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KLEEN - STRONG BODY STRONG MIND!

So tell me who did your daughter get her voice from?

I would have to say both of us. We both were in choir the whole time we were in school. Although my wife sings much better than I do in my opinion.
 
I would have to say both of us. We both were in choir the whole time we were in school. Although my wife sings much better than I do in my opinion.

That is cool. no one in my family can sing. my mom is pretty good at the piano. we were just a family full of jocks!
 
That is cool. no one in my family can sing. my mom is pretty good at the piano. we were just a family full of jocks!

Nothing wrong with that. My entire family was into singing. Way more than I was actually. I like to sing, and still get compliments on my voice, but I was never "into it" like them. They were all singing super stars with solos in every show and I just wanted to wrestle, fight, and roughhouse. So I never developed my voice the way that they did.
 
Went to a new gym last night. I am going to get a membership there and cancel my membership @ 24hr. They had some awesome equipment, a deadlifting platform, two competition squat racks "Unfortunately no monolift", 3 competition benches, several custom isolateral machines. All in all just a much better gym experience. Also they have a section there that I can go to when I am ready and start training others. You pay the owner $400 a month and that is the price for 1 customer per month. Anything after that is yours. So that would be worthwhile if I can secure 3-4 clients and average an extra grand a month.
 
Went to a new gym last night. I am going to get a membership there and cancel my membership @ 24hr. They had some awesome equipment, a deadlifting platform, two competition squat racks "Unfortunately no monolift", 3 competition benches, several custom isolateral machines. All in all just a much better gym experience. Also they have a section there that I can go to when I am ready and start training others. You pay the owner $400 a month and that is the price for 1 customer per month. Anything after that is yours. So that would be worthwhile if I can secure 3-4 clients and average an extra grand a month.

Sounds good! Interesting to see how this kind of business is handled in the US.
 
Sounds good! Interesting to see how this kind of business is handled in the US.
This one seems a bit different than a lot of the ones I have seen. Most seem to have a rental fee but the trainer's decide what to charge. Here I think it is $400.00 a month for up to 16 sessions for $400. The difference is that they will also assign you people here if someone is in need of a trainer and you have an opening. So not everything has to be self generated. Of course that breaks down to about $25/Hr which is a good bit less than I make an hour at work. So if I do that it will only be for a while to get some more before and after client pics.

Typically unless a large package is bought most people seem to charge between $50-100 an hour / session. However small group training and other things are also becoming pretty big.
 
This one seems a bit different than a lot of the ones I have seen. Most seem to have a rental fee but the trainer's decide what to charge. Here I think it is $400.00 a month for up to 16 sessions for $400. The difference is that they will also assign you people here if someone is in need of a trainer and you have an opening. So not everything has to be self generated. Of course that breaks down to about $25/Hr which is a good bit less than I make an hour at work. So if I do that it will only be for a while to get some more before and after client pics.

Typically unless a large package is bought most people seem to charge between $50-100 an hour / session. However small group training and other things are also becoming pretty big.
What gym?
 
What gym?
It is called Flex Level Fitness, they just moved into this business park right off of 45 and Old Dixie Farm Road, It used to be more of a training studio / gym in the older much smaller location, now it is more of a Gym that also has a training studio.

Monthly Dues are $25, no processing fees or taxes. Just $25 a month no cancellation fees or lagging month when you quit. They are also planning to have a badge system set up so that it can be 24 hr accessible. Right now the hours are from 4:30AM - 10:00PM.
 
Sounds nice. That's real close to you, right?
Yeah it is right down the street. Might even be closer than the 24 Hr. Takes 5 minutes tops to get there. Last night was AWESOME! I went and there were maybe 8 people on the regular gym floor and about 10-15 in the Personal Trainer group training area. Oh yeah that is what I found out yesterday the training is 400 a month for each person but you can do groups of up to 5 per session. Which is why it is cheaper than personal training per session. I did the math and if I can get 2 groups of 5 just training 2 hours a day I can pull in an extra 3600 a month. So that might be a VERY VIABLE OPTION to me!!!! Not for me to quit my job or anything it would take more than double that to even start considering that as an option. However that would be the ultimate to be able to train instead of mess with boring computer work.

I decided I am going to work more instinctively for a bit and really work on enjoying myself more. I have been writing some intimidating workouts recently that are bad ass but I am not conditioned well enough to do them adequately right now. So I get stressed out even thinking about getting into the gym. So I am gong to be instinctive other than the main lifts. I will still keep to my goals regarding leaning out, I want to be somewhere around 10-12% when it is all said and done and hopefully right around 200. I am 211 now down from 220 and in the 20-ish% BF range. I still have some muscle memory to kick in so I know there will be some good re-composition going on.

Last night was just a fun push workout.

Flat DB Bench Press - 4x6-8
Flat BB Bench Press - 6x4-6
Isolateral Shoulder Press, 4x8-10
Heavy DB Side Swings / Partials - 4x25-35
Rear Delt Flyes - 4x20-30 reps
Rope Triceps Extensions - 4x10-12

I had a great pump and was really feeling good!
 
