Ebomb's Return: An Offseason to Remember

Training
102

12.6.13

Legs

Warmup
Mobility Work

Lying Leg Curls
40 x 20
60 x 20
100 x 15
120 x 15
150 x 12
170 x 10
Dropset
180 x 8 to 1 Iso tension to 120 x failure + 1 Iso tension to 80 x failure + 1 Iso tension

Close-Stance Low Leg Press/Heels Elevated Front Squats
2 pps x 15/135 x 8
4 pps x 15/185 x 8
7 pps x 12/225 x 8
8 pps x 12/245 x 8
9 pps x 10/245 x 8
10 pps x 10/265x 8
11 pps x 10/265 x 8

Leg Extensions (curl toes back, feet slightly pointed out)
2 x 12
Tough sets, lower weight
1 x 30, 3 sets of 5 (rest paused), 2 Iso tension reps
1 x 40-50, 4 sets of 5, 2 Iso tension reps

Barbell RDL (using 25s, try to stretch a little more each rep, 3/4 lockout)
95 x 15
145 x 12
195 x 10
245 x 3 x 10
145 x 20

Bodyweight Calf Raises
1 x 5 minutes

Awesome leg session. Crushed it today. The lying leg curls were brutal to start with the Iso tension Dropset. Those really exhausted the hammies. Then we crushed quads with the leg press/front squat set. Both exercises were done with a quad emphasis, placing feet 6 inches apart on leg press and lower on the platform and elevating the heels on 25s for squats. This really made them burn by the last few sets.

The leg extension set was pretty sadistic haha. After hitting that first one, I decided we had more in us and did another. That was where the real work was.

Chest/shoulders tomorrow.

103

12.7.13

Chest/Shoulders

Warmup
Mobility Work (for reference, I do DeFranco’s limber 11 with some added work)

Incline Dumbbell Press
30 x 20
40 x 12
50 x 12
65 x 8
75 x 8
95 x 8
105 x 8
120 x 8
130 x 8
Banded (monster mini)
65 x 2 x 10

Flat Bench Press (goal is explosive, rest was just partner going)
225 x 8 sets of 5

Incline Smith Press
1 pps x 10
1 pps + 25 x 30
1 pps + 50 x 20
1 pps + 60 x 12

Incline Dumbbell Flies
Set 1: mini banded flies x 10 to regular x 8 to 1 Iso tension
Set 2: same except 2 Iso tensions
Set 3: regular (heavy) x 8 to 2 long Iso tensions (30 seconds)
Set 4: same as 3

Pec Dec Rear Delt Flies (rest was just partner going, keep weight same)
20, 16, 13, 11, 7, 1 Iso tension to failure

Leaning Dumbbell Lateral Raise
20 x 12 LR
30 x 12 LR
25 x 20-25 LR

Short Barbell Front Raise (arms straight, not a front row)
Bar x 15
Bar + 10 x 15, 20, 20

Awesome session. Pressing felt very good today. Dumbbell incline’s felt very good today. Slowly creeping back up there in weight. I enjoyed doing the flat bench in that manner. Very similar to “speed work” where we started with a weight we could do explosively, but by sets 5 and beyond, they got tougher because of the short rest. Iso tension work for flies was brutal as usual. The drop from bands to regular to Iso tension really filled the entire chest with blood.

Shoulder work as usual was quick but brutal.

Arms/Abs/Calves tomorrow.

104

12.8.13

Arms/Abs

Warmup
“Limber 11”

Ab Giant Set
Hanging Leg Raises x 20
L-Sits x 15 seconds
Heavy Kneeling Rope Crunch x 10
Barbell Rollouts x 10
Decline Knee Twists x 8 LR
3 rounds

Palms-Forward Dumbbell Curls
20 x 15
25 x 8 x 8 (30 seconds rest between each)
25 x 3 x 8 LR (alternating, no rest)

EZ Bar Reverse Curls
45 lb x 10 x 8 (30 seconds rest)

Heavy V-Grip Pushdowns
10 x 10 (30 seconds rest)

Single Arm Cable Push-Back
4 x 8 LR (no rest)

Occluded Incline Dumbbell Curls/Straight Bar Pushdowns
15 x 30/70 x 30
15 x 20/70 x 20
15 x 15/70 x 20

Just a quick session for arms and abs. Awesome pump today, especially after my free meal last night which consisted of a nice dinner (pizza, chicken dish) and then Ben & Jerry’s Greek yogurt honey caramel swirl and red velvet cake topped with some peanut butter M&Ms.

