Evan's Training 2

Training Training Logs
341

9.15.11

Shoulders/Calves/Traps

Seatedv Dumbbell Press
40 x 12vb
55 x 12
75 x 8
Run The Rack
100 x 9 to 80 x failure to 60 x failure to 40 x failure to 20 x failure
Delt pump was stupid after this

Dumbbell Laterals (start from dead stop at sides each rep to eliminate swing)
30 x 10, 10
30 x 15 (failure)

Machine Delt Raise/Machine Press
1 superset: 12/30
1 superset: failure/failure

Standing Calf Raise/Seated Calf Raise
8/8
8/8

  • Smith Elevated Calf Raise
    8/8/8
    8/8/8
    45-60 seconds between giant sets

Quick Delt/calf day. Didn’t do any trap or rear rear Delt work as I just hit bak yesterday and rack deads took care of both pretty well. The dumbbell pressing felt solid, haven’t done a set in that manner in a long time and the pumps were crazy. Since shoulders seem to be a stronger point, I’m doing a bit less on their day and just really taking a few exercises and ramping to one top set…this should be good enough to keep them stimulated for the next 5 weeks or so.

342

[quote]jake_j_m wrote:

[quote]ebomb5522 wrote:

[quote]jake_j_m wrote:
Great back training Evan, I appreciate the comments after the exercise name… whilst they are probably mostly for your reference, little descriptions like that can make the difference with the feel of any exercise and will help if I try any of your variations. Excellent working weight on the rack pulls… must have felt amazingly good to pull 6 plates for 6… [/quote]

Ya, I like to describe every exercise exactly how I do it a it as slight modifications can change the intensity/style of an exercise entirely.

If I were to just say “close grip cable rows” or “single arm cable rows” you wouldn’t fully comprehend what I did or why I did them a certain way.

Thanks man, the rack pulls felt great…was very pleased with that weight especially considering my current bodyweight/state. [/quote]

No problem… would you say the importance of this cannot be understated? As I recently saw someone commenting on the difference between progressing because “form got looser” or progressing because the muscle got stronger when speaking of seated vs. standing DB curls… and I have to agree to an extent. If the exact same form isn’t used each time then progression is hard to quantify… [/quote]

Well, the way I see it, progression is really subjective…if you want to gain size and what you’re doing is working than great, strength etc…it really is dependent on what your goals are.

343

[quote]whatever2k wrote:
Awesome back training! Rack pulls are downright nasty. 6 plates for 6 is insane, especially with you being on a diet and all.[/quote]

Thanks brotha, still trying to push through strength barriers despite dieting.

344

9.16.11

Cardio: HIIT

Warmup: Incline Treadmill
Bike Sprints: 30 seconds all out at high resistance/4 minutes medium at 50 percent
Cooldown: Fast-Paced Uphill Walking

Just some cardio…taking two full days off of lifting, then might change things up slightly…stay tuned.

345

9.18.11

Close Grip Incline Press
Ramped to 185 x 28, 15

EZ Bar Curls
Bar x 20
20 + bar x 20
40 + bar x 15
Top set 1:
60 + bar x 19
Set 2:
80 + bar x 10

Overhead Rope Extensions
30 x 22
30 x 15
25 x 15
20 x 20

Hammer Curls (strict)
20 x 20
Alternating (average form)
40 x 12 LR
Top set
50 x 14 LR
Same Time (good form)
40 x 14
30 x 16

Cordova Pushdowns (each set just shy of absolute failure)
20 x 15, 12 LR
10 x 25, 13/15 LR

Lying Cable Curls
35 x 30
50 x 18 to 25 x failure (20-30)
3 sec negatives
30 x 20, 16

Bench Dips/Reverse EZ Bar Curls
3 sets, 10 reps/25-30

Much higher rep-oriented than usual and damn did I feel it…got the idea to go a bit higher rep from Doug Miller, a natty that I look up to.

