Mind and Muscle Mass Stack log (sponsored)

[machwon04]

Huge THANKS to the guys at Mind and Muscle for choosing me to log this stack. It's been a rough 3 months with the holidays, a move and a newborn at the house. Lifting and nutrition have taken a back seat to other things for a while, but I'm ready to get back to it. Hoping this Mass Stack can get me back to where I was before the holidays and maybe a little further.

Just turned 31 in January. I'm 6' and currently weigh about 178lbs. I weighed 184-185 at the beginning of December and was leaner and quite a bit stronger. It's amazing what 3 months of poor nutrition and little sleep can do.
I've been trying to hit the muscles twice/week, but alternating between heavy/low reps and lighter/high reps.

Chest/Tris
Legs/Back/Bis
off
Shoulders/Tris
Legs/Back/Bis

So on shoulder day, high rep dips and close grip bench will be done for tris to get some chest engagement. Heavy DB overhead presses will be done on chest day.

I took my first dose yesterday afternoon. The baby was up and down most of the night before, so I didn't get a whole lot of quality rest. I made it to the gym and got a quick workout in just to do something since I was out of town all last week for training and didn't get a lift in.

I did:
Seated military press:
135lb 5x5 (strength is definitely down)
115lb 1x12 with a slightly more narrow grip

Seated DB side raises
20lb 4x12 nice and slow with short hold at the top

Seated DB Curls
40lb 3x6
25lb 2x12
sad, but my arms were on fire after this

HIIT on the eliptical with 45 second speed and 60 second slow intervals - 4 intervals (something like 7 or 8 minutes, don't remember)

Not much, but I was already exhausted and didn't feel like working out to begin with. I am a little sore this morning though, so I guess it did something. I plan to work out at lunch today. Still didn't get a whole lot of sleep last night. The baby must be going through a growth spurt or something. She's constantly hungry. So we'll see how it goes.

I'm really looking forward to seeing what this stack will do for me. Stay tuned!

 

[Young Gotti]

following along, hopefully this gets you back in the groove

 

[double s]

Congrats on the baby. Remember the days, miss it sometimes and other times I didn't.

Boy? Girl? Name?

 

[machwon04]

Congrats on the baby. Remember the days, miss it sometimes and other times I didn't.

Boy? Girl? Name?

Thanks. Girl. Her name is Ava Catherine Wood. Yea we won't be having a second until we are back closer to family. We are 1,000 miles away from the nearest family member right now. It's been rough on us both. It's awesome when she's happy though!

 

[machwon04]

Had an ok workout today. Had to be quick, being during lunch and all.

Thinking I will follow the Wendler method for the big lifts.

Today was BB Bench. I think my tris are the weak point for me, so I moved my hands in and put my pinkies on the rings. My usual grip is index fingers on the rings. Needless to say, weights were reduced, but it felt pretty good.

185 lb for 10 reps
135 lb for 18 reps with pinkies just inside the rings.

Wanted to go to DB incline next, but the bench was being used, so I did flat DB presses.
4 sets of 8 with 70lb DB's. Tris were already tight from the 18 rep BB bench

Seated OH DB extensions
3 sets of 8 with 70lb DB - slow and strict form, making sure elbows didn't flare

3 sets of leg raises for abs

Looking forward to increasing the reps and the weight.

 

[Young Gotti]

Had an ok workout today. Had to be quick, being during lunch and all.

Thinking I will follow the Wendler method for the big lifts.

Today was BB Bench. I think my tris are the weak point for me, so I moved my hands in and put my pinkies on the rings. My usual grip is index fingers on the rings. Needless to say, weights were reduced, but it felt pretty good.

185 lb for 10 reps
135 lb for 18 reps with pinkies just inside the rings.

