Big L gettin Bigger: First time cycle, CEL H-drol, Doggcrapp styles (unsponsored)

Big L

New member
Awards
0
+
=


CEL H-DROL/GENERA SUPPLEMENTS EPIDROL LOG

What's up everyone? Long-time lurker here, I just recently started posting a bit, but I decided it's finally time for me to contribute something to the forum that has been a daily ritual for me for the past year or so. I'm a complete forum newbie, but I'll do my best to keep this log well organized, taking a little inspiration from some of the great logs I've read over the year by Riseboi, Celc5, Cellardude, etc.

INTRO:

So to get things started, here's a little bit about me. I've been working out for 4-5 years now, but only really seriously the past 2 years. I've had a few setbacks this past year, including a broken hand that I brilliantly chose to let heal on its own (despite the excruciating pain and swelling/bruising, I did not know it was broken until a doctor visit months later, and it had already set :blink: ). This was followed by a grade 2 ankle sprain, which also kept me out of the game for a while.

I've been lifting at full strength again the past 4 or 5 months, but just started going all out the past couple, so some of the gains I make may be a bit related to muscle memory and the likes, as I am still not up to my all-time maxes.

While I have only been hitting the weights seriously for 2 years, I have always been very much into sports, playing basketball, baseball and soccer competitively at different times for nearly two decades now.

STATS:

Just the basics here.
Height: 6'4"
Weight: 208 - I have been cutting a bit the past month, so I expect to put on quite a few lbs in the first week.
Bodyfat: Approx. 12-15% :think: (haven't been measured for a while)
Age: 27
Bodytype: Ectormorph

My current big three lifts:
Bench Press: 235lb
Squat: 295lb
Deadlift: 350lb

Goal: 10-15lbs (couple of those pounds being fat)

SUPPLEMENT EXPERIENCE:

Over the past couple years I've taken:

Green Mag
Purple Wrath
White Flood
RPM
IGF-2
Jungle Warfare
Restore
Activate Xtreme
Not to mention the staples.

WORKOUT:

I've tried various routines over the years, from full-body training, to 2-day splits, to one muscle group per day, per week. I've been reading up on doggcrapp and have decided I'm going to try a similar routine (I may be missing some of the details) for this cycle, and depending on my results, may continue with it.

I'm not going to bother breaking down each workout day in this post, since I'll be posting my workouts anyway.

DIET:

I am a big-time ectomorph. I have a very hard time putting on weight, and maintain in the 4000-5000 cal. range while not on any supplements, depending on my activity level. For this cycle I will be attempting a bulk, with an approx. 40/40/20 split. I will not be too strict on myself, but it will be a clean bulk for the most part. I'm going to start by trying to hit around 5000-5500 calories per and may adjust depending on my results. I know the H-drol and Epidrol will require a greater excess of calories than would normally be needed for a bulk. I'm not going to be breaking my meals down on a daily basis online, though I do keep a hardcopy log, too make sure I'm keeping everything in check.

CYCLE SUPPLEMENTS:

Cel H-Drol
Genera Supplements Epidrol

After following along with BigAsian's log, I will be doing a similar dosing:

Week 1: 50mg H-drol
Week 2: 50mg H-drol
Week 3: 50mg H-drol + 20mg Epidrol (1st 3 days at 10mg)
Week 4: 50mg H-drol + 30mg Epidrol
Week 5: 30mg Epidrol
Week 6: 30mg Epidrol

Depending on how I feel, I may up the Epidrol to 40mg in Week 5 or Week 6. It's also possible I cut the cycle short. I had been planning on just running the h-drol for 4 weeks at 50mg, and I may still do this, however I'm worried I might be underdosing a bit. I also have a bottle of Epidrol, so after reading through BigAsian's log and considering adding that in at Week 3. Hopefully some discussion may come up on this point, since it is my first cycle.

Support Supps:

Fish Oil
Sesamin Oil
Milk Thistle
Saw Palmetto
Hawthorn Berry
CoQ10
Glucosamine
Cissus
1-carboxy-2-amino-3-pyrobenzol
Niacin
Vitamin B-5
Vitamin B-Complex
Vitamin C
Opti-Men Multi
BCAAs (20-30g per day, during and post WO)

I will also have Taurine on hand and policosanol, which I am not too sure if I should take or not. Any thoughts on this would be appreciated, as I have read that it is a great on cycle and post cycle therapy supp, but haven't seen to many people who use it. I have a couple bottles of SAMe as well, if anyone thinks the support supps above are lacking. Or, maybe I'm going overboard. Any advice at all on this matter is welcome.

PCT:

SERM (have this on-hand already :thumbsup:)
MassFX Maximum Strength
E-form, which I will run inversely to the SERM
RPM
ZMA
Green Mag
BCAAs
Lean Xtreme

I also have various other test boosters kicking around, Drive, Activate Xtreme, plus some bulk stuff, such as Horny Goat Weed, Long Jack, Maca and Testofen powder. At this point I'm not planning on using any of these, but am open to suggestions.

