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Shaddow vs. T-Roid & P-Plex

Day 19: Tuesday, April 14
Weight: 203.2 (+14.8)

Workout #8 - B1

DB curls: 2 warm-ups @ 20x18, 30x12
Working set with rest-pauses: 55x8 +5 +4

Up 5 pounds. That's about as heavy as I've ever gone. I'm pretty sure I've never curled 60 pounds before. But I'll give it a shot next time around! :D

Reverse bb curls: 2 warm-ups @ 45x18, 55x12
Working set with rest-pauses: 95x6

No rest-pauses for forearms. These were heavy. Ouch.

Sled toe press: 2 warm-ups @ 360x15, 540x12
Working set with rest-pauses: 720x8 +4 +4

I did these differently today. 5-second negatives, long holds at the bottom, and explosive raises. Ouch. I definitely didn't do them DC-style last time.

Lying leg curls: 2 warm ups @ 50x18, 60x12
Working set with rest-pauses: 80x8 +5 +3

Up 10 lbs. My left (previously injured) hamstring is still my weak point, and it'll take some work to get it up to par.

Hack squat: 2 warm-ups @ 180x12, 270x10
Working set: 360x8
Widowmaker: 180x20

I switched this exercise from power squats which were way too easy for me for some reason last week. This felt more realistic. I could've/should've gone heavier on the widowmaker.

Notes:

Sleep has been very poor and lethargy has been a big issue lately. Couldn't fall asleep until about 3 or 4 last night, it was awful, woke up at like 8 and was wired, then got tired in the afternoon and took a nap for about 2 hours. I'm over it. I switched my dosing around today to see if it helps with sleep. I'll report back on that in the next few days.

I did some intense ab work yesterday. Twisting knee raises, decline bench situps with 75# db on my chest. I still can't run. Have I mentioned that?? I don't remember. :dunno: My hamstring gets too tight and I have to walk it out. The last 8 or 9 times I've tried jogging I end up straight up walking within a minute. It blows. I'm gonna try to get some extra time in tomorrow to walk and hit the stationary bike.

I haven't been eating as much as I could be, and it's my own fault. Appetite is definitely decreased though which isn't helping. Gains have slowed down, but strength is still increasing and my physique is still transforming before my eyes. I'm looking bigger, broader, and fuller with every passing day and I'm starting to get lots of comments from people. My chest is filling in - I usually have a smaller right pec but it's looking fuller these days, which makes me look a lot less lopsided. LOL.

I'll get the gf to take some new pics next time I see her, as I'm sure you can easily note improvements since the last pics.

One more thing - I am really, really, really digging DC training. Seriously. And to be completely honest with you, I don't think I'll ever go back to volume training again. :poke:
 
Holy sh1t bro! Are tho plate loaded hack squats or bb hacks?
 
Irish Cannon said:
I really need to spend time reading up on DC Training. Sounds like good stuff.
Click to expand...

It is! I'm absolutely loving it, bro! :head:


metroba said:
Holy sh1t bro! Are tho plate loaded hack squats or bb hacks?
Click to expand...

No, it was plate loaded. It's one of those Icarian machines. I did power squats on it last time, but I pushed 450lbs 12x and did a widowmaker @ 360, and that just doesn't make sense cuz I am only ATG squatting like 225. So I did hack squats instead. This was like the 3rd time I've ever done these.

I'd like to try bb hacks but I'm having enough trouble with my back from doing deads and heavy shrugs as it is. I'll have to try and find a way to incorporate them someday...
 
Freaking volume guys, man, they piss me off.

Invalid Link Removed



I finally watched A Week in the Dungeon the other day. Mark Dugdale goes out to the UK to train with Dorian Yates. Pretty interesting to see how the big guys do it. The whole thing's available on youtube if you search for it.
 
i gotta make time to watch that!! i've spent over 7 months in a dungeon one time..... and no there were no weights to keep my busy, the occasional water bag, but thats it.
 
