where I like to be. Revised Fitday is attached..

[chevelle2291]

Diet entry for Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Just 5 calories over goal. Pretty exact if you ask me. Looking at myself in the mirror today I think the extra carbs have really helped to fill out my muscles. I seem to look bigger/more defined with more carbs in me. Thanks again Rory.

I'm really itchin' to get back in the gym. I hope my back feels better tomorrow. If there's no pain at all, I'll debate going into the gym, but may rest one more day just to be sure. If it hurts a little, I may go in to do some glute strengthening exercises and curls for the girls .

Was looking on stronglifts today and found an interesting article. I wouldn't be surprised if I had a strained psoas. When I get back in the gym, I'm going to put the bar a little higher on my back, as I've realized that it's too low on my back now and if I bring my arms in more and push the bar up slightly I'll probably have less shearing force on my spine. I'm also going to concentrate on squeezing my glutes (no homo? ) during squats and deadlifts. I'm also going to add glute exercises to my off day workouts. Hopefully that'll help protect my back.

If I"m able to get in the gym tomorrow or Friday, I'm going to do my Wednesday workout and then my Friday workout on saturday. If I can't get in the gym this week and my back feels better on Monday, I'm just going to repeat my workout from last Monday. I REALLY want to get back. The only thing stopping me is the fear I'll permanently injure my back, which is something I definitely don't want to do, obviously.

[chevelle2291]

AM weight: 163.4
Rest: 6 hours

Back is still bothering me, although the majority of the pain is gone now. I should be back in the gym doing 5x5 by Saturday. Monday probably at the latest. I may go in today and do some glute strengthening stuff, also some curls and triceps extensions. Nothing big.

Can't wait to squat again....

[chevelle2291]

Diet Entry for Thursday, April 29, 2010

Way under. Ran out of meals for the week.

[chevelle2291]

Friday, April 30, 2010

Am weight: 159.2 --prolly from lack of carbs/food last night.

Back is still bothering me a little bit. I dunno if I'll be able to lift heavy tomorrow, but by Monday it should be fine. I'm not sure if I'm going to back off the weight when I first get back or just adjust my form and keep on pluggin' away. What do you guys think?

Today, I think I'm going to go and do some sprints at the track just so I can say I did SOMETHING!

Can't wait to lift heavy again....

[Behemoth]

I don't know how you can sprint with a tweaked back. That impact would be hell on mine. Buy some bananas or something. They're dirt ass cheap and will make good filler carbs for you if you run out of meals on your plan!

[chevelle2291]

I don't know how you can sprint with a tweaked back. That impact would be hell on mine. Buy some bananas or something. They're dirt ass cheap and will make good filler carbs for you if you run out of meals on your plan!

Ended up not sprinting yesterday. I just decided to take it easy for one more day. The problem with this injury is that it's very low on my back, which means that sitting tends to flex it and make it stiff. I'm going to go sprint today for a little bit as my back feels MUCH better. Now, it only feels uncomfortable if I get up from a seated position. I should be back in the weight room Monday.

I'll have to pick up some bananas, too.

[Behemoth]

Ended up not sprinting yesterday. I just decided to take it easy for one more day. The problem with this injury is that it's very low on my back, which means that sitting tends to flex it and make it stiff. I'm going to go sprint today for a little bit as my back feels MUCH better. Now, it only feels uncomfortable if I get up from a seated position. I should be back in the weight room Monday.

I'll have to pick up some bananas, too.

Just don't do anything that will possibly compromise your ability to lift. Most anyone would have told you to do no cardio weeks ago, the only reason I say you're allowed for the time being is we trying to establish a baseline for you. The cardio itself will hurt your recovery from lifting and burn more calories making it harder to gain weight (obviously)... so doing it when you cannot lift to me seems a little bit backwards.

[chevelle2291]

Back is feeling a lot better today. I should be back in the gym tomorrow. . I'll be doing last Wednesday's workout of light squats, heavy deadlifts, and military press. Should be a good workout for just getting back into it.

After looking over some more sites, I've decided that the leaning forward on my heavy set last Monday is what tweaked my lower back. From now on, I'm going to focus on using my hips and glutes to push the weight up. I'll also be focusing on making sure everything is tight during my sets. Hopefully this won't be an issue again.

Past couple of days have been crap in terms of diet. Besides yesterday, when I had a few shots of vodka, the diet has been pretty clean, but really low on calories. It's been really hard to stay focused when I haven't lifted for a week. . I weighed myself today and was at 158.2---meh. From here on out it'll be easy to get the calories in as I have just two more weeks of school and then I'm done for the summer. I'm looking to pack on a good deal of muscle in the summer as I won't have anything to do but work, work out, eat, and sleep.

Oh well. Tomorrow starts a new week of lifting.

[chevelle2291]

Woke up today, and back wasn't feeling as good. Figured it was due mostly to sleeping at the wrong angle or something. Went in to work out and felt okay. Back gave a little (very little) ache during squats and was pretty much fine during military. Then came deadlifts. The last set of deadlifts was tough, really tough. First rep I had spots in my eyes. Form wasn't great, in fact it was pretty bad. Second rep went better and form improved. I went for the third rep and felt my back crack twice as I was pulling, so I dropped the weight and sat down.