I love to train intuitive. Just doing what feels good at a given moment.

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Yeah it is right down the street. Might even be closer than the 24 Hr. Takes 5 minutes tops to get there. Last night was AWESOME! I went and there were maybe 8 people on the regular gym floor and about 10-15 in the Personal Trainer group training area. Oh yeah that is what I found out yesterday the training is 400 a month for each person but you can do groups of up to 5 per session. Which is why it is cheaper than personal training per session. I did the math and if I can get 2 groups of 5 just training 2 hours a day I can pull in an extra 3600 a month. So that might be a VERY VIABLE OPTION to me!!!! Not for me to quit my job or anything it would take more than double that to even start considering that as an option. However that would be the ultimate to be able to train instead of mess with boring computer work.

I decided I am going to work more instinctively for a bit and really work on enjoying myself more. I have been writing some intimidating workouts recently that are bad ass but I am not conditioned well enough to do them adequately right now. So I get stressed out even thinking about getting into the gym. So I am gong to be instinctive other than the main lifts. I will still keep to my goals regarding leaning out, I want to be somewhere around 10-12% when it is all said and done and hopefully right around 200. I am 211 now down from 220 and in the 20-ish% BF range. I still have some muscle memory to kick in so I know there will be some good re-composition going on.

Last night was just a fun push workout.

Flat DB Bench Press - 4x6-8
Flat BB Bench Press - 6x4-6
Isolateral Shoulder Press, 4x8-10
Heavy DB Side Swings / Partials - 4x25-35
Rear Delt Flyes - 4x20-30 reps
Rope Triceps Extensions - 4x10-12

I had a great pump and was really feeling good!

5 Minutes in Houston is across the street! lol.
My daughter plays in a softball tournament in Houston every November. Don't think I could get use to the traffic.
 
That is a solid looking session. I am sure some pretty heavy weights used, knowing you.
Thanks! I am excited to get to the gym tonight and get one in!!! Didn't do anything but some body weight stuff this past weekend.

I love to train intuitive. Just doing what feels good at a given moment.

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Yeah, as long as you are making progress on the main lifts you can get the volume just about anywhere. Just have to remember to train the stuff you need to and not just what you want too when doing this. Otherwise it is easy to only work towards strengths and things that make us feel good.

5 Minutes in Houston is across the street! lol.
My daughter plays in a softball tournament in Houston every November. Don't think I could get use to the traffic.

LOL, it really isn't that bad just outside of the loop though. The gym is maybe 2-3 miles away I guess. Not much traffic on the way to it even thought it is right off of 45. I live on the South side of Houston outside the loop so traffic is only an issue when I drive in and out of downtown for work. However me and the wife both work downtown so we get to carpool in the HOV lane which cuts traffic time in half most of the time.

I was in California twice over the last year and as bad as Houston is and yes Houston is bad. We have VERY AGGRESSIVE Drivers. I am one of them!!! You pretty much always have to be driving aggressively or defensively or you are going to get run over!!!! Our states DMV motto is "Drive Friendly!" We often tell people that is a reminder not a motto!!!!

The rest of the week I am going to just go in and have some fun.Get a good pump, do enough work for stimulation and get on out of there. I am going to put together a very loose template to follow over the next few weeks. Basically going to focus on centralizing my workouts around the big 3 lifts and adding some weight to them. After that accessory work will be somewhat intuitive. I have a few things I am looking at testing out so we shall see.
 
Well guys, I have been pretty much out of it for the last few weeks. The care for my Mother In Law became all consuming and quite overwhelming. All activities other than caring for her were pretty much put on hold. Her dementia seems to be cyclical and really took a turn for the worse the last few weeks making everything we needed to work on with her almost impossible. She has still made a ton of improvement physically. I was working her out almost daily and got her to where she can walk again, and taught her how to crawl, and roll over again. That way if she ever falls she can crawl if needed to get somewhere if she can't get back up. She is never really alone but she does walk into other rooms now for some things. So If she fell somewhere I want her to be able to crawl. She spent 5 hours on the floor dragging herself to a phone when she fell back in December and I didn't want her to ever experience that again.

Anyway workouts have fallen off completely, and my diet has not been good. I made some lofty goals recently about the progress I intended to make by 8/1/17 or I would be donating $100 to the charity of my choice. I am obviously going to be making that donation as I did not stick with the plan as I set it out. I could probably still make the physical changes in the next 5 weeks if I really focus on it but the parts about maintaining 80% adherence to the program and nutrition is impossible at this point. I am a stand up guy, so regardless of my situation I am going to honor the commitment and make the donation even if I can make the physical parts of the goal happen in the next 5 weeks. It would take some running training and a strict diet plus not missing any workouts. I would like to say I am committed to doing that but I am going to be honest with myself and just work to try and get myself back into the habit of working out regularly again right now with everything going on.
 
