SSC's Log

Training Training Logs
81

[quote]SSC wrote:

Well a few things. Nurses are actually paid pretty well here, and that’s a baseline pay. Obviously no where near the level of doctors, but they definitely make more than police men do, typically. I was interested in the police thing, but the issue is that the place in Arizona is like, 1,000 miles away from me. I know no one out there, I have no connections, no state drivers’ license, no knowledge of the surrounding area, or anything like that. So, while it would have been a nice way to reboot my life, it seems a little impractical right now.

Like you said, there is always the potential for specializations in the medical world. I don’t know what it is, I have a strong attraction to the field. I had debated physical therapy and such programs in the past before, so I’ve always had an interest there.

Cop - Would be cool, but there are definitely some issues with certain laws I honestly think I would have a tough time following through with. I don’t care about weed, and I’m not a very assertive person when it comes to other people. I’m kind of a “live and let live” guy, so I don’t know if it’d be the ideal job for me.

Either way, I’m pretty excited about this.

Clubs = Shitty music, guidos, guido-girls, party-girls, drug-addicts, STB’s, alcohol. Not really long-term relationship material… If you can’t stand listening to them talk and they’re fucked up anyway, then you sure as hell don’t want to have them around for long. The kind of girl you want to be together with for more than one night probably won’t be found in a club unless her friends dragged her there by her hair.

Lol, just out of curiosity, did you mean STD’s? Or, I guess I don’t know what an STB is. :slight_smile: [/quote] Yeah, oops, STD’s. I hope smalltobig didn’t catch that one LOL [quote]

School/Uni = You get to know them a little better, possibly. I’d look here… Though I dunno…

At work = Trouble. Most of the time :slight_smile:

Definitely generally a no-go for work. Though there is this one chick whose ass bursts at the seams everytime she squats down to grab something. Elevates my heart rate just thinking about it. Somebody stop me.

In the gym = You’re supposed to train, not flirt. Still, this is where you can possibly find someone who’s into improving her body and not just her mental skills… (or nothing at all lol)… Still the biggest chance to meet relation-ship material, considering your lifestyle.

Bars = One-night-stands. And STB’s. Hmm. And lots of alcoholic beverages. Not where you should be, really :wink:

Yeah, I know. It’s just tough being a newly-turned 21 college kid. It’s a horrible excuse, but I kind of got anti-social when I initially lost a bunch of weight. I don’t know, it’s fun, but destructive. I’m going to be conflicted no matter what I do, dammit. Such is life.

Anyway, feeling much better today. (Side note, I always feel depressed and pissed off the day after drinking. Coincidence?)
I doubt it. Just stop drinking. What’s the point in getting drunk if you’re not even picking up girls? Waste of time and your body’s recovery-resources and health…
Of course that’s easy for me to say, I’ve never been drunk in my life lol

Well, I’m trying to pick up girls, dammit! Maybe I’m just uglier and fatter than I realized, heh heh. I’m starting to figure out women, but that’s not saying a whole lot, comparatively speaking.

And yeah, drinking sucks. It’s a great ice breaker, especially for shyer (sp?) folks like myself. And don’t worry, you haven’t missed much.

Anyway, thanks for the sentiments.[/quote]

82

Okay. I snapped pictures, and as I promised, I will upload them later after my workout.

Today is the start of Week 4 on the Cut. I think it’s going well. It is, but fuck. I hate how my stomach and love-handles don’t budge until I really start to “get down there” in terms of weight.

The pics aren’t going to look very good, because I don’t look very good. A lot of the excess fat I’ve been losing has been up around my shoulders, arms, and lower-to-mid leg section. I also have to remember it has only been 3 weeks, with only two weeks of cardio, and still keeping my calories around 2,700 or so.

I may bump them down to about 2,600. I don’t know, I’m losing fat without losing much (if any, or gaining) strength, so maybe I’ll just stick with it.

If I do, in fact, decide to keep doing this slowly, it may be an additional 4 weeks or so, rather than finished up around September like I had originally planned. We’ll see.

I think my waist is down to around 41.5" now, not too great, but not too bad. I can finally wear the “bigger” small pants that I have again. Yay? Shirts are fitting better around the lub-handles/stomach area, and not getting any looser around the shoulders/lats/traps, etc.

I’m now doing FMC just about every day, and if not, some form of steady-state drawn out over a longer period.

Blah. I feel much better, but I still look like shit.

83

Dude, time to get over the body dismorphia or whatever it is. Considering where you started, your progress is awesome. I can relate to the feelings you are having in a big way, but I think it is time to let it go and start focussing your energy into positive places.

84

[quote]GuerillaZen wrote:
Dude, time to get over the body dismorphia or whatever it is. Considering where you started, your progress is awesome. I can relate to the feelings you are having in a big way, but I think it is time to let it go and start focussing your energy into positive places.[/quote]

Haha, thanks man. Don’t worry - I go through feeling like shit to feeling awesome about 10 times a day. All depends on when I post.

