Bigmac73nh's Log

Training Training Logs
61

Today’s Workout: Posterior Chain Focus

Round 5 of the circuit:

Quick unplanned break after the snatches to change shitty music. Nothing kills the focus like fucking mashups of Rihanna shit. I guess that’s what I get for downloading first and listening later lol.

Posterior Chain Circuit A:

A1. Power Snatch from Hang

95x6
105x6
115x6
125x6
135x6

A2. Skin the Cat

5xBWx3

A3. DB Swings

5x40x12

Notes:

I was going out to lunch with my family and I found out right before my workout that we were going an hour earlier than I was planning… which meant I had 20 minutes to work out rather than 80 minutes. I was intending to hit posterior chain and a bit of ring work, so I just picked one ring move and a couple of posterior chain moves that would be really brutal within a circuit.

I took the snatches light and got a good number of reps in to work on form/explosiveness. These and the DB swings both gave me a really good feel in the hams/glutes.

For ring work, I just rolled with some more skin the cat for shits and giggles. I tried to get a better ROM today. I also tried to stabilize better to cut down on the swinging. They weren’t perfect, but they’re coming along. Definitely way better than yesterday. 5 sets of these was brutal, and the pump was out of control. It was more or less a full upper body pump. Going to be getting a lot of skin the cats in going forward.

62

[quote]Achilles of war wrote:
What chapter are you in? Im a part of Delta Eta

good shit in here, will be following…

What kind of work did you do when first leaning out from your previous 230/220lb build?

[/quote]

Cool stuff man- I’m in Zeta Theta. Actually just had the “pleasure” of being president for a year haha. You guys are probably a lot more hardcore… we go through a lot of bullshit at Villanova like not having real on-campus housing and stuff. Pledging was still one of my better life decisions.

And thanks, good to have you following along. I just did a ton of crazy giant sets for awhile focusing on a different muscle group each day. I guess it was almost crossfit-type stuff where it was just a matter of endurance/survival being the measure of a good workout. It got the weight off, but my strength went to shit. I’m lucky Thibs set me straight through the Indigo project or I’d be about half as strong today.

EDIT: My workouts that I used to drop the weight are on this page of my I-3G log (in the last post on the page):

http://tnation.T-Nation.com/free_online_forum/sports_body_training_performance_bodybuilding_indigo_2/bigmac73nhs_i3g_log?id=4542881&pageNo=1

63

Some pointers on OHP with false grip.

Keep chin up

Hands should be shoulder width

Take a false grip and squeeze everthing

Don’t lift the bar --drive it away from you body while looking up. Pass your head through once bar passes overhead.

Your arms should be resting on a “Lat Shelf”

Start with a light weight and keep ramping up by doing doubles till the weight stalls then take 80% of that top weight and do 6x3 ( 6 sets of 3) THIS is is Working weight, every week try adding 2.5 pounds to the working weight doing 6x3.

Hope this helps

64

[quote]FISCHER613 wrote:
Some pointers on OHP with false grip.

Keep chin up

Hands should be shoulder width

Take a false grip and squeeze everthing

Don’t lift the bar --drive it away from you body while looking up. Pass your head through once bar passes overhead.

Your arms should be resting on a “Lat Shelf”

Start with a light weight and keep ramping up by doing doubles till the weight stalls then take 80% of that top weight and do 6x3 ( 6 sets of 3) THIS is is Working weight, every week try adding 2.5 pounds to the working weight doing 6x3.

Hope this helps[/quote]

Thanks, I appreciate it! Cues like that are just what I was looking for… I’ll give the false grip a try next time I hit a gym with a power rack.

65

Straight, I was social chair so lot less bs more fun ha.

anyhow good luck with your goals. Im cutting down a little and thinking about using indigo after while i prep for a pl comp

looks like it has helped a lot for you. How long have you been on it? have you constantly cycled it on?

66

Hey broheim, lets make a deal Ill help you with your OH press and you can help me with EVERYTHING else! Pretty awesome stuff, Ill be nuthugging here!

