Transition to Bodybuilding: Journey to Jacked

[wardog2k]

Sunday August 10, 2023 (AM BW 166.8; holy smokes. Waist was still 30.5” too which it’s been since reaching 162 again. Bottom at 155 it was 29.5” depleted. If I could limit waist increases to an inch every 10 lbs I could be in the 190’s with a much smaller waist than the last time I was in the 190’s which has been a few years now. Overall calories will be lower today but not too drastic)

Chest + Abs & HIIT Cardio

Incline BB Bench
45x8
135x6
165x4
195x2
210x1
225x5 (PR; strict form too)
200x5

Flat DB Bench
80’s x8
90’s x6
105’s x8 (big time PR!)

Weighted Dip
BWx10
BW + 45 x8
BW + 90 x8 (another big time PR; best was 3-4 reps before)

HS Pec Dec Fly
115x12
145x10
175x6 (close to a PR)

Low Incline Cable Fly
60x8
45x10
40x10
35x10
30x12
25x12
20x12
(FST-7; never done FST-7 for chest but coming close to the end of this mesocycle before a deload likely 2 weeks from now so really pushing it)

Hoist Crunch (reg = regular; right and left = side twist)
185x15 (5 reg, 5 right, 5 left)
225x12 (4 reg, 4 right, 4 left)
265x10 (2 reg, 2 right, 2 left, 4 reg)
305x8 (all reg PR)

HIIT Treadmill Intervals
Incline 2.0
Warmup Walk 2 mins 2.0 mph
Sprint 10-12sec on/30 sec off x15. Each interval below for mph; rest between intervals was a walk at 2.0 to 3.4 mph

5.0, 5.5, 6.0, 6.5, 7.0, 7.5, 8.0, 7.5, 7.0, 6.5, 6.0, 5.5, 5.0, 8.5, 5.0

Cooldown 3:30 walk 2.5 mph

20 mins total

[wardog2k]

Nutrition

3360 total cals
2980 net cals
39.5g fat
453g carbs (358g net carbs)
298g protein
83g fiber
12g sugar alcohol

Weighed less than this morning before my last meal which is wild and shows how bloated I was. After eating and drinking more water I’ll still be more but I’m sure it’ll be less than today.

[wardog2k]

Monday September 11, 2023 (AM BW 165.2)

Back & Calves

Weighted Neutral Grip Chin-up
BWx8
BW + 25 x5
BW + 50 x3
BW + 75 x6 (PR)
BW + 50 x8
BW + 25 x12 (around a PR)

Chest Sup T-Bar Row
90 + Machine x8
135 + Machine x6
170 + Machine x6 (around a PR)
145 + Machine x8

One Arm HS Row
76x8
121x8

Cable Row (Wide)
190x6
145x8

Nautilus Pullover
100x8 (old rusted)
140x8 (newer)
170x7
155x8

Cybex Rear Delt Fly
90x12
125x10
Dropset 160x5 + 130x5 + 90x6
Dropset 130x6 + 100x6 + 70x6

Rotary Calf Raise
135x12
185x10
Rest Pause 225x10 + 4 + 2

[wardog2k]

PM Cardio

Bike
8.32 miles
47:57
200.2 cals

Resistance levels
1,4,7,10,13,16 for 0.5 miles each
1,4,7,10 for 1 mile each
1 for 1.32 miles

The half mile at resistance 16 took forever. I’m pretty sure calories burned at higher resistances are off as I feel I burned more than it said during the 47:57 but I’ll record what it says.

Nutrition:
3922 total cals
3514 net cals
73.5g fat
466g carbs (364g net carbs)
349g protein
83g fiber
17g sugar alcohol
2g Erythritol

[wardog2k]

Tuesday September 13, 2023 (AM BW 164.8)

Arms

Seated DB Curl
15’s x10
20’s x8
35’s x6
45’s x7 (PR)
40’s x8

One Arm Rope Pushdown
20x10
30x9 (PR)
25x7

HS Preacher Curl
49x8
64x8
79x10 (PR)
69x10

HS Dip
184x8
254x10 (strict form PR)
239x10

Face Away Cable Curl
Dropset 70x12 + 50x6 + 30x6 (PR on the top of the drop)
Dropset 60x8 + 40x4 + 20x8

EZ Bar Cable OH Extension
Dropset 120x12 + 90x8 + 60x8 (mega PR on the top of the drop)

EZ Bar Pushdown
Dropset 70x12 + 50x6 + 30x8

Reverse EZ Bar Curl
40x15,12,10,8
(30-45 sec rest)

[SvenG]

Dude! Your arms are as big as (bigger than?) my legs.

And that vascularity—awesome!

[wardog2k]

Thanks man! Arms and Delts have been a weak point of mine for years so I’ve been really trying to bring them up this year. I appreciate it!!

[wardog2k]

Paced back and forth a lot today in the house to get steps in during and after work.

Nutrition

3917 total cals
3505 net cals
69g fat
528g carbs (425g net carbs)
296g protein
87g fiber
16g sugar alcohol

[wardog2k]

Wednesday September 13, 2023 (AM BW 165)

Legs (Glute/Ham Focus)

Donkey Calf Raise
100x12
160x10
220x6
180x8
140x8
(45 sec rest)

Cybex Seated Leg Curl
60x10
90x8
110x6
Dropset 125x5 + 95x5 + 70x5 (moved seat up a little and it was more difficult; couldn’t maintain 10 reps from previous weeks lighter weight or even close so did a Dropset)

SLDL (Beltless)
135x5
225x4
315x3
365x2
395x1
425x4 (massive PR)
335x9 (PR)

Hamflexor Unilateral Leg Curl
50x8
40x10
30x12

Walking Lunge
40’s x10 (per leg)
BWx20 (per leg)

[wardog2k]

PM Cardio
Bike 48:40
10.12 miles
243.8 cals

3 miles at resistance levels 1,4, and 7 then 1.12 miles at resistance level 10.

