Nativetroutbum's Training Log... comments/critique welcome!!!

Thanks, Lol! When I start my next cycle, I'm going to go keep my "disciplined bulk" going. I'm vascilating around 180 while eating just a bit over what I've calculated to be a surplus, not really losing weight and obviously not really gaining... Maybe my calculations are off, but either way, according to today's skinfold check I've managed to dump a little fat and haven't lost too much muscle...

BW: 179
Chest: 9.5
Abdomen: 17
Thigh: 16
BF%: 13.84%
LBM: 154.23

This is down only .2 pounds of LBM from my peak, but my bf% is down from a peak of 15.47%. Not too shabby. Obviously the calipers aren't perfect, but it's nice to see that I was able to shed a little BF and not lose too much muscle. Gives me confidence to maybe attempt a more serious "cut" after my next "bulk."
 
Deads: 45x10, 135x7, 225x3, 315x1, 405x1!!!!!!
Dips: BWx5, BW+90x3, BW+135x2+3neg, 2 sets of BW+135x1+4neg
Chins: 3 sets of BW+75x5neg
Leg Press: SKIPPED to save time
Calf Press: 2 sets of 200x15, 2 sets of 290x10
DB Bent Row: 2 sets of 100x5+5neg
Decline Crunches: 20, 20
DB Upright Row: 2 sets of 45'sx10
Fly Machine: 2 sets of 130x15

I got it!! Deadlift 405x1!!!!! Took about 7 seconds to get it all the way up and lock out, but I got it, no jerking or shrugging. "Explosion" at the bottom to get it off the ground then slow and steady the whole way. I was so excited that I got it, that I decided to hold it up for 10-15 seconds or so... just wanted to feel that weight for a while. Very excited that I've achieved this goal, and much earlier than I thought I would.

I definitely feel like I finished this cycle well! Now it's time for a needed SD. Pretty much everything is in a constant state of sore and my anterior delts are just plain worn out. The time off is needed, but come Tuesday I'm going to be craving a workout...

BW was 180.4 today. Haven't tallied up calories yet; haven't had dinner yet; but I ate 1.5 cups of oatmeal with raw honey for breakfast... typical lunch of 2 servings of veggies, 2 servings of fruit, a turkey sandwich on Ezekiel bread, and a cheese stick... then ate 1.5 cups of white rice after lunch and about 1.5 hours before my workout. Also mixed in 2 protein shakes of about 30g each... one with breakfast and one with I ate the rice. Also had my goo/caffiene packet about 20 minutes before workout.... Probably eat a steak, a huge potato, and a pile of broccoli for dinner... so I know I'll be WAY high on calories and carbs, but I'm sure it helped today.
 
Totentanz said:
405 at 180 is awesome. Looks like you've got a good shot at reaching 500 soon.
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Thanks, guys. Pretty happy about this milestone. Kinda' crazy because it wasn't too long ago that I weighed 165 and had never even attempted a pull of 275. HST is simply an amazing workout protocol for both size and strength.
 
I'm a bit late to the party but major props from me, NTB. :cool:

405 is indeed a milestone lift, especially at 180. Looking forward to reading about your continuing journey to your next milestone. I reckon 200kg will be in the bag soon.
 
Thanks, Lol. I'm already REALLY looking forward to next monday when I start my next HST cycle. Pretty sure I'm going to start with 15's again.

It's only Monday and I'm feeling pretty close to 100%, little soreness here and there, but I'm ready for a new cycle.
 
So I haven't tracked my calories in the last two days, but I ate like a horse yesterday being father's day... Probably well over 3k calories.

For this SD week, I intend to simply eat maintenance calories for 180 pounds. I've calculated my current Basal Metabolic Rate at 1818 calories per day. Considering I will have a little exercise during the day... walking here and there... sitting, standing, sitting, standing, etc... I'm figuring 2300 calories per day should ensure that I don't lose anything, and will be slightly above what I need for pure maintenance.

I'll be shooting for 180g protein per day and will take 10g fish oil per day (5g in the am, 5g in the pm). I will also continue to take 5g or creatine monohydrate during the day, probably at breakfast when I eat my oatmeal, protein, and honey. I am also going to continue the vegetable kick that I've been on. Ensuring at least 5 servings of vegetables per day.

Hopefully at the end of this SD, I'll be good and deconditioned but I won't have lost too much.
 
I am thinking about re-tooling my routine a bit, any input is welcome. Trying to emphasize chest and tricep development, hence the 3 pressing movements. I'm thinking that they are different enough that I won't be overworking anything too much.

