Wanna be Elite...

13.2 - 5/18/11

Benchin (3x3): 220, 250, 285 (11.5)
DB Row (3x10): 90, 95, 95
Floor Press: 295x3x3, 315x3
PLP: 24

Cardio: 30 minutes steady state at 135-140 BPM (about 3.0 mph, 4.0 degree incline)

I was so pissed that I missed the bench…I was about 3 inches from lockout and just couldn’t get it…my spotter gave me the one finger curl and even though he told me it was all me, I knew he was lying to me…truthfully I don’t think I had it, but I really hate it when people touch my bar unless its on my neck…

I hit the racks on the 10th rep and got out of the groove for a minute…pretty sure I would have smoked the 12 if not for that, which would have been a huge new PR of 400 pound calculated max…c’est la vive

Set a new PR in Floor Press tonight with 315x3…315 buried me about a month ago when I tried to get it for a single…after my working sets tonight at 295, I went for 315 with the intention of only hitting it for a single and ended up nailing it for a triple…felt pretty good!

I think the floor press is really helping my bench…not only with lockout strenght, but with general form…it really teaches you to get your body tight, clinch your ass cheeks, and drive your traps into the floor, as well as using a lot of leg drive on the press…if you are struggling with bench, especially as a form issue, I would definitely recommend throwing some floor presses into the mix to get your shit straightened out…

Overall this was an excellent day in the gym…

4 Weeks of Starnes

I went ahead and merged my 4 week progress pics tonight from the diet. Truthfully, I’m not making the type of progress that I would hope after shelling out the money for the diet, and eating cleanly for the most part. My lifts are up while my weight is down, so I can’t complain a whole lot there, but would like to see better progress.

I am to blame for a large part of it as I haven’t been doing cardio first thing in the morning as instructed (usually do it in the evenings), I have skipped a few cardio sessions, and deviated from the meal plan every now and again. I’d say I’m about 85-90% compliance with the diet, which isn’t terrible but could be better…

He took away my last high carb day, so now I’m on 4 medium and 3 low per week, with daily cardio…I do a lot better on low carb diets, so this will probably give me more results…8 weeks is a long time with nothing more than 150 g of carbs per day though haha…I’m expecting these next 8 weeks to be much better than the previous 4.

Front - 4 Weeks

[photo]32721[/photo]

Back - 4 Weeks

[photo]32722[/photo]

I can tell a difference more in the back than in the front, and truthfully my 3 week pics looked like more progress haha…but overall I’m down 2.75" in the waist, 0.5" just above hips, while my biceps and quads have stayed at 17.25 and 28.5, respectively. Overall bodyweight is down about 8 pounds.

Edit: Added photos and inches lost (just like I did last night in my last edit which for whatever reason was not accepted…good thing we have big brother to keep us from updating our fucking training logs)…

He took away your high carb day!?!

Blasphemy!

Along with floor press, heavy high rep db press has helped my bench.

[quote]DixiesFinest wrote:
Along with floor press, heavy high rep db press has helped my bench.[/quote]

But where do you find all this time to bench? There is only one Monday per week, and everyone knows that is IBP Day!


5/19/11

Cardio: 15 minutes HIIT (15 on/45 off)

This is getting MUCH easier…last couple of intervals hurt my side a bit, but the distance I’m covering on the elliptical is going up to over 1.5 miles now, which is a lot higher than whatever it was before I started paying attention…I guess

All I know is that I don’t actually dread doing it anymore, which is a sign of progress I reckon…

He increased my g/f’s HIIT by like 3 minutes or something this week, I hope I don’t have a similar fate in store for me this weekend…but the world may be ending on Saturday anyway, so at least I’d get out of cardio…

“Aren’t you afraid of the Rapture?”
“Only if they figure out how to open doors…”

13.2 - 5/20/11

AM Cardio: 30 min @ 3.4 mph, 4.0 incline (135 BPM HR)

DL (3x3): 345, 390, 440 (8)
GHR (5x): 8, 6, 6, 7, 8
Blast STrap Fallouts (3x): 8, 8, 8
PLP: 25

Deadlift warmups were rough but the money set felt pretty good…left one or two in the tank…

I can’t get the hang of GHR’s for foot placement…I keep feeling it in my calves, but I’m not sure what that means other than I’m doing something wrong…will watch some videos later to figure it out

Blast straps were around shin level and were a bit more difficult this week…

PLP’s were brutal…I had no grip/pullup strength level after the deads

Cardio is easy…

That about covers it

I’ve had that issue with GHRs too. I was told to try to stop pressing my toes into the plate so much and try to press the backs of my heels into the pad. It worked, but was a hard change to make. Mostly what I end up doing is this part really well at the start of the movement and then my toes end of pushing on the plate at the end.

