Increasing Power Levels

Training Training Logs
1

Long time lurker, have been reading the forum for years, and I figured it was probably about time I became an active member.

Have been training with resistance since I was probably about 13. Nothing spectacular but something up until the age of around 17. I then began to get really into the nutrition side of things as well and made some solid gains, putting on around 25lbs in a year or so, with some decent strength gains as well.
Went away to do a ski season working in a hotel and broke my collarbone badly after 3 weeks out there. This left me out of action for a good 4 months, complete with some shiny titanium augmentation in my shoulder. And all of my hard earned gains gone. Proceeded to mess about with no real purpose or drive until the start of college in October 2010, and then got back into things properly, until a knee injury meant I could do no lower body work without being in excruciating pain.
Got that fixed, and bulked up from ~180lbs to ~197lbs, then cut back down to 185lbs with the same level of body fat as pre-bulk (9/10%) in 6 months.

Going to be following a new program for the summer, while following a lean bulking diet (will post later). I’ve found higher volume programs tend to work better for me, hence the vast number of exercises. Program is detailed below:

Legs

  • Back squats: 2 warm up sets, 3 x 8
  • Leg extensions: 3/4 x 15-20
  • Hammer strength leg press (unilateral): 3x12-15 each leg
  • Hack squat: 3 x 6-8
  • Stiff leg deadlift: 3 x 8-12
  • Double leg hammy curl: 4 x 10-15
  • Single leg ham: 3 x 6-8
  • Hyperextensions: 4 x 10-15

Chest + Triceps

  • HS bench press: 2 warm up sets, 3 x 6
  • Decline barbell press: 1 warm up set, 3 x 8
  • Incline HS press: 3 x 6-8
  • Cable cross overs: 3 x 10-15
  • Rope cable extensions: 3 x 15
  • Bar cable extensions: 3 x 15

Back + Biceps

  • Deadlift: 2 warm up sets, 3 x 5
  • T Bar row: 4 sets, 12, 10, 8, 6 (increasing the weight)
  • Single arm row (plate loaded): 3 x 10-15
  • HS Lat. pull down: 3 sets, 12, 10, 8 (increasing the weight)
  • Lat. pull over: 3 x 10-15
  • Hyperextensions: 4x10-15
  • Machine preacher curls: 5 x 10-15

Shoulders/calves

  • DB shoulder press: 2 warm up sets, 3 x 6-8
  • Lateral raise: 3 sets, 15, 12, 10 (increasing the weight)
  • Front raise: 3 sets, 15, 12, 10 (increasing the weight)
  • Rear delt. flyes: 3 x 10-15
  • Trap bar shrugs: 5 x 10-15
  • Seated calf raise: 3 sets, 15, 12, 10 (increasing the weight)
  • Standing calf raise: 4 x 15-20

Chest + Arms

  • Incline bench press: 2 warm up sets, 3 x 6-8
  • Cable cross overs: 3 x 15
  • Dips (weighted): 5 x ? (go to fatigue)
  • 1 arm tricep extensions: 3 x 15
  • DB extensions: 4 x 6-8
  • Standing BB curl: 4 x 10-15
  • Single arm DB preacher curl: 2 x 10-15

Current numbers:
Bench: 130kg
Squat: 160kg
Deadlift: 210kg
Military press: 100kg

Squat is lagging due to the knee injury, and a stupid prior obsession with “jogging, with a soft j”.

Here’s to some solid gains.

2

Current body measurements are:

Chest: 45"
Waist: 32"
Hips: 39"
Upper arms (flexed): 16"
Forearms: 13"
Shoulders (around) 52"
Thighs: 24" (weeds)
Calves: 16.5"
Neck: 16.5"

Bodyweight: 187lbs

Pics to follow…

3

Todays training (weight x reps):

Squats:
20kg x 30
60 x 20
110 x 8 (3 working sets) ATG

Hack squat:
50 x 8
55 x 7
60 x 8

45 deg leg press (unilateral):
100 x 15
120 x 12
130 x 12

Cybex Leg ext (selectorised):
10 x 20
11 x 20
12 x 20
13 x 20 (super pumped after that)

Stiff leg deadlift:
100 x 10
120 x 10
140 x 8

Cybex Single leg ham curl (standing/selectorised):
3 x 8
4 x 7
5 x 6

Cybex Double leg ham curl (lying/selectorised):
9 x 15
9 x 14
10 x 12
10 x 10

Was absolutely drenched in sweat at the end of all this, struggled to walk to the car. All good signs :).

4

Todays nutrition:

630 - wake, green tea, 1 tsp ALCAR, 30 minute dog walk
730 - 1 scoop oatmeal with half cup coconut milk, 4 whole eggs, 2 rashers lean bacon
1000 - pre-wo, 3 CEE tabs, 1 tsp ALCAR
intra - nutrisport energy boost with added peptopro
post - 1 scoop protein blend, 1 scoop whey, 1 scoop oats
1200 - 1 chargrilled chicken breast, 1 scoop brown rice, 1 massive handful spinach
1445 - 1 sweet potato (large), 1 can of tuna, 1 tsp of mayo (natural), 200g of cheddar
1630 - snack shake; 1 scoop whey, 1 scoop blend, 1 scoop oats, 1 handful blueberries, 1 handful raspberries, 1 cup coconut milk, 1 tsp PB, 1 tsp ground almonds, 1 tsp desecated coconut
2000 - bbq chicken wings, breast, thigh, meat… 1 serving new potatoes, 1 serving green salad
2200 - 1 cup cottage cheese

5

Chest

6

Tried to update yesterday, failed to process all of it (see above), so here it is again:

