Lo/Rez Training

Training Training Logs
141

[quote]LoRez wrote:

Short answer: my goals are physique related. To get bigger and more proportionate, while staying lean.

I’m tired [er, self conscious] of being so thin, so I want to first get to the point where I feel “normal”. At this point, that mainly just means, thicker, wider, with bigger arms.

Longer-term, I’d like to look somewhere within 80-90% of the physique of a Golden Age bodybuilder. John Farbotnik is a pretty good example. I’ve seen plenty of measurement charts, so somewhere within those numbers.

[/quote]

That is a great goal, and quite similar to my own. What is your nutritional strategy for gaining that much weight? I’ve seen you mention GOMAD, is that something you plan on using long-term?

[quote]LoRez wrote:
So, I think I want to start chasing some numbers, but within a structure that still focuses on hypertrophy. That’s where I think CTs training will help out.

I have this idea that if I just focus on getting my standing press to the mid 200s, while still staying lean and keeping within a training framework that still trains the rest of the body, that will get me most of the way there. [/quote]

I think that is a great idea. I’ve always found I’ve got good results from chasing numbers, with hypertrophy focused assistance (EDIT: not that I’ve ever reached any impressive numbers haha). And CT clearly knows his stuff haha.

[quote]LoRez wrote:

Thanks. Same to you.[/quote]

Thanks :slight_smile:

142

[quote]furo wrote:

[quote]LoRez wrote:

Short answer: my goals are physique related. To get bigger and more proportionate, while staying lean.

I’m tired [er, self conscious] of being so thin, so I want to first get to the point where I feel “normal”. At this point, that mainly just means, thicker, wider, with bigger arms.

Longer-term, I’d like to look somewhere within 80-90% of the physique of a Golden Age bodybuilder. John Farbotnik is a pretty good example. I’ve seen plenty of measurement charts, so somewhere within those numbers.

[/quote]

That is a great goal, and quite similar to my own. What is your nutritional strategy for gaining that much weight? I’ve seen you mention GOMAD, is that something you plan on using long-term?

[/quote]

Us 3 all nearly have the exact same goals lol.

143

[quote]RATTLEHEAD wrote:

[quote]furo wrote:

[quote]LoRez wrote:

Short answer: my goals are physique related. To get bigger and more proportionate, while staying lean.

I’m tired [er, self conscious] of being so thin, so I want to first get to the point where I feel “normal”. At this point, that mainly just means, thicker, wider, with bigger arms.

Longer-term, I’d like to look somewhere within 80-90% of the physique of a Golden Age bodybuilder. John Farbotnik is a pretty good example. I’ve seen plenty of measurement charts, so somewhere within those numbers.

[/quote]

That is a great goal, and quite similar to my own. What is your nutritional strategy for gaining that much weight? I’ve seen you mention GOMAD, is that something you plan on using long-term?

[/quote]

Us 3 all nearly have the exact same goals lol.[/quote]

Lol yup.

144

[quote]RATTLEHEAD wrote:
How long have you been training for dude?

And what programs have you run and for how long a period?[/quote]

With weights (and, actually serious about it)… about 8 months, with a 4 month break in the middle. 5 on, 4 off, 3 on.

Training history:

From age 13-18 I ran track and cross country. I was more of a middle distance runner though. Not great, not bad. 5k in 18:06, 800m in 2:03. Something like that.

When I was 19, I spent some time working up to 300 pushups, 300 situps 3x a week, thinking that would do something for me. It didn’t.

When I was 21, a girl friend of mine went crazy for some gymnast/tae kwon do guy, so that got me looking into gymnast bodyweight stuff. That brought me to Pavel Tsatsouline’s stuff, so the next few years, I played with pistol squats, one-arm pushups, and kettlebells. No real training program; just messing around.

Around 27 or so, after hanging out with some coworkers who were in decent shape and seeing how that just made things easier socially for them, I started looking into weight training.

Spent a lot of time “researching”. Eventually bought myself an olympic plate set, and was working on some of the old-school lifts. I kind of started from the beginning reading Alan Calvert and Hackenshmidt and stuff. Played with the bent press and Jefferson lift. Still not really any good progress.

Found StrongLifts and Starting Strength… did that for maybe 6 weeks. I was Steinborning the bar since I had no squat rack or pins, and doing floor presses. Mostly just got bored. The program didn’t agree with me at that point in time; the sets seems short and the rest periods long, and I just got bored while training.

