Rising To The Top

Training Logs
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Beast Building
Phase 1
12/06/2010

“Your living is determined not so much by what life brings to you as by the attitude you bring to life; not so much by what happens to you as by the way your mind looks at what happens.”

  • John Homer Miller

Stats
Age: 22
Height: 5’10
Weight 192

Maxes
Bench: 285
Incline: 252
Sumo deadlift: 272
Front squat: 242
Weighted pull up: 100
Notes: My front squat and sumo deadlift tested lower than expected–I will most likely be increasing my workload on these as I progress through the program.

To maximize my post contest growth period I have decided on a no nonsense approach to muscle growth and strength training, after much mental debate I have decided to give CT’s beast building the go-ahead. As a personal trainer, I have the tendency to think I can always create the most optimal workout program; especially for myself! While I have had a lot of success up to this point, I have come to understand that I am a novice to strength training and will resign my position as general manager of the universe!

As of late, I’ve grown increasingly fond of CT’s writing and training philosophies. Calculating maxes and working within certain percentages is a fairly new concept for me; one that I’m looking forward to implementing. I’m accustomed to going all out each training session and leaving nothing in the tank. Generally, over the last couple years, I have trained legs twice a week and other body parts once a week. I have used triples sparingly over the last several years, and haven’t used doubles or singles since my high school days. And, I simply have never done sumo deadlifts before. Needless to say, this program will certainly take me out of my comfort zone. In other words, it’s going to be a blast!

I plan to train in this fashion a minimum of two months, early February I’ll assess where I’m at and take a look at the progress I’ve made. I’m starting this log on week II of the program, so I’ll be using doubles at 85% of my respective maxes – which isn’t all that much at the moment. In the near future I’ll have some respectable lifts in relation to my bodyweight!

After stuffing my face for a couple weeks after my contest season came to an end, I’m going to try to keep the diet fairly clean and limit the junk to Saturday PWO. I’m not going to be completely anal about macros; I’m aiming for 200g protein/500g carbs/100g fat on training days and 250/250/150 on off days. 3700 and 3350 respectively – this should be enough of a calorie surplus to gain at a solid rate. Basically a carb cycling bulking approach; I encourage users to feel free to berate and call me names if I’m eating like crap.

Looking forward to hearing from some of the veterans on the site, I was going to name a few, but you guys all know who you are. So don’t be a stranger!

Let’s see how big I can get and still look good nekked!

Let’s get to it!!!

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MM

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525×576 67.1 KB

Front Relax

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475×595 59.7 KB

Rear Relax

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Monday: Motor Skill Acquisition (85% for doubles, 20 minute cluster sets)
15 minutes foam rolling and static strectching
A) Sumo deadslifts 135x2, 185x2, 230x215
B1) Incline 135x38
B2) Weighted Pull-ups 45x2,80x2*8
Followed by 15 minutes RC work.

Notes: Okay, not the ideal way to start my kick ass training log; my right shoulder has been irritating after doing pin presses on Saturday and had to swap doubles for some light speed work and RC work. I’ve taken a copious amount of fish oil yesterday and today and still no dice. Tomorrow is speed work with isometrics, I imagine I’ll be healed up for doubles on Thursday.

Also, 230 was cake on sumo deads. My max tested to be 271, although I believe it might have been a fluke because I can bench more than that. My front squat tested low also, might have to chalk up the numbers for this following week.

Meal 1: Oatmeal, apple sauce, whey, bagel w/jam & 2tsps almond butter (abbreviated AB), 8oz orange juice (OJ), fish oilx4
46P/150C/15F
Meal 2: Buckwheat pancakes, plain yogurt, banana, bagel with honey and 2tsps AB, fish oilx4
44/165/15
Meal 3 PWO: 1 scoop whey & ~70g maltodextrin
22/70/0
Meal 4: Oatmeal, 1 cup blueberries, plain yogurt, 8oz beef on a whole wheat bun, 1oz cheese, 1tbs mayo.
70/115/49
Meal 5: 1 cup cottage cheese, 2tbs AB, fish oilx3
35/0/20
Total: 217/500/99: 3760 calories

Notes: I write this an hour after meal five and I’m absolutely starving after nearly 4k calories! I don’t know if the carbs ignited my appetite or what, but I might have to add a few more calories on training days if this continues!