Wanted to go to DB incline next, but the bench was being used, so I did flat DB presses.
4 sets of 8 with 70lb DB's. Tris were already tight from the 18 rep BB bench

Seated OH DB extensions
3 sets of 8 with 70lb DB - slow and strict form, making sure elbows didn't flare

3 sets of leg raises for abs

Looking forward to increasing the reps and the weight.

haha Monday, natural chest day....hate when the equipment you plan on using is taken

 

[machwon04]

Not the greatest workout today, due to a number of factors. I did deadlifts today, and my dumbass forgot to swap my regular gym shoes for my Chucks that I normally do legs in. Balance was definitely off once I moved up in weight. Also, our house is on top of a mesa and also backs up to a canyon, which kinda creates a wind tunnel already. Apparently this is the time of year where wind is pretty bad (just moved here last year). It was incredibly windy all night long. At one point, our bed was actually shaking. I thought for sure our windows were going to blow in several times. I stopped by the grocery store after my workout to get food, and all of the little metal contraptions that are used to store the carts out in the parking lot were flipped over. Every single one of them - despite them stacking sand bags on the legs to try to hold them down. So, needless to say, sleep was awful, and I'm exhausted today. I'm fighting to stay awake at work right now. My new Preworkout should be delivered today, so that's a plus.

On to the log...
The scale this morning was about the same as it was Monday morning. No changes yet, to be expected I'm sure.

Deadlifts:
Working set - 295lb for 12 reps
205lb for 2 sets of 12.

Chins - narrow grip, hands 4-5" apart
4 sets to failure
Didn't get as many as I would have liked to, but my back was tight and my arms were on fire at the end.

Seated DB curls
3 sets of 10 with a pause at the top and nice controlled lowering.

Seated row machine
2 sets of 12 - arms so tight at this point I could barely pull it back all the way

I suppose it was a decent enough workout considering how beat I already was. The forecast shows the wind to be letting up around 8 tonight, so hopefully I'll get some rest.

 

[machwon04]

I had a great workout today. I don't know if it was the Stack kicking in, placebo or coincidence, but I took my new preworkout about 20 minutes before the workout. This was the first time since before Christmas that I actually felt good in the gym and still had energy left over when I was done. I actually worked out a full hour, which means I took a longer lunch break that I'm supposed to :laugh: :laugh:

Shoulders/Tris
Wendler seated military:
Working set: 125lb for 13 reps
135lb for 6 reps
145lb for 5 reps
Probably went one rep short of failure on those last two. I just wanted to put some heavier weight on the bar to shock the shoulders a little.

Seated DB OH press:
55lb - 3 sets of 8

Dips
BW x 15
BW+25lb x 13, x 12, x10 (60-90 sec rest in between)

Close Grip Bench (index fingers about 6-7" apart)
135lb x 10
115lb x 12
115lb x 12
115lb x 11

Cable Crunces supersetted with Cable Pushdowns
3 sets of each. Used weight that I could get a little over 10 reps with on each. Didn't count the reps, just went til failure

Great energy today. A little sore from deadlifts yesterday, but not quite as bad as I thought I was going to be. Just the slightest hint of soreness in my back and biceps. Could be the Stack kicking in and improving recovery. I hope this just continues to get better. I feel pretty confident that the weights are going to start going back up soon!

 

[double s]

What is a wendler press?

Looking great BTW

 

[machwon04]

Sorry, not a Wendler press. Wendler program. 5/3/1.

What is a wendler press?

Looking great BTW

 

[BEAST73]

Subbed..

 

[double s]

Happy Easter...what's the latest and greatest?

 

[TKC432]

Late to the party. But I'm here. In for the gainz.

 

[machwon04]

No workout this weekend. Family time.
Will be back at it tomorrow though.

 

[machwon04]

Monday's (3/28) workout was pretty good. Back/legs
Squats, working set:
175lb x 13 reps - shoulder width stance
135lb x 3 sets of 10 with wider stance, short rest

Weighted chins, hands 5-6" apart
BW+10 x 8
BW+20 x 6, x 6, x 6
BW x 8

DB rows
90 lb x 8 - 2 sets

Standing Calf Raises
2 sets of 30 reps - light weight

About all I had time for. Had to get back to work. Still major sore in my legs today. I will post my notes from yesterday's workout later today when I get some time.

