Cons Journal: Part II

[Con]

Good time to start a new journal, either this week or next week I will be starting BGB. Pretty excited about that.

Background info:
Name: Nick
Age: 16, 17 in August
From: New Jersey
Height: 5'9"
Weight: 181
Goal weight: Unsure at the moment, might do a recomposition or a traditional cut

My pics: http://s57.photobucket.com/albums/g236/con_nick/

Anything else you might wanna know just ask.

[Con]

First Day of BGB at my new gym. Today was a good day. First time doing everything freeweight. As a result my bench is substantially weaker and i suspect the same will go for squats tommorow.

Routine:

Bench: 5x5
135 x 5
135 x 5
135 x 5
135 x 5
135 x 5

Coulda went higher but wasnt comfortable with free weight bench yet

Incline dumbell presses:
30 x 8
35 x 8
40 x 8

Deadlifts:
225 x 5
225 x 5
225 x 4
205 x 5
205 x 4

My grip started to get weak so It was hard to keep my weight and reps up.

Dumbell rows:

55 x 8
55 x 8
55 x 8

3 sets of calves
3 sets of weighted crunches. Used a 25 weight.

So far I like the split of BGB and like some of the people I met. Good day so far. Ill probably edit in diet later.

[Con]

Another day, i love my new gym and the people are helpful. I also noticed its not a bunch of people trying to show off, so its a nice atmosphere.

Now to the workout

Squats:I had my suspicion that my squats would be lower on free weights since my bench press was, so i took it slow. I warmed up with 45's.
I then put a quarter on and after I did 5, took it off. I could feel myself losing control so i ditched my ego and put on dimes. I worked on from and did my 5 x 5
155 x 5
155 x 5
155 x 5
155 x 5
155 x 5

Leg press:

150 x 8
150 x 8
190 x 8

Just got used to these, ill pick a weight next time.

Leg curl:
The weights has some wierd **** on em so I just picked a weight that felt good and did 3 sets of 15. Just one thing I noticed, it seemed I needed to tighten up calf to do these and I almost got a cramp, this mean i am doing them wrong?

Alternating Bicep curl:

30 x 5
30 x 5
30 x 5
30 x 5
30 x 5

Hammer curls:

30 x 8
25 x 8
25 x 8

And thats my second day of BGB. Really like the routine so far. Good stuff.

[Natetaco]

good workin out dude, how long have you been lifting?

[Ammotroop]

Nice job, keep it up and your bench and squat wll shoot up.

[Con]

thanks guys, appreciate it, and ive been liftin seriouly for a few months now finally got a goal and a real gym so i been pumped lately.

[Con]

3rd day of the BGB split. Today reminded me of why i hate arm workouts, and to a lesser extent shoulder workouts. I have a feelin that this day will be my least favorite but still it was a good workout.

So today i did.....

Chins/pull ups:
BW x 5(underhand)
BW x 3(overhand)
BW x 3(underhand)
BW x 1(overhand)
BW x 2(underhand)

Well as i expected my underhand was stronger but felt like a dman arm workout, so i will choose overhand as my grip and try to progress with them, starting with a 5 x 2.

Lat Pulldowns:

120 x 8
120 x 8
100 x 8

Went to my chin on these, is that far enough? Anyway i found out there is a hammer strength machine so ill use that next time instead of these. It amazing what you find when you look for it.

Seated side laterals:

10 x 8
15 x 8
15 x 8

Laterals in general will very likely be my most hated exercize. Id much rather do squats or deadlifts anyday but you gotta work everything.

Arnold Press:

30 x 5
35 x 5
40 x 5
40 x 5
40 x 5

Found a good weight to stop at, so now i know the weight for this exercize.

Standing Side laterals:

15 x 8
15 x 8
15 x 8(weak effort on these, just couldny get them as high as I wanted)

Realized I should have did all 10's for my warmup with seated laterals. But i live n learn. And just like the other ones, i hate these.

3 sets of abs with a 35 weight.
3 sets of calves.

Overall good workout, leanred some and next week will be better.

Tommorow I get to workout with cousin and complete my first week of BGB. Pretty excited

EDIT: Only one question I had, I dont have a digital scale yet and im having probs reachin protein requirments, but we have big bags of chicken and fish which i cant really accurately measure.

Question is, if I cut up a piece of chicken and put it in a measuring cup, will 1 cup be really equal to 8 ounces?

Thanks

[Built]

Hey - your workouts look great!

Regarding the scale situation - I seem to recall that a half cup of packed meat has about 20g protein, and a half coup of packed cooked starch (rice, noodles) has about 20g carb, if this helps at all.

[Built]

Oh, and regarding the hammer strength lat stuff - try 'em alternating arms, like you're crawling up a wall - it lets you really crunch down on the side, something you can NOT do when you do both arms at once.

[Con]

ok, thanks built, Ill take that into considerationg when I go again.

Im gonna assume the meat being packed is cooked and a half a cup is 4 oz which from the labels works out to be 20 grams of protien, so until i get a scale ill use a measuring cup. Thanks

[Con]

4th and last day of the BGB split. Good week overall but the last 2 days wont be as much fun as the first two days in my eyes but hell everything in life isnt fun.

Workout........

Romanian deadlifts:

205 x 5
205 x 5
205 x 5
205 x 5
205 x 5

For these I went right past the knees and didnt bend as much like I do with regular deadlifts, is that the correct form? Btw not sure, but am I supposed to feel them in my hamstrings, becuase i didnt.

Good Mornings:

65 x 8
85 x 8
105 x 8

I decided to go slow with these, mostly because of the two videos I saw, the guys doing them seemed to lean back a little bit and poke their asses out.

I poked me ass out but I didnt really tip back at all, i just brought my chest to a parallel form and went back up. Is that how they are supposed to be done?

