No Pain No Gain

Training Training Logs
61

[quote]gregron wrote:

[quote]scj119 wrote:

[quote]gregron wrote:
4,500 cals a day huh? You should be packing on some size soon like that.[/quote]

Yeah unless I’m not digesting some of it, in which case who knows how much is being wasted. That’s why I upped carbs, it’s the one thing I’m confident I’m digesting. Hopefully I will find out more when some blood tests come back (doc visit next wed)[/quote]

I bet the doctor tells you that you’re protein powder is ruining your kidneys and that you’re overweight lol [/quote]

Haha nah she’s a good doc… I went for a thyroid issue and mentioned I have indigestion - she noticed that I have extremely low cholesterol for someone eating so much fat (141 total CHOL). She thinks I’m not digesting fat well, plus I’m already eating 2g/lb protein, so carbs seemed like the only thing to increase

Edit note: I told her I eat over 4k cal/day and she didn’t seem to care

62

6/22/11 (yesterday): LEGS

Dad in town for a Mariners-Nationals game. Apparently I was on TV. Too bad I couldn’t watch myself. I’m sure I looked great.

A) Deadlifts
135 x 3
225 x 3
275 x 3
285 x 3
295 x 3
305 x 3
315 x 3
325 x 3
335 x 3

B) Front Squats - first time ever trying 8-rep squats. Haven’t done more than 3 reps per set in years. Stayed light because of my injury history squatting combined with doing it a new way
135 x 4 - lost grip
135 x 8
145 x 6 - absolutely gassed. I might need to start doing some cardio…
145 x 8

C) One-legged Leg Press
1.5pps x 7-8 x 2

D) Lying Leg Curl
115 x 8
115 x 8
115 x 8

E1) Ab rollouts - 3 sets of 6-8 reps
E2) Hanging Leg Raise - 3 sets of 6-9reps

I have a vid of the 135x8 I took just to make sure I was squatting to depth. Might upload it at some point.

63

6/23/11: PUSH

Morning weigh-in at 216.8… my heaviest by more than a pound. Such a fatty.

(rant)Frankly, I am sick of pussyfooting around at 210ish. My original goal in this log was 220lbs by March 31 and here I am at 216 on June 23. So I got sick, had a minor injury, may have thyroid/hormone problems, blah blah fucking BLAH and probably a half dozen other “legitimate” excuses I could think of if I wanted to. The bottom line is I ain’t been gettin my shit done and that’s on me.(/rant)

I still think I can hit 235ish by November, which would be a 50-60lb gain in about 14months (and a 30-40lb gain since I started this thread in Nov 2010). The rant was spurred by the fact I was stoked about my 217lb weigh in this morning, then read the first post in my log where I saw my initial goals. I’ve put on 35lbs since Sept 1 at my lowest weight (180), and that’s not bad…but most of that was done Sept-Dec and Feb-Apr, too much time spent stagnant.

Lifting:
(warmup) Power Snatch From Hang…mmm snatch
75 x 3
85 x 3
95 x 3
105 x 3

A) Standing Overhead BB Press
105 x 3
115 x 3
125 x 3
135 x 3
145 x 3
150 x 3
155 x 3
160 x 3
160 x 3
135 x 7

B)Bench Press
155 x 3
175 x 3
195 x 3
205 x 3
210 x 3
215 x 3
220 x 3
220 x 3
185 x 9

C) Dips
bw x 5
45lb x 5
55lb x 5
70lb x 5
80lb x 3

D1)
DB Shrugs
90 x 9
90 x 8
90 x 8
90 x 10 (w/ leg drive last few reps)

D2) DB Laterals
30 x 6
30 x 6
30 x 5
30 x 7 (body english last few reps)

Toasted.

64

wutsup man. I just looked at your log, and gotta say good job. I’m kind of in the same boat - trying to go from 190 to around 220+ by end of the year. Should be easy. I’m eating around 3,500-4,000 kcals a day at the moment, still all clean food except for the occasional Hot-N-Ready from Little Ceasar’s (I’m a broke college student, lol), and maybe a quart of ice cream once a week…Anyway, your numbers are really climbing from when you started this thread.

As far as your last post about front squats, I’m right there with you. I recently started doing 8-10 rep front squats, and they’re the 4th exercise on leg day. My leg routine: DB SLDL, Conv or Sumo DL, Leg/Squat Press, Front Squat ATG, Hack Squat. All in the 8-10 rep range.

