A2 session today! Upper body! Really trashed every muscle group I trained. This program has been so fun! I’m really enjoying it a good bit more than my last run of DC. The Meadows exercise sequencing is perfect here. Can’t beat that. Definitely gives a bit of a Warmup for the muscle before diving into the absolute destruction during the rest pause sets. Then finishing with the extended stretch is just the chef’s kiss on that body part for the day. I’m still a bit of a rookie with the pin press. I feel like each rep was probably a little different. I’ll build more technical proficiency there over time, but the important thing is that it absolutely brutalized my pecs!
6 Likes
Extremely intense arm day today. I did this mostly as written, but I don’t have BFR cuffs, so I just did the same rep scheme with no cuffs. I also added Weighted chins because I wanted to sneak a little more back work in. The weighted chin/weighted dip superset was extremely intense and really made this workout go from just hard to “extremely intense” as I coined at the beginning of this log entry. I’m recovering so extremely well between sessions and I really think the peri workout nutrition has been huge here. 1/4 cup of cream of rice, tablespoon of peanut butter, 25 gram whey isolate shake an hour pre workout, 40 grams of protein from hydrolyzed casein and 40 carbs from highly branched cyclic dextrin and a scoop of Crea-Kong by Mutant. Post workout is generally candy or cereal with 1 cup of 2% milk mixed with 25 grams of protein from whey isolate. Very happy with everything right now. Having fun with training and recovering well. Progressing really well!
9 Likes
I’m back to Fortitude Training. The couple of days off from training gave me time to think and get a more proper gameplan in order. Mountain of Doggcrapp ended up just being like a 1 week cruise period for me to reset, try something new before getting back to something with a more cohesive outline, but also allows for more auto regulation.
If you know anything about me, my training has to excite me and the way the split was organized just didn’t sit right in my brain. The program basically had me switch back my mental gears to lower volume, high frequency, but it wasn’t all the way high frequency and that’s what I’m wanting right now. I operate very well within the structure of Fortitude Training and I can “Get up” for every training day and attack the task at hand for that day. Simply put, I find that Fortitude is a more cohesive system than MountainCrapp. It’s more mentally engaging, it has a lot more novelty of stimulus, which is something I thrive on.
Upper pump was a fantastic way to get my week started. Intense high rep session that left with me with a massive pump. Hyped about getting my 4th Fortitude Blast of the year underway!
8 Likes
looks good dude . . do you have any resources that explain this style of training? Sounds like it would be up my alley and like you, I have to be excited about a program to follow through with it. I’m really enjoying Alsruhes Darkhorse program now but probably won’t run two cycles of it back-to-back and would possibly be interested in running Fortitude next
1 Like
The very best resource out there is the Fortitude Training ebook by Scott Stevenson. It’s $20 and probably the most value and information you can get for that cheap in the fitness industry. My recommendation would be to read the book, try to digest that info and if you have any questions, feel free to ask me because I’ve ran this program a ton! Also check out Scott’s YouTube channel for some muscle round ideas as well as how to perform them!
When you buy the book, you get free access to his forum where you can search up pretty much any topic or question, because he’s probably already given a great, in-depth answer on there! Super excited for you man! I think if you like Alsruhe’s stuff, you’ll really enjoy this as a more Bodybuilding-Focused training cycle, but still very much high density training as you see in Alsruhe programs!
2 Likes
Lower load today! I was pretty nervous about this session because I knew I was going to be squatting and trying to PR over the squat PR I hit two weeks ago. Lo and behold, the weight actually felt pretty light today! Last time 340 felt like I had the Juggernaut on my back, this time it felt totally manageable! This allowed me to hit 8 reps! I’m definitely feeling awesome about that! Hit PRs on single leg curl, single leg extension and single leg adductor as well, but that’s not really quite as sexy or worth writing home about.
I was looking back at my log from 2022 and 2023 and it’s really insane to see how far I’ve come along both in my numbers and physique in that time. Really, it’s just what having a passion for this and doing the work every day manifests. Come in with desire and willingness to train your bag off every day.
7 Likes
Shhhh stop giving away the secrets.
2 Likes
Probably very disappointing secrets for those in search of them!
1 Like
That is the real problem. Those who seek quick gainz do not wan’t to hear that and in doing so never get the results they want. Seems like no one wants to just train because they like it or because its just cool anymore.
2 Likes
So true man. Muscle building is not an instant gratification game. There’s really no such thing as quick gains. It’s absolutely a slow burn and it takes months and years to start making real progress, so you better learn to love the process! It’s also crazy how much my own standards for hard training or how hard I can push a set have evolved now compared to what they were 10 years ago and I was wrestling back then! The weight room is just a different beast.
2 Likes
It must be very hard for kids today as there is just so many choices and so many distractions. I feel like I was lucky to grow up in the 80’s, where (in my mind) it was cool and exciting to train with weights, get stronger, feel your muscles working and obviously cool to look bigger and stronger. Sure I had friends who just didn’t understand why any one wanted to go to the gym or want big muscles, but in general it was still seen as a good thing. Just hoping my own love for training rubs off on my kids in some small way.
1 Like
I hear you man. I try to have that impact on my family around me as well and definitely want to pass the love of lifting and fitness on to children of my own some day! I just want to be a good role model and lead by example!
2 Likes
thanks . . looking up that book now
1 Like
Really really great session today! Pulled up my numbers from last time I hit this exact session to base today’s off off and I was super hyped with how well I’ve progressed since July 17th! I added the Fat Gripz to the presses, which I feel like I should always keep in because they just feel awesome. When I saw that I hit 285x8 last time on slight decline press, I thought “That’s insane how did I manage that?” And then I felt very strong as I went through my warmups, which built a lot of confidence for my set. Rep 9 was a bit of a grind but I felt very confident that I had one more in me and I really really wanted to get 10 so I went for one more and just pushed like my life depended on it and completed what was probably about a 5 second rep! 295 next month! Overhead Press was a little intimidating as well, but similar story there, Strength was beyond my expectations! Back movements always seem to progress awesome, so there was nothing but confidence there lol
Pump sets were brutally intense. I love the variety of loads/rep ranges you get to use here. Feels like I get to really attack muscles from all angles!
7 Likes
No idea what standing calf raises with 5 into the hole are but sounds like something @Cyrrex or @dagill2 would be in to 
3 Likes
5 full reps, 5 partials, 4 full reps, 5 partials, 3 full reps, 5 partials, and so on! I work my way down to one and if I haven’t hit Failure yet, I’ll keep going and work my way down. Often times it’s a major challenge to not fail before I get to “1”!
2 Likes
Dude I love Muscle Rounds! First such session of this current blast and picked some really nice exercises to just dig deep and destroy the target muscle. The one arm dumbbell press has really been one of my favorites for this. Such a crazy pump. Still at Volume Tier 1 so I can keep the frequency pretty high. Lower body and biceps tomorrow and I just know it’s going to hellacious, but I’m ready! See you tomorrow!
5 Likes
yates row as in underhand row?
No, just a more upright body angle, but that’s something to consider for next time! I know Dorian quit using that grip because he tore his bicep doing it, but that’s not really as much of a fear of mine
1 Like
Yeah I wondered because I’ve seen yates row in reference to the more upright standing row and the underhand row . . might try the more upright body angle next week with rows . . good work!
2 Likes