Well guys, I have been pretty much out of it for the last few weeks. The care for my Mother In Law became all consuming and quite overwhelming. All activities other than caring for her were pretty much put on hold. Her dementia seems to be cyclical and really took a turn for the worse the last few weeks making everything we needed to work on with her almost impossible. She has still made a ton of improvement physically. I was working her out almost daily and got her to where she can walk again, and taught her how to crawl, and roll over again. That way if she ever falls she can crawl if needed to get somewhere if she can't get back up. She is never really alone but she does walk into other rooms now for some things. So If she fell somewhere I want her to be able to crawl. She spent 5 hours on the floor dragging herself to a phone when she fell back in December and I didn't want her to ever experience that again.

Anyway workouts have fallen off completely, and my diet has not been good. I made some lofty goals recently about the progress I intended to make by 8/1/17 or I would be donating $100 to the charity of my choice. I am obviously going to be making that donation as I did not stick with the plan as I set it out. I could probably still make the physical changes in the next 5 weeks if I really focus on it but the parts about maintaining 80% adherence to the program and nutrition is impossible at this point. I am a stand up guy, so regardless of my situation I am going to honor the commitment and make the donation even if I can make the physical parts of the goal happen in the next 5 weeks. It would take some running training and a strict diet plus not missing any workouts. I would like to say I am committed to doing that but I am going to be honest with myself and just work to try and get myself back into the habit of working out regularly again right now with everything going on.

All I can say is your a good man! and I doubt anyone with a heart cares about the bet!
 
All I can say is your a good man! and I doubt anyone with a heart cares about the bet!
Thanks Brother! I agree, most people would not care and say that I had a justified reason not to succeed in those goals. However I did this challenge and set it up as a way to be accountable. So I would really be discrediting myself if I were to not hold myself accountable for not succeeding.

Bottom line is everything above happened and they are indeed extenuating circumstances that make for an excellent EXCUSE. However it would only be an excuse. I chose not to make my fitness goals a priority. I could have made adjustments to make things work, although it would have been very hard to do. So in that light I can not say it was a REASON I couldn't succeed. It was a circumstance that I allowed to shape my behavior, it was a decision I made, and one that could have been made differently. So the reason I did not achieve what I set out to was that I made a decision not to push myself that hard in the presence of the current challenge I am facing. All under my control, just I chose the easier path in this instance which now leaves me playing catch up as well as having to make that donation.

It's an integrity thing basically. I call people out when they don't take ownership of their decisions and place the blame on excuses instead of the decisions they made in the face of adversity. So I feel I have to hold myself to that same standard.
 
You are doing good for your family - that is the most important thing. As for the charity, just as well that you are donating! It will only make you feel better truly, no matter the reason. And I'm glad you're going to get back after it.
 
Family first Chris. Donate that money to taking care of Mom. Prayers.
 
10/10

If the world had more people like you, it would almost be a nice place.
To make it a really nice place, everyone should be like you.
 
What you did is extremely admirable. We live in a selfish, me first world and you put someone else first. It's nice to see in this day and age someone who loves their in laws. I love the hell out of my in laws and I think it's an important life relationship to foster. Kudos to you and if anyone can't see the value of giving themselves for the sake of another, we are in a sad place as a society.
 
You are doing good for your family - that is the most important thing. As for the charity, just as well that you are donating! It will only make you feel better truly, no matter the reason. And I'm glad you're going to get back after it.
Thanks Hyde!
Family first Chris. Donate that money to taking care of Mom. Prayers.
Thanks Mark!
10/10

If the world had more people like you, it would almost be a nice place.
To make it a really nice place, everyone should be like you.
THanks HGP! Means a lot.
What you did is extremely admirable. We live in a selfish, me first world and you put someone else first. It's nice to see in this day and age someone who loves their in laws. I love the hell out of my in laws and I think it's an important life relationship to foster. Kudos to you and if anyone can't see the value of giving themselves for the sake of another, we are in a sad place as a society.

Thanks Brother!

Okay guys, this weekend was a total mess. I was hopeful to get into the gym this weekend but Mom's health took a turn and we ended up at the hospital having her checked out. She completely regressed both mentally and physically. Seemed she almost acted like she had a stroke. She did not know where she was, and could not stand up or do any of the things we have been working on to improve. At one point we were sitting in the living room, and she just kept telling me that she wanted me to take her back into the living room. No matter how much I showed her that we were in the living room watching TV she couldn't grasp it and kept asking I would let her go back to the living room. That was the moment when we decided she really needed to go to the hospital.

Luckily there is nothing wrong with her other than her condition, it just took a severe downturn, and they say we should expect it to last a week or two, that this is part of the cyclical nature of some of it. So she is basically back in bed for right now, and unable to really think for herself. So it is now a waiting game to see her start to improve again so we can work on keeping her mobile.

GOing to try to get a good workout in tonight... Hopefully nothing stupid comes up to get in the way.
 
Perseverance, brother. Just keep living each day trying to put your best foot forward. Hope you get to train and enjoy it!
 
Perseverance, brother. Just keep living each day trying to put your best foot forward. Hope you get to train and enjoy it!

Thanks Hyde, I just won a promo for Hi-Tech Pharma Lipodrene ELITE. Having a log to do should help me out with getting myself back into the fray. I plan on starting that new log up on Saturday. I will take some scary before pics and set up my program for it and post a link up to it in here once it is set up.

