Adam's Physique Clinic

Training Training Logs
1

Rather than bore people with a long story of why I am doing this (which is simply that I am not satisfied with my appearance/strength), here’s what’s going down:

Age: 22
Weight: 175.0 lbs
Height: 72.5 in
Supplements (or their T-Nation equivalents): Surge, Cytogainer, Flameout!, Surge Fuel
Calories per Day: ~3775
Training: USMC Trojan’s workout for 8 weeks, transitioning over to CrewPierce’s once I hit 190.
Goals: Ideally 200 lb, <10% bodyfat, 1000 lb Club; For part 1, just getting up to 210-215 lb

I’ll post a picture tomorrow, the camera is dead. Sometime later this week I’ll get body fat measurements…I had mono and lost a great deal of weight and muscle, so it’s probably pretty high (~15%).

I don’t know how far I will get by Aug 31st. I think I could gain 15-20 lb over the summer, but I’ve talked with friends and trainers alike, and they believe I could gain as much as 35 lb, which would be fantastic if that’s at all possible.

Every day I will post what I ate and what my workout was, and every week I will post a new picture and a new weight.

This log is mainly for me to help track my progress to mimic the Physique Clinics of similar body types from the last round (because I just don’t think I’ll get in), but since it’s public, I hope to get feedback from you all to help me with your far-superior knowledge…

…and maybe my intense determination and persistence will cause some buzz on following the Physique Clinic’s tracks (not really a goal of mine, but sort of a perk and further encouragement). So if I happen to be screwing up, please be sure to let me know and just give me some support and advice, I’d really appreciate it.

Cheers,
Adam

2

Welcome aboard, Adam!

What are your lifts looking like these days? I dont have any practical advice putting on mass so I won’t be able to help you in that regard, but I’ll be keeping an eye on your thread and will help out anywhere I can.

Lets get to it!

3


DAY 1

Always the hardest day, especially when you haven’t lifted in 6 weeks and you lost 20 lbs from disease. Lifts were dramatically weaker, which hurt morale, but I think it was due to jet lag (5 hr nap yesterday followed by 3 hrs of sleep before my first day of work).

Food log
930a: 2 scoops Cytogainer w/ 1 cup whole milk, 1 cup blueberries, 5 fish oil caps

Noon: 1 flax grain wrap w/ 5 slices turkey, 1/4 pepper, 3 slices of tomato, 4 tbsp tabbouleh, 2 tbsp honey mustard, 3 cups of whole grain pasta w/ 4 oz chicken

3pm: 3 servings beef jerky (~40g protein), 2 handfuls of peanuts, 1 cup of steel cut oats w/ 1 tablespoon natural peanut butter

7pm: pre-workout drink (1.5g citrulline malate, .75g beta alanine, 10g dextrose, 10g BCAA) + 1 scoop PWO (15g protein, 30g carbs)

8pm: during workout - same drink

9pm: post workout drink (2 servings of PWO - 30g protein, 60g carbs), 1/2 cup pineapple

at midnight it’s going to be 8oz steak tips, 1 tbsp olive oil, 5 fish oil caps, 1/2 cup broccoli, 1/2 cup cauliflower

Workout log
MOOD: tired, disappointed in loss of strength since April

Format → (weight x reps) = set (separated by “;”)

Example:

100x4, 100x2 = 1 set where i did 100lbs for 4 reps, rested for 10 seconds, and then did 100 lbs for 2 reps.

A. DB Bench (weight x reps) - 45x8, rest-pause 45x7; 45x7, dropset 45x3
B. Cable crossover - 48x3, 60x2, 72x1
C. Bench - 135x6, 135x3, 135x2, top-partial 135x2; 135x5, 135x3, failed, top-partial 135x2
D. Incline bench (DB) - failed after 2 reps on 50 and 40 lbs, then did 30 lb for 6 reps, 2 top-partial reps, 2 bottom-partial reps
E. BB curls - 30x8, 30x6, 15x8, 15x8, top-partial 15x8, bottom-partial 15x6; 30x3, 30x2, 15x8, 15x4, top-partial 15x8, bottom-partial 15x5
F. Seated hammer curls - 25x5, 25x3, 12x7, 12x6; 25x5, 25x4, 12x5, 12x5

So yeah today sucked, but you gotta start somewhere.

