You’re both awesome, but I was more talking about you coming back after that accident. That’s good shit!
[quote]dez6485 wrote:
Dude- first off thanks for the encouragement. I do not consider you a slouch either, I think you’ve made a TON of progress over the past year or two. I’m not sure of your training history, but you went from looking like a guy that was just “bigger” in terms of body mass- not really looking like you lift, to definitely looking like you lift- either that or carry logs and and other heavy implements around all day (taking time of course to curl some logs on your lunch break). And your squat definitely blows mine out of the water, for the record.[/quote]
Wow, thank you. It’s funny how I used to think what I looked like then, is what I look like now. I’m actually a teacher/network administrator. I grew up working hard, moving fire wood, stuff like that. Did some construction in my late teens. I have always been a little larger. Wore “husky” as a kid until middle school, then grew tall. Weighed about 180 and had 16" arms when I graduated high school. Wasn’t great at bench (235), but I remember squatting 335.
[quote]trav123456 wrote:
You’re both awesome, but I was more talking about you coming back after that accident. That’s good shit![/quote]
We all be awesome!! lol
<3
Hey Trav, just to clarify man, I don’t want to sound like I was in the worst wreck of all time. I came out with no broken bones, just banged up pretty good. I sprained my right ankle bad, which took weeks for swelling to go down, and what must have been months to get what seemed like a normal range of motion back. I pulled or strained my right hamstring which felt awkward as shit more than painful, that was fine in probably a week. And my left shoulder popped out when I hit the ground, but my immediate instinct to tighten up actually popped it back in. I did a few weeks of rehab for that and then came to the conclusion that the rehab was worthless- some of it was probably legit, but I felt fucking stupid shaking one of those body blade things for minutes at a time- that thing is more technique and getting momentum going than any learned skill/rehab. A few years later, my shoulder clicks here and there, and doesn’t have exactly the same range of motion as the right, but aside from slight discomfort sometimes laying on it, I would say it’s fine. Certainly doesn’t ever feel weaker than the right or anything. Lastly, my back was all roadrashed, which is just plain uncomfortable. The scrubbing I got at the hospital fucking sucked, hurt worse than the wreck. They have this spray gel that’s supposed to numb so they can scrub, it didn’t numb shit, it burned like hell, then they started scrubbing! The worst was hobbling around campus afterwards with a cane, sitting down was a chore for a couple weeks, every time my back hit the back of a chair it sucked. It just took a while before I really felt any kind of “strong” again, having my body all work together the way it should.
I was very lucky. Considering I went over the handlebars on a busy city street, I was very very lucky. I felt so bad when I saw how scared my mom and then girlfriend were when they came into the room at the hospital. I told them I was done, wouldn’t ride again. A few months later I bought a Harley and started chopping it! Few months later I had a badass death machine chopper. A year or so later I sold that- I’m currently bike less, and I’m sure will be for some time. You guys may have seen Wendler giving me shit and calling me gay for this fact over in one of the 5/3/1 threads.
Ahhhhhh, good times.
Shit session- chest.
Good news is it isn’t because I suck, the fucking tendonitis was horrible.
Finished bench with 285 x 6- same as last week, but last rep was smoother.
Will talk more on this tomorrow when I can type with both arms!
Going to have to research on tendonitis, this shit sucks!
[quote]dez6485 wrote:
Hey Trav, just to clarify man, I don’t want to sound like I was in the worst wreck of all time. I came out with no broken bones, just banged up pretty good. I sprained my right ankle bad, which took weeks for swelling to go down, and what must have been months to get what seemed like a normal range of motion back. I pulled or strained my right hamstring which felt awkward as shit more than painful, that was fine in probably a week. And my left shoulder popped out when I hit the ground, but my immediate instinct to tighten up actually popped it back in. I did a few weeks of rehab for that and then came to the conclusion that the rehab was worthless- some of it was probably legit, but I felt fucking stupid shaking one of those body blade things for minutes at a time- that thing is more technique and getting momentum going than any learned skill/rehab. A few years later, my shoulder clicks here and there, and doesn’t have exactly the same range of motion as the right, but aside from slight discomfort sometimes laying on it, I would say it’s fine. Certainly doesn’t ever feel weaker than the right or anything. Lastly, my back was all roadrashed, which is just plain uncomfortable. The scrubbing I got at the hospital fucking sucked, hurt worse than the wreck. They have this spray gel that’s supposed to numb so they can scrub, it didn’t numb shit, it burned like hell, then they started scrubbing! The worst was hobbling around campus afterwards with a cane, sitting down was a chore for a couple weeks, every time my back hit the back of a chair it sucked. It just took a while before I really felt any kind of “strong” again, having my body all work together the way it should.
