Bigmac73nh's Log

Training Training Logs
101

Today’s Workout: Lats/Biceps Focus

Activation:

A1. Power Snatch from Hang

3x95x6

A2. Military Press

3x95x6

Ring Work:

B. Fat Man L-sit Chin

3xBWx3

C. L-sit Chin

3xBWx5 (cake, surprisingly)

HFSW:

F. Military Press from Pins

135x3
145x3
155x3
165x3
175x3

E. Front Squat

135x5
185x5
205x5

(cut it here- back and hams were tight from the deadliftathon yesterday- did a quick set of 20 BW hypers to loosen up the back as well)

Lat Strength Work:

F. Kroc Rows

50x25 (each side)
75x20 (each side)
100x15 (each side, straps for this one)

Isolation Complex G: PUMPZ AAAHHHH

G1. Kayak Rows 2x8-8-8-8

G2. Kneeling Rope Rows to Lower Chest 2x12 (2 sec hold at peak)

Biceps Strength Work:

H. BB Curls (hard squeeze at top)

45x8
55x8
65x8
75x8
85x8
95x8
45x15

Conditioning I (2 rounds):

I1. Goblet Squats 50x20
I2. Neutral Grip Chins x8-10 (had to puss out with the neutral grip because I was toast)

Notes:

I was pretty productive over the past few days, so I had a free day today. I decided to get some lat/bicep work in rather than moving on to chest. This was a pretty low volume back workout for me, but it was definitely enough to get the job done. A few sets of the chins with rings is about as good as 20 sets of iso work for me lol. I already have solid lat recruitment, so throwing the ring work in really gets the lats activated and sets me up for a seriously good pump and feel on everything afterward.

I just did a little bit of biceps work because I had time. Didn’t go particularly heavy on these, but I got a good amount of reps in and my arms were toast by the end of it. I’ll probably beat up on my bi’s to a greater extent whenever I hit upper back this week. I think I’ll work up to some cheat curls and see if I can get a little stupid with the weight lol.

102

Just curious: how long do workouts typically take you to complete?

103

[quote]The3Commandments wrote:
Just curious: how long do workouts typically take you to complete?[/quote]

If I’m really in the zone and feel like adding volume with isolation work (or if I get to talk shop with some of the other serious lifters a bit), they can take up to a 90 minutes-2 hours. Typically they are only 45 minutes to an hour.

104

2201×2057 776 KB

Here’s how I’m looking cold/relaxed this morning. Threw in a side shot as well just to show that my arms aren’t actually as twiglike as they look from the front haha.

105

not bad at all man arms are especially looking good!

106

Looking good mang

107

Your posts are well put together sir.

I noticed on page 1 that u eat Brazil nuts. I assume u include them in your diet for the selenium? Can u attribute any improvements to this?

Cheers

108

@blackaggar and spar4tee- Thanks dudes, preciate teh complimentz

@test driven- Thanks man, just trying to pass on what little knowledge I have of the bodybuilding game. I eat the Brazil nuts because a friend who read Tim Ferriss’ The 4-Hour Body recommended that I try it. I don’t have a very deep understanding of hormones, but Ferriss did triple one of the relevant test levels following the introduction of 8 Brazil nuts per day into his diet (I believe this was supposedly related to selenium, but I have yet to read the book myself so I’m not sure). John Meadows also recommended nuts for liver health/estrogen management, so I figured trying Brazil nuts could be helpful for me because:

A) I’m in college and I spend at least one night per week drinking more than I should lol

and

B) hormone challenges run in my family and I’m very prone to fat storage around the midsection.

As far as results are concerned, I’m a good bit leaner now than I was before I started eating the Brazil nuts. I attribute this to a combination of the Brazil nuts, yohimbine HCl, and hard work. I can’t point to any serious evidence that they played a massive role in helping me dig into some stubborn fat around the lower abs, but I do believe that they have helped to some extent.

@bhopki01 If you see this, could you fill in on why the Brazil nuts are supposedly so awesome?

