The Maximus Pact

[Shadowblaze]

Usually I never take 3 rest days in a week, but I had a very intense training session for rugby yesterday and everything is sore. My upper body is still sore from my workout on Tuesday and my legs are sore from running for 2 straight hours.

On top of that, I have a final tmrw and should probably go to tutoring and study a lot today so I’m taking a rest day. Since I do upper / lower I am still training everything 2x a week with 3 rest days in a week.

 

[Dustin07]

except really it's not a rest day if you were killing it at rugby

 

[Hyde]

4 days per week is the standard for most strength programs. If you are lifting 3-5 days per week, while also training a sport, you are doing good work.

 

[Shadowblaze]

4 days per week is the standard for most strength programs. If you are lifting 3-5 days per week, while also training a sport, you are doing good work.

Even for powerlifting?! I didn’t know that wow, I’m in the gym rn. It would have been leg day but I went ham at rugby and don’t want to put my spine under even more pressure just yet so I’m training upper body.

 

[Hyde]

Even for powerlifting?! I didn’t know that wow, I’m in the gym rn. It would have been leg day but I went ham at rugby and don’t want to put my spine under even more pressure just yet so I’m training upper body.

Yes; there are outliers who train weird amounts like 2 and even 6 days per week, but I’d guess 80% or more fall into 3-5 lifting days/wk.

You have to be able to sustain serious training for many years to try to reach your strength potential. People who lift 6 days per week year in and out are either not lifting at the intensity required to make progress, OR worse they are & will generally get grinded up if they sustain it longterm. There’s also diminishing returns with added frequency, but increased joint wear. So it’s a balance.

 

[Shadowblaze]

Day 11 of the Maximus pact:

It was finals day today on alternating current so I only had 1 hour of school and a 2 hour long test.

It was a pretty good workout, it would have been leg day but since I went so hard at rugby I will give myself 1 more day of rest for my legs so I just switched it to upper body day.

This is the first time I have ever benched 250 today, I hit it for 3, I could have gotten a 4th most likely but didn’t wanna risk it and be super fatigues for my next set. I’ll hit it for 4 on Monday hopefully.

It was a good workout overall. I’ve been getting really strong, I max out the cable machine for overhead extensions now (95lbs), I’m almost maxing out lat pulldowns (240lbs and max is 260), chest fly machine and the preacher curl machine. I’m probably going to have to buy a gym pin soon but my gym is pretty strict when it comes to rules and they may get mad if I do more than the full stack on a machine.

Physique is looking good too, my arms look insane while they aren’t even flexed now.

Going to a church event tn and probably gonna try to ask this girl for her number so wish me luck!

 

[Shadowblaze]

day 12:

Today was a good lift, I trained at a different gym again so I couldn’t do some of the exercises I usually do but still hammered the squats and lunges today.

Other than that today I trained rugby for half an hour on top of the weightlifting and read my bible.

I also ordered Larry wheels elbow wraps, I had a pair but gave it to a buddy of mine. I’m gonna start using them again on bench.

 

[Dustin07]

Even for powerlifting?! I didn’t know that wow, I’m in the gym rn. It would have been leg day but I went ham at rugby and don’t want to put my spine under even more pressure just yet so I’m training upper body.

recovery is a thing... I'm not sure how well even the most enhanced PL guys would recover if lifting heavy, sport specific regiments more than 4 or 5 days a week. BB style and even xfit are sorta different beasts. with Cutlers split I can hit 5+ days a week easy because days like "arms" are nowhere near as taxing as an all out squat or deadlift day. same with when I was xfit competing. a training day might be... running. or skill work like ring muscle ups, etc. very important, but easier recovery. although we also squatted so often back then that my legs had 1-2" larger diameter but my 1rm squat was 50lbs lower.

 

[Shadowblaze]

Day 13:

Today was a great lift! I finally hit 250x4 on bench and the next set I hit 235x6!! Last workout I only hit 235x4 for my second set.

I was in a bit of a rush so I didn’t track my workout in the weightlifting app or take physique photos but it was a great day. I still gotta grind some homework.

Hope y’all had a good day.

