Exposing Myself.. For Better or Worse.

E

EasyVert

New Member
Everyone...

I'm throwing myself out to the mercy of all you guys. But ideally, I don't want that much mercy, just the truth; because I'm so body/muscle dysmorphic, I feel like a twig, and truthfully I probably am. So this thread is dedicated to exposing myself, my routine, my meal plan, my schedule, everything I can lay out for you guys to help judge me, to help aid me in gaining more muscle, I guess to just improve on. I think what I have going on here is pretty solid, but I never know, I don't know everything and fortunately the people here at the HST forums are some of most scientifically knowledgeable people in the game. So without further ado, heres to it.

Name: Adam
Age: 19
Weight: 180lbs
Height: 5.7
Goal: Cut Down, Hold onto as much Mass as I can.

My Routine / Split. - Weights
(3 times a week, AM & PM, Usually 7:00am. & 6:00pm)
Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday

AM Workout consist of:
(2 Sets ea.)

Squats
Leg Press
Dead Lifts
Bent Over Rows
Chin Ups
Incline Bench
Weighted Dips
DB Military Press
Forearm DB Curls
Straight Leg Calf Raises


PM Workout Consists of:
(2 Sets ea.)

Leg Extensions
Leg Curls
Lat Pull Down
Seated Cable Row
Preacher Straight Bar Curl
Flat Bench
Rope Press
DB Lateral Raises
Rear Delt Machine
DB Incline Bench Shrugs
Donkey Calf Raises


---------------------------------
My Routine / Split  -- Cardio
(3 times a week, PM, Usually 4:00pm)
Monday, Wednesday, Friday

30-40 minutes on Treadmill.
3 Sets of 20 weighted crunches
3 Sets of (30 seconds of actual burning sensation) of leg raises
3 sets of 10 oblique crunches
3 Sets of Weighted Hyper-Extentions (low back)
1 Set till Burn Out.

Sunday -- Off Day, Thank God

-------------------------------
Meal Plan on Training Day.

7:00 Pre-- Protein Shake, Simple Carbs- Oatmeal, etc.
8:00 Post--Protein Shake, Dextrose & Vitargo
11:00 Chicken, Brown Rice
2:00 Chicken, Brown Rice, BBQ.
5:00 Tuna, Rice, Steamed Vegetables
8:00 Post--.Protein Shake, Dextrose, Vitargo
Before Bed Usually Beef Jerkey, or just Chicken Breast.

Meal Plan on Cardio Day.

8:00. 1 Egg, 5 Egg Whites, Brown Rice
11:00 Protein Shake (in between class)
3:00 Chicken Breast, Rice, Vegetables
5:00 Protein Shake
7:00 You Guess it-- Maybe Chicken, Lean Beef if I had it, Maybe Tuna, & Rice
10:00 Casein Protein Shake

My Diet consists really of only steamed vegetables, lean boneless, skinless chicken breast, tuna, brown long rice, regular oats, egg whites, and protein shakes.

---------------------------

*Note* Im trying to cut down to bring out some abdominal muscles, as I never have been able to display any abdominal muscles ever. I fear I may be cutting down and losing too much muscle, The Big thing here is that, Im not cutting down for a show yet; my show plan is around May, June... Should I be Bulking here or continue cutting?

I rather be bulking up for my show, (if I carry out with my plan of competing.) It would be wise to add some muscle to my frame, but I feel like Im cutting up nicely, given Ive never really; been cut, and I dont consider myself cut quite yet.Hopefully sometime soon. It's really stupid for me to cut, but I thought it would be easier to clean bulk up if I would strip away some plaguing bodyfat. What Im asking from everyone out there is to just critique the little things in my game plan here. First my training split, should I be including something that I left out, or am I going overboard and overtraining. I feel slight DOMS but not significant soreness. I have, that comfortable soreness, the feeling of knowing you had a good workout the day before, but not enough to where I cant stand up.

Or is my diet lacking too little of calories. I know Im training twice a day, three times a week, that must demand a lot of calories. Given I didnt list portion sizes in my meal plan, I would guess they are slightly larger than normal sizes.

I just hope you guys will give this all a once over and let me know on somethings. Ive included some pictures that you guys can critique me on.. I know I lack size in my Biceps, and my abdominal muscles are inexistent, but Im working my @$$ off everyday trying to bring those up to proportion. Nonetheless, Thanks a million guys, HST forum brothers & sisters are the best around.

sepgeo.jpg



Sincerely,
Vert
 
Supplements Used
ONs Whey Protein
ONs Pro Complex
ONs Casein Protein
CNWs CEE Creatine
Taurine -- Pre
Pure Vitargo -- Post
Dextrose Powder --Post
Hoodia -- for Appetite
Multivitamin
Flax Oil Capsules
NAC Capsules
 
A few comments.