I will be continuing with all the support supps and vitamins throughout PCT, which will last for one month.

I workout in the morning, so I will be dosing 25mg H-drol with breakfast and 25mg 6-7 hours later also with a meal (both times with fish oil). If anyone has any other recommendations on dosage timings, or the likes, it would be appreciated. My plan is to take the milk thistle in the evening sometime after my last dose of h-drol. Everything else 2 times per day with meals, fish oils and sesamin oil. I think I have everything pretty much covered, but if anyone notices anything above that shouldn't be taken at the same time, let me know.

Special thanks to Botch for directing me to a few of the absolute essentials for this cycle.

That covers the intro, onto day 1 :head:
 

Big L

New member
Awards
0
DAY 1:

Took 25mg of H-drol with breakfast, approx. two hours prior to my workout. I have been free of all but the staple supplements for the past month. Nothing to report as of yet, though I had some pretty amazing placebo going by the time I hit the gym.

I will be recording weight and reps in this format: weight \ reps \ rp1 (rest-pause reps) \ rp2 (second rest-pause reps). As noted in my first post, after the first set (taken to failure) I will rest 20-25 seconds, before first rest-pause set, and another 20-25 seconds before the next rest-pause set. The second rest-pause set will be followed by a static hold about 2-4 inches away from lockout for 20 seconds. I will also be completing a 60 second weighted stretch immediately after the full working set, which I will not bother posting. Warmup sets will also not be included, since they are not to work the muscle, just to adequately prepare for me one, balls-to-the-wall set.

Chest:
Flat Bench Press: 185lbs/10/3/1

Shoulders:
Seated Dumbbell Press: 50lbs/10/3/0
Notes: I may need to re-evaluate the inclusion of this particular exercise in DC training. I know I could have completed another rep in the second rest-pause set, I just couldn't get the dumbbells up. It didn't help that my spotter failed miserably in assisting me with this. Hopefully he will learn, as I do.

Triceps:

Close Grip BP: 115lbs/11/4/3

Back Width:
Close Grip Pulldowns: 160/11/4/3

Back Thickness: (rest-pause technique is not used for quads or back thickness, due to risk of injury. I will be completing one 6-9 rep set, followed by 90 seconds of rest, then a 10-12 rep set. Also no static hold for these).
Deadlift: 275lbs/7, 225/12

As I said, I am obviously not yet feeling the effects of the h-drol and I have to say I really enjoyed this workout. I like the concept of one super intense set (since all of my sets are very intense and may have occasionally led to over-training in the past). I felt very fatigued by the end of the workout and had a great pump going. I also could not have completed any additional heavy sets after the one working set, which I think is a fairly good metric for the effectiveness of this routine.

I have since taken the second dose of h-drol and am currently at about 3000 calories for the day. I will be eating a couple steaks, a sweet potato and broccoli shortly and will be making up a huge batch of chili later this evening for my final meal (excluding my nighttime protein shake) so I should easily hit the 5000-5500 mark today.

Tomorrow is the all-star game so I have no doubts I will get my share of food in then either.

And speaking of, I leave you with:

[nomedia="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wfL9Ew3b0uE"]YouTube - Broadcast Yourself.[/nomedia]

Moon FTW, book it.

Next post will likely be Monday following my next workout.
 

Big L

New member
Awards
0
DAY 4

Had a pretty solid weekend, kept my calories above 5000 each day, eating nice and clean. I'm starting to run low on protein powder but have an order in for some Matrix 5.0 Orange Cream which I'm looking forward to (I looove orange crush/juice floats, so hopefully this brings back some memories).

I worked my abs on Saturday, but nothing really to report re: H-drol with that. I've been dosing it every day when I wake up with breakfast and then again between lunch and dinner.

Some things that I've noticed so far (not sure whether these are a result of the h-drol, dc training or placebo):

-I've had some of the worst DOMS I've experienced in a long time. I rarely ever get it in my pecs and my shoulders pecs have been the worst.

-I've been sleeping great - really deep sleep with vivid dreams and I've been out for 9-10 hours each night.

-Crazy sex drive. This hit on Saturday night with a lady friend, I didn't expect it, but if this is a side-affect of the h-drol, it's one I can certainly live with.

WORKOUT B

Today was legs and biceps/forearms. It was a solid workout, but not quite as good as Friday's. I think the first two workouts were getting a feel for doggcrapp and what weights I should be using. My estimates on Friday were closer than they were today, so some of the rep ranges are off what is advised.

Biceps:
Alternating dumbbell curl: 35lbs/13/5/3
Bis are supposed to be in the 15-20 rep range, so this one was close, but I think I would have easily hit 15 (probably more) with 40lbs. I'm hoping to hit 20 reps with 40lbs on Friday.