My back does not feel as hurt as before, but I'm pretty sure it is injured again. I'm planning on taking the whole week off at a minimum, with some walking around the track being most of my exercise. I've got no one to blame but myself, obviously. Lesson learned: when you're coming off an injury, don't go for a PR right away.

This was one of my fears about doing a Madcow cycle. When I'm on a program and know I have to hit a certain weight, I'll try and hit that weight no matter what, injury or not. I'm probably going to stick to Madcow, but I"m contemplating moving to a bodybuilder-type routine like the WBB one.

After a few hours of being out the gym, I can tell that my back s injured, but not as bad as before. It is tender to walk and move around, but there is no "crack this" feeling I had before.

[Behemoth]

Might want to see a doc if you have insurance. Don't worry about sticking to the program. Timeframe of it means nothing when you're injured and you'll only put yourself out longer trying to keep up with it when injured. You know all this though. Keep taking some ibuprofen. I'd drop those sprints too, pretty big impact on your back doing them.

[chevelle2291]

Might want to see a doc if you have insurance. Don't worry about sticking to the program. Timeframe of it means nothing when you're injured and you'll only put yourself out longer trying to keep up with it when injured. You know all this though. Keep taking some ibuprofen. I'd drop those sprints too, pretty big impact on your back doing them.

Yea, I may when I get home. We'll see how it feels. It actually feels better than it did before, but it still feels injured. We'll see. I'm going to be sticking to walking around the track for next couple of days so it feels like I've done something. I'll probably post my diet for the past few days in a couple of hours.

[chevelle2291]

Well, I woke up today and my back didn't feel all that great. About a half hour ago, however, it has started to feel pretty good. I'm probably going to take the rest of the week off however and then start Madcow where I left off. Basically a deload of total rest instead of lowered intensity. I'm hoping my back is simply a muscle strain and not a herniated disc. If I have no issues by next week I'll start Madcow again on Monday.

[chevelle2291]

Last night I decided that I wouldn't take the rest of the week off and instead of Madcow I would switch my routine to a hi-volume bodybuilding split at least until my back heals up. I based the workout off of WBB Beginning Bodybuilder Routine.

Barbell Bench:
160x9
160x8
155x6
145x8
DB Step-ups (the routine says to do DLs but I can't do those right now because of my back
50x12
50x8
50x10
50x12
Standing Military
85x2x8
85x6
75x8
Barbell Curl--focused on the contraction
55x10
55x8
55x6
Weighted Dip
BW+25#
10
8
5.5
BW+20#
5


Workout felt pretty good. The step-ups were absolutely killer on my grip. I haven't done this in a while. I liked the routine a lot and had a huge pump going in my shoulders and forearms afterwards. Once my back heals I'll decide whether or not I'll do this routine verbatim or if I'll go back to Madcow.

Shooting again for 3,500 calories. I haven't been eating anywhere near that lately as my lack of lifting has made me lose focus. Plus, I feel like a fat***** if I'm eating 3,500 calories and not lifting. Tomorrow will be cardio+abs if I have time before I go home for the weekend. My upcoming legs day should be interesting. Expect to see lots of sets of lunges and step ups as leg press and squats hurt my back.

[Behemoth]

Eaaaaaaaaat. Don't let those calories dip!!!!!

[chevelle2291]

Eaaaaaaaaat. Don't let those calories dip!!!!!

I know, right? Today has been absolutely horrible for calories. Spent the past 7 hours traveling with no rest stops to get food. Good news is a.m. weight this morning (last morning?) was 160.4, so I haven't lost any weight this past week.

My back felt pretty much 100% better today. I'm super happy about this. I've also decided to ditch Madcow () in favor of the WBB Beginner Bodybuilding split. This split should be exactly what I need to reach my physique goals of being a relatively big, lean 185 or so. The problem I had with Madcow was that I never had a real pump going. I also never felt as if my muscles were ever really drained.Yes, sometimes I was fatigued after a workout, but never any pump or DOMS. After reviewing a lot of bodybuilding sites as well as looking at some of WBB's own bodybuilders, I've decided that I need to be doing more volume and more failure training. This is how I've trained in the past and I think that if I actually eat this time around I'll see the gains I'm looking for. Since my back is feeling better, I'll be doing the WBB Bodybuilding legs day as written, with 6 sets of squats as well as stiff-legged deads and a few other lifts. Squats will be pretty light as I'm going to ease into things with my back. They will also most likely be high bar, full ROM, with an emphasis on contracting the quads. I'll still be increasing the weights progressively every workout, but there will be much more emphasis on the contraction portion of the lift and not so much the actual weight being lifted.

So, my run at Madcow was basically a failure. Oh well. New split, same goal. Get big and ripped.

[Behemoth]

I know, right? Today has been absolutely horrible for calories. Spent the past 7 hours traveling with no rest stops to get food. Good news is a.m. weight this morning (last morning?) was 160.4, so I haven't lost any weight this past week.

