Adam's Physique Clinic

Training Training Logs
21

3pm food went well, though I swapped the tomato for a red pepper out of paranoia (though I just found out any tomato on the vine is fine)

today I experimented with no pre or peri workout nutrition to see if I felt weaker/less bloated. It was a bench day so I don’t think I really noticed, so that might be good? Either way, I stuck to my standard PWO regimen, and I might drop the peri/pre WO altogether when I run out.

WORKOUT LOG
A. Db Flies
Set 1: 45x10, 10
Set 2: 45x8, 6
Really focused on extension for the second set, so hopefully my lack of extension wasn’t why I started out so well.

B. Top 1/2 bench (in a rack)
Set 1: 155x3, Set 2: 165x2, Set 3: 185x2

C. Wide-grip bench (to clavicle)
Set 1: 115x8, 8, 6, 5 top-partial
Set 2: 125x8, 2, 2, 3 top-partial

D. Low Incline DB Bench
Set 1: 50x7, 1 top-partial, 5 bottom-partial (clearly my shoulders are the sticking point)

E. Seated preacher curls
Set 1: 75x7, 4, 35x20, 15, 10 top-partial, 10 bottom-partial
Set 2: 75x7, 1, 50x10, 4, 13 top-partial, 3 bottom-partial
To be honest, doing a 50% dropset isn’t too effective for this exercise…for me it feels like nothing, so I sort of “gave up” when I hit 10 reps in the first set. Then I decided maybe 50% meant “50% of the weight you put on,” and since I put on 25s, I dropped it down to 12.5s, with 50lb total weight on the bar. That was much more effective, so I think I’ll stick with that metric.

F. Hammer curls (both arms at same time)
Set 1: 25x8, 5, 15x6, 4
Set 2: 25x7, 15x10, 4

First bench workout I felt good about. Now that my weight is close to my pre-illness levels, I think that’s why my workouts are starting to feel effective.

22

Forgot a few things…

  1. Picture (see below)

  2. Now that I’m up 10 lbs, I need to increase my calories by a good 250 kcal. I’m moving up to 4000, so my new ideal eating plan looks like so:

9a: 1 scoop Grow! Whey, 1.5 cup whole milk, 1 cup blueberries, 6 fish oils
11a: 2 servings oatmeal, 5/4 cup egg whites, 2 oranges
1p: 200g chicken/turkey breast, 2 tomatoes, 1/2 cup broccoli, 1 cup yams, 1 tbsp olive oil

3p: 1 scoop Grow! Whey, 1.5 cup whole milk, 1 apple, 1/2 cup pineapple

6p: pre/peri/post workout foods

9p: 200g beef/tuna, 2 cup spinach, 2 tomatoes, 1/2 cup broccoli, 1 cup yams, 1 tbsp olive oil, 6 fish oils

I simply added 2 more cups of milk throughout the day, giving me 300 more calories, and basically keeping all macros about even.

23

new pic

24

DAY 16

FOOD LOG
930a: 6 egg whites, 1/2 cup whole milk, 1/2 cup strawberries, 1/2 cup blueberries, 1 banana, 1 tbsp peanut butter, all blended

1130a: 5 egg whites, 2 fiber one bars (10g protein, 60g carbs, 18 of which was fiber hahaha…so basically oatmeal)

230p: 6 turkey breast slices, 1 cup spinach, 1 tomato wrapped in a pita w/ cranberry mustard (mmm), 1 cup yams, 1 oz peanuts

5p: 1 cup 2% milk, 1 oz peanuts

6p: 1 scoop Grow! Whey

workout: 1 serving pre/peri workout drink

8p: PWO

930 will be 8oz steak tips, 1 cup yams, 1 cup spinach, 1/2 cup broccoli, 1 tbsp olive oil

midnight will be 1.5 cups whole milk w/ 1 scoop Grow!