Forearms:
Alternating hammer curls: 30lbs/12
I wasn't too happy with this one. I rested 90 seconds after dumbbell curls, and felt pretty weak. I normally do 35 easily in this rep range. Again, I put this down to getting used to DC.

Calves:
Standing Smith Machine Calf Raise: 180 + bar / 12
Calves are done a bit differently in DC. You're supposed to do a 5 second negative, hold the stretch at the bottom position for 15 seconds, and then explode up. I really liked doing it this way, and it thrashed my calves.

Hamstrings:
Seated leg curls: 120lbs/15/4/4
I kinda blew it on this one. I was trying to hit around 10 in the first set, but I usually just do stiff-legged dls or good mornings for hams, so I did 3 warmup sets and thought 120lbs was about right. I realized around rep 10 that I was way off in the weight and it killed the set for me. I got to 15, but I had a hard time staying intense, since I felt like wasted this exercise. I probably could have hit 17 or 18. The two rest-pause sets were better, but still felt like I blew hams today.

Quads:
Squats: 225/8, 185/20
For quads, DC doesn't do rest-pauses, but rather one set in the 4-6 rep range and 1 20 rep set. I did 20 reps sets for a while, so I'm used to the intensity of this excercise. I felt good and bad about my quads today. I felt good because I hit the 225 for 8 pretty easy, but again I misjudged my weight. I've been switching it up the last little while, so didn't know what to expect. Based on how I felt, I think I could have done 245 for 4-6 so I will try at least that my next squat workout (next week). The widowmaker was a solid set. My legs felt like I could have done another 5-10 reps, but I was so gassed I think I could have collapsed. I had a nice pool of sweat in front of me. I expect my conditioning with these to improve.

All in all it was a good workout. I felt great, and by the end I was gassed. I just think I erred on the side of caution a bit too much this workout. Heavy squats have always instilled a little bit of fear in me (even with the safety bars up). I need to get over this, because I know I can push more than I'm giving myself credit for.

'Til Wednesday...
 

Big L

New member
Awards
0
DAY 6

I've been feeling really good the last couple days. I'm crazy busy studying for midterms at the moment, and have am dedicating hours each day just to preparing my various meals and eating, but I've had tons of energy and wake up each morning ready to dive into it. Each night before a work-out feels like X-mas eve did back in the day, and all I can think about is hitting the weights and lifting better than my last one. Today's workout didn't disappoint. I was incredibly focused and maintained my intensity 100% throughout.

WORKOUT A

Chest:
Incline Bench Press: 175lbs/10/3/1

Shoulders:
Barbell Shoulder Press: 145lbs/10/4/3

Triceps:
Reverse Grip Bench Press: 135lbs/10/4/2

Back Width:

Wide Grip Pulldowns: 160lbs/9/3/2

Back Thickness:
Bent-Over Rows: 155lbs/8, 115lbs/14

It was real hard leaving the gym today, I felt like I could've worked out for another hour. Can't wait to hit legs again on Friday.

:squat:

Speaking of, I've barely been able to walk since Monday. Please tell me insane DOMS is a side-effect of H-drol. Otherwise, I must've been taking it waaay to easy the past month during my cut. Anyway, it feels good to feel the pain again.
 

Big L

New member
Awards
0
DAY 8

So, I made it through week 1. Things are off to a great start. I meant to weigh myself first thing in the morning, but I woke up starving and pounded down a fairly hefty breakfast without thinking. I eventually did weigh myself before my workout and I'm sitting just over 215lb. This is a 7lb increase in one week.

Keep in mind, I had a 1/2lb. burger, 1 cup of steel cut oats and 4 eggs for breakfast, and a couple hours later, a protein shake with milk, raspberries, peanut butter and oat bran. I didn't weigh myself 'til after this, so you can probably knock a couple pounds off. Still, I am very pleased with such a jump in the first week and I really feel like I can already see improvements. My chest feels and looks fuller, my shoulders are looking more cut, and my lats seem to be wider as well. I can't wait to see what kind of progress I'm going to make over the next few weeks, given how pleased I already am.

Unfortunately it looked like disaster might strike last night. Two days ago my roommate came down with a pretty bad flu and has been knocked out since then. Yesterday I started sneezing, came down with a mean headache, burning eyes, and was a bit short of breath. The worst timing to come down with something. I laid into my roommate pretty bad (blaming him for constantly getting sick and bringing it into the house - I know, **** move, and it's not even his fault - I blame the H-drol :thumbsup:), but it didn't help how I was feeling. This morning was worse, and I didn't feel like the gym at all. I still went along with my daily routine, and had some White Flood pre-workout to give me a bit of a kick, hoping I could get in a half-decent workout. Well, I dunno what happened, but after I did a couple warm up sets, it was like something woke up in me and I started hitting the weights harder than I have since Day 1. Today's workout:

WORKOUT B

Biceps:
Standing Easy Curl Bar: 85lbs/13/3/2

Forearms:
Pinwheel Curls: 25lbs/15
I hadn't heard or done these before. It's basically a hammer curl, but you raise the dumbbell parallel to your shoulders as opposed to perpendicular. 30lbs would be a better weight, but I didn't know what to expect.