Sometime around then, I found T-Nation, and also the 20-rep squat program. I was actually Steinborning the bar and doing 20-rep squats for awhile. Kind of ridiculous now that I think about it. Eventually bought a rack, sort of a hybrid between a half rack and a full rack.

But, I got sidetracked when I started studying Vince Gironda, and realistically stopped making much progress. I learned a lot though. And then health issues, and life issues.

May, this year, I decided to get back to training. I started doing another 20-rep squat program, this time a genuine John McCallum program from his book. I ran that for 12 or 13 weeks.

And now I’m looking into the Layer System.

Long answer, I know.

145

[quote]furo wrote:
What is your nutritional strategy for gaining that much weight? I’ve seen you mention GOMAD, is that something you plan on using long-term?[/quote]

Pretty much: milk + meat + fish oil + wheat germ oil + greens-based multivitamin + vitamin D. And just increase the quantities as necessary.

GOMAD has treated me well, or more specifically, lots of milk has treated me well.

February 2012 I hit an all-time low in bodyweight at 120, due to mental health screwing with my appetite. That’s actually when I learned about GOMAD, and “The Milk Diet”. And… that brought me back up to my normal 135-140 bodyweight.

So when I started training, I just stuck with it, along with increasing other protein. It’s just easy and convenient for me, and my body seems to respond well to it.

These days, I’m genuinely consuming a gallon a day, along with other food. Sometimes I’ll just cook up a few pounds of seasoned ground beef and eat just that with the milk. Sometimes it’ll be food from a restaurant. When my girlfriend was living with me, there was a bit more variety, but still mainly just lots of meat + some vegetables.

Over the last 14 weeks, I went from 136 to 151. I think that’s still a bit conservative.

I’m keeping photos and measurements because I want to make sure that it’s mostly muscular gains. Since my waist has gone from 30 when I started, then to 29 then 29.5, I think I’ve got a pretty good balance at this point.

–

HOWEVER, now that my girlfriend is out of my daily life (she moved across the country, but I guess we’re still kind of together?), I’m not spending nearly as much on food. For 2013, it was running around $700/mo on food for the two of us.

So… at this point, I’m tempted to try out some of the Biotest products, just to see what that’s like.

146

Keep up the good work

147

This… this is what I want.

I mean, an Olympic gold would be nice too, but I’d be ok with just the physique.

148

rticles.elitefts.com/training-articles/twelve-steps-to-getting-big/
One of my favorite articles of all time…it’s obviously not a good long term plan, but for maybe 3-6 weeks, why not?

149

Yeah Lu is jack3d

150

[quote]chobbs wrote:
http://articles.elitefts.com/training-articles/twelve-steps-to-getting-big/
One of my favorite articles of all time…it’s obviously not a good long term plan, but for maybe 3-6 weeks, why not? [/quote]

Ha, that’s awesome. I’m not quite sure I could pull off that diet plan though. Hm.

But some of those things, yeah, I’ve done. Half and half mixed with protein powder and raw eggs. I was going through half a gallon and half a dozen eggs a day for awhile. This was a Vince Gironda favorite.

Coffee with butter and coconut oil. (I actually do this every couple days.)

2-3lbs of ground chuck… eaten out of a bowl with a spoon. (I do this every few days too.)

I used to cook everything with butter, but my girlfriend doesn’t eat cheese, butter, or dairy. So that screwed things up. Something about being Asian and lactose-intolerant or whatever.

I actually lost weight eating a large pizza every other night. That’s when I knew those maintenance calorie calculators just didn’t work for me.

It took a lot to learn how to force my body to gain weight. Even with GOMAD + a couple pounds of meat + over 1/4 cup of oil/butter a day, I’m still gaining fairly slowly.

151

So, chobbs, what’s your plan now that zraw’s free training has effectively ended? Just going to stick with that, or try something different?

152

And… off the topic of training. Tonight I learned that my favorite bartender, a very good friend of mine, is now moving to the west coast too. First it was two of my former coworkers [one to LA, one to SF and now Portland]. Then, two weeks ago, my girlfriend moved to the west coast. And now… my bartender and her husband.

She’s a hottie too; brunette, latina, plenty of cleavage, usually wears a corset, short skirt, and fishnets, long long hair down to her low-back. Gorgeous girl. Smart, funny, and a touch OCD. Definitely going to miss her.

It makes me wonder what I’m still doing in the Midwest. I have a good friend back in Ohio, but that’s about it. Pretty much everyone else close to me moved out west.

