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Mountainman gets Mountain sized w/ MAXBULK (sponsered)

That story was hilarious. I'm rotating in Max Bulk starting tomorrow btw; extra excited now that you're loving the strength so.
 
Hyde said:
That story was hilarious. I'm rotating in Max Bulk starting tomorrow btw; extra excited now that you're loving the strength so.
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I definitely am. And with 2 weeks to go I certainly feel like there's more strength gains on the way. Now if I could just get that damn scale to keep creeping up I'd be all set.
 
Had dinner with my parents last night, and stuffed my face silly with these awesome pork tender loin medallions and some amazing sweet potato concoction that I couldn't get enough of. So needless to say, I need to burn some major calories. But the other side of this is that my wife has to split for her group fitness class. I need to bust this out in intense fashion.

DB OHP / Wide Grip Pull Ups
45s x 12 / BW x 8
45s x 12 / BW x 8
45s x 10 / BW x 6
45s x 10 / BW x 6
45s x 8 / BW x 5

My elbow felt pretty good during the presses with the lighter weights which is a promising sign that it's on the mend. One slight twinge on the 3rd set but it was just one quick pinch. I focused on my elbows and their path of travel and it seemed to right the ship.

WMD Lateral Raises / Skier Pull Downs
20s x 8, 10s x 6 / 55 x 12
10s x 10 / 20s x 5 / 55 x 12
20s x 6, 10s x 6 / 55 x 12

Plate Front Raises / Bent Over BB Rows, underhand' 20 seconds rest
35 x 8 / 135 x 10
35 x 8 / 135 x 10
35 x 7 / 135 x 9

Triple Threat Trifecta
BB OHP / Lateral Raises / Upright Rows, No rest
95 x 8 / 20s x 5 / 85 x 6
Reverse Trifecta, No rest
105 x 6 / 20s x 4 / 95 x 5
Trifecta
95 x 6 / 20s x 4 / 105 x 5

My shoulders are pretty well fried at this point but I still have 2 minutes before I have to go back inside, so what the heck, rest pause chin ups.

BW x 4, 3, 3, 2, 2
 
Is it weird that my traps make a crease in my upper back?


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Good food! Even better workout.
Great pic. That's not weired it's called ..... Progress :) getting some nice def & mass back there.
 
Wife flew out of state for her month of military training so is just the kiddos and I. Been an emotional morning but I thought it would be a good day to test out my DL and redirect some of that emotion at a pile of weights. I gave my calves a break today though, DL testing then glutes and hammies while the kids are sleeping.

Warned up well in the elliptical and stair climber, and worked my way the weight ladder on the bar.

DLs
135 x 5
225 x 4
295 x 2
345 x 1
385 x 1
415 x 1 PR
425 x FAIL

Yup, Max-Bulk makes you stronger. 400 was my previous record. 415 wasn't easy, but I felt like I had more gas left to go a touch heavier. 425 was just a smidge to heavy. I got the bar about 5" off the ground and stalled hard. But with just under 2 weeks left to go in this cycle I'm pretty sure I've got 425 in the bag. My only issue with the lift was that I needed straps. During my ladder up I started losing my grip on my right hand. Unfortunately it seems I've lost done grip strength with my tendinitis issue. I'll work on getting that back though.

Cable Hamstring Curls
*35* x 15
*45* x 12
*45* x 10

BB RDLs
225 x 6
225 x 6

Back pumps were out of control. I had to stop the RDLs and move on.

Assisted Russian Hamstring Curls to GHRs
BW x 8, 4
BW x 6, 3
BW x 5, 2

This sh!t was heavy:
 

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It's a balmy 41 degrees out today. Perfect tanning weather:
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Ok, so I'm taking a poll, and not sure if this will actaully be a poll depending how many people respond, but while the wife is away and I'm left to my own devices while the kids are sleeping I'm contemplating doing 2 a days on upper body days. Which would entail cardio (alternating HIIT and LISS) in the mornings before getting the family ready for school and weight training at night after they go to bed. What do people think? Or maybe weights in the morning and cardio at night? Thoughts? Insights? Am I asking for trouble? What do ya got?
 
If you're gonna do it, cardio in the am, fasted on BCAAs is how I'd do it before meal #1. If you're a coffee/stim guy have your black coffee, green/black tea, fatburner, or what have you as soon as you rise or into the exercise to help push the metabolic edge while your body is still roasting fat from your night's fast.

Also, science has proven that all other things equal, the body is generally capable of exerting more power/being stronger later in the day - perhaps because the nervous system has 'time to warm up', if you will. The cause is unclear, but you'll lift more weight in the evenings than first thing in the morn.
 