 

[Shadowblaze]

Day 14:

Today I went to tutoring for 2 hours and did a quick leg day. We just started learning about motor control in school and it’s tough.

My spine has been a bit flared all day and I have rugby tomorrow so I still trained legs but didn’t squat.

I just trained the stationary bike really intense today and hammered isolation leg movements like hamstring curls, calve extensions and more.

My Larry wheels elbow wraps came in today, I’ll use them on Thursday most likely or if my spine is still flared up tomorrow and I can’t go to rugby I will go to the gym and use them.

 

[Shadowblaze]

Sheesh today was a great day.

I wrote a test today and got 100%

And my bench has been going up like crazy, I used the Larry wheels elbow wraps I just got and it went up by so much, I hit 250x6 so I’m super close to 315, last workout I hit it for 4. but even when I hit my 2nd set raw I also hit a personal record so I feel like I could have done the 250x6 without the elbow wraps.

The pump was crazy today too, the photos don’t do it justice.

 

[Dustin07]

what is the difference in training stimulus using the elbow wraps vs sling shot?

 

[Shadowblaze]

what is the difference in training stimulus using the elbow wraps vs sling shot?

Elbow wraps don’t help nearly as much as a slingshot. Elbow wraps add about 5-10lbs onto your bench vs a slingshot as far as I know can add 100+lbs onto your bench.

The main reason I like using elbow wraps is because when I’m in the most stretched position at the bottom of the movement I get shoulder pain so the wraps take away some of the tension in that position. Also when your at the bottom where the wraps help you the most that’s when the movement is most fatiguing and causes the most soreness, so the wraps help me recover a bit better and push each set harder since I’ll be a bit less fatigued.

 

[Dustin07]

I don't know about the various slingshots out there but I what I commonly see is about 10% overloading. Almost exactly 10% for me, for instance when I was hitting 295-305 raw I was peaking out at 325-330 slingshot.

 

[Shadowblaze]

Day 16:

I was gonna take a rest day today since I’m still super sore from rugby and my upper body day but it’s the first day in a week roughly my spine hasn’t bothered me at all so I took this chance to go to the gym and just only do my compound exercises.

So that’s what I did, I squatted, lunged and did back extensions then left.

With my spine I couldn’t squat deep for a while so what I would do before is set the safeties at a spot where when I went all the way down I would hit the safeties shortly before reaching parallel. That’s the furthest I could go without aggravating my spine. They are called Anderson squats.

But now I’m gonna switch that out for box squats. With the box squat I will set it at parallel and I’ll just do touch and go type squats just with slightly more range of motion than before. The good part about box squats is that even though they load my spine slightly more it’s easier for me to stay braced while doing them, so it may actually help aggravate my spine less.

I lowered the weight, increased the ROM so I only hit 315x5 on squat today. I’ll see how I feel after doing box squats for a while.

Today’s lift:

Squat:
315x5
315x5

Lunges
185x5
185x5

Back extensions:
45x10
BwX max

 

[Hyde]

I don't know about the various slingshots out there but I what I commonly see is about 10% overloading. Almost exactly 10% for me, for instance when I was hitting 295-305 raw I was peaking out at 325-330 slingshot.

That’s exactly right for the traditional Slingshot products.

In more recent years as they’ve made the multiply band shirts for Unlimited powerlifting, they also essentially made “slingshots” of the materials that are pretty bonkers, and 100lbs is possible. I bought Darksyde’s Assassin Bands the previous year at the Arnold and it was probably giving me that. 315 felt like 225 and I tripled 455 in it when I could probably only bench 365 raw.

 

[Shadowblaze]

@Hyde did you see halfthor just deadlifted 505kg, that’s the all time world record and it was also competition standard. Finally the beef between Eddie hall and him is settled, but I think almost everyone has know halfthor has been stronger than him for a while

 

[Hyde]

@Hyde did you see halfthor just deadlifted 505kg, that’s the all time world record and it was also competition standard. Finally the beef between Eddie hall and him is settled, but I think almost everyone has know halfthor has been stronger than him for a while

Yeah that was an awesome lift; biggest deadlift ever. Happy he was able to come back for another PR!

