A new chapter...RickRock's path on the "DARK SIDE" begins...

[Frank Reynolds]

Awww.... Are you feeling jealous and left out there Frankie?

Lol. Just a little.

 

[ScottyDoc]

As far as officiating the thread I can do it. I will make one thread where we talk about the contest and let them talk smack to one another. At the end of that thread when everything is done and I have all the pics I will create a new thread with their pics and a poll that you can vote for who you think has the best physique at the end. We will leave that poll open for one week and the winner will be selected by the masses unless the two of you want specific judges.

Thanks Kleen... I say anyone and everyone that wants to step in and give their vote is welcome to, neither Morry nor I wanna win because one of us is more popular, etc. We want good clean honest voting because we are both gonna be going at this with everything we have!

 

[morry]

Thanks Kleen... I say anyone and everyone that wants to step in and give their vote is welcome to, neither Morry nor I wanna win because one of us is more popular, etc. We want good clean honest voting because we are both gonna be going at this with everything we have!

Speak for yourself. Fock you ill club you in the focking knees if you start winning just to eliminate your cardio.

Kleen, while you're in Ethiopia, you going to puss out on any more contest? Big talk for a guy that loves my c o c k.

 

[MrKleen73]

Speak for yourself. Fock you ill club you in the focking knees if you start winning just to eliminate your cardio.

Kleen, while you're in Ethiopia, you going to puss out on any more contest? Big talk for a guy that loves my c o c k.

Haha, well I mentioned it, but it just so happens that I am not invited to this party other than being the host. This one is personal...

Morry, you know my mother taught me to appreciate the little things in life, but don't let that get your hopes up...

 

[morry]

Haha, well I mentioned it, but it just so happens that I am not invited to this party other than being the host. This one is personal...

Morry, you know my mother taught me to appreciate the little things in life, but don't let that get your hopes up...

And you aren't even on gchat for me to fock with you.

Hate you. Me and my small p e n I s .

 

[RickRock13]

Day 24

Weight: 177.5 (+12.5)

Dosed 60mg Epi

I had a damn good workout today! Strength is definitely climbing well. I successfully added 10 lbs to all my lifts while doing the same number of reps as the last workout or more. Form was kept on point on everything as well, with a nice slow controlled negative. I also made sure to end on a negative every time I could. I am very happy with my performance today. I will have to go back and check some of my older logs, but I think some of the lifts may have been PRs also. I'm certainly looking forward to more progression and good workouts like this! Surprisingly my joints on lifts don't seem to be stressed at all right now. Normally on Epi at this dose my joints would be having some pain by now. I think the estrogen from the test may be helping the joints from drying too much, so it looks like Epi and test are working great together for me!

I had a really good pump going today also. My whole upper body was puffed up and pretty vascular by about halfway through the workout. I'm pretty sure that I have never looked bigger than how I looked today. The stares were coming from all angles today, so the attention felt nice.

For Frank....when you do the back stretch (I have been hanging from the wide pullup bar with 90 lbs on a belt), are you supposed to do this immediately following the back width portion or wait until after all back is done including back thickness? I ask because I never saw a stretch dedicated for back thickness really. All back stretches I've seen seem to be more of a back width stretch


DC workout (Chest, Shoulders, Triceps, Back Width, Back thickness)

Incline smith machine Bench Press (rest, pause)
180x11x4x2 (+10 lbs)

Smith machine Military press (rest, pause)
160x10x4x2 (+10 lbs)

Skullcrushers (rest, pause)
115x9x4x2 (+10 lbs)

Close grip lat pulldowns (rest, pause)
200x11x5x3 (+10 lbs)

DB Rows (straight sets)
110x10x9 (+10 lbs total, 5 lbs per DB)

 

[MidwestBeast]

Glad things are going well, Rick!

 

[Frank Reynolds]

With any of the stretches you can do them after the muscle group OR do a block(chest, delt, tri) then stretch each..etc.