That was a neat video..really puts things into perspective
 
shaddow said:
Day 19: Tuesday, April 14
Weight: 203.2 (+14.8)

Workout #8 - B1

DB curls: 2 warm-ups @ 20x18, 30x12
Working set with rest-pauses: 55x8 +5 +4

Up 5 pounds. That's about as heavy as I've ever gone. I'm pretty sure I've never curled 60 pounds before. But I'll give it a shot next time around! :D

Reverse bb curls: 2 warm-ups @ 45x18, 55x12
Working set with rest-pauses: 95x6

No rest-pauses for forearms. These were heavy. Ouch.

Sled toe press: 2 warm-ups @ 360x15, 540x12
Working set with rest-pauses: 720x8 +4 +4

I did these differently today. 5-second negatives, long holds at the bottom, and explosive raises. Ouch. I definitely didn't do them DC-style last time.

Lying leg curls: 2 warm ups @ 50x18, 60x12
Working set with rest-pauses: 80x8 +5 +3

Up 10 lbs. My left (previously injured) hamstring is still my weak point, and it'll take some work to get it up to par.

Hack squat: 2 warm-ups @ 180x12, 270x10
Working set: 360x8
Widowmaker: 180x20

I switched this exercise from power squats which were way too easy for me for some reason last week. This felt more realistic. I could've/should've gone heavier on the widowmaker.

Notes:

Sleep has been very poor and lethargy has been a big issue lately. Couldn't fall asleep until about 3 or 4 last night, it was awful, woke up at like 8 and was wired, then got tired in the afternoon and took a nap for about 2 hours. I'm over it. I switched my dosing around today to see if it helps with sleep. I'll report back on that in the next few days.

I did some intense ab work yesterday. Twisting knee raises, decline bench situps with 75# db on my chest. I still can't run. Have I mentioned that?? I don't remember. :dunno: My hamstring gets too tight and I have to walk it out. The last 8 or 9 times I've tried jogging I end up straight up walking within a minute. It blows. I'm gonna try to get some extra time in tomorrow to walk and hit the stationary bike.

I haven't been eating as much as I could be, and it's my own fault. Appetite is definitely decreased though which isn't helping. Gains have slowed down, but strength is still increasing and my physique is still transforming before my eyes. I'm looking bigger, broader, and fuller with every passing day and I'm starting to get lots of comments from people. My chest is filling in - I usually have a smaller right pec but it's looking fuller these days, which makes me look a lot less lopsided. LOL.

I'll get the gf to take some new pics next time I see her, as I'm sure you can easily note improvements since the last pics.

One more thing - I am really, really, really digging DC training. Seriously. And to be completely honest with you, I don't think I'll ever go back to volume training again. :poke:
Click to expand...
I just started up with the Dc training again and i am loving it. i really feel that it just does so much more. i love the act of passing your previous weights every week. How can you not gain size like this? It all comes down to the ego game and science. you need to do just enough to provoke mass but not too much. Too many people fall into that bracket of overtraining. You see all those people in the gym that do the same exercise every wek and wonder why they are the same size. It just makes sense to me. I think i remember you saying that you are not doing the 6-8 second negatives is that correct shadow. If so you really need to put that into play it is one of the most important parts of the dc training method along with the extreme stretches. this kinda explains it by dante: " For example alot of people freak out about the controlled negative on reps in DC training and why the heck its done. Besides what science agrees with, think of certain instances or hobbies or jobs with repetitive movements with the repeated same load. Boat rowers, sawing lumberjacks and gymnasts. They all do repetitive movements with the same load, a boat or canoist rower is trying to power along a boat as fast as he can, a sawing lumberjack is using power to saw down a tree, a gymnast does repeated movements with bodyweight. All are pushing the limits trying to use as much power as possible for the task at hand. Which one of those three has a discernable musculature? Boat rowers dont have huge backs, sawing lumberjacks dont have huge arms but gymnasts always have that musculature. They sure arent eating to get huge and most likely they arent doing incredibly heavy weight training but you can always see the musculature on a gymnast. Why? Well which one of those three does controlled negative movements? The rowers and sawers are just using positive movements and it does virtually nothing for their musculature (science agrees with that theory-concluding that the positive movment is a strength/priming phase and the eccentric is where the magic happens)--the gymnasts on the other hand are all doing heavy eccentric and controlled negative work (iron cross/rings, pommel horse etc etc etc)--the moral of the story is your whole thinking in all this should get to the point where your curling a weight up just for the simple reason of controlling the descent downward so you can get bigger"
 
Shaddow, have you ever tried Reverse Preachers? Try Reverse Preachers with a Cambered bar, at 4:2:2 [4 eccentric: 2 concentric: 2 second peak contraction]. They are out of this world!

