Life Goes On: Training and Everything in Between

[MidwestBeast]

Well, I haven't logged in a while and I was feeling kind of separated from AM, so I figured I'd toss a training/general log up here. For those who don't know me, there is plenty already out there that I'm not going to go into (just search my name and find the threads if you're interested), but I will address anything new that comes up.

I'll just be charting my training and day-to-day stuff, mostly, as well as making observations on anything I feel is worthwhile.

For anyone who has questions (training, diet, health, medical, etc.), feel free to ask away, as well.

[jimbuick]

You were separated.

[MidwestBeast]

Off day from the gym, today (hit delts and traps, yesterday, during my Max-OT week). Flag football game, tomorrow, and actually 3 weeks ago, I managed to aggravate my right rotator cuff just a bit at the game. I was just being stupid and playing too hard when I shouldn't have. Anyway, after talking with one of the trainers at my gym, I decided to essentially cut out my delts and chest workouts for a while until it heals up (I'd still been lifting them for the past 2.5 weeks). I was really hoping that wasn't the case, but somehow knew the whole time it was likely that. It's generally fine, but I always manage rolling over onto that side when I sleep and it's worse in the mornings. Hopefully that'll heal up soon. For arms, I'll be doing a lot of isolation work until it's resolved and for back, it'll mostly be deads and maybe some back extensions/good mornings.

Weighing in right around 280 right now (about 4 days ago it was 280, then the next day 278, and since then it's been right around 280-281). It doesn't matter what the diet looks like in terms of the weight logically following a pattern based on cals or macros.

Looking forward to the game, tomorrow. The league I'm in only has 4 teams, so we play the same teams several times through the season. This'll only be our 3rd game and we're playing the team who smoked us in the first week -- who happen to be a semi-pro team in our area who managed to sneak under the radar into this league. In our first game, we actually only lost like 50-something to 17 or so, which isn't bad compared to the 100+ to 7 they beat the team by last week (and considering none of us had ever played together or even practiced). Last week we had a really solid game and I ended up with 2 picks (had a 3rd but lost it because one of our guys got called for bumping into a lineman...I hate flag football lol).

[MidwestBeast]

You were separated.

Haha good to see you here, bud. Yes, AM has been my home and I was missing it.

[MidwestBeast]

Flag football game went well. The other team (who was the team that got routed by 100, last week) only had 5 players show up, so we only played 5 on 5 until nearly the end of the first half when 2 more guys showed up and we had 7 on 7 (we had 13 guys on our team, so getting their other 2 there was good to get more of us in the rotation).

It wasn't much of a game at first, because the 2 guys they were missing were both speed demons and that actually made it interesting once they showed up. I ended up playing safety because of it (wasn't needed at the LB position much because they kept deep-balling it). Can't say I ever thought I'd be a 280-pound safety lol. It was fun, though.

Next lifting day (since chest is getting skipped) will be back, so heavy deads. Should be doing that tomorrow evening.

[bdcc]

I thought you were too good for AM.

I am going to sub though. Just for fur based jokes.

Good luck sir.

[MidwestBeast]

I thought you were too good for AM.

I am going to sub though. Just for fur based jokes.

Good luck sir.

Always a good time with fur-based jokes

[MidwestBeast]

Didn't hit the gym yesterday because it just turned into a bad day for me. No real explanation behind it; was in a great mood this weekend, but just didn't feel great. Part of it is the RC problem combined with the fact that my workouts do nothing aesthetically for me, so it's hard to feel motivated sometimes. It was one day, I was down and I'll get over it. There are good days and bad days; you just take advantage of the good ones and battle through the bad ones.

I work late tonight, so I'm not sure if I'll lift or not. We'll just see how I feel whenever I get off. Winter is rough for me, anyway, because my body hates when it gets dark this early.

[MidwestBeast]

Hit arms last night and was in the gym for about 1.5 hours or so. It was volume work, so I ended up with:

straight bar curls: 80x25 (x4)
solo DB hammer curls on the preacher bench: 25x25 (x4)
solo cable ring curls (seated, bent over, elbow on the inside of my knee): 60x25 (x4)

solo cable ring tricep pushdowns (like tri bar pushdowns, but one arm at a time using the ring attachment): 65x25 (x4)
solo cable ring tricep reverse curls: 55x25 (x4)
overhead solo DB tricep extensions: 25x25 (x4)


600 total reps and my arms were beyond inflated. Felt amazing.

Since it's been a little over a month since my last HVT arm day, I didn't try to do too much in terms of increasing numbers, so my bicep numbers are all the same, but I did make a 5lb jump on both of the tricep cable movements, so that was nice.

Haven't measured them, lately, but the last time I did, with a pump, my arms were measuring between 20.5" and 21" IIRC.