WORKOUT LOG
A. Leg extension
Set 1: 120x10, 10, 60x10, 8
Set 2: 120x10, 6, 60x10, 7

B. Top 1/2 squat
Set 1: 320x3, Set 2: 320x2…stopped there, wasn’t feelin a 3rd set

C. Front squat
Set 1: 145x8, 4, 2, 6 top-partial
Set 2: 145x6, 3, 2, 4 top-partial

D. Reverse Lunge
Set 1: 60x8, 6

E. Standing calf raise
Set 1: 240x18, 9, 120x10, 7, 20 top-partial, 16 bottom-partial
Set 2: 335x10, 6, 165x12, 8, 10 top-partial, 10 bottom-partial

F. Seated calf raise
Set 1: 90x12, 8
Set 2: 90x10, 6

FINALLY a good workout! This one was a complete improvement basically on all fronts, although someone was hogging the leg press machine so I said fuck it and decided to do reverse lunges as my finisher just because unilateral exercises never hurt.

So proof positive, if you work hard after illness, you can basically make a full recovery in 2-3 weeks, as I’m almost at my pre-illness weight and my pre-illness lifts. AWESOME. Once I hit 190, I’ll switch over to CrewPierce (which is perfect, because I’ll probably hit that after 4 weeks of training, the PERFECT time to switch training methods).

25

DAY 17 recap

Rest day, I basically stuck to the diet to a T except instead of the workout drinks, I had an extra Grow! + Milk shake at the end of the night to get that slow protein release…mmm…

DAY 18

Food
1030a: 1/2 cup blueberries, 1/2 cup strawberries, 1 banana, 1 cup whole milk, 1 scoop Grow! + 6 fish oils

130p: 2 slices sausage and meatball calzone - CHEAT MEAL

5p: 1 cup spinach, 1 medium tomato, 1 oz peanuts, 1 tbsp cranberry mustard, 150g turkey breast

10p: 1 scoop Grow!

11p: 2 scoops PWO

1230a: 6oz steak w/ sweet potato + 1/2 cup celery

2a: 2 scoops Grow! + 1 cup whole milk + 1 tbsp olive oil + 6 fish oils

Workout
A. Seated lateral raise
Set 1: 25x9,7, 12x10, 9
Set 2: 25x8,3, 12x9, 9

B. 1/2 Military press from pins
Set 1: 135x3, Set 2: 155x2, Set 3: 160x1

C. Bradford press
Set 1: 95x7,3,1, 65x6, 4-backside, 4-frontside
Set 2: 95x3,1,1, 65x5, 4-backside, 4-frontside

D. Wrist rolls for time - 2 sets completed

E. Close grip bench
Set 1: 100x10,6,2,4 top-partial

F. Dips
Set 1: 12 reps for bodyweight (bw), bw x 4
Set 2: bw x 7, bw 3

Overall: Another amazing workout. For the first time in a long time, dips felt effective for the tris. I think I just needed a narrower grip…that saved both my shoulders and my wrists, so that was good enough. All lifts went up, so I was quite pleased.

26

DAY 19-21 - WEEK 3 RECAP

FRIDAY WORKOUT RECAP
Friday was my deadlift day, but I was leaving for my girlfriend’s place so I had to rush through the workout. I didn’t get to write anything down, but I can tell you:

-T-rows were roughly the same,
-Rack pulls increased 10lbs per set
-deadlifted for approx 245x8, 6, 4, 5 top-partial for the first set, and then 245x6,4,2 top-partiil for the second set
-Pull-ups are still damn near impossible, and I think I did a set of 6, 3, and two sets of just 1. They’re really hard to do after deadlifting.
-3 sets of 3 for the combo lifts w/ RDL/Bent row/Shrug pulls,
-I added back the 2 sets of lying leg curls. Since I didn’t do them the week before, that’s more weight pulled than before, so that equals progress.

FOOD LOG ON THE WEEKEND
FRIDAY: food was on par, in the evening instead of having my usual steak and veggies I had a greek wrap loaded w/ about 10oz of kafta beef and chicken, veggies, and some sauces. I had 2 drinks of alcohol from light beer, which added only another 120 calories, so that day wasn’t all too bad, with only 2 cheat meals under my belt.

SATURDAY:
-Meat and chilli omelette w/ oatmeal for breakfast
-Basmati rice w/ ginger chicken curry and vegeterian dish from an Indian restaurant
-Large chicken burrito

SUNDAY:
This was my friend’s graduation party, so I didn’t keep track of the food I ate in what order, but this is what I can remember:

-ham egg and cheese on multigrain bagel from Dunkin Donuts
-4 servings of fruits and veggies w/ 8 oz chicken breast
-2 cheese burgers
-2 cups berries (straw, blue, rasp)
-10 more oz of chicken and beef
-3 servings of tostitos w/ lime chips and salsa
-2 servings of wheat thins
-3 cookies
-1 IBC rootbeer

RECAP
Sunday was sort of a cheat day…probably 3 cheat meals alone in this day, if not more. So a total of 5-6 cheat meals again this week, and missing (calorie wise) 2 meals from Saturday (no protein shakes, just 3 meals). That’s roughly 84% adherence.