The last couple workouts, there have been these kids there. Like, MAYBE freshmen in highschool, or something like that. There’s this kid who’s HUGELY fat, and reminds me a lot of me back in the day - Maybe even bigger. I really wanted to talk to him, maybe try to give him some tips and shit, but I don’t know. It’s just not my place. Plus, I’m leaving that gym permanently in about a week. If I see him again before I leave, I’m going to contact him.

I know I’m not big, or even all that impressive, but if someone would’ve done that to me when I was his age, it could’ve saved me years of depression and unhappiness. I’m now kind of bummed I didn’t contact him.

Oh well.

As promised, here’s some pics.

I snapped this one after the workout, because I thought it looked cool.

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Post-workout.

Love-handles are definitely diminishing.

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This one’s not great, mostly because of the shadows. Makes my right lub-handle look big, when my left is actually my bigger one. Relaxed, duh.

87

Yo SSC, check out www.sosuave.com

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Last one. Really debated putting this one up. This is a really wierd picture.

First, you can see the ball-sack quite clearly on my lower-belly. Second, you can see what my loose skin does when I actually suck my gut in - it all collapses inwards towards the middle of my stomach, hence the “line” running down there.

I swear, I can see outline of abs just fine when not bloated from water / having eaten all day / striking a weird pose. This picture was almost so bad I almost deleted it altogether.

Fuck it. I know I look better than how the picture looks.

Also note: Pants make love-handles look MUCH bigger from the front. This was taken after my FMC, prior to the workout.

89

Holy Gigantic Forearms Batman !

90

SSC, another thing that might help your overall appearance, especially when relaxed, and how you are perceived, is posture. I notice it especially in that rear relaxed shot. You seem to slouch your shoulders forward. You have an impressive back, man! So show it off! Play with it and keep snapping pictures until you get it, and force yourself to walk with better posture during the day until it becomes natural.

Definitely seeing some big imrprovements, man. Let’s see how shredded we can get you this diet!

91

[quote]JonBlood wrote:
Yo SSC, check out www.sosuave.com[/quote]

Hey, thanks! Definitely an interesting site. Will read carefully. :smiley:

[quote]WS4JB wrote:
Holy Gigantic Forearms Batman !
[/quote]

Hah, thanks man. I think the combination of my tiny wrists and the pump from rack pulls / pulldowns helped them look big, though. Right picture at the right time.

[quote]bugeishaAD wrote:
SSC, another thing that might help your overall appearance, especially when relaxed, and how you are perceived, is posture. I notice it especially in that rear relaxed shot. You seem to slouch your shoulders forward. You have an impressive back, man! So show it off! Play with it and keep snapping pictures until you get it, and force yourself to walk with better posture during the day until it becomes natural.

Definitely seeing some big imrprovements, man. Let’s see how shredded we can get you this diet![/quote]

I’ve definitely corrected my posture a fair bit over the years, as strange as it seems. It’s a work in progress. I’ve always had slumped shoulders, because of the forward stress my belly use to put on my upper torso. Get use to that for years and you’ve definitely got a recipe for bad posture. I’ve been working, but have been slacking as of late. Time to be a little more diligent with the correction, I suppose. Thanks for the tip!

BTW, I think I’m going to take another front shot in a few days because that picture is so… odd.

92

More than four weeks in and either still setting PRs, or getting very close to ones I had established right before the cut.

[u]Cybex Incline Press[/u]
50 x 10
110 x 5
190 x 2
255 x 10 (+5 lbs, +.5 reps)

[u]Flat DB[/u]
65 x 4
95 x 5 (+1 rep)

[u]EZ Preachers[/u]
40 x 10
55 x 5
75 x 2
105 x 8 (Yeah buddy, +5 lbs, -2 reps)

[u]Pinwheels[/u]
20 x 8
40 x 4
75 x 15 (+2 reps)

[u]CG Inhuman Press[/u]
85 x 10
115 x 5
165 x 3
235 x 7.5 (Balls. +1.5 reps)

[u]EZ Skullcrushers[/u]
35 x 8
65 x 3
100 x 5 (-2 reps. Damn if my joints and forearms weren’t pissed at me for these today. I’m not too worried about it.)

So, yeah, the cut is going well. On days that I can, I’m utilizing FMC, and if I can’t, I at least try to get out for a walk, maybe do some incline steady-state on a treadmill, or something similar.

And I’m still keeping my calories in the 2,600-2,800 range, generally. Maybe a little more or a little less, depending on the day.

93

Inhuman Press?

94

@SSC

A trick I did for addressing an internal shoulder rotation problem(which looks like you have) is just to shrug when your sitting around. Watching TV? Do some static shrugs. Sitting at a desk, hold a shrug. I guarantee that will help display those huge traps you have alot better if you can get them shoulder blades back.

KEEP ON TRUCKIN!