After checking out a bunch of natural guys’ splits, I decided to make a slight alteration on my own.
Here’s how it will look:
Sun: Arms
Mon: Quads/Calves
Tues: Back
Wed: Chest
Thurs: Hamstrings/Calves
Fri: Shoulders
Sat: No lifting

Splitting up quads and hammies will not only allow me to hit them each a bit harder, but also will allow me to hit cardio a bit harder since I wont have one day of leg destruction followed by 2-4 days of being very sore. Excited to just do quads tomorrow : ).

346

9.19.11

Quads/Calves

Standing Machine Calf Raise (2 seconds stretch, 4 seconds negative, 2 seconds squeeze at top)
100 x 15
160 x 10
200 (stack) x 10
stack + 40 x 8
stack + 80 x 8, 10

Heels Elevated on 25s Front Squat
Continuous Tension
135 x 20
185 x 20
225 x 15
Normal Tension
275 x 8
315 x 9 (1 off all-time PR)
Continuous
225 x 13 + 3

Leg Extension
2 warmup sets, 15-25 reps
110 x 55, 22, 13, 10 = 100 total reps
done in rest pause fashion with 10 breaths between each set

Leg Press feet very close together, toes slightly pointed out (4 seconds negative, no lockout)
3 pps x 20
5 pps x 20
6 pps x 60 seconds of work
7 pps x failure to 5 pps (normal tension) x 30

Smith Elevated Sissy Squats/Walking Dumbbell Lunges
8/8/8/8 (no rest)
Sissys
95 x 10/30/45s x 25 total reps/BAR x failure

Very tough leg session. I woke up with a sore throat and some cold symptoms, ate a nice pre-workout meal, and then came in and killed it in the gym. I love when I feel sick but still come in and have a great session.

Front Squats felt great, extensions were brutal. Leg Press was brutal with the 60 seconds set. Sissy set/Lunges really filled my quads with blood to the point that I could see some quad veins through my white compression shorts : ).

Here is a video of the front squat:

347

Such a beast… still going so heavy after all the 20 rep sets must give insane pumps. Amazing front squats… do you think plate under heels is the way to go for guys without olympic shoes?

348

[quote]jake_j_m wrote:
Such a beast… still going so heavy after all the 20 rep sets must give insane pumps. Amazing front squats… do you think plate under heels is the way to go for guys without olympic shoes?[/quote]

I think it depends on a couple of factors namely, why you’re doing FR.

I do them to target my quads primarily and for strength purposes second. Even though I went heavy, I do them with my heels elevated because I feel that they hit my quads better that way. Continuous tension sets are amazing with the heels elevated as well.

349

Well I’m definitely doing them for quad-size first and strength gain second, so I will experiment with the difference in feel for me with or without plates, thanks Evan

350

[quote]jake_j_m wrote:
Well I’m definitely doing them for quad-size first and strength gain second, so I will experiment with the difference in feel for me with or without plates, thanks Evan[/quote]

NP…try doing continuous tension sets of 8-10…those work best IMO.

I did the 20s mainly to get my quads loose, but they were also somewhat difficult.

351

[quote]ebomb5522 wrote:

[quote]jake_j_m wrote:
Well I’m definitely doing them for quad-size first and strength gain second, so I will experiment with the difference in feel for me with or without plates, thanks Evan[/quote]

NP…try doing continuous tension sets of 8-10…those work best IMO.

I did the 20s mainly to get my quads loose, but they were also somewhat difficult. [/quote]

Great I will try this. Doing them first in my routine as priority for improvement progressive overload wise so may do something along the lines of set 1 - 10, set 2 - 8, set 3- aim for 6 and stick to the constant tension until the last set (eg. on the last set, 3 reps lockout, 2 reps lockout, 1 rep just manage to complete… I’m sure you get what I mean)

352

9.19.11

PM: Cardio
20 minutes medium state elliptical

Tired as hell.

That’s all.

353

9.20.11

AM: HIIT

Hill Sprints
10 minute fast-paced walk warmup
5 intervals: 30 seconds all out uphill, 3-4 minutes fast-paced walk, repeat
5 minute uphill walk cooldown

Brutal.

Gonna hit back either around 1:00 or 6:30 tonight, we’ll see how I feel after my first class at 11.

