Natty on Pennies

Training Training Logs
1062

Stage one results for sports science came in today

Now just to remind you, I messed up with this entrance exam, I didn’t read the questions carefully enough and lost at least five points due to that.

The lowest total score that would get you through stage one was 53.4 points (upper secondary grades + the written exam)

My score was 51.75 points

Fuck me.

1.7 points. Hadi read one question better I’d be in right now. I’m not feeling sorry for myself here, I’m just kissed about the fact that I was downright stupid.

I spent dozens of hours preparing for the exam, and I don’t think I’ve ever wanted to study something more than this. And to fuck it up like that. Yeah. Go me.

Physical therapy is my only option now, hopefully I get in. Because honestly, I don’t want to live like this for another year, I’d much rather go to school.

1063

That blows. Fuck. You’ve got a good attitude about it though.

1 Like
1064

that really sucks. It’ll be alright man, mistakes do happen.

1 Like
1065

Thanks guys, I’m not even thinking about it anymore. Hopefully I get into physical therapy, if not, there’s always the next year.

3 Likes
1066

Daily log:

Weight:
82.1kg/181lbs

Hey, I could be a lightweight powerlifter now. Also, a new low weight.

Nutrition:
Undetermined, I’m going to start loading calories in a few minutes from now. (Just got back from the gym) I’m trying a 1.5 day load this time with both fats and carbs in it. Part of the reason for this is that this is most likely going to be the last proper load of this diet and I’ve tried a one day calorie load already.

Today I’ll eat around 3000-4000 extra calories and tomorrow I’ll eat around 8000-10000 more. I ate according to my diet plan up to this point today (so my 2 first meals and my peri-workout stuff were as usual)

Now I only got this idea yesterday as I remembered that I’ve tried a one day calorie load on this diet already, and that’s why I haven’t mentioned this up until now.

Training:
Jump squats paired with front squat warm ups
3x2
1 Front Squat
2x3
increase weight
A double
increase weight
A single
decrease weight
A double
2a Good morning with a pause on pins
2x8, 25
2b Weighted sit up
3x10
3a Leg press
3x20
3b Leg curl
3x20
4 Calf raise on smith machine
30 reps with empty bar
2 sets of pump work (15-25 reps) on following exercises:
Circuit 1
1 Face pull
2 Incline flies on edge of a bench
3 Underhand lat pulldown
4 Chest press machine
Circuit 2:
1 Rope tricep pushdown
2 Hammer curl with back support
3 Supinated curl with back support
Circuit 3:
1 Lateral raises with back support
2.Front raises with back support
3 Lateral raises with extended rom
One set of behind-back shrugs to finish off

Notes:
All leg stuff went well, one again, the good mornings progressed really well. It’s crazy how much I’ve gained on those.

On leg press I did 3x20 instead of the 4x15 I’d regularly do, so the volume was equated burning saved some time.

I did a couple of pump sets for upper body as you may see. The list looks very long and random but it only took about 10 minutes and everything was planned from start to finish. I did this to make sure the extra calories go towards filling out my muscles as I load.

Now it time to eat.

2 Likes
1067

A funny thing about calorie loading on a very restricted diet is that the metabolic response is huge, and when you get a metabolic response your body temperature also rises.

I’m one decent size meal in (about 1200 Calories of grilled meat and potatoes) in and I’m feeling like a blast furnace. I can’t even imagine how much I’ll be sweating this night, let alone the next one.

Last time I did a calorie load like this neither I nor my gf could sleep before I went literally outside the house because my body temperature was so high from all the eating.

Yeah, metabolic boosting is a real thing

1 Like
1068

Daily log:

Weight:
Unknown

Nutrition:
Unknown, I’d guess around 9K Calories. I’ve just went by hunger today pretty much and ended up eating six decent sized meals

Training:
No real training today, but I went and played three hours of football with my friends, which is, with our rules, pretty strenuous. It was basically three hours of sprinting all around and nearly wrestling every two minutes

Took my girlfriend to see Deadpool 2 today (she’s really into superhero movies and all that stuff) I enjoyed the movie, I’d say it didn’t pale in comparison to the first one at all. So if you like comedic superhero stuff, definitely go and see it.

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1069

Sounds like sevens.

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1070

Pretty much yeah, the difference being that by football I meant soccer - in Finnish soccer is football and football is American football.

But basically our goal is to get the ball to the other teams goal with whatever means possible. It’s really just soccer played dirty.

1 Like
1071

Daily log:

Weight:
88.1kgs/194lbs
Woke up looking quite watery but eventually I dried out and was left with a nice full look. Apparently the key for me was 36 hour load with no fat restriction, or maybe I just got lucky.