For back I like to wait until after thickness especially if deadlifting. Helps decompress my spine...lol

 

[LiveToLift]

Day 24

Weight: 177.5 (+12.5)

Dosed 60mg Epi

I had a damn good workout today! Strength is definitely climbing well. I successfully added 10 lbs to all my lifts while doing the same number of reps as the last workout or more. Form was kept on point on everything as well, with a nice slow controlled negative. I also made sure to end on a negative every time I could. I am very happy with my performance today. I will have to go back and check some of my older logs, but I think some of the lifts may have been PRs also. I'm certainly looking forward to more progression and good workouts like this! Surprisingly my joints on lifts don't seem to be stressed at all right now. Normally on Epi at this dose my joints would be having some pain by now. I think the estrogen from the test may be helping the joints from drying too much, so it looks like Epi and test are working great together for me!

I had a really good pump going today also. My whole upper body was puffed up and pretty vascular by about halfway through the workout. I'm pretty sure that I have never looked bigger than how I looked today. The stares were coming from all angles today, so the attention felt nice.

For Frank....when you do the back stretch (I have been hanging from the wide pullup bar with 90 lbs on a belt), are you supposed to do this immediately following the back width portion or wait until after all back is done including back thickness? I ask because I never saw a stretch dedicated for back thickness really. All back stretches I've seen seem to be more of a back width stretch


DC workout (Chest, Shoulders, Triceps, Back Width, Back thickness)

Incline smith machine Bench Press (rest, pause)
180x11x4x2 (+10 lbs)

Smith machine Military press (rest, pause)
160x10x4x2 (+10 lbs)

Skullcrushers (rest, pause)
115x9x4x2 (+10 lbs)

Close grip lat pulldowns (rest, pause)
200x11x5x3 (+10 lbs)

DB Rows (straight sets)
110x10x9 (+10 lbs total, 5 lbs per DB)

The bolded blows my mind. Especially the skull crushers bro! Nice job man. Truly an inspiration. Good to hear everything is positive for you so far bro.

 

[packers6211]

My God that hurts me just looking at the skull crushers what a freaking wicked arm day bro.

 

[RickRock13]

With any of the stretches you can do them after the muscle group OR do a block(chest, delt, tri) then stretch each..etc.

For back I like to wait until after thickness especially if deadlifting. Helps decompress my spine...lol

OK cool....that makes sense then. I was just wondering about that, and making sure I'm doing it at the correct time, and that I don't need to be doing 2 different stretches for back for width and thickness

 

[DreamWeaver]

OK cool....that makes sense then. I was just wondering about that, and making sure I'm doing it at the correct time, and that I don't need to be doing 2 different stretches for back for width and thickness

I like weighed lat shrugs to stretch out the lats afterwards...

 

[RickRock13]

Day 25

Weight: 178 (+13)

Dosed 60mg EPI

Man, I had a good amount of carbs yesterday and I look like a bloated fat fock this morning...lol. Ok, that may be a bit exaggerated, but I can see the effects. I'm attempting to clean some of it up today since its a burn day. I know I've been a little relaxed on these for a bit, but I think its time to start tightening these days up some back to where they should be. While I'm still bulking up a little, the workout days will remain the same for the next two weeks. After that time, I will cut cals those days also to really shred up. Right now I'm at around 3200 on build days and 2k on burn days.

Cardio was about 27 minutes of elliptical this morning for a 350 cal burn. I may try running again to see how it goes on my next burn day (Saturday) to see how my shins hold up

 

[Spaniard]

I like weighed lat shrugs to stretch out the lats afterwards...

Will have to try : )

 

[Spaniard]

With any of the stretches you can do them after the muscle group OR do a block(chest, delt, tri) then stretch each..etc.

For back I like to wait until after thickness especially if deadlifting. Helps decompress my spine...lol

So you don't necessarily have to do the stretches while that specific muscle group is pumped?

 

[Spaniard]

Looks like shít is getting real with the call outs!!! You gonna post up a link for the bro down?!

 

[Onlychevy6]

Nice job on the training. Keep killing it

 

[RickRock13]

Nice job on the training. Keep killing it

Thanks Jeff!

 

[RickRock13]

So you don't necessarily have to do the stretches while that specific muscle group is pumped?