109

Today’s Workout: Quad Focus (Heavy Work)

Activation:

A1. DB Power Snatch from Hang

3x25sx6 (lollllz so light but the 30s/35s were taken)

A2. Military Press

3x95x6

HFSW:

B1. Front Squat

135x5
185x5
205x5
225x5
245x5

B2. Front Squat Shrug (first time trying these… great feel, will be repeat)

135x5
185x5
205x5
225x5
245x5

Strength Work:

C. Back Squat

275x3
295x3
315x3 (loose belt from here on)
335x3
365x3
225x15

Isolation Work:

D1. Unilateral Leg Press (right leg) 3x6
D2. Unilateral Leg Press (left leg) 3x6

High Density Work (rest only long enough to change plates):

E. Leg Press

1ppsx6
2ppsx6
3ppsx6
4ppsx6
5ppsx6
6ppsx6
7ppsx6
6ppsx6
5ppsx6
4ppsx6
3ppsx6
2ppsx6
1ppsx6

Rehab:

F. Hypers xforever

Notes:

Quick work here- this took almost exactly 45 minutes. Strength levels were pretty solid even though my posterior chain (especially lower back) was really not fully recovered. I had to belt up a bit earlier than I would have liked, but the strength and depth was pretty good on squats so I’ll take it. I did lots of hypers (at least 50) to loosen up at the end. Feeling great now.

I’m trying something new this week and hitting back to back quad days. I got my heavy work in today, tomorrow I’ll ramp up for 5 sets on front squats once again, then switch to a progression of:

1)isolation work for recruitment
2)high rep pumpz work
3)‘stretch’ type moves

Reps will be in the 12-50 range for that workout.

I cut the ring work today to maximize recovery. I’m also cutting out of the fast early today (brought the chicken/Brazil nuts to school to eat in an hour or so). I’ll feast like a mofo when I get home later- that’s when I’ll get my carbz in.

Also random stuff here but last night was a very productive evening of music downloading. I blasted teh dubstepz on the ride to the gym this morning and they got me in the zone, so I figure I’ll share:

I fucking love it when Ellie Goulding sings to me in her electronically bastardized angel voice while space noises and basslines melt my face.

Not a big fan of Rusko, but Netsky and Sigma throw down some pretty sick DnB remixes of his stuff.

Everything that Adventure club puts out is gold.

110

@test driven - Brazil nuts have a high monounsaturated fat/ healthy polyunsaturated fat profile which helps jack up T. Although this nut also has high levels of sat fat this is also good for jacking up T, like with some good steak. The nutrient profile is pretty amazing. This nut alone has a very high ORAC factor which can help reduce oxidative stress on the body and has been used in several studies showing decreased inflammation in young obese kids and helping them lose weight. These nuts also contain lots of phosphorus, potassium, zinc, selenium (which is good for glutathione peroxidase activity), magnesium and other key minerals that physically active men need to keep their hormones in a healthy balance and manage estrogen, as described by John Meadows. Tim Ferris had some very interesting test results for his testosterone levels and although I can’t totally attribute the increase in test levels to brazil nuts, he mentions how once he incorporates them, his levels increased again. This whole experiment was also monitoring increase in test levels as a result of superdosing vitamin D and consuming large amounts of grass fed beef every day. As I make my circuitous route back to my point, this particular nut has so many benefits and is definitely worth incorporating into your diet in a reasonable amount.

111

@test driven BOOM^ lol the man delivers!

@bhopki01 Thanks for jumping in

112

Getting pretty lean bro. Looks like your arms are a strong point, waist/hip region is looking real cut. Keep it up man

113

@spidey Thanks brosef

Today’s Workout: Quad/Chest/Biceps Work

295x3 RGBP from Pins

225x15 Bench Press

Activation:

A1. DB Power Snatch from Hang

3x30sx6

A2. DB Military Press

3x30sx6

A3. Goblet Squats

3x40x12

Quad Recruitment Work:

Continuous Superset B
B1. Unilateral Leg Extensions (right, 2 sec hold at peak) 5x12
B2. Unilateral Leg Extensions (left, 2 sec hold at peak) 5x12

C. Leg Extensions (2 sec hold at peak, no rest between sets)

Weightx12
Moar Weightx12
Most Weightx12
Moar Weightx8
Weightx8

Ring Work:

D. Pushups 3x5

E. Bulgarian Dips (external rotation at peak) 3x5… last rep of the final set was ugly lol

HFSW:

F1. RGBP from Pins

135x3
185x3
225x3
245x3
275x3
295x3 PR (vid)

F2. Goblet Squats

50x12
60x12
70x12
80x12
90x12
100x12

Chest Strength Work: (cut CG bench press after 3rd set)

G1. Bench Press

225x2
245x2
275x2
295x3
225x15 (vid)

G2. CG Bench Press (very close grip… felt strong but was awkward to balance)

225x2
245x2
275x1

Chest Isolation Work:

H1. Cross Body Cable Press (right, 2 sec hold at peak) 3x12
H2. Cross Body Cable Press (left, 2 sec hold at peak) 3x12
H3. Cable Crossovers (2 sec hold at peak) 3x12

Biceps Strength Work: (for shits and giggles)

I. BB Curls

45x8
65x8
85x8
95x8
115x8 (slight cheat)
135x8 (cheat curlzzz)
45x15
H0LY FUCK PUMPS.

