A Squatter's Rites

[thundergod]

Dang, I just noticed that. Nice catch, AZ.

280lbs.??!!! :saeek:

 

[Resolve]

lol I thought it was your new log aha


DO IT!

:lol: Maybe I will...

I see that the stats have been updated!! Geez...

Dang, I just noticed that. Nice catch, AZ.

280lbs.??!!! :saeek:

Yeah, I've been bulking. 270-280 is really where I'm at, as it varies from day to day. I'm trying to stay at this weight and recomp currently, with intentions of cutting early next year.

It's been a successful bulk though - I squatted 500 raw, which was my goal. Now, I'm actually focusing on higher rep stuff for my legs - timed squat sets, widow makers and high volume, etc.

 

[Resolve]

Ok, so starting tomorrow I'll be updating in here again. But first, I want to give everyone something of a status update.

I'm eating around 3600 cals a day, high fat, low carb, around 350-400g of protein. Training 5 days a week - my routine changes pretty much from week to week as I haven't found a setup I'm completely happy with yet, but the basics stay the same.

If you've got a 5-day split in which you hit everything twice/week with decent volume, please post it up, because I'd love to see it, for comparisons sake!

Currently doing: Monday - Shoulders/Upper Back, Tues - Legs, Wed - Chest/Arms, Fri - Legs, Sat - Upper Body

I guess it's similar to Layne Norton's split, but the layout caters to my weak points.

Supplements currently in use (other than staples): Endosurge, Ultima, Lit-Up

So stay tuned and I'll tear things up!

 

[AZMIDLYF]

I combined Lane's into a 4 day split to cater to my needs. Lol

 

[AZMIDLYF]

How much of that protein is whole food?

 

[mattrag]

That's some mean protein intake man! hehe

I just rapped up my endosurge/combustion log. Was a great ride man! I can't wait to be able to run these two WITH erase or something like that haha. Or maybe use it on cycle

 

[Resolve]

I combined Lane's into a 4 day split to cater to my needs. Lol

Nice, so it's something like an upper/lower split maybe?

How much of that protein is whole food?

~300-325g of my protein intake is from whole foods. I have 3scoops of Combat post-workout and some MAP intra-workout for the rest. Some days I decrease the pro and replace the calories with more fat; just depends on what I want to eat.

That's some mean protein intake man! hehe

I just rapped up my endosurge/combustion log. Was a great ride man! I can't wait to be able to run these two WITH erase or something like that haha. Or maybe use it on cycle

Erase is good stuff - I've got some Anabeta and TitaniumXL on the way to stack with Endosurge again. I did it for a bit with leftovers I had laying around and really liked it. Can't wait to run it for a full bottle of each!

 

[AZMIDLYF]

Power days Mon,Tues: Mon- Back(thick,width) and shoulders/chest, Tues- Bi/Tri and Legs;Thurs,Fri Hypertrophy with same arrangement. I also did a run of AnaBeta/Endo and F'n loved it!

 

[Resolve]

Power days Mon,Tues: Mon- Back(thick,width) and shoulders/chest, Tues- Bi/Tri and Legs;Thurs,Fri Hypertrophy with same arrangement. I also did a run of AnaBeta/Endo and F'n loved it!

I've used the 'torso' and 'extremities' layout in the past effectively. Recently, though, I just can't hit my legs with the intensity I like if have to do upper body work them, unfortunately. I run out of gas.

Anyways, here's Monday's and Today's workouts:

Monday - Shoulders and Upper Back
Currently my favorite workout of the week. I've seen nice progress and good growth, especially in my traps, which definitely need work. Using Behind-the-neck Presses because I've been leaning back too much with normal MP. Using light weight on those as I'm still mastering the movement.

Complex 1 - 5 rounds, minimal rest between lifts
Seated OH Pin Press - 245 x5
Standing BTN Press - 175 x5
Monster Mini-band Press - x8-10
DB Laterals - 40s x10-12

Complex 2 - 5 rounds, minimal rest
Hook Grip Shrugs - 335 x10
High Pull from Pins - 245 x1-3
Cheat Upright Rows - 155 x5
Supinated Face-Pulls - x10
Sup. DB Rear Delt Laterals - 40s x10

Tuesday - Legs
Decent Squat session, though we were somewhat rushed. Also, should have replaced the split squats with more squats, but oh well.

Squat to 18" Box (Parallel) - 135x20, 225x20, 275x10, 315x10, 365x10

Split Squats - 70x10 per leg, 80x10 - just wasn't feeling these, so moved on

Machine Lunge - 90 x20 per leg, 5 sets

Hook Grip RDL - 135x20, 225x20, 315x10, 315x8, 315x5 - not accustomed to hook grip yet, and DLs are weak right now since I took several months off them. Hands definitely the limiting factor here.

Leg Ext/Assisted GHR superset - 85lb x30 per leg/ x8, 3supersets

Bunch of standing and donkey calf work.

 

[oufinny]

Nice, so it's something like an upper/lower split maybe?



~300-325g of my protein intake is from whole foods. I have 3scoops of Combat post-workout and some MAP intra-workout for the rest. Some days I decrease the pro and replace the calories with more fat; just depends on what I want to eat.



Erase is good stuff - I've got some Anabeta and TitaniumXL on the way to stack with Endosurge again. I did it for a bit with leftovers I had laying around and really liked it. Can't wait to run it for a full bottle of each!

