Super Size Me

Training Training Logs
61

[quote]SmallToBig wrote:
What im trying is what CT reccomended, 20 mins before each meal have 1 scoop of Whey just to get your body filled with aminos (which is good apparently)[/quote]

I don’t know if I believe this yet. CT’s protocol was to have casein hydrosylate (Anaconda) before the workout to flood the body of aminos. Having 20g of a quick-absorbing protein before a workout to maximize anabolism sounds like a decent theory, but I don’t know if it would work with whey isolate/concentrate since timing (CT’s concept of amino pulsing) seems to be so important. I also remember him saying that one would have to consume more whey (40g) since it doesn’t absorb as fast, and if that’s the case (and if one would also have to consume the whey earlier since it doesn’t absorb as quickly), that probably isn’t much different than what I’m doing now (I have something 1-2 hours before my workouts).

  1. BB standing press

  2. Close-grip bench

  3. Back squat

  4. Lying leg curls

  5. Standing cable crunch

  6. I surprised myself by starting with more weight than I had planned on using. My delts were on fire after the press due to the volume, and it carried over to the CGBP. Fortunately, the fatigue/burn didn’t bother me when it was time to do the actual work sets on the CGBP.

  7. Started with the same weight I ended with on Starting Strength, but overall my squat sets were a mess. By set #3, my back was so tight that I couldn’t finish off the full 8-10 reps. My knee was also giving me some problems. I ended up doing 7 total sets because I wanted to get at least 40 reps (5 sets x 8 reps = 40).

  8. Like before, I could feel my hamstrings starting to cramp up, so I used a weight that allowed me to do the reps in a slow, controlled fashion. I’ve noticed that when I do this (rather than trying to lift the weight as fast as possible), my hamstrings don’t cramp.

  9. I had originally planned on doing hanging pikes, but keeping myself stable was harder than I thought. Instead, I went with standing cable crunches supersetted with the ab roller.

The ramp up is done! Time for the 3-week supergrowth period! I need to focus on a few things:

  1. Eating enough protein (at least 1.5x my body weight ~ 270g),
  2. Getting enough sleep (7-8 hours a night), and
  3. Lifting like there’s no tomorrow.

I’ll take some measurements tomorrow morning and take some new photos.

EDIT: After looking at my photos and measurements, not much has changed, so I’ll post photos after week 6 (end of ramp 1).

Stat changes:
Weight: 177.0 to 183.7 (up 8.6 lbs)
Waist: 33.75 to 34.25 (up 0.5 in)
Thighs: 23.75 to 24.00 (up 0.25 in)
Upper chest: 39.5 to 40.0 (up 0.5 in)
Lower chest: 36.0 to 36.5 (up 0.5 in)
Shoulders: 48.75 to 49.0 (up 0.25 in)

62

No you mis-understood - it’s 20 minutes before every MEAL not anything to do with your pre/para/post workout stuff :slight_smile:

66g of extra protein for nothing ;p

63

[quote]SmallToBig wrote:
No you mis-understood - it’s 20 minutes before every MEAL not anything to do with your pre/para/post workout stuff :slight_smile:

66g of extra protein for nothing ;p[/quote]

Ah, my mistake. Thanks for pointing that out.

Today’s workout felt extremely light. I upped the weight on all of my lifts to make sure I stayed within the rep range, but in terms of volume, I didn’t feel like I did much. The 3-minute breaks between sets probably contributed.

Exercise selection

  1. HS high row
  2. Incline bench
  3. DB standing curls
  4. Seated calf raises

3 sets
10-12 reps
180 sec rest

  1. Incline bench still managed to be quite difficult. I got a bit too cocky and only got 7 reps on my first set. Dropped the weight 10 lbs, and I was good for the other 2 sets.

Even though I’m not doing as much volume, I’ve still been hungry as shit all day. That’s a good sign :slight_smile:

On an unrelated note, there’s a really attractive chick who I see at the gym every day. I haven’t mustered up the courage to talk to her (I go to the gym to lift weights, not to mingle, and I’m sure there are others out there like me, even at 24-Hour Fitness), but one day I will!

