BROOTAL's Log

Training Training Logs
361

I can’t say shes happier with me but she def likes the changes.

I agree with the shoulder comment. I have been too busy focusing on the other lifts and not putting enough effort into them (same with hamstrings). I dont know what it is about those two groups but I just can’t get excited to work them hard like I do legs or arms.

I did have one of the best chest workouts I have ever had today though. I had a SOLID mind connection and could feel it the whole time.

Chest day:

Incline bench: John wants me to switch it up

  1. 115 x 10
  2. 125 x 8
  3. 135 x 6
  4. 155 x 5
  5. 155 x 5
  6. 155 x 5
  7. 155 x 5

A: Front shoulder raise x 10 with 45 lb plate
B: Decline bench: x 8 135 lbs

A: Front shoulder raise x 10 with 45 lb plate
B: Decline bench: x 8 135 lbs

A: Front shoulder raise x 10 with 45 lb plate
B: Decline bench: x 8 135 lbs

Lateral raises: 25 lbs dumbells 3x8

100 reps chest fly with 10lb plates.

Floor presses 3 sets of 3 reps @ 200 lbs

I am planning a cheat meal this weekend (rents are coming down), and then I am going to BUST MY FREAKIN ASS for the next 2 weeks. 100% balls to the wall starting Sunday. I am going to up the calories a bit and complete 2 cardio sessions each day AM + PM. I want to see if this 2 week shock will let me add muscle and drop some more fat.

I guess it will be my little experiment, comments are welcome. I just want to train as hard as I can for 2 weeks and see where it gets my body.

362

Make that cheat meal monumental then. Hell make it a cheat hour.

363

The cheat meal was indeed monumental. We decided to go to the local mexican place. (not taco bell, we have authentic mexican here). To make a long story short, I ate way more than I should have, shocked our waitress and embarrased my mother by not only finishing my first jumbo chicken burrito, but ordering another one, and then having “chocolate molten cake” before almost passing out in a carb induced coma.

In all honesty, I feel like I deserve some sort of plaque to hang on the wall of that place with my name on. The guilt lasted the entire rest of the night.

Sunday I began busting ass. I did legs as usual but had two cardio workouts. Morning cardio was 30 minutes of jogging, evening cardio was 15 minutes of firedrill at parking lot using the parking spaces as measurements, and another 15 minutes of sprints at the track.

Today:

  1. 8 reps bar + 45lbs
  2. 8 reps bar + 55lbs
  3. 8 reps bar + 65lbs
  4. 8 reps bar + 105 lbs
  5. 8 reps bar + 105 lbs
  6. 8 reps bar + 105 lbs
  7. 8 reps bar + 105 lbs

Supersets:
B1) Heavy shrugs(190 lbs) x 10 reps
B2) Seated rows (bar + 95) x 8 reps

1 minute rest

B1) Heavy shrugs(190 lbs) dumbbells x 10 reps
B2) Seated rows (bar + 95) x 8 reps

1 minute rest

B1) Heavy shrugs(190 lbs) dumbbells x 10 reps
B2) Seated rows (bar + 95) x 8 reps

C) Pulldowns witha rope attatchemnt

  1. bar + 95 x 8 reps
  2. bar + 95 x 8 reps
  3. bar + 95 x 8 reps
    for some strange reason, I can feel these in my chest at different parts through the pull

100 bent rows with 45 plate weight.

Finished up with the V-Burn challenge from the V-Diet beginners program.

15 minutes of sprints on the treadmill at apartment complex gym.

364

Can’t see all of my posts so I’ll just amke a quick note about last week until they appear again…

last week was a complete disaster. I had planned on training my ass off and and dieting like a champ.

Monday morning I got into the office and by the time I had taken my coat off I was booking a plane ticket to Peru for a “major breakdown” at one of the facilities that our company had just sold equipment to. Needless to say, I did not train last week, and ate FARRRRR too little. I also somehow put on 2 lbs and feel like shit.

At least it’s all over, I am back home, had a really good workout today (hit 215 for squats like it was 185), and am ready to restart my plan from last week.