Other than my job – and my company is undergoing a very major reorganization, so I have no idea what’s going to be happening in the next few weeks when the dust settles – I really have nothing here. My close friends are gone, and I don’t really feel like I belong in this city… even though it’s a touch more metropolitan, the state capital, and the home of a bunch of race teams. [Once upon a time, I worked as a race engineer and our team got 1st in the world of 140 teams… so, I mean, the racing world should feel kind of like home.]

This sucks. I mean, sure, I’ve got a few other people here, but the ones that mattered most have left.

I was half-serious when considering moving to Japan. Now, I’m a touch more serious. To say “I need a change” is an understatement; basically everything has changed on me as-is. Right now I’m not so happy with the results.

/end personal rant

153

I’m sorry about your personal situation, it must be really tough. Having said that - I’m a silver linings type of person and it looks to me like things have aligned to give you a time-period with absolutely minimal distractions to allow you to achieve your personal goals.

I’m not saying you shouldn’t make big life changes, that could well be a great thing for you and either way it really isn’t my place to say. But you could hold that thought for a while and focus on really making some serious gains. Just make the next 6 months ( ) all about you and your personal goals. Sorry if any of that was out of line, just an idea. Good luck with it all.

154

[quote]LoRez wrote:
So, chobbs, what’s your plan now that zraw’s free training has effectively ended? Just going to stick with that, or try something different?[/quote]
The same macros and everything I just sometimes switch up the actual food once in a while except the peri workout nutrition.

155

[quote]furo wrote:
I’m sorry about your personal situation, it must be really tough. Having said that - I’m a silver linings type of person and it looks to me like things have aligned to give you a time-period with absolutely minimal distractions to allow you to achieve your personal goals.

I’m not saying you shouldn’t make big life changes, that could well be a great thing for you and either way it really isn’t my place to say. But you could hold that thought for a while and focus on really making some serious gains. Just make the next 6 months ( ) all about you and your personal goals. Sorry if any of that was out of line, just an idea. Good luck with it all.[/quote]
I agree. A change is great, but definitely don’t rush it when you still have some of an anchor.

156

SGHP
Ramp to 3RM: 95, 105, 115, 125, 135, 145 x 3
Clusters: 130 x 5, 4, 3 (ripped open my left hand here)
HDL: 105 x 3 x 54321

This… was the exact same as last time. No PR here. Got another blister and ripped open another spot on my left hand. Just trying to work these out and figure out the right hand positioning, grip, etc.

My back hurt on this. Not quite as low as my tailbone, but lower than what I expected; on my spine somewhere, right around where the pelvis and spine join up (I need to look at an anatomy chart).

–

Attempted to do some BB curls later, attempting a basic layered approach, and abusing the system since it’s not meant for this.

Ramp: 55, 65, 75 x 6; 80 x 3, 85 x 1
Clusters: 72 x 9; 75 x 6, 5 (increased the weight after the first set)
HDL: 56 x 54321; 543… and walked out due to the pain.

After doing BB curls a few times a week for over 3 months, the forearm pain just hasn’t gone away. I’m going to need to find an alternative.

Curling itself doesn’t hurt, but the second I release the bar, I get shooting pain down the insides of my right forearm (and even my left, today).

157

[quote]spar4tee wrote:

[quote]furo wrote:
I’m sorry about your personal situation, it must be really tough. Having said that - I’m a silver linings type of person and it looks to me like things have aligned to give you a time-period with absolutely minimal distractions to allow you to achieve your personal goals.

I’m not saying you shouldn’t make big life changes, that could well be a great thing for you and either way it really isn’t my place to say. But you could hold that thought for a while and focus on really making some serious gains. Just make the next 6 months ( ) all about you and your personal goals. Sorry if any of that was out of line, just an idea. Good luck with it all.[/quote]
I agree. A change is great, but definitely don’t rush it when you still have some of an anchor.[/quote]

Thanks to both of you.

I agree with what you’re saying, and I think I was just bitching because things caught me off guard that night, and I was drinking. CNS depressants and actual depression don’t seem to mix sometimes. (No shit.)

I know it’s a cliche, but she, as a bartender, has helped me get through some rough stuff in the past. It’s sort of like I lost a safety net.

But realistically, I’m going to take this time and simplify my life. Pare things down and regain some focus. Both in terms of getting rid of physical things to become more minimalist, as well as pare down all the psychological burden of these projects that I’ve started but never finished, and the things I’ve wanted to do but haven’t done, etc. I need to spend some time just weeding the crap out of my psyche. I’ve got about 6 or 7 years of accumulated crap that I need to work out.

