[quote]ecogenx wrote:
Whats your % BF. Must be low[/quote]
It is, I guess - I can see my belly veins. Wife called me skinny because she could see the tie-ins of my serratus to the external obliques. She thought they were my ribs. I have some stubborn fat around my lower lats and low back, though.
And on my ass too, of course.
Thanks Soldog and Geech.
As always it’s a matter of doing. The best laid plans of mice and men oft get ignored.
I intend to follow through, though. I’m going to be pre-cooking the rice, oatmeal and ostrich/ham burgers so all I have to do is heat and eat. Because I am lazy, lazy lazy.
I usually have no appetite until I am at the point of ravening, so I can go without eating all day. Then I’ll suddenly pound down 1300-3000 kcals at one sitting. Avg daily intake is around 2400-2700 cal per day. just enough to keep moving.
I’m gonna get a little fat following this plan, but that’s all to the better. Last time I weighed 190 was when I was in database consulting and could afford to eat a pint of ice cream every night. Had just started lifting weights again with a little set of standard plates I’d purchased.
No bench for a while, only 145 pounds or so of weights so I did cleans and front squats, and overhead pressing. Someone gave me a bench and I bought a few more weights and started benching a bit. Hung up an old water pipe in the rafters of the garage and started doing chins. Pretty soon I was weighing 190. Wasn’t real strong, but I was bulky. And a little bit fat, but I felt great.
It’s funny, some of the most interesting and productive workouts I’ve had involved very little equipment. When I was young and poor, I used to go to a local playground and figure out exercises to do on the equipment I found there. There’s a surprising amount you can do with almost nothing.
I like to get back to that now and then.
I’ve had some of the best workouts with just a bar loaded with weight. No bench or other equipment. I wish I’d have found this out longer ago then last fall.
2008-5-16
Upper
Paused Bench (rested on pins)
135x5
185x5
205x3
225x2
235x1,1,1,1
DB Incline Press
75’sx5,5,5
BB Row
245x4,4,4,3
Overhead Press
95x6
115x3
145x3
155x2,2,2,2,1,1
95x8,8 (form check)
Chinups
BWx20
Well - this is def. the end of a cycle. I’m beat. Bailed on weighted chins today. First day benching with absolutely no pain. Got the form dialed in - path was good.
So of course my overhead press went to doo-doo. That was really painful. It’s not in the shoulder per se but in the armpit to the back. Dunno what’s up there. It think whatever muscles pull the scapula down aren’t working right. I dropped weight and did slow reps to see what was up and it’s still the middle traps not pulling hard enough. So the muscles around the arm proper have to do the stabilizing of the shoulder blade and they aren’t made for it. I may just have to drop weight and work form for a while till that strengthens up.
Never fails…I hit a max in this lift and something like this happens right after. Got solid singles@170 last cycle and now I can’t get near it. I make progress when I do reps or when I do multiple set of singles, but stall out when I put them together…
Oh.
Maybe I should do the obvious, then…
Deload days next time
Your shoulders get plenty of work with chest and back, have you considered dropping overhead stuff for a while? or maybe substitutimg light front raises.
When your bench gets to where you want it your shoulders will have gained as well without overheads. But reading your blogs you know more then I do.
Yes I had considered that, actually. The two movements don’t seem to co-exist very well for me in the same session and I think front raises with elbows out would hit the shoulders nicely.
If this idea of switching out overhead work to lower body day doesn’t work, that’s my next course of action.
Thanks for the suggestion and encouragement, ecogenx.
2008-5-17
Abs and Forearms
Wrist Curl
75 2x5,1x3
55 2x12
Reverse Curl
45 3x5
30 2x12
Wrist levers
Front
35 2x6
Rear
3.5 2x10
Crunches
110 20,2x15
YTWL
15’s 2x8
2008-5-18
Lower and Presses (deload)
Box Squats 15" box
Barx15
135x5
185x5
225x5
245x5
+Avg Bandsx2 395 at top
+mini bands x1,1 430 at top
325 straight weight
x1,1 (set PR)
225x5
Overhead Press
135 5x5
Face Pulls
Avg Band 3x12
Scap Rows
Right side only
Avg Band 3x15
Took out the assistance exercises and kept intensity. I feel good. I think the volume from the partials squats was catching up to me, because I did NOT want to train today. Back was tight on squats, no pitching forward and ass-rearing to get the weight up. #2@325 took about 5-6 seconds to lock out but I wasn’t gonna let it go back down once I got off the box.
After squats I wanted to do more though and had to make myself stop - otherwise it wouldn’t be a deload.
Worked 5x5 on the overheads to do form work with weight. Finding a groove, but it’s uncomfortable. My right shoulder travels forward and down in the socket. Not good for overhead work.
I am firmly convinced all my time at the computer is screwing up this shoulder. Esp. my time spent playing Quake 3 Arena, which requires an absolutely stiff shoulder and and fine motor control at the wrist. Time to purge it from the system again. My shoulder always improves after removing Q3D from my computer LoL
As you know, Skidmark, I am a stranger regarding bands. Could you please explain briefly what your notation means for the band squats? – that the band strength rendered the amount supported equal to 395 resp. 430 at the top of the lift? And nothing at the bottom? To what bar weight set-up did you add the bands?
I worked up to 245 and then added bands to the weight. Then I took them off and just did weight on the bar.
avg band ca = 65-75 lbs each
mini band ca = 20 lbs each
Altogether was 190 lbs of band tension at the top.