Yeah I’m wondering if the correct way is to really curl your toes into the bottom pad, which would keep your heels against the plate and ankles into the top pad…if that makes sense

There is a video up on EFS somewhere of either Dave or Wendler doing GHRs that I saw a while back…gonna try and find it and post it…

Usually for machines I just put it on the “tallest” or “biggest” setting since I am a tall, big bastard…this works for most things, but since 98% of the weight training population are retarded and think the GHR is some device to work your abs or lower back, they have built it as such so I can’t really gauge where the proper settings are when you are using the machine properly!

Edit: Found them

http://articles.elitefts.com/articles/training-articles/efs-classic-16-ways-to-maximize-your-glute-ham-raise/

http://articles.elitefts.com/articles/products-reviews/the-movement-you-cant-do-without/

[quote]VTBalla34 wrote:
Yeah I’m wondering if the correct way is to really curl your toes into the bottom pad, which would keep your heels against the plate and ankles into the top pad…if that makes sense[/quote]

After watching the videos, what I said above is in no way shape or form anywhere close to being a rational thought…it is actually 100% wrong…so don’t do it like this

[quote]VTBalla34 wrote:

[quote]VTBalla34 wrote:
Yeah I’m wondering if the correct way is to really curl your toes into the bottom pad, which would keep your heels against the plate and ankles into the top pad…if that makes sense[/quote]

After watching the videos, what I said above is in no way shape or form anywhere close to being a rational thought…it is actually 100% wrong…so don’t do it like this[/quote]

That third video on that first link is how I do them. Basically toes not into the plate at the bottom, but pressed into it to finish. Definitely good advice about rounding the back (keeping the abs real tight) when my back was hurt I did them with a belt on and they were harder ie my abs are weak. That was how I realized I needed more ab work.

Great progress pics. I can definitely see that the waist is trimming down and showing that nice v-taper.

5/21/11

Cardio: 15 minutes HIIT (15 on/45 off) + warmup & cooldown


13.3 - 5/22/11

OHP (531): 150, 170, 190 (6)
PLP: 26
Dips: 8, 8, 8, 7, 7
Curlz (5x10): 70, 80, 90, 90 (8), 80
Cardio: 30 minutes steady state (135 BPM)

Dips are finally starting to come around it looks like…they were much easier this week…


13.3 - 5/23/11

Squat (531): 340, 385, 430 (3)

I’ve got a bit of a cold or something and feel like shit…lots of little injuries that are just taking their toll on me…decided to just get in and get out tonight with the main lift…didn’t do cardio either…but did earn myself a cheat meal (next post)

Cheat Meal

Last week on Monday I fell off the wagon on my diet…I had been discouraged at the rate of weight loss, which wasn’t all that great, and the actual gain I saw between Weeks 3 and 4 despite eating pretty cleanly…so I had made the decision to postpone the diet for a few weeks until I can get my hormone situation straightened out…

So I binged…big ass cheeseburger, fries, huge sweet tea, 2 big cookies from Hardees, and 4 reese cups and a coke…didn’t eat for the rest of the night

Well, for whatever reason I decided to stick with the diet for the rest of the week, and adhered to it about 100%…a funny thing happened at my weigh-in: I had lost 5 pounds, despite the cheat meal on Monday…

So like a compliant dieter, I told Shelby about this expecting him to chastise me and tell me not to do it again…instead, he told me to take a cheat meal once per week! I decided to do them on Mondays

Only guidelines were to limit it to an hour and do it as the last meal of the day, before bed…other than that, go crazy…and that I did…

First I started out with a Big Mac, Fries, and Large Sweet Tea:

[photo]32835[/photo]

Then moved onto a PB&J on Ezekiel Bread while my pizza was cooking:

[photo]32834[/photo]

Third up was the pizza:

[photo]32833[/photo]

And to wash it all down, I had an Oreo Shake w/triple Oreos:

[photo]32832[/photo]


I was able to house everything except for 3 slices of pizza in about 40 minutes…thinking I had plenty of time left, I chilled out for a few minutes and then decided to go back to work on the pizza, when my stomach violently told me that it had other plans…I wisely put the slice back down and omitted it from this cheat…

So all in all, I didn pretty good…a couple things to note:

-There’s no wonder why this is a pre-bedtime meal–there’s no way possible I could have done anything else other than sit on the couch
-It is not hard to get a large amount of food down in under an hour…in fact, I only needed 40 minutes
-Cheat meals are glorious!