Also, yeah, plenty of time to focus on training these days.

And I’ll probably get back into piano. I just need to find a good Soviet-trained teacher around here.

158

[quote]LoRez wrote:

[quote]spar4tee wrote:

[quote]furo wrote:
I’m sorry about your personal situation, it must be really tough. Having said that - I’m a silver linings type of person and it looks to me like things have aligned to give you a time-period with absolutely minimal distractions to allow you to achieve your personal goals.

I’m not saying you shouldn’t make big life changes, that could well be a great thing for you and either way it really isn’t my place to say. But you could hold that thought for a while and focus on really making some serious gains. Just make the next 6 months ( ) all about you and your personal goals. Sorry if any of that was out of line, just an idea. Good luck with it all.[/quote]
I agree. A change is great, but definitely don’t rush it when you still have some of an anchor.[/quote]

Thanks to both of you.

I agree with what you’re saying, and I think I was just bitching because things caught me off guard that night, and I was drinking. CNS depressants and actual depression don’t seem to mix sometimes. (No shit.)

I know it’s a cliche, but she, as a bartender, has helped me get through some rough stuff in the past. It’s sort of like I lost a safety net.

But realistically, I’m going to take this time and simplify my life. Pare things down and regain some focus. Both in terms of getting rid of physical things to become more minimalist, as well as pare down all the psychological burden of these projects that I’ve started but never finished, and the things I’ve wanted to do but haven’t done, etc. I need to spend some time just weeding the crap out of my psyche. I’ve got about 6 or 7 years of accumulated crap that I need to work out.

Also, yeah, plenty of time to focus on training these days.

And I’ll probably get back into piano. I just need to find a good Soviet-trained teacher around here.[/quote]

Great idea LoRez, good luck with it all :).

159

[quote]LoRez wrote:

[quote]spar4tee wrote:

[quote]furo wrote:
I’m sorry about your personal situation, it must be really tough. Having said that - I’m a silver linings type of person and it looks to me like things have aligned to give you a time-period with absolutely minimal distractions to allow you to achieve your personal goals.

I’m not saying you shouldn’t make big life changes, that could well be a great thing for you and either way it really isn’t my place to say. But you could hold that thought for a while and focus on really making some serious gains. Just make the next 6 months ( ) all about you and your personal goals. Sorry if any of that was out of line, just an idea. Good luck with it all.[/quote]
I agree. A change is great, but definitely don’t rush it when you still have some of an anchor.[/quote]

Thanks to both of you.

I agree with what you’re saying, and I think I was just bitching because things caught me off guard that night, and I was drinking. CNS depressants and actual depression don’t seem to mix sometimes. (No shit.)

I know it’s a cliche, but she, as a bartender, has helped me get through some rough stuff in the past. It’s sort of like I lost a safety net.

But realistically, I’m going to take this time and simplify my life. Pare things down and regain some focus. Both in terms of getting rid of physical things to become more minimalist, as well as pare down all the psychological burden of these projects that I’ve started but never finished, and the things I’ve wanted to do but haven’t done, etc. I need to spend some time just weeding the crap out of my psyche. I’ve got about 6 or 7 years of accumulated crap that I need to work out.

Also, yeah, plenty of time to focus on training these days.

And I’ll probably get back into piano. I just need to find a good Soviet-trained teacher around here.[/quote]
I know exactly what you mean. I’m doing the same thing myself. You may find this period of your life to be very rewarding internally. I don’t recall ever feeling this fulfilled and knowing that things are going to get so much better still is euphoric.

160

Slight Decline Tilt Bench Press

Ramp to 3RM: 95, 105, 115, 125, 135, 145 x 3; 155 x 2; 150 x 3
Clusters: 135 x 5, 3, 4
HDL: 105 x 3 x 54321

Right elbow was bugging me [this is normal]. Right forearm was bugging me [from curls yesterday]. Shoulders were bugging me a lot.

So, either I’ve pushed myself too much, or just done bad movements, but my shoulders are feeling bad these days. I’m going to assume for the moment that it’s due to that last BTN press session. Down to the traps with the bar on those HDL sets was probably too much.

This must be sort of what it feels like being old.

Otherwise, this was actually weaker than last time, and I’m going to venture a guess that it’s due to the joint issues. But I could actually be weaker too. Don’t really know. I’m doing a hypertrophy layer setup though, not a strength one. Strength layers come in 3 weeks.

Physique-wise, this whole layer system thing is definitely doing a very very good job. Even one week has made a noticeable difference.