 

[machwon04]

Yesterday's chest workout went pretty well. Although I woke up a pound and a half LIGHTER than I was a week ago, I seem to have gained a little bit of strength.
Start of the 3's week (Wendler)
BB Chest
Working set:
185lb for 12 reps (2 more reps than last week! I was supposed to use 175 last week, but forgot to copy my workout down before I left for the gym)
135lb for 18 reps with slightly more narrow grip than working set (same as last week, but the working set is the one that I care about the most)

DB incline
Tris were pretty pumped already
55lb for 4 sets of 10 - nice and controlled, ends of DB's touching the outside corners of my upper chest - requires keeping elbows tucked pretty good
I inclined it a notch higher than normal (which probably put it where it's supposed to be anyway, I just have a torn left labrum that I never got fixed and a higher incline agitates it quite a bit)

Seated DB Overhead extensions
70 lb DB - 4 sets of 8 reps

Hanging leg lifts for abs - 4 sets

Again, pretty good workout. Great energy. I really wanted to do some cable pushdowns for tris too but both sides were taken and I really needed to get out of there anyway. My chest and tris weren't very sore when I woke up, but have gotten a little more sore as the day has gone on. My legs, on the other hand, are killing me. The first few steps I take after standing up are brutal. I'm sure people on my floor must think I'm injured after seeing me walk around today, haha.

My diet hasn't really changed since starting the cycle last week - which was keeping me at a pretty steady 178. So hopefully this weight loss is pure fat. I was hoping to be back at or over 180 by this Saturday (2 weeks in). That's looking like a long shot now, unless this starts going the other way very rapidly. That said, I'd be perfectly fine if I ended the cycle where I started at 178, but made a noticeable improvement to my mid-section and gained some considerable strength.

 

[ManimalPatB]

MONSTER PLEXX!!!!

This is gonna be a good run man!!! I will be following along

 

[Young Gotti]

Yesterday's chest workout went pretty well. Although I woke up a pound and a half LIGHTER than I was a week ago, I seem to have gained a little bit of strength.
Start of the 3's week (Wendler)
BB Chest
Working set:
185lb for 12 reps (2 more reps than last week! I was supposed to use 175 last week, but forgot to copy my workout down before I left for the gym)
135lb for 18 reps with slightly more narrow grip than working set (same as last week, but the working set is the one that I care about the most)

DB incline
Tris were pretty pumped already
55lb for 4 sets of 10 - nice and controlled, ends of DB's touching the outside corners of my upper chest - requires keeping elbows tucked pretty good
I inclined it a notch higher than normal (which probably put it where it's supposed to be anyway, I just have a torn left labrum that I never got fixed and a higher incline agitates it quite a bit)

Seated DB Overhead extensions
70 lb DB - 4 sets of 8 reps

Hanging leg lifts for abs - 4 sets

Again, pretty good workout. Great energy. I really wanted to do some cable pushdowns for tris too but both sides were taken and I really needed to get out of there anyway. My chest and tris weren't very sore when I woke up, but have gotten a little more sore as the day has gone on. My legs, on the other hand, are killing me. The first few steps I take after standing up are brutal. I'm sure people on my floor must think I'm injured after seeing me walk around today, haha.

My diet hasn't really changed since starting the cycle last week - which was keeping me at a pretty steady 178. So hopefully this weight loss is pure fat. I was hoping to be back at or over 180 by this Saturday (2 weeks in). That's looking like a long shot now, unless this starts going the other way very rapidly. That said, I'd be perfectly fine if I ended the cycle where I started at 178, but made a noticeable improvement to my mid-section and gained some considerable strength.

