Sunday
Floor Skullcrusher
120+40chainsx12,12,12,13
Time to move up
BB Curl
105x8,8,10,10
Tri Pressdown
105x12,13,13,15
Kai Curl
25x12,12,10,9
Did these as kind of a superset between tris and bis. I’ll probably bench on Wednesday now.
Monday
Rotary Hip/Leg Curl
100x10/10
117.5/10/10
130x10/10
Squat
95, 115, 135, 155x5, 175x4
Obviously I was minding my knee on that last set. I played around with lots of stances, and it seems I’ll have the best results from a wide stance. It’s a lot easier to keep the weight on the right muscles that way, and my flexibility is good enough now that I wasn’t having problems with depth. Long way to go still. I’m thinking 185-205 range next week, but we’ll see. I forgot my knee sleeves AGAIN, so I didn’t wear anything.
Lunge
BW up and back across the room.
That was all I could handle yesterday, as I’m pushing my knee basically to its limits. Hilariously, its limit appeared to be 33% of my old max as of yesterday. I’m sore as shit again, though. I’m not a huge fan of wide-stance squatting, but in the end I think it will work my legs harder than my old stance did while keepign my knee happy, so win-win.
Diet notes:
I’ll be running this for 2 more weeks, than adjusting carbs to the point that I slowly gain some weight back. I set my limit at 200 lbs, since I’m not willing to take that psychological hit. I weighed in at 206 yesterday, so I still have some room to lean out. As with everyone who has ever dieted, I’ve discovered just how much weight you have to lose to really get lean. At 200 I may be 13-15% BF, which would have corresponded with a BW loss of almost 20 pounds. That in mind, my eating will be more structured from here on. I think I can manage 100-150 carbs 6 days a week with one recharge day, and I expect that will keep me leaner and feeling better.
Great job on the pis up top, bud. Substantial difference for such a short amount of time. This diet been all too hard for you, overall an easy experience?
[quote]Spidey22 wrote:
Great job on the pis up top, bud. Substantial difference for such a short amount of time. This diet been all too hard for you, overall an easy experience? [/quote]
Much appreciated, sir. That’s the thing, it’s been really easy to make the adjustment. Now, that’s not to say it would be easy to get to 10%, which is still a bit of a pipe dream for me at this point. But carb cycling really isn’t hard. If I was willing to lose more weight, I would start knocking down my fats and probably ditch the reload day, but I don’t think I would approach true leanness until I was 185 or so, and I like being 200+ way too much for that. My plan now is to slowly inch back up to the 215 range over the next few months, but without getting nearly as fat as I had gotten. I’ve never been too cognizant of my nutrition, so taking a more scientific approach to weight-gain will be fun in its own right. All that said, mad props to guys like Bug who have dieted and maintained leanness. Getting to that level and maintaining it while still gaining strength and size is a crazy accomplishment.
Wednesday
Bench
275, 300, 325x3, 335x8
“Light” day…felt really good. The bar path was significantly better than last time, and I probably could have gone to 360 if I had wanted to, but I’m not rushing anything. With the turn in weather, I’m feeling great, spry, and just waiting to explode. Once I get out of starvation mode, I may be able to really shoot for that 440 bench. And even taking it fairly easy, that was only 15 pounds short of my summer best for 8 reps. A lot to be happy about there.
Tate Press
85x12,12,12,14
Time to move up. This is really the perfect exercise for me. I gave low incline a shot, but I really couldn’t take it after a big set of bench even with the 100s.
Flye Machine/Rear Delt machine
190/150x10/10, 12/12, 15/15
I wanted 4 sets here, but I really gassed myself with that 15/15 set. This machine is a lot better when you aren’t trying to rack the damn thing…a lesson it took me 10 years to learn.
HS Incline
2PPSx12, 3PPSx10
No lockout, good pump.
A fine day, gentlemen. GF was with me doing German volume training, a friend of mine hit a PR of 125 and is almost benching her BW, and my shoulder is slowly getting better. Spring is a great time of year.
Thursday
Inverted Row
BWx15x3
Switched my grip from UH to OH from set to set.
Pullup
BWx12, +25x12x2, +25x14
Neutral grip this time.
Pullover/Db Rear Delt
262.5/35x10x2
Ran out of time after this.
Friday
Bent LR
25, 25, 40, 45, 50x10
Smith Military
225, 235, 245x10, 255x8,10
Improving, still feeling good.