4

id seriously stay away from curls if you are adamant about getting your strength up. your diet looks great, i couldn’t do that unless someone was stalking me to do that, but your workout…

all im sayin is that with that diet, i think bill starr’s 5 x 5 will kick your ass.

but anywayz, welcome!

5

DAY 2

As they say for addicts, it only gets easier…

7 hours of sleep last night…still not enough. I’m going to try to be IN bed by 1230a so I can wake up for 9. I can’t straighten my left arm…most be because of that damned tendon on the inside edge of my forearm. It has always given me troubles, especially after curls. Basically this workout is adopted from the one Thibs made for USMCTrojan, who was the only ecto in the PC (and me, being an ecto, thought it would be appropriate, plus it helped me earlier in the year put on 15 lbs in 10 weeks). On to good stuff…

Food log
830a: 2 scoops Cytogainer w/ 1 cup whole milk, 1 cup blueberries, 5 fish oil caps

11a: 1 serving beef jerky, 1 handful (about a serving) of peanuts

Noon: 2 cups mixed salad greens, 4-5oz chicken, 2 tbsp vinagrette

4pm: 6 oz chicken + an amazing creation…
CINNABUN OATMEAL

1 scoop vanilla cytogainer
1.5 servings oatmeal
a few sprinkles of cinnamon

I added a splash of orange juice, most likely due to a posting from a veteran on the beginner forums about how to gain weight. You don’t have to add it, but I mixed that all together and it tastes awesome. Hell, any time you have a vanilla protein shake, add cinnamon and it will taste like cinnamon roll frosting! BAM

Well in 30 min I start my Pre-workout/Peri-workout concoction, followed by a PWO and then a dinner, most likely consistenting of 200g tuna, broccoli, cauliflower and a tbsp of olive oil, as well as more fish oils. I’m bumping up to 12 fish oil caps a day, mainly because you can get 1000 of em for cheap (like under $20 I think) at TrueProtein, and the extra fish oil certainly doesn’t hurt. Workout will be posted when I get back from the gym.

6

Only had beta-alanine pre-workout, was still too full from the afternoon meal, but my peri-workout meal was the same, and so was my PWO.

Workout log

LEGS…the dreaded squat day. The only thing that keeps me going are the results…and they weren’t there today. I seriously lost a great deal of strength thanks to mono, and you’ll see from my incredibly piss-poor numbers. I might ask Thibs if I’m working too hard in the beginning, because my numbers are just shitty.

I also slightly modified the program he gave to USCTrojan. Problem 1 with his program is that there is only 1 true leg day, and it focuses mostly on squats and not at all on deadlifts…not to mention the load on the legs is HUGE that day. A program without deadlifts is just not a program to me, especially when legs are crammed into only 1 day. So I made this a quad-dominant day with calves, while Thursday will be hip-dominant/back day.

A. Leg extension - 120x8, 120x8, 60x8, 60x8; 130x8, 130x5, 60x8, 60x8
B. 1/2 squat - 315x3, 325x2, 335x1
C. ATG Front squat - 135x6, 135x4, 135x2, top-partial 135x3; 135x5, 135x3, 135x2, top-partial 135x3
D. Leg press - 225x8, 225x5, 225x4, top-partial 225x6
E. Calf circuit

The calf circuit is basically something from an old T-Nation article called “The Big 10,” which gave a circuit for calves. I’m not going to go into details, but basically I was limping to the car today when I was done. I was waiting for my friends to finish so I did a set of 15 pikes and then some shoulder work with a stick.