64

[quote]jo3 wrote:
On an unrelated note, there’s a really attractive chick who I see at the gym every day. I haven’t mustered up the courage to talk to her (I go to the gym to lift weights, not to mingle, and I’m sure there are others out there like me, even at 24-Hour Fitness), but one day I will![/quote]

A courtesy Good Morning / Afternoon / Evening goes a long way.

At least you’ll look like someone being polite rather then someone distracting her while she’s working out.

You can always strike up conversation with her outside of workout time, and you won’t seem like a random creep because you’ve already said hello earlier.

Go for it Joe!

LR

65

[quote]London Runner wrote:
jo3 wrote:
On an unrelated note, there’s a really attractive chick who I see at the gym every day. I haven’t mustered up the courage to talk to her (I go to the gym to lift weights, not to mingle, and I’m sure there are others out there like me, even at 24-Hour Fitness), but one day I will!

A courtesy Good Morning / Afternoon / Evening goes a long way.

At least you’ll look like someone being polite rather then someone distracting her while she’s working out.

You can always strike up conversation with her outside of workout time, and you won’t seem like a random creep because you’ve already said hello earlier.

Go for it Joe!

LR[/quote]

Did not see her today because I worked out later than usual. I’ll have to get there on time next time!

Thought I’d include my weights since everyone else is doing it. All weights will be in lbs.

Exercise selection

  1. DB seated press:
    55 x 10
    50 x 12
    50 x 10

  2. Narrow-grip dips
    20 x 11
    20 x 11
    22.5 x 11 - someone stole my 20lb DB, so instead of dropping weight, I increased the weight. Probably means I didn’t bust my balls on the first two sets. But regardless, my triceps are more sore than they have ever been! (This is my first time doing weighted dips.)

  3. Angled leg press
    540 x 6/4 - got a bit too cocky and put too much weight. Did 6 reps, took a 15 sec break, and then did 4 more reps
    500 x 12
    500 x 12

  4. Assisted glute-ham raise (formerly Swiss ball leg curls)
    BW x 10
    BW x 10
    BW x 10

  5. Dip bar leg raise (formerly captain’s chair leg raise)
    BW x 10
    BW x 10
    BW x 10

The reason I changed the last two exercises is because they were good for the higher rep ranges (13-15 reps). Since I’m only doing 3 sets of 10-12 reps, the old exercises would have left too much gas in the tank. My end goal has always been to do unassisted GHRs and weighted hanging pikes, but my hamstrings are too weak to do GHRs unassisted and I can’t keep my body stable when doing hanging pikes.

66

So have you swapped out all the old exercises ??

67

Nope, I’m just tinkering with all the bodyweight exercises. Everything else is staying the same.

Not much to write about today. Good workout.

DB decline bench (neutral)
80 x 10
80 x 7
75 x 8

Bent-over BB row
160 x 10
160 x 10
160 x 9

DB hammer curls
40 x 8
35 x 11
35 x 11

Angled leg press (calves)
270 x 10
270 x 10
270 x 10

68

Not much to talk about again. Regardless, good workout! 3 min rest between sets is long.

BB upright row
105 x 5 - took off 5 lbs and did 5 more reps with 100lb (10 reps total)
100 x 9
95 x 10

Elbows out DB extensions
40 x 9
37.5 x 9
35 x 11

DB Romanian deadlift - kept the weight pretty low so I could focus on my hamstrings and not on my lower back
90 x 10
90 x 10
90 x 9

Seated leg extension
180 x 10
170 x 10
170 x 10

Kneeling cable crunch
170 x 10
160 x 10
160 x 10

69

I’ll keep this short and sweet:

T-bar row - must have not used enough weight in the beginning since I never had to decrease the weight
175 x 7
175 x 7
175 x 7

Incline bench
155 x 7
155 x 5
145 x 7

Seated calf raises - slow eccentrics, paused at the very bottom
135 x 7
135 x 7
135 x 7

EZ bar curl
90 x 5
85 x 5
80 x 7 - last rep took a good 5 sec, but it was worth it!