Sometimes life just throws ya a curve ball…

365

Just keep truckin ~ everyone has these curve balls it is how you deal with it if you get time like that to rest then enjoy it and rest as much as you can. Packing some Metabolic Drive and Grow! isn’t hard on trips. All you need is water and a shaker cup.

Might want to think about investing in a band set from bodylastics or some other company. I know gold’s has a line they sell at stores too. I haven’t done that much research but you might want to compare the Terrell Owens edition vs the others to see which gives the most resistance ( lb ). For your best long term investment.

366

Hey man just checkin in

Great progress!

Glad to see you posted a picture, because I think you should unbalance your training. From your pics, you are VERY bottom heavy – your quads look great!

Your shoulders and chest need to play catchup, so I think you should put a great deal of focus on your chest and shoulders in the upcoming weeks. Lots of DB bench, lots of bradford pressing, and some back wouldn’t hurt. Your arms are well-sized, I just think you need to spend some time on your core.

367

Thank you both for stopping by and giving some advice. I hadn’t been posting lately because for a while all the posts were showing, and I have been crazy busy.

I agree with you Ace on the unbalanced thing. I knew it was coming from someone sooner or later. My legs grow pretty easily, and I have been adding weight to the bar lately with no problem (with the help of John fixing my squat form). I am doing reps with 225 (5 x 6) for back squats and plan on easily adding more weight next workout.

On the flipside my arms and shoulders show little progression even with tons of work, so I tend to neglect them when I SHOULD be working them even harder.

Thanks for the callout none the less!!

----Quick question on the bands (I will do some searching myself as well).

Why use bands instead of traditional free weights?

368

I’m noting the bands for when you travel.

369

NICE!! It looks like all of my posts are back now.

Kinein- Kinda had a dumb moment there with the bands. John uses bands, so I immediatly thought you meant bands as in the chains/bands sense.

Workout today was AWESOME.

Back squats: My legs have been growing like weeds since I have learned to squat properly. EVERY workout I feel like I should have used more weight. I need to make this same thing happen to my chest haha.

  1. 115lbs x 6 reps
  2. 135lbs x 6 reps
  3. 165lbs x 6 reps
  4. 230lbs x 6 reps
  5. 230lbs x 6 reps
  6. 230lbs x 6 reps
  7. 230lbs x 8 reps (went for 2 extra reps cause I knew i had them in the tank.)

Super sets:
B1: Leg extension: 10 reps @ 115lbs
B2: Front Squats: 8 reps @ 160lbs
2 minute rest

Leg extension: 10 reps @ 115lbs
B2: Front Squats: 8 reps @ 160lbs
2 minute rest

Leg extension: 10 reps @ 1115lbs
B2: Front Squats: 8 reps @ 160lbs
2 minute rest

Skipped the lunges

100 leg extensions @ 15 lbs

Went for a 20 minute jog directly after.

I have started adding at least 1 cup of veggies to every meal and shake (except Surge), and have noticed that my digestion has been ALOT better. I have also started taking a probiotic called ALIGN which so far has been AMAZING!!

I seriously cannot stress eenough how awesome these two changes to my diet have been.

370

Great post! Don’t forget this feeling of AMAZING! :wink: haha realizing the power of nutrition is a great step forward in your learning and understanding of how the pieces fit together.

The other very very interesting and next level development is how you noted:

Back squats: My legs have been growing like weeds since I have learned to squat properly. EVERY workout I feel like I should have used more weight. I need to make this same thing happen to my chest haha.

Now to make it happen with all muscles in your body not just your chest!

Key very important moments that you have to never forget! I think your moving onto the next stage. Good shit.

371

Where did Brootal go…?

372

[quote]kinein wrote:
Where did Brootal go…?[/quote]

Don’t know. have u pm’d him?

373

oh he has messaged me a little while ago.

374

[quote]kinein wrote:
oh he has messaged me a little while ago. [/quote]

What’s up with him? I always liked popping in to see his progress. Come on Brootal… you still a t-man or what ;o)

375

Last I heard things were good. Maybe he had a business trip to go to?

376

Whats up guys!!?

Life has been UNREAL lately! So many awesome things going on right now. Im sorry to anyone who had been following this, I will need to start posting again.

