Thursday, July 21st, 2011
Chest/Triceps
Bench:
Bar X 8
135 X 6
195 X 4
215 X 4 X 4
Barbell Incline:
150 X 4 X 4
Dumbbell Flies:
25’s X 5 X 10
Barbell Skullcrushers:
65 X 4 X 10
Band Pushdowns:
Purple X 5 X 10
Band Pull-aparts:
Purple X 4 X 25
Lying External Rotations:
2.5 X 3 X 15
Had a couple of shots last night and stayed up late. The workout was still decent but I had to pop my hips up a bit on the last rep. I also misloaded the bar for my first set. Oh well. I’m feeling pretty good on pressing.
Friday, July 22nd, 2011
Back/Biceps/Abs
Pull-ups:
BW X 3 X 6
BW X 5 - Wide-grip
Lat Pulldowns:
80 X 8
95 X 2 X 8
110 X 8
Pullovers:
50 X 3 X 10
1-Arm Pulldowns:
40 X 3 X 10
60 X 6 → 50 X 3 → 40 X 3 → 30 X 3 → 20 X 3
Seated Face-pulls:
80 X 4 X 10
Barbell Curls:
70 X 4 X 5
Standing Abs:
100 X 4 X 10
Pull-ups felt much better. I tried out a bunch of different exercises. Pulldowns felt great but pullovers and face-pulls were a bit funky and rough on the shoulders. I had to get in and out really quickly.
Saturday, July 23rd, 2011
Shoulders
Dumbbell Lateral Raises/Overhead Band Stretch Superset:
25’s X 8 X 8
Six Ways:
7.5’s X 5 X 10
Dumbbell Rear Delt Raises:
40’s X 4 X 10
Hang and Swings:
20’s X 4 X 25
Band Pullaparts:
Blue X 4 X 25
Lying External Rotations:
2.5 X 3 X 15
I just repeated what I did last week. Yesterday, I ate probably about 500 g of carbs, most from sugar, and I wasn’t feeling too great today. Awesome workout regardless. Shoulders are really getting that capped look back.
Monday, July 25th, 2011
Chest/Triceps
Bench:
Bar X 8
135 X 6
195 X 4
220 X 4 X 4
Barbell Incline:
155 X 4 X 4
Dumbbell Flies:
25’s X 5 X 10
Barbell Skullcrushers:
70 X 2 X 10
70 X 9
70 X 6
Band Pushdowns:
Purple X 5 X 15
Band Pull-aparts:
Purple X 4 X 25
Lying External Rotations:
2.5 X 3 X 15
DC Chest Stretch: 30’s for 1:30
DC Triceps Stretch: 15’s for 1:00
Things did not go well today. Pressing felt hard. Skullcrushers resulted in failure. I’ll repeat the weight on bench and skullcrushers on Thursday. I’m hoping for better.
Tuesday, July 27th, 2011
Back/Biceps/Abs
Pull-ups:
BW X 4 X 6 - Wide-grip
1-Arm Dumbbell Rows:
75 X 2 X 8
95 X 2 X 8
1-Arm Pulldowns:
70 X 3 X 10
Cable Scapular Retractions:
40 X 2 X 15
50 X 2 X 15
Barbell Shrugs:
185 X 2 X 20
225 X 2 X 10
Barbell Curls:
75 X 4 X 5
60 X 10
Hanging Knee Raises:
BW X 4 X 10
Standing Abs:
100 X 4 X 10
DC Lat Stretch: 25+BW for 1:30
DC Biceps Stretch: 20’s for 1:30
Felt good! The scap retractions were awesome, I stole them from The Mighty Stu after creeping the LiveSpill a little bit. My weight is stuck around 182 lbs. It feels pretty bad. lol. I guess I will just have to start eating more.