I hear ya, I don't really pay attention to the weight as long as the mirror shows marked improvement, keep it up I'm sure your body will keep changing as you go

 

[machwon04]

Last Thursday was Deadlifts. It went ok. I'll get right to the lift:
Working set was 290. I got it 14 reps, which I guess is technically an improvement over 295 for 12 reps the week before.
225 for 2 sets of 12.

Seated DB curls
4 sets of 6 with 40 lb

Seated Row Machine
2 sets to failure - high reps. Upwards of 15 on each

I think I did something else but I honestly can't even remember. I started feeling sick that afternoon and stayed home from work on Friday.

Weight staying pretty steady. Energy and aggression in the gym has been great.

 

[machwon04]

Yesterday was 3's day for Shoulders
Seated Barbell Military Working set:
140 lb x 9 reps - pretty sure that's the most I've ever put up for that many reps.
150 lb x 5 reps - probably 1 rep short of absolute failure, but wanted to get a set in with heavier weight

Seated DB Military
55 lb x 8, x 8, x 9 - so 1 rep more on the last set than last week

Dips
BW x 10
BW + 35lb x 12, x 12, x 11

Close Grip Bench - Tris were already pretty tight now
115 lb x 12
125 lb x 10, x 10

Cable crunches
2 sets to failure - high rep

The workout took a little longer than it should have, since i had to wait for the cage to open up in order to do my BB Military sets. Therefore I had to cut a set off a couple of the other exercises. I felt pretty strong on everything though. Even the 150 didn't FEEL heavy on BB military, my power just died on rep 5. I'm sure I could have gotten it 6 or 7 reps if it had been my working set, though.

Still not seeing any changes on the scale and in my opinion, I still look the same in the mirror. However, my strength is obviously slowly going back up and I haven't really changed my diet at all since I started the cycle. In fact, I know I didn't eat enough this weekend after being sick and then we had painters at the house all day Saturday and Sunday - so I spent a lot of time taping off trim etc, since I'm so anal about having perfectly straight paint lines.

Today's workout is squats. I'm honestly not looking forward to it haha. At my strongest, I was squatting 250 for 10-12 reps. Then I injured my knee and instead of taking time off, I tried to work through it, which led to me pulling something in my groin from form failure. I finally decided to take some time off from squats then, but the pain hung around for about 3 months, so after all that, my squat strength is terrible. I moved last year to an elevation of over 7,000 ft after spending my entire life at sea level. While I am better than I was when I first got here, leg days are still very brutal for me in the thin air. I get very light headed and out of breath on my high rep sets. But, I just tell myself I just have to make it through this one working set and do better than I did last week. Progress is slow-going there.

Anyway, I'll hit it hard this afternoon and I'm sure I'll do better than I did last week.

 

[Young Gotti]

oh wow i can't imagine how tough it must be to move to an elevated location like that

hopefully the products are helping with endurance some to break through that training barrier

 

[machwon04]

oh wow i can't imagine how tough it must be to move to an elevated location like that

hopefully the products are helping with endurance some to break through that training barrier

Yea it REALLY sucked at first. I was getting headaches and my workouts were making me sick to my stomach. My rest periods almost doubled, just to be able to catch my breath. Some of it is on me. I didn't do much cardio before I moved - I'd jog about a mile and a half maybe 2-3 times/week. I used to really enjoy playing racquetball for cardio with my buds back home either before or after weights (we didn't exactly play by the real rules, we just had fun knocking the hell out of the ball and making each other run all over the court). I live in a really small town full of engineers and scientists now, though. The few friends that we've made thus far are anything but athletic. I work out at the Y, which aside from maybe an apartment gym, has to have the smallest weight room I've ever seen.

 

[double s]

Excellent progress thus far.

 

[machwon04]

Yesterday's workout was better than I expected. Had a little bit of tightness in my groin creeping back in, which is strange because it's the first time I've felt it since the pain finally went away last summer. It feels fine today though, so who knows.

