Having fun on this program but the DE days are extremely quick it seems. Still enjoying the workouts regardless.
Thursday 8/8/204
1:00pm
WS4SB W4D3 - DE Lower
Box Jump Overs 6 sets of 3 jumps
Hang Power Cleans 95x5 115x5 135x5 155x5
Lying Leg Curls 90x20 110x12 130x8
2 rounds: Leg Lifts x20 / Med Ball Twist x20 / Plank xMax
4:30pm
30min incline treadmill. Stopped at 30min because it stopped raining and did another 30min outside.
Did some rack pulls today. 405x3 was very easy. The racks at my gym don’t go low enough so I was standing on a few bumper plates. Honestly did not feel stable enough to go heavier comfortably so cut it off there. Still felt like some solid back work.
Also two years today since my first heart procedure. Have come a long way conditioning wise since then and overall physically. More work to do from here!
Friday 8/9/2024
7:00am
30min incline treadmill walk
11:30am
WS4SB W4D4 - ME Upper
Rack Pull 135x3 185x3 225x3 275x3 315x3 335x3 365x3 405x3
Incline DB Bench 75x10 75x10 75x10
Hammer Strength Rows 225x10 275x9 275x8 / Band Pullaparts 3x20
Extended ROM Pushups w/ Yoga Blocks 3x20 / Incline DB Curls 30x10 30x9 30x8. These were pretty hard taking out any other movement
Rope Pushdowns 72x9 72x8 72x6
The rain has died down hopefully for the whole weekend. Been about 7 days straight of pouring rain. Will try to get in a long walk tonight too and maybe a hike tomorrow.
Saturday 8/10/2024
7:00am
My sister in law owns a CrossFit gym so I dropped in for a workout. Solid conditioning session. Classes and a lot of the movements they do aren’t totally my style but had fun with this one.
Active day otherwise and a lot of time spent with family.
Some scattered walks throughout the day as well and a long one in the morning.
Sunday 8/11/2024
2:00pm
Bonus Arm Day
Rope Pushdowns 62x11 62x8 67x8
Bar Pushdowns 57x15 67x10 77x7
Lying KB Extensions 52x15x3sets. New movement, kind of weird but good feel on the triceps.
Incline DB Curls 30x10 30x9 30x8
DB Preacher Curls 25x12 25x11
EZ Bar Reverse Curls 2 sets x failure @ 55lbs
Lower back is fried from something today so switching up the order of the days this week. Conditioning tomorrow and Wednesday after work, back to lifting Thursday.
Monday 8/12/2024
7:00am
40min fasted walk
12:00pm
WS4SB W5D1 - Repetition Upper
Smith Incline Bench 185x11 205x7 205x5 drop 135x9
HS Lat Pulldown 2pl x15 2pl+25 x12 3pl x8 / band pull parts 3x20
Dips max ROM BW 3xMax / Reverse Curls 3xMax @60lb
Shrugs 225x12 225x12 / DB Side Raise 25x12 25x11
Congrats on the progress so far mate.
@simo74 thank you man. Didn’t handle two years of stress well mentally (and in turn physically) but am so happy with where I’m at now and want to keep pushing on as hard as I can.
slow day in the office so I’m planning out the rest of the year. Have been having fun with bodybuilding type movements so I think I’m going to focus on some Meadows programs for the fall and winter and trying to put on some muscle. I’ve never really done a true block of trying to gain and have always ended up staying at around 200lb and fatter than I should’ve been. I think with some focus and hard work I can gain and not get too fat.
If anyone has any input on good programs they’ve run or would suggest, I know a few of you guys have run Meadows programs lately so would love to hear your thoughts @s.gentz @ajb5478
I’ve run high evolutionary and the hypertrophy plan that used to be on this site. Liked them both. Would depend on if your body agrees with this type of training. Mine seems to.
@s.gentz Thanks for jumping in. Yeah that’s a good point. I don’t have too much experience with using these high intensity techniques. I’m drawn to it and the 6 week program just to try it out too. Have to learn what my body responds best to
I’ve also read that cycling between his high volume and high intensity programs is a great idea . . I got great gains from high evolutionary and then lasted 8 weeks on CD2 before my elbows started getting pretty cranky . . I’m doing a 6 week program now (not Meadows) that’s lower reps/heavier weight and then I’m jumping back to Meadows programs, probably start with Avalanche
bringing in @davemccright and @TrainForPain - they are full of great ideas
@Stormblessed have you done any of his programs? As @s.gentz mentioned, the one on this site is great exposure.
Do you like a PPL split (I tend to get irritated with them)?
@TrainForPain I haven’t run a program of his yet. I’m open to PPL, most of my programs have been upper/lower or full body style training. I’ll check out the program on T Nation
Was originally looking at programs to fit my schedule and timing but I think I’m just majoring in the minors at that point. Can choose whatever fits best with my goals/experience and make it work with my schedule.
I bought Programs That Work 4.1 a few weeks ago to get John’s “The Incinerator” Program to potentially run next. Looks awesome! Classic Mountain Dog 12 week program with 4 base days and 3 optional pump days, using the traditional bodybuilding split. If you want to run it alongside me, that’d be cool.
As far as my 2 favorite programs that I HAVE run, High Evolutionary and Gamma Bomb would definitely be at the top of the list. Creeping Death I is one that I’ve never ran, but would like to some day, as that’s his most popular program of all time, according to John himself.
Interesting… when do you intend to begin?
@Stormblessed I do really, really well with John’s programs. I prefer basic bodybuilding split to PPL, just because some of those push days get really long. I also think an arm day is beneficial unless your arms are really over-developed or you’re specifically trying to cut weight.
I’m on week 2 of my current Fortitude Blast, those generally last 3-6 weeks, so it’s flexible. I can start anytime after next week-the first week of September.
I also prefer the traditional bodybuilding split. I love the arm day and the sessions are generally a bit shorter and easier to recover from. I’m doing high frequency right now with Fortitude, so it’s nice when I do Mountain Dog programming to do higher volume with more recovery time between body parts.
I may join you guys on that and purchase the book, that’s an awesome idea. It seems relatively cheap to get a Meadows program. I have truly never done a bodybuilding split or really even bodybuilding type training, always have focused on the strength component and training for sports. I think starting on a traditional split may be beneficial for me to have direct arm training. Also seems better to get into a Meadows bodybuilding program before jumping into High Evolutionary which seems to be all high intensity techniques.
I would probably start up first or 2nd week of September. I’m cutting until then hoping to drop into the 180s and then will focus on a proper muscle building block through the winter. Appreciate the input from both you guys and @simo74 for bringing in the knowledge of these guys!!
This is exactly what I love about TNation and why people need to get in and out of other people logs. There is so much varied experience of different types of training styles on here, you can always find someone who can help.
@Stormblessed if you are in any way able to run this in parallel with @davemccright it would be massively advantages to you. He has tons of experience with these programs and the results are clear to see. Getting excited for you.
Absolutely agreed and you’re always awesome about tagging people in.
Agreed again. I’d be interested too. Let me know gents. I’m on the road a lot, but I think I could do the 3 main days in a row over the weekend, more or less as @simo74 suggested in my log, and then arms and any additional days in the hotel.
