@banjobown\jhlrees: Thanks you guys!!! Im the first one to admit, recovery is going a lot faster than anticipated!!! Im not complaining at all, and I wont fall into the trap of going too fast either, one step at the time…well, is two at the time going too fast??? Ok ok, just checking…lol!!!
Monday November 1st
Hey guys! Its been almost 3 weeks now since my operation, and already, I feel a lot better!!! I did some crossover again today with my right arm, pumping my right chest muscle with 8 sets of 20-30 reps with 25-35lbs, limited range of motion, right after I trained my left chest…it felt awesome!!! Im like a little kid, just starting to lift weights, super excited out every workout session!!! lol! I had a great pump actually, I mean, I didn’t do nothing with my arm for 2 weeks, but now I try to take off the plastic cast as often as I can, to at least get some range of motion back, and just to work my forearm a bit, moving freely and grabbing stuff.
My weight is now around 245lbs, maybe a bit tighter than before, 8% or so, so Im very happy with that also! Cant wait to start my prep in 2011!!!
Gotta go guys, me and Kevin are about to do are 2nd workout of the day! 
Are you guys bringing in more athletes from canada?
Glad to hear your bicep is healing quickly, I had a question for you,
I’ve currently got more than enough time to train twice a day (college student with classes only two days a week) and i have been writing up a 6 week extreme hypertrophy workout based on what i’ve seen on the livespill and from when i did the I,Bodybuilder. I was wondering what you’d suggest personally for me to do in terms of what the AM and PM workouts would consist of in terms of is the AM mostly just activation or do you ever do two different areas (one in AM one in PM)? Also, when Gee was doing back three days in a row how did the workouts differ? I know this is an awful lot to answer any and all feedback would be greatly appreciated.
Keep working hard and it’ll be scary too see how strong you’ll come back after your few weeks of rehab are over
I’m definitely curious about what you have to say regarding 2 a days also. I’m also a college student with a little extra time and have considered doing them. Thanks again for all the time you spend in this thread, Alex.
PS - Pretty sure I’m gonna dream about being at the training lab from now on lol.
@scbork: As far as I know, me and Kevin are the only “full time” Canadian athlete. As for future projects, I really don’t know, depends what Tim Patterson and coach Thib’s have in mind…we’ll see!!!
@cronbeast90: Hey bud! First and foremost, before answering your questions, we need to visit some other aspects of your life… If you want to be able to benefit from 2 a day workouts, you need to make sure that your diet and recovery time are in check! For that, I strongly recommend that you have a ANACONDA - MAG-10 protocol mix every workout, providing you with enough protein-amino acids-creatine to start your recovery even before you finish your workout. You need also to replenish your glycogen levels after each workout, Surge Recovery - Grow! Whey shakes and perfect for this! You also need to eat enough quality food the rest of the day, to make sure you stay in an anabolic state, and also supplement with a good multivitamin, to make sure you’re getting enough of everything.
After that, you need to make sure that you’re getting enough sleep…believe me man, I know what Im talking about here! Back when I was in Montreal Canada, I was working as a private investigator, had my own company, and was working 60 hours a week in average. I would rarely get more than 6 hours of sleep, I was “functional” with that kind of recovery, but not “optimal”. Now that Im in Colorado, and that my job consist of training 2 times a day, I ALWAYS get at least 8 hours of sleep, with normally a 30mins-1hour nap in between my two workouts.
Ok now for your questions, normally what we were doing with coach Thib’s was some activation work (neural charge movements) and some volume work in the morning, doing some ramping for the volume work, then finishing with a circuit of max reps, and in the afternoon, we would do a bit of volume work as well, but mostly some eccentric less movements, blast straps-sled work- rubber bands.
As for Daryl’s back trainings, I wasn’t here at that time, was still back home preparing for the Canadian Nationals, and when I did got here, the improvements on Daryl’s back were already made. But from what I heard, they did one day back width am, eccentric less movements pm, the second day back thickness am, eccentric less movements pm, than the 3rd day traps and mid-back am, eccentric movements pm.