67

@Achilles Social chair? Nice! I did that for a year before prez. It’s way better hahah. As far as the Indigo is concerned, I started out on a “full” cycle with 12 weeks of 3 daily doses of 4 caps. After that, I shifted to using only one bottle per month. I’ve tried different things ranging from straight doses of 6 caps per day to a cycling approach splitting a month into one off week, one week of 4 caps, one week of 8 caps, and one week of 12 caps (ramping up carbs as I go). They all work pretty well as long as you tailor the dose to your workout volume/nutrient intake. I’m currently cutting some weight again on a carb backloading plan (I’m running it similarly to IF) that has me packing all of my daily eating into one, maybe two meals- I’m having my 1 dose of Indigo preworkout, then feasting hard as soon as my workout ends.

@MattyXL DEAL. You’re already a beast, but if there’s anything I can help with let me know for sure and I’ll see what I can do!

68

Nutrition update:

I kinda crashed around the early evening today, so I decided to try and eat a little more food today and see what happens. Instead of a single Indigo-3G dose, I rolled with 2x4. Here’s what the food breakdown has been like:

-4 caps Indigo-3G

-Postworkout: 3 FINiBARs

-Meal 1: Chili’s Cobb salad (tomatoes, cheese, bacon, lettuce, guacamole, chicken, ranch dressing, maybe some other shits)

-4 caps Indigo-3G

-Meal 2: The cocktail, 8 brazil nuts, 3 gluten free tortillas (not very good lolz), 4 Omega-3 eggs, reduced fat cheese, salsa, fat free sour cream

-Meal 3: Brown rice/steak

I’ve powered through the crash after pounding some food and water, so I’ll see how I’m doing tomorrow as far as leanness is concerned and update then. Today was the 11th consecutive day of working out and leanness was at an all time best, so I’m staying positive for tomorrow. If I wake up holding a ton of bloat I’ll just take tomorrow off from teh weightz and condition hard.

69

Just stopping by to show some support. Amazing transformation you made, and great progress. I’ve noticed you’ve become very active on the forums lately, and your advice, along with your attitude, are making you quickly become one of my favorite posters. Keep it up man.

70

3608×1913 1.27 MB

Here are some progress pics from after today’s workout. Fucking love handles are breaking my balls. I’ll post my workout…

71

3264×2448 1.43 MB

… after I finish this guy.

EDIT: This is 8 Omega-3 Eggs, 2.5 pcs chicken breast, 1 metric fucktonne brown rice, salsa, reduced fat cheese, and sour cream. It’ll be my only meal today except for the necessary stuff (8 Brazil nuts/the cocktail)

72

Today’s Workout: Chest Focus

Round 3 of the Rings Circuit:

RGBP No-Rest Ramping

Round 3 of Chest Recruitment Complex D

Activation

A1. Fat Man L-sit Chins

3xBWx3

A2. Pendlay Rows (trying to really rip the bar off the floor)

3x135x3

Ring Circuit B (round 3 in vid)

B1. Bulgarian Dips

3xBWx5

B2. Skin the Cat

3xBWx3

Chest Recruitment/Work Sets C

C1. Plate Squeeze Press

12xplatex6

C2. RGBP from Pins

135x6
155x6
6x185x6

No-rest Ramping: (vid)
205x3
215x3
225x3
235x3

Chest Recruitment Complex D (round 3 in vid)

D1. Neck Press from Pins

3x135x10

D2. Maltese Fly (as much ROM as I could manage lol)

3xBWx3

D3. Ring Push-ups

3xBWx3

Notes:

I was initially thinking of working back/biceps, but I love my RGBP setup at home so I had to get in one more chest workout. I really went hard on the RGBP and tried to get in as much volume as possible.

Ring work was much improved today. Dips are still shaky, but feeling way better than they were. Skin the cat ROM to the back was just about where it needs to be as well. Swinging was minimal; I really focused on sitting in the forward hold for a few seconds to stabilize at the beginning of each set.

The chest complex was brutal as hell. One of those pumps that just plain hurt. Definitely the best pump I’ve gotten outside of a Thibs chest spec.