I was very lucky. Considering I went over the handlebars on a busy city street, I was very very lucky. I felt so bad when I saw how scared my mom and then girlfriend were when they came into the room at the hospital. I told them I was done, wouldn’t ride again. A few months later I bought a Harley and started chopping it! Few months later I had a badass death machine chopper. A year or so later I sold that- I’m currently bike less, and I’m sure will be for some time. You guys may have seen Wendler giving me shit and calling me gay for this fact over in one of the 5/3/1 threads.
Ahhhhhh, good times.[/quote]
I love the idea of riding a motorcycle, but will never actually ride one. I’m too afraid of the idiots on the road, hitting that wrong bump, and going waaaaay too fast. I tend to do that with four wheelers and such. Probably the thrill of speed. Seems like a thing to avoid when a wife and kids are counting on you to be alive. But that’s just me 
[quote]dez6485 wrote:
Shit session- chest.
Good news is it isn’t because I suck, the fucking tendonitis was horrible.
Finished bench with 285 x 6- same as last week, but last rep was smoother.
Will talk more on this tomorrow when I can type with both arms!
Going to have to research on tendonitis, this shit sucks![/quote]
Elbow or shoulder? What do you do for warm-up? Was it because your elbows flared?
Dude- absolutely. the bike that i wrecked was an '07 honda 600rr- fast as hell crotch rocket. the fastest i took it was 130mph one morning at about 8am on a long stretch of relatively open highway. couple months before that, the first time i hit 90mph i was scared. little by little, i pushed it. most of the time on highways i just hit 70-80mph, but that 130mph morning i hit my normal speed, said F it, let’s go a little more…then more…then more. the 130mph was exciting but scary as hell.
i remember distinctly thinking once i looked down and saw 130, holy shit, if i fuck up right now im gone. i tensed up a bit and getting back down to normal speed was just about as scary as going 130. never again with that shit. that was definitely an “early life crisis” i think. i went through a few years where i was just careless, needed a rush all the time. whether it was riding faster than i should, going out drinking and throwing caution to the wind, getting in fights, etc- i was lost and floundering. i live a much more controlled life now, thank god.
[quote]TheDudeAbides wrote:
Elbow or shoulder? What do you do for warm-up? Was it because your elbows flared?[/quote]
elbow at the bicep. my tricep isnt in any pain from this, but it is hard to push through. swelled up quick last night, so while i thought id be best keeping the elbow sleeve on, i could only keep it on so long, hence session was short. it’s the same problem from the arms day monday, happens now and then, last night was one of the worst in terms of discomfort. something happened on the walk to the metro after work yesterday, i got on the train and as i opened up my book to start reading i felt a slight discomfort. dont know if i was walking so fast i jerked my arm or what, but that started the flare up, then it just didnt feel right as i was benching.
so, session went like this:
215 x 5
245 x 3
285 x 6- again, same as a week ago, but last rep was definitely smoother. spotter didnt touch the bar and his opinion is that i shouldve gone 7 for how the 6th came up.
HS decline press
4 pps x 9
3 pps x 12
3 pps x 9
2 pps x 12?15?
my whole bicep/crook of elbow then felt like shit, found some bench machine that id otherwise not touch, got a couple of “pump” sets in, but overall i dont think i was able to use enough weight/range of motion of the machine just kind of sucked, didnt do much for getting the pump.
so, overall the session did suck, but my benching feels strong.
ive got Back scheduled for tonight, arm feels fine right now, i iced when i got home, ibuprofen last night and this morning. i will play it by ear tonight, pay attention and only do what feels good. sometimes it will be really bad one day, and no signs of anything the next, hopefully that is the case here, because i would like to trash my back and then do 4-5 sets of hammer curls. i have a sneaking suspicion that hammer curls may help this arm/elbow out. along with that, if my theory pans out and they feel good, my bicep work on arm day will likely be the barbell curls followed by hammer curls, instead of spider curls. i think the hammer curls will allow me to use heavier weight, possibly without causing much discomfort. of course, that’s my theory now, thinking about it while my arm feels fine.