I think you would want to do the stretches within a given time frame. Like Frank said though, probably not a big deal to do 2-3 exercises then do the stretches for call of them right after.

 

[Frank Reynolds]

I think you would want to do the stretches within a given time frame. Like Frank said though, probably not a big deal to do 2-3 exercises then do the stretches for call of them right after.

Exactly.

 

[Spaniard]

I think you would want to do the stretches within a given time frame. Like Frank said though, probably not a big deal to do 2-3 exercises then do the stretches for call of them right after.

Exactly.

Thanks buddy

 

[MrKleen73]

Well I might choose to do the chest stretch right after then do shoulder's and triceps then stretch them both. You want the maximum pump before the stretching so that you are more likely to stretch the fascia. Chest won't get used again during the workout so the pump in your chest will start to go down a little by the end. Shoulders should be mega pumped after the shoulders because of the indirect work from chest already gets them going, and for the most part if doing compound movement for triceps the shoulders are used again during triceps so waiting will not make the pump go down any. I always felt like I got a better stretch going directly after the lift for that body part though.

 

[Frank Reynolds]

Well I might choose to do the chest stretch right after then do shoulder's and triceps then stretch them both. You want the maximum pump before the stretching so that you are more likely to stretch the fascia. Chest won't get used again during the workout so the pump in your chest will start to go down a little by the end. Shoulders should be mega pumped after the shoulders because of the indirect work from chest already gets them going, and for the most part if doing compound movement for triceps the shoulders are used again during triceps so waiting will not make the pump go down any. I always felt like I got a better stretch going directly after the lift for that body part though.

Ya, It's really a preference thing. I stretch each muscle group directly after working it on the upper day, except back I wait until I am finished. Biceps I wait until after forearms obviously, and hams I wait until after quads typically. It's just how I like to do them.

Dante has said doing them after a group is fine, so really just figure out what you like.

Thing is if you are doing any pressing movements for triceps for instance you are still hitting the chest, as well as the delt. You are even getting pec involvement on many shoulder pressing movements(anything to the front with even any incline.)

One of the main things DC talks about is not over analyzing things. Just get it done.

 

[RickRock13]

Well I might choose to do the chest stretch right after then do shoulder's and triceps then stretch them both. You want the maximum pump before the stretching so that you are more likely to stretch the fascia. Chest won't get used again during the workout so the pump in your chest will start to go down a little by the end. Shoulders should be mega pumped after the shoulders because of the indirect work from chest already gets them going, and for the most part if doing compound movement for triceps the shoulders are used again during triceps so waiting will not make the pump go down any. I always felt like I got a better stretch going directly after the lift for that body part though.

Ya, It's really a preference thing. I stretch each muscle group directly after working it on the upper day, except back I wait until I am finished. Biceps I wait until after forearms obviously, and hams I wait until after quads typically. It's just how I like to do them.

Dante has said doing them after a group is fine, so really just figure out what you like.

Thing is if you are doing any pressing movements for triceps for instance you are still hitting the chest, as well as the delt. You are even getting pec involvement on many shoulder pressing movements(anything to the front with even any incline.)

One of the main things DC talks about is not over analyzing things. Just get it done.

I've been doing my stretches pretty much the exact way that Frank has described except the hamstrings. He says he typically stretches them after doing quads so he can stretch them both, but I've been doing them immediately following the hamstring exercises. The only times I don't do a stretch immediately following the exercise is with biceps (I wait until after forearms because of the additional bicep work) and back (I do my back stretch after both width and thickness exercises).

I like your comment, Frank, about just getting it done and not over analyzing things. Reminds me a lot of the way some people look at IF and how it gets nitpicked to beat hell about what you should or shouldn't do.