I'd been using Cellucor's Beta BCAA pre-workout with a few other things, but that just ran out, so my new pre-workout mix is:

- 1 scoop Focus-XT
- 7g citrulline malate
- 4g beta alanine
- 2g LCLT
- 1g agmatine
- 2 scoops OG Xtend (just because I have it and it was opened)


And then intra-workout, as it's been for months, 2 scoops of Compete in half a gallon of water.










Just bought a product from Bodymedia, yesterday, because Bruce (D2footballjrc) just bought one and got his, yesterday. It was only $100 shipped and that includes 3 months of free service to the software ($7/month after that, which isn't bad, all things considered). It's supposed to ship tomorrow, so should be here mid-week, next week. I'm curious if it will tell me that I'm burning a number of calories I'd expect per my age/height/weight/activity level or if it'll be really low and expose my metabolism is still really screwed up. Pretty minimal investment to find out.



Planning on hitting my HVT legs session, this evening.

[MidwestBeast]

Forgot to add that the rotator cuff had been feeling way worse. I think Friday was the last day I'd lifted prior to last night. I figured I'd give it a few days off to try and heal up better, and it felt worse than it had during any of the first 3.5 weeks since it happened, so I said screw it and decided to lift. During the workout, it actually felt better than it has since it happened. There's still noticeable pain and there's a problem, but it felt WAY better than it had. Today it feels a bit more tender than last night, but still the best it's felt since I messed it up. Hopefully that's a sign that I'm on the road to recovery with it.

[MidwestBeast]

1,200 rep high volume leg training session in the books.


Leg extensions: 130x25/140x25/150x25/155x25/160x25/165x25/170x25/175x25/180x25/185x25/190x25/170x25/155x25/140x25/125x25/115x25

Seated leg curls: 80x25/80x25/80x25/80x25/80x25/80x25/80x25/80x25/85x25/85x25/85x25/85x25/85x25/85x25/85x25/85x25

Seated calf extensions: 185x50/200x50/200x50/200x50/200x50/200x50/200x50/200x50



Felt absolutely dead after this one, which was to be expected. The seated leg curls aren't very heavy, but this is the weight that I really feel the contractions on (really take my time and squeeze them out at the bottom). Made increases in weight on both the extensions and curls from my last HVT leg session.

I don't beat up any other muscle group like I do legs. Generally, other muscle groups get between 300-400 reps on their HVT days.

Barely ate today. Wasn't hungry and had kind of an open day at work, so I worked through lunch and then at 3 had an Oh Yeah bar, so that made the workout even tougher, because I didn't have much fuel in the tank. Took in a bigger shake afterward to help a bit (~60g protein & 150g carbs). Still haven't eaten since then (normally get my whole food meal in). Not sure if I will or not; just no appetite at all.


Side note, my rotator cuff is still feeling better. Again, not great, but as good as it did after my workout last night. Hopefully that's a sign of things to come and I'm almost done with that.

[MidwestBeast]

This weekend was crazy busy (this week isn't going to be much slower for me). On Saturday morning, I hit my delts/traps HVT session:

Solo reverse cable flys (ring attachment): 55x25 (x4)
DB side lateral raises: 60's x 25 (x4)
Seated overhead DB shoulder press: 45's x 25 (x4)

Olympic bar shrugs (bar in front; overhand grip): 275x25 (x4)


5 lb increases on all 4 sets of the first 2 exercises and the last 2 sets of the presses. Shrugs were right around the same as what I'd done last time; hit 275 on all 4 sets and I think last time, the first set was 225. I can easily bump up to 285 or even higher next time.

The only bad thing was on THE VERY LAST SET of my shrugs, I apparently just strained a bit trying to make sure my left shoulder was rolled back to keep even with the right that I managed to pinch a nerve in my lower left trap. Lost some mobility of my neck for the rest of the day, but luckily, it was starting to get better by Sunday afternoon, already.

Taking today off (because I'm busy, also, but mainly) to give myself one more day of rest so as not to mess things up worse. Right rotator cuff still doesn't feel normal or even good, but it is much better than it initially was.

HVT chest session is on tap for tomorrow night; late work day, so it'll be a later evening lift than usual.




Got my Bodymedia Link armband in, today. Still getting everything set up, but hopefully that'll give some interesting news, as well.

Also going to be getting a couple labs drawn in the next morning or two (probably Wednesday morning if I'm not leaving town too early for work). I'll be checking prolactin, total and free testosterone, and DHT (after getting back on my low dose of caber).