Conflicted now. Any more input? I'll be starting tomorrow so I'd like to nail down which I'm going to go for my morning session. I'd really like to not start then change it up part way through and throw off the tempo.
 
Last night was a weird night. Was getting the kids ready for bed, texting with the wife (though she was in classes all day, not sure she's supposed to be texting while in a military class) and she said she wasn't going to be able to talk until 8:30 or 9:00 our time. So I put my son down and was about to take my daughter up stairs when she text saying keep them up, she'd be calling in a couple minutes. And wouldn't you know it, I had already take my PWO. Started to kill my motivation right there. She talked with my daughter for about 15 minutes, then I talked with her for about 15 minutes, and it took FOOOOOR EEEEVVVVEEEERRR to get my daughter to cooperate for bed time. I was getting ready to head out to the gym when she yelled to me that she was going to throw up. She ran into the bathroom expecting to throw up. She didn't, and I convinced her to go back to bed with a pan next to her just in case, but now there was no way I was going outside if she was potentially going to puke. So I did push ups on DBs with all sorts of hand placement widths and variations, "Dragon Flags" on the floor with Side Bridges, and reverse flys with 10 lb. Dbs that we had in the livingroom. I worked up a good sweat, and was out of breath more than a few times during those circuits. It was a good improsiational workout, and my daughter never threw up, so a win/win. Besides, it was only 11 degrees outside and my gym wasn't much warmer.
 
Hyde said:
If you're gonna do it, cardio in the am, fasted on BCAAs is how I'd do it before meal #1. If you're a coffee/stim guy have your black coffee, green/black tea, fatburner, or what have you as soon as you rise or into the exercise to help push the metabolic edge while your body is still roasting fat from your night's fast. Also, science has proven that all other things equal, the body is generally capable of exerting more power/being stronger later in the day - perhaps because the nervous system has 'time to warm up', if you will. The cause is unclear, but you'll lift more weight in the evenings than first thing in the morn.
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^^^ fasted cardio in the am has always worked for me and I'm a very firm believer in it. If you decide to lift weights twice a day be sure to bump your calories up a bit.
 
My major concern is that since I can't hit weights until 7:30 or 8:00 that the only nutrition I get in before bed is my post wo Shake. I was initially considering weights in the morning so I can hey my nutrition in throughout the day.
 
Plyos in my new kicks


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OK, so for my 2 a days, which I'm starting tomorrow, I've gotten some great responses and some great info. There were good arguments for both splits. But my decision is based mainly on time management. I'm going to do weights in the a.m., and cardio (HIIT or LISS, alternating) in the p.m. Morning time I have more leeway to do longer works, which sometimes I need for lifting. Cardio I don't plan on doing for more than 30 mins. This way I know I'll be able to wake up and get in a solid session and then after the kids go night night I can knock out my evening workout and not be getting to bed too late. It does mean however that The Americans, Justified, Archer, Best Ink, and any other bada$$ shows that are on late are just going to have to sit on the DVR until the weekend when I can play catch up.
 
So I'm ready to start working towards my leaner, badder self. I should be seeing abs by Friday or Saturday. JK, I know it'll take longer, so probably by Sunday or Monday.
 
Last night was plyo night, tourney season creeping up.

I got an earlier start than the night before, so that added to the motivational factor. And another chilly night in the outdoor gym. 9 degrees according to the mercury. But the great thing about Volatile: it raises my body temp, so cold isn't an issue. Don't have to pay extra for electicity on those heaters. :thumbsup:

A good solid warm up on the elliptical and stair master, then light depth jumps to prepare my CNS for a jolting.

2 Leg 6" Depth Jumps
10
10
10

2 Leg 18" Depth Jumps
8
8
10
10

1 Leg 4" Depth Jumps
6,6
6,6
6,6

Power Cleans
135 x 6
135 x 6
135 x 6

1 Leg to 2 Leg 4" Depth jumps
6,6,4
6,6,4

2 Leg 24" Depth Jumps
4

My legs were pretty spent by the time I got to the 24" drops, so 4 was all I could muster while still being able to get off the ground. A little shaky up the stairs to bed, but went to bed fired up for starting my 2 a days. :slaphappy:
 
Yesterday was 2 a day #1.
Morning Workout:

I had do adjust a bit due to my traps still being sore from the living room workout with all the resverse flys I did. I worked delts, and did some lat work, but did a rare amount of extra bicep work.