A great superset is Reverse Preachers followed directly by Zottmans.
 
Mulletsoldier said:
Shaddow, have you ever tried Reverse Preachers? Try Reverse Preachers with a Cambered bar, at 4:2:2 [4 eccentric: 2 concentric: 2 second peak contraction]. They are out of this world!

A great superset is Reverse Preachers followed directly by Zottmans.
Click to expand...

The last time I did reverse preachers was a few years ago, and I remember I felt like my forearms were gonna snap in half. LOL. I've progressed a lot since then.

I had to look Zottmans up. That does sound like a nasty superset! :head:

I'm still just getting my feet wet with DC training, but I do plan to add in some drop-sets and supersets as I continue to get a feel for things and progress with my training.
 
shaddow said:
The last time I did reverse preachers was a few years ago, and I remember I felt like my forearms were gonna snap in half. LOL. I've progressed a lot since then.

I had to look Zottmans up. That does sound like a nasty superset! :head:

I'm still just getting my feet wet with DC training, but I do plan to add in some drop-sets and supersets as I continue to get a feel for things and progress with my training.
Click to expand...

Try just regular dc first/imo. If you do it with the correct negatives you don't need anymore. Did you read my last post ?*important*
 
hman85 said:
Try just regular dc first/imo. If you do it with the correct negatives you don't need anymore. Did you read my last post ?*important*
Click to expand...

Yeah, I did. But with all due respect, 6-8 second negatives is a bit much. I have read several articles where Dante explicitly says he isn't looking for specific amounts of time. Here's one right here:

Invalid Link Removed

They would explosively pull the bar down to their chest, and then on the negative return they would resist, or control, on the way up. I don’t want specific seconds or a certain time range; I just want control on the negative to the point that if they had to, they could easily reverse direction.
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I do slow, controlled negatives. I did 5 second negatives on calves the other day, but in all honesty I'm probably generally in the 3-4 second range for negatives on most other exercises.


As far as trying straight up DC training, that's what I'm doing. My first three weeks have been straight DC style. But surely I will end up tweaking things or putting in a dropset here or there... I am recovering a lot quicker, especially while on this cycle, and I feel that I can easily handle a little more volume.
 
shaddow said:
Yeah, I did. But with all due respect, 6-8 second negatives is a bit much. I have read several articles where Dante explicitly says he isn't looking for specific amounts of time. Here's one right here:

Invalid Link Removed



I do slow, controlled negatives. I did 5 second negatives on calves the other day, but in all honesty I'm probably generally in the 3-4 second range for negatives on most other exercises.


As far as trying straight up DC training, that's what I'm doing. My first three weeks have been straight DC style. But surely I will end up tweaking things or putting in a dropset here or there... I am recovering a lot quicker, especially while on this cycle, and I feel that I can easily handle a little more volume.
Click to expand...

Totally agree, Shaddow! As you have shown, Dante himself seems to deter people from strictly adhering to a stringent "D.C., Guideline". As a trainer, he undoubtedly knows that customization and preventing adaptation is key.

Even using the A1, B1, A2 scheme, the body adapts to certain stimuli sets, and your progress when using D.C., is rate-limited by your level of adaptation; obviously, that level of adaptation is highly-variable!

I think the best D.C., approach is to be mindful of the basic principles - progressive overload, high-intensity [literally speaking], high frequency, fascia stretching and compound movements - but not puritanically adhere to the basic plan that travels around the internet.
 
