Matt's Ecto Beginner Log

Training Training Logs
1

Hopefully keeping this training log will help me keep on my plan to build some size and provide me with feedback to keep me training and have useful suggestions.

I’m 6’1", 172 lbs, somewhere around 14% bodyfat (calipers are harder to use than I thought they would be). My dominant training has been intercollegiate tae kwon do in undergrad and some light weight training in grad school. When I turned 25 (in September 2007) I realized I had put on about 30 pounds after a year and a half of working a desk job and none of it was muscle. At that point I started doing Hot Yoga with my girlfriend about 3 times a week and have lost 25 pounds since then.

However, now looking a little fitter I have noticed that I don’t seem to have much in the way of muscle mass left. Anyway to make this long story short, I stumbled on this site one day searching for helpful lifting advice online and have been reading everything I can for the last couple weeks. Hopefully you all enjoy this thread, let me know if I can improve it in any way.

2

For some history, here is a photo taken at the very end of December 07 with me having lost about 15 pounds and being around 180 lbs. I realize its not the greatest photo ever, but its way harder to do this on yourself in the mirror than I ever thought it would be.

3

I’m currently eating about 2,500 Kcal a day and have been following this routine for 3 weeks where the set number indicated is total sets with a decreasing number of reps and increasing weight:

Monday:
Bent Over Row 3 x (8,6,4)
Straight Arm Pushdown 3 x (8,6,4)
Bench Press 3 x (8,6,4)
DB Flye 1 x 8
Wide Grip Cable Row 2 x (8,6)
Incline DB Press 2 x (8,6)

Wednesday:
Back Squat 3 x (10,8,6)
DB Pullover 3 x (10,8,6)
DB Overhead Press 3 x (8,6,4)
Cable Lat Raise 3 x (8, 6, 4)
Standing Calf Raise 3 x 10

Friday:
Deadlift 3 x (10, 8, 6)
Cable Crunch 3 x (10, 8, 6)
Dips 3 x (10, 8, 6)
Close Grip Chin Up 3 x (10, 8, 6)
DB Side Bend 3 x 10

4

Week 1 was a warmup week with light weights to get myself back to lifting and check my form.

Here are my week 2 numbers with format of “Weight - Reps”

Monday:
Bent Over Row 3 x (8,6,4)
70-8, 80-6, 95-5
Straight Arm Pushdown 3 x (8,6,4)
50-8
Bench Press 3 x (8,6,4)
95-8, 105-6, 115-5
DB Flye 1 x 8
15s-12
Wide Grip Cable Row 2 x (8,6)
90-12, 140-8
Incline DB Press 2 x (8,6)
30s-12, 35s-7

Wednesday:
Back Squat 3 x (10,8,6)
135-10, 155-8, 165-6
DB Pullover 3 x (10,8,6)
25-10, 30-8, 35-6
DB Overhead Press 3 x (8,6,4)
20s-10, 25s-8, 30s-7
Cable Lat Raise 3 x (8, 6, 4)
10-12, 15-8, 20-4 (done with DBs)
Standing Calf Raise 3 x 10
90-12

Friday:
Deadlift 3 x (10, 8, 6)
135-10, 155-8, 165-6
Cable Crunch 3 x (10, 8, 6)
30-12, 35-10, 42.5-8
Dips 3 x (10, 8, 6)
(52)-10, (52)-8, (46)-8 (lbs of assist)
Close Grip Chin Up 3 x (10, 8, 6)
(52)-10, (52)-8, (46)-6
DB Side Bend 3 x 10
45-12

5

And to bring me up to the current day, here is through week 3. So far I have realized that my upper body must be awful because I don’t weigh that much and pullups and dips are just killing me on the assist machine, which is in the cardio room, so at least I’m getting a good workout on ego reduction. I’m also increasing number so far, though I suspect most of that is due to my nervous system being more efficient at recruiting muscles for handling the lifts than any actual strength increase, but I will take what I can get. I’m planning to stay on this type of compound lift program for from 8-12 weeks and then potentially switching to something like the first month of USCTrojan619s ecto workout if my gains slow way down. I will update with some current pics this weekend as a baseline for the weight routine. Oh yeah, I’m also doing hot yoga on Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday.