DB Shrug
130x15,20,20,20
Lat Pressdown/Heavy L’s
70/40x10
75/40x10x2
Can’t remember if I did anything else or not, but my shoulders were pretty fried afterward. I liked the L’s better than LR’s.
Sunday
Skullcrusher
100, 130, 140x10, 150x8
At the gym that doesn’t have chains. Went a little deeper than I would have on the floor…don’t know why I didn’t just do these on the floor too.
Standing Strict DB Curl
30, 35, 35x10, 35x8
Simultaneous. Definitely harder than swinging heavy weight around.
Tri Pressdown
100, 107.5, 115x15, 120x12
Called it. No caffeine in me and it was late, so I skipped the last biceps thing.
Monday
Rotary Hip
75, 100, 112.5x10
Squat
95, 135, 155, 185, 205x5, 225x2
Big progress with my knee. I wore the sleeves with the open knee cap, and I didn’t feel anything through 185. 205 was fine, and it wasn’t til the 225 set that I felt it was near its limit. My fourth week is supposed to be off, so I’ll probably just do all exercises that don’t load the knee, and maybe throw in some BW lunges.
Leg Curl
100x10, 117.5x10, 130x7
Attempted some lunges, but knee was too sore by that point. Squats pretty much end my workouts at this point, but I don’t think there’s better bang for my buck.
Wednesday
Bench
275, 295, 315x3, 335x2, 360x3, 205x30
LOL…That felt like a goddamn semi on my hands. I’ve officially hit an energy wall with my diet. The last set with 205 was done to get on our strength board and beat the 29 reps at BW someone had done. Definitely had a few more in me, but that gassed me. Fresh I might get in the 35-40 range.
Tate Press
90x12x3
Pec Machine
somexsome
That was insane. I’ve never felt that drained. That in mind, I think the diet has about run its course. I’m going to deload next week and run the diet through the 11th when I’m going to New Orleans. All bets will be off that week, and hopefully I’ll be able to put on some muscle. I’ll detail my diet plans then. I’ve been making sure to use up all my allotted carbs since then, though…can’t handle that kind of weakness.
Friday
Inverted Row
BWx15,15,20, various grips
Pullup
BW, +25, +50, +50, +50x10
Pullover/Rear Delt Flye
262.5/35x10x3
Much easier this week.
Lat Pressdown
75x10, 10+3+3 (15s RP)
Good back day. The extra day off and sufficient carbs have helped. I’ll take the final after picture on the 10th or 11th.
Good work man. 360x3 is freaking beastly.
I know you talked about not really wanting to go under 200 lbs, and this diet you think has ran its course. Thought of giving something like CarbBackloading a try?? It’s worked well for me, but a lot of heavier guys seem to like it as well for a kind of recomp effect, losing a bit of fat while maintaining weight. Just food for thought…
^^^Been away a while, so just saw this. I got to 199.8 right after posting that last entry, so I basically ended the diet early. The next time I’m looking to get a little leaner, I’ll look into that and probably bombard you with questions.
Diet “lessons learned:”
Low-carb dieting works well
Fat fell off me in the first 4 or 5 weeks without any change in energy
Going under 75g of carbs doesn’t bode well. Aside from having no energy and losing weight on my lifts, it really messed up my “regularity,” if you get my drift. I’ve never has issues getting enough fiber, but I just couldn’t keep up without carbs. I was having incredible stomach pain several times a week that was keeping me up at night, so now I know what not to do.
I’m keeping wheat to a minimum in my diet right now, with potatoes/rice/oats accounting for most of my carbs
I’m looking to slowly gain some weight back, and work in the 210-215 range without getting fat(ter)
All in all, I really enjoyed the experience. I’ve been complimented throughout by just about everyone I know, and some people actually thought I was getting bigger because my V-taper got better. I lost a couple inches off my waist, and I can now fit into the last notch on my belt again. I also feel a lot better, and my blood pressure came back down to normal levels. I’m going to get my cholesterol checked soon…hopefully my shitty genetics are overcome by the fact that I’m significantly leaner than everyone in my family with high cholesterol.