I'm so mad I don't have the joint health for DC-training. Shoulder and elbow joints get me every time I try to incorporate DC-training . . within 2-3 weeks or so. Shoulder presses performed just straight-forward even give me some shoulder joint troubles since my AC tear 15 months ago.
 
shaddow said:
Yeah, I did. But with all due respect, 6-8 second negatives is a bit much. I have read several articles where Dante explicitly says he isn't looking for specific amounts of time. Here's one right here:

Invalid Link Removed



I do slow, controlled negatives. I did 5 second negatives on calves the other day, but in all honesty I'm probably generally in the 3-4 second range for negatives on most other exercises.


As far as trying straight up DC training, that's what I'm doing. My first three weeks have been straight DC style. But surely I will end up tweaking things or putting in a dropset here or there... I am recovering a lot quicker, especially while on this cycle, and I feel that I can easily handle a little more volume.
Click to expand...

I'm not the biggest fan of DC, but I may have some helpful suggestions to maximize your DC experience, by merging a second principle from HIT. I found a modified DC program was more effect then a legalistic DC or legalistic HIT.

DC of course is about loading the muscle to all hell with heavy @$$ weight, to force through strength barriers and also to consistently adapt by circulating certain exercises once you've plateaued in strength on that particular exercise. Also, stretching the muscle fascia is one of DC's root principles.

HIT as originally proposed by Mike Mentzer was derived from a principle rooted in Psychology, based on Dr. Hans Selye's GAS principle. General Adaption Syndrome, which says, only when a certain stress threshold is exceeded, does one adapt by self strengthening, in order to cope with the stress. Dr. Selye of course was speaking about a psychological/emotional strengthening, and Mike Mentzer brought that application of GAS to bodybuilding. He's not the first or last to derive psychological principles and applied to to human physiology.

Mentzer hypothesized that "muscle failure" was the only sure fire way to deem that threshold exceeded.

Here's the logic. Muscle adapts for defensive purposes. If you bench press heavy, the pectorals grow in size and strength in order to protect your thoracic cavity, (heart & lungs) from the dangers of the stress of that weight. You can run with that principle and apply it.

Muscle Failure:

Muscle has three type of strengths, concentric, isometric and eccentric. We all know this. Concentric movements are the positive portion of the lift, a curl, or what physiologists call, muscle shortening. The isometric, is hold a weight in an unmoving position and the eccentric, the negative portion or muscle lengthening.

In bodybuilding, we only push the concentric portion of the lift to failure. Ironically, concentric contractions require the least amount of applied force by the muscle of the three strengths. Eccentric requires the most force, then isometric. Failure of the concentric element of your muscle does not correlate to failure of isometric strength and/or eccentric. If you curled a 40lbs Db for 12 reps until you cannot rep anymore, you can still hold that last rep at a 90 degree angle for up to 10 or more seconds, furthermore, as the isometric contraction starts to fail, you can resist the negative portion for up to 10 seconds. The absence of a free-fall drop of the weight implicates the presence of eccentric strength.

Now, to mesh DC and HIT principles.

The strength aspect:

Strength as a concept have physiological changes that occur which are exclusive to strength, but not directly correlated with hypertrophy.

1. With the increasing load, your motor units adapt by exciting more innervating muscle fibers in synchronicity.

2. With heavy, heavy loads, your motor units will coordinate to fire in synchronicity.

Those two adaptions are the first adaptions to take place before new muscle is ever added.

DC/HIT

Perform your DC reps, rest-pause your way up to your 15 reps with the extremely heavy weight. At the end of that 15 reps, hold that weight in an isometric contraction until isometric failure. The weight will slowly and unwillingly begin to drop, which will signify isometric failure, as the weight is dropping down, resist that drop as long as you can until you've reached eccentric failure.

This way, you push the concentric muscle strength to failure with DC, then you push the isometric and eccentric strengths with the HIT principles.

Lastly, Mentzer also theorized that when you reach this "muscle failure" hormones will signify to your brain that growth is necessary to facilitate this dangerous level of stress, as COMPLETE muscle failure had been reached, thus, accelerating muscle growth.