Lunges:

30 x 15
30 x 15
30 x 15

For a 1 count I lunged with both legs and they really killed my legs.

Dips:

BW x 3
BW x 3
BW x 2
BW x 1
BW x 1

I was really proud on the second set, since for my third dip i automatically thought I wasnt going to get it, but I put that aside and got the third one out. Almost did it for the 3rd set as well but I just failed. Pretty close tho.

Cable Pressdowns:

50 x 8
60 x 8
70 x 8

So first week was good, i now have starting points and I learned a lot, just hoping my questions about the RDLS and good mornings get answered. Thanks to whoever will look at it for me.

[Con]

Well normally I wont post on my off days but I weighed myself today. I went from 181 to 176, id love to believe its all fat but im assuming it a mixture of LBM, water weight and fat.

My question is should i try one more week at my cals and see how it goes or up the cals? From my last experience when I raised my cals higher than where I am now It stopped weight loss.

Other thing I wanna comment on is the fact that my ass hurts like never before....Go BGB!

[Coke]

Very nice effort Con, you've got everything in the mix that I don't do like the deads, gm's and lunges...stay on it all!!

[Con]

Thanks, I appreciate that CoCoa. After my second day at work, some wicked soreness in the glutes and an overall bad mood your comment really does make me feel better.

[ddegroff]

If you weighed yourself at the same time etc. and still lost those 5lbs I would say your cals are too low. UP the cals slightly or cut out cardio (if you doin some).

[Con]

any suggestions on how much to up cals? was thinkin an extra 200 on off days aswell as workout days. And no cardio for me except walkin to a from the gym and myabe to and from work.

Yea it all makes sense, i really should up cals just the question of how much is buggin me.

[Coke]

Gonna have to experiment with the diet, cals, and everything in this game...it's just one of those things -

[Con]

Yea I here ya. I decided on an extra 200 cals a day and see how that goes. Im pretty sure a good amount of the 5 pounds had to be water weight, so 200 should be a good start.

July 12, 2006

So now to me workout. After my 6 hour shift at WaWa(convenience store) It was an ok workout. Im glad im startin with more cals. Felt kinda weak for some reason today.

Flat Bench:

Warm up with 135, for a 7 count. Too high I think, I felt drained.

145 x 5
145 x 4
145 x 3(couldnt get 4th)
145 x 2(couldnt get 3rd)
135 x 4(just barely)

DB Incline Press:

40 x 8
40 x 8
40 x 8

Deadlifts:

205 x 5
205 x 5
205 x 5
225 x 5
225 x 5

MY Grip on the 225's were really being tested. Gonna definately get farmers walks in the routine.

DB Rows:

Each arm:
55 x 8
55 x 8
55 x 8

3 sets of abs
3 sets of calves

Not a bad workout ut my bench kinda dissapointed me but hopefully the extra cals with help next week. Thinkin of puttin my deadlifts first too, for some reason my first weak I went right to bench and just follwed the same thing this week. Any siggestions welcome.

Thanks for visiting.

[Coke]

I like what I'm seeing dude...will do great as long as you keep this nice stride you've got going here.

[Con]

July 13, 2006

Thanks Cocoa, I read your comment right as I was about to leave for the gym. So your comment gave me some moviation.

So my leg day, it was a good session. Met two guys, one said good form and that made me feel pretty good while the other and me were switchin off on machines.

Squats:

175 x 5
175 x 5
165 x 5
165 x 5
165 x 5

Leg Press:

2pps x 8
3pps x 8
3pps x 8

Leg Curl:

80 x 8
80 x 8
70 x 8

I need to tighten my calves to do this and I always feel like I am about to get a cramp but is that normal?

Alternating Bicep Curl:

30's x 5
30's x 5
30's x 5

Hammer Curls:

25's x 8
25's x 8
25's x 8

Think I ate too many carbs after the workout but I wont sweat it.

Whats really on my mind is not my own well being. Does anyone have someone in your family that wants to look and feel better but is completely ignorant to the reality of things?

Well I have several in my family and it almost pains me becuase Id like to help my mom the most since she really deserves it, she works hard and never puts her well being first but her knowledge about how the body works is distorted despite her being a nurse. Just makes me feel helpless because im only viewed as that cant be right, especially about something like this.

Well thanks for readin about my life, peace out.

[ddegroff]

Nice workout bro!

Look into GM or SLDL's instead of leg curls.

Don't worry about your family members. Keep workin' on them, they should come around eventually.

[Stumprrp]

good workout Con

[Coke]

This will do the trick Nick, got the 5 x 5 squats going on...you're a great guy who wants the best of health for others.

[Con]

Thanks guys, appreciate the support from my loyal journal readers.

DDeg- prolly will look into SLD's cuz I already do GM's and the leg curls are gonna give me a cramp but they do work the legs quite nice. Ill see

Stump- Thanks for the support as always

Cocoa- Thanks man, I hope they will come around like DDeg says.

Till tommowo, peace out guys.

[Con]

July 15, 2006

Well today was an ok day. Work went pretty well but I ended up workin a 7 hour shift instead of my original 6. But afterword i get to work out.

Workout

Chin ups:

All overhand:
BW x 2
BW x 2
BW x 2
BW x 2
BW x 2

Hammer stength rows:

50's(each side) x 8
50's(each side) x 8
50's(each side) x 8

Bent over laterals:

10 x 8
10 x 8

Arnold Presses:

40 x 5
40 x 5
40 x 5
40 x 5
40 x 5

Standing Side laterals:

15 x 8
15 x 8
15 x 8

Farmers walks:

For these I walked more with the higher weight. Started out with about six steps and went from there.

70's
75's
80's

3 sets of abs.

Nice workout and as usual Im happy when I work out.

So until I comment again, ttyl guys.