Today was awesome in terms of really kicking my ass, but I was discouraged about how shitty my lifts were - well, leave the egos at the door and we just keep on truckin’ I guess.

I was so full from today that I missed my 2nd cytogainer, so I’m just gonna grab that and a 7-8oz boneless, skinless chicken breast and I think that will be a great PWO meal.

GO CELTICS!

7

DAY 3

Today was an off day…nothing really to say other than that I pretty much stuck to the diet. More to come tomorrow…

8

DAY 4

Yesterday was off day, but I def got drunk last night - I’m not too proud of it :(. This week is rough because I’m SO sore which makes lifting tough, and I haven’t made it out to the grocer yet because I’m still eating the last of my old food, so everything is all messed up. Good news is the Celtics won!

Food log

830a: 2 scoops Cytogainer w/ 1 cup whole milk, 1 cup blueberries, 6 fish oil caps

12p: 1 pickle with a pita filled w/ 7-8 pieces of roast beef/ham, a few tablespoons of mustard and tomato hummus, and a few scoops of lettuce/tomato/pepper

Noon: 2 cups mixed salad greens, 4-5oz chicken, 2 tbsp vinagrette

4pm: 2 Zone bars (10g fat, 30g carb, 20g pro)

Once again didn’t have time for the pre-workout drink, but it’s the same as the peri-workout drink so I just had a bit before and some during…don’t know if I’m missing out. Still had PWO after the workout, in addition to 2 servings of pasta w/ tomato sauce (I was both starving and exhausted).

2 hr nap later…

9pm: 2 scoops cytogainer / 1 cup milk

1030p: 16oz watermelon-flavored chill zone (mostly the ice, didn’t really like it), 6oz steak fajita

midnight: 6-7oz chicken breast w/ lemon juice + pepper, 1/2 cup of broccoli and 1/2 cup cauliflower, 1 tbsp olive oil + balsalmic vinegar, 6 fish oils

workout log

Just so you know, the workout week is

MON - Chest, bis
TUES - Quad-dominant, calves
THURS - Shoulders, traps, tris
FRI - Hip-dominant, back

A. Seated lateral raise
set 1 - 15x10, 15x8, 10x10, 10x8
set 2 - 15x10, 15x10, 10x7, 10x8

B. 1/2 Shoulder press
3x95, 3x115

C. Bradford press
65x8, 65x3, 65x2, 65x4 top-partial
65x6, 65x2, 65x1, 65x4 top-partial

D. French press
15x8, 20x7, 20x7, 20x6 top-partial

E. Rope pulldown
60x8, 70x8, 80x8, 80x4 top-partial, 80x4 bottom-partial
80x6, 80x3, 40x8, 40x6 top-partial, 40x6 bottom-partial

Overall, it’s a “get back into shape” week, so my lifts are sucking, and I need to go to bed because I’m not getting enough sleep.

9

DAY 5

Good: I already feel like I’m getting back in shape

Bad: my lifts are still terrible

Food log

930a: 2 scoops cytogainer, 6 fish oils, 1 cup whole milk

noon: 1/2 cup egg whites (roughly 5 eggs), 1/2 cup steel cut oatmeal, 1 apple

3pm: 6-8 oz chicken breast, 1 serving green beans w/ pasta n peanuts

630pm: PreWO mix
730pm: PeriWO mix
9pm: PWO
10p: Large steak bomb w/ 2 scoops cytogainer, 1 cup whole milk, 6 fish oils

That was a big meal, but I’m having blood work in the morning so I can’t eat any later tonight.