There’s a really, really, really good chance I’ll be postponing tomorrow’s workout to Sunday. After all, it’s the 4th of July :slight_smile:

Happy Independence Day my fellow Americans!

70

I’m done with week 1 of the 1st supergrowth phase! I feel bigger and stronger, but I’ll let the weights and my photos at the end of the phase dictate that.

BB standing press
135 x 5 - up 10 lb from last week (keep in mind I’m doing about 3 fewer reps this week)
130 x 6
130 x 5

Close-grip bench
170 x 5 - up 15 lb from last week
165 x 6
165 x 6

Back squat - may get rid of this exercise… will explain below
275 x 5 - up 10 lb from last week
275 x 5
275 x 3/2 - started to feel some knee pain, so I racked the weight after 3 reps, took a 15 sec break, and knocked out the other 2 reps

Lying leg curls - didn’t have a problem with my hamstrings cramping today!
95 x 7 - up 15 lb from last week
95 x 7
95 x 7

Kneeling cable crunch (formerly standing cable crunches… will explain below)
170 x 7 - same weight as Thursday
160 x 7
160 x 7

I’m thinking about getting rid of the squats altogether. As you may know (if you’ve been following my log), I’ve been experiencing some knee/IT band problems for about the past 1-2 months. My IT band seems to be getting looser with the foam rolling I’m doing, but my knee isn’t getting much better. It has been popping quite frequently, and during my squats my knee actually started to get sore (I didn’t know your joints could get sore!). I feel like I need to do some rehab work, but I don’t know where to start. I guess I have a week to decide what I want to do here.

Another issue I’ve noticed is that I’m losing upper body flexibility. I noticed this today when I had a difficult time holding the bar where I usually hold it when squatting. I don’t know if that’s due to my shoulders and triceps being tighter/pumped or because I’m not doing any upper body stretching. I’m thinking it’s the former because when I did Starting Strength, I never had this issue, and I never stretched my upper body. Maybe my muscles are getting too hyooooge? :slight_smile:

And finally, I’m out of ab ideas. I don’t know what exercise to do that will be difficult to do for 5-7 reps. I’m already doing leg raises on day 2 and kneeling cable crunches on day 4. Anyone have any recommendations that don’t require ankle weights? I don’t have any at the moment.

71

[quote]jo3 wrote:
And finally, I’m out of ab ideas. I don’t know what exercise to do that will be difficult to do for 5-7 reps. I’m already doing leg raises on day 2 and kneeling cable crunches on day 4. Anyone have any recommendations that don’t require ankle weights? I don’t have any at the moment.[/quote]

Woodchop with high pully attachment. Or pull throughs (these are more of a hams exercise, but done heavy enough the work the abs for me.

Seen that girl again yet?

LR

72

[quote]London Runner wrote:
jo3 wrote:
And finally, I’m out of ab ideas. I don’t know what exercise to do that will be difficult to do for 5-7 reps. I’m already doing leg raises on day 2 and kneeling cable crunches on day 4. Anyone have any recommendations that don’t require ankle weights? I don’t have any at the moment.

Woodchop with high pully attachment. Or pull throughs (these are more of a hams exercise, but done heavy enough the work the abs for me.

Seen that girl again yet?

LR[/quote]

I don’t know why I didn’t think about wood chops. I’ve done them in the past and have enjoyed them.

And no man I haven’t seen her recently! Since I made that post, I’ve gone to the gym earlier/later than I usually do. Once I’m back on schedule tomorrow, I’m sure I’ll run into her again.

I sound like a creeper, but I can’t help it :slight_smile:

73

Quick stat update:

This morning, I didn’t have time to do all my measurements (had to leave for work), but I did get my weight and waist measurement.

Weight: 189.4 lb (up ~12 lb in 4 weeks)
Waist: 34.75 in (up 1 inch in 4 weeks)

I’m fine with the weight gain, but the 1 inch increase around my waist has gotten me worried. Am I gaining fat too quickly? My lifts are increasing and I feel bigger, but I don’t want to regret bulking too much. Also, does this mean I’m not gaining as much muscle as I thought I was gaining?