High rep front squats are truly one of a kind. I did 145 x 10, 155 x 7, 155 x 6+2 rest/pause today. That shit gets you SOOOOO winded it’s not even real! I decided though that just b/c I’m gaining weight and getting a bit softer, I’m still going to stay conditioned. So I jog to the gym, then jog home (about 1 mile each way) and do HIIT bike or treadmill sprints once a week. Works great. Try adding some cardio for sure, I GUARANTEE it will help your high rep work. Also, another GEM is doing ab wheel or BB rollouts. That shit has so much carryover to front squats it should be a fucking prerequisite!

EDIT: I just read that you do rollouts. What’s that make me? A dumbass.

65

[quote]hlss09 wrote:
wutsup man. I just looked at your log, and gotta say good job. I’m kind of in the same boat - trying to go from 190 to around 220+ by end of the year. Should be easy. I’m eating around 3,500-4,000 kcals a day at the moment, still all clean food except for the occasional Hot-N-Ready from Little Ceasar’s (I’m a broke college student, lol), and maybe a quart of ice cream once a week…Anyway, your numbers are really climbing from when you started this thread.

As far as your last post about front squats, I’m right there with you. I recently started doing 8-10 rep front squats, and they’re the 4th exercise on leg day. My leg routine: DB SLDL, Conv or Sumo DL, Leg/Squat Press, Front Squat ATG, Hack Squat. All in the 8-10 rep range.

High rep front squats are truly one of a kind. I did 145 x 10, 155 x 7, 155 x 6+2 rest/pause today. That shit gets you SOOOOO winded it’s not even real! I decided though that just b/c I’m gaining weight and getting a bit softer, I’m still going to stay conditioned. So I jog to the gym, then jog home (about 1 mile each way) and do HIIT bike or treadmill sprints once a week. Works great. Try adding some cardio for sure, I GUARANTEE it will help your high rep work. Also, another GEM is doing ab wheel or BB rollouts. That shit has so much carryover to front squats it should be a fucking prerequisite!

EDIT: I just read that you do rollouts. What’s that make me? A dumbass. [/quote]

Thanks for posting.

I do rollouts whenever I can find the ab wheel in my gym - which is about once every 2 weeks.

I am apprehensive about adding cardio as it is already taking me so much effort to grow. I lift for 60-90 minutes at pretty high volume (as you can see) and that seems to burn a lot of calories. Frankly I don’t want to push my caloric needs much higher. That being said I do play bball once a week when it’s nice outside, so that’s something.

I am at the point where I’m using cheez-its in my postworkout meal to help me get down the necessary carbs, so I can’t say I’m 100% into the “only eat clean while bulking” thing. It’s not about cost for me - clean foods aren’t as calorically dense and it is getting hard for me to fit the necessary amount of food in my stomach if I stay 100% “clean”.

Your weight goal is doable, but some advice: the best thing I did was start writing down my morning weight every morning. If you feel like you are eating a ton, it is easy not to notice when your weight gain stalls (due to daily fluctuations etc., can be hard to know what your “average” weekly weight is). Seeing 50 days worth of data at a glance is really helpful.

Maybe you are already doing that and I’m the real dumbass.

66

No, I’m not looking at my weight. I honestly don’t care right now. I know I’m getting stronger, and my clothes are getting tighter. I’m one of those dudes who was always afraid of gaining weight/fat, so it’s easier (psychologically) to just do it w/out to much analysis. I know the scale is moving up, I just know. If you don’t mind - post what you typically eat. I’m curious to see your diet. Also, you can do rollouts with a BB. I just grab a BB from the bench, throw a plate on each side, and use that. Or you can get one of those little ab wheels from Big 5 or Sports Authority for like 5-6 bucks. I like the BB though, b/c the smaller the weights, the harder. You can progress on that sonofabitch. lol

67

you weigh yourself every day and write it down? Are you keeping a really detailed food log too?

68

[quote]gregron wrote:
you weigh yourself every day and write it down? Are you keeping a really detailed food log too?[/quote]

I weigh myself before I shower, and I remember the weight. At work I have a really lame, nerdy excel book I keep open with diet and stuff, I type in the weight there.

I created a detailed food log because I had no idea how to estimate what I was eating… but after I logged my daily intake for a while, I got a better feel for what I was eating and I only check it once or twice a week now.

Also I was a math major so it’s kinda my nature to want to know the numbers.

69

[quote]hlss09 wrote:
No, I’m not looking at my weight. I honestly don’t care right now. I know I’m getting stronger, and my clothes are getting tighter. I’m one of those dudes who was always afraid of gaining weight/fat, so it’s easier (psychologically) to just do it w/out to much analysis. I know the scale is moving up, I just know. If you don’t mind - post what you typically eat. I’m curious to see your diet. Also, you can do rollouts with a BB. I just grab a BB from the bench, throw a plate on each side, and use that. Or you can get one of those little ab wheels from Big 5 or Sports Authority for like 5-6 bucks. I like the BB though, b/c the smaller the weights, the harder. You can progress on that sonofabitch. lol[/quote]

Yeah I know, but I like variety in ab exercises so it doesn’t bother me that I can’t do it every time. I like to mix it up between bodyweight exercises and weighted (machines). That being said my abs are horrible because I never trained them directly till recently so you probably shouldn’t listen to me.

