Day 15: Arms
Olympic Bar Curls: 75x12 / 95x12 / 105x12 / 115x10 / 115x9 / 105x10 / 95x10
Seated DB Hammer Curls: 40x10 / 40x12 / 45x12 / 50x8
*Solo Concentration Curls (w/ ring attachment on low pulley): 50x12 / 60x8 / 60x15
Incline Skull Crushers (close grip): 115x12 / 125x12 / 135x12 / 145x12 / 155x7
45 Degree Reverse Ring Curls (high pulley): 80x12 / 80x12 / 80x10 / 70x12
Cable Pushdowns (Tri Bar): 160x12 / 170x12 / 180x10
10 minutes Stair Master @ 150 HR
*90 seconds rest instead of typical 2-3 minutes
Rest time was 3 minutes as usual for the start of the workout. By the time I hit Hammers for my 2nd exercise, though, I started going closer to 2 minutes the rest of the way through.
Same as last week, my arms were ridiculously swollen and pumped tonight. Double peak and striations were becoming very evident in the biceps tonight and the good ol' brachial artery was looking thick and appears to be becoming more visible again (when I cut down to 208 it was really visible).
Olympic bar curls weren't as heavy as last week, but form was flawless. I made sure my shoulders didn't rock at all and made sure my grip was a little closer (shoulder width) so my biceps were really squeezing the sets through and flexing at the top. I read an article by Chad Shaw (thenaturalone) where someone had asked about this and it was information I already knew, but sometimes we don't follow the sound advice we know and we can forget these good habits.
That is the heaviest I've ever gone on skull crushers to the best of my knowledge. And the crazy part about it, was it was on my close grip (using the EZ bar) night. Usually I can go slightly heavier when I grip wider (I alternate weekly). Once I got up to 145, the pressure was becoming much more noticeable in my elbows. Could be the Epi, but probably is just that heavy amount of weight. Still worth noting.
The 45 degree reverse curls are something I started doing after watching some old Jay Cutler training videos - not sure if that's the right name or not, but it's where you stand 90 degrees to the cable, reaching across your body to the high pulley and pulling down at that 45 degree angle, flexing your tricep and allowing back up with a bent elbow. I'd done variations of these before, but usually facing the cable instead. I like these better I think.
Was working quicker sets on the final tri pushdowns, too.
Only ended up doing 10 minutes on the stairs because tomorrow will be a dedicated cardio day and my lower back was still toasted from deads on Sunday.
Workout was done in typical fashion with ~2 scoops of BC+EAA and 1.75 scoops of Jack3d taken about 15 minutes before workout. 36g of 4:1:1 BCAAs + 2.5g BA mixed with grape drink flavor (10 cals) sipped throughout workout (450mg Stano-Drol, 30mg Epi-Strong, 25mg H-Drol, 5g Fish Oil taken with pre-workout meal an hour before Jack3d).
Really feeling enhanced recovery and liking that. I really want to lift tomorrow, but I'm gonna get that cardio day in. I'm definitely gonna hit some weighted abs tomorrow and may even hit calves as well. I may start hitting these on my cardio days just to get some more work in and also cut my leg day a bit shorter in the scheme of things, too. This will allow added frequency for these muscle groups, which initially wasn't a concern on this cut, but with the compounds I have in play, it would be a waste not to.
I ended up with a cheat day yesterday in some sense. Meal 1 (pre-workout) was good, Meal 2 was my isolate shake. But Meal 3 was pizza. Ended up with abot 1.5 medium Dominos pizzas being downed. Preceded them with 2 caps of Need2Slin. Only ended up eating one more meal in the evening and it was just 1 scoop of Trutein so I didn't go too long without food. So, while it was not an ideal day at all, cals weren't that badly over because of the lack of total meals.
Today was spot on for diet and I finished that last half of a pizza tonight for my post-workout meal (preceded by 1 P-Slin). Probably will just have 1 scoop of casein before I head to bed tonight.
Been trying to add in more vegetables and also opt for leaner meats. When I ran keto (and on my no-carb days) it hasn't been an issue, but I'm going to replace those too. It may make my cals seem too low, but I think I can survive without that extra fat. I'm leaning out slowly but surely. Really hoping I can start seeing more progress around the stomach. I've already been seeing it around my back.