There you go buddy, hope I answered your questions!!!
@tuper06: As long as your diet and recovery time are in check, meaning that you’re getting enough nutrients in your body and that you allow your body to rest enough to be fresh and growing, I think 2 a days are great!!! But training 2 times a day doesn’t mean that you’re training twice the amount of time, it just means that each workout can be at his best and that you’re able to go all out every time…
Thursday November 4th
Hey guys!!! Well well well, what do you know, today I did some seated press machine with my right arm, using only 10 lbs you’re gonna tell me, true, but still, 6 sets of 20-30 reps or so, no pain at all!
For the most part, I think my tendon is pretty much well attached now, I don’t feel any pain or discomfort anymore, and it’s only a matter of gaining back my size and strength, but also feeling safe when Im doing an exercise, which might take a bit longer!!!
Anyways, things are going very well, cant wait to start lifting back to normal again!!! Needless to say, I already know what I want for Xmas!!! lol! Have a good day guys!
Hi alex, I’ve been back in the gym about 3/4 weeks after no training for 2months with my arm in a sling and I find that with most back exercises performed bilaterally my strength is getting back up there, but it just doesnt feel “quite right” - it feels as if my two sides arent working in the same way. Im finding one arm exercises like db rows, and chestsupported machine rows done one arm at a time feel a lot more natural.
its funny, cos the same thing applies for strict one arm lateral raises, even though my right shoulder (which visibly now has very little size compared to my left) is actually a bit stronger! I wonder if this is just cos I am right handed… I thought it was interesting.
Alex,
I’m interested in your peri-workout nutrition…From the lastest research and results CT has found with his athletes, I was of the understanding that IMMEDIATE post workout carbs, i.e Surge is not as worthwhile due to the high level of catecholamines? Care to shed some light on your choice of SR post workout rather than focusing more on PRE-WO carbs which is now the norm among many?
Thanks,
GJ
@bud moody:Hey bud! Well, I dont know what happened to your arm, but if you also had your tendon reattached, my guess would be that since they cut off a part of the tendon before reattaching it, that tendon being shorter on one side would make you feel a bit weird on bilateral movements, but ok on unilateral ones…
I’ll be more able to shed light on this myself in couple weeks, when my right arm will have gained back its normal strength.
@Gymjunkie: Hey man, thanks for writing! Indeed, one would normally focus more on pre-workout and during workout carbs. That’s exactly what I was doing last year with coach Thibaudeau…2 scoops of whey and 2 scoops of Workout Fuel 30 mins prior to training, 2 scoops of whey and 2 scoops of Workout Fuel during workout, and 2 scoops of whey right after training. But last year, I was training only once a day.
This year, since Im working out 2 times a day, it would be dead near impossible for me to handle that many shakes in a day!!! My schedule looks like so:
09h30: wake up
10h00: breakfast
11h00: 1st training, 2 scoops MAG10\2 scoops Anaconda
13h00: 1st post-workout shake, 2 scoops Surge Recovery\3 scoops Muscledrive Growth Formula
15h00: lunch
16h00: 2nd workout, same mix protocol
18h00: 2nd post-workout shake, same thing
20h00: dinner
01h00: snack
01h30: go to bed
[quote]Alex Raymond wrote:
@Gymjunkie: Hey man, thanks for writing! Indeed, one would normally focus more on pre-workout and during workout carbs. That’s exactly what I was doing last year with coach Thibaudeau…2 scoops of whey and 2 scoops of Workout Fuel 30 mins prior to training, 2 scoops of whey and 2 scoops of Workout Fuel during workout, and 2 scoops of whey right after training. But last year, I was training only once a day.[/quote]
Agreed, that would be a ton of shakes! Lol.
So for working out once a day would you recommend something like what you were doing last year (whey and Workout Fuel before and during workout, and whey post workout)? Or would you throw in some Surge Recovery pre workout and just have the Workout Fuel during the workout?
Thanks in advance and take care of that arm!