Workout log

A. Lat pulldowns (I couldn’t even do 4 pullups!)
3 pullups, 106x8, 106x4, 106x3;
106x8, 106x3, 106x3, 106x1

B. Rack deads
315x3, 335x2, 355x1

C. Deadlift
225x4, 225x3, 225x2, 225x5 top-partial (no wrist wraps);
225x6, 225x2, 225x1, 225x5 top-partial (with wrist wraps - I stopped mostly out of lung exhaustion, not muscle)

D. Bent rows
70x8, 70x8, 70x6, 70x5 top-partial;
70x10, 70x6, 70x5, 70x6 top-partial

Then the gym closed at 9, which I didn’t expect, so I didn’t get to do lying leg curls or romanian deads + shrugs (probably better that way)…so in a crunch I did wrist rolls to strengthen my desperately weak forearms. I’m gonna try to incorporate that more into either this day or the shoulders/arms day. What do you guys think?

10

Hi Adam. How are you feeling?

11

DAY 6 and 7

Off days…yesterday was my grad party so I considered that my cheat day. Although mostly consisted of meat and veggies, I did have ~4 beers and a load of my mom’s freshly made chips and dip. Today was father’s day, and I mostly had good whole foods, but once again, had a few beers for the Celts loss and some more of that amazing dip…I’m not going to bother posting what I ate because it was mostly snacking and was harder to pay attention than during the week when I was on the clock. This week and next weekend will not have holidays and a grad party, so this will be my first week in a rhythm.

Overall, I think I conformed to Berardi’s “10%” of screwing up, but put all of my cards on this weekend. Now that I got the food from my shopping list and I am recovering from my initial soreness, I think this week will go much better. Tomorrow is back to chest, hopefully I’ll be posting better numbers than last week.

12

DAY 8

Weight: 181

Sweet! 6 lbs in a week! I’ll attribute most of that to water weight, but regardless, there’s got to be some muscle gain so I’ll consider it a success. With a solid supply of food at my house today was the closest I’ve come to my perfect meal plan, which is very good.

Food log

1030a: 2 scoops cytogainer, 1 cup whole milk, 6 fish oils
1230p: a huge plate of chicken and vegetables from a local chinese restaurant (~2.5 cups veggies, 5oz of chicken)
3p: 6 oz marinated chicken breast, 1 ultra lean burger pattie, 1 cup fruit salad (grapes, blueberries, strawberries, watermelon, pineapple, etc), 1/2 cup broccoli, 1 tbsp olive oil
5p: 2 scoops cytogainer
530-730p: workout nutrition (not worth posting, see earlier posts)
930p: gonna make me a meal of a chicken breast or beef, some broccoli and cauliflower, some spinach, and a tablespoon of olive oil with some more fish oils

workout log

also depressing…

A. DB flies
40x10, 40x10;
40x10, 40x8
TOTAL WEIGHT MOVED INCREASED

B. 3 Board Press
185x2, 155x2, 185x1
NEW exercise…better warmup for bench than the cable pulldowns, but it should probably become a 4-board press

C. Bench press
135x7, 135x2, 135x1, 135x3 top-partial;
135x4, 135x2, 135x1, 135x1 top-partial

D. Cable crossover
48x8, 48x7 top-partial, 48x4 bottom-partial (bottom being arms touching)
NEW finisher exercise…this one felt good

E. Seated EZ preacher curl
first set was finding a good weight…
55x8, 65x8, 75x6;
75x6, 75x1 (burnt out), 35x10, 35x10 top-partial, 35x10 bottom-partial

My curls are always weird…I can’t seem to lift heavy loads, but when I do the 50% dropsets, I felt like I could do them for hours…

F. Seated hammer curls
25x10, 25x7, 12x10, 12x10;
25x7, 25x3, 12x10, 12x8

OVERALL: A improved, B and D and E were new (last time it was standing curl, and I didn’t know we had a seated preacher machine), F DEFINITELY improved, and C I lifted 3 less reps, so my volume actually decreased.

I tried asking CT this, but no response, so maybe someone can tell me…
am I working too hard in exercises A and B, so that I’m burning myself out before I get to C?

13

I’m about an inch taller than you and about 10lbs heavier. We seem to have a similar build as well, with the exception that I may have about 10lbs of muscle more than you. The handheld thing at the gym rates me between 9-11% bf, but I would assume that I am closer to 12-15%.