BB OHP / Chin Ups
95 x 8 / BW x 8
95 x 8 / BW x 8
135 x 7 *PR* / BW x 8
95 x 8 / BW x 7
95 x 8 / BW x 6

My first 2 sets of OHP were an additional warm up, but also to see if my elbow was up for some heavy pressing. My initial plan was to try and get above 155 lbs., my current 1RM. After my 4th rep on 135 my elbow started winking at me letting me know that it wasn't quite there yet. I focused very hard on keeping my elbows back next to my shoulders since I have a tendancy to let them drift forward. When I focused on keeping them back it helped and I was able to hit a PR of 7 reps. My previous max on 135 was 5 reps. At the end though my elbow had a slight ache so I dropped the weight back down and went for an "exaggerated" ROM trying to bring the bar to just below my collar bones and try to get some extra delt activation. And the chin ups pissed me off as usual. I hear about or read about guys being able to do 15, 20, even 25 chin ups in a set, and the most I've ever been able to do in 1 set is 11. I've been told that my long arms combined with my body weight is the issue. I've read articles on that but it still irritates that crap out of me.

DB Lateral Raises / Incline DB Curls
20s x 12 / 25s x 10
20s x 12 / 25s x 10
20s x 10 / 25s x 10

Focused very hard on slow and controlled eccentrics for both exercises.

DB OHP / Standing Low Cable Curls
50s x 10 / *40* x 10
55s x 9 / *45* x 10
60s x / *55* x 7


Evening Workout:

Explosive Burpees
All in one motion go from standing to squating to plank position to half push ups to squating to jump as high as possible and repeat. I shoot for 15 in a row, for 10 cycles. As you get closer to 10 cycles it gets harder to get 15 reps. 10 cycles took me just about 20 minutes, and since it was 9 degrees outside, and in my gym, I didn't sweat a drop. Otherwise in a regular gym, or anything warmer than 30 degrees I would have been sweating my a$$ off.

Overall I like 2 a days. I kept my diet very clean as well, not using that as an excuse to eat some crap. Altough my mother-in-law made that very difficult since she already bought my kids a ton of Easter candy. I was a good boy though. And I slept like a baby.
 
Congrats on the PR! 135x7 is pushing some weight! Your on your way to rippedville, your wife's face will be priceless when she gets back home. Motivation right there.
 
A serious belt will help you push your OHP max up. OHP is obv a very core-intensive exercise, & the same reason you wanna train it as often as possible without a belt (to strengthen the core) is the same reason a good belt will raise the max (it braces the core for better power transfer). & maxing can be a slightly dangerous proposition on OHP, so the added protection is welcome when you're pushing your ragged edge of performance. Anything heavy enough to be 5RM or heavier I usually OHP with a belt. FWIW.
 
Last night I had the heaters CRANKED! It was 8 degrees outside when I got out to the gym to workout, and it was a balmy 27 in the gym.

Calves and Hamstrings

I wanted to focus very hard on hamstrings and try to limit glute activation.

Lying Cable Hamstring Curls / Machine Leg Press Calf Raises
*30* x 15 / *120* x 15
*30* x 15 / *130* x 15
*45* x 10 / *140* x 12

I focused a lot of attention on relaxing my calves during the curls. Flexing my calves during curls is a HORRIBLE habit I have, as do most people based on my experience in training and coaching

SLDLs / Seated Smith Machine Calf Raises
225 x 6* / 155 x 25
135 x 12 / 165 x 20
135 x 12 / 165 x 20
135 x 10 / 175 x 16

I had to drop the weight on the SLDls significantly because the back pumps as of late have become almost debilitating. When I went down to 135 my back wasn't so bad. Still had some issues, but it was easier to push through at 135 than it was at *225.

Assisted RHCs / Smith Machine Standing Calf Raises
BW x 8 / 185 x 12
BW x 8 / 185 x 12
BW x 8 / 185 x 11

The wind started really kicking up and dropping the temp in the garage. My wife backed her car into her partially opened garage door just before she left for training so our garage is no longer sealed as tightly as it used to be. A nice breeze is able to make its way through the building now. It started to get too cold to be comfortable, even while working out so I had to call it a night. Temp this a.m. was -2 so an a.m. workout today wasn't happening, but I may be able to swap my 2 a day workout today and get in some HIIT in our warehouse today and then lift in the evening after the heaters have had a chance to warm things up.
 
mountainman33 said:
Yesterday was 2 a day #1. Morning Workout: I had do adjust a bit due to my traps still being sore from the living room workout with all the resverse flys I did. I worked delts, and did some lat work, but did a rare amount of extra bicep work. BB OHP / Chin Ups 95 x 8 / BW x 8 95 x 8 / BW x 8 135 x 7 *PR* / BW x 8 95 x 8 / BW x 7 95 x 8 / BW x 6 My first 2 sets of OHP were an additional warm up, but also to see if my elbow was up for some heavy pressing. My initial plan was to try and get above 155 lbs., my current 1RM. After my 4th rep on 135 my elbow started winking at me letting me know that it wasn't quite there yet. I focused very hard on keeping my elbows back next to my shoulders since I have a tendancy to let them drift forward. When I focused on keeping them back it helped and I was able to hit a PR of 7 reps. My previous max on 135 was 5 reps. At the end though my elbow had a slight ache so I dropped the weight back down and went for an "exaggerated" ROM trying to bring the bar to just below my collar bones and try to get some extra delt activation. And the chin ups pissed me off as usual. I hear about or read about guys being able to do 15, 20, even 25 chin ups in a set, and the most I've ever been able to do in 1 set is 11. I've been told that my long arms combined with my body weight is the issue. I've read articles on that but it still irritates that crap out of me.
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Congrats in the ohp PR bro! I guess nows not a good time to let you know I can almost do 30 bw chins in a row without cheating lol :D seriously tho man if you want to do more chins do them every day. I love chins and throw in 3 sets at the end of most of my workouts my numbers have skyrocketed since I started doing this.
 
Lukef2000 said:
Congrats in the ohp PR bro! I guess nows not a good time to let you know I can almost do 30 bw chins in a row without cheating lol :D seriously tho man if you want to do more chins do them every day. I love chins and throw in 3 sets at the end of most of my workouts my numbers have skyrocketed since I started doing this.
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Thanks Luke, I'll have to try doing them more often you SOB. LOL.
 
207 this morning! :-D


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Today was slightly disappointing since I couldn't make today a 2 a day. But I'm still going to get in a solid workout.

Chest and Traps
DB Flat Bench Press / Machine Overhand Rows
55s x 12 / *90* x 12
65s x 12 / *100* x 12
85s x 10 / *110* x 10
90s x 8 / *110* x 10

I had to use 25 lb. plates on my dumbbell handles to make them heavy enough. Necessity is the mother of invention right?

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Not pretty, I know, but they worked.

TRX Flys / BB Rows, Overhand
BW x 6 / 135 x 10
BW x 6 / 135 x 10
BW x 6 / 135 x 10

Those TRX Flys work so well but are so g-dam hard. Towards the end they started to become half presses. But man, I practically feel the individual fibers in my chest working. Good stuff.

Incline Smith Machine Presses / BB Rows, Overhand to Underhand
115 x 15 / 135 x 6, 4
135 x 12 / 135 x 6, 4
155 x 10 / 135 x 5, 3

The transition from Overhand to Underhand added such a great burn in my upper traps, and keeping my upper body tilted at just less than 45 degrees helps ensure its more traps than lats.

Burn out sets:
Pec Deck / Incline BB Press / Reverse Flys / BB Curls, no rest
*40* x 5 / 115 x 6 / 10s x 12 / 65 x 8
*40* x 5 / 115 x 6 / 10s x 12 / 65 x 8
*40* x 5 / 115 x 6 / 10s x 12 / 65 x 8

I used my pipe insulation on all my bars and handles, trying to work on my grip and forearms again now that my tendonitis seems to have improved greatly. NattyForLife got me inspired on his "Popeye Forearms" thread.
 
I do the same with the 25s on the DB handles, whatever works man. The suspension flys are killer! I do these as well. Pics are looking good man, your making progress!
 
pete8407 said:
I do the same with the 25s on the DB handles, whatever works man. The suspension flys are killer! I do these as well. Pics are looking good man, your making progress!
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Thanks Pete. Getting there.
 
Couple guys were also doing back last night at the gym, & they were using these Iron Bull grips on everything late in the workout. Funny how the limiting factor becomes your girly lil grip so fast; you end up using like half the weight on rows lol
 
Hyde said:
Couple guys were also doing back last night at the gym, & they were using these Iron Bull grips on everything late in the workout. Funny how the limiting factor becomes your girly lil grip so fast; you end up using like half the weight on rows lol
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If you can suck up the light weight for a little while until your grip kicks up it makes a difference down the road.
 
Jump Training Day

Today has been project day. Not having the wife around has doubled my work so I've been going non stop. After the kids went down for nap I wasn't feeling motivated to do anything. I fired down 2 scoops of Volatile and that completely turned me around. I'm sincerely digging that stuff. I already had the heaters going, planning on a workout, so the gym was semi warm. After a good warm up I was ready to go.