73

[quote]Spidey22 wrote:
Just stopping by to show some support. Amazing transformation you made, and great progress. I’ve noticed you’ve become very active on the forums lately, and your advice, along with your attitude, are making you quickly become one of my favorite posters. Keep it up man.[/quote]

Thanks man, quite the compliments there and I’m not sure I deserve all that! Good to have you following along. I probably won’t be around quite as much when I’m back at school and have more to do than sit around and lift haha but I’ll check in as much as I can.

74

Man that ring work looks sick…I have done some ring work at my friends gym and it was very tough for me especially the dips…

LETS GO PATS! i cant believe I just said that, but its true me and Elway want Tebow to lose.

75

[quote]MattyXL wrote:
Man that ring work looks sick…I have done some ring work at my friends gym and it was very tough for me especially the dips…

LETS GO PATS! i cant believe I just said that, but its true me and Elway want Tebow to lose.[/quote]

And lose he did- good old Belichick running up the score hard haha. I saw your post early in the game last night but I didn’t want to say anything early and jinx it/have the spirit enter Tebow to allow another B.S. victory.

And yes… ring work is damn tough. I’m still making the transition from a big fat guy to a more compact dude so that kind of stuff is still not easy for me haha.

76

Workout 1/15- Biceps/Conditioning

I was on the road for most of the day, but prior to my big meal to come out of the fast, I did a bit of arm work/conditioning in my room. Brought down both my 30 and 40lb DB’s so I’d have more to work with. Unfortunately my house doesn’t have anything solid to hang rings from, or I would have gone hard on some of that stuff.

Biceps Work:

Warm-up: carrying all my shit up the stairs lol

Continuous Superset (no rest between sets, rest only long enough to get a sip of BCAA’s between rounds):

A1. DB Curls (simultaneous, 2 sec hold at peak)

3x30sx8

A2. DB Curls (simultaneous to start, then switching to alternating w/ lean/cheat as needed)

3x40sx6

Conditioning:

B1. DB Swings

10x40x12

B2. Lunge Holds (alternating legs with each round)

10xBWx10 sec

Notes:

Workout was pretty standard, but I do have a nutrition note about the postworkout meal. I was pretty hungry last night (ok starving) so I grabbed a salad from the grocery store salad bar and had that in addition to the standard stuff. I was going to be very low on the fats, which is why I didn’t just tell my stomach to shut the fuck up. I’m holding some extra water today, so I’m guessing the salad was balls high in sodium. No big deal though, drinking lots of water and I’m sure I’ll be fine by tomorrow.

77

3264×2448 1.65 MB

It was a productive shopping day at BJ’s… 25lb bag of rice + 7 rotisserie chickens. Getten hyooge brooooo

My school gym was closed today, but I made the most of it with my DB’s and got some solid work in at my house. I got some conditioning in between games of MW3 this morning, then I just finished up what actually ended up being a pretty brutal delt/bicep workout.

AM Workout: Conditioning Work (6 rounds, 1 between each game of MW3- so about 10 min between rounds)

A1. DB Swings 40 x 12
A2. Lunge Hold (right leg forward) x 10 sec
A3. DB Swings 40 x 12
A4. Lunge Hold (left leg forward) x 10 sec
A5. DB Power Snatch 30s x 3

PM Workout: Delts/Biceps Work

Delt Unilateral Giant Set A (alternating arms between rounds, straps for the last two rounds)

A1. Bent Over Lateral Raise

6x30x8

A2. Lean-away Lateral Raise

6x30x8

A3. Lateral Raise

6x30x8

A4. DB Upright Row

6x30x8

A5. Lean Away DB OHP

6x30x8

A6. DB OHP

6x30x8

Biceps Continuous Superset B (Rest between rounds only long enough to get a sip of BCAA’s, first 4 rounds performed unilaterally alternating right and left, last two rounds using both arms simultaneously):

B1. DB Curl (2 sec hold at peak)

6x30(30s)x8

B2. DB Curl (serious body english on these lol… switched to alternating DB curls on simultaneous work)

6x40(40s)x8

Notes:

I had 2.5g creatine mono before my AM workout, then just put down 2.5g after my weight workout. I didn’t want to completely shit on my digestion by going to hard on that front.

