Burien Top Team | Training Log

Training Training Logs
722

Took Thursday off. Scheduled to do cardio and just didn’t feel like plodding on the treadmill for 35+ minutes. Plenty of that before and to come. Thursday BW was 154.6 lbs with waist 33 1/4".

FRIDAY

BW: 155.6 lbs
waist: 33 1/2"

Cardio
Incline treadmill walk
3.0 miles / 380 calories / 51:10 minutes

Shooting for a Transformation photo the morning of June 1st. Since I’m going to label this a bodybuilding lean bulk, I won’t kill myself over the slice or two of birthday cake I’ll have tomorrow night.

My starting T-ransformation 2020 stats on January 4:

BW: 148 lbs
waist: 32 1/4"
shoulder circumference: 45"
upper arm (right) relaxed: 13 1/2"

723

SATURDAY

BW: 155.4 lbs
waist: 33 1/2"

Conditioning
One-arm DB snatches
25 lbs / 25 minutes / 52 sets for total 312 reps
(6 reps / rest 15 seconds / switch arms)

Cardio
Incline treadmill walk
3.0 miles / 406 calories / 50:11 minutes

Finished the week with the best weekly cardio calorie count of the month. Ramping up after a slow start in May in preparation for more athletic/work capacity training over the summer. Goal will be to drop to less than 148 lbs by the August Check-in and get a 32" waist, while retaining as much muscle mass as possible.

724

SUNDAY

BW: 156.6 lbs
waist: 33 1/2"

Not too much damage after a couple of slices of birthday cake last night. Now with the “lean bulk” done, the eight-week “summer cut” begins.

Conditioning
One-arm DB snatches
25 lbs / 15 minutes / 20 sets for 240 total reps
(6 reps right / 6 reps left / rest 15 seconds)

Cardio
Incline treadmill walk
3.0 miles / 345 calories / 53:02 minutes

725

MONDAY

BW: 156.4 lbs
waist: 33 1/2"

Last day of the T-ransformation. First day of the cut.

My T-ransformation pic is going up shortly. Ugh. I don’t think I’ve seen anyone on this forum who photographs worse than I do. I’m just not a photogenic dude.

Which is partly the point, right?

I’m up about eight pounds from my T-ransformation weigh-in, with an additional 1 1/4" around the waist. I’ve gained about 0.4 lbs a week, which is about right for a “lean bulk” from what I’ve read. Upper arm size is up about 3/4" or so, nearing 14 1/2". And shoulder circumference, the other main metric I was looking to increase, has gone up by about three inches to 45".

So now I’ll try to lose about 0.5 lbs to 1.0 lbs a week for the next 8-12 weeks, with a goal of stopping once I get my waist to 32 1/4" or so. Ideally, that happens at as high a weight as possible - 152 lbs would be a dream, though I suspect I’ll have to get down to 150 lbs or less.

After that, around September 1 or so, I’ll either start a strength program if the gyms are a decent option or go back to DC by DB training in the garage and try and add more muscle to a leaner frame.

At any rate, I started the program I’d been planning to do and stopped midway through the warmups because I just wasn’t feeling it. So I jumped into another Gironda-esque program - a real one this time. Hopefully it will stick for the next 8 to 12.

Physique Unleashed: Week 1; Day 1

Chest - First Set
Weighted dips @ BW+ 25 lbs
12 reps
Incline DB press w/45s
12 reps
Incline DB flyes w/25s
12 reps
DB pullovers w/25s
12 reps

Chest - Second Set
Weighted dips @ BW+ 25 lbs
12 reps
Incline DB press w/45s
8 reps
Incline DB flyes w/25s
7 reps
DB pullovers w/25s
12 reps

Arms - First Set
Weighted chins @ BW
12 reps
Alt curls w/25s
12 reps
Pinwheel curls w/10s
12 reps
Tricep pressdowns Green band
12 reps

Arms - Second Set
Weighted chins @ BW
7 reps
Alt curls w/25s
6 reps
Pinwheel curls w/10s
12 reps
Tricep pressdowns Green band
12 reps

Very short workout - around 30 minutes, I think. Took one minute rest between the first and second sets and between the chest and arm workouts. But otherwise no rest between exercises. Arms felt especially blown up nicely, and chest felt a pretty good pump, too.

726

It. Is. Done.

727

One day in and I’ve already had to totally overhaul my current program. Let’s see if this works. I’m using Gironda four-exercise compound supersets within CT’s take on the ideal split for a 2B neurotype.