[quote]Alex Raymond wrote:
@Gymjunkie: Hey man, thanks for writing! Indeed, one would normally focus more on pre-workout and during workout carbs. That’s exactly what I was doing last year with coach Thibaudeau…2 scoops of whey and 2 scoops of Workout Fuel 30 mins prior to training, 2 scoops of whey and 2 scoops of Workout Fuel during workout, and 2 scoops of whey right after training. But last year, I was training only once a day.
This year, since Im working out 2 times a day, it would be dead near impossible for me to handle that many shakes in a day!!! My schedule looks like so:
09h30: wake up
10h00: breakfast
11h00: 1st training, 2 scoops MAG10\2 scoops Anaconda
13h00: 1st post-workout shake, 2 scoops Surge Recovery\3 scoops Muscledrive Growth Formula
15h00: lunch
16h00: 2nd workout, same mix protocol
18h00: 2nd post-workout shake, same thing
20h00: dinner
01h00: snack
01h30: go to bed[/quote]
Fair enough…Thanks for the insight dude. Good luck with your future en devours, both in bodybuilding and life in general.
GJ
@tuper06: Hey man! Well, last year I didnt have accces to all of Biotest’s products. So basically what would be optimal in my opinion is this:
-30 mins prior to training: 2 scoops Metabolic Drive Low Carb, 2 scoops Surge Recovery
-During workout: 2 scoops MAG-10, 2 scoops ANACONDA (flavoring, of course!!!) and 2 scoops Surge Workout Fuel
-After training: 2 scoops Metabolic Drive Low Carb.
The reason why I would use Surge Recovery instead of Surge Workout Fuel before training, is that in my case, I feel less bloated during my workout if I use Surge Recovery instead of Surge Workout Fuel. Also, I would use the MAG-10/ANACONDA mix instead of a whey based product, simple because hydrolysed casein is absorbed faster than regular whey or isolate, and also, for all the extra stuff contained in MAG-10, like creatine, beta-alanine, etc…
@Gymjunkie: Thanks man! Keep up your good work, stay focus and keep pushing hard!!!
Alex,
Sorry to bug you again but given your high level of insulin sensitivity and how well you handle carbs, what did your macro breakdown look like when dieted down from 8% onward for the show?..roughly.
Was it pretty much a 40-40-20 type diet?
Thanks man!
GJ
@Gymjunkie: Hey man! As far as my pre-contest diet goes, it was more like 55% protein, 40% carbs, 5% fat. Like previously mentioned, I react well to carbs and don’t really need fats, and if I go on a long stretch of low carb diet, I feel and look like crap. For that reason, even at the end of my prep, I was alternating 2 lower carb days (around maybe 150g. per day) and 1 higher carb day (around maybe 350g.). Also, I cheated two meals a week until the very end of my prep. During that time, my only fats came from my meats and some Flameout and FA3 pills. Since my bodyfat was pretty low to start with, my calories were way up, so I never felt like I was dieting really…hope it will be the same this year!!! lol!
Thursday November 11th
Hey guys!!! I have some greatttttttttttt news!!! For the first time since my operation was done a month ago, I was able to perform bilateral movements…yesterday I did flat and incline bench presses with some seated presses and some cable crossovers in the morning, and on my 2nd workout, I did some dumbell presses and flyes, with some cable seated presses and pullover machine.
Today, I did some straight arm pulldowns with the pulley, some light lat pulldowns, some seated rowing and again the pullover machine.
My plan is to do mostly bilateral movements in the morning, and some unilateral movements in the afternoon. All my loads will be adjust accordingly to the strength of my right arm and how easy and comfortable the exercises feel like.
Im not nearly back to normal though…had 105lbs on the bench press yesterday, did sets of about 20-25 reps, but man, my chest is so sore today, I wouldn’t never imagine it would’ve been that bad!!! Its such a good feeling, my mood, which is always pretty good, has went thru the roof the past few days!!! I know now for sure that I’ll be able to start my prep early 2011, maybe even sooner…