 

[Shadowblaze]

Day 17:

Today was a great lift. I forgot to put some exercises into the lifting app but it was still a great lift.

I matched basically all my lifts.

My physique is starting to get really good, everything it looking more full.

 

[Dustin07]

brb, going to do arms

 

[Shadowblaze]

Day 18:

Today was a good day, I was in the shop all day at school wiring motors.

Leg day was good today too, my spine felt great the entire day so I went ham. Now that I’m squatting a bit deeper my squat has gone down slightly (from 330x7 to 315x6) but I know in the long term it will be better for me probably, and if I don’t like it I can always go back.

My buddy was taking a video of me in the shop today and I look huge in it, I didn’t know that’s what I look like just not flexed without a pump at all.

 

[Shadowblaze]

I’m not even done my workout but I thought I had to post about this.

The progress is insane.

 

[Shadowblaze]

Day 19:

Wow today was an insane lift. I really enjoy upper / lower.

I finally reached 170lbs body weight so that’s huge for me (evening weight not morning weight) it’s weird to think I’m only 20lbs away from my goal body weight.

The workout was insane today too. The pump was out of this world. My muscles are looking a lot bigger and more full, my friends are all shocked by my progress.

I went all the way up to 260lbs on bench today and tried 5 but did 4. Then dropped down to 245 which I hit for 7 with the elbow wraps. Dips are going good too and back training aswell, I finally maxed out the lat pulldown today but could only get two reps.

Tmrw is rugby day so no workout.

 

[Dustin07]

I went back to your OP because I couldn't remember if you were natural or on any supplementation and noticed this:

I also read my bible, I finished the book of James today. The part that stuck out most was the verses in James 5. They referenced Job as a man of great patience through his trials, the book of Job is my favourite and it gave me hope when I was going through hard things the past 2 years. In James 5 they mention how the prayer of a righteous person is powerful effective. It’s interesting that being righteous doesn’t depend as much on the actions we do but rather the price Christ Jesus paid on the cross for us. Too often we believe that it’s our own sins that make us unrighteous but that’s not true since the lord always forgives, all you have to do is ask.

It's interesting that I recently came across this:

The part of the brain that grows when you do things you don't want to do is the anterior mid-cingulate cortex (aMCC), according to Andrew Huberman on the Huberman Lab. This area is activated when engaging in behaviors that are difficult or that you'd rather avoid. Regularly doing things that are hard can stimulate and grow the aMCC, enhancing willpower and resilience.

Which I do believe that righteousness and self discipline can go hand in hand and play a role here. Lots of the guys in the A.M. group have also dug in heavily to fasting and it's health benefits, which as we know was used a great deal in scripture.

 

[Shadowblaze]

I went back to your OP because I couldn't remember if you were natural or on any supplementation and noticed this:



It's interesting that I recently came across this:



Which I do believe that righteousness and self discipline can go hand in hand and play a role here. Lots of the guys in the A.M. group have also dug in heavily to fasting and it's health benefits, which as we know was used a great deal in scripture.

That’s pretty interesting, I really need to fast more. I did one at the start of the year and I t try to fast twice a year. I may do it around Christmas time again.

Thanks for the info, it’s pretty cool to learn more about that.

 

[Dustin07]

well, it's not necessarily something I do while trying to gain weight, but I definitely think there are enough health benefits in fasting that most humans should do it on occasion.

 

[Shadowblaze]

Today I’m taking a rest day, I pulled my quad at rugby last night, it’s really minor and should be able to train legs tmrw but still gonna give myself one day of rest. I also have a final tomorrow I need to study for.

But I have gotten so much faster it’s insane, I’m quick now. Hopefully gonna test my 100m time soon.

 

[Shadowblaze]

Day 20:

Today was a great lift, I had another final today and it was rough.

I progressed on practically all my lifts, hit 260x5 on bench and 135x5 on overhead press so everything is going up nicely.

Otherwise a pretty good day, I’m going to a church event tn.

 

[Shadowblaze]

Day 21:

Did lower body and abs today, didn’t do lunges though because of my quad strain but squatted without pain.

Was a pretty good day.