Physique Unleashed 2.0

[Two sets / 12 reps]

MONDAY
Dips / Incline DB bench / Incline DB flye / DB pullover
Chins / Alt curls / Pinwheel curls / Triceps pressdowns

TUESDAY
Band leg press / Leg curl / Back squat / Split squat

WEDNESDAY
Pullups / Straight arm pulldowns / DB rows / One-arm band flyes
Dips / Overhead triceps extensions / Band triceps kickbacks / DB goblet curls

THURSDAY
Rear delt pull aparts / Rear delt laterals / Side laterals
DB high pulls / DB Arnolds / DB front raises

FRIDAY
RDL / Goblet squat / Hip thrust / Good morning

Cardio/Conditioning on Saturday and/or Sunday.

1 Like
728

Sorry BTT missed it happy belated birthday

And I would say you’ve done pretty well on the T ransformation thing. Looking good, you’ve put on some serious size to the upper body.
Be careful not to diet to hard.

1 Like
729

Thanks especially for this reminder. The big mistake I made last year this time was too much dieting. Last July, I caught the flu for the first time since I was a child. Then in August I suffered my first jiu-jitsu injury (knee) in years. Then I spent all of September fighting off a ridiculously persistent head cold … I think too much dieting while training hard had a lot to do with all of that.

1 Like
730

Certainly, why not try just to maintain the weight, I’m pretty sure you could stay where you are and still go down in the waist line.

1 Like
731

TUESDAY

BW: 154.4 lbs
waist: 33 1/2"

One evening without late night snacking and I drop two pounds.

Physique Unleashed: Week 1; Day 2

Warmup
Incline treadmill walk
3/4 miles / 85 calories / 13:26 minutes

Quads Major- First Set
Banded leg press @ Big red band
12 reps
Seated leg curls @ Big red band
12 reps
Back squat w/45s
12 reps
Split squat w/25s
6/6 Left + 6/6 Right reps

Quads Major - Second Set
Banded leg press @ Big red band
12 reps
Seated leg curls @ Big red band
12 reps
Back squat w/45s
12 reps
Split squat w/25s
6/6 Left + 6/6 Right reps

Cooldown
Incline treadmill walk
3/4 miles / 104 calories / 12:35 minutes

Still figuring out this garage gym leg training stuff. Not 100% on the banded leg presses, but going to stick with them for now. Still can’t get 12 straight reps on the split squats while holding 50 total pounds. Part of it is balance, I’m sure. But the sets were broken all the same.

Back and triceps tomorrow.

732

WEDNESDAY

BW: 154.6 lbs
waist: 33 1/2"

Physique Unleashed: Week 1; Day 3

Warmup
Incline treadmill walk
3/4 miles / 90 calories / 14 minutes

Back Major - First Set
Pullups @ BW
12 reps
Straight arm pulldowns @ Green band
12 reps
DB rows @ 45 lbs
12 reps / 12 reps
One-arm flyes @ Medium red band
12 reps / 12 reps

Back Major - Second Set
Pullups @ BW
7 reps
Straight arm pulldowns @ Green band
12 reps
DB rows @ 45 lbs
12 reps / 12 reps
One-arm flyes @ Medium red band
12 reps / 12 reps

Triceps Major - First Set
Triceps dips @ BW + 10 lbs
12 reps
Overhead triceps extensions @ 25s
6 reps
Band kickbacks @ Medium red band
12 reps / 12 reps
Goblet curl @ 45 lbs
12 reps

Triceps Major - Second Set
Triceps dips @ BW + 10 lbs
12 reps
Overhead triceps extensions @ 25s
5 reps
Band kickbacks @ Medium red band
12 reps / 12 reps
Goblet curl @ 45 lbs
12 reps

Still working with the rest periods. Took 30 seconds between warmups (not shown: 4 sets of 3 reps). Two minutes between first and second sets, as well as between back and tricep work. Essentially no rest between exercises.

I’m going to have to do my cardio in the morning (as I’d originally suspected). I’m just not able to tack it on to the front or back end of my afternoon weight training workouts.

Shoulderama tomorrah!

2 Likes
733

That’s an interesting program. So these are giant sets and you do 2 of them each? What is the intensity? To failure?

And I’m curious, why were you doing “so much” conditioning during your lean bulk? BTW I love DB snatches as well. I feel like exercises that work your whole body are much better for cardio

1 Like
734

Thanks. I’m still figuring it out some. CT referred to them as Gironda Four Exercise Compound Supersets. I’m shooting for 12 reps to start, and will bump that up by three reps every other week if I’m getting all my reps in. So there are definitely some failure sets in there - especially in the second round.

