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Hyde's Optimum Alpha Epi(c) Log

Bench twice a week, do two or three times as much assistance as you do for lower body, train in close, and eat to gain like a fat sombish and get a little coaching and you'd all have it.
 
herderdude said:
Bench twice a week, do two or three times as much assistance as you do for lower body, train in close, and eat to gain like a fat sombish and get a little coaching and you'd all have it.
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Oh I'm knocking on the door now. If I add a 2nd bench day (which would be 3rd pressing) day it'll happen ASAP. Cube Predator taught me body weight and benching a ton is the best way to bench more.
 
Damn guys, I used to get stuck on some numbers, 315 bench, 405 squat, etc. but I just refused to hit a "plateau" and would switch up my training and push the **** out of myself, and not just by benching a lot, I typically flat bench once every three weeks, but I would focus on the muscle groups involved a lot. I benched 455 about two months ago, but I rarely go under 8 reps, which on Monday I inclined 315 for 8. A large part of weight training is mental. Stop thinking 315 is your goal and start thinking 365 is your goal. An easy way to increase your flat bench strength is to work your front delts if you just care about strength. Personally I care more about aesthetics so I neglect my front delts some, mainly so they don't overpower my biceps from a front or rear double bicep. So Instead I work on strengthening my rotator cuffs among obviously my triceps and pecs. And on nights after i train a muscle group i particularly want to grow I always eat some red meat for my last meal. And throw some spinach in your damn protein shakes.
 
I never said 315 was my final goal - that's what's right around the bend. 365 even is a weak long term goal IMO. I've got squat numbers in my head I don't share with anyone they're so far out. It's just going to take many years of work.
 
Hyde said:
I never said 315 was my final goal - that's what's right around the bend. 365 even is a weak long term goal IMO. I've got squat numbers in my head I don't share with anyone they're so far out. It's just going to take many years of work.
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Word to this, brotha. Though I'm not sure what my lifetime goal in the raw bench is going to be. 405 took so long I never looked past it.
 
Goals:
Bench - all
Squat - a house
Deadlift - the world
 
Lol you guys crack me up.

The sinus funk drags on, and oddly no appetite and fatigue all morning that carried over to the gym. Hoping to get some steam once I warmed up but drag city so I hit what I needed to progress and left.

100 reps Micro Facepulls throughout

Ohp
45x10, 3, 3, 3
65, 85, 105, 115, 135, 150x3
+belt/sleeves
170x7 (3+) PR

Incline Bench
225x5x5 PR

Floorpess
205x12
225x8
235x6
240x6
205x9

Probably gonna hit some more upper accessory tomorrow.
 
Congratulations on another PR. Just read up on the floor press. Interesting that it's a safer press for the shoulders. Record is 361 lbs back in 1899! Adding DB floor press in my triceps workout.
 
kenpoengineer said:
Congratulations on another PR. Just read up on the floor press. Interesting that it's a safer press for the shoulders. Record is 361 lbs back in 1899! Adding DB floor press in my triceps workout.
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A little fake history on the floor press courtesy of Mark Bell:

The floor press was invented by Dr. Floor in Singapore in 1894 when he couldn't get his bench through the door. Dr. Floor had triceps galore!
 
Hyde said:
I never said 315 was my final goal - that's what's right around the bend. 365 even is a weak long term goal IMO. I've got squat numbers in my head I don't share with anyone they're so far out. It's just going to take many years of work.
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This is what I like to hear, and I wasn't talking about long term goals, I don't even set long term goals, just shorter goals to keep working towards
 
kenpoengineer said:
Congratulations on another PR. Just read up on the floor press. Interesting that it's a safer press for the shoulders. Record is 361 lbs back in 1899! Adding DB floor press in my triceps workout.
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Thank you! I actually like DB Floorpess more, but we only have 100lb dbs here (strongmen ain't bout that life I guess) so been using the barbell as I wanted to go heavier.

It's between a 1-2bd press for me and really teaches me to drive my tris and flare back. 3-4 sets of 15-20 w dbs tho is a sweet pump indeed.
 
Took 3 caps tonight as it was all upper volume. Lot of fun and got some quality work in. Good pace and good pump!

Warmup
Pulldowns
Arnold Press/Tri ext

Neutral Grip Chins
BW+37.5 5x5 PR

ss w/ Db Pec Flyes
12s from 20s thru 60s

Fatbar Pulldowns
110x5x20 PR

Overhead Rope Tri Ext
20x20
40x4x11

Db Curls
12s up to
40sx8

Hammers
40sx12

Arnold Curls
30sx9

BW squats and back ext for bloodflow

Good times!
 
Got down early to lift w my crew in the Lou; mainly to catch up and test my back out while working technique around some eyes I trust.

One of my buddies was deloading big time for hips as he's <6wks out so we both kept it baby weight and just greased the groove. No pain from pulling at all, so at least I can do that!