Hope you guys are all doing well.

 

[Shadowblaze]

Day 22:

I’m officially one month on biologics. The transformation has been crazy, I’ve went from having my dad help put clothes on me on mornings during flare ups to going back to sprinting and rugby, I still get pain but it’s much more predictable and manageable.

My physique is starting to get INSANE, like sauced. My traps, upper chest and shoulders are looking super full, I’m really happy with my progress.

I started introducing omega 3 back into my diet with my gallbladder and think I can digest it decently, though not as well as before.

My workout today was great, I matched practically all my lifts. Within the next two weeks I’m gonna try going heavier on bench, try to hit 260x7 and 275x4, then taking a deload before attempting 315 so I can come out super strong.

Physique photos are attached.
In the back lat spread photo in the gym my triceps look NUTS.
My mom also took a candid photo of me with no pump petting our cat, I was suprised I look that big with no pump. my arms are getting a lot bigger, getting closer to that 16” biceps I used to have, probably at 15.3”

 

[Dustin07]

I’m officially one month on biologics.

can you explain this? I don't think I know what this means other than rough broad definitions. what products in particular are you using?

 

[Shadowblaze]

can you explain this? I don't think I know what this means other than rough broad definitions. what products in particular are you using?

There’s a type of drug called a disease modifying anti rheumatic drug (DMARD) which are used to modify autoimmune diseases and manage them and stop their progression. There are 3 main types I know of:

-Biologics
-immunosuppressants
-jak inhibitors

(All of these are immunosuppressants but work differently) im on a drug called a jak inhibitor which changes your immune system and stops progression of autoimmune problems. They all practically do the same thing just work slightly differently. Rheumatologists sometimes call jak inhibitors biologics since they are very similar but not the exact same, so I call them biologics too since not many people know what jak inhibitors are but do know what biologics are.

What I meant by that is I’m one month on my treatment for my autoimmune problems.

Fun fact: Humira, the most widely used drug in the world is a biologic and one single pharmaceutical company has made more money from it than the entire gdp of Nigeria, a country with 200 million people, that’s more people than France, Germany and the uk combined.

 

[Shadowblaze]

Day 23:

Today was a great lift, my squat has been going up nicely along with all other lower body and core lifts.

I got my final back, only got 76% but motor control was insanely hard so I am happy with it.

I’m gonna journal and read my bible aswell.

 

[Shadowblaze]

Day 24:

i have felt a bit feverish today but still dragged myself to the gym. I went lighter today and didn’t track it in the app. Hopefully tmrw I’ll be good.

I dropped the bench weight down to 225 and hit it for 10 for my first set and 9 for the second. I’m close to 315, once I can do 225x12 I’m golden, and I probably could have done 11 on a good day.

Other than that I just matched all the previous weight I did because I wasn’t feeling too well today. I have a quiz tmrw so I’m gonna rest up and study hard tn.

 

[Shadowblaze]

Just got 105% on my electronics quiz, had to redeem myself after that 76% lol

 

[Shadowblaze]

Day 26:

It’s been a crazy busy and stressful week, I have another test Monday. I didn’t do my log yesterday but still training arms since I didn’t do them the day before since I wasn’t feeling well.

Today was a good lift, I hit 330x7 on squat, every single lower body lift is going up nicely and my sprints are too.

My sleep and mental health hasn’t been the best the past week so I was just really tired, that’s why I didn’t log much on some days.

 

[Shadowblaze]

Day 27:

I’ve gotten back in the rhythm after the past week so I’ll put more effort into the logs again.

My physique is looking pretty crazy, super shredded. I’ll attach some physique photos, the one of my forearm is me with absolutely zero pump, it’s crazy.

I have veins on my shoulders now aswell as some veins going across my biceps, not just the main bicep vein.

My workout today was good, I worked out at a different gym so I had to add a 35lb plate to the full weight stack to use it since the full stack (80lbs) was too light for tricep push downs.

My weight hasn’t been trending up as much as it was before but my physique and strength are still getting better so that matters more.

I will also attach some photos of my training logs from the strong app I use, I’ve added 100lbs onto my lat pulldown in 3 months.