4 Titanium a day with 6 Endosurge will be freaking nuts!

 

[Resolve]

So I guess I'll update on yesterday's session. I forgot my elbow sleeves and the power cage was taken when I first arrived, so right off the bat I was feeling pretty pissed. But I was able to convince the guy in the cage that he didn't need it for deadlifts, so I was able to use it for floor press and lockouts. I just had to warmup my elbows like crazy because I didn't have those sleeves. Anyways, my irritation ended up spurring me on and made for a good workout.

After 3 sets of floor press with 135, 225 and 275 plus a ton of miniband triceps extensions I did the following -

Superset:
Pin Press Lockouts: 345x5x5
Floor Press: 295x5x5
- I've been progressing by 1rep per set each week. I.e. last week I did 5sets of 4 and the week before 5x3. Now that I've hit 5x5, I'll bump the weight up and return to 5x3 next week. Already felt a great pump by this point in both chest and tris, and surprisingly, I had very little pain in the elbows without my sleeves.

Superset:
Decline DB Press: 70s x4x15
Supinate Incline Flies: 30s x4x10
- I'm weak with DB presses, what can I say? I got the idea to supinate the flies from that recent T-Nation article on muscle specific hypertrophy. I don't know how I feel about them yet. I had to use way less weight than normal and didn't feel as pronounced a stretch in the pec.

Time to move on to arms.

Cross-body DB hammer curls: 50x9, 55x9, 60x9, 65x9, 70x5 +55x5 +45x8 +35 to failure
- That last set was a dropset, in case you couldn't tell. Really felt these in my forearms.

Tri-set:
Close-grip Chins: BWx3x10-15
Cable Curl: 110x10, 120x10, 130x10+2
Close-grip Chin Negative: Held until failure
- This is currently my favorite setup for biceps, the pump is excruciating even before you get to the negative. By the time you're done with the triset, you think your arms are gonna pop.

Rope Extensions: 30x20, 40x20, 50x15, 60x15, 70x10, 80x10 +60x10 +40x10
- another dropset there at the end. I always begin tricep work with these, especially the light sets at the beginning, to make sure my elbows are good and ready for the beating to come.

Superset:
Machine Dips: Whole stack x3x15-20
OH DB Extensions: 70 x3x8
- Weight light on the OHXTs since my elbows really don't like that movement. My tris were shot by this point anyway. The weight stack on the dip machine says it goes up to 365, but my wife BW was able dip the full stack for sets of ~5 and the lever would move with just her bodyweight applied to it. Considering she weighs less than half of 365, it made me realize that maxing out that machine is still only equivalent to dipping 150-175lb. Made me laugh considering I've seen so many guys make a big deal of maxing out that machine.

Finished off with some Unilateral OHXTs with light weight and super high reps and called it a day.

Today's an off-day, and unfortunately I'm home with bad stomach cramps.

 

[Resolve]

Just got a new couch! :heart:

 

[AZMIDLYF]

Just got a new couch! :heart:

Congratulations I guess.

 

[Resolve]

Congratulations I guess.

You should've seen the old one. This one is way better, bigger and actually comfortable!

 

[AZMIDLYF]

Good stuff right there.

 

[Resolve]

Workouts from Fri and Sat

Friday: Legs - Volume

Unilateral Lying Leg Curls: 85x3x5+5+5+5
- Clusters sets, i.e. I'd do 5 with one leg, 5 with the other, 5 with the first, until I hit 20 reps per leg. That counted as one set.
Front Squats: 135x8, 185x8, 225x5, 275x5, 315x3
- Haven't done these in a while so my form felt a little off. Didn't do as well as I'd hoped - 315 felt really heavy.

Smith Calf Raises: 405x5x5, each rep had a 5sec squeeze at the top. Followed the last set with a dropset, doing 315 and 225 to failure.
- Really liking the overload and pump these produce. Ouch!

Superset:
Unilateral Leg Press: 1pps x2x30 per leg, 2pps x2x20 per leg
Unilateral Calf Press: same as above

Triset:
Machine Hack Squat: 2pps x10, 3pps x10, 4pps x8
Reverse Hack Squat: Same as above
Hack Squat Calf Raise: same weight as above, to failure

Seated Leg Curls: 175x10, 190x10, 205x10, 225x10

Unilateral Leg Exts: 55x????
- I don't know how many I did, I just kept going til each leg hit failure then took it to failure bilaterally.

Machine Calf Raises: 180x8x8
- Nothing special, just finishing off my calves.




Saturday: Upper Body

Machine Shoulder Press: 100x20, 120x20, 140x20, 160x15
Machine Lateral Raises: 125x4x20

Wide-grip Pull-ups: BWx4x15-20
Straight-Arm Pulldowns: ?x10-12 - wasn't paying attention to the weight

Incline Press: 95x20, 145x20, 195x20, 225x15
- This was hurting my shoulder which really hindered the load I could use. Next week will try DBs

Dips: BWx4x20
Cable OHXT: 70x4x12

Plate-Loaded Rows to Neck: 2pps x10, 3pps x10, 4pps x10 5pps x10 - each rep held and squeezed at contraction

Finished off with some less-than-interesting accessory movements; plate-loaded shrugs, flies, curls and extensions.