Well back didn’t get done last night, got pushed to today. Wasn’t awesome.
Barbell rows
95 x 15
135 x 12
175 x 10
205 x 10
Tendonitis comes out to play
225 x 8
Tendonitis got hurt feelings and started acting like a bitch
Rack pulls…if my deadlift sucks I might as well try and get the benefit of the top right?
315 x 12
365 x 8
415 x 6
465 x 4
Damn, apparently suck at these too
Bicep is on fire, don’t know what to do now, move to “thib pulldowns”
Thib pulldowns
100 x 15
110 x 15
120 x 15
130 x 15
Hammer curls done in between, as I suspected, these don’t hurt
35 x 10
45 x 8
50 x 10
60 x 8
Perhaps I need to focus my back work on neutral grip rowing for some time. Or cut my arm off.
Or take a week or so off, ice, stretch, etc.
Jogged 2 miles, pumped up side delts
Lateral raises 20lb x 20 reps x 5 sets
Put my chin up, basically looked at ceiling, kept shoulder blades down, hit side delts MUCH more than normal
[quote]dez6485 wrote:
Perhaps I need to focus my back work on neutral grip rowing for some time. Or cut my arm off.
Or take a week or so off, ice, stretch, etc.[/quote]
Sorry, I’ve been out sick the last couple days. Feel as weak as my daughter lol
Take the time off and/or work around it. Seems like it hurts when you bend your elbow?
no problem man, feel better.
my bicep basically lights the F up after/during pulling movements. my last bench session i didnt do any pulling, but somehow i tweaked it during the day, and i suppose the little bit of stabilization the biceps do during benching caused it to flare up.
nothing much to report. took a few days off of weights, arm felt better. mostly did some running.
ive been low carb-ing it for 5-6 days now, so far so good. feel pretty good throughout the day. got in the gym Wednesday and yesterday, was ok, no issues with the arm/bicep/tendon. the only thing is, being on low carbs, my strength is definitely down. on Wednesday i went up to 275x3 on the bench. dont know how many reps i could have gotten at 275, certainly more than 3, but i dont know if it would have been as high as 8 or more, which is what i recall getting last time i hit 275 a couple weeks ago. also, it seems that after i hit something semi-heavy, as in the 275x3, it takes a lot out of me, and following sets im much weaker. Back workout yesterday was similar.
so, im hoping that in the next week or so my body will adapt and bounce back, because otherwise i feel good and i think this will be a good change.
with wedding coming up, hopefully getting that job in July as well, it just makes sense for me to lean up a bit. also, it’s been talked about on this website before, don’t know what the current feelings really are, but it makes sense to me that some people may be more inclined to gain lean mass starting from a lean state. ive never really been “lean” as in seeing all abs. my goal is to see all the abs, get more vascular, and then sensibly build back up to somewhere around 200lb, but lean. im aware it will take a while, and im also aware that it means most likely going down to 180 or even a little lower, but im ok with it. if nothing else, running will be easier!
so, the weights and what i did arent really worth putting up in here, kind of like a deload week. hopefully be back strong next week!
diet is basically:
7am
12oz whole milk, 2 scoops whey, 5g leucine
10/11am
12oz whole milk, 2 scoops whey, 5g leucine
1/2pm
2 cans tuna, 2 tbsp mayo
6pm
chicken or fish, maybe lean beef, pork, etc. green beans, some olive oil included there. depending on the meal, a very small amount of carbs.
during/after training im still playing with, but is/will be:
1-2 scoops whey mixed in water, 0/.5/1 scoop waxy maize, 5g leucine
~10pm
4-5 whole eggs, prob 5g leucine
i dont have this all down yet, but it works out to be 300+g protein, ~50g carbs, ~80+g fat, ~2200 calories, give or take (using online calorie calculators, the macros/calories dont come out perfect, but it’s close i guess)
basically, eating this way isnt that hard for me. ive been doing the 7am, 10am protein shake for a while now, the only thing that really changed is i put a line on my shaker cup to know exactly how much milk is in each. from lunch ive simply dropped whatever carb source may have been there prior, bread if it’s a sandwich, rice, etc. lunch is usually leftovers, this week it was 2 cans tuna most days. and then low or no carbs at dinner- this will probably determine if i have waxy maize prior/during/after training.
