The road back to glory...

[Nullifidian]

GXR = Glucophase XR by Designer Supplements.


So leg day today. Again. Started much the same as last time...

BB Squat
135x15
225x15
275x12
315x10
365x8

Yes, same weights and reps. However this time that 365 wasn't to failure. I felt like a had a decent amount of energy left after 8 reps so I decided to save that energy for a final set:

405x2

WOW was that tough. Had a spot just to be safe and almost needed it too. Only barely got that second rep up. Holy crap.

Once I had done the heavy stuff I figured I'd finish off with a good pump so I did 3 sets on a plate loaded leg extension

Unilateral Platedloaded Leg Extension
45 (for each leg) x15
45x12
45x10

Short rest periods on those last exercises to try to burn myself out. Worked really well; I had trouble walking to the car.


Once I can manage to get 405 for about 6, I'll drop the 275 set. I always ramp up from really low weights because I need extra warmup for squats or I wind up not being able to reach my full strength potential in a workout. Plus my hips get messed up when I don't ramp up like that.

One problem with today was I had a terrible weekend. I visited my brother in NYC, and of course we drank. We stayed up till around 4AM on Saturday night and then I went out to eat for brunch with my mom and my borther on Sunday. With all the travel, bad food, beer, lack of sleep, I was completely wiped out. To top it off, I forgot to marinade the chicken so I had crap food for dinner before going to the gym tonight. Next Monday will be very different.


Schedule-wise I'm not yet ready for 4 times a week. For one thing I can't start the week with legs when I do 4 workouts a week, it would make Tuesday's workout suck. Here's what my 4 workout days a week schedule would be:


Monday: Chest/tricep
Tuesday: Legs
Wednesday: Off
Thursday: Back/Bicep
Friday: Shoulders/Tricep
Saturday and Sunday: Off

That would leave 3 days between chest and shoulders, and the day after legs would be a rest day. 2 days of rest between shoulders and chest again, but those 2 days would be rest days so there'd be more recovery.


I'm thinking workouts would be as follows:

Chest/Tricep -
4xBB Bench
4xBB Incline
4xDB Bench
3xDips

Legs -
6xSquats
whatever else I have energy for

Back/Biceps -
4xBB Row (my wife will just have to wait)
4xLat Pulldown
4xLow Cable Row
3xDB Row
3x Incline DB Curl

Shoulders/Tricep -
4xSeated Smith Military Press
4xHammerstrength Shoulder Press
4xSeated DB Shoulder Press
3xDB Lateral Raise


Not ready for Deadlift yet.

As for BB Military Press, every time I do those I screw up my back. Every time. I just simply can't do them sitting perfect straight; I have to have a very slight recline.

[Ubiquitous]

sounds like you are arching your back on the militaries.. .very dangerous. Are you saying you can get away with the backrest reclining a little? If so, that is better than nothing, but I'm sure you know you have to concentrate on keeping your body tight. Squeeze the bar hard, this may sound stupid but it actually seems to make the body tighter when doing so.

[Nullifidian]

sounds like you are arching your back on the militaries.. .very dangerous. Are you saying you can get away with the backrest reclining a little? If so, that is better than nothing, but I'm sure you know you have to concentrate on keeping your body tight. Squeeze the bar hard, this may sound stupid but it actually seems to make the body tighter when doing so.

The problem with militaries is if I'm sitting straight up, the bar won't go straight up. In order to lift my arms over my head my back arches. Total lack of flexibility. It might have to do with a 3rd degree collarbone seperation I had a number of years back that the lazyass doctor at Morristown Hospital said I didn't need surgery for (but I did).

[PumpingIron]

Honestly, the only way you can do military presses without arching your back at all is behind the head. And I personally don't recomend them because of the stress it puts on your rotator cuff. That isn't to say I don't do them, but when I do it's a much lower weight and a lot more concentration on flexing the muscle throughout the movement.

[Nullifidian]

Honestly, the only way you can do military presses without arching your back at all is behind the head. And I personally don't recomend them because of the stress it puts on your rotator cuff. That isn't to say I don't do them, but when I do it's a much lower weight and a lot more concentration on flexing the muscle throughout the movement.

Actually I've been thinking about incorporating them. Yes at a very very light weight. But my shoulders have ALWAYS lagged behind everything else and I'm kind of sick of that.

[Nullifidian]

Jeez, almost forgot to post my chest workout.

BB Flat Bench
135x15
185x12
205x10
225x6
245x4

BB Incline
135x15
155x10
155x10
185x6

DB Flat Bench
50x15
70x6
70x7
70x6

Tricep Rope Pulldown
6 platesx20
8 platesx12
8 platesx12
10 platesx8

Rest on the rope pulldowns is only as long as it took my wife to do her set. So probably about 15-20 seconds.

I'm always amazed at DB Bench. How smooth and easy the first reps are and then how suddenly my strength just disappears at a certain point.

