Okay, so it's been a hectic couple of days, I'm SO tired, and have tons to do to get caught up. I had a 2 day conference out of town yesterday and today for work and switching time zones and everything else has just been nuts.
Hasn't affected my gym-going, though, so here's the rundown:
4/4/11 - Cardio
15 minutes on the elliptical - Tabata protocol (5 minute warm-up / 8 minutes of intervals / 2 minute cool-down ... @ level 12)
15 minutes on the treadmill - 10% incline / 3mph (varied it a bit here and there, but minimally; kept HR @ ~80%)
*If I ever use Tabata protocol on a lifting day, I either don't do warm-up, or I do a minute of it since I'm already loose from my lift, but I went with 5 minutes since it was cardio only.
**Intervals are 20 seconds all-out-intensity, followed by 10 seconds of very light work; repeat without rest.
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4/5/11 - Arms (Max-OT Week)
Olympic Bar Curls: 165x6 / 165x5 / 165x3
DB Hammer Curls: 95's x 10 / 95's x 9
Cable Curls: 230x8
Tricep-bar Pushdowns: 285x10 (x3)
Overhead Rope Tricep Extension/Roll: 200x8 / 200x5
BW Dips (very slow, contracted): x12
Total Workout Time: 42 minutes
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4/6/11 - Legs & Abs (Max-OT Week)
Squats: 325x6 / 345x6 / 355x6
SL Deads: 355x5 / 355x5
Leg Press: 720x6 / 720x6
Seated Calf Raises: 250x10 (x3)
Smith Machine Calf Raises (standing on 2 25's stacked up on each side): 430x10 / 440x10 / 450x10
Hanging Leg Raises: (3x12)
Total Workout Time: 55 minutes
Lifts on both days went up pretty significantly :yup:. Again, on BB curls, I do use a bit of momentum on my Max-OT days, but even when I'm warming up, I'm curling plates on each side with perfect form, so I'm getting stronger - this training method is working. Tricep numbers went up, too. My arms looked absolutely ridiculous after that workout. I had to hit it at 7 AM before we left for the conference so I didn't miss the workout; getting up to get my meal in and the feeling of just working out first thing in the morning again isn't something I enjoy nearly as much as afternoon. I just feel sick in my chest; didn't want to drink my aminos, but I forced them down.
Workout tonight was great. My warm-up for squats was far shorter than it usually is and where I'd went down to 325 for sets last time to ensure I was really getting deep, I started off with 325 and it felt ridiculously easy! So, I bumped to 345 and had no problems, and 355 was even easier than I thought. That was great. I'll start off at 345 most likely next time and hopefully get up to about 375 with ease. I'm liking seeing the leg strength coming back.
SL deads went up 10 pounds on each set and my leg presses went up a full plate on each side. It's nice to see the leg strength coming back from where I was pressing 1,100 lbs over the Summer. Calf work felt great, too. I'm loving the Smith raises - love loading up the plates (6 on each side now
).
Today I tried NTKTS for the first time ever pre-workout. Let me just say, amazing. I'll be honest, based on the profile, i wasn't that excited because it didn't seem too unique to me. What I'll say, though, is that I was surprised - in a great way. I started off with just 1.5 scoops, taken with my 2nd cap of Testalensis for the day (first thing upon rising, pre-workout, pre-bed - all on empty stomach) and 1 cap of APS's I-Cariin 50. The vascularity in my arms was nuts for leg day lol.
Anyway, I was impressed at how fine the powder was. I'm used to things like Jack3d being rather grainy and this reminded me more of like WMS; that was nice. I had grape...it tastes like Kool-Aid lol. I'm not even exaggerating. JUST like grape Kool-Aid, mixed up in 12 oz of water with nothing left over in the shaker cup and zero aftertaste.
Now I know why people like this so much. Like I said, I was skeptical based on the profile, but it's killer. I didn't notice any type of a stimmed out feeling whatsoever, but did have a nice calm focus. And I even felt some BA tingles in my upper back, which I rarely feel anymore.
I finished off my workout with some Whey2Build Muscle protein, rather than my usual isolate, just to test it out and see how it was. I had a bit of skim milk left, so I mixed it up with that and added in my 5g creatine monohydrate along with it. It tasted very good (I had the cinnamon bun flavor). I'm still a personal fan of isloate for my post-workout, but I do see both sides of the argument; just about preference. Regardless, it tasted very nice and next time I'll actually add in a bit of cinnamon, too, just to see what that does (I also usually mix all of my shakes with water - very rarely do I use milk). What I'm really excited to try, though, is Onslaught (which I also have on hand). The profile is incredibly stacked for post-workout. That ones on the short list :cool2:.
Also want to note that I have felt like an absolute beast in the gym the past few days. Ever since implementing my carb/cal cycling, I'm loving it (granted it's only been a few days so far). The past 2 days were/are high carb/cals and my cardio day was no carbs at all and reeeeeally low calories. Tomorrow will be moderate (delts/traps).
I just feel jacked, muscles feel full and I've just dominated my workouts. I'm in a great mood. Libido has also been through the roof lately and other items in that department are equally improved.