Calves:
Seated Calf Raise: 115lbs/12
This is way lighter than I normally use, but I really wanted to focus on the 5 second negative and 15 second stretch, and by the 12th rep my legs were shaking.

Hamstrings:
Stiff-Leg Deadlifts: 235lbs/12, 315lbs/6
Well, this one was a shock to me and I'm still pumped. My highest single deadlift last time I checked (about 3 weeks ago) was 350lbs. I stiff-leg deadlift less weight than my conventional deadlift, and I still hit 315 for 6, with perfect form. Can't wait to do my regular DLs next Friday. I am now hoping to hit 400lbs or more for 1 rep by the end of this cycle.

Quads:
Smith-Machine Squats:
275lbs + bar / 5, 180lbs + bar / 20
Again, I was really pleased with this. I kind of expected to squat a bit more weight since I was on the smith machine, and I actually free-weight squat 275lbs for 3-4 reps, but I don't normally do smith machine and I just finished a killer set of deadlifts, so I put it on that. My max squat was 295lbs (when I checked, also 3 weeks ago) so now to keep in line with my deadlift goals, I am aiming to squat 350lbs x 1 by the end of this cycle, though I think this will be a greater challenge than the deadlift.

Alright, well here's hoping this flu doesn't hit me any worse than it did this morning and I'm fully recovered by Monday. I hate the thought of a wasted workout while on cycle.
 
WeakPoint

WeakPoint

Member
Awards
1
  • Established
Very well organized log, I'm not really into the steroids thing but I will be following a long to see your progress. Subbed.
 

Big L

New member
Awards
0
Slightly off topic from the log, but I just bought a Sunbeam Rocket Grill yesterday. I'd highly recommend this to anyone who cooks a lot of meat (most of us I would think...). I have a foreman grill as well, and that's pretty sweet, but the clean up gets old. It's not so bad once a day or something, but when you're cooking 4, 5 times per day, it sucks.

Anyway, the Rocket Grill comes with parchment pouches (which unfortunately DO need to be purchased - it works out to about $.035-0.45 per bag depending on how many you get and where you get them) and they go into the grill vertically with the meat/veggies/whatever inside, so that any juices drip and are caught in the bottom of the bag. There's no cleanup at all, you can set the timer and put something in before you go into the shower or whatever, it's awesome. I think these go for about $50 at Walmart in the US, if you like the foreman grill, you should definitely pick one of these up.

So far I've grilled a steak, 3 pork chops, 2 home made burgers (all of these were fresh/defrosted) and 2 pre-made burgers from frozen and it all came out great. Check it out.
 
BigAsian

BigAsian

Member
Awards
0
nice log. i will be following your progress. hope you enjoy the stack. it worked great for me. didnt really feel anything till the end of week 2. dont get discouraged. keep it up.
 

Big L

New member
Awards
0
DAY 11

Just a quick update today. I won't break down the workout, since I'm in the middle of midterms this week, but it was my chest/back workout and it went well. I did all new lifts today (you cycle through three different sets of exercises for workout A and B) but I will be back to the first cycle for Workout A on Friday.

Nothing else of note really. It looks like a few small pimples may be developing, but I'm not too worried. I might pick up some kind of facial cleanser to try and catch it. Other than that, I'm still feeing great and seeing increases on the scale and mirror.

I may not post again for the rest of the week, but Friday should be a good update. As I said I'll be back to the first workout of my cycle, so I can note my improvements, plus it will be time for my 2 week weigh-in, and I'll be adding in 20mg of Epidrol. :head:
 
hman85

hman85

Well-known member
Awards
1
  • Established
I have just started the DC training as well and a liking it so far but some times i just feel like i am doing it wrong or something. If you don't mind explain an chest workout like you did on your second post i read but didn't follow exactly. it is supposed to be Warmup sets then what? (elaborate on the static to if you will)
 
WeakPoint

WeakPoint

Member
Awards
1
  • Established
I have been doing a variation of DC these past 2 weeks. I just do 2 exercises per body part instead of 1. For chest I do about half my working set weight and do 2 warm-up sets with it. I go up to about 20 pounds heavier and do another warm-up set. Then I go into my working set, bust out 8-10 reps (I use DB's) Place them on the ground and then grab em back on my knees take about 5 breaths and go again probably getting about half as many reps as prior so around 4-5 reps. Repeat, getting off about 2-3 reps. Every working set I try to get atleast 11-15 reps off. My chest workouts usually consist of a bench exercise (flat,decline, incline) then my other chest work-out I switch between Flyes and Cross-overs. I finish my chest by grabbing my working set weight and putting it in the fly position and taking a big breath to pump my chest out and stretching it down for around 45 seconds. Sorry for the long post just trying to explain what I do, since Big L is busy with mid-terms and such.
 