Who had a more pretentious post, me or Mulletsailor? Invalid Link Removed
 
VolcomX311 said:
I'm not the biggest fan of DC, but I may have some helpful suggestions to maximize your DC experience, by merging a second principle from HIT. I found a modified DC program was more effect then a legalistic DC or legalistic HIT.

DC of course is about loading the muscle to all hell with heavy @$$ weight, to force through strength barriers and also to consistently adapt by circulating certain exercises once you've plateaued in strength on that particular exercise. Also, stretching the muscle fascia is one of DC's root principles.

HIT as originally proposed by Mike Mentzer was derived from a principle rooted in Psychology, based on Dr. Hans Selye's GAS principle. General Adaption Syndrome, which says, only when a certain stress threshold is exceeded, does one adapt by self strengthening, in order to cope with the stress. Dr. Selye of course was speaking about a psychological/emotional strengthening, and Mike Mentzer brought that application of GAS to bodybuilding. He's not the first or last to derive psychological principles and applied to to human physiology.

Mentzer hypothesized that "muscle failure" was the only sure fire way to deem that threshold exceeded.

Here's the logic. Muscle adapts for defensive purposes. If you bench press heavy, the pectorals grow in size and strength in order to protect your thoracic cavity, (heart & lungs) from the dangers of the stress of that weight. You can run with that principle and apply it.

Muscle Failure:

Muscle has three type of strengths, concentric, isometric and eccentric. We all know this. Concentric movements are the positive portion of the lift, a curl, or what physiologists call, muscle shortening. The isometric, is hold a weight in an unmoving position and the eccentric, the negative portion or muscle lengthening.

In bodybuilding, we only push the concentric portion of the lift to failure. Ironically, concentric contractions require the least amount of applied force by the muscle of the three strengths. Eccentric requires the most force, then isometric. Failure of the concentric element of your muscle does not correlate to failure of isometric strength and/or eccentric. If you curled a 40lbs Db for 12 reps until you cannot rep anymore, you can still hold that last rep at a 90 degree angle for up to 10 or more seconds, furthermore, as the isometric contraction starts to fail, you can resist the negative portion for up to 10 seconds. The absence of a free-fall drop of the weight implicates the presence of eccentric strength.

Now, to mesh DC and HIT principles.

The strength aspect:

Strength as a concept have physiological changes that occur which are exclusive to strength, but not directly correlated with hypertrophy.

1. With the increasing load, your motor units adapt by exciting more innervating muscle fibers in synchronicity.

2. With heavy, heavy loads, your motor units will coordinate to fire in synchronicity.

Those two adaptions are the first adaptions to take place before new muscle is ever added.

DC/HIT

Perform your DC reps, rest-pause your way up to your 15 reps with the extremely heavy weight. At the end of that 15 reps, hold that weight in an isometric contraction until isometric failure. The weight will slowly and unwillingly begin to drop, which will signify isometric failure, as the weight is dropping down, resist that drop as long as you can until you've reached eccentric failure.

This way, you push the concentric muscle strength to failure with DC, then you push the isometric and eccentric strengths with the HIT principles.

Lastly, Mentzer also theorized that when you reach this "muscle failure" hormones will signify to your brain that growth is necessary to facilitate this dangerous level of stress, as COMPLETE muscle failure had been reached, thus, accelerating muscle growth.

Who had a more pretentious post, me or Mulletsailor? Invalid Link Removed
Click to expand...

They do that in dc too with the 20 seconds statics! They are quite brutal!
 
VolcomX311 said:
I'm not the biggest fan of DC, but I may have some helpful suggestions to maximize your DC experience, by merging a second principle from HIT. I found a modified DC program was more effect then a legalistic DC or legalistic HIT...

Who had a more pretentious post, me or Mulletsailor? Invalid Link Removed
Click to expand...

Yours, because yours was a contrived repost!

:type:
 
A couple of DC training questions for the newbie.

Since I am still trying to lean up is DC training something that is for me or is it more for guys looking to add serious bulk?

Is it pretty tough to use DC training without a spotter? It seems going heavy until almost failure, short rest then same weight until 15 reps might be a tad dangerous without assistance.