Deads
DB Incline Press
Squats (gonna try them again, wish me and my shoulder luck)
Close Grip BB Flat Bench
Chins (going to start light and focus on form, so I'll probably end light too...)
Dips
DB Row
Single leg Calf Press
Decline Crunches
DB Lateral and Posterior Delt isolations (likely do seated bent posterior delt raises and standing lateral raises, light weight)

Am I missing anything? Am I overworking anything?
 
nativetroutbum said:
I am thinking about re-tooling my routine a bit, any input is welcome. Trying to emphasize chest and tricep development, hence the 3 pressing movements. I'm thinking that they are different enough that I won't be overworking anything too much.

Deads
DB Incline Press
Squats (gonna try them again, wish me and my shoulder luck)
Close Grip BB Flat Bench
Chins (going to start light and focus on form, so I'll probably end light too...)
Dips
DB Row
Single leg Calf Press
Decline Crunches
DB Lateral and Posterior Delt isolations (likely do seated bent posterior delt raises and standing lateral raises, light weight)

Am I missing anything? Am I overworking anything?
Click to expand...

Looks really solid to me. If it was me, I'd drop the crunches out, and I'd use a barbell for the incline bench, because dumbells are hard to get into position without injury.
That's it. Other than that it looks perfect. Your triceps will get hammered on that routine, so watch out for overtraining symptoms. Soreness of elbow or triceps tendons, then you may have to drop the close grip bench or the dips, as they both target the triceps with heavy strain.
 
Thanks, Sci. I haven't tried any significant barbell pressing movements in a while due to shoulder issues... Also, the angle on our incline bench seemed too high last time I tried it, but that was a long time ago. The adjustable DB bench allows me to set the incline at an angle that is more shoulder friendly (maybe 30 degrees?); also the mobility of the dumbells seems to be easier on my shoulder, notwithstanding having to stabilize the dumbell. Maybe I'll give the ole barbell incline a try, but I'll institute a no-tolerance policy on shoulder pain.

I've pretty well mastered the technique of hoisting dumbbells up into position for incline presses, but you're right, it does get harder and harder as the weights go up; this is part of the reason I usually felt like I needed a spotter.

As for crunches, I just feel like I have to do them... I usually just mix them in between sets of something else so they don't really take any time. I know I already get plenty of ab work with deads and squats... but again, I just feel like I have to do the crunches too.

I'm really looking forward to Monday and getting some endorphins running through my system again!!!
 
The way I prevent shoulder pain on the incline barbell press, is by stopping the bar when my arms are parallel with the floor, I DON'T drop the bar all the way down to my chest, as this just hurts my right shoulder. I have long arms, so I personally use a very wide-grip and pause the bar right above my chin, then push back up to lockout, it's worked great so far.

Just a tip, dumbells are fine if you at careful, so they may be a good alternative.
 
Roger-that, Sci, form is critical on barbell presses in order to avoid injury. I'll tinker around with grip, etc tomorrow. I'm really looking forward to getting back in the gym tomorrow!

This SD has been easier, psychologically, than those prior, but I've had a lot to keep me occupied. I'm guessing I'm down 3-5 pounds even though I've been eating about 300-500 calories over maintenance. I think my metabolism is just a lot faster than "normal." Good information to know as I plan my diet going forward.
 
Day 1 of 15's... wow, felt great to get back after it today, even if it was a relatively quick workout.

Deads: 45x10, 135x10, 155x15
BB Inc Press: 45x10, 65x10, 95x15
Squats: 45x10, 95x15
CG Flat Press: 45x10, 65x10, 95x15
Chins: BW-25x15
Dips: BWx15
DB Rows: 40x15
Single Leg Calf press: 110x15
DB Lateral Raise: 5x10, 10x15
DB Posterior Delt Raise: 5x10, 10x15
Decline Crunches: 20

Notes:
Definitely deconditioned.
BB Inc Press - Felt decent, really have to focus on pinching my shoulder blades together in order to minimize bad shoulder involvement.
Squats - So I'm now training a full ROM rather than going to parallel. Even with 95 pounds my hammies and groin are already a bit sore... Shoulder felt good because I grabbed the bar about as wide as I could. Should be interesting; and I'm not expecting to go very high in weight without a proper squat rack...
Single leg calf press: Wow, this was hard. My calves simply suck in every possible way that something can suck.

Cardio tomorrow will involve stationary bike and C2 rowing.
 