hman85

hman85

Well-known member
Awards
1
  • Established
I have been doing a variation of DC these past 2 weeks. I just do 2 exercises per body part instead of 1. For chest I do about half my working set weight and do 2 warm-up sets with it. I go up to about 20 pounds heavier and do another warm-up set. Then I go into my working set, bust out 8-10 reps (I use DB's) Place them on the ground and then grab em back on my knees take about 5 breaths and go again probably getting about half as many reps as prior so around 4-5 reps. Repeat, getting off about 2-3 reps. Every working set I try to get atleast 11-15 reps off. My chest workouts usually consist of a bench exercise (flat,decline, incline) then my other chest work-out I switch between Flyes and Cross-overs. I finish my chest by grabbing my working set weight and putting it in the fly position and taking a big breath to pump my chest out and stretching it down for around 45 seconds. Sorry for the long post just trying to explain what I do, since Big L is busy with mid-terms and such.
Hmm so no slow negative?
 
WeakPoint

WeakPoint

Member
Awards
1
  • Established
That is a Rest/Pause. It ends up being about 15 seconds between.
 
WhenAllFails

WhenAllFails

New member
Awards
0
from what i've read the negatives are kinda important, which means I should probably be doing them.

I just have a question, how's the high rep part of your training going? I usually shoot for a lower rep (6-8) on the first set of my RP (i.e. 6 - 3 - 2 reps). But if the higher rep is working for you I might incorporate that into my smaller muscle groups (bi's tri's and calves).

I just wonder if i'm the only one that gets crazy looks from people when doing these stretches :think:
 
hman85

hman85

Well-known member
Awards
1
  • Established
from what i've read the negatives are kinda important, which means I should probably be doing them.

I just have a question, how's the high rep part of your training going? I usually shoot for a lower rep (6-8) on the first set of my RP (i.e. 6 - 3 - 2 reps). But if the higher rep is working for you I might incorporate that into my smaller muscle groups (bi's tri's and calves).

I just wonder if i'm the only one that gets crazy looks from people when doing these stretches :think:
Yes i get those crazy looks when i am stretching as well as when i even just do negatives. the way i look at it is i see most people that think they are the sh@t and the have horrible form and they are definately overtraining:think:. So to each his own.
 
WeakPoint

WeakPoint

Member
Awards
1
  • Established
I personally like the higher rep. I'm still getting the lower rep in you know 4-5 on my second part of the rest pause so its alright. I get weird looks when I only get 2 reps off at the end. I think people are like why the hell is that guy lifting so much weight hes only getting 2 reps off. One guy said "Man lower your weight you can barely get that off" I told him I was Rest Pausing and he just looked at me like I was an idiot.
 
WhenAllFails

WhenAllFails

New member
Awards
0
I personally like the higher rep. I'm still getting the lower rep in you know 4-5 on my second part of the rest pause so its alright. I get weird looks when I only get 2 reps off at the end. I think people are like why the hell is that guy lifting so much weight hes only getting 2 reps off. One guy said "Man lower your weight you can barely get that off" I told him I was Rest Pausing and he just looked at me like I was an idiot.
heh it's better not to be alone in my ventures to look insane in more ways than one.

i'll try the higher reps, thanks.

also good luck w/ your cycle, may your gains be as crazy as the looks we receive.
 

Big L

New member
Awards
0
Just finished 2 midterms today and killed them both. Plus I just got a big report back that I was actually a little bit worried about - 93% :head:

So, I'm gonna head out to the gym shortly to celebrate, but am gonna go straight over to a friend's to study, so thought I'd check in real quick today.

Hman, Weakpoint broke it down pretty well for you, and I do it very similar, though some different times.

For flat bench I, lets say I bench 185. I would do something like this for warmup:

45lb (just the bar) x 15
95lb x 12
135lb x 8
155lb x 5
175lb x 3

I do less warmups if the exercise is later in my work out or it's biceps or something. I do a lot of warmup sets for chest, back thickness and quads.

My working set assuming 185lb would go:
First working set to failure - I'll go til I need my spotter and aim for 8-10 reps personally. I probably do about 4|0|2 tempo, but I just mainly focus on really controlling the negative. Once I reach failure, I get up, take some deep breaths and time about 20 seconds on the clock. I get back to the bench so that I start lifting by about the 25 second mark. I lift 'til failure - usually 3-4 reps. I repeat this, 25 second rest, then to failure one more time, around 1-2 reps. This time though, once I reach failure, my spotter helps me up, then I lower the bar to about 4 inches from lockout and hold it for as long as I can. The goal is 20 seconds, but I usually lose it around 15 so far. Then the spotter grabs the weight for me.