Conditioning:

J. Goblet Squats

50x50 kill set 4 hyooge pumpz lol

Quad Circuit (0-15 sec rest between sets/rounds, 6 rounds)
K1. Backward Walking on Treadmill v. Max Incline x 20 sec
K2. Squat Hold x 10 sec (20 sec on round 6)

Notes:

I woke up balls early this morning and couldn’t get back to sleep, so i got out of bed, got in the zone, and hit the gym early. This gave me some extra time, so I decided to get my heavy chest/biceps work out of the way.

I had to make some adjustments to the quad work that I had planned because my hams still aren’t fully recovered (3 day DOMS… what is this fucking high school?) and my left knee was feeling a bit gimpy. I decided to stay away from leg press and front squats entirely and just roll with a lot of goblet squats and ghetto prowler work on the treadmill, since both of those are very inoffensive on the knees. Left knee is feeling better after the workout actually.

Chest work went ok. RGBP PR was kewl, but that and my dicking around with CG bench kind of ruined my strength on the higher sets of bench press. The triple at 295 wasn’t as explosive as I would’ve liked, so I just dropped down and went for a higher rep set of 225. Wasn’t really expecting 15 but I’ll take it lol.

I tried going really heavy on the curls today, and that was fun. I don’t typically cheat curl, but it was fun and I got a really stupid pump.

BTW I added in the CG bench because I’m finally going to reincorporate direct triceps work (haven’t done any since like October because my triceps grow really quickly/easily and tend to outpace my biceps). I feel like my biceps are deece enough now for me to actually work on triceps strength/growth without destroying my balance. I’m hoping to a) add a little triceps thickness and b) improve my triceps strength to help get my bench up to 405. I don’t want to ruin my bench press by screwing with recruitment and relapsing into triceps dominance on that, which is why I tried benching with a stupidly close grip today. It felt really off balance and awkward, so I’ll probably just go for dips pre-exhausted with overhead rope extensions or something in the future.

Wow that’s a lot of notes. I may or may not have had too much coffee today.

114

Fucking strong press BigMac…the reverse grip was especially impressive, does that movement translate at all to the standard flat BP? I have done them for lighter weights and reps before because they seem to hit my upper pecs more, your enticing me to try to go heavy on these from pins…

Tons of volume! awesome!

Direct tri work is a staple for me as is CGBP, 2-3 sets of close grip work after my benching and my tri’s fucking torched. Add some monster mini bands and its even better. Big fan of Tate presses and rolling tri extensions. I am the same way however, they totally dominate my biceps, but then again I totally slack at hitting my bi’s.

Keep killing it bro…

115

[quote]MattyXL wrote:
Fucking strong press BigMac…the reverse grip was especially impressive, does that movement translate at all to the standard flat BP? I have done them for lighter weights and reps before because they seem to hit my upper pecs more, your enticing me to try to go heavy on these from pins…

Tons of volume! awesome!

Direct tri work is a staple for me as is CGBP, 2-3 sets of close grip work after my benching and my tri’s fucking torched. Add some monster mini bands and its even better. Big fan of Tate presses and rolling tri extensions. I am the same way however, they totally dominate my biceps, but then again I totally slack at hitting my bi’s.

Keep killing it bro…[/quote]

Thanks for stopping in man.

As far as the reverse grip pressing goes, I added that in because Thibs has been speaking pretty highly of it. I’ve only been doing it for about 6 weeks now, and I’ve been hitting that before my flat bench on chest workouts, so I haven’t gone into my flat benching fresh to see if I’ve gotten a lot stronger. I’ll try working up to a max early in the workout sometime soon and let you know if my strength is up. I do like the RGBP though because it helps me work on keeping my body (especially lats) really tight while benching and it it lets me beat up on my chest without putting a ton of stress on the wrists/elbows.

I don’t even know what half the triceps exercises you mentioned are haha- I’ll have to do some research. Back when I started lifting for HS football, I CG benched all the time and my triceps got pretty stupid in comparison to everything else. It didn’t help that I just considered curls to be a pussy lift lol. I just stopped working triceps for a long time, but I figure I can add in a little work for them now. Thanks for the suggestions, I’ll check into those moves and see about some monster minis.