Wednesday, July 27th, 2011
AM - 55 min fasted walking
Legs
Front Squat:
135 X 5
185 X 5
195 X 5
205 X 5
Barbell RDL’s:
155 X 6
205 X 6
215 X 6
225 X 6
GHR:
BW X 3 X 8
Hyperextensions:
25+BW X 3 X 10
Knee-outs:
Doubled purple X 3 X 10
Glute Bridges:
BW X 3 X 10 - 5 second hold
Squatting went pretty well. I haven’t done any real work on them in about 8-10 weeks so considering all that I’m happy with how my strength held up. I’d say I could hit 275-315 for a single right now. My right erector was a tad bit funky but movement was super smooth aside from a bit of lost flexibility in the bottom of the squat. RDL’s went really well. I was getting a great stretch and really popping my hips through at the top. I think I’ll stick with these squat and deadlift variations through the end of this upper body bodybuilding phase that I’m doing right now and then transition back to the powerlifts.
Thursday, July 28th, 2011
Chest/Triceps
Bench:
Bar X 8
135 X 6
195 X 4
220 X 4 X 4
Barbell Incline:
155 X 3 X 4
155 X 3
Dumbbell Flies:
25’s X 5 X 10
Dumbbell Extensions:
35’s X 2 X 10
40’s X 2 X 3
Band Pushdowns:
Purple X 5 X 10
Band Pull-aparts:
Purple X 4 X 25
Lying External Rotations:
2.5 X 3 X 15
DC Chest Stretch: 30’s for 1:30
DC Triceps Stretch: 15’s for 1:30
Time to switch things up. Things are not working for bench as they usually do. It’s probably because I’m so tiny right now. lol. Need to Grow!
Friday, July 27th, 2011
Back/Biceps/Abs
Pull-ups:
BW X 4 X 6 - Wide-grip
1-Arm Dumbbell Rows:
80 X 2 X 8
100 X 2 X 6
1-Arm Pulldowns:
70 X 10
80 X 10
90 X 10
Cable Scapular Retractions:
50 X 2 X 15
60 X 2 X 15
Barbell Shrugs:
185 X 2 X 20
225 X 2 X 10
275 X 4
Barbell Curls:
80 X 4 X 5
60 X 10
Hanging Knee Raises:
BW X 4 X 10
Standing Abs:
100 X 4 X 10
DC Lat Stretch: 25+BW for 1:30
DC Biceps Stretch: 20’s for 1:30
Everything felt pretty easy today. Grip strength was the only issue on shrugs. I’ve got my new split all planned out in my head and I’ll write it out soon. I’ve run it by a few people and got their approval but hopefully y’all will let me know if it needs some tweaking.
Just out of curiosity why have you added in DC stretching? Do you follow other principles of DC training?
[quote]parsley wrote:
Just out of curiosity why have you added in DC stretching? Do you follow other principles of DC training?[/quote]
I really only do the upper body stretches. I think it loosens up tight muscles and improves my upper body flexibility. I’ve found conventional stretching isn’t very useful for the upper body. Chest, bicep and tricep stretch are awesome, lat stretch hasn’t really impressed me. It’s super painful but I’ll have to wait for a while before seeing any differences in structure I think. If stretching the fascia works for me as a natural then great, but odds are it won’t. We’ll just have to see.
I plan on using the DC calf protocol and I used to do the whole carbs-protein/fat-protein meals coupled with carb cutoffs but I’ve realized that a lot of that is just broscience and isn’t necessary at all. The intensity they preach and beating the log book really stuck with me.
[quote]165StateChamp wrote:
It’s super painful but I’ll have to wait for a while before seeing any differences in structure I think. If stretching the fascia works for me as a natural then great, but odds are it won’t. We’ll just have to see.[/quote]
I’m not really familiar with DC so could you explain this a bit?
[quote]parsley wrote:
[quote]165StateChamp wrote:
It’s super painful but I’ll have to wait for a while before seeing any differences in structure I think. If stretching the fascia works for me as a natural then great, but odds are it won’t. We’ll just have to see.[/quote]
I’m not really familiar with DC so could you explain this a bit?
[/quote]
Dante Trudel attributes much of his ridiculous width to the hanging lat stretch. It’s supposed to help you push your scapulae out farther while also stretching the fascia. Fascia restricts muscle growth but it’s really only significant for AAS users who are growing so much that they are being restricted. A natural guy likely isn’t being kept from growing by something like this.