The cardio was mostly to keep the “lean” part of the “lean bulk” intact. The DC training I was doing calls for cardio on the off-days. I probably threw in a little extra to make sure I didn’t gain too much weight. Really didn’t feel very comfortable above 156-157 pounds.

1 Like
735

THURSDAY

BW: 154.8 lbs
waist: 33 1/2"

Physique Unleashed: Week 1; Day 4

Warmup
Incline treadmill walk
0.75 miles / 85 calories / 13 minutes

[Two rounds of warmup reps with reduced weight]

Shoulders - First Set
Rear delt band pull aparts @ Green band
12 reps
Rear delt DB laterals @ 25s
12 reps
Side DB laterals @ 10s
12 reps
DB high pulls @ 25 lbs
12 reps
DB Arnolds @ 25s
8 reps
DB front raises @ 25 lbs
12 reps

Shoulders - Second Set
Rear delt band pull aparts @ Green band
12 reps
Rear delt DB laterals @ 25s
12 reps
Side DB laterals @ 10s
12 reps
DB high pulls @ 25 lbs
12 reps
DB Arnolds @ 25s
7 reps
DB front raises @ 25 lbs
12 reps

Training every day this week. Feels a little weird. But I’m liking the short intense workouts. Still need to integrate cardio. But so far so good. Posterior chain tomorrow.

736

How long are those workouts?
looks like a good pump in there, Is it two supergiantsets? or do you have a pause between exercises?

1 Like
737

Yeah, I’m doing the workout described in that TC Luoma article on burning tons of calories with KB snatches. I was doing swings and using a DB at first. But I prefer the snatches.

738

They are pretty short, I’ll admit. Depending on how many rounds of warmups I do (usually 2-4), I can be done in less than 30 minutes.

I’m not 100% sure on what they are called - I found them in CT’s article on Vince Gironda. I don’t take any rest between exercises, but I do take about two minutes between the first four-part set and the second one. Also two minutes between body parts on Monday and Wednesday when I do Chest/Biceps and Back/Triceps.

I like to think of it as something @jackolee might approve of!

1 Like
739

FRIDAY

BW: 154.8 lbs
waist: 33 1/4"

Physique Unleashed: Week 1; Day 5

Warmup
Incline treadmill walk
0.75 miles / 90 calories / 14 minutes

[Two rounds of warmup reps with reduced weight]

Posterior Chain Major - First Set
RDLs @ 45s
12 reps
Goblet squat @ 45 lbs
12 reps
Hip thrust @ 45 lbs
12 reps
Good morning @ 45 lbs
12 reps

[rest two minutes]

Posterior Chain Major - Second Set
RDLs @ 45s
12 reps
Goblet squat @ 45 lbs
12 reps
Hip thrust @ 45 lbs
12 reps
Good morning @ 45 lbs
12 reps

One week of the new program in the books. I like the short duration of the workouts; makes it easier to maintain focus and intensity. Felt a little lower back soreness very early, but I think it’s just a combination of sitting all day and being new to a full, posterior chain based routine.

So far so good on my chief enemy: late night carbs. I’ve got an army of chicken broth, pickled ginger, and cinnamon altoids on my side to stave off cravings even as bedtime has crept to midnight most nights this week. Had a little baklava and dark chocolate for dessert tonight, but that was about it for the cheating.

740

SATURDAY

BW: 157 lbs
waist: 33 3/4"

Spoke too soon on the dessert action last night …

Conditioning
One-arm DB snatches
25 lbs / 21 minutes / 44 sets for 246 total reps
(6 reps right / rest 15 seconds / 6 reps left)

Cardio
Incline treadmill walk
2.6 miles / 322 calories / 45:11 minutes

Total weekly cardio calories: 1694
Average daily BW: 155.51 lbs

741

SUNDAY

BW: 156.6 lbs
waist: 33 1/2"

Conditioning
One-arm DB snatches
25 lbs / 16 minutes / 21 sets for 252 total reps
(6 reps right / 6 reps left / rest 15 seconds)

Cardio
Incline treadmill walk
2.0 miles / 277 calories / 34:01 minutes

Heading into Week 2, I’m looking to add some abs work, probably on lower body days (Tue/Fri). Not in love with the banded leg presses on quad day and wonder if doing both hip thrusts and good mornings in this context is overkill on posterior chain day. I’d swap in HLRs for the leg presses and ab band crunches for the good mornings.

I’m also going to bump up the cardio a little bit this week, ideally as a separate morning session before breakfast and late morning weight training. Just a few miles to get the fat burning started.