My back felt pretty much 100% better today. I'm super happy about this. I've also decided to ditch Madcow () in favor of the WBB Beginner Bodybuilding split. This split should be exactly what I need to reach my physique goals of being a relatively big, lean 185 or so. The problem I had with Madcow was that I never had a real pump going. I also never felt as if my muscles were ever really drained.Yes, sometimes I was fatigued after a workout, but never any pump or DOMS. After reviewing a lot of bodybuilding sites as well as looking at some of WBB's own bodybuilders, I've decided that I need to be doing more volume and more failure training. This is how I've trained in the past and I think that if I actually eat this time around I'll see the gains I'm looking for. Since my back is feeling better, I'll be doing the WBB Bodybuilding legs day as written, with 6 sets of squats as well as stiff-legged deads and a few other lifts. Squats will be pretty light as I'm going to ease into things with my back. They will also most likely be high bar, full ROM, with an emphasis on contracting the quads. I'll still be increasing the weights progressively every workout, but there will be much more emphasis on the contraction portion of the lift and not so much the actual weight being lifted.

So, my run at Madcow was basically a failure. Oh well. New split, same goal. Get big and ripped.

I don't like anything about this move. You're making a classic rookie mistake of changing things before they've had a chance to work. I loved your madcow program, it focused on the compound lifts and as long as you yourself focused on progression you would have gained on it just as good as anything else.

To tryout high volume and more failure training at your level is a mistake. Plain out. It takes so little stimulus to build a solid base. Both high volume and frequent failure training should be reserved for a more experienced lifter who knows his body. You will have no idea where the fine line you're flirting with between enough and too much is. And likely have worse gains than on a lower volume routine.

Here's an early log I kept on this site.

http://www.wannabebig.com/forums/sho...ts.&highlight=
It's pretty brief but look at the low volume it was. Also remember this was a push/pull/legs split only working out 3 days per week (as oppose to my now 6 average). Also note that a signifigant number of those sets are warmups. Looks like the first workout logged of chest, delts, and triceps i did 7 work sets for chest, 3 real sets for shoulders (one was a huge dropset, which I don't know why the hell I did that), 1 set targetted at triceps. And yeah I know theres three more sets for post delts but disregard those, I don't even know why I'd work them on shoulder day on a push/pull/leg split...

[chevelle2291]

Woke up early (relatively) to do my legs workout from the WBB BB split. *****, that was hard.

10 minute dynamic warm-up
Squats
20x135
15x150
12x160
10x165
10x170
8x175--puked after this set

Stiff-legged deadlifts
-skipped, I didn't want to push it with my back right after 6 sets of low bar squats

Leg Press-back was uncomfortable when my left leg was at full extension, so I just tried to go up as high as I could until the discomfort started
2pps
10
12
15
Leg Curls
60#x4x10

Standing calf raise
145#x3x10

Notes:
6 sets of squats is hard. Especially when the first set is 20 reps. Weights aren't very impressive as I wanted to take it easy on my lower back and I have lost a lot of flexibility in my hips since I took some time off. Flexibility should come back with a few sessions. Depth was okay, I was usually at parallel or just below, which I find acceptable given my recent back injury. Back felt okay during the sets. It's always worse in the mornings so I expected some discomfort during the sets but there really wasn't any pain, just some discomfort.

After the sixth set, I felt like crap. I walked to the bathroom lookin' like a zombie and just sat on the toilet with a trash can in front of me for a few minutes. Ended up throwin' up a little bit. Decided to keep goin' with the workout .

I didn't do the stiff deads as I thought that was going to be too much on my lower back. Leg Press was kinda light, but I was having some issues with back discomfort.

Had some serious cramps in my hamstrings during leg curls, so most of those reps are partials. On calf raises, I focused on getting a good stretch in and trying to hit my full range of motion.

Overall, A F'in fantastic workout. I think my body responds really well to higher volume. I've already got DOMS going. Can't wait to hit this workout again in a few days.

I'm gonna go eat.

O, btw, anybody who likes bodybuilding here should check out these videos:
video 1--check out Levrone at 4:12. Gotta love the head nod, like he's sayin' "F yea, I'm jacked."

video 2--http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_MCH...layer_embedded

[Behemoth]

Good ****. Keep up the good workouts and big eating and it will take you where you want to be in time!

[f=ma]

sup man, been meaning to stop in here

I don't like anything about this move. You're making a classic rookie mistake of changing things before they've had a chance to work. I loved your madcow program, it focused on the compound lifts and as long as you yourself focused on progression you would have gained on it just as good as anything else.

couldnt agree with this more. i actually did intermediate 5x5 on my last bulk with a few mods... i messed up because i erred on the side of shoveling food into my mouth.. but the program works. dont worry about easy sets or not getting a pump. it will get HARD by week 10. you're supposed to start low... but IF you can make it 10 weeks without missing a lift, you will have gained a ton of strength and definitely put on some size, guaranteed. i made it 13 weeks without missing a lift or deloading taking my bench from 185x5 & 205x5 to a max bench in the low 300s and max squat in the high 300s.

so in summary, before this gets long winded, any program will work as long as your diet is tuned to your goal.