The physique progress photos are insane, take a look at them.

 

[Shadowblaze]

Just practiced rugby for half an hour aswell, worked on my passing and tackling

 

[Hyde]

Just practiced rugby for half an hour aswell, worked on my passing and tackling

How has that been going for you?

 

[Shadowblaze]

How has that been going for you?

Pretty good, thanks for asking. We start our pre season training This Thursday, I’m not sure if I will go because of school.

I have everything I need physically, I just need to learn to believe in myself, that’s something I was never able to do.
I have always been very scared and anxious of many things and it holds me back.
I’m struggling to get the mental part down, if you or anyone has any advice on that let me know.

 

[Hyde]

Pretty good, thanks for asking. We start our pre season training This Thursday, I’m not sure if I will go because of school.

I have everything I need physically, I just need to learn to believe in myself, that’s something I was never able to do.
I have always been very scared and anxious of many things and it holds me back.
I’m struggling to get the mental part down, if you or anyone has any advice on that let me know.

A book I found useful that was recommended to me was Total MindBody Training: A Guide to Peak Athletic Performance by Jacob H. Jordan. You can get it shipped for $8 off EBay.

Basically a practical guide for a Westerner to apply more Eastern mental training ideas like visualization of proper technical execution, mantras/positive self-talk, the importance and posture & breath control on confidence & energy levels.

People in the West focus on the physical but tend to neglect the mental aspect of sport performance. You can’t do something you do not believe in yourself enough to try, and strength is a decision.

 

[Shadowblaze]

Day 28:

Today my spine hurt so I didn’t do anything that would stress it too hard.

I realized last time I trained legs that my quads aren’t were they were in terms of size so I’m gonna start throwing in a bit of leg press into my program since they really helped grow my legs hugely.

 

[Dustin07]

Identifying the spine specifically as a point of soreness is an interesting one to me since everyone in here is usually identifying supportive tissue around the the spine/back/shoulder blades etc. do you think that is a lagging issue from your health issues? is it like center of back or higher/lower on the spine?

good idea playing it safe, I am a big fan of movement through injury that is intelligent and allows the body to move without flaring up the issue worse.

 

[Shadowblaze]

Identifying the spine specifically as a point of soreness is an interesting one to me since everyone in here is usually identifying supportive tissue around the the spine/back/shoulder blades etc. do you think that is a lagging issue from your health issues? is it like center of back or higher/lower on the spine?

good idea playing it safe, I am a big fan of movement through injury that is intelligent and allows the body to move without flaring up the issue worse.

Yeah, my autoimmune affects my SI joint which is the very bottom of your spine. I have some soft tissue problems with my back but nothing major.

 

[Shadowblaze]

I want to go into my 315 attempt confident so I’m gonna hammer the bench hard, this week I will do some endurance work and try to hit 225x12, that’s a good sign I can do 315.

Then in the following week I will go heavier, try to hit 275x4 and 260x7, that will be hard but if I get it I will guaranteed hit 315 and be super confident going into it.

 

[Shadowblaze]

Today was kind of a rough day, I haven’t been sleeping well or being well hydrated because we have a heat wave here where I live rn.

So I’m pretty weak and tired.
On top of that my spine hurt pretty bad today, so I couldn’t even do barbell rows.

The way I see it is if I have a bad workout I won’t push through when I know I’m weak and can’t push myself as hard as I want, not every bad workout can become a good workout so why when I know I can’t go to hard do a full workout which will just impede my recovery by doing shitty sets when I can just skip the workout or make it short and Therefore be well recovered for my next workout and make it a good one.

I’m gonna focus on my sleep and recovery and hydration a lot more since we’re going through a heat wave.

I’m gonna turn 2 fans on in my room, get a good 8 hours every night and prepare a pre workout shake with a lot of electrolytes before my workouts and during school sip electrolytes aswell. I bought a sleep optimizing tracking app and will try to improve it.

Tmrw will be better

 

[Hyde]

Today was kind of a rough day, I haven’t been sleeping well or being well hydrated because we have a heat wave here where I live rn.