1) You are not a twig. You have a great build at 19. Just keep it up.

2) Wow are you organized. very impressive. But remember -- though it is great getting to this level of detail -- remember the big picture. Getting a good 6 workouts a week and eating correctly is what works -- sure the fine tuning helps (and can be fun to do) but at a point there are deminishing returns.

3) In general there it is best to either bulk or cut. Many of us (me included get caught in the twilight middle zone) and don't gain because of it. I don't know but maybe at 19 you should just bulk for a year. Put on some serious mass --then cut. :confused: Not sure... but maybe.


Now a specific. I remember reading on here from either Blade or vicious that one should take alot of Dextros in the pre shake and only a little in the post shake. I looked for the "quote" but could not find it. It looks like you are limiting the dextros to the post shake -- when it should be the other way around.


It is just me -- but I might take out the flat bench and subsitiute dips. Also I would do scull crushers for your tris-- just use the rope pulls for 15s and burn sets.

Just a few micro comments from the guy who said not to micro manage it too much!!!

Cheers, BoB :D
 
I think it is far too early to cut for may and june now. I would definitely bulk up now and cut in maybe March and you'lll look so much better come june than if you were to cut now. If you cut now you'll eventually dwindle away.

Keep up the good work and don't worry about putting a little bit of fat on with the muscle. It will help you out in the long run.

Joe G
 
You remind me alot of myself. 19, 200 but 5'11, similar build.

I'd say cut first, wouldn't take long, and then bulk for a while. That way you'd see where you stand right before you bulk, and adjust as necessary what you want to bring up before you start your bulk. And you'd see your gains better if bulking from a leaner state.

Easier said than done of course. =)
 
First & foremost, Thanks to everyone who responded!

Now to business...

I definitely think its a good idea to switch the rope pull downs to skull crushers, I dont know why I didnt add them into my routine.

As far as getting rid of the flat bench, and adding in dips... Im not sure quite yet but I appreciate the note. The reasoning behind this is that I do weighted dips in my AM workout to hit my triceps and chest. Are you suggesting I do them twice? I just figure that the flat bench is a great compound exercise that should be integrated into a routine plan.

I'm starting my first week on 10's come Tuesday, the 13th. I think I'll finish out running through this cycle cutting down and keeping things low, where then, the following cycles...through the year, will focus on gaining some mass and bulking up.

Dextrose Topic. I always thought adding dextrose was a great post workout strategy because it helps glycogen compensation. I could see where it could have its advantages pre-workout by providing some fuel to last through the duration of the workout. I dont know, perhaps Ill start building up slowly and tweak around with the idea.

Not quite sure what else to comment on, I'm just appreciative of all the support so far, I look forward to seeing more.

-Vert
 
Anything Left to Discuss?

I'm on my 6th cycle of HST, and it's bar none probably the best set of principals for a workout routine. Way before HST I use to follow MAX-OT, and although my strength was high, I didn't add very much mass to my frame, but I also was much younger than and didn't have much muscle maturity.

TDiet Improvements

I'm drinking a lot more water, probably around 1.5 gallons a day. I consider the other .5 gallons are to be consumed between added water in protein shakes, and the black coffee I drink.

I've been managing to afford boneless skinless chicken breast pretty easily off my college/grocery expenditure money. Yeah, I'm in college and I can make it out of the store with about 50 bucks a week on groceries if I bargin shop around.

Training

I haven't read much that training abdominal muscles with HST principals, but I'm looking forward to putting time in researching that. I'd love to find a solid ab routine that actually works to build up the muscles beneith my fat. Though abs are 90% dietary, so I guess it comes down to the kitchen.

My arms are lacking size in porportion to my body, I figure this to be the result of too much isolation (ergo overtraining) work during my earlier cycles. I've tried not to include many isolation movements in my latest cycle.



-Always
-Vert
 
EV,

Regarding Dips. First there are two kinds of dips that are very different. Dips for chest and Dips for tris. They "look" basically the same --but the difference is where your weight is ------lean forward you hit the chest --- lean back you hit the tris.
[b said:
Quote[/b] ]The reasoning behind this is that I do weighted dips in my AM workout to hit my triceps and chest. Are you suggesting I do them twice?
Click to expand...