[Nullifidian]

Back day log:


Lat Pulldown:
135x15
150x12
165x12
180x9
195x6

Low Cable Row (in # of plates):
12x12
13x11
14x10
16x7

DB Row:
70x12
80x10
90x6

DB Incline Curl
20x15
25x10
20x12

For DB Incline Curl I like to try switching up the angle of the incline. For the second set, I felt like I wasn't isolating my bicep enough; i.e. I didn't have enough total control ove rthe weight so for the last set I went back to 20 so I could get a better squeeze out of it.


I think the biggest reason for the huge boost in strength is that I did this today in the morning. I don't have any work today so stress is minimal, especially since it is the start or a 3 day weekend. I got tons of sleep last night as well. I'm always fresher around midmorning. Yes I should have worked out Friday but I was beat and felt I would have gotten a really crappy workout.

[Nullifidian]

BB Flat Bench
135x15
185x12
225x9
245x6
255x4

BB Incline
135x15
155x12
185x8
185x4 (I think I didn't wait long enough between sets here)

DB Flat Bench
60x15
70x10
80x6
80x6

Tricep Rope Pulldown
6 platesx30
7 platesx25
7 platesx25

You might be curious as to why I did another chest workout. The reason is because I'm changing up my workout schedule to 4/week next week. I would have done it this week but my gym was closed really early on Monday so I didn't make it. I'm going to the shore on Friday, so I only have Tues, Wed, and Thur this week to work out. I figured I'd at least switch around the muscle groups in preperation for next week.

This week is Chest, then legs, then back.

Next week on is Chest, Legs, off, Back, Shoulders, off, off


EDIT: I just realised, I most definitely did 12 reps at 155 for Incline Bench. I distinctly remember squeezing out the 12th and then feebly racking it.

[PumpingIron]

Atleast your gym was open on Monday. Mine was closed. It screwed up my entire week. Now I'm going to have to be there 4 days in a row.

[Nullifidian]

Ok, today was a crazy day. At the gym that is. I don't know what happened to me, but here's how my workout went.


Squats:
135x15
225x15
315x12
365x10
405x12

Yes. That is correct. You read that correctly. 405 for 12 reps. Do not ask me how I still don't know. Some kind of adrenaline high hit me or something. It didn't feel like 405, but I double checked. It was 405. Last week I barely squeezed out 2 and this week I got 12. I expected to get 4 at most. When I hit 8 I figured 2 more. When I hit 10 I realised I could do more. I stopped at 12 thinking I STILL could have done more. But I racked it anyway. Then .... it caught up to me. My vision tunnelled, I gasped for air, and my knees buckled.

I didn't black out. However I felt the common wave of intense nausea. I'm pretty good at holding down my cookies so I managed there. After the nausea though, I started to feel numb. My fingers tingled and so did my face. My hands and face went pretty numb and I felt the most intense exhaustion I've felt in a very long while. I lay down on the floor looking up at the ceiling to continue to try to catch my breath. Eventually I had to step outside for air. I'd say it took at least 15-20 minutes for me to recover.

Then I went back in and did

Leg Extension:
90x20
90x20
90x20

Then I was done.


The sick part about all of this? I still feel like I could crank out more weight. My MUSCLES don't feel tired. My lungs and my brain do.


I only did 1 thing different that I can think of. When I came home from work I immediately took my supplements (1g ALCAR, 6 Now Foods BCAA caps, 2 caps Basic Cuts, 3 caps Cissus RX) and had a basic granola bar. Then I waited. I surfed the internet and hung around for like 20 or 30 minutes or so before we headed for the gym.

So the major changes were:

1) Timing; longer wait time between supplements/food and going to the gym
2) Instead of eating a full meal I just had a granola bar.


Anyway, I'm incredibly stoked about doing this. Honestly I'm not sure I've ever done 405 for 12. I'll have to go check my old logs, but I think the most I got was 405 for 10. And that was when I was able to do 495 for 2 reps. So suffice to say this is positively incredible.

EDIT: I looked back in my logs. I during my contest prep I managed to get 405 for 12. At that time I was also able to get 495 for 4. I was also on Tren and Test at the time. So not only is it amazing that I've regained such strength in such a short time. It's even more astounding that I've done it without being on all the AAS.

I really don't think I'll be able to duplicate this feat next week. However I would like to try for a heavier weight next week. So if I can put up 405 for a good 8-10, I'll go for 455. Just thinking about it though makes me nervous. At that point we're talking weights well more than double my body weight. My ultimate goal though has always been to eventually get 6 plates. 585 pounds. I have never, not even once, seen someone at any gym I've ever worked out at put up 6 plates. Never. So for me to eventually be able to do that would be .... mindblowing.

One step at a time though. Next week let's see if I can put up 4 and a half for a few reps.

[Nullifidian]

Lat Pulldown:
135x15
165x12
180x10
195x9
210x6

Low Cable Row (in # of plates):
12x12
14x11
16x8
18x5

DB Row:
70x12
80x10
90x8

DB Incline Curl
20x15
25x10
20x12

Grip strength craps out on me. Actually I'm not even sure it's entirely grip strength and simply just finger and hand pain. On DB Row especially the heavier weights make my hands sting like a mofo. Yeah I know, stop being such a baby. The pain is distracting though and I feel like I can't get a good grip as a result.