354

A lot of hard work in this log! Look forward to see how you turn out on stage.

355

[quote]Shontayne wrote:
A lot of hard work in this log! Look forward to see how you turn out on stage.[/quote]

Thanks bro, appreciate the encouragement!

356

9.20.11

PM: Back/Biceps

Rack Chins (full stretch/pause on each rep)
45 x 12
80 x 8
100 x 9 (PR)
135 x 5 to 100 x 3

Barbell Rows (Bentover, my old form)
135 x 12
225 x 12
275 x 10
315 x 12
275 x 20

Neutral Wide Lat Pulldown
2 x 20
1 x 8 + 8 partial reps (set to failure of full reps, then partials as far as I could go down until I could barely move the bar)
1 x 20

Eagle Lat Pulldowns
3 x 8 (3 sec holds)
1 x 10
1 x 15 (heaviest set to failure, 1 second holds)

Stretchers
1 x 21 (failure)
(same weight, not failure, 15 rest)
x 15, 12, 15
x 16 (failure again)

Chest Supported Dumbbell Rows (full stretch at bottom)
40 x 20, 16

Wow. Another sick workout. Carbs were dropped today slightly, had a tough hill sprint session this morning, but came in ready for war tonight. I haven’t done rack chins in about a month, and 100 was cake. Went for 135 and only got a few. My back was on fire after these.
I’m going back to my old style of barbell rows, where I am slightly Bentover with a bit wider than shoulder width grip/little body English and I really felt 315 x 12 today.

Eagle Pulldowns are a new method of torture. If you don’t do em’, I would strongly encourage you to give them a try. Stretchers are always fun and then a nice burnout with chest supported rows with a long stretch.

Just for clarification, I am still deadlifting, but will be moving deads/rack pulls to my hamstring/posterior chain day which is on Thursday.

Chest/more hill sprints tomorrow. Oh, and a high carb day :D.

357

Excellent stuff, I will look up the eagle pulldowns and give them a try at some point… rack chins may also be something I’ll try and set-up as I’ve only heard good things

358

[quote]jake_j_m wrote:
Excellent stuff, I will look up the eagle pulldowns and give them a try at some point… rack chins may also be something I’ll try and set-up as I’ve only heard good things[/quote]

Rack chins have to be one of my favorite back exercises of all time. One of the best overall width builders out there IMO.

Those, deads/rack pulls, bentover rows, and single arm pulldowns/rows are my favorite back builders. I just don’t/haven’t been doing them often because they’re tough to do without a partner, but now I will be doing them every week.

359

[quote]ebomb5522 wrote:

[quote]jake_j_m wrote:
Excellent stuff, I will look up the eagle pulldowns and give them a try at some point… rack chins may also be something I’ll try and set-up as I’ve only heard good things[/quote]

Rack chins have to be one of my favorite back exercises of all time. One of the best overall width builders out there IMO.

Those, deads/rack pulls, bentover rows, and single arm pulldowns/rows are my favorite back builders. I just don’t/haven’t been doing them often because they’re tough to do without a partner, but now I will be doing them every week.

[/quote]

Thanks for this, it sounds roughly like what I’m going to be trying to do in my new selection. I will try and set-up on my own but if I fail I’ll draft one of the other bodybuilding guys in to train them with me… I’m sure they will appreciate how awesome they (should) feel

360

9.21.11

AM: Cardio

Incline Treadmill HIIT
10 minutes fast-paced incline walk warmup
5 Intervals: incline between 10-15 (10 on first, 11 2nd/3rd, 12, then 15, speed between 9-10)
30 seconds sprint/3-4 minutes incline walking
10 minutes incline walking

Weighted Ab Circuit
Standing Cable Rope Crunch/Lat-Pulldown Flex-In
12/12
12/12
12/12
12/12

Doing a little experimenting with the treadmill for hill sprints. I don’t like the treadmill if I am going to do flat sprints because I can’t seem to go fast enough, but when you ramp the incline up to 10-15 degrees, it is much easier to sprint.

Chest/Arms later today.