My diet has changed a lot but I’ll post what I do now. Most notably, I used to eat a huge breakfast that would take me over an hour to cook and eat, but now it’s mostly liquid so I can get an extra hour of sleep. My typical training day diet is:

7:30am - Protein shake (50g protein, 45g carbs from oats or rice oligodextrin), 2 eggs, banana, apple, 3 Flameout - 15g fat, 100g carb, 65g protein
10am - Protein shake (1.5 cups almond milk, 2 tbsp natural nut butter, 1tbsp flax oil, 3 scoops (75g) protein powder, cocoa, benefiber) - 30g fat, 90g protein
noon - 10oz meat (i.e. 93% beef), 1 serving beans, 1 serving nuts - could be chili with the beans mixed in, or burgers/chicken/whatever with beans on the side (60g protein, 20g carb, 30g fat)
3pm-430pm - workout drink - 150g carb, 50g protein (plus creatine/leucine)
530pm - 10oz pork tenderloin, 3/4 cup brown rice (measured dry), or 1/2 cup rice + cheez-its lol
Sometime between 8-10pm - dinner - 10oz meat (93% beef, boneless/skinless chicken thigh, lean cut of steak, or seafood), 1 serving nuts, half pound green beans/broccoli (with half tablespoon coconut oil), 3 Flameout - 35g fat, 65g protein

Ratios at each meal are approximate off the top of my head… what I know is the macros add up to about 140g fat/380g carb/400-420g protein, 4400-4500 calories

For reference I’m 6’3" 215lb, 15-20%bf

Edit: Tonight I grilled two 9oz burgers, 3 italian sausages and 2 steaks, and I have a 1.3lb wild caught salmon in the fridge… variety is the spice of life.

On non-training days (Saturday and/or Sunday) I lower the carbs a lot and up my fat.

70

Good stuff. First thing that pops up to me is that you said your weight gain has sorta stalled/isn’t where you want it to be. I’d recommend lowering protein a ‘bit’ and replacing it with more carbs. For instance, at your noon meal, eat a few bananas or something. Or throw in some applesauce somewhere. Things like that are EASY to get down and pushing up your carbs will def help you gain. A lot of folks say that protein should be 2x BW. I stay b/w 1-1.5x BW, but whatever. Bottom line - if you want to gain, eat more carbs. Or double the amount of oil. Instead of having one scoop of flax oil, have 2. Or doulbe the nut butter in your shakes. Easy ways to eat more kcals. Also ask BugAD. I remember him saying he was plowing down 6,000 kcals or so a day, and he def struggled to get all that down.

71

[quote]hlss09 wrote:
Good stuff. First thing that pops up to me is that you said your weight gain has sorta stalled/isn’t where you want it to be. I’d recommend lowering protein a ‘bit’ and replacing it with more carbs. For instance, at your noon meal, eat a few bananas or something. Or throw in some applesauce somewhere. Things like that are EASY to get down and pushing up your carbs will def help you gain. A lot of folks say that protein should be 2x BW. I stay b/w 1-1.5x BW, but whatever. Bottom line - if you want to gain, eat more carbs. Or double the amount of oil. Instead of having one scoop of flax oil, have 2. Or doulbe the nut butter in your shakes. Easy ways to eat more kcals. Also ask BugAD. I remember him saying he was plowing down 6,000 kcals or so a day, and he def struggled to get all that down. [/quote]

I added 50g carbs to my workout drink and that seems to be doing the trick for now. My problem is that typically I am too slow to add in cals once progress stalls… not that I don’t know how to fix it.

72

Right on. Good stuff all around!

73

Fucking TN ate my post.

6/24/11: PULL

Chipotle raised their prices by 30 cents and I dropped my burrito on the ground after 2 bites. I literally have never been more depressed in my life.

Workout:
A) Pendlay Rows
warmups x some
135 x 8
145 x 6
145 x 6
145 x 6

B1) Lat Pulldowns
150 x 8
150 x 8
150 x 7
150 x 7

B2) DB Rows
70 x 9
70 x 9
75 x 6
75 x 6

C1) Cable Rows/Rope Attachment (squeeze/hold contraction)
75 x 9
75 x 8
75 x 8
75 x 6

C2) Face Pulls
25 x 8
25 x 7
25 x 7
25 x 7

D) Wide Grip BB Curls
80 x 8
80 x 7
80 x 7
80 x 7

E1) Straight-Arm Pulldowns - my abs were too sore to do these because I did a whopping 6 sets of ab work 2 days ago. Fucking pathetic

E2) Hammer DB Curls
35 x 8
35 x 7
35 x 7
35 x 8

Hopefully I can make it to the gym this weekend - it’s a pain with no car - but I want to get a squat/dead session in. Happy weekend all.