The principals behind it intrigue me, but I am not sure it is for me at this stage of my development.
 
Day 21: Thursday, April 16
Weight: Don't know!

Workout #9 - A2

Incline bench press: 2 warm-ups @ 115x18, 135x12
Working set with rest-pauses: 195x8 +4 +3

+10lbs from last week. I wanted to go to 205 but there was nobody there to spot me and my right shoulder had been hurting all day so I just did 195.

BB overhead press: 2 warm-ups @ 65x18, 85x12
Working set with rest-pauses: 125x9 + 1 (Ouch) +5

12 breaths is not enough time for me to catch my breath after bb oh presses. I got the weight up once on my first rest-pause, but that was it. Something about shoulders, and this exercise specifically. Ouch. Plus my shoulder was already hurting so I put it down and rested. Hit it again for 5. Hopefully I can hit it right in the rest-pauses next time. :hump:

Close-grip smith bench: 2 warm-ups @ 135x18, 185x12
Working set with rest-pauses: 225x7 +2

+20 lbs from last week, but I only got in two reps on my first rest-pause before my shoulder started hurting. Well, at least we have a theme for the night. :frustrate

Close-grip pulldowns: 2 warm ups @ 90x18, 120x12
Working set with rest-pauses: 180x8 +4 +3

Got bold and went up +20 lbs today and crushed it. I like using straps on heavy pulldowns. :twisted:

Deadlifts: 2 warm-ups @ 135x15, 185x10
Working set: 295x4

+20lbs, but my shoulder was hurting, and my lumbar is jacked up, so I only got 4 reps before I quit. Ugh. No more.

Notes:

My shoulder has been killing me all day. ****! I must've fallen asleep on it wrong last night. Poor sleep again last night. This is driving me crazy. I've never had sleep issues like this on a cycle before. Had to take stims in the afternoon so I wouldn't pass out. Actually, I had to do that yesterday too. And I still laid down and almost passed out. I'm getting a little tired of sleeping poorly at night and wanting to nap all day. It's getting old.

My lumbar is tight. I've been doing weighted ab work and I think it's causing me some mobility issues. I mean, my abs are getting worked to hell, but my back hates me. I guess my lower spine has really been taking a beating lately. I feel like I need a couple of good solid nights of sleep. :sleeping:

So, today's update: Still getting stronger, but I'm beat up and freaking tired. I honestly don't know how much more of this I can take. The lethargy is freaking brutal. I'm pretty sure it's the T-Roid. And I'm gonna run that solo for 2 more weeks after I end the PP? Oh lord. I'm also gonna have to do something about exercises that compress or stress my lumbar if I wanna train like this long-term.

Laying down to sleep @ 210.4lbs. We'll see what that translates to in the AM.
 
Silver3CSRT8 said:
A couple of DC training questions for the newbie.

Since I am still trying to lean up is DC training something that is for me or is it more for guys looking to add serious bulk?

Is it pretty tough to use DC training without a spotter? It seems going heavy until almost failure, short rest then same weight until 15 reps might be a tad dangerous without assistance.

The principals behind it intrigue me, but I am not sure it is for me at this stage of my development.
Click to expand...

I have never really trained differently when cutting vs. bulking. Hang on, lemme think... I mean, I know I've done certain extra exercises or what not, but I have always still tried lifting the heaviest weights I could when cutting. Cutting for me just means I am being strict with my diet and cardio, supplementing differently, and eating more or less of certain things. I will more than likely stay on DC or modified DC training for my summer cut.