Other than that yes, it is all about perseverance in the face of adversity.
 
Nice score... always enjoy a Kleen log!

Thanks!

I did a little bit of working out last night but nothing to really mention. Got up today and got Jan out of bed. She was having a rough morning and bucked away from me while I was holding her and it kind of dislocated one of my ribs from my spine in the thoracic area. This is something that happens every once in a while ever since I was in an accident 20 years ago that dislocated several of my ribs at the socket where they connect to the spine.

I got on the roller and was able to roll on it until it popped back in but it is going to put a damper on my back, and leg work for about a week. Hopefully I can manage to keep moving Jan while she is like this without hurting myself again.

Once I have this ball rolling and get some momentum things will start feeling more normal to me. Right now I need to regain some of what I have lost in life with this new change. Get back to some of the things important to me like training and helping others with their training.
 
Hey everybody, man this is starting to feel like the excuse thread to me!!! Let me fill you in on everything since Thursday morning when I posted.

Things are not going well with Mom, we went home Thursday night to find Mom passed out and unresponsive. we called an ambulance and she has been at the hospital since then. She was in the ICU the first day, and was moved to a private room Saturday, she is stable but her mental status is definitely more impaired than normal. They found several infections that were hiding behind a low grade fever. They have her on major antibiotics for some of them but they found an infection in her bone marrow in her heel where she had the S-Scar from the guy just leaving her sitting still all the time. The infection traveled down into her bone now. So they are going in to operate today with the understanding that they will be cutting out any infected bone. They gave us a very solemn warning that this could just be a part of her heel, but is also somewhat likely that this could end up being a complete amputation from the knee down.

They have a temporary home set up for her after the surgery to help rehabilitate her. Not sure how long she can stay there but hoping it will be for long enough to get her to where she can help us with her care. That or long enough for her to realize she likes being there and having some social activities and her want to stay. It is only about a mile from the house so visiting won’t be too hard.

Also my ribs are still really hurting me, I wasn't sure at first, but yeah it was more than just one rib that dislocated. By my count and the way they feel about 3 of them popped out of socket. I was able to foam roll them again and got 2 massive pops on the right side that felt like they went back in but it damn near crippled me for the weekend. Even taking deep breaths hurt, rolling over, trying to drive, you name a mundane activity and I will tell you how it can hurt your ribs...

Hoping to be feeling well enough to try and do some lifting sometime this week. I did not start my cutting log because I couldn't really do any cardio either with my ribs hurting when I breathe heavy. Now it is not as sensitive, seems to have improved some the last day or so. I am hoping I can get in some cardio of some sort at a minimum by the weekend. Even if I am only able to do some brisk waking I will start the log up no later than Saturday. I got stuff to do!!!
 
Oh, brother... That's a deluge of bad news.

That guy who left her sitting all time should get a beating.
I really hope for all of us here on AM to not end up with debilitating mental disease, its a terrible thing. MrKleen73 , I would do a med check on the rib thing. You may need a medical corset -or something to let it heal in place.
Best wishes to you and your family!
 
Oh, brother... That's a deluge of bad news.

That guy who left her sitting all time should get a beating.
I really hope for all of us here on AM to not end up with debilitating mental disease, its a terrible thing. MrKleen73 , I would do a med check on the rib thing. You may need a medical corset -or something to let it heal in place.
Best wishes to you and your family!

It has made some decent improvements the last couple of days but I fully intend to make an appointment if it does not pretty much clear up over the weekend. Typically this takes 7-10 days to heal up and stop hurting when it happens, so right now it is on par with how it normally heals. For instance I have sneezed a few times today and it only hurt it a little bit, but 2 days ago sneezing was bringing tears to my eyes.

I could do a very light weight workout now without hurting it but it would be risky, but there is no way I could try to jog right now. If things improve as they have been then I think tomorrow it won't be too bad at all, Friday even better, then I should be good to go by Saturday at the latest.

If not then yeah, I am going to go to see the Dr to figure it out.

Spent too much time and money there already so hoping time and my foam roller will get me where I need to be in the next couple days.
 
Hey Everyone, I wrote up my new log here. Invalid Link Removed

Please follow along and root me on. I have had a hell of a time this year and need all the support I can get to push through everything life has thrown at me and get myself back on track!!!
 
Oh brother I feel so bad for you and family. I sure hope Mom recovers and the surgery is minor! Prayers.
 
Well guys, I think I am moving my logging back into here for a bit and will at the very least post up my training in here regardless of if I run another sponsored log.

I have made the decision to jump on over to Dr. Scott Stevenson's Fortitude Training. Since I am focused on making gains this coming year I wanted something that was going to help me with hypertrophy, while also helping with injury prevention, and this looks like it is going to be perfect in that regard. I am in the process of designing my first blast on it, but am doing Muscle Rounds from it right now in the interim. Just to get myself back into the game for a couple workouts this weekend then I will start my blast. Once I start the blast my dietary focus is going to change to one of a person trying to grow. I will more than likely start out at a maintenance level, and let myself grow a little leaner, then start focusing on gains by eating for gains.

Yesterdays Lift - Muscle Rounds - use around your 15 rep max broken into 6 mini sets of 4 with 10 seconds rest between each set. You should hit failure on the 4th-5th MR set then lower enough not to fail again. If you fail before 4rth set you went too heavy, if you fail on the 6th set move up next time.

DB Bench Press 75x4,4,4,4,4,3

HS Low Row - 70ps x4,4,4,4,2, 60PSx4

Lat Pull Downs 180x4,4,4,3, 140x4,4

Shoulder Press Machine 160x4,4,4,4,3, 130x4

Side Raises 90x4,4,4,4,2, 70x4

EZ Curls - 70x4,4,4,4,3, 50x4

Rope Triceps Extensions - 130x4,4,4,4,3, 110x4


Talk about a pump, and sweating a lot!!! Was a great workout, and for one I hit failure in 7 exercises I do not feel beat up at all!!!!!! These Muscle Rounds are like a mix between DC trainings RP sets, and MyoReps. One thing I know for sure is that I really do enjoy the cluster sets technique!!!!!

Here within the next 2 weeks I will be doing a full bore blast with Fortitude Training and will begin tracking my macros and training in here. I am still trying to lean back up to where I was before the hurricane, and some of that will still be in the Lipodrene log until I am done with it. However I plan to keep training and macro logging consistent in here once I start the Fortitude Training full on.
 
MR looks interesting because it's at your 15 rep max weight instead of what I usually think of when using a 5 rep range. What's rest between sets like? Is it supposed to be shorter?

Also, how'd lipodrene treat you?
 
Researching Fortitude and seeing it requires machines. Can it be done using strictly free weights?
 
Welcome Back !
Thanks Rocket!!!!
MR looks interesting because it's at your 15 rep max weight instead of what I usually think of when using a 5 rep range. What's rest between sets like? Is it supposed to be shorter?

Also, how'd lipodrene treat you?
YOu do 4reps rest 10 seconds, 4reps rest 10 seconds,4reps rest 10 seconds,4reps rest 10 seconds,4reps rest 10 seconds,4reps rest 10 seconds

Ideally would be more like 4,4,4,4,3, drop weight 4 because you want one, but only point of failure in the cluster / muscle round set. Basically it gives you the opportunity to do up to 24 reps with a weight that you can do 15 times in a straight set, but you get more "effective growth reps" in because of the breaks.

For example on my Rows I got 4,4,4,4,2 drop and 4, so I got 18 reps with my 15 rep max then added volume by finishing the sets with lower weight. Out of those reps the last one on 3rd set, the last 2 on 4rth set, and both on the 5th set were all "effective reps" IE the ones that create enough stress to cause optimal adaption. On a typical straight set you would get maybe 1-2 effective reps at the end of the set, this way you get 5...

Lipodrene is honestly still treating me well. I stopped using it for a little bit while I was stuck eating nothing but crap the first 2 weeks after Harvery because there was nothing at the store but crap. So it was frozen pizza, pop tarts, burritos, and a lot of sausage for 2 weeks straight. As you can imagine that did my physique no favors. On top of that I was not working out. So I stopped taking it.

Now I am taking just 1 cap a day and combining that with coffee to keep my fasting going longer into the day. I have lost most of what I gained even without working out so I am happy with that. I am still updating over in that one until I take my last pill and take some final pics. My review will be very good for them though. I lost 6lbs while filling back out the first 4 weeks on it. The appetite suppression is AMAZING, and to be honest it is a very comfortable diet pill to be on. Plenty energy, but not uncomfortable jitters. Body temp rose for sure but not to the point I would just sit and sweat for no reason. Just an effective product that I will more than likely use again when I need to lean up.

Researching Fortitude and seeing it requires machines. Can it be done using strictly free weights?

No, you can most definitely do it without any machines. It really focuses on these principle. 2 Load / Pump workouts, one id upper body load and lower body pump, and the other is lower body load and upper body pump. These are done with 1 compound movement for the body part in the load and and 1-2 isolation movements. All done in a 6-12 rep range. Pump exercises can be anything that pumps up the target muscle wether it be an isolation movement, or compound done to emphasize the body part. So any exercise for the body part can be used for sure.

The muscle rounds are selected in the same fashion, the only consideration for them is ease of re-racking weight and or set up. So squats, hex bar deads, bench press, db bench, rows any of that works, you can definitely use compounds or isolation there.

Really the hole thing is very very flexible in nature. He does not prescribe any of the movements that you use for the program though. He expects you to already be in tune enough with our body to know what exercises work well for you. So no there is definitely no requirement for machines. You could absolutely do Fortitude Training in your garage. I honestly think that you would LOVE it! It is focused specifically on hypertrophy and keeping the CNS and joints healthy. Perfect for anyone trying to grow over the age of 35 from what I can tell. The grow as much as possible while doing as little damage as possible mentality is huge for my attraction to this training model.

I plan on going in for a Lower body muscle round workout later today after I meet the FEMA adjuster after lunch.
 
Thanks Rocket!!!!For example on my Rows I got 4,4,4,4,2 drop and 4, so I got 18 reps with my 15 rep max then added volume by finishing the sets with lower weight. Out of those reps the last one on 3rd set, the last 2 on 4rth set, and both on the 5th set were all "effective reps" IE the ones that create enough stress to cause optimal adaption. On a typical straight set you would get maybe 1-2 effective reps at the end of the set, this way you get 5... /QUOTE]

Wouldn't myo reps be even more effective when you doing 15 reps at say 95-98% of you 15 rep max then 5 mini sets of 3 reps with 5-10 seconds rest between sets therefore giving up 18 'effective' reps assuming the rest between sets is kept to a minimum
 
Thanks Rocket!!!!For example on my Rows I got 4,4,4,4,2 drop and 4, so I got 18 reps with my 15 rep max then added volume by finishing the sets with lower weight. Out of those reps the last one on 3rd set, the last 2 on 4rth set, and both on the 5th set were all "effective reps" IE the ones that create enough stress to cause optimal adaption. On a typical straight set you would get maybe 1-2 effective reps at the end of the set, this way you get 5... /QUOTE]

Wouldn't myo reps be even more effective when you doing 15 reps at say 95-98% of you 15 rep max then 5 mini sets of 3 reps with 5-10 seconds rest between sets therefore giving up 18 'effective' reps assuming the rest between sets is kept to a minimum
Well yes and no, first I will say that my estimation on the amount of effective reps was probably a little lower than they are because with the weight right I had more effective reps then I expected. All of the reps after the failure and drop were effective and they started being effective a bit earlier than expected.

Now that being said MyoReps focuses on this specific method of hypertrophy. It also ends up being higher volume per workout, & causes a little more CNS fatigue. However that is within it's design as it is not as frequent of a training method as Fortitude Training.

In FT the Muscle Rounds are only 1 piece of the puzzle, and the frequency of training for each body part is 3 times a week. On the load and pump days you are working loads to fail in the 6-12 rep range, and 15-25 range on pump sets and can include partials or whatever to keep the tension on the sets. So you are pushing 3 different methods of hypertrophy with a high frequency of training and keeping volume low to moderate. The design is to keep both the connective tissue and the cns spared while pushing intensity and increasing volume over each Blast. During the Intensive Cruise / Deload you simply do a few Muscle Round workouts for stimulus while allowing recovery.

As an example an Upper body load training day in Tier 2 volume may look like this - warm ups not listed This program has 3 Volume Teirs, and 3 different split types. So you can progress through all of them or mix and match depending on how you feel.

Rest 90 seconds
Back Width 1 set 6-12 reps to failure
Back Thickness 1 set 6-12 reps to failure
Extreme Back Stretch 60-90 seconds
Chest 1 set 6-12 reps to failure
Extreme Chest Stretch 60-90 seconds
Shoulder 1 set 6-12 reps to failure
Extreme Shoulder Stretch 60-90 seconds

Lower Body Pump Rest 60 seconds
Thighs 2 sets 15-25 reps use partials to extend set for maximum pump
Quad x1
Hams x1
Calves x2
Biceps x1

The other load day is same way just Lower Body Load and Upper body Pump. Then the other 2 workouts a week are based off of muscle rounds. So it is a lot of frequency and multiple aspects of it. I really liked MyoReps but they tended to beat me up after a while. I am hoping the multiple stimulus, and lack of being forced to do repetitive movements over and over will really help keep me healthier. With FT he recommends the pump, and MR round movements should be changed at will. That the variety is excellent for making sure you get every part of a muscle belly developed. So if my pump and MR exercises are different every single training session it does not matter. You just keep a pool of your muscle round exercises and what you did last time you did them and refer to it the next time to see if you progressed.

Still here my man

Excellent, glad to have you in here!!!!



Last nights lift was Lower Body Muscle rounds for thighs and pump sets for quads, and hams then MR for calves

Leg Press - 4 warm up sets to weight 6p+10 per side 4, 4, 4, 4, 3, 6p x4
Leg Extensions - Pump - 2 xWU - 2p x20 + 9 partials
Extreme Quad Stretch 60 seconds
- OUCH!!!!!

Seated Leg Curls - Pump - 2 xWU - 90x18 +8 partials
Extreme Hamstring Stretch x60 seconds
- Good Lawd!

Standing Calf Raise MR - 2 xWU - 3/4 stack 4,4,4,4,4,4 I did these "Resting" in the stretch position for 10 seconds, then after the last muscle round go straight into the Extreme Calf Stretch X45 seconds - couldn't hold longer. Was getting unstable.

This may not look like a lot but I was wobbly from it!
 
Damn It Man! My legs are sore as hell! I have some serious DOMS from the last muscle rounds workout. Getting up and down on the toilet is brutal. I guess I had that coming after not training legs for a month. My legs haven't been sore like this in a couple years. :D

Took my morning dose of Lipodrene and still impressed with what 1 cap and some coffee does for you. Not fasting right now because I want to spur on some protein synthesis. This morning I had 6 oz sirloin fajita meat for breakfast. I have an 8 oz sirloin steak for lunch, had it cooked rare at the steakhouse last night. Should be good for reheating! :) will eat that with 2 oz mixed nuts. Then I will have a protein shake and some coconut oil for my pre-workout meal around 4:30 then get ready to train tonight.

After the soreness from this weekend I might just opt to do another week of just Muscle Rounds to get my body ready for this onslaught. Then again I can simply use it as a break-in week, the following week I should have a better idea of what numbers I will be able to use. It's just that today is a Lower Body Load day and dang it my legs are already toasty!!!! I will more than likely begin the actual program tonight. Just maybe not take things all the way to failure but like an RPE9 or something. That will break me in a little more, and give me a good idea of what weight to use for a failure set with the first major push week. Then the following week I can really turn it on. However it is a Failure based program so I may just suck it up, go balls to the wall on effort and just deal with the resulting DOMS!
 
YES. LOL! The toilet part is awful -also walking downstairs is a mayor accomplishment, LOL!
 
Hey everybody, man this is starting to feel like the excuse thread to me!!! Let me fill you in on everything since Thursday morning when I posted.

Things are not going well with Mom, we went home Thursday night to find Mom passed out and unresponsive. we called an ambulance and she has been at the hospital since then. She was in the ICU the first day, and was moved to a private room Saturday, she is stable but her mental status is definitely more impaired than normal. They found several infections that were hiding behind a low grade fever. They have her on major antibiotics for some of them but they found an infection in her bone marrow in her heel where she had the S-Scar from the guy just leaving her sitting still all the time. The infection traveled down into her bone now. So they are going in to operate today with the understanding that they will be cutting out any infected bone. They gave us a very solemn warning that this could just be a part of her heel, but is also somewhat likely that this could end up being a complete amputation from the knee down.

They have a temporary home set up for her after the surgery to help rehabilitate her. Not sure how long she can stay there but hoping it will be for long enough to get her to where she can help us with her care. That or long enough for her to realize she likes being there and having some social activities and her want to stay. It is only about a mile from the house so visiting won’t be too hard.

Also my ribs are still really hurting me, I wasn't sure at first, but yeah it was more than just one rib that dislocated. By my count and the way they feel about 3 of them popped out of socket. I was able to foam roll them again and got 2 massive pops on the right side that felt like they went back in but it damn near crippled me for the weekend. Even taking deep breaths hurt, rolling over, trying to drive, you name a mundane activity and I will tell you how it can hurt your ribs...

Hoping to be feeling well enough to try and do some lifting sometime this week. I did not start my cutting log because I couldn't really do any cardio either with my ribs hurting when I breathe heavy. Now it is not as sensitive, seems to have improved some the last day or so. I am hoping I can get in some cardio of some sort at a minimum by the weekend. Even if I am only able to do some brisk waking I will start the log up no later than Saturday. I got stuff to do!!!

Damn brother! if it's not one thing its another. Hang in there it will get better at some point.
 
Damn brother! if it's not one thing its another. Hang in there it will get better at some point.

I think we are on the other side of things now. Got an approval for a helpful amount from FEMA, still waiting to see what all Insurance is going to kick in. Either way with what we are getting now we are getting a big help and if the insurance actually pulls through then the house will be in better shape than it has in years. I will be in a position to get the foundation leveled and then get all of the repair work done after so it is done on a level surface. That way we can entertain the idea of putting down a nice looking marble-ized epoxy floor finish. If we can do that it will end up being almost a full remodel for the price of getting the foundation done since we will have to pay for that but all the cosmetic work after that will be paid for. So it makes it doable.
 
Okay everyone. I wanted to give a basic outline for some of the upcoming training. During this Fortitude Training Blast I will be using the following exercises as my Go To Exercises for the Load days. In the plan you rotate through 3 different Go To exercises for each muscle grouping throughout the entire Blast. The exercises below will be that pool of exercises I will be choosing from.

I have selected them based on how effective I feel they are for me and my goals.

Load Go To exercises -
Lower Body
Thigh
- 1) Back Squat, 2) Leg Press, 3) Hack Squat
Quads - 1) Leg Extension, 2) Hack Squat, 3) Bulgarian Split Squat
Hams - *1) Lying Leg Curl, 2) SLDL 3) Leg Curl
Adductors 1) Band Adductor, 2) Cable Adductor, 3) Adductor machine
Calves - 1) Standing, 2) Leg Press Calf Raise, 3) Bent Leg Calf Raise

Upper Body
Back Width - 1) Chins, 2) Close Grip Pull Ups, 3) Pull Ups/Downs
Back Thickness - 1) Supported Rows, 2) Dead Lifts, 3) Cable Row
Chest - 1) Flat Bench, 2) Incline DB Bench, 3) HS Decline Press
Shoulders - 1) DB Press, 2) Wide Barbell Military Press, 3) HS Shoulder Press

Pump Sets Done in superset fashion @15-25 reps to failure with set extending techniques like partials and pulses, exercises are to be picked on the fly, and varied quite often. Not really massively tracked, done more as extra volume and to create a metabolic and high blood flow situation in the muscles from as many angles as possible. As long as the set is done for the described effect it works.

Load and Pump Days are on the first 2 training days of the week, and the last 2 days of the week are reserved for Muscle Round workouts.

Muscle Rounds - Only exercise selection criteria here is that it be easily re-racked so you can get out from under the load quickly as well as get back under the load quickly. Can be isolation or compound movements too so long as you can manage to rest and get back under the weight within 10 seconds.

So my first workout should look a bit like this.

Load Day - Warm up sets for all movements requiring a warm up before starting the work sets. Rest is 2 minutes rest on legs, 1 minute on calves and pump sets.

Back Squats x1 to failure 6-12 reps
Leg Extensions x1 to failure 6-12 reps - Stretch Quads 60-90 seconds
Lying Leg Curl x1 to failure 6-12 reps - Stretch Hams
Adductor x1 to failure 6-12 reps - Stretch Adductors
Calves x2 to failure - Stretch calves

Pump - Done in superset fashion 1 minute rest between supersets

Straight Arm Pec Deck / Lat Pull Down 1x 15-25 reps to failure - Stretch

Side Raises / Weighted Crunches 15-25 - Shoulder Stretch

DB Curls / OH Triceps Ext 15-25 - Triceps Stretch
 
Very interesting. How many training days are there in a "training week"?
 
Nice run down, thanks for laying it out Chris... here as always to see the progression (and learn)
Great, and I am thinking there should be a lot of progression here in the next several months. At least as far as size goes anyway. I have given up the quest for abs temporarily. I am hoping to slim down just a tiny bit due to the increase volume and frequency of training. Plus this training creates serious EPOC. However the real focus is just to add as much quality LBM as possible and not worrying about looking ripped

Hoping I can grow leaner by not adding fat mass at first. Get back into a 215 that looks like this picture from just after my meet last year and try to maintain that level of leanness during the bulk. Then just see what I can build up from there.

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Very interesting. How many training days are there in a "training week"?

There are 4 days in a training week, and you train each muscle 3 times a week on the Basic Version. On the Turbo Version the training frequency of each muscle increases but not the training volume. IE on Turbo the Muscle Round workouts are both Full Body, but the sets are just spread across the 2 days. So if chest would have gotten 2 MR sets on one of the days it would still get 2 sets but do 1 MR set on both days. A great idea to increase frequency without increasing the overall volume. Pretty slick.

So here is what ended up going down last night. I did not complete everything for a combination of reasons. 1) I had a crick in my neck when I started and when I did the chest and back super set it started hurting. 2) I puked after that super set and then sat waiting for 10 minutes for my heart rate and stuff to go back down and stop feeling green but it didn't happen so I decided to get home and get my food going.

Load Day - Warm up sets for all movements requiring a warm up before starting the work sets. Warm Ups not listed. Rest is 2 minutes rest on legs, 1 minute on calves and pump sets.

Back Squats x1 to failure 6-12 reps - - 11 reps @ 275 RPE9 - I was pretty sore and did these ATG, rather than go to failure I stopped one shy as I didn't have a spotter.
Leg Extensions x1 to failure 6-12 reps - 160x11 - Plate loaded machine - was interesting feeling compared to cables.
Quad Stretch s 60-90 seconds

Lying Leg Curl x1 to failure 6-12 reps - - 90x11 plate loaded again the leverage on this was a different feel but good.
Stretch Hams 60-90 seconds
Adductor x1 to failure 6-12 reps -
Big Blue Band

Calves x2 to failure - Whole stack x12
Stretch calves 60-90 seconds


Pump - Done in superset fashion 1 minute rest between supersets

DB Flat Bench / Lat Pull Down 1x 15-25 reps to failure - 55x24+5 partials / 120x22+5 partials
DC Pec Stretch 60-90 seconds / DC Lat Hang Stretch 60-90

The crick in neck got painful almost like I pulled it, and I also tossed my cookies and couldn't regain composure after 10 minutes so I called the workout.

I will do the below exercises tonight when I get home just so the volume is correct for the week!


Side Raises / Weighted Crunches 15-25 - DC Shoulder Stretch

DB Curls - ECP forced stretch on last rep / OH Triceps Ext 15-25 - DC Triceps Stretch
 
Does look way heavier than 215 in the pic! That's the physique I thrive to archive. ABS are for Justin Bieber lovers.
Love your hair style! ;)
 
Does look way heavier than 215 in the pic! That's the physique I thrive to archive. ABS are for Justin Bieber lovers.
Love your hair style! ;)

Thanks, yeah I tend to look bigger than I am due to having small joints and a large rib cage. I am somewhat barrel chested with narrow hips and tiny elbows everything just appears to be bigger.

As far as thriving to archive a physique like that, I think you can definitely do it. Just need to find that method of dieting for you that is intense enough that you like it but not so intense that you can't maintain it. I think your current strategy with more calories on the workout days might be a good one for you in that aspect. I had a friend do it like that he was 6' and about 240 and he took in 5000 calories EOD right after his workout for 3 months and won a transformation contest. He added a little muscle and dropped a lot of fat doing it, and that was without any cardio.
 
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