The Grind...

Brett - Yeah, I’m trying to bulk up. Eating at a surplus doesn’t feel good for me, and it’s a major effort. I’m not committed to doing this contest yet. I’m going to go see the show this May and scope out the competitors to see if I have any kind of realistic shot. Then I may consider it. Regardless, the current plan is to bulk bakc up to 200 lb, diet hard for summer, show off, and then rebound back into fall training. I’m apparently nearing my genetic potential (given my willowy bone structure) so I have to take these drastic measures to gain weight.

Matt - When the mood is right I can demolish peanut butter cups like it’s my job. The ONE THING I can eat to excess without any issue is candy. Unfortunately that stuff does me no good… ever.

MJ - lots of good tricks in there. I am familiar with most of them. A really good take-away for me is to try and focus more on liquid meals. I seem to have an easier time with shakes when I’m already full.

Dogg - I’m open to suggestions about gaining muscle. In fact I welcome them! But I know of no other way to add muscle than to bulk way up. I’ve only bulked twice (in the middle of my third) so I’m by no means an expert. My typical expectations are 20 odd pounds of weight gain of which 3-5 will be muscle. Bear in mind, my starting point is 8-10%.

Snap - I appreciate the visit.

Cav - The whole business with my son kind of blew up in my face. After begging me for karate lessons for the past six months he had a total melt down before his third lesson. I normally don’t let my kids quit once they start, but this is becoming a recurring theme with him, so I gave him a choice. If he quits karate he has to repay me for the lessons and uniform (10 weeks allowance), and since I won’t be able to trust him to fulfill his team commitments he can’t sign up for baseball this summer (which he’s also been begging for). I also said I’m not interested in tkaing him to the gym is he’s not serious. He chose to quit karate and accept all the punishments that came with it. Only now is he realizing what he’s done, and he’s feeling pretty low. Still, I gotta follow through with the punishment to make a point.

Ampleforth - I mis-spoke. You’re right that depressuring a gas decreases temperature thorugh auto-refrigeration. I meant to say one gas from a much higher pressure source was being forced into an atmospheric container of fixed size. The heat increase was through compression.

Geeked out yet?

Nice job in here fatty…I mean buddy.

My wife looked at me last night and asked when I was going to lean up for summer. Not a fan of “What did you call that honey that you were doing over the winter? Bulking?”
When I asked if she wanted me to get leaner she answered "yes! A little to emphatically for my liking, TBH. I think the bizzatch called me fat. Harumph
She likes me better with abs rather than bulked / soft. She was naked at the time so I had to agree to it…I’m weak. Let the diet continue.

[quote]Canada_K wrote:

Cav - The whole business with my son kind of blew up in my face. After begging me for karate lessons for the past six months he had a total melt down before his third lesson. I normally don’t let my kids quit once they start, but this is becoming a recurring theme with him, so I gave him a choice. If he quits karate he has to repay me for the lessons and uniform (10 weeks allowance), and since I won’t be able to trust him to fulfill his team commitments he can’t sign up for baseball this summer (which he’s also been begging for). I also said I’m not interested in tkaing him to the gym is he’s not serious. He chose to quit karate and accept all the punishments that came with it. Only now is he realizing what he’s done, and he’s feeling pretty low. Still, I gotta follow through with the punishment to make a point.
[/quote]

Great Dad!
Hard though…

[quote]Canada_K wrote:
Cav - The whole business with my son kind of blew up in my face. After begging me for karate lessons for the past six months he had a total melt down before his third lesson. I normally don’t let my kids quit once they start, but this is becoming a recurring theme with him, so I gave him a choice. If he quits karate he has to repay me for the lessons and uniform (10 weeks allowance), and since I won’t be able to trust him to fulfill his team commitments he can’t sign up for baseball this summer (which he’s also been begging for). I also said I’m not interested in tkaing him to the gym is he’s not serious. He chose to quit karate and accept all the punishments that came with it. Only now is he realizing what he’s done, and he’s feeling pretty low. Still, I gotta follow through with the punishment to make a point.
[/quote]

Confound it. Now he’s learning how to deal with failure instead of how to deal with success.

At his age, if someone had offered me karate lessons and weight training, I would have grabbed and never let go. I took some karate during college and for a couple of years afterward, played some with weights not knowing what I was doing. Things really changed when I took my brown belt test and failed because “you weren’t strong enough”. That got me into a gym fast. I had lifted previously and wanted it, but that really turned on the desire.

It kills me that he’s letting all this opportunity slip away.

Completely Geeked. Tough situation with your son. It is only through controlled torture that our children can achieve Zen like adult happiness. Keep up the good work. See you around.

Lots to say. Lots of news. Just too busy to post it.

Later!

Looking forward to you filling us in when you get the chance, hang in there bro.

Raising kids is its own full time job, I did the same with mine when they were younger. Grind it out you want to win the war not worry about winning all the battles. And yes it is a war with raising kids. I know I have 5.

[quote]Canada_K wrote:
Lots to say. Lots of news. Just too busy to post it.

Later![/quote]
Oh come on!!! Don’t leave us hanging!!!

Tate says only a serious trainee can do it.

You have to eat a whole bag of reces cups the little ones
but he wants you to unwrap them all- then eat them.

hardcore shit.


Brief update
Brace yourself for some whining.

  • I am SO DONE with bulking… and I’ve only been doing it hard for about 2 months. I am a pussy. Go ahead and call me one. I really wanted to see 200 lb on the scale, but I appear to have stabilized at 195. Tomorrow I will have eaten my way through my week’s meals, and after that I’m going to scale back my eating to prepare for my cutting diet. I’m a month ahead of schedule, but f##k it. My body, my brain… EVERYTHING is just screaming at me to move on.

