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Am 36yrs old, making one last run at adding size and strength. All my past attempts were either halted by injury or impacted on my soccer too much. Now i am retired from soccer, i have no excuses. Also thanks to FlatsFarmer on here who helped me out with a shoulder issue i have always had issues with.

So the basics are i am 6’2 and 198lbs, i returned to lifting “properly” 3 weeks ago, prior to that most of my focus was posture work & all round health. I had knee surgery in early May to repair a torn meniscus which is pretty much at full strength now.

My routine i am following is basically Lyle Mcdonalds Generic Bulking Routine, with some changes, so its not really his routine but if you are familiar you will see its basically the same. I like the theory and i bought in which means i will stick to it. My previous routines were always 5x5 or something mike mentzer/dorian yates style.

In the first week i started tracking calories at 3000 a day, i didnt gain anything, so upped to 3200, no change again. So in third week i am now upto 3400 (protein between 225-250grams). I weigh in tomorrow, i will probably stay at 3400, regardless for at least another week. Part of my reasoning for tracking is that i want to gain steady, in the past i would dirty bulk and end up gaining 1lb of muscle to 5lbs of fat, then within 6 months id be a house. So the plan is 220lbs by the end of december & lean (ish)

Am also tracking my body temp first thing in the morning, its an experiment to see how and if it changes based on calories, training sessions, body weight etc… for the past 2 weeks it has been 97.2 degrees Fahrenheit, no change same sort of time each morning. Then this morning was 97.5.

Workout 3rd August 2019
Split Squat dumbbells 40lbs (each hand) x 8 reps x 4 sets

Sumo Deadlift (4inch blocks) 155lbs x 8 x 4

Leg Press 290 x 20 x 3

laying hamstring curl (no weight on stack so will just state number) #1 x 12 x 3

dumbbell calve raise; 20lbs x 15 x 3

Neck extension with harness 5lbs x 20 x 3
Neck curl 5lbs x 15 x 3

I feel weak writing this out! My plan is to bury all these numbers.

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Workout 6th August

1 Arm Dumbbell Shoulder Press 17.5kg x 8 x 4

Seal Row 20kg (each arm) x 8 x 4

DB Bench floor 20kg x 12 x 3

Chins +6.25kg x 3
Rack Chins bodyweight x 8/5/6
Pulldown underhand #7 x 13

DB tricep extension 7.5kg x 15 x 3

DB curl 10kg x 10 x 3

lateral raise 3kg x 17 x 3
rear delt row 12.5kg x 15x3

Last time i converted all my numbers to LBS but it was a pain in the ass figuring it out, so will list in KG going forwards, if you care to know its x by 2.2

Workout took me 1hr 30, the time flies but i guess to be working out that long i must be wasting time somewhere.

The shoulder press to start was tough, basically grinded out those sets and have been at that weight for a few weeks, my best ever on this exercise is 24kg ( with good technique) so im only 6.5kg off it, ill be patient.

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Workout 7th August

Lower 1

Split Squat 20kg x 8 x 4

RDL 50kg x 8 x 4

Leg Press 140kg x 15 x 3

Leg Curl #1 x 12 x 3

Calf raises 15kg x 8 x 4

Neck curl 2.5kg x 20 x 3
Neck extension on cable #2 x 20 x 3

2 things… calf is such a weird word, it hurts my head

i cant feel my glutes working, especially on RDL, i feel my hammys on the eccentric perfect, but coming up it feels a bit loose. I hear that glutes are the key to getting deadlifts of all kinds clicking. i used to move much more weight, but i do really slow controlled movements, because if i cant feel the intended muscles working there is no point me slamming weight on