An aside that may explain my stubbornness when it comes to injury:
My uncle, who has always been a big guy and used to be very strong, tore his bicep while pushing hay a year ago. I’m not sure which head he tore…I think it was the short head. He knew he did it immediately, as he saw muscle do what I can best describe as “accordioning.” His solution was to ignore it, and he didn’t even ask a doctor about it until over a year later. Obviously the muscle is pretty much gone now and there was nothing to do by that point, but that’s the men in my family in a nutshell. It’s also why I can barely squat 225 at the moment. Speaking of which…
Monday: Rotary hips and squats to 225 for 3 sets of 2. I played around with a narrow stance in my oly shoes, but that just isn’t going to work (possibly ever again). With a wide stance, 225 certainly felt better this time than two weeks ago, but I’m still miles away from being comfortable there. My speed was a little better, though. I’ll probably only jump 20 pounds unless I’m feeling great. I also took an impromptu week off last week. It worked well considering my fatigued state and the pile of work/tests I had. Nawluns coming up Weds, so I may only get this “session” in plus an abbreviated bench session tomorrow, but we’ll see. There may be a gym near the hotel.
Got back from Nawlins Sunday…trip was great. Ate like a pig, got my Cafe Du Monde fix, and generally had a relaxing weekend. The muffelata was one of the best sandwiches I’d ever eaten, and the crawfish etouffe at Mother’s was fantastic. It’s really a fun city.
That said, the insane amount of walking didn’t do my knee any favors. We’ll see what I can handle tomorrow. I also flipped my squat and bench days to try to avoid excessively stressing my knee after squatting. Last week the weird shoulder pain that showed up out of nowhere got worse, so I worked up to a narrow-grip single of 350 and called it a day. Today was my first workout since then…
Tuesday
NGB
275, 295x4, 315x7+2 (30s RP)
So this wasn’t awful, but my right shoulder clearly has some kind of tear or something like it. I think it happened on that God-forsaken BW set, and that may indicate a tiny pec tear. I felt a lot stronger today and was able to get a good session of narrow in, so I’ll play this by feel over the next few weeks.
DB Floor 1-arm Bench
80x12,12,12,15
This was pretty legit…tris were torched.
Cable Cross
SomexSome, 60x25
That fucking blew, but in a good way. Just wanted to get something in with light weight.
Front Raise/Curl
60x8/8, 15/15
Wanted to find a way to get some curls in, so I supersetted this with an EZ bar. I still hate them with every ounce of my soul.
Good workout, in a good mood today after finishing an 8-page paper last night. I’m probably going to expand my back workouts, because that’s about all I can push right now.
KNEE UPDATE
ZOMG! Finally some “good” news on this front. So I went in to see our student health PT for the 4th time, and he finally had me get some x-rays. He contacted me almost immediately, saying he found a bone cyst on the underside of my patella. Since that’s the pain side and there is nothing like it on the right, it’s the likely source of my problems. He thinks it’s acting like a stress fracture and causing the pain/inhibition, so the next step is an MRI on the 30th. The fix is more straight-forward if this is the cause of the issue, so I’m tentatively excited.
Thursday
Snatch Rack-pull
405, 455, 455x3
Since the doc’s visit changes some things, I’m going to make the most out of the next few weeks and get some heavier stuff in. I was leaning a hair to the right, but there was no pain. I’ll probably do GMs on Monday in place of squats, too.
Supinated Pullup
BW, +25, +50x8, +75x7
Pullover/Lat Pressdown
262.5/75x10/10, 8/7
255/62.5x10/10
Gassed on the first, so had to back off slightly.
Good stuff. Feels good to finally get a pump again.
Awesome to hear you’re on the way to getting healthy man. Can’t wait to see what you can do at 100%
Friday
Floor Skullcrusher
120+40 (chains) x12x3
I probably could have gone heavier and for another set, but I knew that this would leave me incredibly sore, so eased back into it.
Pressdown
112.5x12,12,10
Elbows felt good.
Kai Curl/Rear Delt Flye
30x8/8x2
30x10/10
Quick, but effective. I gave Smith Military a shot, but it wasn’t happening on my newly injured shoulder.
Monday
NGB
275, 300x3, 325x6
No way I could have managed a RP set.
Neutral 1-arm DB Floor
90x10x3
Ha, just a wee bit harder than 80. I’ll probably stay here and add an extra set next week.
Reverse DB
60x12, 70x10x2
Played around with this, and it wasn’t too bad. Really took the pain in my shoulder away.