Nutrition:
1470 Calories
220g Protein
80g Carbs
30g Fat

Training:
Upper body:

1a Clap pushup
3x3
1b “Explosive” sternum chins
3x3
2 Bench
2x3
increase weight
A double
increase weight
A single
increase weight
A miss
decrease weight
A triple
3a Bench holds
115,125,135% of top weight
3b Alternating incline DB Press (steeper angle)
3x6/side
3c Cable rear delt row
3x10
4 Single arm lat pulldown
3x8/side
5a Lying cable skullcrusher
3x8-10
5b Seated hammer curl w/fat grips
3x12-15
6 Smith machine BTN press
2x8,15
7 Cable upright row
100 reps in as fee sets as possible
10 minutes of cardio

Notes:
You see straight away I did none of the exercises I usually do, but rather some pretty close variations. That’s because I was absolutely dragging ass today. I don’t know what it was, probably the games from yesterday, but I was just completely exhausted.
Also my hip flexors are so sore that I cannot lift my legs, it’s horrible.

I did regular bench for the first time in like three and a half years or something today. (Well, last time I did bench I hit a single at one plate, that should tell you something)

My grip was still relatively narrow (a thumbs length from the point where smooth and knurling meet on each side) but it’s wider than my close grip so for me it’s regular bench. The wider grip actually made it a lot tighter and easier to stay in position.

I got three plates (140kg) for the fastest and best feeling single I’ve ever done on any flat bench variation and I felt like I could handle a bit more. So I throw 147.5kg on the bar.

Now, you should know that for me, optimal time between heavy singles is around 60-90 seconds tops. 2 minutes, I’ll still hit it but it won’t be as sound, 3 minutes and onwards I’ll start losing power as I cool down.

My girlfriend and a stranger were working in with me on the bench, so after my single with 140 we adjust the weight, my gf does her set, we adjust again and then the guy working in begins some sort of a goddamn voodoo ritual. His setup for the set on hand took several minutes, if I had to guess, I’d say four minutes for the setup alone. Then he did his set and then I got back under the bar, with around 8 minutes of rest after my last single.

Yeah, missed it. I should’ve done some pushups or anything really to keep warm.

But it was nice doing bench again, and hey, that’s 80kgs if improvement between sessions :wink:

Apart from that, nothing really interesting happened. By the end of the session I was having a damn good shoulder pump, and combined with the dryness and the fullness I was experiencing at the moment, I feel that I looked pretty damn good.

3 Likes
1072

I’ve got an idea that I need some feedback on

So, my “actual” weight (my lowest weight thus far, now I’m heavier because of the calorie load but this is what I’m going toward at a fast pace) is around 82kgs

Yesterday I did the fastest rep of 140kg on regular bench ever after not doing the movement in years. Missed 147.5kg by a hair, and there is no saying wether or not I would’ve had it if I could’ve done it when I wanted.

So the thing I originally thought was to get down to 80kgs and do 140kgs with a close grip for 175% of BW on a flat press.

BUT I think that there is a lot of potential in the regular bench for me, given that just by getting used to the exercise again I could gain some kilos in there and so on.

So, here’s my idea.

  1. Cut down to 80kgs
  2. Do a Bulgarian cycle with bench focus and little else (say alternate a upper body pull and a lower body movement every day)
  3. Hit 160kgs at 80kgs for 200% in like two weeks.

Now this would take place after I’ve hit 80kgs or really close with my bodyweight.

For reference, I’ve done Bulgarian-ish before, but most of the times I haven’t focused on one single exercise, rather I’ve done full-body workouts with the same exercises every day. (Multiple sets to failure on 6-8 exercises every day) and still I’ve gotten good strength gains from it.

So it’s something I know works.

The real question is, is there any value to doing this just for the laughs? Especially given the fact that I won’t be publishing a video anywhere, I may take one, but I sure as hell won’t put it on the interwebs, I’m far too paranoid to do that.

1 Like
1073

A double bodyweight bench is pretty awesome and you will have achieved it.

Also, it doesn’t matter about the no video for the “interwebz.” If you say you benched 160, we know it’s true anyway.

1 Like
1074

That’s true, not everyone can say they’ve benched twice their bodyweight, so it is a merit in itself. It could also be good for business, as it shows that you know what you’re talking about

I’m gonna claim I did a 600kg deadlift in a sec. But really, that part was in there mostly to prevent anyone from asking for a video, although it can raise suspicion when you claim you’ve done something and give no proof. Of course I’d document the sessions and the weights used here.

The score at the moment is:

Do it:
1
Don’t do it:
0

Gonna drop a few tags here to get a couple more opinions: (others are welcome as well, of course)
@MarkKO
@Irishman92
@littlesleeper
@mortdk
@Frank_C
@ChongLordUno

1 Like
1075

Does cutting weight to 80kg coincide with your goal?

Does running a Bulgarian cycle coincide with your goal?

IMO you will hit 2x BW Bench at some point. Whether it be 2weeks, 2 months or the next time you randomly decide to bench again. To me it’s all just numbers. I personally wouldn’t change my training just to meet an arbitrary number but I know good people who would.

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1076

It’s worth trying. Whether or not it’s something advisable is another matter. I think bench has a pretty high potential to get very risky very quickly in terms your shoulders.

Have at it if you want, but have a very careful think.