[MidwestBeast]

Hit my HVT chest session this evening:


barbell bench press: 170x25 (x4)
incline barbell bench press: 140x25 (x4)
cable fly station (pushing down): 155x25 (x4)
cable fly station (pushing forward): 95x4


Hit pretty much the same numbers I did the last time I did HVT chest (~a month ago). I didn't push for gains with the messed up RC and the pinched nerve. I was actually surprised that I was able to push what I did.


First full day with the Bodymedia armband, too. So far, it's said I've burned just shy of 3k calories. It'll be interesting to track it over the next few days to see what I come up with from it.


Plan on hitting HVT back session tomorrow.

[MidwestBeast]

Managed to knock out my HVT back workout around 11, today. I got some blood drawn in the AM (total test, free test, DHT, prolactin) and then went into the office for a couple hours. I had to head out of town for work, this afternoon and didn't get home until 8:30 or so, so I'm glad I went and got the lift in when I did, because otherwise it wouldn't have happened today.

Cable fly machine solo lat pulldowns: 125x25/185x25/200x25/215x25/230x25 (x6)
Cable fly machine solo lat pull-ins: 170x25/185x25/185x25/200x25
Solo seated rows: 155x25 (x8)

(ring attachments used on all lifts)

Increase by 5 lbs on all 8 sets for rows and only hit 230x25 for 5 sets last time and got 6 this time for the pulldowns.

Managed to knock it all out in 58 minutes, so it was a bit quicker than usual (to make sure I got on the road on time).


Tomorrow is an offday and then I'll lift again Friday.


Bodymedia puts me at burning well over 4,000 calories today (around 4,200 or so).

[MidwestBeast]

Off day today. Still burned 3800 cals or so according to Bodymedia armband.

Max-OT arm session tomorrow evening.

[MidwestBeast]

12-14-12

Had a nice lunch with some co-workers at the hibachi place; had hibachi steak and a heaping serving of fried rice. Popped 3 Slintensity prior and felt amazing (content; not over-stuffed; not tired). Went straight to the theater to watch an afternoon showing of The Hobbit with some friends and then hit the gym after.

Max-OT Arm session:

Olympic Bar Curls: 150x6/150x6/155x6
DB Hammer Curls: 100's x 8 / 100's x 8 / 85's x 8
Nautilus Preacher Curl Machine: 175x6/180x6/185x6

Tri bar cable pushdowns (close grip): 175x6/175x6/175x5
Low incline skull crushers: 155x6/155x6/155x6
Solo seated overhead DB tri extensions: 60x6/60x6


Made some nice increases on most of my lifts from last time. Everything went very well. I only did 2 sets of the overhead extensions because the rotator cuff was just getting better. I didn't have any pain in the first 2 sets, but didn't want to risk the 3rd with the stress it put on it.

[MidwestBeast]

12-15-12:


Had our flag football game and the weather was awful. At least it was warm (~50 degrees), but the rain was consistent and the field was really torn up. To make matters more interesting, I didn't have cleats and was playing in running shoes, haha. I don't think cleats would've helped that much, but playing in tennis shoes made things difficult. Our normal center wasn't there, so I got some snaps in there and actually scored a TD, which was pretty fun. We barely lost, but it was against the semi-pro team that's in our league, so I don't feel bad about it. If the weather would've been better, I think we would've beat them.

Ended up burning over 5k calories for the day, which was great.


Took Sunday (12-16-12) off to hang with the girlfriend and rest up.

[MidwestBeast]

12-17-12:

Max-OT Leg session:

Leg Press: 270x6/450x4/630x6/720x6/810x5*
Nautilus Xpload SL Deads: 270x4/320x6/360x4**
Leg Extensions: 255x8 (x3)***
Seated Calf Raises: 180x8/230x8/250x8/260x8/260x8/260x8
Seated Solo Calf Extensions: 185x8 (x4)


* Managed to lock my left knee out on one of the last sets and that was a scary moment, but wasn't hurt. Stopped pushing when I did on the last set because of that; no reason to mess things up for long-term.

** Pressure in my stomach was actually why I stopped. I could have done more as far as muscles were concerned and will definitely push some heavier weight next time.

*** Machine maxed out at 255




12-18-12:

As of right now, I'm taking today off. It's supposed to be max-OT delts/traps day, but I woke up with what felt like a minor case of the flu. The bad stuff has passed, but I still don't feel great and don't want to go give a half-hearted workout.

[bdcc]

Man flu?

Scientists conclude it is worse than giving birth. Go to the emergency room immediately.

[MidwestBeast]

Man flu?

Scientists conclude it is worse than giving birth. Go to the emergency room immediately.

lol

Spent the better part of my morning in the bathroom and then huddled in the recliner fighting the urge to vomit. That part is gone, but I just don't feel well and know that there's a high chance of getting to the gym, getting one or two lifts in and then having to leave in order to avoid getting sick. I'd rather hold off the day and let my body rest.