Interesting to see how my progress goes this week…but one thing I know is that I am again 100% motivated to stick to the diet and be compliant, so as far as mental aspect is concerned, it served its purpose…

Just ran the numbers:

Calories: 3893
Protein: 125 g
Fat: 172 g
Carbs: 456 g

NIiiiiiice!

Lookin strong in here big guy. x2 on the visible progress remarks.

Where do you work out in DC that has an oly lifting platform?

[quote]AquaCruzer wrote:
Great progress pics. I can definitely see that the waist is trimming down and showing that nice v-taper.[/quote]

Thanks dude…hut I like the curves on my wimmenz, not on myself! I’ll take a block waist like KK if its lean haha

[quote]scj119 wrote:
Lookin strong in here big guy. x2 on the visible progress remarks.

Where do you work out in DC that has an oly lifting platform?[/quote]

Gracias amigo…

That’s the Fitness First in Clarnedon…they also have one at the FF in Tysons…its not bad…the only annoying thing about it though is there is no weight tree anywhere near it, only the bumper plates…so if you are doing anything over 225 pounds (which most there don’t) you have to lug a fuckload of wheels across the gym and pile them up…there’s also not a lot of 45’s, so people wanna come by and take them and you look like an asshole hoarding 8 plates around your platform…

oh well…other than that, its a pretty decent gym…if you ever wanna get a lift in, let me know bro…

5/24/11

Cardio: 15 minutes HIIT (15 on/45 off) + warmup & cooldown


13.3 - 5/25/11

Bench (531): 235, 270, 300 (10) <–New PR!!!
DB Row (3x10): 95, 95, 95
Floor Press (3x10): 205, 205, 205
PLP: 27
Cardio: 30 minutes steady state (135 BPM)

Huge new PR for me in the bench…calculated max is now 400…now just gotta figure out how to reconcile calculated max and actual max haha…

Ever had one of those feelings going into the gym that you just know its PR time? I had that for the hour before the gym and I knew it was gonna be game on…I was in the fucking zone and there was absolutely no way I was going to miss this PR…gave my spotter clear instructions to not touch the bar under any circumstances unless it is stopped on my chest, and steppped up and confidently knocked it down…it felt great…was definitely a 10RM though…no more left in the tank…

Decided to do floor presses and DB Row as super sets tonight, so did 10 reps of each…will probably do this for next cycle as well…

Nice pressing!

[quote]VTBalla34 wrote:

[quote]AquaCruzer wrote:
Great progress pics. I can definitely see that the waist is trimming down and showing that nice v-taper.[/quote]

Thanks dude…hut I like the curves on my wimmenz, not on myself! I’ll take a block waist like KK if its lean haha

[quote]scj119 wrote:
Lookin strong in here big guy. x2 on the visible progress remarks.

Where do you work out in DC that has an oly lifting platform?[/quote]

Gracias amigo…

That’s the Fitness First in Clarnedon…they also have one at the FF in Tysons…its not bad…the only annoying thing about it though is there is no weight tree anywhere near it, only the bumper plates…so if you are doing anything over 225 pounds (which most there don’t) you have to lug a fuckload of wheels across the gym and pile them up…there’s also not a lot of 45’s, so people wanna come by and take them and you look like an asshole hoarding 8 plates around your platform…

oh well…other than that, its a pretty decent gym…if you ever wanna get a lift in, let me know bro…[/quote]

Haha that is a bit suboptimal. Fortunately no one gives me shit for deadlifting at the golds I go to.

I might take you up on that sometime… haven’t lifted with anyone besides myself since college. Maybe we can do it up some weekend soon.

5/26/11

Cardio: HIIT for 15 minutes (15 on/45 off) + warmup & cooldown


13.3 - 5/27/11

Deadlift (531): 370, 415, 465 (4 or 5)
GHR (3x): 10, 10, 8
Hanging Abs (4x): 8, 8, 7, 8 (or something like that)
Cardio: 30 minute steady state (135 BPM)

Pretty crappy day in the gym…I was just burnt out from pushing everything hard this cycle…weight felt heavy and my form probably looked like shit…have a bunch of little injuries that have been adding up, sore muscles, and just getting over the cold…yeah I’m whining and need to sack up!

Was so out of it mentally I’m not even sure if I did 4 or 5 reps…regardless, this was my max pull at my last meet in February 2010, and got it for 4 (or maybe 5) today, and would normally be capable of more I think…pretty happy about that progress even with the shitty gym day…

Finally did the GHR’s right and they were tough…here I am about 30 hours later and no soreness yet, so I am expecting monster DOMS to set in by the time I wake up in the morning…I’ll be lucky to get out of bed!