Then for my stretch I would grab lets say 2 30lb dumbbells and go into the flye position. I hold that for 10 seconds, then take a really deep breath and push my chest out. I kind of imagine I'm trying to touch the ground with the backs of my hands and touch the ceiling with my chest at the same time. This really kills - I try to hold it for 50 seconds (60 seconds total being the goal) but right now on the hardest stretches I usually make it to 40-50 seconds.

I've really been feeling these workouts and look forward to trying DC while I'm off cycle to really compare it to some other WO's.

On a sidenote, I hadn't read anything about abs in DC, so I modified my normal ab/core routine so that I Still do multiple exercises, but instead of doing 3-4 sets per exercise, I do 1 set with the 2 rest pauses and a hold if possible. My abs were KILLING me after I did this on Monday (i throw abs on at the end of back/chest).

Example of my ab routine:

Russian Twists with a 12lb medicine ball until failure. 20 second rest, go to failure. 20 second rest, go to failure.

Rope crunches (forward crunches while holding the tricep pressdown rope) with the stack 'til failure. Then 2 rest pause sets, with a hold, contracting my abs as long as I can 'til they give out. I can usually hold this about 40-50 seconds.

Then I'll to leg raises with ankle weights until failure, followed by two rest pause sets.

I get a lot of reps for these total...at least 50 I'd say, per exercise, but I think you should definitely use weights to make it more difficult.

Anyway - Won't be back 'til Friday, good to have you guys aboard.
 
WhenAllFails

WhenAllFails

New member
Awards
0
Just finished 2 midterms today and killed them both. Plus I just got a big report back that I was actually a little bit worried about - 93% :head:

So, I'm gonna head out to the gym shortly to celebrate, but am gonna go straight over to a friend's to study, so thought I'd check in real quick today.

Hman, Weakpoint broke it down pretty well for you, and I do it very similar, though some different times.

For flat bench I, lets say I bench 185. I would do something like this for warmup:

45lb (just the bar) x 15
95lb x 12
135lb x 8
155lb x 5
175lb x 3

I do less warmups if the exercise is later in my work out or it's biceps or something. I do a lot of warmup sets for chest, back thickness and quads.

My working set assuming 185lb would go:
First working set to failure - I'll go til I need my spotter and aim for 8-10 reps personally. I probably do about 4|0|2 tempo, but I just mainly focus on really controlling the negative. Once I reach failure, I get up, take some deep breaths and time about 20 seconds on the clock. I get back to the bench so that I start lifting by about the 25 second mark. I lift 'til failure - usually 3-4 reps. I repeat this, 25 second rest, then to failure one more time, around 1-2 reps. This time though, once I reach failure, my spotter helps me up, then I lower the bar to about 4 inches from lockout and hold it for as long as I can. The goal is 20 seconds, but I usually lose it around 15 so far. Then the spotter grabs the weight for me.

Then for my stretch I would grab lets say 2 30lb dumbbells and go into the flye position. I hold that for 10 seconds, then take a really deep breath and push my chest out. I kind of imagine I'm trying to touch the ground with the backs of my hands and touch the ceiling with my chest at the same time. This really kills - I try to hold it for 50 seconds (60 seconds total being the goal) but right now on the hardest stretches I usually make it to 40-50 seconds.

I've really been feeling these workouts and look forward to trying DC while I'm off cycle to really compare it to some other WO's.

On a sidenote, I hadn't read anything about abs in DC, so I modified my normal ab/core routine so that I Still do multiple exercises, but instead of doing 3-4 sets per exercise, I do 1 set with the 2 rest pauses and a hold if possible. My abs were KILLING me after I did this on Monday (i throw abs on at the end of back/chest).

Example of my ab routine:

Russian Twists with a 12lb medicine ball until failure. 20 second rest, go to failure. 20 second rest, go to failure.

Rope crunches (forward crunches while holding the tricep pressdown rope) with the stack 'til failure. Then 2 rest pause sets, with a hold, contracting my abs as long as I can 'til they give out. I can usually hold this about 40-50 seconds.

Then I'll to leg raises with ankle weights until failure, followed by two rest pause sets.

I get a lot of reps for these total...at least 50 I'd say, per exercise, but I think you should definitely use weights to make it more difficult.

Anyway - Won't be back 'til Friday, good to have you guys aboard.
keep up the good work
 
silverSurfer

silverSurfer

Well-known member
Awards
1
  • Established
Great log, going to follow along. I'm very interested in your results.
 

Big L

New member
Awards
0
Alright, midterms are done and I'm back in full swing at the gym and with the diet. Feels good. I'll break down my workout from Wednesday first.

DAY 13

Had a really busy week, so my diet wasn't fully in check. It's a real struggle keeping up with my calories on the best of days, so when I'm really hitting the books hours can go by and I forget to eat. This may have slowed my strength gains slightly, but I was still pleased with my workout.