What’s weird is I’ve been eating relatively clean this entire time. I guess I’ll be more mindful about when I have my carbs (cutting them off after my workout… so ~6-7pm), and I may even add in some low-intensity cardio (30-60 minutes on a treadmill at an incline or on a stationary bike).

One thing I really need to focus on is eating more vegetables and meats. I’m getting 80-120g of protein from shakes + milk, so I’d like to reduce that and get more from lean meats.

74

Pulldown Abs starting them tomorrow great for the main lifts !

75

[quote]SmallToBig wrote:

Pulldown Abs starting them tomorrow great for the main lifts ![/quote]

This is actually what I’ve been doing (I called them standing cable crunches). Unfortunately, I’m at the point where I can’t stay on my feet since the weight drags me back. Lower the weight, and it’s too easy for me. If there was a way to glue my feet to the ground, it’d probably work. (Side note: this seemed to work the best when I did a higher number of reps, like 12-20)

All the hype about the second week of the supergrowth phase being where you make significant gains led me to be overly confident, which resulted in a clusterfuck of a workout, particularly on my incline bench (I take that back… my incline bench was the only exercise that sucked).

HS high row - grip became an issue on reps 8-10. Also, I’m not sure if this movement is really hitting my back. I’m worried that my biceps are getting too involved.
240 x 10 - up 10 lb from last week
230 x 10
220 x 10

Incline bench - long post, so I’ll explain below
165 x 4 - up 15 lb from last week, but only got 4 reps
160 x 6
155 x 7
145 x 9
135 x 9

DB standing curls - these felt good
40 x 10 - up 2.5 lb from last week
37.5 x 9
35 x 10

Seated calf raises
135 x 12 - up 10 lb from last week
135 x 11
135 x 10

I don’t know why I increased my incline bench weight so much. I warmed up with the bar, 95 lb, and 135 lb, so I didn’t feel like an extra 30 lb was going to make a huge difference. Turns out it was much tougher than I had expected. I didn’t really fail after 4 reps… that’s just when I realized that I wouldn’t be able to get at least 10 reps, so I just reracked the weight. I should have dropped the weight to 155 lb (what I used on Friday), but I felt like I had to beat last week’s numbers since everyone talked about how this week was when you made huge strength gains. This mindset is what led me to fail.

From now on, I’m just gonna have to do what my body feels like doing. Just because other people exploded on week 5 doesn’t mean I’m gonna do the same. Who knows… maybe I’m doing something different, or maybe week 6 is my magical week.

76

Hey man you sound downbeat !

Don’t worry about your Incline Bench just stay the course, what i am doing and i found is helping me ramp up better is:

If you want 165lbs (75kgs)

Then how i ramp it is:

Bar *10

80lbs *5

130lbs *5

155lbs *3

I think that last set of 3 sets my body up for the incoming weight so it’s not such a big jump, then when i do that last 3 i rest the prescribed rest then go do it.

Seems to work on all my lifts, so if your getting stuck try out adding that *3 to it.

Hope your blow up soon, best of luck !

77

Also i got more Ab Exercises from Amsterdam Animal:

Amsterdam Animal wrote:

Good ones are Pulldown Abs then you can go right into a reverse with those for a superset as well.

Any kind of standing core work will help you. My abs always get beat up when I do standing one arm DB rows. Loose the belt, go a bit lighter and try to stay tight through the entire movement.

You can do hanging knee raises/leg raises as well. Use the pull up bar. If they get too easy, grab a DB between your ankles or do one full pull up, stay with the chin above the bar and then do knee raises. You can do chin/leg and diagnal raises that way. Works your biceps as well.

A

Maybe some ideas there to, again don’t let today get you down your gains will come !

78

[quote]jo3 wrote:
SmallToBig wrote:

Pulldown Abs starting them tomorrow great for the main lifts !