  • Today was max effort deadlift day.

Deadlifts - 6x295, 3x315, 1x335, 4x295, 2x315, BAIL

While this is probably a personal record for reps, everything just felt really heavy. No PRs were scored on max lifts. Such is life.

  • I’m still undecided about competing.

  • I had blood drawn for my annual physical. I worke dout the next day. This is what my happened. I look like I’ve been mainlining heroin.

Shit I thought those were Zercher bruises!

I really hope you compete and rock it, Im a fan!

I once worked out the evening after donating a pint of blood. BIG MISTAKE!!. A pint of blood makes a huge difference.

I think you should post some full body shots that we can use as ‘before and after’ photos to judge your fat loss progress. I think as the resident diet expert you should fully document how you go about it in here, I think a lot of people would be interested.

Good idea? Be an excuse to dig out your speedos!

always give blood AFTER i lift.

Hey, now that its been a couple days, ask the kid if he wants to go back to the dojo. might have changed his mind?

Hey, nice brawny looking arm. Maybe you should try my doc, the assistants never leave a mark.

Definitely good idea to show us fat loss progress, don’t see a lot of that here. Then again, if you’re this grumpy BEFORE the diet, we may regret it.

True story: many years ago when i was taking karate, I gave a pint of blood. Phoned up the instructor and asked what kind of workout we would have, I was feeling a bit weak. He said no problem, real light. Like a fool I believed him and went. Of course, it was the most intense, non-stop workout ever. I was flat on the floor for half an hour afterwards. Ah, to be young and dumb…

[quote]FarmerBrett wrote:
I once worked out the evening after donating a pint of blood. BIG MISTAKE!!. A pint of blood makes a huge difference.

I think you should post some full body shots that we can use as ‘before and after’ photos to judge your fat loss progress. I think as the resident diet expert you should fully document how you go about it in here, I think a lot of people would be interested.

Good idea? Be an excuse to dig out your speedos![/quote]

Uh, me too, was uh, college days and I really didn’t feel the repeated jabs… Bruise down to wrist…

JUST THE FACTS MA’AM
Max effort week.

Monday
Overhead lunge: 6x95, 6
Front Squat: 6x185, 5x225, 1x245, 6x185, 3x225, 2x245
Spli Squat: 6x145, 6, 6
A Step Up: 8x95, 8
B Reverse hyperextensions: 5, 8

I think the front squat is a record. If not, who cares, I want to celebrate it.

Wednesday
T pushup: 6x10, 6, 6
A Bench: 6x185, 3x205, 1x245, 6x205, 3x225, 1x255 (argh)
B Bent over row: 6x205, 3x225, 2x245, 6x205, 3x225, 1x245 (ugly)
A renegade row: 7x55, 6, 6
B dumbell punches: 6x75, 6, 6
C Leg raise: 10, 8, 8

I think I had an extra rep (or two!) left on my max bench set. But I was zoned in on a sold single, and when I did it I just racked it. I should have tried for another. Damned PL mentality!

Thursday
I was tired. I was listless. Everything just felt off. If I’d been smart I’d have just skipped the workout and done it the next day. I wasn’t smart.

Overhead lunge: 6x95, 6
Deadlift: 6x295, 3x315, 1x335, 4x295, 2x315, BAIL
GHR: 3, 3, 3, 3
A Swissbal leg curls: 15, 15, 16
B Side plank: 60s, 45s, 50s

I know I’ve scored much heavier singles, but I’ve never done this much weight for reps before, so I should take some pride in that. Still, I just wasn’t feeling “it”.

Friday
Fridays I usually do EEW in the morning. But today I have the day off, so I went to bed at 10pm, slept until 7:30, took the kids to school, and then did groceries and coffee with my wife. Now I’m blogging. Then I’m gonna shower. I might so somethign productive, I might not. DAY OFF!

^ I say enjoy the break and work out tomorrow

Git - My wife doesn’t dig me all ripped up. I think she prefers me flabby. What’s up with that?!?!?

Null - Thanks for validating my “dad” instincts. And yet I feel more guilt than he does!

Cav - My kids have led pretty privileged lives. I don’t begrudge them that at all, and they’re not spoiled. But it does mean it’s hard for them to conceive of “missing out”. That might be part of the problem here.

Ampleforth - Waiit a second… I know you from somewhere… :wink:

Matty - “bro”? Is that a Jersey thing? I’m totally undecided about competing. It’s one thing to egt into amazing shape. It’s quite another to do skin management, peaking protocols, posing practice, and on and on and on. It’s that accessory stuff that’s a killer.

kmnyc - Dave Tate is a beast. He was also a big fatass for the vast majority of his life. I admire him, but I don’t want to be like him. Besides, I literally cannot eat like he eats. It’s not an issue of committment or desire or toughness. I cannot do it.

Brett - I’ll happily post some fatty shots and document what I’m doing. But this summer will not be a hard-as-nails cut. I just want to cut the fat to a reasonable level and kick start a rebound for fall. And I’m far from a diet guru. I followed instructions.

mj - I’m not going to make the offer to my kid to go lifting. He can ask. If he doesn’t want it, it’s like pushing on a rope.

DJ - I may do my EEW tonight. We’ll see. I definitely need the sleep. One more max effort workout and then I deload, and THIS TIME I’m looking forward to it.

I wouldnt know, Im from NY aaay :slight_smile: