Jim's Super Soldier Training Log

jimbuick

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Alright folks, I've been a ghost on the forum for too long now, and it's time for me to get back on the saddle and start training hard again. Since the semester ended, I've been off and on with training and have not really had a solid direction that I wanted to take my training in.

But that's all over now. I've got it figured out, and I'm ready to start hitting it hard and tracking some serious results again.

This will be the first of a series of relatively long posts where I lay out what I'll be doing, and what I hope to achieve from it.

Today's episode is training!

So, first things first, I am not currently planning on doing any powerlifting meets this year, and as such I will not be focusing on powerlifting training. Instead, as the title implies, I will be on a quest to become a real-life Captain America (although with hard work and determination instead of a serum).

184186


What this means is simple (but hard!):
  • I want to build muscle;
  • I want to get stronger;
  • I want to run faster;
  • I want to run further;
  • I want to look better; and
  • I want to be able to move my bodyweight around with ease.
Not necessarily in that order.

Sound like a lot at once? That's because it is! To reach these lofty goals, I will be turning to a variation of the only thing I know well: Conjugate training. This will hopefully allow me to improve in multiple areas of fitness concurrently whilst allowing for auto-regulation if I'm getting too beat up.

This is what it will [eventually] look like:

Sunday AM - Rest
Sunday PM - LI Cardio
Monday AM - Effort Upper
Monday PM - MI Cardio
Tuesday AM - Effort Lower
Tuesday PM - Rest
Wednesday AM - Rest
Wednesday PM - HI Cardio
Thursday AM - Push Volume
Thursday PM - MI Cardio
Friday AM - Pull Volume
Friday PM - LI Cardio
Saturday AM - Leg Volume
Saturday PM - Rest

LI Cardio will be 30+ minutes jogging/walking/rucking
MI Cardio will be 15-20 minutes running/bag work
HI Cardio will be sprints

Effort days will be low volume strength workouts (think ME Westside) with 5-7 heavy compound exercises.

Volume days will be high volume bodybuilding workouts with short rest and largely isolation work.

And yes, you did read that right. I do intend to do 10 sessions each 7-day period.

But not today.

The way this will work is that I will be adding in extra training sessions over the period of the next 2 months until I am sufficiently conditioned to do that amount of work in each week. If I get too beat down, some of the higher intensity cardio sessions will fall off for extra rest on an as-needed basis. As it stands today, I am doing 4x weights (Rest/Upper/Lower/Rest/Upper/Lower/Rest) and 2x cardio (LISS/Rest/Rest/HI/Rest/Rest/Rest). Starting the week after next, I will add the 5th weight session (splitting the second upper into a push/pull), and then I will be adding cardio every couple of weeks from that point forward.

Nothing too crazy, but focusing on progression in work over any other progression for the moment.

Once I have worked up to the amount of work I want to be doing, I will begin putting a larger focus on weekly weight and rep progression.

That's all for now. I will post more framework information throughout the weekend where I go over supplementation, diet, starting stats, and things of that nature; but this post has already gotten quite long, so I'll stop there.
 
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jswain34

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Hey Jim, good to see ya back buddy. Training looks well thought out. Subbed to see how it goes for ya.
 

Resolve10

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Good to see you back! I’m in. Good luck!

I like he training and the focus, I Like to imagine my training goal is similar
 
MrKleen73

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Looks good, lets see where it takes you! I like how you are going about increasing work capacity first.
 
jimbuick

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Thanks for tagging along fellas!

For today's episode of "How's this **** going to work" we'll talk diet.

To start, I am planning to lean up some at the early part of the training cycle. I am currently sitting at ~175lbs, and don't really have a number in mind for where I will end up. We'll just say that, like pornography, "I'll know it when I see it."

So, I'm starting off with these baseline numbers and will adjust from there. Weight will be tracked every Saturday after waking up, and I'll take progress pictures on that same day. If I'm not leaning up, I'll make small adjustments to carb intake.



The numbers: 175g protein, 85g fat, 285g carbs, 2605 calories

This will split among 3 meals and 1 shake each day. The shake will always be something like 60g protein, 3g fat, and 25g carbs.

The basic idea is that I will prep a variety of meals that have something at or around 38g protein, 27g fat, and 87g carbs and then just grab whichever meals sound appealing. The hope is that they will be sort-of like those meal prep companies meals, where they will be stored in the fridge/freezer as individual meals, and I need only warm-up whichever I want at that time.

I don't yet have the freezer space or tupperware required for this, but I'm working on that part of it as we speak.

As weight loss stalls, I will simply be cutting out carbs until I reach the point that I am happy with. Once that day comes, I will reverse course and start slowly adding in carbs and increasing protein, as I try to bulk up.
 
jimbuick

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I suppose now, since I still have the time, I will go ahead and talk supplements.

Nothing crazy at all here, as I am sort of a minimalist when it comes to this.

I'll be rotating a few protein powders. Right now, mostly MRE Lite, Ghost, Select, Modern Protein, and one other that I forget the name of. The macros vary to some degree, but nothing major.

I'll also be using a stimmed pre-workout for all weight training sessions. Recently that has been White Warped, and that is unlikely to change anytime soon.

Right now, that is it. Any time I add a new product or stack, I will simply note that in my big weekly update.
 
jimbuick

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So, typically Saturday will be my big weekly update where I give basic reviews of the supplements I'm trying out at any given time. For now, that would be the White Warped.

Additionally, I would usually try to do a weigh-in and post progress pictures taken in the morning; however, my wife is out of town for the weekend, and my phone takes potato pictures, so that first update will have to wait until next Saturday.

I did weigh-in today, though: 176.0lbs

So, that is the starting point.

I'll also go ahead and post the most recent training sessions, too. These are from Thursday and Friday, respectively.

Upper Volume

Pull-ups (Mechanical Drop-set // Wide Grip, Neutral Grip, Underhand Grip): BW x 7, 6, 4

a1. Inc. DB Flyes: 25 x 14, 12
a2. Inc. DB Bench: 50 x 10, 6 (too heavy)

b1. DB Front Raise: 20 x 10, 10
b2. DB Lateral Raise: 20 x 10, 10
b3. DB Rear Delt Row: 20 x 10 x 10

c1. Inc. Spider Curl: 20 x 12, 9, 10
c2. Inc. French Press: 40 x 12, 12, 10

Notes: Good pump. Weights weren't where I'd like, but I taxed the muscles well enough anyway. Had some DOMS in biceps, triceps, pecs, and lats.

Lower Volume

Belt Squat: 2pps x 12 x 3

TRX Hamstring Curl: BW x 15, 15

Hi Bar Squat (flat shoes, ATG): 185 x 20

*20 minute break*

Walking Lunges: BW x 50 (total, 25 per leg)

DB RDL: 50 x 13, 12

Notes: Glutes and quads are a bit sore today, as is this one spot in my back. Nothing worrying there, just muscular soreness. The 20RM squat was a terrible idea. Not looking forward to repeating that next Friday. The break was unplanned, but necessary, as I tried to fight back vomit and find the will to carry on.

Tomorrow, assuming the weather isn't too bad after work, I will be doing a slow jog. I don't have a distance in mind, but I suspect it will be ~30 minutes or so of work. We'll see.
 

Resolve10

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Had a training cycle a bit back where I squatted a certain weight max reps @8 rpe with weight going up each week. It was horrific how many high rep sets that was. 🤢🤢🤢
 
jimbuick

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Last night after work I went for a 25 minute jog. It was hot and humid, and was a bit like breathing through a straw.

Pace was slow enough that it could be maintained the whole time and breathing would be steady.

Legs still a bit sore from the volume day.

Gearing up now for the Effort Upper session.
 
jimbuick

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Effort Upper

Mid-grip Swiss Bench: work up to 220 x 1

Wide-grip Low Inc. Swiss Bench: 155 x 5 x 5

a1. Triangle Pull down: 130 x 12, 10
a2. Triangle Cable Row: 180 x 8, 170 x 9

b1. Seated DB OHP: 50 x 8 x 3
b2. DB Floor Press: 65 x 6, 8, 7

Rope Facepull w/ ext. rotation: 30 x 20 x 2

Notes: Eh, strength wasn't great. To be expected, I suppose. Legs still a little sore, especially around the VMO. Partly from leg day, partly from running. Haven't used the swiss bar in awhile and it showed.
 
Hyde

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I mean, you haven’t been strength training really right? Been doing MD routines, so it’s gonna be a transition for the effort days.
 
jimbuick

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I mean, you haven’t been strength training really right? Been doing MD routines, so it’s gonna be a transition for the effort days.
100%. It really isn't even that bad, all things considered. My all-time best competition bench was only 275, and the Swiss Bar has always been harder for me than the power bar.

Effort Lower

KSB Squat: work to 375 x 1
KSB Squat: 285 x 5 x 3
Leg Press: 4pps x 10, 10, 10
GHR: BW x 12, 12, 12, 12


Notes: Really good today. Squats didn't feel too weak. 375 x 1 isn't a bad start point. My all-time best in competition is ~450, and my best in the gym was ~430 for that training cycle. Did a really good job of keeping tension on the hams with the GHRs too, better than they've ever felt, honestly.

Top set: http://instagr.am/p/BzbkIKOg1tO/
 
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jimbuick

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Planning to rearrange my gym over the long weekend. Will be done Thursday/Friday. Hopefully, it doesn't drag into Saturday, so I can keep pretty close to my schedule, but I have a lot of equipment and it will be a lot of work for me and Beverly to do ourselves.

The end result should be a huge improvement, though.
 
jimbuick

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Building momentum, Jim!
Yessir! So far so good.

Tonight's sprints got axed, but not for laziness. Just spent the last 3 or so hours moving my dumbbells to their new home, which was immeasurably harder.
 
Hyde

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Yeah I might be getting a 285lb stone in the near future...not really at a point to safely lift that myself yet tho lol
 
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Yeah I might be getting a 285lb stone in the near future...not really at a point to safely lift that myself yet tho lol
My heaviest is a 365. Moving it was an adventure when I bought the house. It has not moved since...
 
Hyde

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My heaviest is a 365. Moving it was an adventure when I bought the house. It has not moved since...
It would be a great training tool, something that could prepare me for something as heavy as mid 300s in a comp, I just haven’t touched stones yet since I can’t comfortably curl meaningful weight yet.
 
jimbuick

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It would be a great training tool, something that could prepare me for something as heavy as mid 300s in a comp, I just haven’t touched stones yet since I can’t comfortably curl meaningful weight yet.
Yeah, I don't have any good reason for not being able to move mine. Just not strong lol.
 
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It would be a great training tool, something that could prepare me for something as heavy as mid 300s in a comp, I just haven’t touched stones yet since I can’t comfortably curl meaningful weight yet.
Yeah, I don't have any good reason for not being able to move mine. Just not strong lol.
 
jimbuick

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Called it a day about 2 hours ago. Gym is pretty well done now, just a few miscellaneous odds and ends to put in place to be fully complete.

It turned out pretty well, I think.
 
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jimbuick

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We want pics!
I'll take a couple tomorrow after I get the last of the stuff where it needs to be. Just building out some storage for the bands and chains and then moving the flag, radios, and posters and things of that nature.

I'm just waiting for it to cool down some before that, though. It's something like 106 degrees outside today, so I'm waiting until night.
 
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jimbuick

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Pictures will have to wait until tomorrow; I have just a couple more odds and ends to hang up after work tonight, but I'll definitely get them tomorrow before we train.

Still planning on jogging tonight after work, too.
 
jimbuick

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Starting photos:

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Taken Saturday morning, relaxed.

Weight was 173.2lbs.

You may not like it, but this is what peak performance looks like. Just kidding.

At this time, I'm small, weak, and a little pudgy. We'll see how many of those things change over the coming weeks.
 

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Just finished my "run." Again, nothing too crazy; just 25 minutes of interval running this time.
 
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Pictures of the gym, as promised. Just finished training too, will post an update after my shower.

Garage:
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Shed:

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All of my upper body stuff is in the same room now, which makes it much easier to train. I also split my lower body equipment relatively evenly to allow for legs to be trained in full in either the garage or the shed depending on what exercises I have planned.

Moving the equipment was a monumental task for just me and my wife and our single dolly, but it was worth it in the end!
 

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Also, put enough York plates to accommodate a 1000lb+ squatter with the monolift and enough calibrated plates for Eddie Hall to come deadlift with in the garage lol.
 