Cardio today.

C2
1:00 - ~260m
:30 - ~140m
:20 - 118m, 43 SPM, 585 Avg Watts
:20 - 119m, 42 SPM, 596 Avg Watts
:20 - 120m, 46 SPM, 615 Ave Watts

Left everything I had on the machine for the 3rd sprint. Finally hit 120m and went well above 600 watts!

Also did three 20-second sprints on the stationary bike @ difficulty 12 which is about 50%... took me a solid 5 minutes to complete all 3 because I was so gassed after each... Then did a 5 minutes relatively easy ride on the stationary bike.

BW was 177.2. Definitely lost a little weight during SD, but the difference is probably glycogen stores and water stores going down from not working out for 10 days.

Goning to be shooting for about 2900 calories per day.

Today I got in 2935; 346 carbs, only 58 fats, and 268 protein.
 
2nd day of 15's today, feeling good.

Deads: 45x10, 135x10, 165x15
BB Incline Press: 45x10, 65x10, 115x15+5
Squats: 45x10, 95x10, 115x15
Close Grip BB Press: 45x10, 65x10, 105x15+5
Chins: BW-15x15
Dips: BWx15
DB Row: 45x15+10
Single Leg Calf Press: 110x10+5+5 (crazy how hard this is for me... going to lower the weight next time)
Lateral Raises: 5x10, 10x15
Bent Posterior Delt Raise: 10x10, 15x15
Decline Crunches: 20

Pretty happy with everything so far except calf raises. Amazing how weak my calves are individually. I'm thinking that this "one leg at a time" approach might be just what I need to get my pathetic genetically 'effed calves to respond and actually grow. Going to significantly bump Deadlift weight on Friday to 185, I didn't do a good job of calculating my 15RMs... I think I'm aiming for 245x15.

Very happy with how BB incline press feels. I am being very careful with my form, feeling nothing but chest and a little anterior delt involvment. Feels great; thanks for the motivation to try this out, Sci!

BW was 170.2 today...

Food today: 2980 Cal, 291 carbs, 85 fats, 270 protein
 
Cardio and eating today. Didn't do any all-out C2 sprints due to a little ow back pain; I think from my full ROM squats. Going to take a little time to get the core fully used to the full ROM. Pretty amazing how sore my legs and core are from only 2 workouts worth of light weight full ROM squats.

C2
500m, 1:45
500m, 1:49
500m, 1:54
500m, 1:58

Stationary bike
10 total minutes at a moderate pace with 4 all-out, 20 second sprints evenly spaced throughout.

BW was 177.4

Food: 2896 cal, 291 carbs, 81 fats, 258 protein
 
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nativetroutbum said:
2nd day of 15's today, feeling good.
...
Single Leg Calf Press: 110x10+5+5 (crazy how hard this is for me... going to lower the weight next time)
...
Pretty happy with everything so far except calf raises. Amazing how weak my calves are individually. I'm thinking that this "one leg at a time" approach might be just what I need to get my pathetic genetically 'effed calves to respond and actually grow.
...
Click to expand...

The thing with calves is that they get used so much in everyday life that they are fairly well conditioned all the time. There tends to be a lot of connective tissue, tendon and other non-muscle stuff that stores potential energy like a spring to aid in running and walking etc. Therefore, it makes some sense to perform strict reps, maybe with brief pauses at and bottom so that you can take a little bit of the tendon bounce out of the equation.

If you don't have much muscle there to begin with, you will have to really hit them hard to make much progress. Once they get used to doing a few extra reps with a bit of extra loading I think RBE will tend to shut down further progress quite quickly. Bumping up the load too much too soon might just mess up your form (and lead to injury—what I did) so I think you'll have to focus more on increasing the volume if you want to keep making progress. At the moment you should get a decent training response, but once you stop getting DOMS, pump up the volume a bit. :)

I'll be interested to see how you get on. All the best.
 
Hey NT - I agree with Lol on overall calf development. A system that I used to use all the time was developed by Dr. Squat (Dr. Fred Hatfield) and had very specific calf training for exactly the reason that Lol outlined - they are used all the time and are tough to develop. Switch up your rep range to anywhere between 25 and 40 reps, and do a MINIMUM of 2 sets. If you take that on, stretch like it's your job before, after and in between sets or walking and sleeping will be a challenge due to the pain. Your calves will change using higher, repeated volumes. How much depends on your genetic potential - but no matter what you'll have some fun and shed a few tears in the process.
 
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