 

[RickRock13]

Day 26

Weight: 178 (+13)

Pinned 250mg Test E
Pinned 250mg Masteron E
Dosed 60mg Epi


I had a pretty explosive workout today. Once again, all lifts were up and progression continues to keep right on point with some nice strength gains. I basically went up 10-20 lbs on everything while still managing still at least the same number of reps as last time if not more. Some exercises like Hack Squats and leg curls, I probably could have went up even more if I wanted to since my reps were a little higher than the range I'm aiming for. I'm sure within the next few weeks things will slow down and the progression will be at a much slower pace. But for now, I'm enjoying the nice strength increases. Everything today was a PR by the way! :thumbsup:

Body composition appeared improved today. I had a burn day yesterday, so I may have cleaned up a little, but I think that also the Masteron may be really starting to kick in also. For some reason today my vascularity was shining pretty well despite the bit of bloat that I have going on. In a few weeks I think things are going to look very sick when I shred up and that awesome vascularity and hardness can really show well. For now though, I really want to try and at least get over 180 before then.

I have to s at I'm really enjoying the hell out of this cycle. Everything has been so smooth so far, with no problems at all. I've literally had no sides to speak of other than my shins burning like hell when I try to run now. I have had a few spots of acne coming up lately too, but it's been a very minor issue. A very nice big positive that I touched on before was the feeling you get from being on test. My overall feeling is just awesome on it, and I feel a hell of a lot younger on it too with energy and alertness at times when I'm normally dragging ass. And the libido......wow. I haven't enjoyed sex this much in years....lliterally! It's almost become a problem, because I can't stop thinking about it! I don't think my 40 year old wife is ready for her husband to start acting like he is 18 again...lol

I will be doing a burn day tomorrow, and I am going to try and get some more progress pics this weekend sometime since its been 2 weeks since the last ones. Maybe I will show a little more size and hopefully no more loss in definition than the last shots. :fingersx:



DC workout ((Biceps, Forearms, calves, Hamstrings, Quads)

BB curls (rest, pause)
105x10x4x3 (+10 lbs)

Pinwheel Curls (straight set)
60sx11 (+5 lbs per DB)

Standing Calf Raises (straight set with enhanced negative)
200x10 (+ 20 lbs)

Single lying Leg Curls (rest, pause)
70x14x7x5 (+10 lbs per leg)

Hack Squat (straight sets)
350x12 (+20 lbs)
300x22 (widowmaker +20 lbs)

 

[jaycuda]

Impressive man. Gotta love seeing the strength gains.

 

[Frank Reynolds]

Good job brotha. Are you doing any static holds/mini reps? Just curious.

 

[RickRock13]

Good job brotha. Are you doing any static holds/mini reps? Just curious.

The only times I really get any mini-reps in, are when I do partials because I can't complete a rep pretty much. As for static holds, I don't know if I'm sure of what they are exactly. I've heard them mentioned somewhere before but never gave it much thought at the time

 

[Frank Reynolds]

After you do your last set on say incline smith you would take your breaths as normal, than lower the weight right into about mid ROM, and HOLD it there for as long as you can. Some people will do like 1" reps there vs totally static. Like for lying ham curls you would go right to the bottom of the rep, almost fully extended, and do a hold for 30sec/1" reps.

Not everyone does them, as they can impede recovery, but I personally would do them on certain movements. Just was curious if you were implementing them or not.

Im pretty sure the DVD as well as those word docs I posted go over the static holds.

Again, they aren't really needed, was more curious.

 

[RickRock13]

After you do your last set on say incline smith you would take your breaths as normal, than lower the weight right into about mid ROM, and HOLD it there for as long as you can. Some people will do like 1" reps there vs totally static. Like for lying ham curls you would go right to the bottom of the rep, almost fully extended, and do a hold for 30sec/1" reps.

Not everyone does them, as they can impede recovery, but I personally would do them on certain movements. Just was curious if you were implementing them or not.

Im pretty sure the DVD as well as those word docs I posted go over the static holds.

Again, they aren't really needed, was more curious.

I will have to go back through the videos again and look for those. I haven't watched them all yet anyways. That sounds like something I may incorporate in at certain points on certain exercises if I think there could be some benefit

 

[morry]

Rick,


Try taking 3-5 grams of Taurine a couple hours before your run. This should solve your shins feeling like they are on fire.

 

[RickRock13]

Rick,

Try taking 3-5 grams of Taurine a couple hours before your run. This should solve your shins feeling like they are on fire.