Monday:
Bent Over Row 3 x (8,6,4)
75-9, 85-7, 105-5
Straight Arm Pushdown 3 x (8,6,4)
42.5-10, 42.5-10, 50-3
Bench Press 3 x (8,6,4)
115-10, 125-5, 135-4
DB Flye 1 x 8
20s-12
Wide Grip Cable Row 2 x (8,6)
140-12, 180-6
Incline DB Press 2 x (8,6)
35s-12, 45s-4

Wednesday:
Back Squat 3 x (10,8,6)
145-10, 165-6, 175-8
DB Pullover 3 x (10,8,6)
30-10, 35-8, 40-6
DB Overhead Press 3 x (8,6,4)
25s-10, 30s-8, 35s-4
Cable Lat Raise 3 x (8, 6, 4)
10-8, 10-6, 10-4
Standing Calf Raise 3 x 10
130-10

Friday:
Deadlift 3 x (10, 8, 6)
155-10, 175-8, 185-6
Cable Crunch 3 x (10, 8, 6)
35-12, 42.5-12, 50-8
Dips 3 x (10, 8, 6)
(46)-10, (46)-10, (40)-8 (lbs of assist)
Close Grip Chin Up 3 x (10, 8, 6)
(46)-10, (46)-8, (40)-6
DB Side Bend 3 x 10
55-10

6

Updated Week 4 Numbers. I think I’m starting to get to the point where my weight increases are slowing. I’ll probably try to clean up my form with similar weights this week and squeeze out a couple extra reps if I can instead of loading on more weight.

Monday:
Bent Over Row 3 x (8,6,4)
85-12, 95-7, 105-6
Straight Arm Pushdown 2 x (8,6)
42.5-10, 50-5
Bench Press 3 x (8,6,4)
115-10, 135-6, 140-4
DB Flye 1 x 8
25s-8
Wide Grip Cable Row 2 x (8,6)
180-10, 230-5
Incline DB Press 2 x (8,6)
40s-10, 45s-4

Wednesday:
Back Squat 3 x (10,8,6)
155-10, 175-8, 185-6
DB Pullover 3 x (10,8,6)
35-10, 35-8, 40-6
DB Overhead Press 3 x (8,6,4)
30s-8, 30s-9, 35s-6
Cable Lat Raise 2 x (8, 6)
10-8, 10-7
Standing Calf Raise 3 x 10
90-12, 140-8, 160-8

Friday:
Deadlift 3 x (10, 8, 6)
175-10, 185-8, 195-6
Cable Crunch 3 x (10, 8, 6)
42.5-12, 50-8, 57.5-6
Dips 3 x (10, 8, 6)
(40)-10, (34)-8, (22)-6 (lbs of assist)
Close Grip Chin Up 3 x (10, 8, 6)
(40)-10, (40)-8, (34)-6
DB Side Bend 3 x 10
60-10

7

Updated Picture May 2008 Front

8

May 2008 Back (bad picture sorry)

9

420×560 31.4 KB

May 2008 Legs

10

Week 5 numbers, decided on my third set of squatting that I’ve gone too heavy and am not getting good depth, so I’m backing off the weight and gaining depth. Friday I had to lift in the morning instead of evening which threw me off a bit but i’m back on schedule this week I hope.

Monday:
Bent Over Row 3 x (8,6,4)
95-10, 105-6, 105-6
Straight Arm Pushdown 2 x (8,6)
42.5-11, 50-6
Bench Press 3 x (8,6,4)
115-11, 135-6, 140-5
DB Flye 1 x 8
25s-9
Wide Grip Cable Row 2 x (8,6)
200-8, 230-6
Incline DB Press 2 x (8,6)
40s-10, 45s-6

Wednesday:
Back Squat 3 x (10,8,6)
155-10, 175-8, 145-10
DB Pullover 3 x (10,8,6)
35-10, 35-9, 40-7
DB Overhead Press 3 x (8,6,4)
30s-10, 30s-10, 35s-6
Cable Lat Raise 2 x (8, 6)
10-7, 10-7
Standing Calf Raise 3 x 10
140-10, 160-8, 180-8

Friday:
Deadlift 3 x (10, 8, 6)
175-10, 185-8, 185-8
Cable Crunch 3 x (10, 8, 6)
50-10, 50-10, 57.5-7
Dips 3 x (10, 8, 6)
(34)-10, (28)-8, (22)-6 (lbs of assist)
Close Grip Chin Up 3 x (10, 8, 6)
(46)-10, (40)-8, (40)-6
DB Side Bend 3 x 10
60-10