I am trying to gain as well, basically eating 4000 cals a day, ~225g protein, then whatever carbs/fat I need to get there. I’m staying with my sister right now so when she cooks (whether its healthy or not) I refuse to turn down food… plus I’m broke atm.

I’m doing an upper/lower split modified after the origian WS4SB. I’ll be checking in to watch your thread… might be a little motivation to try and stay +10lbs on you :slight_smile:

Curious… What are your current lifts?

Edit: I saw you weighed in at 181. We may be closer.

14

Well I have unheard of motivation :slight_smile:

I was sick for a while, so my strength decreased significantly, and I haven’t tried maxing out yet. Based on my current lifts, my bench is somewhere between 195 and 205, my deadlift is somewhere in the ballpark of 320, and I’m really not sure about my squat - I’ve pretty much only been doing ATG squats, which aren’t the usual metric…I’m guessing it’s around 280-300.

Good luck and keep it up, my report will come most likely after the celtics game.

15

DAY 9

Food Log
10a: 2 scoops cytogainer, 1 cup blueberries, no more milk so to get the carbs i did a cup of orange juice, then 6 fish oils

noon: 2+ servings of oatmeal, 6 egg whites, 3 tbsp salsa, 1 serving string cheese, 1 cup light yogurt, 2 oranges

so I ate that slowly, and didn’t really finish eating all of that until about 2…

4p: 2 scoops cytogainer, 1 apple

630-8p: WORKOUT NUTRITION

right now I’m scheduled for a HUGE PWO meal…mostly meat and carbs…it’s a leg day, so I’m going all out

most likely…

1 (or 2) pieces of chicken, 2 servings of pasta salad, a serving of broccoli, a serving of tomatoes

then after the celtics game, well…I’m not going to write that down yet because it will depend on the outcome of the game haha

Workout Log
FUCK!!! Seriously, if you are reading this, I’m gonna need some pointers! I experimented with making the first exercise lighter to give myself more strength for the big exercise, but it didn’t work!! However, my leg finisher was a HUGE gain…

A. Leg extension
100x10, 100x8, 50x10, 50x7;
100x10, 100x7, 50x10, 50x7
Basically the moment I felt strain, I stopped, in hopes of not taxing myself for the squat

B. Top (1/2) squat
3x315; 2x335; 1x355

C. 1 and 1/4 Front Squat (aka ass-to-grass)
135x7, 135x3, 135x1, 135x8 top-partial;
135x3, 135x3, 135x1, 135x8 top-partial

D. Leg press
225x10, 225x10, 225x10, 225x5 top-partial

E. Calf circuit (see last week for details)

So yeah, my volume dropped for the squat despite an experiment to make the opening sets easier, so that royally pissed me off…I hit the boxing bag for a few minutes to vent, but that is fucked…how did my volume go DOWN? And then, my volume for the leg press just shot THROUGH the roof!?! Looking at my old numbers from February, When I started on this workout I was posting the same weight, but I was getting about 8,6,5,5 top-partial for reps, but I think it might be due to the fact that I have been going ULTRA low on these, and I can remember only hitting about 90 degrees back then…maybe that’s something? I don’t know, but I need to eat and I’m pissed at my decrease in squat performance.

B.

16

Sorry, I am not used to this style of training so I cannot offer any pointers. I am about moving heavy weight and then doing assistance work… ie squat as heavy as I can, finish off with lunges, GHR’s, and calves.

