Ebomb's Return: An Offseason to Remember

Training
82

11.30.13

Chest/Shoulders/Calves
Warmup
Stretches

Flat Dumbbell Press
30 x 15
40 x 8
50 x 8
65 x 8
85 x 8
105 x 8
130 x 8 (thought they were 120s…whoops!)
105 x 8

Incline Barbell Press
135 x 6
185 x 6
215 x 8
235 x 8
255 x 8

Decline Smith Press (25 lb plate under bench)
1 pps x 12
1 pps + 25 x 6
1 pps + 50 x 12
1 pps + 65 x 10
2 pps + 25 x 8
Dropset
2 pps + 35 x 6 to 2 pps + 10 x 7 to 1 pps + 25 x failure to 1 pps x failure to 25 each side ultra wide grip to failure

Stretch Push-ups/DB Fly Stretch
2 sets to failure
2 sets to failure ‘plus’
30 second fly stretch after each

Bentover Dumbbell Lateral Swings
30 x 20
50 x 25
60 x 25
65 x 25, 25
75 x 20 to 40 x 20 to 20 x full reps to failure

Dumbbell Lateral Raises (done to above ears)
15 x 15 (2 sets)
10 x 15 (2 sets)

Cage Press
95 x 5
115 x 5, 5
125 x 5, 5
115 x 5, 5

Hack Squat Calf Push/Dorsiflexions
1 pps x 2 minutes/failure
1 pps + 25 x 1 minute + stretch/failure
1 pps + 50 x 2 minutes/failure

Awesome session. I was pleasantly surprised with my DB presses, as I thought I was hitting the 120s which was pretty tough for 8, and they’re usually easier, but I didn’t realize they were the 130s haha. I guess that’s what happens when you go to a gym where the DBs aren’t labeled well.

Incline and decline felt great. Decline Dropset gave me a pretty nasty pump and then the stretch push-ups combined with the extra stretching was great.

The DB swings felt awesome. Hit a nice Dropset at the end. Rests were pretty short with laterals and cage press.

If you’re looking for a pretty nasty calf routine, try out what I did. Pain was incredibly intense.

Bodyweight update. Back down to 198, 2 lb above my low this week. I tend to gain a ton of water weight from cheats, but also can drop it very quickly. For reference, I was 207 yesterday morning after Thanksgiving lol.

83

12.1.13

Arms/Abs

Incline DB Curls
15 x 40
30 x 3 x 10 + alternating x 5-10
25 x 3 x 12 + alternating
15 x failure

STRIDE Machine Preacher
5 x 12

Occluded Rope Hammers
4 x 15-20

V-Grip Pushdowns
4 x 12

Machine Dips
4 x 10

Occluded OH Rope Extensions
4 x 15

Ab Giant Set
Hanging Leg Raise x 20
L-Sit x 15 seconds
Swiss Ball Weighted Crunch x 12
Rollouts x 10-12
Swiss Ball Twists x 15 LR
3 rounds
Vacuums x 4 x 30 seconds
(Great ab routine)

Just a secondary arm session. Focus here is very pump-oriented without any intensity techniques (unless you consider occlusion one of those). I’ll continue doing these second arm sessions for 8-10 weeks or so and then back off to hitting them once a week again for a bit and cycle through another bodypart to hit twice/week.

I’m going to try and hit my abs a lot more in an attempt to get them to ‘pop’ more.

84

12.2.13

Back/Calves

Warmup
Mobility work

Wide Neutral Grip Cable Rows
40 x 15
70 x 12
80 x 10
120 x 10
150 x 10
180 x 3 x 10
Challenge set: 180 x all out

Rack Pulls (mid shin)
135 x 5
225 x 5
315 x 3
365 x 3
405 x 3
495 x 3
545 x 3
585 x 3
605 x 3 (nice, PR)

Phase 2: Timed Rack Pulls: 5 minutes straight; do 2 reps, take 10 seconds, repeat.
Used 475 on these

Wide Grip Stretch Pulldowns
120 x 10
150 x 10
180 x 8
200 x 8, 8
200 x 4 + 4 iso-tension reps
220 x 4 + 4 Iso-tension reps

Neutral Grip Low Cable Rows (imagine you’re working into a rear lat spread…really envision that)
80 x 4 x 8