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Tuesday 12/7:
Isomotric/Explosive
A1) Isohold deadlift
A2) Hang Cleans 45x3, 95x3, 115x3, 135x3*3

B1) Ishold BB Military
B2) BB Military 45x3, 95x3, 115x3*3

C1) Isohold Squat
C2) Jump Squats 65x8*5

Meal 1: Bagel w/jam, oatmeal, 1 scoop whey, apple sauce, banana, fish oilx4, 2 tsps AB
42/150/13
Meal 2: Buckwheat pancakes, plain yogurt, raisins, fish oilx4, and a biscotti
52/120/20
Meal 3: Apple, 2 tbs PB, 63g whey, 2 tsps honey, 70g maltodextrin
50/100/trace
Meal 4: 2 quarter pound burgers with pepperjack and 2tbs mayo, oatmeal and applesauce, 8oz OJ, fish oilx2 60/130/62
Meal 5: Apple, 2tbs AB, 1 scoop whey, 1 scoop casein, fish oilx2
45/20/18

Total Macros: 249/520/113 – 4093

Notes: The extra fat definitely helped me stay satisfied between meals–I almost felt guilty for eating more calories for this easy workout, I had a short walk after meal 4.

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It’ll be interesting following your log.

Your MM picture never showed up.

I admire how you can keep track of all your macros and calories. I really should start doing that, though I’m sure I’d be disappointed at times. One of my usual lunches is a whole box of macaroni with peas mixed in, I looked on the box and it’s 200+g of carbs for one meal. lol.

Do you happen to know or take any bodypart measurements?

Also, any reason you chose sumo deads over conventional? I’m just asking because I’ve always thought that conventional deads were considered better for back development. Or is that not your goal for the deadlifts?

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[quote]Blaze_108 wrote:
It’ll be interesting following your log.

Your MM picture never showed up.

I admire how you can keep track of all your macros and calories. I really should start doing that, though I’m sure I’d be disappointed at times. One of my usual lunches is a whole box of macaroni with peas mixed in, I looked on the box and it’s 200+g of carbs for one meal. lol.

Do you happen to know or take any bodypart measurements?

Also, any reason you chose sumo deads over conventional? I’m just asking because I’ve always thought that conventional deads were considered better for back development. Or is that not your goal for the deadlifts?[/quote]

Thanks for the comment blaze!

I haven’t taken measurements recently, but now would be an ideal time to take some! Tracking macros is almost second nature after my second BB contest, I always have a solid idea of how much I’m taking in–even when I’m eating out. In the past I haven’t been too strict with my macros in the off-season, however after reading synergy’s thread I’ve become inspired to do so!

I choose to do sumo deadlifts over conventional only because I’m working on my lower back strength and hip mobility–once that’s in check I’m looking forward to integrating them into my workouts again!

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I’m trying to upload the MM again.

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12/8/10

Meal 1: Shake=1 scoop whey, ~1 tbs AB, 20g raisin, 2 tsps honey, 40g oatmeal, banana, plain yogurt, fish oilx4
40/100/17
Meal 2: Tuna, 1.5 tbs mayo, veggies, ½ cup cottage cheese, fish oil x2
46/0/20
Meal 3: Omelet=1 egg, 8 whites, ½ cup cheddar, broccoli, 2 sweet potatoes, fish oil x2
48/62/25
Meal 4: Apple, 2 tbs AB, 2oz whey protein, fish oilx2
50/20/18
Meal 5: 3/4 whole chicken, ~3tbs BBQ, 1/2 cup lemon sorbet, fish oilx2
~60/45/45
Meal 6: 1/2 cup cottage cheese, 3 tbs peanut butter, 1/2 scoop vanilla whey
40/0/24
Total: 284/232/149=3410

Notes: Not sure about the cals in the chicken, I removed most of the skin so it shouldn’t have been too fatty. After meal five I resisted the gravitational pull of vanilla ice cream–it will taste better saturday PWO knowing I have earned it–I settled for some lemon sorbet since I didn’t have a lot of carbs today.