Some exercises are tough to do DC style. Like, today for example, I had to do 195 on incline bench when I was really hungry for 205. I just didn't have anyone to spot me and didn't wanna end up with the bb on my neck doing inclines. For this reason it's probably better to use the Smith machine, but I would much rather hit the barbell just cuz that is my weakness and I want to attack it. If you're at extreme risk there's surely always a safer exercises that you could switch out. I'm just really trying to stress my weaknesses with my training.
 
shaddow said:
I take about a minute between warm-up sets and ~3 minutes or so before my working set. Then each rest-pause lasts 12-15 deep breaths (~20-30 seconds).
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thank you very much sir, so you rest a good chunk of time than hammer out a couple reps. What do you think of taking like a 5-7 second rest and getting only 1 or 2 extra reps, and repeating this two or three times?
 
buster0371 said:
thank you very much sir, so you rest a good chunk of time than hammer out a couple reps. What do you think of taking like a 5-7 second rest and getting only 1 or 2 extra reps, and repeating this two or three times?
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Ignoring the fact that 5-7 seconds isn't even enough time to put the weights down then pick the weights back up and go at it, I think that would cause you to be under the weight for less time and less reps which would probably cause less stimulation and less growth.

It would just be plain difficult though, if not impossible for many exercises. Look at today for example, I had trouble after my first rest-pause on overhead presses and only got one rep. There are some exercises where I can barely get the weight back up in order to do a few reps. There's no way I would've gotten a single rep with 1/4 the rest.
 
Ok, it's 3 am. Here's what I'm thinking right now. I'm freaking tired, man. I've put on like 15-20 pounds in 3 weeks. That's solid. But I'm just not sleeping well these days. It's driving me nuts. I wanna keep going with this but the lack of sleep and lethargy is killing me. I feel like I'm on the verge of drugging myself nightly here, and I don't enjoy drug-assisted sleep as much as normal Zzz's. Therefor, I'm thinking....

Tomorrow (today) is the start of week 4. I'm thinking about going up to 40mg phera (oh, btw, I uppsed my phera dosage 2 days ago :p) and finishing up this last week. Go off the phera, and try and do T-Roid solo for an additional week. If I can't handle T-Roid solo, I'll shut this down sooner, but as it stands I don't think I'm gonna run this past week 5. I don't feel like my body can handle much more of this. I'm enjoying the size and strength, but I'm gonna need my recovery abilities if I wanna keep all this mass, and I kinda feel like a ticking time bomb here.

So I think I'm looking at maybe two more weeks, then I'll roll into PCT.

Ok, that was tonight's 3 am rambling. Now I'm gonna go try and sleep again...
 
Smart man on calling off the cycle if it continues like that. You need your sleep bro and walking around like a zombie sucks. Awesome weight gain and cycle though!
 
Shaddow let us know what you think of the Zottman Curls. I have a few friends that like them; for some reason I've never enjoyed them that much though. Slow eccentric on preachers I love though; you can feel the muscle stretching on the way down and wow does it leave me sore.
 
I must say SHADOW what an awesome log, looking huge, cant wait to see your next set of pics, looks like you really respond well to the p-plex and tren combo, i would love to give it a go myself one day as i havent done a full cycle with either, take care and keep growing.
 
shaddow said:
4 am now, and I'm drugging myself to go to sleep. This is ridiculous.
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Dude, I've soooooo been there. It SUCKS BAD! Did you chop the dosing down to 2x/day?

Seriously, just drop the T-roid. I guarantee that's the culprit. I'm very prone to sleep issues, and never had problems with Phera-Plex. 19nor hormones are infamous for sleep issues.
 
Irish Cannon said:
Dude, I've soooooo been there. It SUCKS BAD! Did you chop the dosing down to 2x/day?

Seriously, just drop the T-roid. I guarantee that's the culprit. I'm very prone to sleep issues, and never had problems with Phera-Plex. 19nor hormones are infamous for sleep issues.
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I agree with cannon on this one. I would drop the t-roid before the phera. Also just getting into dc training can weigh you down at first. It takes a little bit for your body to adjust to the harsh training.
 
Day 23: Saturday, April 18
Weight: I'm getting bad at this... Will record tomorrow.

Workout #10 - B2

BB curls: 2 warm-ups @ 45x18, 75x12
Working set with rest-pauses: 105x6 +3 +1

Huge pump in my forearms and biceps again right off the bat. My arms felt so thick and full that it was almost difficult to rep out my working set, but I still managed to go up 10lbs.

Hammer curls: 2 warm-ups @ 25x18, 35x12
Working set: 55x7

+5lbs.