Banded Hypers

  1. Bw x 15
  2. Doubled mini band x 15
  3. Doubled mini + monster mini x 15
  4. Regular mini + monster + light band x 15 to doubled mini x 15-20
  5. mini + monster + light x 15 to doubled monster x 15 to bw

Donkey Calf Raise/Short Band Dorsiflexions
200 x 60 seconds/short mini x 15 LR
220 x 60 seconds/short mini x 15 LR
240 x 60 seconds/short mini x 15 LR
400 x 60 seconds stretch

Awesome session. Really crushed my entire back, starting with the first exercise. Flexing the lats hard on these, combined with being in a slightly weaker position with the wide grip made these brutal. By the time we got to the challenge set, back was so full of blood I could have done “air” rows and gotten a pump!

Rack pulls felt awesome today. 605 from that height is likely an all-time PR, which is pretty good since I’m 196. The 5 minute set was rough. Full body pump ftw haha.

Stretch Pulldowns and Cable rows felt nice after this. As usual, we finished with the always fun banded Hypers. Was light headed as usual after each one : P.

85

[quote]ebomb5522 wrote:
I’m going to try and hit my abs a lot more in an attempt to get them to ‘pop’ more.[/quote]

This is definitely worth it.

I have thin abs and have made it a focus this off season. They look much better and show more even as I have gained weight (and fat). I am excited to see what they look like when I diet down.

Good luck with the ab training.

86

[quote]timmcbride00 wrote:

[quote]ebomb5522 wrote:
I’m going to try and hit my abs a lot more in an attempt to get them to ‘pop’ more.[/quote]

This is definitely worth it.

I have thin abs and have made it a focus this off season. They look much better and show more even as I have gained weight (and fat). I am excited to see what they look like when I diet down.

Good luck with the ab training.[/quote]

Awesome to hear! I definitely feel that if I train them correctly and really place emphasis on them (which I really haven’t in the past), they will start to look the way I believe they need to to make front poses more ‘complete’.

87

Here’s a video of the rack pull top set from today.

88

You’re a strong SOB!

89

[quote]lemony2j wrote:
You’re a strong SOB![/quote]

Haha, thanks man. Strength’s getting back up there. Hopefully, once I add 10-15 more lb, I’ll be able to really push to hit some all-time PR’s and beyond.

90

Enjoyed reading about your training history! I was a lurker for quite awhile before starting to post awhile back, glad to see you active on the forums again!

91

12.3.13

HIIT/Abs/Squat

Mobility Work
Jumps

Back Squat (explosive, work up, 45 sec rest, stop when speed slows)
135 x 6
185 x 6
225 x 6
245 x 6
265 x 6
285 x 6
305 x 6
315 x 6
325 x 6
335 x 6

Ab Giant Set: no rest between exercises, 1-2 min between giant sets
Hanging Leg Raise x 20
L-Sit x 10-15 seconds
Incline Rope Crunch x 10
Barbell Rollout x 10
Decline Reverse Hip Twists x 8 LR
3 rounds

Bike HIIT
5 minute warmup
6 intervals: 30/2:30-3
5 minute cooldown

Solid cardio/Abs/squat session. Despite low back and chain being pretty trashed from yesterday, squats felt very good. These speed sessions are definitely helping me get my groove back. The ab giant set was brutal. Definitely would recommend it. HIIT, as usual, had my lungs hurting by the end.

92

12.3.13

HIIT/Abs/Squat

Mobility Work
Jumps

Back Squat (explosive, work up, 45 sec rest, stop when speed slows)
135 x 6
185 x 6
225 x 6
245 x 6
265 x 6
285 x 6
305 x 6
315 x 6
325 x 6
335 x 6

Ab Giant Set: no rest between exercises, 1-2 min between giant sets
Hanging Leg Raise x 20
L-Sit x 10-15 seconds
Incline Rope Crunch x 10
Barbell Rollout x 10
Decline Reverse Hip Twists x 8 LR
3 rounds

Bike HIIT
5 minute warmup
6 intervals: 30/2:30-3
5 minute cooldown

Solid cardio/Abs/squat session. Despite low back and chain being pretty trashed from yesterday, squats felt very good. These speed sessions are definitely helping me get my groove back. The ab giant set was brutal. Definitely would recommend it. HIIT, as usual, had my lungs hurting by the end.

