Pretty much nothing but cardio over the Memorial Day weekend. Glad to take a little extra time off to let my back (and shoulder and tricep …) heal up from a brutal case of DOMS described earlier.
Did cardio intervals throughout (one at the beginning, one after the shoulder workout, and one at the end). Cardio totals for the session are below.
Incline Treadmill Walk
2 miles / 33:00 minutes / 308 calories / 9.3 intensity
Upright rows / Seated incline DB laterals compound superset
25s x 10 / 5s x 15
25s x 8 / 5s x 15
25s x 6 / 5s x 15
25s x 8 / 5s x 15
25s x 10 / 5s x 15
One-arm lateral raises
10 x 15
10 x 20 x 2
BB row / Lat pulldown compound superset
70 x 10 / 70 x 10
70 x 8 / 70 x 8
70 x 6 / 70 x 6
70 x 8 / 70 x 8
70 x 10 / 70 x10
Haney shrugs
35 x 15 x 2
35 x 12
Kneeling Cable Crunch / Hanging Knee Raise compound superset
140 x 15 x 3 / BW x 15 x 3
Two more workouts left in this program. A major learning process moving from beginning powerlifting to beginning bodybuilding, though one rule from both, START LIGHT, is one I wish I’d paid more attention to. All the same, looking forward to making this my go-to SPRING THING to start off hypertrophy season going forward.
Thanks! Yeah, first time I’ve hit both a BW and waist low at the same time. Hoping to wake up tomorrow under 146.0 and under 32"!
Tons of cardio is helping a lot. 300+ minutes on the treadmill each of the past two weeks. Up to 275 minutes so far this week.
That said, totally conflicted about my next program. Thinking more hypertrophy for the rest of the summer and then returning to 5/3/1 strength stuff starting in September - especially if I can transition to maintenance calories starting in June (need to hit 145.0 on the scale first!)
Really interesting conversations going on in your log. Easily one of my favorites to follow these days.
Cool to see you’re picking up on some of the AthleanX stuff. That really influenced me a lot over the winter holidays. I realized how much leanness mattered to me at the end of the day. Maybe if I was a big guy I wouldn’t mind so much. But at 5’ 6" I feel like I have no excuse not to be under 12% bodyfat at least - especially if I consider myself an (amateur) athlete.
John Meadows is another guy - especially with the hypertrophy - that I’m really appreciating lately. Both on technique and personality ,I like him a lot. He’s someone I’m spending mucho YouTube time with these days.
Eliot hulse (there was a video of him in GSG’s log) about what workout to do.
He said doesn’t matter which program you use, stick to it for a year, a whole year and don’t stray away.
As I said in my log I was reading that thread in Paul Carters Forum. It really is a long one, but within the first 50 posts or so there are a lot of good information.
Exited to see where you end, I found out too, that I’m feeling the best when I’m lean’ish.
I’m going to take some long walks the next couple of weeks.. I hope.
Close-grip bench press / Lying BB triceps extension / Cable pressdown compound triset
105 x 10 / 20 x 12 / 60 x 15
105 x 10 / 20 x 12 / 60 x 15
105 x 8 / 20 x 10 / 60 x 15
105 x 8 / 20 x 10 / 60 x 15
Lowered the weights across the board to account for the caloric deficit - and for a better weight/muscle balance. Credit to John Meadows workout videos (and to the young wrestler last night during sparring who called me “strong as hell”) for giving me the confidence to back off the weight and focus on the muscle.
52nd birthday tomorrow. Plan is fasted cardio, all you can eat seafood brunch at Salty’s, a little gardening, then back to the gym for the final workout of the 20 Pounds of Superhero Muscle program!
Agree with every word in this sentence. His attitude, patience, dedication, quiet intensity, and the massive amount of muscle he has built are all impressive as shit, and he just seems like a generally positive person. I’d kill to train with him.
With my current program ending with tomorrow’s workout and a new yet-to-be-decided program set to start on Sunday, my latest obscure object of desire is … 3x/week whole body workouts
I’d use compound supersetting to save time - and to take advantage of the metabolic benefits of denser training. I’m considering something like the below variation on the above. The goal is to jack up frequency/volume (10+ sets/week on most body parts) within a 3x/week structure.