My thoughts with picking today’s exercises were as follows:

  1. I wanted to get some conditioning in, so I decided to pick stuff that would double as posterior chain recruitment work. I probably won’t hit any more of that recruitment work this week- instead, I’ll go heavy on quads. I’ll get my posterior chain strength work in tomorrow- I’m planning to ramp up to a 3RM on sumo deads, then switch over to trap bar DL’s and work back down with some high rep shitz. After that probably just some quad iso work.

  2. I set up to go hard on biceps today with yesterday’s workout. I like doing back-to-back biceps workout because I get a much bigger pump far quicker and just generally have a more productive workout the second day.

  3. I wanted to get some unilateral work in on delts because I never do any of that. I’m going to try to make almost all of my isolation work unilateral exercises for the near future for variation. I figure that will keep the gains rolling in and help out with symmetry a bit.

78

Hey man. Just finished a workout of my own and posted a few vids of FS in my video section. If you get a chance, there’s like four of them, you can just jump to the one with 295, just looking for form critiques. If you do happen to take a look at them, fast forward to at least 3/4 of the way through the vid, most of it is me just getting ready. I appreciate the input, i’ll be seein you at school soon.

79

Well, class got out early so I’ve got a few minutes before I can work out while various supplements are kicking in. I’ve noted that I’m training by feel for the most part, but I will be slotting exercises into a general system that I’ve found works really well for me:

A. Activation (this will be the same every day- very light weight)

A1. Power Snatch from Hang 3x6

A2. Push Press 3x6

B. Ring Work: 1-2 ring exercises, varying based on what feels ready to go

C. HFSW:

C0. Front Squats- 3x5 ramping up (before beginning HFS circuit)

C1. Anderson Front Squats- Ramping up to 3RM

C2. Military Press from Pins/RGBP from Pins (whatever feels ready to go)- Ramping up to 3RM

Strength Work:

D. Big exercise for muscle focus of the day (either sumo deads, OHP, bench press, back squat, upright row/clean high pull)

Isolation Complex E:

Some isolation work of choice- probably following the format of unilateral 1 side, switch sides, then bilateral form of the same movement

Conditioning:

High intensity conditioning work hitting the focus muscles for the day. Legs will be more strictly limited to the focus muscles, while upper body days will be circuits of four exercises like I’ve been doing.

*I’ll throw in biceps/lats days as I see fit that will be largely improvised and will run a progression from recruitment work->heavy weight work->getting mad huge pumps->brutal ass stretch-type moves.

So yes, there is a method to my madness and I’m not just completely pulling workouts out of my ass. I’m trying to push my recovery to its limits, so yes- it is a lot of volume and frequency. I’ll scale back as needed, but I want to get as much as I can out of my current beastmode recovery. Ok time to go squat.

80

Today’s Workout: Quad/Posterior Chain Focus

Last round of HFSW:

Activation:

A1. Power Snatch from Hang

3x95x6

A2. Push Press

3x135x6

Ring Work:

B1. Skin The Cat

3xBWx3

B2. Ab Fallouts

3xBWx3

HFSW:

Warm-up- Front Squat

135x5
185x5
205x5

C1. Military Press from Pins

135x3
145x3
155x3
165x3
175x3 (vid)

C2. Anderson Front Squat

205x3
225x3
235x3
245x3
255x3 (vid)

Strength Work:

D. Sumo Deadlift (No belt/no straps)

135x3
225x3
315x3
365x3
405x1 (cut it off after the first rep)

Recruitment Circuit E:

E1. Unilateral Leg Extensions (right leg, 2 sec hold at peak)

3xweightx12

E2. Unilateral Leg Extensions (left leg, 2 sec hold at peak)

3xweightx12

E3. Leg Extensions (2 sec hold at peak)

3xweightx12

Conditioning Circuit F (about 30 sec between rounds):

F1. Goblet Squat

2x50x20

F2. Backward Walking on Treadmill v. Max Incline

2x20 sec

F3. Squat Hold

2x10 sec

Notes:

I think this worked pretty well and there’s not much that I would change. The only thing that comes to mind is that on the sumo squats, I’ll try to get more sets in between 315 and 365. This was my first time trying them, so I didn’t have a very good idea of what my top weight would be. I won’t cry about ending on a single of 405, but I think it will be more productive for me to crush a lot of heavy triples.