Chest

7

Tried to update yesterday, failed to process all of it (see above), so here it is again:

Chest and triceps

HS DB bench:
20 x 30
40 x 15
50 x 6, 55 x 6, 60 x 6

HS incline bench:
80 x 8
100 x 8
120 x 7

Decline bench press:
60 x 15
100 x 8
110 x 8
120 x 6 (sloppy form on the last couple of reps)

Pec flye machine:
87. 5 x 15
102.5 x 15
117.5 x 15
125 x 15 x 5 (good pump from this)

Tricep rope pull down (selectorised):
10 x 15
12 x 15
13 x 15

Tricep bar pull down (selectorised):
12 x 15
13 x 15
14 x 15

Weighted dips:
3 sets of 12, not sure on the weight of the chain

Nutrition

ALCAR

8

(…) and green tea
1 scoop oats, 4 whole eggs, 2 rashers bacon
3 CEE tabs pre WO
Nutrisport energy boost intra, 1 tbsp peptopro WO
1 scoop blend, 1 scoop whey, 1 scoop oats post WO
1 large sweet potato, 1 tin of tuna
4 whole eggs, 1/2 cauliflower pizza, 4 chicken wings
snack shake (as previous day)
Lean beef steak, 1 large sweet potato, green salad
1 cup of cottage cheese pre bed

Legs felt a bit sore, but I reckon I could have done more. New gym, new equipment, some of which I haven’t used before, so I’m still finding my working weights. Shoulders

9

Shoulders session today; went well.

DB shoulder press:
17.5kg x 30
35kg x 8
35 x 8
37.5 x 8
37.5 x 7

Lat raise:
22.5 x 15
25 x 12
27.5 x 10

Front raise:
17.5 x 15
20 x 12
22.5 x 10

Rear flye (selectorised):
80 x 15
95 x 15
102.5 x 15

Barbell shrugs:
100 x 21
140 x 12
140 x 13
100 x 20 (grip started to go)

Seated calf raise:
60 x 15
80 x 12
80 x 10

Standing calf raise:
80 x 20
120 x 20
120 x 20
150 x 15

Ridiculous calf pump going after this, felt like they were going to burst!

Finished off with 30 KB swings with a 28kg KB, followed by 30 secs rest, repeated for a total of 3 times. Drenched.

Nutrition:

Green Tea and ALCAR
1 scoop oats, coconut milk, 4 whole eggs, 1 scoop blend
1 scoop wild rice, 1 roasted chicken breast
3 CEE, 1 tsp ALCAR pre WO
nutrisport energy boost intra WO
1 scoop belnd, 1 scoop whey, 1 scoop oats with water post WO
1 scoop brown rice, 250g of white fish
Snack shake
Pork ribs, steamed salmon, asparagus, baby sweetcorn, green salad
1 cup cottage cheese

Day off training tomorrow pre deadlifts, legs are still feeling a bit sore. I should add I do 30 minutes of fasted cycling in the morning after the green tea, just as a bit of a metabolic boost to start the day.

10

Off day today. Nutrition consisted of:

Fasting in the morning, pulsed with peptopro (still tastes like ass)
Beef stir-fry
Protein blend with water
Beef chili con carne with brown rice.

Have been experimenting with the pulse feasting idea outlined by CT, but I end up feeling dreadful with no energy at all without a solid meal. Stupid body. Deadlifting tomorrow though, along with the rest of back, psyched!

11

Forgot to update yesterday, woops. Back day:

Deadlift:
60 x 20
100 x 12
175 x 5
185 x 5
190 x 5

T bar row:
40 x 12
60 x 10
80 x 8
80 x 6

Single arm plate loaded row HS:
20 x 15
35 x 15
45 x 12
50 x 10

HS pull down:
45 x 15
55 x 12
65 x 12

Lat pull over (selectorised):
15 x 15
17 x 12
19 x 10

Hyperextensions:
BW x 15
15 x 15
20 x 15 x 2

Preacher curl:
35 x 15
45 x 15
50 x 12
50 x 12
55 x 10

Felt fantastic after this session, hit a PR with the deadlifts having pulled my glute pretty badly about a month back.

Nutrition:
Oats, coconut milk, 4whole eggs, 1 scoop whey
Snack shake
3 CEE before WO
Nutrisport energy boost intra WO
1 scoop blend, 1 scoop whey, 1 scoop oats post WO
Lean beef steak, 1 scoop brown rice
Tuna, sweet potato, fat free mozarella

12

…chicken breast, sweet potato chips, grilled pepper, 2 whole eggs
1 cup cottage cheese

13

Again forgot to update. Chest and arms day today, trained with a random polish bloke as we were’ at similar strength levels, so a few extras:

Incline bench:
20 x 30
60 x 15
100 x 8
110 x 6
100 x 10 (pass on what happened here, felt easy)

Cable crossovers (selectorised):
4 x 30
6 x 20
8 x 15
9 x 15 x 2

Weighted dips:
1 chain x 19
1 chain x 20
2 chains x 11
2 chains x 10
BW x 24

Incline DB flye:
20 x 15kg x 2
20 x 22kg

Incline DB press:
35 x 8
35 x 10
35 x 12

Tricep extensions (selectorised):
8 x 15
9 x 15
10 x 15

DB overhead ext:
35 x 8
37.5 x 8
40 x 7
45 x 6 (grind)

BB curl:
25 x 15
30 x 15
35 x 15
40 x 12 (pumped as hell)

1 arm preacher:
12.5 x 12
15 x 15

Absolutely ruined by the end of all this. Nutrition was pretty much identical to the day before.