i can tweak things here or there easily, but ive never really done this before, and im going to give it a run for a while. once i reach the level of leanness that im happy with, i will probably maintain that for a bit, then i will slowly add more carbs around training to start moving the scale back upwards.
here goes…
[quote]dez6485 wrote:
nothing much to report. took a few days off of weights, arm felt better. mostly did some running.[/quote]
good idea. Sometimes that is all it takes.
Check this out by Shelby Starnes, who I consider a fat loss guru.
http://www.elitefts.com/documents/carb_cycling_mma.htm
Along the lines of what you’re doing, but quantified. Plus the varying days may help your lifts not suffer.
Another good idea. I’m starting to think cycling your training - periods of high, medium, low reps - is a very good method. Alpha was big on this. If you want specifics, let me know. I have a giant Word doc of his philosophies.
Good gosh man!! That’s a lot of tuna for that little mayo. I need to have my tuna super moist.
Wow that’s not a lot of carbs. Do you plan on having a higher carb day/meal throughout the week?
ha, maybe the mayo is more than i think it is? cant be much more though, and the tuna isnt dry. im talking 5oz cans here too, maybe youre thinking about the big ones? in which case, holy shit, i couldnt eat two of them in one sitting without feeling very damn gross.
i havent clicked the link yet to the Starnes thing, but i assume it is to carb cycling. ive read a lot of his stuff and i bought one of his books, gave that a shot for about 2 weeks, but i couldnt take to it. maybe i was making it too complicated, but i just didnt like it and i slowly slipped away from it until maybe the 3rd week i was basically eating normally again.
i read up on re-feed meals/days aka carb-ups today. i think perhaps i will go until next weekend before implementing that, but i will go by feel. like i said, i feel pretty good right now. i read something else from Shelby about when you know you need to carb up, and other than strength being down slightly, i dont really have any of the other issues- i dont even look “flat” at this point yet, feel plenty of energy throughout the day, etc. if that changes in the next day or so, maybe i’ll get some more carbs in on Sunday. otherwise, im planning to go til next weekend and hit some carbs on Sunday- Mother’s Day brunch, FTW. going to the same place as last year, had all sorts of crab claws, filet mignon, roasted potatos, all sorts of good shit. i could definitely get in and out of there just having a protein feast, but by that point it would probably do some good to load some carbs.
thanks
[quote]dez6485 wrote:
ha, maybe the mayo is more than i think it is? cant be much more though, and the tuna isnt dry. im talking 5oz cans here too, maybe youre thinking about the big ones? in which case, holy shit, i couldnt eat two of them in one sitting without feeling very damn gross.[/quote]
lol that would be gross. I eat one, 7oz can on a sandwich or in a salad. I have eaten without anything before … do not suggest
That’s pretty much it. Clearly it works, but I don’t have that kind of resources he usually requires. This is based on what Matt Kroczaleski was doing for his contest prep.
Anything specific you want to share? I was checking on the whole, Pulse-Fast and Pulse-Feast system. Also the ideas on “lean gains” site. Seems to have worked well for Austin_Bicep and Bugeshia_AD.
Nothing too specific on the re-feed, just that it is a good idea to do. Seems like once a week is the ticket, but I’m still feeling good so I will start that next week. Maybe keep it interesting and post pics of re-feed meals. I also read up on the Leangains a couple months ago, I do like the idea of it, but at this point in my life I don’t think it’s for me. A lot of the experiences I’ve read about are from people that comment on how it falls in line with their natural tendencies, and therefore works really well for them- mainly, there are apparently people that aren’t hungry in the morning and have to force themselves to eat breakfast- not me! Maybe it’s from years of eating several meals?