In the last 5 weeks life has been moving at lightning speed in everyway possible. I have been lifting like crazy and feel like I have finally gotten my diet right where it needs to be. I am now a firm beleiver in the Excel sheet diet (if that has been put out yet I am claiming rights to it right here right now with all of you as my witnesses haha) I have simply been tracking everything on a more accurate basis and have had great results.

In the last 5 weeks I have:
-Been to Belgium (2nd time)
-Been to China (mind boggling experience)
(both for work, but got to play too)
-Been the best man at my best friends wedding)
-Gotten a puppy
-Tried snake soup, and two types of beetle (China is hardcore like that)
-Hit 305 for a 3 rep max on squat.
-Finally broke the curse of my bench press and hit 215 for 5 reps clean with no need for a spot.
-Lost 6 pounds of what I beleive to be pure fat while adding strength.
-Have training while traveling down to a science (Kinein’s recomendation for bands was pure gold)

I hadn’t been posting because my workouts and adventures had been so all over the place and hard to track.

To all that had been watching this thanks for your support. I will continue posting at the end of this week!

377

good to see you had a great time and even better to have you back

378

[quote]BROOTAL wrote:
…
In the last 5 weeks life has been moving at lightning speed in everyway possible. I have been lifting like crazy and feel like I have finally gotten my diet right where it needs to be. I am now a firm beleiver in the Excel sheet diet (if that has been put out yet I am claiming rights to it right here right now with all of you as my witnesses haha) I have simply been tracking everything on a more accurate basis and have had great results…[/quote]

Hey BROOTAL!

I came by to catch up on your log. First of all, it is great to hear you’re making progress. Second, it is so cool to see a person who actually follows good advice when he gets it. Like when kinein suggests bands for when you’re on the road, and you go get the bands and use them.

It looks like you already figured out what I was going to suggest for fat loss: eat less food. With the people I coach (not athletes or lifters, just regular people), I have found every case of stalled progress comes from 1) eating a little of this or a handful of that (“hardly any!”) which is not written down on the log, and 2) eating larger portions of the “clean” foods that are listed on the log. I look at the log and think they should be losing based on what they’ve recorded. . .but then I have them actually make their shake in front of me, and the “tablespoon” of peanut butter is so big and heaping it’s actually 2, etc. Then I make them weigh every single ingredient on a scale and record it in grams in Fitday, and voila! The next week, they lose 3 pounds.

I look forward to reading more about your progress.

379

Hope he is still training ~ it would be a shame if he wasn’t looking forward to year 2.

380

After being a complete hack at posting for the last few weeks, Im back.

As I said before, things are going awesome right now. Training and life is coming full force. I have switched back to Starting Stregnth to try and build some more strength.

Here is how today went:

Squats:
1: 135 x 8
2: 185 x 8
3: 235 x 8
4: 285 x 5
5: 285 x 5
6: 285 x 5

(3 sets of 15 leg extension afterwards for flushing)

Bench:
1: 135 x 8
2: 165 x 8
3: 190 x 5
4: 190 x 5
5: 190 x 5

(3 sets of 8 incline chest flys)

Deadlift:

1: 185 x 5
2: 245 x 5
3: 265 x 5
4: 295 x 5

Finished with 3 x 8 decline weighted crunches.

Diet:
Breakfast: 3 eggs, 2 turkey sausage patties, large serving of black beans (rinsed to remove any extra surgary syrup), Small serving of salsa on the eggs and beans, 2 fish oil caps, probiotic, multivitamin, glass of water

Snack: Handful of dry unslated almonds, cucumber slices, 2 scoops Metabolic Drive, Water

Lunch: 2 chicken breasts, large serving of green beans, 2 fish oil caps, Water

Snack: JB’s choc pb shake (hell no I didn’t give this up), Water

Dinner: A healthy cut of grilled sirloin, mixed veggies with a TBSP of olive oil, Water

Thansk for the kind words Andersons, If it wasn’t for Kinein and the rest of T-Nation I wouldn’t be where I am at today.

Current goals:
Increase rear delt strength and size (still working out the imbalance)

Work up to 300 lbs for my working sets for squats,

Work up to 325 for reps on deadlift.

Increase forearm grip stregnth (This is one area holding back my deadlift)

It feels good to be back posting again, and I look forward to working with everyone again! Thanks for reading.