93

[quote]pwolves17 wrote:
Enjoyed reading about your training history! I was a lurker for quite awhile before starting to post awhile back, glad to see you active on the forums again![/quote]

Awesome man, glad you enjoyed the writeup!

94

Thanks for the write up, I know that took some time to do.

In an effort to keep my waist tight, I neglected to train my abs for like the first 7 years of my training, and when I dieted down for a show I found out they pretty much sucked :-/

I’ve been training them for about 18 months now and they do seem to be responding, so there is hope.

95

[quote]Lonnie123 wrote:
Thanks for the write up, I know that took some time to do.

In an effort to keep my waist tight, I neglected to train my abs for like the first 7 years of my training, and when I dieted down for a show I found out they pretty much sucked :-/

I’ve been training them for about 18 months now and they do seem to be responding, so there is hope.[/quote]

Haha, good to hear…I’m hoping to see some nice improvements as well!

96

12.4.13

Arms/Calves

Palms Up Dumbbell Curls (3 second negative, continuous)
7.5 x 15
15 x 10
20 x 10
25 x 10
30 x 14, 12
30 x 11 + alternating to failure + 15 lb x 2 Iso tension reps
(2 sets like that) on last set, do bodyweight Iso tension for 1 rep also

EZ Bar Reverse Curls
Bar x 10 + 6 partials
20 + bar x 10 + 6 partials
20 + bar x 10 + 6 partials + 1 Iso tension rep (2 sets like this)
20 + bar x 10 + 6 + 2 Iso tension reps with an empty bar

Occluded Short Barbell Curls
20 + bar x 30, 20, 10, 10

Rope Pushdowns
5 x 20

Overhead Seated Rope Extensions
30 x 20, 40 x 18, 50 x 14, 60 x 12, 70 x 11
Dropset
80 x 12 to 1 Iso tension rep to 60 x failure to 1 Iso tension rep to 40 x failure + 1 Iso tension rep

Occluded Cross Body Cordova Extensions
30 x 5 x 15 LR (do all on one arm, then all on the other)

Calf Giant Set
Seated Calf Raise: 90 x 2 minutes
Elevated Bw raises x 2 minutes
Donkey calf raise: 200 x 1 minute
Tibia Raises: 20 x 1 minute LR

Awesome session. Pumps were ridiculous and arms were torched from just the first exercise. Occlusion on biceps today was extremely brutal for some reason. One of the best arm sessions in a long time.

97

12.5.13

Dynamic warmup + mobility work

Ab Giant Set: no rest between exercises, 1-2 min between giant sets
Hanging Leg Raise x 20
L-Sit x 10-15 seconds
Heavy Rope Crunch x 10
Barbell Rollout x 10
Decline Reverse Hip Twists x 8 LR
3 rounds

Just a quick abdominal session…but I was sweating and hurting by the end! This is a very tough circuit. I’d definitely recommend it for anyone looking to improve their abs.

Big leg session tomorrow.

98

How come you didn’t bring bugeishAD back here with you?

Ha, following along good stuff man you’ve accomplished quite a bit over the last few years and no doubt have some rewards for your hard work coming in the future.

99

[quote]Maiden3.16 wrote:
How come you didn’t bring bugeishAD back here with you?

Ha, following along good stuff man you’ve accomplished quite a bit over the last few years and no doubt have some rewards for your hard work coming in the future.[/quote]

Great to see ya here again Maiden and appreciate the comments!

I’ll see if bug will come back too…not too sure about that though.

100

i see you and Thoughts get together to train. i am located on the south shore of long island. ive also done a decent amount of work with JM, using both his training and dietary techniques. where do you train out of? would love to get some serious work in. i have a hard time finding people who enjoy the intensity of these types of sessions! haha

great log too.

  • Moose
101

[quote]J Moose wrote:
i see you and Thoughts get together to train. i am located on the south shore of long island. ive also done a decent amount of work with JM, using both his training and dietary techniques. where do you train out of? would love to get some serious work in. i have a hard time finding people who enjoy the intensity of these types of sessions! haha

great log too.

  • Moose[/quote]

Moose,

Would love to get some sessions in! PM me with more details and we can work something out.