WAYS TO IMPROVE
I NEED help finding out how to eat better on the weekends. I’m not at home so I can’t bring down coolers of frozen meats and veggies because my girlfriend shares an apartment with roommates and there’s no room for my food. I think the first step is to bring down my Grow! and some protein bars, along with dried fruit like dried blueberries so I can get those missing, healthy meals and try and eat healthier meals at healthier restaurants. Any ideas?

27

DAY 22 - START OF WEEK 4

MORNING WEIGHT: 188 lb

BACK TO MY OLD WEIGHT IN 3 WEEKS

HELL

YES.

No pics this week, I left my camera down at my girlfriend’s place, but I can tell you that my lifts are higher, I still look toned, so I think I’m still on the right track. I will continue to increase calories to reflect the increased weight. Target weight for next week is 190, so calories need to be 4000-4050 a day to meet this goal.

FOOD LOG (thus far

breakfast 830a: 1 heaping scoop Grow!, 1.5 cup whole milk, 1 cup blueberries, 6 fish oils

lunch noon: 2 slices pizza (1 cheese steak, 1 w/ eggs and ham…mostly meat, very little no cheese, and it was wholegrain crust so it wasn’t too bad…I’ll still mark it as a cheat food), 2 servings veggies via a salad (mostly tomatoes), 1/2 cup strawberries

snack 3p: 1.5 cups milk, 1.5 scoops Grow!

…more updated later on today, including the impending chest workout this afternoon.

I will continue this workout for sure through this whole week, but these are my indicators to switch for next week:

  1. Lifts do not increase
  2. 2 lbs heavier is not achieved

If BOTH are not achieved, then I will switch to CrewPierce’s workout for the following week.

28

DAY 23

YESTERDAY RECAP

Yesterday was bad. I got a phone call aroundd 4pm that my grandfather is in the hospital…for what could be the last time. So my night went to shit…ate a few slices of pizza, had a PWO w/ some pineapple and pasta, then had another meal w/ pasta and chicken, and then ended w/ some milk and Grow! So another cheat meal I guess, which brings me to like 4? And then the workout…I didn’t even write it down, I just wasn’t feeling it, but somehow I still felt to go balls to the wall. All I can say is all of my lifts went up, and the volume stayed pretty much the same at that higher weight for the first 3 exercises. Once I got to the incline bench, I got bored and moved to the HS incline bench and just tested to see how heavy and crazy I could go.

Still bored and unmotivated, I ditched my usual bicep workout by doing DB standing curls by moving from 5lb DBs all the way up to 30 lb dumbbells and back down for 10 reps per weight. Did that for 2 sets, and by the 2nd set I was doing hammer curls for 4 reps at 35 lbs and back down, and it was pretty brutal. So I guess overall yesterday wasn’t as bad as it could have been, but it clearly wasn’t in line with usual training.

FOOD LOG
930a: 1.5 cups whole milk, 1 scoop Grow!, 1 cup blueberries, 6 fish oils

noon: chicken kabob wrap, 1 tomato, 1 orange, 1 plum

3pm: 1.5 cups 2% milk, 1 scoop Grow!

530p: 1 cup egg whites, 2 servings oatmeal, 1 banana

OTHER INTERESTS

  1. My shoulders are definitely the weakest part of my upper body. When I went to true FAILURE yesterday, it was always the middle of the press that would fail, which is primarily shoulder-based. Any ideas on if I need to work my shoulders more throughout the week?

  2. Don’t like pre/peri workout drinks. They make me gittery and I seem to lift better even without all that great stuff like Citrulline Malate. Seems like all I need is water and beta alanine/BCAAs pre/peri workout, and a good old PWO post workout and everything is right as rain. Nothing wrong with saving money!