Yea, I need to stop benching. So seriously this time, no flat bench next week. The narrow grip was only a minor bandaid and obviously isn’t solving the problem. I’m more convinced it’s an anterior delt issue after the way it felt today, but who knows? I’m going to stick with DBs for a while and up my stretching, so if I have knee surgery in a few weeks I’ll be able to wait until after to start benching again.
Tuesday
Rotary Hip machine
Bunch of reps
Good Morning
225, 245, 255, 265x3
Old-fashioned GM, got around parallel to the floor every time. Could definitely have gone heavier, but I’m making sure not to throw too much at my low back so soon.
Squats and stuff with light weights
Sweet baby Jesus was I sore after this. Should be able to stick with these for a while.
Thursday
Snatch RP (below knee)
405, 455, 475x3
Wanted to go to 495, but had some popping in both knees. Not painful popping, but “you better not put any more weight on there, asshole” popping.
Supinated Pullup
BW, +25, +50x8, +75x7.5
Missed 8 by about 3 inches.
Lat Pressdown
75x10x3, 67.5x12
Awesome
DB Preacher Curl
30x10x2, 30x12
Done like the Kai Curls, slow with emphasis on technique.
Good workout. Alleviated some of the ridiculous GM soreness. I may look for a replacement for pullups that doesn’t require OH movement.
Friday
Floor Tri Bar Ext
130x10, 135x10x3
A little more comfortable than our terrible EZ bar.
Pressdown
100x15x3
Prone DB Rear Delt Flye
25x10,10,15
Monday
Good Morning
225, 245, 265x3, 275x4
Better speed, less discomfort in my back.
Speed Sumo DL
Up to 315x2x2
This was frustrating because the weight felt light, but my knee couldn’t handle anything past 315. I may start with Sumos when my knee is healthy, though.
Tuesday-Went in planning on doing neutral DB presses, but they absolutely killed my shoulder. I took the hint and used this as an impromptu shoulder rehab session, supersetting band pull aparts, shoulder stretches and prone Ys. I nixed any upper body work for the rest of the week to really give it rest. From what I can discern, it’s a grade one or two tear and isn’t very serious, so it just needed a little rest and ice. It’s felt a lot better this week, but I’m going to stick with arms and no OH work with back before working bench back in.
Rest of the week-Finals, followed by drunken debauchery at Derby.
Monday
Good Morning
225, 245, 265x3, 285x5
Easy. Hammies coming back.
Leg Press
Supersetted these with GMs trying to to do light weight/high reps, but I got knee pain at 4 PPS, so I only lasted two sets.
DB Shrug
130x15,15,20
Leg Curl w/1-leg ecc
100, 112.5x10
Trying to add some stuff so this isn’t so short. Also considering doing GM 2x a week.
Knee Update
Got an MRI last Monday and the results on Thursday. The news was very encouraging, to say the least. The bone cyst in my kneecap takes up almost the entire upper third and is inside the bone itself. It’s essentially a big fluidy sack of blood that impairs the structural integrity of my knee when it assumes any appreciable load. This is why I didn’t respond at all to rehab, because my surrounding musculature was perfectly healthy. My cartilage was also perfect, which was my main concern. I feel a lot better because now I know it wasn’t my fault that I wasn’t getting any better from what I was doing. I have a meeting with a surgeon on the 23rd, and he’ll likely be biopsying the cyst to make sure it’s benign, and then the treatment I’ve read about was to fill the cyst with bone cement and that’s that. There are only a handful of documented cases of this injury, so I guess I really am a special snowflake. Can’t wait to get back at it, and I think I’ll start a new log when the time comes.
I feel ya on all these injuries you keep getting bro. Reading your log is starting to remind me of me lol
Tuesday
Floor Tri Bar SC
130, 135, 140x10, 140x11
Pullover
240, 255x10, 255x8, 240x10
Switched my grip up and it made this a lot harder, but better.
Tri Pressdown
100x12x4
Much harder after following the other two.
Lat Pressdown
67.5x10x3
Dead.
Excellent. Sorer than I’ve been in a long time after these. I’ll attempt the floor DB flyes next week, shoulder willing.
Thursday
Snatch RP
405x3, 455x2, 480x1
Strap broke on 455, and my knee protested on the last set, so I cut it off at one.
UH Row
275, 295, 315x6, 335x8
Not bad after so much time away from these.
Row Machine
150x10,12,12+5+5 (30s RP)
Ho hum, but not too bad. Happy to be doing rows again.