In the past I used to use straps, but I really want my forearms to get huge, so I'm trying to avoid using them. I suppose it's like squatting without a pad; you get used to it after a while.

[Nullifidian]

Yay! Chest day!

BB Flat Bench
135x15
185x12
225x11
245x8
265x4

BB Incline
135x15
155x12
185x9
205x5

DB Flat Bench
65x15
80x9
95x5

Assisted Dips
28x15
16x12
0x6

For the dips I rested only about 20 seconds between sets, hence the burnout.


This week so far is going poorly. On Monday my wife had a migraine so when I came home from work I had to take care of her instead of going to the gym. Yeah I could have gone to the gym alone but that wouldn't have been very nice, and I'd do just about anything for her. Today I had jury duty which put me in a really foul mood since my employer doesn't reimburse me for time spent in jury duty. It's not necessarily money lost though because I'll hopefully have the opportunity to make up the day .... on the weekend


I'm a little worried about tomorrow; leg day. For some bizarre reason, my right foot has started to hurt. It feels like the bottom of that foot, right by two of my toes feels really bruised except it isn't. That is to say it doesn't look bruised but it feels bruised. I notice it most when I'm not wearing shoes. I noticed it when I was wearing shoes at jury duty today, but not when I wore sneakers. That may change drastically though with 400+ pounds on my shoulders. Hopefully I won't feel any pain when squatting and if I do, I hope it doesn't distract me or sap any strength.



I wonder if anyone is reading this log anymore.

Anyway, if I remember, I'll see if I can convince my wife to bring the camera and take a video of me doing squats. I need to see if my form is good anyway, plus I'm sure folks here will appreciate it. One thing is for sure, I KNOW I don't have the endurance to do 12 at 405 and continue my workout. So past 315, I'm keeping the upper rep limit at 10. That way my lungs won't give out before I have a chance to push my strength limits.

I'll try out 455 tomorrow. I'm not hoping for much, but if by some twist of fate I can get like 6, I might, MIGHT just see about trying 495. MAYBE. Seems like a pipedream at the moment though...

[PumpingIron]

video...i like video...

don't worry, I'm following along.

[jecko29]

Keep it up Null, I'm still following along

jecko

[Nullifidian]

Well, if I remember the camera and its batteries aren't dead, soon you all will see me in all my bearded glory performing squats probably to hams-parallel. I'll have my wife take a video of 405 and if I have strength, anything above that as well.I'm hoping to get 2 videos (405 and 455). I may only wind up with one though.

One thing I've noticed with squat depth is that in order to qualify as "parallel" the larger your quads get the deeper you must go. Seems rather silly. Shouldn't the standard be "femur parallel" since what really matters is joint angle? Meh.

[Nullifidian]

Ok, leg day done.

Squat:
135x15
225x10
315x10
405x10
455x4

ROM was ok on the 405. It was crappy IMO on the 455. Uploading videos now.

Leg Press:
225x20
315x20
495x25
495x20

Felt I had a good pump so I ended it there. Still don't have the endurance I want though. Getting there, but not there yet.

EDIT: Wow it's been hours since I uploaded them now and the videos STILL aren't available yet on Youtube. Anyone know how long it takes usually before they show up?

[Nullifidian]

Finally the videos appear on youtube!

First video my wife didn't get such a great angle on.
405 for 10:
YouTube - Broadcast Yourself.


Second video had a really good angle. My ROM was crap though.
455 for 4:
YouTube - Broadcast Yourself.


EDIT: After watching the second video I noticed to my horror that my knees are drifting bigtime on the 455 set. That's probably a big contributing factor to 1) my lack of full range of motion 2) my feeling of instability and 3) my feeling like it was tougher than expected.

[PumpingIron]

Good lifts bro.

[Nullifidian]

Felt really crappy today. Really stressful week so far. The tendonitis in my elbows started acting up today which really put a damper on my back workout. Started to lose strength due to it during the second exercise which is why I didn't increase the weight as much as I think I'm really capable of. Next week I'm going to start back off with deadlift. Ironically it would probably be easier on me to do so.

Lat Pulldown:
135x15
165x12
180x12
195x10
210x8

Hammerstrength Row:
90x20
180x15
265x12
265x12

I was getting a feel for the hammerstrength row, I like it better than low cable row. It feels better on my hands and I like having the chest pad there.

Anyway, at that point my elbows were starting to really ache. I stretched them out for a few minutes and that alleviated the pain but I've been there many times before and know that's only temporary. So I cut things short and finished up with incline bicep curl.

Incline DB Curl:
20x15
25x15
25x12


I'm going to start wearing some neoprene elbow sleeves on chest day. I'm still debating whether or not I should do shoulder day tomorrow, knowing how my elbows were today. I figure I'll probably go in and do a few sets to get a feel for things and if my elbows act up I'll end it the workout right there.

I frackin hate tendonitis.


Anyway, like I said, next week I'll start with deadlifts. I'll use straps on the deads so I can keep my grip for the rest of the workout. Then I'll move on to lat pulldown and then hammerstrength row. Finishing up with incline db curl as usual.

[supersoldier]

You use the Hammer Strength High Row, or the Low Row?