Nutrition
4514 total cals
4214 net cals
75.5g fat
604g carbs (529g net carbs)
356g protein
63g fiber
12g sugar alcohol

I weighed under my morning weight after cardio then hit a high in evening weight after eating my last meal. My feet were cramping a little before and after cardio but that went away after chugging the remainder of my water and eating meal 6. Feeling great!

[wardog2k]

Thursday September 14, 2023 (AM BW 166.4)

Shoulders/Traps & Abs + HIIT Cardio

Incline HS Press
98 2x10
188x8
228x6
258x8 (failed 9; almost a PR)
(Right Delt felt bleh like Sundays chest day)

Standing OHP
45x8
95x8
(Swapped seated for standing and it actually felt better. Went very light and low RPE to start)

Arsenal Strength Side Raise
40x10
50x8
60x6
(Shoulders felt beat up; this machine felt that way a few mesocycles ago so I stayed away from it but to be fair I probably would’ve felt that way on any side lateral raise variation today)

Face Pull
30x20
40x15
50x12
60x10
70x8
(30-45 sec rest)

DB Shrug w/ 3 count hold
110’s x10
120’s x10
125’s x8

Free Motion Crunch
80x10 (PR)
70x12
60x15

HIIT Life Fitness Elliptical
Total time 20 mins
Warmup 2 mins
HIIT Intervals 15 sec fast/45 sec slow x10 (first 5 intervals on resistance level 1; second 5 intervals on resistance level 5)
Post HIIT work (LISS/MISS) Resistance level 10 for 5 mins; Resistance level 1 for 3 min cooldown

220 cals
1.54 miles
Heart rate 120-155 bpm

[wardog2k]

Had a cheat night with friends Thursday night and it ballooned me up in weight. I weighed 170.8 yesterday morning and 170.1 this morning even after doing an hour of cardio yesterday and limiting calories to 1700. Pretty wild this is the first time I’m holding onto weight gained from a cheat. Hit a hard leg workout this morning though and will be walking around Hershey park all day today so hopefully the extra weight comes off. No way will I cheat as hard as I did Thursday night throughout the rest of my bulk but the funny thing is I didn’t do nearly as bad as some other cheats I had during my cut.

That said I still have abs in the AM (not as lean but still there) which I’m happy about but I want to maintain them for as long as possible to make this bulk clean so the next couple days will be around or right under maintenance calories to hopefully get back down to mid 160’s.

[wardog2k]

Saturday September 16, 2023 (AM BW 170.1)

Legs + Biceps (Quad Focus)

EZ Bar Curl
30x10
60x8
85x6
110x6 (PR)
90x12 (PR)

DB Hammer Curl
45’s 2x8

Cybex Lying Leg Curl
60x10
85x8
105x6
125x8 (PR)
100x8
90x8

Front Squat
45x5
135x4
185x3
225x2
260x1
295x1 (PR)
(Lower back was fried at this point from SLDLs on Wednesday. Cut it here on front squats)

Cybex Leg Press
478x0 (my lower back could feel it even on leg press so I decided to not even do this set and get extra volume on leg extensions instead)

Cybex Leg Extension
135x10
190x8
Dropset 225x6 + 165x4 + 105x6
Dropset 185x6 + 125x8 + 85x6

Cybex Standing Calf Raise
100x8
160x6
Dropset 220x6 + 140x6 + 60x4 + BWx6 (PR)

Life Fitness Adduction
100x12
90x12

[SvenG]

@wardog2k

Front Squat
…
295x1 (PR)

That’s huge! Nice job.

[wardog2k]

@SvenG

That’s huge! Nice job.

Thank you!!

[throwawayfitness]

So many PR’s nice work

[wardog2k]

Thank you!

[wardog2k]

Probably walked 20k+ steps yesterday or over 10 miles at Hershey park for my wife’s birthday. Had a great time.

Yesterdays Nutrition

3324 total cals
3064 net cals
71.5g fat
413g carbs (348g net carbs)
257g protein
52g fiber
13g sugar alcohol

Woke up 166.6 so the bloat is finally gone after all day walking and keeping calories under control while doing so.

[wardog2k]

Sunday September 27, 2023 (AM BW 166.6)

Chest + Some Side Delts & Abs

Band work around 200 total reps (right deltoid is hurting after incline work last week so today I cut incline short and rotated in flat for the first time in months)

Incline BB Bench
45 2x8
135x6 (shoulder sucked)
165x4
195x2
225x1

Flat BB Bench
45 2x10
135x8
185x5
225x4
255x2
225x13 (failed 14; ties PR from when I weighed 176-178 towards the beginning of my cut this year)

Slight Decline DB Bench
75’s 2x10

Standing Cable Crossover
66x10
54x8 (after 60 lbs felt off; it’s an old beat up machine)

HS Side Lateral
70x8
55x8
(Cut this short too)

Hanging Leg Raise
BWx25,15

I had a Reign energy drink as preworkout because after getting back past 1am I wanted something more than Celsius. In hindsight I should’ve had 2 Celsius’s or even a nitro cold brew again from Starbucks like yesterday because I forgot how bad Reign tears my stomach up. I have Crohn’s disease but it’s been dormant for a very long time thanks to excellent diet and avoiding triggers, but today Reign absolutely triggered it. Hoping I keep it under control through the remainder of the day.

[wardog2k]

Went to 3 stores today for groceries so got a lot of steps in and no time for specific cardio.

Nutrition

3642 total cals
3378 net cals
69.5g fat
487g carbs (421g net cals)
267g protein
59g fiber
7g sugar alcohol