Yeh man, actually I've been dosing the fock out of Taurine this whole time...lol. Generally I've been taking around 6-8g a day with half of that pre- training. The good news is that I actually felt fine today and ran with no issues, so all is good!!

 

[Spaniard]

After you do your last set on say incline smith you would take your breaths as normal, than lower the weight right into about mid ROM, and HOLD it there for as long as you can. Some people will do like 1" reps there vs totally static. Like for lying ham curls you would go right to the bottom of the rep, almost fully extended, and do a hold for 30sec/1" reps.

Not everyone does them, as they can impede recovery, but I personally would do them on certain movements. Just was curious if you were implementing them or not.

Im pretty sure the DVD as well as those word docs I posted go over the static holds.

Again, they aren't really needed, was more curious.

Shít kills... Make sure to (on a Smith) have it set so when you give out it catches...

 

[RickRock13]

Day 27

Weight 178.5 (+13.5)

Dosed 60mg EPI

I'm doing a semi-burn day today. Pretty much a cardio day with a little higher cals than a normal burn day. I've been doing that for a while now on burn days and figured I will continue with it a little longer while I'm trying to add a couple more pounds.

So, cardio I figured I would try out running again and see how it went. It took a little bit to get a good pace going, but I never had any pain for a whole 30 minutes of running at 7.5 MPH....so great news!

30 minutes running 7.5 MPH

25 minutes incline walking 10%@3.5 MPH

Total burn 800 cals

Total distance 6 miles

 

[RickRock13]

Shít kills... Make sure to (on a Smith) have it set so when you give out it catches...

No doubt!

 

[RickRock13]

Here are my newest pics. Probably not a huge change from my last ones. There may be a little more fullness and a little more bloat too. From where I started I'm pretty happy with my progress. Hopefully I can add another couple lbs of muscle before I start shred mode.

I did get another check on bodyfat today as well. I did a few 3-point caliper measurements, and my bodyfat is somewhere between 7.3-7.6% right now. So I've gained around a percent of bodyfat or so since the start of this cycle. As unhappy as I am about gaining bodyfat, I think its a small price to pay to be up over 13 lbs right now. Besides, in another couple weeks I will be shredding up, and will end up leaner than when I started and leaner than I've ever been for that matter!

 

[superbeast668]

Holy sh!t bro. Looking focking ridiculous huge.

 

[Lukef2000]

Looking good man. Still ripped as fock IMO!

 

[DreamWeaver]

Yah some of that might be water though...

 

[packers6211]

OH I gota stop looking at this log making me wanta quit my day job and train 5 hrs a day just to try to catch up RR you are killing it and looking awesome!!

 

[ScottyDoc]

Looking good Bro, I like your rear double bicep pose, nice back bro! How the Fugg do you stay so tan? I can't get that tan if I use a damn tanning bad!

 

[jaycuda]

Looking good Bro, I like your rear double bicep pose, nice back bro! How the Fugg do you stay so tan? I can't get that tan if I use a damn tanning bad!

Can't see on my phone, but he probably lives in a beach town like me. So easy to stay tan with a beach.

 

[RickRock13]

Holy sh!t bro. Looking focking ridiculous huge.

Thanks bro! I'm enjoying the size gains for sure. test is awesome!

I hate you... I'm so jealous.

Hahaha Thanks man

Looking good man. Still ripped as fock IMO!

Yeh I'm definitely still pretty lean, but I don't see myself as lean as I am right now because I know where I've been and all the water I'm holding doesn't help either. I will be shredding up real soon though. The last half of this cycle will be a complete shred!

Yah some of that might be water though...

Definitely Doug. There is some water for sure that could be making my body fat appear and measure higher than it really is

OH I gota stop looking at this log making me wanta quit my day job and train 5 hrs a day just to try to catch up RR you are killing it and looking awesome!!

Thanks a lot man. I'm giving it everything I've got!

Looking good Bro, I like your rear double bicep pose, nice back bro! How the Fugg do you stay so tan? I can't get that tan if I use a damn tanning bad!

I am a regular tanner, and go probably around 3 days a week. I also spend a bunch of time outside on the weekends too. My dads side of the family has a lot of native American Indian in it (my grandmother was half Indian), so we tan easy and stay dark longer than the average person

Can't see on my phone, but he probably lives in a beach town like me. So easy to stay tan with a beach.