3's week for squats
Working set:
170 for 15 reps - math says it's better than my set last week of 175 x 13 reps. I hadn't set my numbers up for the program yet last week, which is why this week's weight was less than last week's. After about the 8th rep, I was having to take a couple of deep breaths about every 2-3 reps. The air is just too thin.
135lb for 3 sets of 11 reps. Wider stance than working set. One rep more on each set than last week.

Chins
BW+20lb x 4 sets of 7 - improvement over last week

DB Rows:
85lb x 10 reps - 2 sets

Seated DB Curls
35lb DB's - 3 sets to failure with a short squeeze at the top of each rep. Not sure on the reps, but they were in the range of 8 reps. Bi's were toast from the chins and rows and I had to rush through these since I was running late already, so rest periods were real short.

Scale was actually another 1/2 pound DOWN this morning. I haven't been this light since about 3 years ago now. The funny thing is that my pants aren't fitting any looser that I can tell. My shirt sleeves aren't as tight around the arms as they were before Christmas, but I also don't think they are any more loose than they were before I started the cycle. Hopefully in addition to the strength gains I'm experiencing, these are all good things. It IS called the Mass Stack though, so not sure what to think.

 

[TKC432]

Yesterday's workout was better than I expected. Had a little bit of tightness in my groin creeping back in, which is strange because it's the first time I've felt it since the pain finally went away last summer. It feels fine today though, so who knows.

3's week for squats
Working set:
170 for 15 reps - math says it's better than my set last week of 175 x 13 reps. I hadn't set my numbers up for the program yet last week, which is why this week's weight was less than last week's. After about the 8th rep, I was having to take a couple of deep breaths about every 2-3 reps. The air is just too thin.
135lb for 3 sets of 11 reps. Wider stance than working set. One rep more on each set than last week.

Chins
BW+20lb x 4 sets of 7 - improvement over last week

DB Rows:
85lb x 10 reps - 2 sets

Seated DB Curls
35lb DB's - 3 sets to failure with a short squeeze at the top of each rep. Not sure on the reps, but they were in the range of 8 reps. Bi's were toast from the chins and rows and I had to rush through these since I was running late already, so rest periods were real short.

Scale was actually another 1/2 pound DOWN this morning. I haven't been this light since about 3 years ago now. The funny thing is that my pants aren't fitting any looser that I can tell. My shirt sleeves aren't as tight around the arms as they were before Christmas, but I also don't think they are any more loose than they were before I started the cycle. Hopefully in addition to the strength gains I'm experiencing, these are all good things. It IS called the Mass Stack though, so not sure what to think.

What is your diet like? Are you eating like this is a Mass cycle? With these compounds, from what I have learned, it is pretty caloric dependent as far as what you'll get outa them ... IMO this stack could go either way nicely .... Mass or Cut ... hence my question about your caloric intake .... I would guess from your results that you are either eating at maintenance level or at a slight deficit.

 

[TKC432]

I am logging the same stack by the way .... and I just came off a 4 month cut so I have definitely increased my caloric intake for this cycle. And I am gaining nicely ...

 

[Young Gotti]

What is your diet like? Are you eating like this is a Mass cycle? With these compounds, from what I have learned, it is pretty caloric dependent as far as what you'll get outa them ... IMO this stack could go either way nicely .... Mass or Cut ... hence my question about your caloric intake .... I would guess from your results that you are either eating at maintenance level or at a slight deficit.

agreed, I'd like to know the calorie intake and maybe if you can play with it a bit to increase it alittle per week or even every couple days to achieve more mass

 

[machwon04]

I'm going to bump the carbs up on my workout days. Like I mentioned in my app, I had gotten a little soft in the midsection, so calories have been kept at about maintenance. I had good results with the same diet last summer when I ran Super Mandro and Andre the Giant. I gained about 4lb while leaning up a bit. That was over the course of 6 weeks though. I'll go ahead and bump the carbs up.