116

I had a productive Chinese class yesterday… laid out a likely split for the next few weeks lol. Here’s what I’m thinking for the next week:

Today: Upper back, probably more biceps lol, triceps (didn’t do them justice yesterday)
Saturday: Conditioning only if I’m hung over, otherwise whatever upper body muscles feel good
Sunday: Quads Overload Work (top half moves)
Monday: Quads Heavy (Full-range Moves)
Tuesday: Quads Isolation and High Volume Work
Wednesday: Shoulders/Upper Back
Thursday: Posterior Chain
Friday: Chest/Arms
Saturday: OFF

This will conclude my “fucking high volume” period/quad specialization. The Friday of next week will make 32 consecutive training days. After that I’ll be transitioning to a month or so of upper back/medial delt specialization in which I’ll gradually taper the volume down and cut out isolation work. By the end of that spec period, I’ll be down to a simple HFSW/rings approach where I hit the big lifts at a high volume for max explosiveness (at which point I’ll try to really get shredded).

117

Today’s Workout: Upper Back/Delts, Triceps, Biceps

Activation:

A1. DB Power Snatch

3x30sx6

A2. DB Military Press

3x30sx6

Ring Work:

B. Fat Man L-sit Chin

3xBWx3

C. Skin The Cat

3xBWx4

HFSW:

D1. RGBP from Pins

135x3
185x3
225x3
245x3
275x3 (kept it light because I PR’d yesterday)

D2. Goblet Squat

50x12
60x12
70x12
85x12
100x12

Strength Work- Upper Back:

E. Snatch Grip BB Shrug

45x5 (wanted to see how they felt)
135x5
185x5
225x5

F. Clean Grip BB Shrug

275x5
315x5
365x5 (straps from here on)
405x5
455x5

G. Clean High Pull

275x5 (just under Power clean height)
245x5 (nice and high- could have caught them and made them PC’s)
225x5

H. Snatch High Pull

205x5
185x5
155x5

I. Upright Row (close grip)

135x5
115x5
95x5
85x5
65x5
45x15

Triceps Work J (no rest eva):

J1. Rope Pushdown 3x12
J2. BW Dip 3x15 (arms tight to the sides)

Biceps Strength Work:

K. Alternating DB Curl

20sx6
30sx6
40sx6
50sx6
60sx6 (cheatiness on this one)

Upper Back Isolation Triset L:

L1. Kneeling Rope Face Pull to Eyes (2 sec hold at peak) 3x12
L2. Kneeling Rope Face Pull to Above Head (2 sec hold at peak) 3x12
L3. Rope Upright Row (2 sec hold at peak) 3x12

Delts Unilateral Giant Set M:

M1. Unilateral Bent Over Cable Lateral (left side, 2 sec hold at peak) 3x12
M2. Unilateral Lean Away Cable Lateral (left side, 2 sec hold at peak) 3x12
M1. Unilateral Bent Over Cable Lateral (right side, 2 sec hold at peak) 3x12
M2. Unilateral Lean Away Cable Lateral (right side, 2 sec hold at peak) 3x12

Biceps Isolation Work:

N. Unilateral DB Curl w/ Arm On Incline Bench (2 sec hold at peak)

weightx12
moar weightx12
most weightx12
moar weightx12
weightx20
(switch arm, repeat, then donezo)

Notes:

Great workout. MAD BRUTAL PUMPZ YO. I think the strength work on upper back was just about where I wanted it. The only change I would consider is working in some front squat shrugs on the lighter weights before moving into snatch grip shrugs. Minor details though, it was good.

Cut the conditioning because I didn’t feel like it was necessary. I little boyed out last night and fell asleep before I could finish my rice, so I wasn’t as refueled as usual. Going to pop out of the fast early today (in about an hour or so), but only eat half the normal amount of rice. Then I’ll get back on track tomorrow and backload the foodz as hard as I can.

Lol volume got a little out of control today. Hey body, come on bitch. Make me take an off day tomorrow. I dare you.

118

Taking today off. Don’t really feel like I need it, but I hit everything 2-3x (except for posterior chain, which I accidentally raped the hell out of early in the week lol) so I figure it’s a good idea. At the very least I should wake up tweaking balls and ready to pick shit up and put it down.