17

DAY 10

Hey, double digits! No workout today, but food was good…

10a: typical breakfast (if you don’t know what I’m eating at this time, just look above)

12p: 3 servings oatmeal (2 servings steel cut, 1 serving instant “cinnamon roll” - whoops), 6 egg whites, 3 tbsp hot salsa, 1 serving string cheese, 1/2 cup tapioca (double whoops)

3p: 2 scoops cytogainer, 1 apple, 1 orange

6p: 2 cups fruit salad (same as yesterday), 1.5 cups green salad, 1 can tuna, 1 serving dry roasted peanuts

930p: 2 scoops cytogainer, 1 marinated chicken breast, 1/2 cup broccoli, 1/2 cup cauliflower, 1/2 cup tomatoes, 1 tbsp olive oil, 6 fish oils

18

I have had a moment of zen

Cytogainer (2 scoop serving)

290 calories
3 g fat
37 g carbs
(3 g sugar)
28g protein

1 scoop protein powder (sans junk) + 1 cup whole milk

~300 calories
10 g fat
17 g carb
32 g protein

Geez, that almost certainly looks close to the breakdown of Muscle Milk or other comparative lower-carb MRP/weight-gainers.

IF YOU ARE A NEWBIE AND YOU ARE READING THIS:

WE SHOULD HAVE LISTENED TO OUR ELDERS.

Really, even weight gainers are crap. When the guys like Prof X say keep it simple, they really mean it. I could spend $30 on the weight gainer, or I could get the same amount of protein powder, have it last x3 as long as the gainer, and substitute the junk for whole milk and get the SAME , macros as the bullshit gainers. Throw in a scoop of peanut butter, a banana, hit the blend button (ooh, difficult), and now you’ve added on another 200-300 calories without even blinking! SHIT, WHY DO WE WASTE MONEY ON SUPPLEMENTS WHEN EVEN REAL FOOD IS EASY?!?!?!

Oh well, now I can save money and lower my carbs/increase my fats, probably a good thing because my ratio right now is like 30:53:17 (pro:carb:fat), so I could use a bit more anyway.

KEEP IT SIMPLE, ALWAYS SUBSTITUTE REAL FOOD WHEN POSSIBLE, SAVE YOUR DOUGH ALL MY FELLOW COLLEGE STUDENTS OUT THERE.

19

DAY 12

Food log

10a: 2 scoops cyto, 1 cup orange juice, 1 cup strawberries, a lil half/half to taste (add calories)

12p: 2 servings oatmeal, 1 orange, 1 apple, 1 oz peanuts, 1 cup blackberry yogurt

4p: 1/2 cup celery, 1/2 cup tomatoes, 1 serving tuna, 2 oz chicken, 1 oz peanuts, 1 stick string cheese

7p: 2 cookies

9p: workout drinks/PWO w/ OJ

12a: 8 oz marinated steak tips, 1/2 cup broccoli, 1/2 cup tomatoes, 2 tbsp olive oil, 7 fish oils

WORKOUT LOG

A. Seated Lat Raise
Set 1: 20x10, 20x8, 10x10, 10x10
Set 2: 20x10, 20x5, 10x10, 10x9

B. Top 1/2 Shoulder Press in Power Rack
Set 1: 3x115; Set 2: 1x135; Set 3: 1x135

C. Bradford Press
Set 1: 85x5, 65x6, 65x3, 45x6, 45x5 top-partial, 45x6 bottom-partial
Set 2: 65x6, 65x1, 65x1, 45x5, 45x4 top-partial, 45x5 bottom-partial

D. Cuban Press (weight per dumbbell)
Set 1: 10x12, 10x12, 8x12, 10x12 bottom-partial
Set 2: 10x12, 10x12, 7x12, 6x12 bottom-partial