 

[Young Gotti]

I'm going to bump the carbs up on my workout days. Like I mentioned in my app, I had gotten a little soft in the midsection, so calories have been kept at about maintenance. I had good results with the same diet last summer when I ran Super Mandro and Andre the Giant. I gained about 4lb while leaning up a bit. That was over the course of 6 weeks though. I'll go ahead and bump the carbs up.

I'm guilty of gauging myself on shirt sleeves too haha, what does the mirror show you in terms of body changes?

 

[machwon04]

I'm guilty of gauging myself on shirt sleeves too haha, what does the mirror show you in terms of body changes?

Yea the shirt sleeves is just a good indicator for me as my arms and shoulders usually grow more than anything else when I'm on cycle. Visually anyway. My barbell bench has always sucked, so my chest never really grows that much, just gets more defined. Even when I was pressing 100 lb DB's, my max bench was only like 250 or so. There's a disconnect there somewhere. Could be in my head, who knows.
I do look a little more defined in the mirror. A little more cut in my shoulders make my arms appear bigger, but again, the shirt sleeves say otherwise.

 

[machwon04]

5/3/1 Chest day
Barbell Bench
Working Set:
195lb x 10 reps - Wendler's calculation says it's an improvement over last week's chest workout, but just barely.
Decided to go a little heavier just to see how it felt:
205 x 6 reps, x 4 reps
Little more narrow grip:
135lb x 17 reps with a short pause at my chest. Last few reps burned like hell and made my tris super tight

I did hanging leg raises in between my follow-on sets to the working set on bench, for a total of 4 sets.

Incline DB Press:
60 x 10, x 10 - 5lb increase for the same reps over last week, but one less set. Had to wait on the flat bench to open up when I got to the gym, so had to cut time somewhere. I'm more concerned about my tris at this point, so I moved on to DB Overhead Extensions.

DB Overhead Extension:
70lb - 3 sets of 10. Same weight, more reps than last week, but one set less.

Overall, I wasn't sure I could get the 10 reps I needed with 195, but I got it. Didn't feel too strong, but my bench never has. That said, I was putting up 205 for 14 reps a year ago. That was also with a significantly wider grip on the bar. The DB incline did feel pretty light, except for the last 1 or 2 reps. My tris just die too easily. Good news on the weight front is I was back up .5lb this morning and yesterday was a low carb day. I consumed roughly 75% greater carbs post-workout above my normal intake today. Still have grilled chicken, pasta and greek yogurt for "dessert" to eat in another 30min or so, and I have some nice filets to eat with a big side of quinoa planned for dinner tonight. The week after the 5/3/1 week is supposed to be a backoff/rest week, but that's not going to happen while I'm on cycle. I've had plenty of time off the last 3 months as it is.

 

[Young Gotti]

5/3/1 Chest day
Barbell Bench
Working Set:
195lb x 10 reps - Wendler's calculation says it's an improvement over last week's chest workout, but just barely.
Decided to go a little heavier just to see how it felt:
205 x 6 reps, x 4 reps
Little more narrow grip:
135lb x 17 reps with a short pause at my chest. Last few reps burned like hell and made my tris super tight

I did hanging leg raises in between my follow-on sets to the working set on bench, for a total of 4 sets.

Incline DB Press:
60 x 10, x 10 - 5lb increase for the same reps over last week, but one less set. Had to wait on the flat bench to open up when I got to the gym, so had to cut time somewhere. I'm more concerned about my tris at this point, so I moved on to DB Overhead Extensions.

DB Overhead Extension:
70lb - 3 sets of 10. Same weight, more reps than last week, but one set less.