Damn 7oz can of tuna?! We used to have the 6oz, where I knew I was getting a little over 30g protein- then one day I realized they made the lip of the can a little taller, but decreased the volume of the inside! Started screwing us with 5oz cans in all the stores! Andif I remember correctly, they kept the price the same! Now I just eat two can every time, unless I’m not very hungry. Go-to snack is tuna scooped up on regular nacho cheese doritoz, or the purple bag which I think is called sweet chili or something like that. Fucking awesome. No doritoz these days though!
Forgot to post my workout
“legs”…
Quotation marks very necessary!
Warm up with cleans
Bar x twelve million
95 x 8
115 x 5
135 x 3
Deadlifts
135 x 8
225 x 3
315 x 3
405 x 2…usually have a weight in between here, 365 or something, felt unnecessary, I think I will start jumping 315 to 405, unless I really need the extra volume.
475 x 1
515 x 1
fuck it, threw 585 on! Got it off the floor 4-5", knew it wasn’t going, dropped it.
Hack squat
2pps x 12
2pps x 12
2pps x 15
I’m out of town, was short on time, was going to finish leg work with kind of a circuit of machines, actually moved to the “power squat” machine after first set of hack squats, did 8 reps and didn’t like it. It’s the same basic design as the power squat, but it’s old and/or cheap version and it sucked. The angle it put me at was bullshit, I couldn’t really squat down, it forced me backwards and down, hard to describe, but it kind of folded me in half, and it was definitely not too much weight.
Did 2 sets on a standing calf raise.
Not as much volume as I’d like to have gotten, but I’m very happy I got the 515 deadlift, as I haven’t had confidence there lately. It went up so fast/easy that I then loaded 565, which would’ve been a 15lb PR, but I said fuck it and loaded 585, go for the 3x BW pull. I even walked to the scale to verify, I was 194. Ha, oh well! A few weeks ago I was planning to try and triple 500, and couldn’t even get it off the floor once. This was after a couple months of pulling with “correct form” where my shins touch the bar- fuck that, I pull better and faster further from the bar! After a few months pulling with the form that suits me, I aim to hit a PR. Based solely on the 515 pull today, I MAY be starting to adapt to these low carbs. I was also drinking black coffee during the workout, that may be something I will have to do.
Just read the original Caveman “grateful” thread, and I really feel like I’m doing the right thing right now. I think I talked about it above, but maybe not- I have wanted to be “big” for as long as I can remember. In high school I was 140-150lbs at 5’9" and I lifted pretty consistently the whole time, just had no ideas about eating more, and thus made about 0 progress. In college I ate a bit more, paid more attention to actual progress, and made it to almost 170 by end of freshman year. Stayed there for about another year. Then I read something about eating pop tarts, found Chad Waterbury’s TBT and the weight started coming on. Inabout two months I was 187. I should’ve stopped there and maintained a little bit! I got very excited to see strength and weight increasing, jumped ship to WS4SB, and then a straight basic westside template, eventually got obsessed with making bench improvements, and increasing the scale, and I wound up weighing 218, much softer than I’d liked, but with a mid 300’s bench- up from 275 a few months prior at 187 bw.
I then trimmed down a bit, don’t really remember what I did program wise, but stayed about 200 bw for a while. Eventually got up to about 208 bw around feb 2009 when I started 5/3/1.
Now, I’m 194, looking to lean down and basically start over, adding carbs and calories at the right times, and work my way to a lean, rugged 200-210. I think that would be perfect for my structure. I know it will take a while and I’m fine with that. So far, even after a lot of time in the gym, I can honestly say I’ve always had the “quick fix” in the back of my mind. Set goals that were too lofty, and got pissed when I missed them. It’s time for me to be smart, slow down, and make better choices, and I strongly suspect better progress will come of it. Caveman is back, posted in his thread a few days ago, something that really hit me. He commented that after all of his years, he finally knows what works for him, and can basically do it on instinct. I don’t have that yet,but I suspect taking things slow, and making small changes when they are called for is the key. I’m excited for what the future holds, I think it will bring good things.
Side note- I think the best gains of my training were made during my couple months with TBT. I didn’t follow it to the letter, basically just the idea of training the body 3x/week in full body, compound moves. The actual TBT routine changes sets/reps every two weeks, which I didn’t do. I will spend some time either tonight or tomorrow reading TBT, and perhaps some of the stuff Caveman mentioned in his thread about full body, but I’m thinking I may give that a shot again.
Stay tuned.