95

[quote]GuerillaZen wrote:
Inhuman Press?[/quote]

Yessir. Think of a CG Smith set-up. Instead, you have your ass and legs off of the bench, though. So the only thing that’s there is your lower back on the end of the bench, your arch, and shoulder blades retracted on there. With the lack of legs and ass for support, I think it helps initiate leg drive a lot more. They were recommended to me via C_C, and I’m enjoying them much more than traditional Close-grip benching.

[quote]Therizza wrote:
@SSC

A trick I did for addressing an internal shoulder rotation problem(which looks like you have) is just to shrug when your sitting around. Watching TV? Do some static shrugs. Sitting at a desk, hold a shrug. I guarantee that will help display those huge traps you have alot better if you can get them shoulder blades back.

KEEP ON TRUCKIN![/quote]

Ah thanks man, good idea. I’ve been trying to consciously “tighten them up and pull them back” when going for my walks, or generally just standing around, but this is a good idea. I think most of my bad posture comes from sitting - I’m pretty much always leaned forward, opposed to having my back straight against the back of my chair (even as I type this now, hahaha.)

And just a side note, I think a large part of my wierd shoulder rotation issues comes from playing the sousaphone in high school for three years. The way that they’re constructed you basically have to lean forward a bit to support it. Kind of confusing, but if you’ve ever put one on, you’d know what I mean.

But thanks for the tip!

96

[quote]SSC wrote:
GuerillaZen wrote:
Inhuman Press?

Yessir. Think of a CG Smith set-up. Instead, you have your ass and legs off of the bench, though. So the only thing that’s there is your lower back on the end of the bench, your arch, and shoulder blades retracted on there. With the lack of legs and ass for support, I think it helps initiate leg drive a lot more. They were recommended to me via C_C, and I’m enjoying them much more than traditional Close-grip benching.
[/quote] Main point is that you are pressing towards your feet (trying to) as well as up. (PL setup, too, though on the traditional IH press your elbows are flared… You can tuck them on the way down and flare them on the way up if you want… Armpit-width grip or as wide as necessary, shoulders always stay on the bench…) That puts more stress on the tris and less on the delts.

[quote]
Therizza wrote:
@SSC

A trick I did for addressing an internal shoulder rotation problem(which looks like you have) is just to shrug when your sitting around. Watching TV? Do some static shrugs. Sitting at a desk, hold a shrug. I guarantee that will help display those huge traps you have alot better if you can get them shoulder blades back. [/quote] You mean the kind of shrug you do when rowing (particularly on the yates supinated row) rather than a normal upward shrug, by any chance? [quote]

KEEP ON TRUCKIN!

Ah thanks man, good idea. I’ve been trying to consciously “tighten them up and pull them back” when going for my walks, or generally just standing around, but this is a good idea. I think most of my bad posture comes from sitting - I’m pretty much always leaned forward, opposed to having my back straight against the back of my chair (even as I type this now, hahaha.)

And just a side note, I think a large part of my wierd shoulder rotation issues comes from playing the sousaphone in high school for three years. The way that they’re constructed you basically have to lean forward a bit to support it. Kind of confusing, but if you’ve ever put one on, you’d know what I mean.

But thanks for the tip![/quote]

97

Cephalic Carnage- both actually. I like to visualize crushing a tennis ball between my shoulder blades and trapezius muscles, if that makes sense. I think, and this is a theory, it kinda works the way doing vacuums does, teaches the muscles to hold that position naturally.

98

SSC y C_C thanks for the explanation on the inhuman press. I think I’m going to replace weighted dips with those in supergrowth. Dips, while a good excercise, hurt my shoulders and elbows.

SSC, now that you’re out on Brother Hood of Iron you should start logging your workouts here again so we can keep an eye on what you’re up to!

99

How much you weigh now a days man?
I thought you were taller then 5’11.

Yall are short!

100

[quote]GuerillaZen wrote:
SSC, now that you’re out on Brother Hood of Iron you should start logging your workouts here again so we can keep an eye on what you’re up to![/quote]

Yes sir, I do plan on it. Although, yeah, things are going to be a little wierd until after this diet is settled. Plus, moving to a new gym in a couple days is going to spawn some interesting sessions I reckon. Oh well. I’m pumped!

[quote]xb-C wrote:
How much you weigh now a days man?
I thought you were taller then 5’11.

Yall are short![/quote]

I’m really not sure. As well as the FMC is treating me, it has definitely increased my appetite a LOT. I haven’t necessarily been gorging myself, but at night, if I know I can’t do FMC in the morning, I… er… have been snacking on some cheeses + peanuts. Not good, I know, but damn. My body craves sustenance, which I believe means it’s trying to grow!

If I had to ballpark, I’d still say 228-230. Earlier in the day, I can see a slight outline of my abs. I can also see ripples going down my torso from my heart beating. So, while I’m still not lean, I’m getting there. I still think 215 is going to be pretty comfortable, I really hope I don’t have to get down to 210.

Going to go do some legs today. Front Squats are a total lost cause at this point, so I’m going for reps / jacking around with them, since I’m switching to hack squats next session at the new gym.

EDIT: And wait XB, how tall are you?!