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Effort Upper

MG Swiss Bench: 233 x 1
Low. Inc. Bench: 176 x 4

a1. WG Pull down: 140 x 11, 10
a2. Hoist Mid Row: 120 x 8, 8

Seated DB OHP: 55 x 6, 6, 6

Hoist Push down: 140 x 10, 8

Notes: pretty good workout today. The new set-up is really convenient for overall use. The A/C was nice to have, but this will be a much better overall set-up for us. Worked up one hell of a sweat, though.
 
jimbuick

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Pretty badass setup, and a great split breakdown. Looks really good!!!
I had originally planned to put the RH in the shed and the abductor/adductor in the garage, but moving that machine out of the shed and around the house wasn't happening after moving the upper body machines.



Effort Lower

SSB Box Squat w/ chain: 295 + 3 chains x 1

SSB GM w/ chain: 155 + 2 chains x 5, 5, 5

Hack Squat: 260 x 10, 10
GHR: BW x 15, 15
Belt Squat: 2pps x 15, 12, 10

Video: http://instagr.am/p/BztmjF0gCaz/
Also, for those on the gram, here is a short video view of the gym: http://instagr.am/p/BztoLoHAwMA/
Notes: Nasty pump with the back half of the session. Was hot as balls, but we got it done. Knee is sore, but that's because it's made of glass. Back feels strong.
 
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jimbuick

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Damn impressive gym! That is some serious work
Thanks! It was a beast to get set-up, but it all worked out in the end.
You can always switch the adductor for the RH later on if you need
That probably won't happen lol. Beverly said this was the last time she's getting roped into moving equipment. And I quote "if we sell the house, they are keeping it all!"

Honestly, it probably works better this way. The RH with the 45 degree hyper is perfect for PC supersets after squatting, and having the abductor with the mono will ensure I use it regularly which will help keep my hips feeling happy.
 
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Cardio:

10 x 50yd "sprints"

Notes: done after getting home from work. Run down, walk back, repeat. Only the last 2 were dead sprints. Hams are a little sore from yesterday, so I used the first 8 as hard runs working up to the full sprint.
 
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Volume Push

a1. Low Inc. Flyes: 30 x 15, 15
a2. DB Hex Press: 45 x 12, 12

Duffalo Bench AMRAP: 176 x 10

Hoist Shoulder Press dropset: 90 x 8 -- 70 x 4 -- 50 x 5 + 2 forced reps
Seated Lateral Raise: 20 x 12, 12, 12

b1. Spread Pushdown: 70 x 18, 15
b2. Close Grip Push-ups: BW x 11, 10


Notes: Pump was gross. Tris are smoked. Volume pull day tomorrow where I will hit the back from any and every angle. Would've liked a few more reps on the AMRAP, but it is what it is.
 
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jimbuick

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Daaaaaaamn son! Loaded up on that training gas
#fullywarped
Y'all did a good job with this one. I'll have a short supplement mini-review up tomorrow with my progress update.


Today was the first week with the split volume day for upper body. Just finished up the first (of many) volume pull sessions.

Pull Volume

Pull-up Mechanical Drop Set (Wide, Neutral, Close Underhand): BW x 8, 6, 4

45 Degree DB Row: 90 x 12, 10

a1. Triangle Pull down: 110 x 15, 15
a2. Triangle Cable Row: 150 x 12, 12

Rope Chest Pulls: 40 x 20 x 3

Band Catback Lat Pulls: White x 30, 20

Hoist Curls: 104 x 15, 13, 13

Notes: Lats and forearms were pumped up. The superset was gross, and I got a great stretch with the Catback pulls. Legs tomorrow.
 
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Volume Lower

Leg Press Clusterset: 5pps x 12--5--4

DB RDL: 55 x 15 x 2
Duffalo Hibar Squat: 209 x 20

a1. Rev. Hyper: 180 x 15 x 2
a2. 45 degree hyper: BW x 12 x 2

Video: http://instagr.am/p/Bz3-VPwATaK/
Notes: fucking disgusting. The leg press was a brutal start to a day that did not improve significantly. 20RM squats were a killer. The back pump with the final superset was crippling. Scratched the walking lunges I planned to end the day with because the rain started coming down hard and my legs were already cooked.

Will have a full end-of-week update tonight where I'll outline diet changes and the like for the coming week.
 
Hyde

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Lol at the idea of doing lunges after that workout. Anyone who can do lunges after that didn’t push their legpress cluster or 20-Rep Squat hard enough.
 

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