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Nice job resisting the heavy gravitational pull of ice cream, that shit can be deadly sometimes!

Cool to see your log here. When’s the next show you want to do?

Also, give the fish oils a few days to kick in, hope the shoulder heals up.

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[quote]inkaddict wrote:
Nice job resisting the heavy gravitational pull of ice cream, that shit can be deadly sometimes!

Cool to see your log here. When’s the next show you want to do?

Also, give the fish oils a few days to kick in, hope the shoulder heals up.[/quote]

Thanks for the comment ink!

I hear you on the ice cream, my aim is to limit that to saturday–only problem is it’s sitting in the freezer calling my name all week!

My next show will be fall 2011 at the earliest. My shoulder is feeling 100% after lots of fish oil, light speed work and a day off. I’m going to hit inclines instead of dips tonight since my upper chest needs the most work anyway.

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Ice cream is awesome.

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I’ll be following along. Looking forward to seeing how CT’s Beast Building treats you. I’m considering giving it a go some time in the future.

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@Dixies, indeed it is my friend!

@Aqua, good to have you here!

Thursday: Motor Skill Acquisition

A) Front Squat (85%=205)
45x2,135x2, 185x2, 205x2*12

B) Barbell Incline (85%=215)
45x2, 135x2, 185x2, 205x2, 215x2*11

C) Barbell Row (85%=245)
45x2, 135x2, 185x2, 215x2, 245x2*9

Accessory:
D1) Dumbbell skullcrushers
30sx15, 40sx12*2

D2) Dumbbell Curl
30sx10, 40sx8*2

E) Horizontal Rear Delt Pull Downs
130x12*2

Notes: Front squats got progressively easier as I went along–next week I’m going to up my max so it’s equal to my incline at 252. Incline was cake, the discomfort is gone and I was rolling through it and decided to take my time and really focus on exploding the weight of my chest. Barbell row wasn’t bad either then I got in 15 minutes of accessory work. I felt an intense feeling of accomplishment and overall well being leaving the gym, I took that as a sign to say a quick prayer of gratitude.

Meal 1: Bagel w/1tbs AB, �?�¼ cup cottage cheese and a shake w/1 scoop whey, plain yogurt, 1 egg white, banana, fish oilx4
50/100/20
Meal 2: 2 whole eggs, 4 whites, 1oz cheese, 2 beef sausages, cauliflower, red onions, fish oilx2
36/0/30
Meal 3: bowl of oatmeal, apple sauce, scoop of whey, 1tbs AB, banana, fish oilx2
43/150/10
Meal 4: Shake
40/100/0
Meal 5:
2 eggs, 8 whites, 8oz broccoli, 200g sweet potatoes, apple pie with ¾ cup ICE CREAM!
36/110/55
Total: 205/460/115=3695

Notes: That’s right, I did the dirty tonight folks. My meager attempt to hide the ice cream scoop did not slow me down one bit. I realized I had apple pie with a sell by date from last week, and I’m not the type to let things go to waste. And well, what’s apple pie without vanilla ice cream? It was premeditated, as you can see how it fit my macros more or less. At least I felt I had earned it after today’s ~80 minute workout. It was really good; perhaps I’ll allow myself two cheat meals per week. That’s reasonable, amirite?

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It’s awesome that you have a log, I wanted to tell you congrats on your competition and that you look better and better with each avvie lol

I was just trying not to hijack someone else’s thread to say that though ;D

Anyway, awesome work and I’ll be following.

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[quote]Nikki9591 wrote:
It’s awesome that you have a log, I wanted to tell you congrats on your competition and that you look better and better with each avvie lol

I was just trying not to hijack someone else’s thread to say that though ;D

Anyway, awesome work and I’ll be following.[/quote]

Thanks for the comment Nikki, good to have you following along! Do you have any figure competitions coming up?

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Yeah, I’m training for my first one in July.

And now that I read every word, your not-in-comfort training is awesome, I love how you eat, and the best of the best have 2 cheat meals a week lol