Back tomorrow.

105

12.8.13

Arms/Abs

Warmup
“Limber 11”

Ab Giant Set
Hanging Leg Raises x 20
L-Sits x 15 seconds
Heavy Kneeling Rope Crunch x 10
Barbell Rollouts x 10
Decline Knee Twists x 8 LR
3 rounds

Palms-Forward Dumbbell Curls
20 x 15
25 x 8 x 8 (30 seconds rest between each)
25 x 3 x 8 LR (alternating, no rest)

EZ Bar Reverse Curls
45 lb x 10 x 8 (30 seconds rest)

Heavy V-Grip Pushdowns
10 x 10 (30 seconds rest)

Single Arm Cable Push-Back
4 x 8 LR (no rest)

Occluded Incline Dumbbell Curls/Straight Bar Pushdowns
15 x 30/70 x 30
15 x 20/70 x 20
15 x 15/70 x 20

Just a quick session for arms and abs. Awesome pump today, especially after my free meal last night which consisted of a nice dinner (pizza, chicken dish) and then Ben & Jerry’s Greek yogurt honey caramel swirl and red velvet cake topped with some peanut butter M&Ms.

Back tomorrow.

106

I love/hate reading your log.

Love - because its motivating as hell to see you pushing as hard as hard as you do and the kind of weights you’re lifting to read before I lift.

Hate - because its depressing as hell to see you pushing as hard as you do and the kind of weights you’re lifting when I feel like I’ve half-assed it in the gym that day.

Keep up the good work man.

107

[quote]lemony2j wrote:
I love/hate reading your log.

Love - because its motivating as hell to see you pushing as hard as hard as you do and the kind of weights you’re lifting to read before I lift.

Hate - because its depressing as hell to see you pushing as hard as you do and the kind of weights you’re lifting when I feel like I’ve half-assed it in the gym that day.

Keep up the good work man.[/quote]

Haha, glad I can provide some incentive to hit it hard…hopefully!

108

12.16.13

Back

Warmup
Limber 11

Close Grip Pulldowns
50 x 20
70 x 20
110 x 15
130 x 12
150 x 10
170 x 10
190 x 10
210 x 10, 10

Dumbbell Rows
80 x 8 LR
110 x 8 LR
120 x 8 LR
135 x 8 LR
145 x 8, 8 LR
Dropset
145 x 8 LR to 120 x 8 LR to 90 x 8 LR to 80 x 8 LR

Deadlift
Worked up to 2 singles with 605

Assisted Pull-Ups (multiple grips)
6 x 8

Wide Grip Cable Pullover
3 x 12
Right to 1 set of Meadows Pullovers x 12

Banded Hypers
1 mini x 20
1 monster mini x 20
2 minis + 1 monster x 20
2 minis + 2 monster x 20

Awesome back session today. I really crushed my lats with the pulldowns and the dumbbell rows. Both were done with the goal of explosively driving the elbow and really “squeezing” the lats as hard as possible. The dropset on the dumbbell rows left me pretty tired…felt like I had just run sprints. For some reason, more than any other row dropset, dumbbell’s crush me.

I decided to throw some deads in, as I was feeling good today, and worked up to a few pretty smooth singles with 605. I haven’t done heavy deads or gone much over 495 in months and these felt very good.

The assisted chins were great. I really like them as you can really work your lats more than regular pullups IME.