Carbz will be very low today. Really just incidentals from ketchup/BBQ sauce to get the chicken down. Having an extra serving of Brazil nuts to up the fats.

The beginning of the end of quadz brutality time starts tomorrow.

119

Well, I was a monumental asshole for most of this weekend. I drank way too much Wild Turkey 101 on Friday night, then ended up going out to the bars last night as well since some fraternity alums were in town. Last night was fairly reasonable, but I ended up drinking more than I planned because I had alums and sorority gurlz putting drinks in my hands and I’m still too college to turn down free drinks lol.

I wasn’t hung over or anything today, but I just felt way too stimmed when I went to the gym. I didn’t feel like having a heart attack in the squat rack today, so I just worked arms and got out of there. Kind of a weird situation because I was too jacked up to not lift, but I felt off and didn’t feel like performance-intensive lifts would be advisable. Oh well, feeling ok now anyway and I’m sure I’ll be good once I get some food in me.

Today’s Workout: Biceps/Triceps

Triceps Work:

A. Overhead Rope Extensions (0-30 sec between sets)

60x6
70x6
80x6
90x6
100x6
110x6
120x6

Biceps Heavy Work Part 1:

B. BB Curls

45x6
65x6
85x6
95x6
115x6 (slight cheat)
135x6 (heavy cheat from here on)
155x6
45x15 (strict, 2 sec hold at peak)

Biceps Isolation Superset C:

C1. Unilateral Cable Curls (right, 2 sec hold at peak) 3x12
C2. Unilateral Cable Curls (left, 2 sec hold at peak) 3x12

Biceps Heavy Work Part 2:

D. Alternating DB Curls

20sx8
30sx8
40sx8
50sx8
60sx8 (cheat)
20sx15 (strict, 2 sec hold at peak)

Biceps Isolation Superset E:

E1. CG Cable Curls (2 sec hold at peak) 3x12
E2. Rope Curls (2 sec hold at peak, pulling rope apart at peak) 3x12

Biceps Heavy Work Part 3:

F. Pinwheel Curls (no rest between sets)

30x6
40x6
50x6
40x6
30x6

Notes:

I decided to play around a bit on biceps and crank on the volume while trying something a bit different as far as a heavy work/iso distribution went. This was pretty cool. I like the idea of working to a max weight on a compound exercise, going to isolation work, then coming back for more compound work using lighter weights for higher reps. I’d like to try this with some other muscle groups.

120

Ok, change of plans for my programming. Yesterday sucked really hard and I realized that I’m getting sick. So rather than try to push the volume hard this week, I’m going to cut down significantly on the volume and shift to the 2 weeks on, 2 weeks off upper back/shoulder specialization programming that Blackaggar recommended. I’ll start off on the “off” part of the program to ease myself into the programming changes.

I’m trying to keep this very simple and just run a two day split in the following manner on non-spec weeks:

Upper
Lower
Off
Repeat

On spec weeks, it will look like:

Spec Day 1
Spec Day 2
Off
Upper
Lower
Off
Repeat

The upper and lower days will be the same through both phases. Nutrient intake will be higher on spec weeks, and I’ll be shooting working on leanness on non-spec weeks. I’ll update on exactly what I’m doing on nutrition later.

My non-spec programming will look something like this:

Upper:

-Activation Work
-Ring Work (L-sit Chins, STC- this will be my back/biceps work)
-Bench Press Ramping 3’s
-Snatch High Pulls Ramping 5’s
-Delt/Upper Back Isolation Work (FS Shrug, Bent Over Lateral Raises, Lateral Raise)
-Chest Isolation Work (Squeeze Press)
-High Incline Bench Press 3x12-20

Lower:

-Activation
-Back Squats Ramping 3’s
-Quads Isolation Work (Leg Extensions)
-Front Squats 3x12-20
-Posterior Chain Isolation Work (Leg Curls)
-SLDL 3x12-20

I’m trying to keep this very simple and minimally redundant. Activation, strength work, recruitment work, volume work, GTFO. I’ll make tweaks as needed, but I think it should be good. It’s nothing particularly exotic as far as exercises and rep scheme are concerned, the main changes will be the split and extra rest it gives me (4 days rest per two weeks rather than zero lol).

I do feel better than yesterday, but I’m taking the day off just in case. Unless I feel like absolute shit for some reason tomorrow, I’ll start the new programming. Lessons learned already this semester:

a) Not invincible :frowning:

b) Can’t be too much of a college senior while still training the way I want to