Seated calve raises: 2 warm-ups @ 90x15, 140x10
Working set with rest-pauses: 190x6 +3 +1

I did these with 5-second negatives and long holds at the bottom, so my reps went down a bit.

Seated Leg Curls: 2 warm ups @ 80x18, 110x12
Working set with rest-pauses: 190x6 +3 +1

+40 lbs on these, but I went too heavy on my working set and I had to hand assist.

ATG Squats: 2 warm-ups @ 135x15, 185x12
Working set: 275x1 - PR
Widowmaker: 185x18

Last week I did my working set @ 225 lbs. My legs have been feeling thick and strong, so I decided to be bold and attempt something I'd never tried before - 275 lbs. I went down and came back up cleanly. It was heavy, but I was fine. I came back down for a second rep, but I couldn't squeeze it out and failed on the second rep. Dammit! I'm still really proud of this though, cuz I'd never even attempted 275 before, so I'm moving along towards my short-term goal of repping 315.

And just like last week, I failed on my widowmaker. I got 14 reps @ 185 last time, and tonight I got 18. Argh! So close, but my heart was pounding, I started going black, and I just couldn't get the last two reps. That's ok though, I'm positive I'll be able to hit it next time.

Notes:

Sleep continues to be an issue, but other than that everything else is fine. I've finally been getting in my core and cardio days consistently again. I've decided to do one heavy core day and 1 or 2 lighter days every week. My back and core have been feeling nice and strong the past few days. Legs feel thick. Really thick. I can actually feel them rub against each other when I walk, it's weird. I'm definitely not used to that. Still getting comments from people who haven't seen me in a while saying I've put on size.

Despite the poor sleep I'm still seeing nice development, which is enough to keep me going forward. I'm still getting in my 7-8 hours of sleep, it's just kinda scattered throughout the day and night. LOL.

Tomorrow I'm going for a hike in the afternoon so that'll be my cardio for the day. That's it for now!
 
shaddow said:
Yeah man, it blows. I'm dealing though. I'm actually feeling a bit better these past few days, even with the lack of sleep.
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Keep fighting the good fight brother-man.

Sleep is always the worst part of my cycles too. But its all worth it in the end (well, within reason)... You appreciate your sleep - that's for sure...
 
TimberLakers said:
Keep fighting the good fight brother-man.

Sleep is always the worst part of my cycles too. But its all worth it in the end (well, within reason)... You appreciate your sleep - that's for sure...
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Hey man, how was your DC trip?

It's weird, I've never really had sleep issues like this on cycle before. When I was on M1T & 4AD several years back I remember getting lethargic as all hell, but I never had issues getting to sleep; the issue was more that I was sleeping too much.

I actually slept pretty well last night. I went hiking for a few hours this afternoon and I'm freaking worn out. It's only 10 pm, but I am yawning my ass off and I'm gonna hit the hay early tonight. I'm looking forward to some decent sleep again. :D

Daytime lethargy wasn't too bad today either. I'm thinking maybe the extra PP is helping to counter the negative effects from the T-Roid. :thanks:
 
shaddow said:
Sleep continues to be an issue, but other than that everything else is fine.
Despite the poor sleep I'm still seeing nice development, which is enough to keep me going forward. I'm still getting in my 7-8 hours of sleep, it's just kinda scattered throughout the day and night. LOL.
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The way my work schedule is, I split my sleep patterns as well. I get in at 4 or 5:00 A.M. and then sleep for about 3 hours. I then train. I go back to sleep in the afternoons at around 3 or 4:00 P.M. for 5 or 6 more hours. Then it's off to night shift work.
I've done this for 2 years now, so I'm fully adjusted to it.
If you have trouble getting to sleep, I can recommend 75 mg. of Benadryl and 3 mg. of Melatonin. That's my nighty-night remedy!! :sleeping:

I wouldn't advise you to drop the T-Roid personally. It's kicking your strength up nicely. You'll find ways to get your sleep. As long as you can get in 7 or 8 hours, even if it's split up, you'll be alright.

Keep slugggin' away my warrior-brother!!!
 
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