Personally, I’ve found the chest stretch to feel pretty great and have noticeable results. My chest is much rounder and fuller and I’ve got a lot more stretchmarks. I don’t know if I can attribute this to the stretch though or just training chest with flies. Normally I don’t do them because my chest gets disproportionately big. Just trying to get freakin’ swole now though so I don’t really care. lol
That’s interesting that you may be able to change you muscle’s appearance with extreme stretching. To be honest i’ve heard of stuff like this where people would a combination of hanging lat stretches and something else (that the person wasn’t revealing) to instantly increase lat width by literally inches. Mentioned it was very painful and could really f ur day up if done wrong.
Saturday, July 30th, 2011
Shoulders
Dumbbell Lateral Raises:
25’s X 10
30’s X 10
35’s X 8
35’s X 8
40’s X 5
Six Ways:
7.5’s X 5 X 10
Band Facepull:
Blue X 5 X 10
Dumbbell Rear Laterals on bench:
15’s X 5 X 10
Band Pullaparts:
Blue X 4 X 25
Lying External Rotations:
2.5 X 3 X 15
I tweaked my lower back on lateral raises. Same spot as when I was power cleaning earlier this summer. This is getting ridiculous. It’s not too bad right now but that’s what I said last time. lol.
Sunday, July 31st, 2011
AM - 65 minutes fasted walking
Did it around noon. I’ve never claimed to be the smartest…lol
[quote]parsley wrote:
That’s interesting that you may be able to change you muscle’s appearance with extreme stretching. To be honest i’ve heard of stuff like this where people would a combination of hanging lat stretches and something else (that the person wasn’t revealing) to instantly increase lat width by literally inches. Mentioned it was very painful and could really f ur day up if done wrong. [/quote]
Yeah, if it works it’s definitely a useful tool. I think I remember hearing about what you’re talking about. Sounds like medieval torture though haha.
Alrighty, here’s the new plan. Lower back is slowly improving so I’ll be putting back in some movements that use it, mainly deadlifts, RDLs and front squats. I don’t plan on back squatting for a while. Upper body is still the main focus. I’ll really start forcing the food down once summer is over and I can just focus on lifting and school
Monday: Chest/Triceps
Bench - 5/3/1
Close-Grip
Dumbbell Flies
Tricep Exercise
Tricep Exercise
Tuesday: Back/Biceps
Deadlift
Pulldown
Row
Pullover
Bicep Exercise
Bicep/Forearm Exercise
Wednesday/Thursday: Shoulders/Calves
Incline Bench - 5/3/1
Lateral Raise
Lateral Raise with a stretch
Rear Delt Exercise
Rear Delt Exercise
Calf Raise
Thursday/Friday: Legs
Front Squat
RDL
Leg Press
Leg Curl
Friday/Saturday: Arms/Calves
Bicep Exercise
Bicep Exercise
Tricep Exercise
Tricep Exercise
Calves
That’s about it. Basically, I’m bodybuilding at least until my birthday on February 25th. I need to get back the size I’ve lost and more and also let my body heal up. There aren’t really any meets before my birthday that I have access to so my teenage dreams are pretty much over. lol. Time to become a grown-up!
Still using 5/3/1 though no?
Why are you using 5/3/1 for incline bench and regular bench but not deadlift and front squat?
[quote]parsley wrote:
Still using 5/3/1 though no?
Why are you using 5/3/1 for incline bench and regular bench but not deadlift and front squat?[/quote]
I’m not having the normal progress I would with linear progression on bench so for lack of anything better to do I’m running 5/3/1 percentages for those big upper body presses. I just want to get stronger on them as a way to see how I’m progressing as well as keep a some focus on strength. I think I can make up ground faster on front squats and deadlifts than 5/3/1 would allow me to so I’m not going to run it for them just yet.
Ight sounds good, pm heading your way as to not clog up your training log
[quote]parsley wrote:
Ight sounds good, pm heading your way as to not clog up your training log[/quote]
Haha no worries man. Response coming your way.