Sunday
Split squat /RDL compound superset (10 x 8 x 6 x 8 x 10)
DB bench / Close-grip pulldown compound superset (3 of 10-12)
DB press / Seated row compound superset (3 of 10-12)
Incline DB hammer curl / Lying overhead triceps extension compound superset (3 of 12-15)
Rear laterals / Hanging knee raise compound superset (3 of 12-15)
Monday
BB Bench press / Pullup compound superset (10 x 8 x 6 x 8 x 10)
Leg press / Leg extension compound superset (3 of 10-12)
Good mornings / Leg curl compound superset (3 of 10-12)
Cable curl / Triceps pressdown compound superset (3 of 12-15)
Face pulls / Kneeling cable crunch compound superset (3 of 12-15)
Friday
Deadlift / Front squat compound superset (10 x 8 x 6 x 8 x 10)
Incline DB press / Kroc row compound superset (3 of 10-12)
DB laterals / DB upright row compound superset (3 of 10-12)
Preacher curl / Close-grip BB press compound superset (3 of 12-15)
Face pulls / Kneeling cable crunch compound superset (3 of 12-15)
Upsides:
Lost 11 pounds to 146.4 in six months
Reduced waistline from 34" to 32"
Gained 1 inch on shoulder circumference
Gained 1/2 inch on arms and chest circumference
Downsides:
Lost 1 inch thigh circumference
A lot of education over the past six months. One top of mind takeaway is that the body I want is somewhere around 142.5 pounds right now.
I think an old-school, 3x/week full body program might be the best way for me to spend the rest of the summer. I’m still a beginner, so I’m thinking I’ll continue to respond disproportionately well to consistently higher volume. And if I can only train 3x/week consistently, the full body is the best way to get that volume, it seems.
Well done for the transformation BTT, your shoulders and chest certainly have grown a some.
And the waist slimmed down too.
I’m shifting a bit of focus from the higher volume to doing 6 - 8 all out sets for each bodypart after reading a long thread in Paul Carters forum about it.
Hope you don’t mind the hijack but I had a question for specifically for you. I took basically the last 6 weeks off from lifting other than a few here or there session while I got adjusted to BJJ. Been doing about 4-6 sessions a week and now looking to drop down to 3-4 and get back to full body lifting 2-3x a week.
Here is the actual question, what advice would you give a lowly white belt on trying to balance the two? The ex grappler me wants to live on the mats, the meat head me wants to power clean and deadlift while the professional me wants to show up to work without walking around like a car accident victim.
Everybody’s case is different. But I think ensuring that you recover as much between sessions (BJJ and weightlifting) is most important.
What you’re suggesting sounds good. I’d lean toward more jiu-jitsu and less weightraining right now - as a white belt there’s a lot going on physically and psychologically.
After almost 14 years on the mat, I can still improve my skills by training BJJ twice a week (and 3-4 days weightlifting) and getting my make-up cardio off the mat. I’d encourage you to do the opposite of what I’m doing.
Decline DB bench press / Dips / Low to High Cable Crossover Compound Triset
25s x 10 / BW x 12 / 20 x 15
30s x 10 / BW x 12 / 20 x 15
35s x 10 / BW x 10 / 20 x 15
Seated DB press / Standing lateral raise / Front DB raise Compound Triset
20s x 10 / 5s x 12 / 10s x 15!
20s x 10 / 5s x 12 / 10s x 15!
20s x 10 / 5s x 12 / 10s x 15!
20 x 10! / 5s x 12 / 10s x 12
Kneeling Cable Crunch / Hanging Knee Raise Compound Superset
140 x 15 x 3 / BW x 15 x 3
Loved doing this program - the first time I ever did a dedicated bodybuilding routine, and for three months no less. Will return to this next year as my main T-ransformation strategy.
Nice dude! Finishing a routine is an accomplishment for sure. Unless you finish the entire routine as laid out (or very close) by the author, you can’t criticize it. I see people all the time talking down about routines they didn’t finish.
Thanks! There were a few abs sessions I missed and I definitely underfueled it by doing it while on a caloric deficit. But I learned a lot, made some gains where I wanted to, and really enjoyed feeling excited about going to the gym. I’ll definitely do it again next year.