18" Depth Jumps
BW x 8
BW x 8

24" Depth Jumps
BW x 8
BW x 8
BW x 10
BW x 10

1 Leg 6" Depth Jumps
BW x 8, 8
BW x 8, 8

18" Depth Jumps
BW x 10
BW x 10

BB Jumping Squats
65 x 12
65 x 12
65 x 12

My chest is kind of sore from last night's chest work so I felt that on the arm swings during my depth jumps, but my knees weren't as achey as usual. Definitely a good thing. I was also trying to move as fast as possible, keeping my heart rate up, then resting just enough between sets to make it a pseudo HIIT workout. I do feel that the Max-Bulk has cut down on recovery time greatly. And I feel I would be far more sore today if it weren't for the Max-Bulk. I would have added chin ups at the end of my workout, per Luke's suggestion, but my daughter woke up from nap early, cutting things short just a tiny bit.
 
Going to get in 2 workouts today, I swear it.

I was going to get the kids down for nap early today. #1, because they were both up early today, but #2, because I was trying to separate the workouts as much as possible. Just as the kids were finishing lunch the in laws showed up to hang out with kids. Plans get scrapped again......grrrrr. But after they leave, I get the kids down and it GO TIME!

Alternating Grip "Ups" / BB OHP (PU = pull up, CH = chin up)
CH - BW x 8 / 115 x 10
PU - BW x 8 / 135 x 3 (elbow pain)
CH - BW x 7 / 115 x 8
PU - BW x 6 / 115 x 7

Alternating my grips really gave me some good activation in my lats. I really felt them towards the end of each set. And my stupid elbow keeps reminding me that it's not 100% yet. My fault though, so I guess I shouldn't call it stupid. But it IS a doodie head.

Skier Pull Downs / Plate Front Raises
*55* x 12 / 35 x 8, 10s x 5
*75* x 6, *55* x 4 / 35 x 7, 10s x 5
*55* x 10 / 35 x 7, 10s x 4

Wide Grip Pull Downs / Smith Machine High Pulls
*110* x 15 / 85 x 10
*110* x 12 / 85 x 9
*110* x 11 / 85 x 8

Focused very hard on elbows back as far as possible on the pull downs. And those high pulls are a wicked burner. My delts were on fire, but it was great because they're a "cheat" exercise anyway so I was able to get a couple extra reps that I normally wouldn't have been able to get as upright rows.

Low Cable Rope Rows / Clean and Press
*65* x 12 / 85 x 1

My elbow did NOT agree with the transitional portion of the clean to press, so I had to just make the OPHs.

Low Cable Rope Rows / BB OHP
*65* x 12 / 85 x 15
*75* x 11 / 85 x 12
*75* x 10 / 85 x 10

I had been contemplating adding some arm work into my upper body days, and finally decided that a little couldn't hurt. Who knows, maybe I'll start getting bigger arms?

Transitional Delt Raises / BB Curls / OH Cable Tricep Exts.
10s x 10 / 65 x 9 / *55* x 11
10s x 10 / 65 x 9 / *55* x 11
10s x 9 / 65 x 8 / *55* x 10

I know, I know, my curl and extension weights are pathetic, but I'm going to work on it. Those transitionals were killer though, great way to end a shoulder workout.

DB OH Exts. / Concentration Curls
25 x 10, 10 / 25 x 10, 10
25 x 10, 10 / 25 x 10, 10
 
I'm on the fence how I want to run my pct. I have serm ready with some otc test and estro stuff, but I also loaded up on some goodies during NP's new year sale. Not sure if I want to run EVERYTHING during pct or go thru pct and run my goodies as a separate cycle.
 
I know what you mean. I'm in the same boat but I think I'm going run everything together for one big badass stack!
 
pete8407 said:
I know what you mean. I'm in the same boat but I think I'm going run everything together for one big badass stack!
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Sure should help keep to the gainz. Think I'll do the same.
 
Last night after the kids went to bed I looked at the thermometer and temps had dropped down to 5 degrees. The ol' home gym wasn't very inviting at that point. I stayed inside and did explosive Burpees in the living room while watching Impractical Jokers. I had the pellet stove going all day so our house was pretty toasty. 1/4 of the way through I was in just my shorts going through the Burpees. I'm sure it would have looked pretty funny to anyone who peered through my living room window. And the thing that made it even more difficult was how dam funny Impractical Jokers is. If you've never seen it it's a must see. I was breathing heavy, sweating AND laughing my a$$ off. Good stuff. Got my 2nd workout for the day in though. Dang those Burpees suck.
 
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