Yeah!!! you can do the exact same routine am/pm. You increase the TUT without training for more than an hour. You also increse the metobolic effect. Sure you can swich it up some -- I just would not get too fancy -- without a dam good reason to do so. Bryan sugests hitting the chest high (incline) and low (dips and decline) this builds a ballanced chest. Dips are also considered one of the "magic 4" compound movements, dips (or declines) hit more of the pec than any other movement (that is why you can lift more doing them than flat or incline. So I would do dips over flatbench. But the sun won't fall out of the sky if you prefurr flatbench.


Regarding Dex - I know I read that somewhere on here of loading the dex in the pre-shake and just puting a little in the post shake. I think uncle Blade said it. I searched a bit and could not find it.

Have you read the e-book on here by vicious regarding tweeking HST -- or pimping HST in vicious speak?

Happy Iron,

Bob ;)
 
Exercises

I might switch it up, and throw the Tri-Dips in the PM workout as I often feel I neglect my Triceps through the course of the day. One thing I worry about though with getting rid of the flat bench is that I lose some secondary deltoid work. But I do know that the trade off is necessary. And despite losing the shoulder work on the flat bench, I still have Military Presses, Lateral Raises, and Rear Delt Raises.... throughout the entire process, so I figure in one day I hit the deltoids adequately.

Which do you think would be more effective at getting the most bang for my buck...(as far as Triceps Dips) Weighted Dips on a dip bar, body vertical... or.. 45lb plates laid across my legs, torso upright, legs horizontal and supported between two benches.

Reading

Yeah, I've read nearly all of Bryan's FAQs... Then Vicious' E-book was excellent reading. I suggest that to anyone who wants to modify their program. Vicious actually helped plan a few of my beginning cycles when I was first getting my feet wet with HST. Proteus9 had an excellent thread as well that talked a lot about tweaking some things around.

When it comes down to it...

The little things can make a difference, but the results I'll notice comes from two things. Eating in the kitchen, and busting my @$$ in the gym.
 
Adam

Good stuff, you are definitely on the right track, very little I could add here that will make much difference
tounge.gif


However, I see no one mentioned it yet, I see you AM W/O contains squats/leg press and dead lifts, a little too much IMO.

Although you can have all the exercises you are doing in the program (not that your legs are really lacking). I would rather alternate deads/squats on different days.

Personally I do squats/leg extensions alternated with deads/leg curls on diffferent days, but that of course is a matter of preference, after all I am just commenting.
laugh.gif


What more can I say, for abs, I once posted an australian ab routine that is pretty intensive, but as you say, 90% is diet based, the 10% we can train is very much up to the individual.

I find a mixture of crunches/dragon flags and leg raises working well, but also struggle with the excess fat
blush.gif


So much for being 19 LOL
laugh.gif
I can't possibly think of going on a special diet lest I get accused of being egotistic, so I just do my best and try to councell the missus to skip this or that sometime to my detriment
laugh.gif
laugh.gif
you can imagine how touchy they can get when they make your lunch and you give a tip or two
dozingoff.gif
WOW

Your diet looks clean, I don't know how far you will get by bulking and cutting at the same time, I ended up getting a few cms around my waist so I cut on the lunch and a few other items.

Good going mate!
 
Dancing w/ Diets...

[b said:
Quote[/b] ]Your diet looks clean, I don't know how far you will get by bulking and cutting at the same time, I ended up getting a few cms around my waist so I cut on the lunch and a few other items.
Click to expand...

I wouldn't quite say I'm bulking & cutting at the same time. It's been proven that you can't really efficiently excel at both, you'll just ended up getting smaller than what you would of if you'd bulk, and bigger than what you would've if you'd cut. I consider my diet to be cutting. I may consume a higher than normal amount carbs for the considered "normal" cutting diet, but most of my carbohydrates remain a lower GI than the common bulking diet's. I also think that my routine & the frequency between the Gym time & cardio time remains at a level where I can slowly taper off carbohydrates to adjust to the way my body is responding to them.. ie. (getting fatter or leaning up.)

Question Time

Are you suggesting that I should modify my diet more so to fit into one of the two traditional diets... Bulking or Cutting? I could find it reasonably easy to cook and alter my bulk foods to fit a low/no carb diet, (exception Pre&Post Workout).

*Note* I'm not the best at cutting, so cutting is relatively newer to me. I mean I use to cut 15lbs a week during wrestling back in my HS days, but I also lost all my muscle while I was doing so. If you guys have Any suggestions at All. let me know, I'm in this business to get some help here, so I'm taking all the advice I can get.

-Always
-Vert
 
I'm pathetic

One last final bump to the top just to claw a few more responses then I'll let this thread die in it's ripe old age, as it heads to the fiery thread abyss.


-Vert
 
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