1 Like
1077

With my ultimate goal being to compete in natural bodybuilding and having the best performance possible I’d say cutting to 80kgs is something that won’t have too much of an impact on either of those; my performance will go up on bodyweight and conditioning stuff and once I enter a surplus I’ll gain back all the muscle I can potentially lose in a fast manner. Also, I’ll be in a very good place to begin a bulk (granted I don’t crash my hormonal system) I’d say that’s a slight positive even

Running a Bulgarian cycle on the other hand - in terms of muscle gain, it’s two wasted weeks. In terms of performance, it’s a very specific boost. So that one is kind of on the negative side.

The rationale here is that in a sense, it’d be easier to hit a 2xBW bench now than when I’m at, say 100 kilos, but you are right, I’ll probably get it sooner or later.

In regards of changing my program to chase numbers, that’s something I’ve done a lot. Remember a year ago when I raced @MarkKO on the DB row? I do that stuff a lot, and I should learn not to do it because it does interfere with my goals.

Shoulder health is one thing I’m pretty concerned about - I’ve never had an injury in the gym and I’d like to keep it that way. Of course, in theory I could begin a Bulgarian cycle and just stop if I felt any discomfort, but in reality I don’t know if I’m smart enough to do that if I get close to my goal. It could be a learning experience though. (Not getting injured but stopping before it happens)

I’m not very good with careful thinking, that’s why I’ve asked you to help me out.

Thanks for the input guys! I’ll wait to see if I can get a bit more opinions on this before making up my mind

The score is:

Do it:
2
Don’t do it:
1

I wanted to add another opinion of “do it but on your own risk” but that would’ve led to me adding a new bracket after every reply.

1 Like
1078

If you’re set on it, I’d use a ton of bench variations. Hit every part of the ROM individually and so some full ROM for technique practice alone. Effectively, a very conjugate approach.

1 Like
1079

I was thinking of doing it somewhat like that as well. Say, I did a top set of 1-3 on a variation (board press, floor press, different height pin presses) and then took it back down and did either regular bench or paused bench for a couple of lighter, more explosive sets.

With Jefferson deads I went to a top single and did a speed triple afterwards every day, seemed to work really well. But as it is a lot safer exercise there was no need for variation. With OHP I’ve tried doing push press to a max double and then doing two sets of 6-15 on strict press afterwards, that worked pretty well too.

Whatever I decide to do, one thing is for certain; if I run this I got to be smart. There is not much room for error when we are talking about putting our shoulder joints through a lot of work with a high frequency.

1 Like
1080

Daily log:

Weight:
86.1kgs/189.5lbs

Nutrition:
1470 Calories
220g Protein
80g Carbs
30g Fat

Training:
Lower body:

1 Squat
2x3
increase weight
A double
increase weight
A single
Decrease weight
A double
2 Squat holds
150,200% of top weight
3a Rack pull from mid shin w/fat grips
3x5
take of fat grips, add weight SLDL w/DOH
1x20
add straps and belt
1x10
3b Standing crunch on lat pulldown
3x10
4 Single leg leg curl
6x4/side (muscle round)
5 Back extension
1x30 w/BW
Hamstring stretch
6 Leg extension (10s rests)
24,10x6,30
7 Sissy squat
2 rest pause sets
8 Seated calf raise
2x20
10 minutes of cardio

Notes:
Hip flexors are still sore as hell.
Squats felt decent, on my top single my shin splints decided to act up again even though I thought I had seen the last of them. Decided to not go for a higher single to beat last time, which was a good call as the shin splints really interfered even with my back off set.

On rack pulls I stayed with the same weight but did a 3x5 instead of 3x3. Increased weight for stiff legs and got 20 reps with double overhand. Decided to try belt and straps (thought of going for 30+ reps) but for some reason started feeling a lot of pressure and even a bit of pain on my spine on rep eight or so, so I called it there.

On leg extensions I tried using a technique called “myo-reps”

Essentially it’s doing a set of about 20-30 to near failure (1 rep left). Then you rest 15 seconds and do 25% of the reps you got on your first set, rest 15 seconds, repeat and so on.

So it should look like this:
20 reps
15s rest
5 reps
15s rest
5 reps
etc.

Most people can do 4-5 if those mini-sets.

Well. I knew that 15 seconds was far too much rest for me if I ever wanted to get it over with, so I went with 10. Even then I could do 10 mini-sets before saying “fuck it” and going all out.
Now picture this: I did 24 reps fresh leaving one rep in the tank. Then I did ten sets of 6 with 15s rest and after that I could do more reps than on my first set, with 15s between my last set of 6 and the all out set?
I’m not even sure how but I’ve managed to get my work capacity to a whole another level.

For calves I did just two light sets of 20, I don’t see the point of pushing them when there is already pain of the wrong kind.

I couldn’t do quad blasts as my hip flexirs essentially prevent me form moving fast enough and jumping lunges are literally impossible, I’ve got to do something about them.

1 Like
1081

That’s exactly what I was thinking about.

1 Like