74

T-Nation apparently ate my leg post AND my 2nd try at posting it. I’ma sum it up: Front Squats up to 205x3 (no knee pain), Trap Bar Deads up to 285x5 (first time in a while doing em)… Back extensions, Leg Press 3.5ppsx20, Machine Crunches and Decline situps.

75

Damn man I hate it when that happens. You gotta highlight and copy it before you hit submit… Just in case.

You hit up hammies in that keg workout?

76

[quote]gregron wrote:
Damn man I hate it when that happens. You gotta highlight and copy it before you hit submit… Just in case.

You hit up hammies in that keg workout?[/quote]

Weighted back extensions - I put the thigh support down low, and I raise my torso upright enough that my knees bend… sorta like a poor mans GHR.

Edit: It’s pretty remarkable I didn’t hightlight/copy after it failed once

77

6/28/11: PUSH

Finally gave a presentation at work today, relieved it’s done. Might celebrate a bit tonight.

A) Standing Overhead Press
bar x 10ish
95 x 3
120 x 3
130 x 3
140 x 3
150 x 3
155 x 3
160 x 3
165 x 3 - 5lb working set PR… only 5 pounds off my all time PR… might have a 180x3 in me

B) Incline Bench
165 x 3
175 x 3
180 x 3
185 x 3
190 x 3
195 x 3

C) Bench
195 x 3
205 x 3
210 x 3
215 x 3
220 x 3
225 x 3… 5lb working set PR

D1) Shrugs (1sec squeeze/hold contractoin)
225 x 7
225 x 7
225 x 7
225 x 12-14ish… lots of body english towards the end

D2) Machine Lateral Raises
165 x 7
165 x 7
165 x 7
165 x 6

E) Rope Tricep Pulldowns
55 x 10
60 x 8
60 x 8

…and I’m spent. No training tomorrow, doc appt. May update after the appt.

Edit: I don’t know why I said no training tomorrow. I’ll be training later on, after my doc appt and may not be able to update is what I meant.

78

[quote]scj119 wrote:
Might celebrate a bit tonight.
[/quote]

I’m a few drinks deep and I’m thinking when I bench again on Friday I will go for the elusive 275lb bench. I think I can get at least 1 rep.

Will try for a vid but not promises, don’t want to piss off a random dude/trainer spotting me

79

6/29/11 (yesterday): PULL

Had a doc visit yesterday. Turns out I have (or recently had) Mono and didn’t know. Also tested positive for mycoplasma (joint-attacking bacteria) so that is likely what has hurt my knees on squats. For a full rundown of my health you can read Test Results: Thyroid Problem? - Testosterone Replacement - Forums - T Nation as I’m not going in depth here. Keeping things training-relevant, I am happy to find that I may be able to fix my knees and not look like an arthritic 26-year-old.

Workout:
A) T-Bar Rows
45 x 8
90 x 8
135 x 8
145 x 8
155 x 8
155 x 6…135 x 5

155 mighta been a bit much. I got a lot of body english and was feeling it in my lats and everywhere I shouldn’t, hence why I dropped down to 135 and repped out with strict form. Might dial it back next week, or warm up more.

B1) Suppinated Grip Pulldowns
11(poundage not labeled on machines) x 11
12 x 8
12 x 7
12 x 7

B2) Triangle-grip Rows to Chest (leaning back in lat pulldown station)
9 x 5
8 x 8
8 x 8
8 x 7

C1) Chest-Supported Wide Grip T-Bar Row
70 x 8
90 x 7 PR
90 x 7
90 x 7

D1) EZ-Bar Preacher Curl
65 x 8
65 x 7
65 x 7
65 x 8

D2) Bentover Reverse Flyes
15 x 10
15 x 8
15 x 8
15 x 7

E1) Straight-Arm Lat Pulldown
5 x 11
6 x 8
6 x 8
7 x 8

E2) Hammer Curls
35 x 8
35 x 7
35 x 7
35 x 7

80

[quote]scj119 wrote:

[quote]scj119 wrote:
Might celebrate a bit tonight.
[/quote]

I’m a few drinks deep and I’m thinking when I bench again on Friday I will go for the elusive 275lb bench. I think I can get at least 1 rep.

Will try for a vid but not promises, don’t want to piss off a random dude/trainer spotting me[/quote]

hahahah I like it!

275 is yours for the taking!