Also got a monster ab cramp from the hanging abs while trying to pose like a douchebag for a picture last night whilst drinking…it didn’t go away for 5 minutes, so I eventually just took a thing of Morton’s salt and poured a bunch into my mouth and washed it down with water…insta cure…not sure which made me more of a meathead: the fact that I knew that would work, or the fact that I did it without thinking twice about it…funny thing was once I put down the salt, I noticed a jar of pickles everyone had been eating so that would ahve been easier and much more pleasant…ah well…


5/28/11

Cardio: 15 minutes HIIT (15 on/45 off) + warmup & cooldown


So this next week is supposed to be my deload week, but I am flying to Miami in the morning with my girl for vacation…we’re staying at this phat ass resort on the beach up in Boca Raton and it looks nice as shit…made to order breakfasts every morning and free cocktails for two hours in the evenings…pretty excited

so I’m not going to train at all next week aside from cardio and a couple pussy workouts in the hotel gym…probably just some sort of light full body stuff just to get a bit of work in…do not plan to exert myself at all and let all these little injuries heal up a bit and get my mind right before starting the next cycle…

See ya’ll in a week…

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Vacation & Diet

Vacation was good…definitely the mental and physical break that I needed…the weather was awesome and we basically just chilled on the beach and by the pool for most of the time…went and gambled a lil bit at the Hard Rock casino one night (and had an awesome dinner there)…I ended up losing a $400 hand at poker on a 4 outter on the river after the dude over played his hand and overbet the turn, which was shitty…but had fun…

Stayed on South Beach the last night we were there and went out to this club/restaurant called Mangos for dinner and dancing the last night…overall an awesome trip…

I lifted in the hotel gym one day with a full body routine, but it was boring so I didn’t do that the rest of the week and just recovered–my injuries thank me…did some cardio as well…but mostly just took it easy…

I started out the week sticking pretty well to the diet, but that didnt’ last long…didn’t go crazy, but not at all in accordance with the guidelines…I’ve talked to Shelby and we’re actually going to postpone the diet for a few weeks while I get all my hormone issues straightened out from the surgery and probable chemo, so I should be ready to hit it hard to bring it home for the last 6 weeks…

I will be eating relatively cleanly in the meantime and will probably do some MAG-10 Pulse Fasts 1-2 times a week to keep shit in check…


14.1 - 6/6/11
Squat (3x5): 295, 340, 385 (5 or 6…zoned out)
Leg Press (3x10): 360, 410, 410
Hanging Abs (3x): 10, 8, 10

Decided to not increase my squat training max this cycle since I had such a shitty time last cycle–this one does not seem to be starting out much better…though I did only get this for 3 last time, so its some progress, but still below my PR at this weight from May 2010!!!

I thought the week off on vacation, less strict diet, and lack of cardio would have helped things…maybe it hasn’t been long enough to reap the benefits–I dunno…

Also need to look at weak upper back, weak core, and form issues (specifically keeping arms tight and heels dug into the ground)…will be watching Elite’s So You Think You Can Squat series before the next session…if it doesn’t fix my issues, it will at least provide some motivation to not be such a pussy!

Weird thing about it is I am getting monster DOMS after all my squat sessions–this used to never happen…feels like I have just beaten them to death…have no idea what to make of that…damn regressing on lifts is frustrating!


14.1 - 6/7/11
Bench (3x5): 210, 245, 275 (10)
Pullups (5x): 8, 6, 6, 6, 5
DB Bench (3x10): 90x2, 80x2, 80x2
Chest Supported Row (3x10): 90, 115 (6), 90
Conditioning: Treadmill Sprints - 10 (4 Warmups, 4 @ 15 degree incline/8 mph, 1 @ 7.5 mph, 1 @ 7 mph)

Didn’t go balls out on bench, but did enough to get some work in…not a PR by any means, but did work…supersetted each bench set with pullups…

Not sure why I did DB Bench tonight instead of floor press–brain fart I guess…first time I had done DB Benches in a long time and they were pretty hard after the balls out set!

My chest supported row is absolutely pathetic…this isn’t one arm DBs–this is an honest to goodness two handed T-Bar row with chest support (which is about the same as what I use for 1 Arm DB Rows)…the T-Bar puts a weird strain on my spine and I think that makes a big difference…I probably won’t keep doing these with the chest supported t-bar, but gave it a try tonight since that is the template in the new 5-3-1 For Powerlifting…was not at all impressed

Conditioning started out easy but got really hard towards the end…I liked doing these on treadmills though this will only be used when I don’t have a good hill to run or Prowler…I’m going to put more effort into the conditioning…