WORKOUT B

Biceps:
Incline Curls:: 40lbs/11/5/3
These aren't the seated incline curls, I lay, face down on an incline bench at a 45 degree angle, with my arms hanging and curl the weight up.

Forearms:
Reverse Single Arm Cable Curls: 40lbs/12
I had never done this exercise before, but really felt it work my forearms. I stood with the handle/pulley at the bottom and faced away from the stack.

Calves:
Leg Press Calf Presses: 190lbs/12
This was probably the best calf workout I've ever had. I felt the stretch a lot more on the leg press machine than I did with standing smith machine calf raises or the seated raises. My calves still feel pumped and hard while I'm writing this (4 days later).

I followed this up with another exercise not called for by DC training. I play a lot of basketball and sometimes suffer from shin splints. I've read that working the anterior calf muscles helps with this. Normally I extend my legs over the edge of a bench and hold a dumbbell between my feet and raise my toes. I tried just putting a 45lb plate on the toes of one foot with my feet flat on the floor and raising it as high as I could. I felt it a lot more than I feel the dumbbell, so I'm probably gonna keep throwing this in once a week.

Hamstrings
Sumo Leg Presses: 230lbs/14/4/4
NOTE: I don't normally do leg presses, but when I have, I find the weight I press is very inconsistent from machine to machine. Obviously they're not entirely accurate or they just have different mechanisms. The one I used today for calves, quads and hamstrings has a large base to put your feet on (like 1 square meter or so) that is stationary. The seat is angled on a sliding bar type mechanism at about a 45 degree angle, so when you press, you're pushing yourself, and the seat up, as opposed to the base where your feet are, away. Maybe body weight plays a part, since you're pushing the seat and your upper body up the inclined bars. Anyway, despite the seemingly low weights, I went to failure on the working sets.

Quads:
Leg Press: 390lbs/10, 270lbs/25
390lbs is the whole stack on this machine and I hit 10. DC calls for 6-9 and then a set of 20, so obviously I'm gonna have to figure something out. I think I'm just going to do single leg presses in future for the 6-9 rep set, and then both legs for the set of 20. I also seriously misjudged the weight I needed for 20 since I don't normally use leg presses, so I'll fix the rep ranges next workout.
 

Big L

New member
Awards
0
DAY 16

I missed my workout on Friday since I pulled an all-nighter (with a one hour power nap) prior to my last midterm. I came home and planned on having a nap and hitting the gym around 8 or 9, but I didn't end up waking up 'til midnight. I figured I'd just hit the gym on Saturday so I could go all out once fully rested and at a normal hour (i feel much better working out in the mornings).

I started the Epidrol yesterday, dosing 10mg in the morning with 25mg of H-drol and 10mg 6 hours or so later with another 25mg of H-drol. I also started taking Anabolic Pump yesterday (traded some Poseidon for AP and Pslin, and just got it in the mail).

I did another weigh in today and I'm up to 221lbs, a +13lb increase from Day 1. I'm really pleased with this, and the majority is definitely lean mass. I don't know if I'm doing so well just because this is my first cycle, but I only expected about 13 lbs for the whole cycle. I have never been over 220lbs in my life, so I'm feeling pretty good. I'm hitting between 5500-6000 calories daily, and as I said I'm not putting on much fat. I'm sure there are a couple pounds, but overall I find my legs and abs are actually looking more lean, so I'm certainly not worried about it.

Since this is back to the start of the DC training cycle (ie Workout 1A) I will post the increases in weight from day 1 as well. I didn't get as many reps for some of the lifts, but if you're interested in comparing reps as well, you can just refer back to my first post.

Chest:
Flat Bench: 205lbs/8/2/1 +20lbs

Shoulders:
Seated Barbell Press: 175lbs/8/2/1 +30lbs
I'm really pleased with this one. I didn't actually do seated bbell press on Day 1, I did dumbbell presses. Since I had a hard time with the rest-pauses I decided to quit with the dumbbells. So this 30 lb improvement is actually between now and Day 6, just 10 days.

Triceps:
Close Grip Bench Press: 135lbs/11/5/3 +20lbs

Back Width:
Close Grip Pulldowns: 190lbs/8/3/1 +30lbs

Back Thickness:
Deadlifts: 345lbs/4 +70lbs, 255lbs/15 +30lbs, 3 reps
I'm super pumped about my deads. 350lbs was my 1rp max going into this cycle and today I hit 345 for 4. I may have pushed out 1 more rep too, but I felt my form falter just slightly on the lowering phase of the 4th rep so didn't want to risk it. I also NEVER do high rep deadlifts since I don't feel they are that safe, so I'd like to limit the second set to 9-12 at most, I just miscalculated my weight here, but I maintained perfect form for the 15 reps, so I was pretty pleased regardless.

Clearly this cycle has been great for me so far. My strength has gone way up, I'm up 13lbs and I just started the Epidrol. Can't wait to see what the next 4 weeks bring.
 