So I’m pretty weak and tired.
On top of that my spine hurt pretty bad today, so I couldn’t even do barbell rows.

The way I see it is if I have a bad workout I won’t push through when I know I’m weak and can’t push myself as hard as I want, not every bad workout can become a good workout so why when I know I can’t go to hard do a full workout which will just impede my recovery by doing shitty sets when I can just skip the workout or make it short and Therefore be well recovered for my next workout and make it a good one.

I’m gonna focus on my sleep and recovery and hydration a lot more since we’re going through a heat wave.

I’m gonna turn 2 fans on in my room, get a good 8 hours every night and prepare a pre workout shake with a lot of electrolytes before my workouts and during school sip electrolytes aswell. I bought a sleep optimizing tracking app and will try to improve it.

Tmrw will be better

Regarding hydration…it’s summer everywhere. You are not hydrated because you have not been well-prepared.

You need to carry water with you everywhere and consume much more sodium. I use a tub of non-iodized salt because I am consuming such large quantities right now before/during training (and don’t want to overdo iodine intake). I am talking 3 grams of sodium, which is more like 8g actual table salt. I put some of this in my preWO water and a lot Intra because I train early in the day normally, but you could simply add it to a jug of water you carry with. You can add some flavor enhancer like Mio or use things like Crystal light if you can’t tolerate drinking plain salted water, or even Koolaid or lemonade powders if you wanted the sugar calories.

Or you can take shots of soy sauce, drink pickle juice, buy salt tabs to swallow, eat a pack of Ramen preWO - there’s a lot of ways to get it in. But find a method that works for you and be proactive!

As someone who has had plenty of disc injury, staying hydrated helps the discs of the spine & also allow inflammation to be flushed out of joints as it is able.

 

[Shadowblaze]

Regarding hydration…it’s summer everywhere. You are not hydrated because you have not been well-prepared.

You need to carry water with you everywhere and consume much more sodium. I use a tub of non-iodized salt because I am consuming such large quantities right now before/during training (and don’t want to overdo iodine intake). I am talking 3 grams of sodium, which is more like 8g actual table salt. I put some of this in my preWO water and a lot Intra because I train early in the day normally, but you could simply add it to a jug of water you carry with. You can add some flavor enhancer like Mio or use things like Crystal light if you can’t tolerate drinking plain salted water, or even Koolaid or lemonade powders if you wanted the sugar calories.

Or you can take shots of soy sauce, drink pickle juice, buy salt tabs to swallow, eat a pack of Ramen preWO - there’s a lot of ways to get it in. But find a method that works for you and be proactive!

As someone who has had plenty of disc injury, staying hydrated helps the discs of the spine & also allow inflammation to be flushed out of joints as it is able.

Thanks for the input, you know so much about training and I really appreciate it.
I’m gonna lock in with that. I always pack my breakfast for the next day on schooldays after I get home from school and from now on I’m going to start making hydration drinks aswell, and I started putting Himalayan pink salt into my water bottle too. I’m also increasing my pre workout salt intake and am gonna start taking pre workout again for a bit of a kick.

 

[Dustin07]

it sounds weird but the pickle juice is honestly one of my favorites when I'm fasting. somehow it fakes me into feeling like I'm eating, lol.

about a year+ ago my wife started keeping a 1 gallon container of water pre-mixed with salt and potassium in the fridge so we always had electrolytes easy to each for, and I've started doing it with another pitcher that I add crystal lite to. just makes it as easy to grab a nice cold electrolyte beverage out of the fridge rather than say a diet coke, beer, or what have you.

 

[Hyde]

Thanks for the input, you know so much about training and I really appreciate it.
I’m gonna lock in with that. I always pack my breakfast for the next day on schooldays after I get home from school and from now on I’m going to start making hydration drinks aswell, and I started putting Himalayan pink salt into my water bottle too. I’m also increasing my pre workout salt intake and am gonna start taking pre workout again for a bit of a kick.

Yeah this does not have to be elaborate; the main thing is to always bring it with you so it’s available. When we go anywhere, the wife and I always bring our shakers/water bottles - we don’t want to be playing catch up, we want to stay hydrated whenever possible to allow better recovery.