109

[quote]ebomb5522 wrote:
Deadlift
Worked up to 2 singles with 605
[/quote]
wut

110

[quote]RATTLEHEAD wrote:

[quote]ebomb5522 wrote:
Deadlift
Worked up to 2 singles with 605
[/quote]
wut[/quote]

Ya, they felt good. I haven’t DL’d heavy in a few months and being that I weigh 198-199, speed was decent. I’d like to hit 3xBw for 3-5 reps at some point…that’s a good goal to shoot for.

111

12.17.13

Abs/HIIT/Squats

Mobility
Limber 11
Extra hip work

Ab Giant Set
Hanging Leg Raise x 20
L-Sit on Dip Bars x 20 seconds
Heavy Kneeling Rope Crunch x 8
Decline Twists x 16
Swiss Ball Crunch x 20
Supported V-Ups x 15
3 rounds

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

4 x 20-30 seconds vacuums

Back Squats (work up until speed slows, 45-60 seconds between each set)
135 x 6
185 x 6
225 x 6
275 x 6
295 x 6
315 x 6
325 x 6
335 x 6
355 x 5 (stopped when speed of reps slowed)

Switched up the order of stuff today and did squats last, which was pretty tough, especially beltless after all the ab work and the HIIT. I definitely feel that the added work is helping them out, as the sets felt faster this week and more stable.

112

[quote]RATTLEHEAD wrote:

[quote]ebomb5522 wrote:
Deadlift
Worked up to 2 singles with 605
[/quote]
wut[/quote]

Yeah, he just threw those in :wink:

113

[quote]ebomb5522 wrote:
12.3.13

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

[/quote]

I’ve done this ab routine on my “off” day the past few weeks, just can’t really stay out of the gym haha. Plus I’m also trying to get my abs to “pop” more, so the more work the better. It’s a great workout, thanks for posting!

114

[quote]Lonnie123 wrote:

[quote]RATTLEHEAD wrote:

[quote]ebomb5522 wrote:
Deadlift
Worked up to 2 singles with 605
[/quote]
wut[/quote]

Yeah, he just threw those in ;-)[/quote]

Haha, ya, they weren’t in the planned workout, but I just wanted to see generally where I was at.

115

good thread, great work! i read many of these contest prep threads, glad to see T-Nation is getting back on track, less BS more folks doin’ the damn thing! cheers.

116

[quote]ebomb5522 wrote:
@ Rattlehead: Thanks man, I’m pumped to see what the extra focus will do for them over the next 6-8 weeks also.

Wanted to give you guys a bit more insight into my diet philosophy and supplementation.

I am right now reverse dieting, so that entials very slowly increasing carbs and fats as I progress. I have not gained a lb since my contest and am eating significantly more on a daily basis while doing virtually no cardio, so it’s definitely working.

As for actual food choices, I am a firm believer in nutrient-dense choices, specifically when it comes to fat intake. I am a big proponent of eating grass fed beef, cage free eggs, and coconut oil on a daily basis and my fats usually come from those sources or nut butter most days.

After listening to Ben Pakulski’s podcast with JM and reading some more info on the topic, I also have decided that, if possible, having carbless breakfast’s, where the fat is higher, are the way to go for me both energy-wise and in terms of their ability to allow you to maintain a higher degree of metabolic flexibility throughout the day.

As for peri-workout nutrition, I have found my best results coming when I take in a fast acting carbohydrate that is easy on the stomach, and cyclic dextrins have really worked well for me. I currently have a small meal 45-60 minutes prior to the workout, which right now is 2 slices of cinnamon raisin Ezekiel bread, 50 grams of whey, and 1-2 tbsp of almond butter. I have 20-30 grams of hydorlyzed casin mixed with 40 grams of carbs from cyclic dextrins right now during my workout, and my recovery and training intensity has been very high since reintroducing that as my peri-workout mix.

Other supplements include probiotics, curcumin, digestive enzymes, and omega 3s (2 times/week).

[/quote]

Would you still go low carb for the first meal if you trained in the morning after meal 1, and just start carbs with the peri workout shake?

117

Bump?