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Upper 2 9th Aug

DB OHP 17.5kg x 10 x 4

Cable row (1 arm) 30kg x 15 x 4

Reverse grip dumbbell bench 22.5kg x 10 x 3

1 arm pulldown 35kg x 15 x 3

DB tricep extension 10kg x 10 x 3

Db curl 10kg x 12 x 3

Laterals on cable5kg x 15/15/8

Rear delt row 15kg x 12 x 3

incline shrug 12.5kg x 15 x 3

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Lower 2 10th aug

Split squat 20kg x 8 x 4

Sumo deadlift 4" blocks 70kg x 8, 55kg x 8 x 3

Leg Press 130kg x 20 x 3

Ham curl #1 x 8/12/12

Calve raise 8kg x 15/13/13

Neck curl and extension 2.5kg x 20 x 3

Ok so split squats feel amazing, but grip is limiting me, may have to switch to barbell, even though i hate having barbell on my back

deadlifts i dropped because the weight felt too heavy to nail my form, dropped it and really focused on getting my lats, serratus plugged in and getting my glutes contracting hard. i will take it slowly with weight increases and keep technique nailed. I really control the concentric then milk the eccentric for around3-4 seconds, which in terms of building muscle must be better than exploding up and rapid eccentric.

One other note, measured a few body parts. Of note my calves are 17.5 inches and my arms are 14 inches. I havent trained my calves since i was probably in my early 20’s,

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13th Aug UPPER 1

DB Press 17.5kg x 12 x 4

Seal row 20kg x 10, 15kg x 15, 12.5kg x 20/20

Dumbell floor press 22.5kg x 12 x 3

1 arm pulldown cable 40kg x 15 x 3

tricep rope extension 10kg x 15 x 3

db curl 12kg x 8, 10kg x 10/10

lateral raise 3kg x 15 x 3

rear delt row 12.5kg x 15 x 3

Random thoughts…

Weight jumped up 3lbs and has stayed there past few days. I dont know what that means in regards to me calculating my diet?!

Body temp down from my consistent 36.2 to 35.8, i feel colder. Weirdly when my temp goes in excess of 36.2 i nearly always feel better that day.

Weight progressions have me frustrated, on my seal rows i started around 10kg, each week i added weight or reps, last week i did 20kg for 8 reps, yesterday i tried to increase it, but every rep felt poor, couldnt feel my back working at all, so went all way back down in increments till i felt it, ended up being 12.5kg. Its pretty confusing, i know strength gains and size gains are not linked exclusively, but the strongest dude is normally the biggest dude.

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Example of form:

on Rear delt rows, i try to do all my movements like this, only way for me to feel muscle working or at least attempt to

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Workout 15th August
Lower 1

Split Squat barbell 40kg x 8 x 4

RDL 50kg x 8 x 4

Leg Press 140kg x 20 x 3

Leg Curl #1 x 15 x 3

Calve Raise 10kg x 10 x 4

Neck curl and extension 2.5kg x 20 x 3

Switched the split squat to barbell, felt much better for my legs, became less about grip (see vid)

Leg press felt strong, hence the push up in reps. rdl’s still a bit flimsy so held back from adding weight

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Workout 16th august

Rack Dead 70kg x 8 x 4

Seal Row 12.5kg x 15 x 3

DB OHP 15kg x 15 x 4

Reverse db press floor 25kg x 10 x 3

close grip bench 40kg x 15 x 3

cable curl 20kg x 15 x 3

lateral raise 2kg x 25 x 3

rear delt row 12.5kg x 15 x 3

neck curl /neck extension 5kg x 20 x 3

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Workout 18 aug

LEGS

Split squat 45kg x 8 x 4 (see vid)

FAT bar RDL 30kg x 8 x 4

Leg Press 160kg x 20 x 3

Leg curl #2 x 8 x 3

calf raise 10kg x 10 x 3

neck curl 5kg x 20 x 3

cable bicep curl 20kg x 12 x 3

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Decided to switch things round a bit,

so instead of upper x 2 per week and lower x 2 per week

am doing upper x 2 and lower x 1. but will put biceps on the lower day.
reason being, my legs are already growing quickly so will balance it out a little.

went fat bar deads to 1 work on grip and 2 force myself to use a lower weight and focus on hamstrings, its same story though on way down it feels great, on way back up i feel nothing :frowning:

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Curls on leg day, I like it.

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hahahaha not sure how i feel about it… didn’t really get a pump & while a pump doesn’t indicate much, it sure feels good