Big L

New member
Awards
0
I also did the abs routine I posted above at the end of my workout today. The great thing about doing my abs this way is it takes about 10 minutes total, compare to the 20-30 minutes it used to take me and if anything it feels better. Alright, I'm off to cook up 2kg of ground beef :food:
 

Big L

New member
Awards
0
DAY 18

Unfortunately I have some bad news to report today. I went to the gym this morning and hit my legs and bis. Had a great workout which I will write up shortly. I finished my workout, had a protein shake, then we got a game of 3v3 bball going. Everything was going great - I haven't been able to dunk a ball for over a year and today (even though I'm up to my heaviest weight ever) I got above the rim and dropped the ball in. It wasn't really a dunk, but I had the ball above the rim while in my hand and I jumped from a stand still beneath the basket. I was pretty pumped and the next play I drove the ball and could have gone up for a basic layup but instead I went for a reverse (from the right side) with my right hand. I made the shot, but unfortunately I came down on my right foot which landed (before my left foot) on my buddy's foot who was boxing out his man, facing the basket. The same ankle I had a grade 2 sprain on 6 months ago, rolled pretty hard and I went down. I managed to regain my balance pretty quick and got my left foot down to brace myself a bit so it wasn't as bad as it could have been, but it swelled up pretty good already. I iced it and elevated it soon after (15 minutes later or so) and wrapped it before going to school and will be periodically icing it and keeping it elevated whenever I am at home. I'll also probably double my cissus and glucosamine dosages to hopefully get it up to speed by the end of the week. I'm bummed because I may need to skip heavy squats and maybe even deadlifts for the next week or two. Luckily I just did deads and squats - I'm not scheduled to do deadlifts (excluding stiff-leg) 'til next Friday, so I should be healed by then. I was gonna do smith squats on Friday, but I may need to just do leg extensions and curls until this heals up. I still have a brace from my last sprain which I will use if I need it during my workout.

The one positive is I play basketball 4 or 5 times a week, since I will be taking at least 2 weeks off (and may just wait 'til my cycle is over to start playing again) I can adjust my calories and eat less, which will be more conveniant. It really sucks for something like this to happen on cycle, but I'm going to hope I make a quick recovery and it doesn't throw me off track too much.

On to the workout:

Biceps:
Alternating Dumbbell Curls: 40lbs/11/4/3

Forearms:
Hammer Curls: 35lbs/12

Calves:
Standing Smith Machine Calf Raises: 140lbs + bar/12
I lowered the weight from my last workout so I could really focus on the stretch and a slow negative. I feel like I could make 100lbs hard enough that I fail at 12 reps doing these DC's way, so instead of going heavy, I'm enjoying using lighter weights and making sure I feel it in the muscle. I actually have been doing biceps this way a bit as well. A slower negative and just really focusing on the squeeze, instead of trying to curl as much weight as I can with good form, but bad tempo.

Hamstrings:
Seated Leg Curls: 150lbs/13/4/3

Quads:
Squats: 250lbs/6, 205lbs/20

I think I finally had my first case of "back pumps." It felt kind of like a strain in my lower back, but it wasn't. I've strained my back before and it wasn't that...kind of hard for me to describe it actually, but if I do a ton of weighted back extensions, it was like a cross between that feeling and a back strain that throbbed. It went away after my workout and it doesn't hurt at all to bend forward, so even if my explanation is crappy, I'm pretty sure it's the pumps. Not too sure what to do about it. I felt like I could have hit 10 or so with 250lbs (miscalculated my weight again), but my back couldn't take any more than 6 reps. I actually had serious doubts about the 20 rep set, but somehow pulled off the 205lbs without much problem.

I have some bulk taurine so I think I'm going to start taking 3 or 4gs of that. I don't really know how to take it though - can I just dose it before my workouts? Or should I be taking it daily? Will 3-4g be enough? If anyone has any insight on this it would be awesome. If my ankle recovers (keep your fingers crossed for me) I plan to hit 275lbs for 6-8 next workout and 225lbs for 20. I'm pretty sure this is within reach if my ankle doesn't hold me back, which would put me in position to rep 300lbs by the end of this cycle. I'm very pleased with my body comp changes, but more than anything if I can be close to repping 300 for squats and 400 for deadlifts by the end of this cycle, it will be well worth it for me. I have a solid post cycle therapy lined up so I'm really hoping I can hang on to my strength gains.

Anyway, my ankle shouldn't take anything away from my workout on Wednesday - I'll be doing bent over rows which I'm pretty sure I'll be able to handle on it. Worst case I'll lay on an incline bench or something, and all my other exercises are seated or laying.

As far as my general wellbeing, my sex drive is still way up, my balls are still hanging low... I've not had any headaches, lethargy, hair shedding and the acne I was worried about never really developed. I have a couple pimples under my hair, but I haven't had any acne to speak of on my face or shoulders/back.
 

Similar threads


Top