Conv Deadlift
135x6, 6
225x5
315x4
+belt
335x6
365x6
385x6
405x6
425x6

Reverse Hypers
230x4x11

Bb Curls
55x10x10

Focused on getting the back flat and the hips through. ******* was amazing. It was light as heck but I'll take it lol

Everyone kept commenting how much bigger I looked and I was brushing it off but we weighed and I was 244.0! Yikes
 
Your 244 looks better than my 230, though.
 
You don't look anywhere close to 244. Aren't yo in the 5'8" range also? Friggin all muscle...
 
turff49 said:
You don't look anywhere close to 244. Aren't yo in the 5'8" range also? Friggin all muscle...
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5'10" barely lol. My scale back home said 236.8 this morning, which it's said 236.2-237.4 all last week. I drink 64oz in training but I had one small meal of red beans and rice w 4 eggs preWO, plus some coffee, water, and on the ride over 20oz of isolate and preWO. I guess I can see putting on 7lbs of water from 8am to noon but it surprised me too...heaviest I've ever seen the scale.

Most pics I post are shots in the mirror, but what you can't see is I was born w BWS (Branch Warren Syndrome) and carry a lot of lower body mass. My calves and lower ham insertions are limiting factor on knee sleeve sizing, not my knee joint.
 
Tonight was last training session on Optimum Alpha's -Epicatechin. Gotta say, pretty pleased. Tried to go out with a bang and that we did indeed.

Warmup
Microband Pullaparts
Bar OHP
BW BSS

Bench
45, 95, 135x5
185x3
210x5
235x2
265x1
290x1
305x1 Gym Record

[video=youtube;Vfu1W-oe_Rg]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vfu1W-oe_Rg[/video]

CG 2bd Press
245x3x7

Widegrip BW Pullups
2x8
Neutral Grip
9, 9, 8, 6, 6

BW Dips
18, 15

Db Flyes
25s, 35s, 50s x12 slow squeeze

Got amped and forgot to pause the 305 but it was easy and I feel confident it's there with a 1 sec pause. Definitely made some progress this training cycle and I can't complain at all! Btw that lil guy lifting me off pulls 630 conventional, true life.
 
Big smile on your face said it all! Hell of a PR! Congratulations!!
 
Made that look too easy man!
 
Hyde said:
5'10" barely lol. My scale back home said 236.8 this morning, which it's said 236.2-237.4 all last week. I drink 64oz in training but I had one small meal of red beans and rice w 4 eggs preWO, plus some coffee, water, and on the ride over 20oz of isolate and preWO. I guess I can see putting on 7lbs of water from 8am to noon but it surprised me too...heaviest I've ever seen the scale.

Most pics I post are shots in the mirror, but what you can't see is I was born w BWS (Branch Warren Syndrome) and carry a lot of lower body mass. My calves and lower ham insertions are limiting factor on knee sleeve sizing, not my knee joint.
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Hahaha I know I can't pull my fckn knee sleeves over my calves lately hahahahaha
 
Thanks everybody! Feels good to be making steady progress.


AlphaCommandr said:
Hyde u did that easily and with great form, u have 315 right now man, not a doubt in my mind
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I think touch n go and perhaps a butt pop - definitely. But with a pause in competition, not yet. Last USPA meet I was at guys were getting slapped w 2-count pauses left and right. It's brutal sometimes.

Check out my -Epicatechin tricep pump last BroFriday night, on the left:

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That's a great picture! One for the scrapbook! Geez your arm looks large!!
 
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Well, it's that time again....

Optimum Alpha -Epicatechin: FINAL REVIEW

Open label, only one active ingredient, no dyes, 60 caps. No funny tastes, smells, burps, or sides. Straightforward, no bs. 250mg of -epi per cap, and I dosed it 2 caps ~45min preWO and 1-2 first thing in morn off days.

Lasted me over 5wks, and throughout my time I had overall excellent training. Obv based on a multitude of factors, but it certainly didn't hold me down.

I did experience a decided increase in pump; it showed up sooner and lasted longer. Session endurance was hit or miss and if there was an increase it was nominal. There was, however, MANY instance of acute increases in endurance, especially high rep sets. Body comp worsened over this run but I gained a few lbs and it was from lots of candy and sweets and suboptimal nutrition, as you'd expect.

-Epicatechin from OA is at least as good as my previous experiences w other brands of -epi, and if you're looking for a natural product that's good for your overall health you can't go wrong with Optimum Alpha's. I had a great time with it and most certainly saw improvements with it. The ONLY thing keeping me from running it year round is price point, which goes for all -epi products. This can be run for many months on end by anyone and can stack safely w anything (it's a green tea extract). If you're in a volume block, you owe it to yourself to try a couple bottles.

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4/5 - would absolutely use again. It would be great for this to be sold in 2 bottle bundles, or a 120 cap bottle. You're not going to want to stop at just one bottle.
 
Enjoyed following along! Great job on the log. I agree with the endurance increase with -epi from my own experience.
 
Ok guys, you asked and I listened, I lowered the price for the (-)-epi on amazon to $45.99, here's the link

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