This is actually what I’ve been doing (I called them standing cable crunches). Unfortunately, I’m at the point where I can’t stay on my feet since the weight drags me back. Lower the weight, and it’s too easy for me. If there was a way to glue my feet to the ground, it’d probably work. (Side note: this seemed to work the best when I did a higher number of reps, like 12-20)

Week 5, Day 1

All the hype about the second week of the supergrowth phase being where you make significant gains led me to be overly confident, which resulted in a clusterfuck of a workout, particularly on my incline bench (I take that back… my incline bench was the only exercise that sucked).

HS high row - grip became an issue on reps 8-10. Also, I’m not sure if this movement is really hitting my back. I’m worried that my biceps are getting too involved.
240 x 10 - up 10 lb from last week
230 x 10
220 x 10

Incline bench - long post, so I’ll explain below
165 x 4 - up 15 lb from last week, but only got 4 reps
160 x 6
155 x 7
145 x 9
135 x 9

DB standing curls - these felt good
40 x 10 - up 2.5 lb from last week
37.5 x 9
35 x 10

Seated calf raises
135 x 12 - up 10 lb from last week
135 x 11
135 x 10

I don’t know why I increased my incline bench weight so much. I warmed up with the bar, 95 lb, and 135 lb, so I didn’t feel like an extra 30 lb was going to make a huge difference. Turns out it was much tougher than I had expected. I didn’t really fail after 4 reps… that’s just when I realized that I wouldn’t be able to get at least 10 reps, so I just reracked the weight. I should have dropped the weight to 155 lb (what I used on Friday), but I felt like I had to beat last week’s numbers since everyone talked about how this week was when you made huge strength gains. This mindset is what led me to fail.

From now on, I’m just gonna have to do what my body feels like doing. Just because other people exploded on week 5 doesn’t mean I’m gonna do the same. Who knows… maybe I’m doing something different, or maybe week 6 is my magical week.[/quote]

Try doing your inclines first then your back. Warmup of course first. I would also start out for you first “real” set with 155 and go from there.

Pars

79

Workout could have turned into a disaster, but I made the best of it.

DB seated press
60 x 9 - up 5 lb from last Tuesday
55 x 8
50 x 10

Elbows-out DB extensions - was supposed to be narrow-grip dips… will explain below
35 x 11 - down 5 lb from last Thursday (read explanation below)
35 x 12
35 x 10

Angled leg press
540 x 11 - same starting weight, but finished out the reps (failed last Tuesday)
540 x 10
540 x 12

Swiss ball leg curls - did them slow and controlled to avoid cramping
BW x 12
BW x 12
BW x 12

Dip bar leg raise - these surprisingly hurt!
BW x 12
BW x 12
BW x 11

I brought my shoulder inflexibility issue up last week (I think). Today, it kicked me in the ass. After doing the DB presses, I had difficulty doing bodyweight dips! My shoulders were killing me so much that I knew I wouldn’t get an effective triceps workout doing dips. I tried to do some reverse wide-grip Smith presses, but the pressing movement didn’t really help either. It was then that I decided to switch today’s triceps movement with Thursday’s movement. It worked out fine, but looking back, I probably should have just moved the dips to after the Swiss ball leg curls. (This explains why my weights were lower. First, I had no idea what my target weight was, and second, I probably did too many warm-up reps on the dips and reverse wide-grip Smith presses.) Lesson learned.

To make my workout even worse, when I finished the DB extensions, I went to the angled leg press machine, only to find someone just starting. “Oh no… am I going to have to change up another exercise?” I thought so. I started to warm up for back squats, but fortunately, when it was time to start my work sets, the guy was finished. So I just moved onto the leg press, did one quick warm-up set, and did my work sets.

Glad the workout’s over with. It was considerably longer than it should have been with all the warming up and wandering around looking for a new exercise, but that should no longer be a problem. I may have to separate my shoulder and triceps exercises from now on, or I may have to use a different triceps exercise that isn’t too taxing on the shoulders.

80

www.intensemuscle.com/6997-how-cure-shoulder-problems-trust-me-will-do-90-time.html

There you go good man !

Thats what i was given, shoulder pump you get is unreal LOL but keep doing it, will sort them out.