29

630p: 2.25g beta alanine, 1 “revive” vitamin water (this is for workout)

8p: PWO

10p: 10oz marinated chicken, 4 servings pasta, 1/2 cup celery

midnight: i’ll have 2 scoops Grow! Whey and maybe something else

WORKOUT LOG

amazing day - i dunno how i did it.

A. Leg extension
Set 1: 130x10, 10, 70x10, 10
Set 2: 130x10, 7, 70x10, 8

B. 1/2 Squat
Set 1: 315x3
Then I got cocky and thought I could go down all the way, and I pretty much had it, but failed to do so. Then I didn’t want to tax all my energy into this so I stopped and moved on

C. Front squat
Set 1: 155x8, 8, 3, 8 top-partial
Set 2: 155x7, 3, x, 6 top-partial

NEW PR! Never lifted that much! That was one of the hardest sets of exercises I’ve ever done, and I gave it my all!

D. Leg press
Set 1: 315x10, 5, 4, 5 top-partial

E. Seated calf raises
Set 1: 125x12, 15, 12, 12 top-partial, 14 bottom-partial
Set 2: 125x10, 10, 8, 10 top-partial, 6 bottom-partial

F. Standing calf raises
Set 1: 300x12, 10
Set 2: 300x10, 8

30

I’m losing motivation…it’s taking a good deal of effort to post everything every day (especially when it’s redundant, because I’ve already written it down by hand).

So therefore, to maintain motivation, I have decided to do one of Berardi’s tips by creating a spreadsheet, making Xs when I make a meal, and *s when I cheat, and then adding it all up.

So rather than belabor this thread with foods, I’m from now on only going to post workouts, and then on Mondays, I’m going to post weights, body fat % (when I get a caliper), and % adherence to the previous week’s eating. That’s really the only metric I need, and it saves me time, which will maintain motivation. Arms/shoulder workout coming up tonight, and seeing as how those are the weakest parts of my body, I’m ready to go all out tonight to get them to play catch up.

31

Hey man,

I don’t think you need to keep a food log, really. The reason PC’s did is because they were adhering to a strict diet and getting free coaching and supps. At this point, after logging food for this long, you should know how many calories is how many calories. Use it a as a baseline and increase as you feel necessary. I just think the food log is probably what is getting you down. Especially because you are trying to ‘bulk’, but you are writing down your cheat meals like they are completely bad. You are trying to gain, don’t worry about it. Dieting down is much easier than constantly cramming food down.

As far as workouts, if that is what you are getting bummed on, try a different program. The PC work outs aren’t the be-all end-all of programs.

Good luck

32

Sorry to hear about Granddad mate, and you’re doing really well. Keep at it.

33

DAY 29

WEEK 4 FOOD ADHERENCE: 86%
Will do a weigh-in in the morning.

Thursday’s and Friday’s workouts were phenomenal to be frank. The arms workout was everything I usually did, but more intense. I really taxed my arms and shoulders…the only substitution I made with arms was to change the bradford press w/ a machine overhead press and a machine behind the neck press because someone was using the power rack. I did 2 more sets of wrist rolls than normal, and I did 1 more set of dips and dropped the 2 sets of close grrip bench for overhead pressdowns. My shoulders and arms are the weakest parts of my upper body, so I feel that I need to switch a more compound exercise like close grip bench, for a more isolated exercise like pressdowns, which will help my arms play catch up with the rest of my body.

Friday’s workout was moved to Saturday for the 4th, and all I can say is…

585x1 Rack pull.
315x4 deadlift. NEW FUCKING PRs!

SHIT.

I was doing my first set of deads for 275, and I just felt the need to go for a PR. So my second set turned into 3 warmup sets which ultimately led to a 5th set of deads where I reached a new PR of 315x4. I finished up with the usual lying legs and chin ups, however I dropped the combo exercise RDL/x2Bent row/Shrug pulls…I dunno, I was running out of time, plus I thought I owed it to myself to take a break given that I just PRed in the dead.

So last week’s workouts were also amazing.

OVERALL, 4/4 weeks of great workouts and food plans…hopefully the weigh in tomorrow morning will dictate a good job by being 191.

34

DAY 30

1 MONTH, 15 LBS!

This morning, I weighed in at 190.5lb! 4 weeks later, I have gained 15.5 lbs, hell fucking yes! I have my camera back, and I’ll be posting this evening progress pics. However, I peed about a good pound immediately after, BUT, the scale was off by at least a pound (underweight), so play it conservatively, I’ll stick with that number.