E. Close-grip Bench
Set 1: 95x9, 95x5, 95x4, 95x5 top-partial
Set 2: 95x5, 95x3, 95x3, 95x6 top-partial

F. Wrist rolls w/ 10 lbs
2 Sets (not for time)

G. Dips (bodyweight = bw)
Set 1: bw x 5, bw x 3
Set 2: bw x 3, bw x 2

This workout was amazing. My first great workout since I got back into shape. I just felt the need to do more, and it was proof that my shoulders are truly the weakest part of my upper body, and the key to making my bench better. I re-read CT’s article on Low Volume Training http://www.T-Nation.com/readArticle.do?id=1873634&cr=

that is the single best article I have ever read on this website. Period. I had always wondered why some exercises were just sucking for me, despite pounding at them week after week. That article showed me which exercises to choose based on my dominance, and once I utilized that, I broke through my plateau for the first time in 2 years, and I hit 190 lbs, my record. So I’ve made a few more substitutions for next week to fully optimize my ability to put on mass in the right proportions. I feel that next week, my workout will be truly optimized for me, and the results will truly start to shine. And despite a shitty pre-workout meal of 2 cookies and 6 hours sleep, today was a memorable workout for me, and it’s weird that despite adverse conditions, I did so well. Deadlifts and back tomorrow, the day to end all days tomorrow!

20

DAY 13-15

Current weight: 185

Wow. I gained another 4 lbs from last week, and the mirror doesn’t show excessive fat gain, and the lifts from last week were good. I’ll mark this again as success.

FOOD LOG
Ok so I was away for the weekend and I didn’t get a chance to make it to the computer, but my memory is good. I’m pretty sure I ate to a T on friday minus a BBQ chicken calzone, but that was cheat food #3 (not cheat MEAL). The only other cheat food I had (which was this week, starting on Sunday) were chicken fingers at Six Flags and nachos on Saturday…so in 7 days I had 5 cheat foods, probably totaling 2 (maybe 3) cheat meals, out of a possible 42 meals, including 3 meals that I just plain missed because I ran out of protein on Friday and my new order doesn’t come in until Wednesday.

WEEK 2 TOTALS: 37/42 meals made on my diet plan, or 88% adherence for week 2. Had I eaten 1 more healthy meal, I would have hit 90%. This, too, I will consider a success.

TODAY:
930a: 5 egg whites, 2 servings oatmeal.

eating now: 1 large turkey sandwich (5 slices, about 40g protein, w/ lettuce tomato and mustard), 1 salad w/ olive oil vineagrette (greens, red peppers), 1 orange

eating at 3: 150g tuna, 2 cups spinach, 1 medium tomato, 1 apple, 1 orange

WORKOUT LOG
Weekends I have off, but I need to show an impressive workout I had from Friday

A. Chest-supported T-rows
Set 1: 70x9,6,5,6 top-partial
Set 2: 70x8,4,3,4 top-partial

B. Rack pulls
Set 1: 315x3; Set 2:335x2; Set 3: 355x1

C. Deadlifts
Set 1: 225x8, 8, STOP (had to quit early and tape up my hand, I tore it open)
Set 2: 225x8,4,5,6 top-partial

I had to rest for a good 4 minutes after that. I don’t I’ve worked that hard in MONTHS. On the third drop-set of the 2nd Set on the deadlifts, I was at a dead crawl for that 5th rep. Amazing. But I wanted to puke for a good 2 hrs afterwards…

D. Under-handed lat pulldowns (too weak to do chin ups after deads)
Set 1: 130x11,8, 6, 8 top-partials
Set 2: 130x9,7,4,6 top-partials

E. RDL/Bent-row/Shrug Pull (see this article for details: http://www.T-Nation.com/readArticle.do?id=1677559 )
2 sets of 3 reps, 135 lbs

F. Lying leg curl
None…I just looked at the machine and wanted to puke.

So good news was I did really well on the deads. Bad news is I did so well I didn’t complete my workout and felt sick for a good 2 hours. Exercise E doesn’t really conform to the workout structure like the other days, but according to the USCTrojan PC, this is technically a back day, but I needed a way of adding more back exercises and more hip-dominant exercises, so I combined them in a way that matched that article. I think it’s a great exercise combo, but it might be a better finisher, and I might swap that and the lying leg curls.

Ok, I’ll finish eating lunch, and post later w/ the rest of my food, today’s workout and a pic for a new week of comparisons.