Overall, I wasn't sure I could get the 10 reps I needed with 195, but I got it. Didn't feel too strong, but my bench never has. That said, I was putting up 205 for 14 reps a year ago. That was also with a significantly wider grip on the bar. The DB incline did feel pretty light, except for the last 1 or 2 reps. My tris just die too easily. Good news on the weight front is I was back up .5lb this morning and yesterday was a low carb day. I consumed roughly 75% greater carbs post-workout above my normal intake today. Still have grilled chicken, pasta and greek yogurt for "dessert" to eat in another 30min or so, and I have some nice filets to eat with a big side of quinoa planned for dinner tonight. The week after the 5/3/1 week is supposed to be a backoff/rest week, but that's not going to happen while I'm on cycle. I've had plenty of time off the last 3 months as it is.

nice workout! my bench is my weak point as well, theres been times when my db weight together is about as much as my barbell bench and most ppl it's not even close....do you add protein to your greek yogurt? I find when I do that and chill it, it turns to like a pudding

 

[machwon04]

nice workout! my bench is my weak point as well, theres been times when my db weight together is about as much as my barbell bench and most ppl it's not even close....do you add protein to your greek yogurt? I find when I do that and chill it, it turns to like a pudding

Right, same disconnect. Most guys that workout with the 100's are benching well over 300lb from what I've seen. Now, I'm a ways away from touching the 100's right now. I might be able to get them for 2 reps. Maybe I'll do heavy DB's next week instead of BB bench since it's supposed to be my backoff week...

I have mixed a little bit of protein with my yogurt before, but it's been a while. Kinda forgot about that. Might add some of my birthday cake flavored ISO-100 whey to my yogurt now.

 

[machwon04]

Well I've managed to halt my leg strength progression for a little while. On the second rep of my warmup set with 275 on Saturday, something let go in my back and I've been in some pretty good pain since then. It hurt to breath for the next couple of hours after I did it. It's the same feeling as when one of your buddies walks up behind you and digs his knuckle into your back - just to the right of my spine at about the middle of my back. I managed to push through some seated DB hammer curls and then some light preacher curls. I have had to take half a tab of the Oxy my wife has left over from post-child birth to help me go to sleep the last two nights. My working set was supposed to be 310. I was actually excited to see how many times I could get it since I haven't touched anything over 305 since December.

I'll see how I feel this week, but I may be limited to things like light leg press and leg extensions for a week or two. I'd love to hear other suggestions for things I can do that will keep the pressure off that part of my back.

Today is supposed to be shoulders. I may have to keep the weight lighter than I was expecting for my seated military press. I'll just have to see how it feels to push the bar over my head.

 

[machwon04]

Had a good shoulder workout today. Strength continues to go up. I took 4 aspirin about 90 min before heading to the gym, and I guess it helped.

It's 5/3/1 week: shoulders
Working set:
140lb x 11 reps. I realized I did 140 last week - I was supposed to do 135. Anyway, 2 rep increase over last week - and I'm happy with that. One more rep wouldn't quite have convinced me of improvement, but 2 reps definitely does.
150lb for 5 reps (same as last week).
115 for 11 reps with a slightly more narrow grip.

Seated DB Military:
60lb x 8 reps
x 8 reps

Dips - this did agitate the pain in my back a little. I bumped the weight down to +25. Still hurt, but so did plain body weight, so figured I might as well add some weight and work through it.
BW x 15 reps
BW + 25lb x 3 sets to failure - wasn't counting reps, I got caught up trying to isolate my tris and keep any strain off my back as much as possible
BW to failure
Tris were feeling really good after this.

I supersetted cable pushdowns with cable crunches, 4 sets of each, high reps. Tris were on fire to the point it was actually painful after this. Big pump. I think the greater concentration on tris lately is helping with the aesthetics. My arms are looking a bit bigger and more defined lately. Weight is back up to 177. Nothing incredible, but the losing stopped at least. Hoping one of these compounds has some repairing benefits so my back can heal quickly.