As I said before, adherence was about 80-85% last week, good, but still could be better. I have a worksheet to write down and see if I hit my number.

Today is a bench day, but as I’ve said before, my shoulders and arms are lacking, so I’m thinking of modifying my program again for the next 2 weeks to do the BIGGER-ARMS Challenge to replace my biceps and triceps work on Mondays and Thursday. I’m also doing a forearm workout from here http://www.T-Nation.com/readArticle.do?id=459521
on my arms day.

Those parts are lacking the most…my grip sucks and my arms just seem so much smaller in proportion to other parts in my body (including the shoulders). I’ll also be replacing the first exercise in my shoulder workout with the new shoulder superset announced in the newest article today. Blasting my arms and shoulders, I hope to have them catch up with the rest of my body so I can get my bench up.

35

damn man 15lbs in a month congrats!

36


This picture was taken this evening, 4 weeks since my first picture - I think the results are good!

WORKOUT LOG

A. Db Flies
Set 1: 55x8, 9
Set 2: 55x6, 7

B. Top 1/2 bench (in a rack)
Set 1: 185x3, Set 2: 205x2, Set 3: 225x2

C. Wide-grip bench (to clavicle)
Set 1: 145x8, 6, 4, 5 top-partial
Set 2: 145x7, 2, 1, 4 top-partial

D. Low Incline DB Bench
Set 1: 55x8, 2 top-partial, 2 bottom-partial (clearly my shoulders are the sticking point)

BIGGER-ARMS Challenge:
E. Slow chin up - 15 sec concentric, 10 sec eccentric
F. Barbell curl - 60 lb for 11 reps
G. Slow dip - 12 sec concentric, 23 sec eccentric
H. 1 hand tricep pressdown - 63 lb for 12 reps per hand

Finished off with a few sets of hammer curls, I felt like I needed a bit more because I just couldn’t hold onto the bar that long. So I worked up from a set of 35 for 10 to a set of 45 for 4…felt good.

37

Eeeh that picture isn’t as good as this one…a bit more close up and a better comparison to the older pictures.

38

Anyone have a guess at bf %? My guess is ~15%.

Word of advice: just because a meal isn’t on your eating plan, doesn’t mean it doesn’t count as a good meal.

For instance, had chinese food for lunch - but it was rice, veggies, kobe beef and chicken (in some sort of water-based sauce) with an apple and a fiber one bar (9 g of fiber haha). Maybe the salt is high, but I don’t care who you are - that fucking meal is not a cheat meal! So for those of you that are neurotic like that, let meals like those count!

Also, went to have my suits tailored…

…needed to get more room in the thighs :slight_smile: Waist was fine, but a month ago the pants fit like a dream, and now they’re streeeetched to the thread around the thighs - looks like those front squats are doing wonders.

39

We need a shoe to tell BF for sure, You’ve made an unreal amount of improvement though. Gaining 15 pounds in a month while not gaining a lot of fat is very impressive.

BF is very hard to estimate by pictures, no real clue on that. Props so far.

40

DAY 31

Today is an off day, but I forgot to post yesterday’s workout:

A. Leg extension
Set 1: 150x10, 8, 80x10, 10
Set 2: 150x10, 5, 80x8, 7

B. 1/2 Squat
Set 1: 315x3, Set 2: 335x2, Set 3: 355x1

C. Front squat
Set 1: 165x8, 5, 3, 6 top-partial
Set 2: 165x5, 3, 2, 10 top-partial

D. Leg press was occupied, so I did Bulgarian Squat
Set 1, Left Leg: 45x8, 5, 3
Set 1, Right Leg: 45x4, 5, 3

E. Standing calf raise
Set 1: 350x10, 10, 175x10, 10, 10 top-partial, 10 bottom-partial
Set 2: 405x8, 5, 195x8, 8, 10 top-partial, 10 bottom-partial

F. Seated calf raise
Set 1: 115x12, 8
Set 2: 115x12, 8

Clearly I have a pretty noticeable muscular imbalance between my right and left legs, I’m thinking I should start incorporating a great deal more single-leg work , which is probably what is holding me back from even further gains. Should I train my right leg more often? Thoughts?