God damn I wish bro! I'm smack dab right in the middle of the Midwest in Ilinois.

 

[RickRock13]

Day 29

Weight: 179 (+14)

Pinned 250mg test E
Pinned 250mg Masteron E
Dosed 60mg epi


Well, after doing a semi-burn day on Sturday and Sunday, I was surprised to see my weight actually up and the highest it has been yet at 179. So, I think that some more weight gain may be coming, and I would expect my weight to be even higher tomorrow after today's workout day carb up. We will see, as I close in on that 180 mark

I had another great workout. I love these upper body days, because you get such an awesome pump going and can really look incredible a little ways into the workout once you hit a few exercises. My vascularity seems to be increasing with every workout, which is pretty incredible considering the amount of water I'm carrying around. I think that when I dry out and shred up starting in a couple weeks that things are just going to get awesome and I will look on a new level compared to where I was. I'm not even half way through this cycle yet, and it has already been my most successful so far with just what I've done to this point in my mind.

I pretty much crushed all my previous workouts numbers and went up again on weight on everything by 10-20 lbs. my DB flat bench presses felt great, and I think I will be ready to rest, pause the 100s on my next workout. I probably went a little too high on my standing BB shoulder presses. I should have probably just went up 10 lbs instead of 20 lbs, but I still got 12 reps out of it total (in the 11-15 rest pause target range) despite failing on the 3rd and final rest pause set. I was just so damn fatigued I couldn't even push up a rep but I gave it a hell of an attempt with a lot of agony to try and get it. My back seems to be holding up rather well with the deadlifts. I went up another 20 lbs on it and it went great. I know my numbers on Deadlift pretty much suck compared to the strength I have on other lifts, but that is what happens when you have to abandon them for a few years due to back problems. I'm going to take it slow and easy on the deads and try to increase by 10-20lbs per workout for now and see how it goes. I'd love to be pulling 315 for reps, but realistically if I can be hitting 275 for reps by the end of this I think that will be an awesome amount of progress.



DC workout 1C (chest, shoulders, triceps, back width, back thickness)

DB bench press (rest, pause)
95x13x4x4 (+20 lbs total/10 lbs per DB)

Standing bb shoulder press (rest, pause)
155x8x4xfail (+20 lbs)

Triceps machine-reverse preachers (rest, pause)
200x13x5x3 (+10 lbs)

Front lat pull downs (rest, pause)
200x11x5x4 (+10 lbs)

Deadlift (straight sets)
225x11x8 (+20 lbs)

 

[ScottyDoc]

I am a regular tanner, and go probably around 3 days a week. I also spend a bunch of time outside on the weekends too. My dads side of the family has a lot of native American Indian in it (my grandmother was half Indian), so we tan easy and stay dark longer than the average person

OK, well now I hate you too!

 

[LiveToLift]

I also have a good amount of Indian in my family tree, I've been out in the sun about three times this year and the tan is already killer! It definitely helps!

 

[ScottyDoc]

I'm also have a good amount of Indian in my family tree, I've been out in the sun about three times this year and the tan is already killer! It definitely helps!

OK, this is an open Fugg you to all that are bigger, leaner and more tan than me!

 

[RickRock13]

Day 30

Weight: 180.5 (+15.5)

Dosed 60mg EPI

After yesterday's carb up I just passed my goal of hitting 180 by a half pound! So, the weight gain is still coming nice and steady. It was stagnant for a bit, but has seemed to pick up again. Maybe I can get a couple more lbs by the end of next week :fingersx:

Today is a burn day. Cardio was kept moderate intensity and a just a bit lower than normal. My shins were killing again so running was limited.

20 minutes of running at 7-7.2 MPH

10 minutes incline walking 3.5 MPH

10 minutes elliptical

40 minute session for a 450 cal burn

 

[Dr.Stri8ed]

Weight is climbing nicely, gettin f*cking beefy bro.

 

[LiveToLift]

15 lbs gained already!? Aww sh1t good stuff bro.