 

[machwon04]

Tuesday's workout was 5/3/1 for squats. Went much better than I thought it was going to go. I was planning on just doing a few sets of high reps with light weight, as I didn't think my back was going to be ok with heavier weight yet. I took 4 aspirin again about an hour before workout. I know 180lb isn't exactly heavy weight for squats for 90% of this board, but anything over 185 has felt heavy to me lately. Needless to say, I ended up feeling pretty good and went for the 180lb working set that my workout called for and got it 13 reps. The math says it's a slight improvement over last week's workout, so I'm happy about that especially having pulled something in my back just days before.
I followed my working set up with 2 sets of 10 with 135.
I did light weight on my back exercises, just in case: body weight pullups, four sets. Then I did 4 sets of seated seated cable rows supersetted with hammer strength leg curls.

Overall good workout. My legs, bis and lats were sore yesterday. My weight is back up to 178 in the am. I think I can be 179-180 by Saturday. I feel like the mirror definitely looks different. I do get bloated on high-carb days, so my midsection isn't really LOOKING better yet, but it's definitely stronger. I am doing almost twice the reps with the same number of sets in leg lifts now as I was 4 weeks ago, and with more control. My shoulders and arms look more full. My strength has gone up on everything as far as I can tell. It's not quite where I want it to be, but this was only a 4 week cycle so...

 

[Young Gotti]

glad your numbers are climbing...slowly but surely, keep pushing brohter

 

[machwon04]

Today was supposed to be the start of week 4 in the Wendler program, which is a "backoff" week. Instead of doing barbell bench, I decided to see how flat DB bench felt.
90lb x 6, 5, 5, 5 - I think this is ALMOST where I was at the end of December. I think I was pressing the 85's for 4 sets of 8, so probably a little stronger then.
Incline DB's - 3 sets with slow eccentrics and a short pause at the chest
50lb x 10, 10, 10
Supersetted with hanging leg raises - til it hurt (somewhere between 15-20 reps on each)

Seated DB OH extensions
70lb x 12, 12, 10

Supersetted cable pushdowns with hammer strength flies - til it burned like hell on both

Pretty good workout. Arms and chest were real pumped and full at the end of it. My weight was at 178.8 this morning. Sleep hasn't been the greatest the last couple of nights with my back pain that seems to be exacerbated by our new mattress. Luckily it's one of those "factory-direct" companies online that offers 100-night free trials. This mattress will probably be going back. We've tried one that was too hard and this one is probably too soft, so we need something right in the middle. I started waking an hour earlier on Monday in order to get into the office an hour sooner so I can leave earlier to pick our daughter up from daycare (she's 3 months old tomorrow!). So, the lack of sleep has been quite aggravating during the day. I've found myself fighting to stay awake at my computer a couple of times now. Between that and the added aggression from this cycle, I think I've been a little short with a couple of people at work this week. Oh well. They'll get over it.
Anyway, I've enjoyed the stack so far. Not the strongest I've run, but I've had decent results. I have 2 days left. My in-laws have been in town since Sunday to help with our transition of my wife going back to work and the baby starting daycare. They are from Louisiana and know how to cook, so it's been tough planning my calorie intake during the day around whatever surprise her Mom has for us for dinner when we get home. I'm off tomorrow, but will probably use the time and my father-in-law's help to get some projects done around the house. Next workout is supposed to be deadlifts, so maybe Saturday. I'll probably stay pretty light on deadlifts though. I really don't want to re-injure my back. **** sucks.

 

[double s]

Gawd, I feel soo old, all these principles and programs. What ever happened to just going in and tearing stuff up.

I am only playing, I see all these moves, techniques etc and makes me go youtube it and learn :jaw:

 

[machwon04]

Gawd, I feel soo old, all these principles and programs. What ever happened to just going in and tearing stuff up.

I am only playing, I see all these moves, techniques etc and makes me go youtube it and learn :jaw:

Haha I don't think anything I'm doing is new or out of the ordinary. Wendler's program is based on getting the Big 3 stronger.

 

[double s]

Haha I don't think anything I'm doing is new or out of the ordinary. Wendler's program is based on getting the Big 3 stronger.

regardless I still feel old.....