Yes - the tension deloads at the bottom, so that one is moving only the 245. The resistance becomes progressive as the bar rises, matching the strength curve. It forces you to push harder to overmatch the increasing resistance. Since I didn’t have too much trouble locking out the 245+Avg+mini I’m going to go 245+Avg+small next time. That’ll be 245+150+80 or 475 at the top.
Wish me luck, I might get stapled to the box 
I like 'em because they accustom my posterior chain to moving a weight I might not be ready for yet. Most use them for speed work, taking a weight 55-65% of max and bands to make max at the top, but I’m using them in a max effort capacity because speed isn’t important to me right now.
I’m using them to get a neural boost, before I go to my top sets, insuring that I can complete them and letting me put more straight weight on than perhaps I normally could for my top sets.
My strategy is to add more band tension each session (til I run out of bands) and then add weight and reduce band tension - then work the number of bands back up.
I’m going to experiment with reverse band tension as well - where the bands pull up rather than down, so that one can pile more weight than one’s max on the bar, but only have max or submax weight at the bottom. In this case the bands help you get the weight up out of the hole and help less the higher you go.
All told I’ve got enough bands to get about 390 pounds of tension - so there’s room to grow.
2008-5-19
Abs and stuff that ought to have been yesterday (deload)
Neutral Grip Pullups
BWx5
+55x5
+75x4
+95x4,4,2
Hammer curls
50’sx5
65’sx3,3
Prone Planks
100x44 sec, 25 sec
Suitcase hold
145x30 sec, 30 sec.
Maintaining intensity but cutting volume to 50-60% or thereabouts. Bench tomorrow .
Man - that T-Cell Alpha turning into a dog pit. I voted to have the new forum cuz I figgered it’d keep those folks in each others’ hair and out of anyone else’s.
Dang! Hurt my shoulder patting myself on the back…
Thanks for the explanation on your band use.
Workouts looking good… did you get your bird meat yet?
Seeing as I am trying to lose… and you are trying to gain, I will live my life vicariously (sp?) through you while you stuff your face. I want every tantalizing tidbit described to the max!!
Thanks Bun, Trying to catch up to you…
I was thinking of doing a food log with calorie content. I don’t really know what 3600 calories looks like. Might keep me on track.
2008-5-20
Bench, Tris and Back (Rep day Deload)
Incline Bench
135x8
155x5
175x5
195 2x5 (rep PR)
DB Bench Press
75x5
85x5
95 2x5 (rep PR)
Reverse Grip BB Row
205x5
245 2x5 (rep PR)
Rolling Triceps Extension
50’s 2x6
Seated DB cleans
25’s 3x10
Great session today! Met my poundage goals for the lifts AND my rep goals. Kept sets to two as this is a deload session.
Got bench and triceps work figured out. Just gotta get my right elbow out more. I’m tucking a little too much. As soon as I feel like I’m flaring it, the pain goes away and a visual check shows that it’s no further out than the left.
Form is good on Rolling Tri-X, finally, so I can start raising poundage.
[quote]skidmark wrote:
I was thinking of doing a food log with calorie content. I don’t really know what 3600 calories looks like. Might keep me on track.
[/quote]
Nice session Skid - I’d like to catch up with you…
I’ve been using http://caloriecount.about.com to log my food and exercise since October. It has helped keep me on track and when I go over on the calories, I at least know how bad the damage is. It requires a lot of guestimates unless you weigh everything you eat but any logging system has that issue.
[quote]soldog wrote:
skidmark wrote:
I was thinking of doing a food log with calorie content. I don’t really know what 3600 calories looks like. Might keep me on track.
Nice session Skid - I’d like to catch up with you…
I’ve been using http://caloriecount.about.com to log my food and exercise since October. It has helped keep me on track and when I go over on the calories, I at least know how bad the damage is. It requires a lot of guestimates unless you weigh everything you eat but any logging system has that issue.
[/quote]
Cool! Thanks Soldog - that should help a bunch.
3375 calories today. I feel like a cow chewing his cud. I’ve been eating all day. And I still couldn’t get to 3600 kcal.
Can’t wait til my whey protein gets here tomorrow. With a tablespoon of peanut butter, banana,Olive oil and milk in it - I’m looking at about 500-700 calories per drink. 2 per day will get me about a third of my daily calories.
1 cup oatmeal
3 eggs
3 pieces of double thick bacon
apple
1/2 cup nuts
1 Lb of hamburger
1/2 cup beets
1 rice cake with 1 tbsp peanut butter/jam
1 cup brown rice
Snapper filet
1/2 cup chard
8 oz rice milk
3 oz of neck bone beef (meant for a soup - wife will not be happy)
Lotta work. I’m a kitchen wussy. I have to say though, it’s the first time in a while that I feel no hunger whatsoever.
Hope I can do it tomorrow. On the road day after. Thursday’s a bust for training, consequently. Restaurant food - yay! Big portions, lotsa cals. And the mother-in-law sets a great table…
Looking for gyms in LA near my In-Laws place that allow deadlifting and farting loudly.
Damn what a meal plan! Good luck on that. I wish I was in a weight gain mode vs the fat burning mode. Still looks like lots of protien and good calories to make you big and strong.
[quote]skidmark wrote:
Man - that T-Cell Alpha turning into a dog pit. I voted to have the new forum cuz I figgered it’d keep those folks in each others’ hair and out of anyone else’s.
[/quote]
All that is missing there is a prom night … After one look I decided I’ll stick to our ‘T-Cell Omega’.