Fourth HST-cycle

M

Minime

New Member
Hey everybody!

I thought that I would start a log for my fourth HST-cycle. The last two weeks I've been taking some new maxes (which turned out to be quite pointless, since my previous estimations turned out to be almost exactly on the spot), and resting for 9 days after that. Still bulking, although my belly is making itself more and more prominent (my mum made a nasty comment about it last week - oooh that hurts!). This is what I'll be doing:

Deadlift (w. snatch grip, kudos to QuantumPositron) / Squat
Incline dumbbell press / Dip
Seated cable row / One arm dumbbell row
Pullups
Overhead dumbell press
Hammercurls (only first workout of the week)
Tricep pushdowns (only second workout of the week)

The arm iso's are there to bring my arms up to speed with the rest (they are waaaay behind). I'll also be doing deep fascial stretching for biceps and triceps, which is why I'll only do them once a week (all sets of the week at once, since fascial stretching requires a nice big pump).

Foodwise I have had to cut down my budget significantly due to drastically increased rental fees where I live, meaning that most meats are unfortunately out of my fiscal reach (even though university education is free in sweden, and we get a small "studying salary" from the state, the extra money from working last summer has run out, so...). Chicken breasts are on the menu a few times a week, otherwise my diet is mostly milk (3 litres daily), lots of oats, eggs and mixed frozen veggies. Pre- and post-workout nutrition is whey/maltodextrin and whey. Any ideas about cheap, calorie-dense food are appreiated.

First workout is tomorrow. I will log my workouts and my daily calorie intake.

That's it.
/Minime
 
A lot of bodies were built on similar diets. Eggs are cheap protein; just throw out every 3rd yolk to cut the fat a bit.
 
<div>
(quadancer @ May 13 2008,1:18)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">A lot of bodies were built on similar diets. Eggs are cheap protein; just throw out every 3rd yolk to cut the fat a bit.</div>
Unless you need the cals, in which case...

Plus, don't buy chicken breasts if you want to save money. Buy whole chicken and chop it up into portions. Much cheaper than the ready filleted stuff.
 
I should add, I'll only do one week of 15's. My experience is that I don't grow during 15's, and I also don't feel any jointpain or the like, so I thought cutting them down to one week would be beneficial.

About the chicken - I did a quick calc, and found out that the cheapest brand of chicken breasts were marginally cheaper, per gram of protein, than whole chicken. It's probably imported from somewhere far, far away and pumped full of antibiotics and steriods though, so there might be a health benefit in not eating them...
 
All right - first day of the cycle almost over.

Workout went fine, but as usual a little boring with the light weights.

(All dumbbell exercises are weight/hand)
Deadlifts 45 kg / 99 lbs
Incline dumbbell press 11,5 kg / 25 lbs
Pullups with 15 kg assistance / 33 lbs
Dumbbell rows 11,5 kg / 25 lbs
Overhead dumbbel press 8 kg / 17,5 lbs
Hammercurls (3 sets) 6 kg / 13 lbs

Dietwise I've had roughly 3750 kcals, but a little bit too little water. Gotta remember to drink properly.
 
All right, another workout.

15 reps
Squat 1x55kg (121lbs)
Dip 1x -15kg (-22lbs, assisted)
Pullups 1x -15kg (-22lbs, assisted, somehow only managed 11 reps)
Seated cable row 1x33kg (72,5lbs)
Overhead dumbbell press 1x8kg (17,5lbs)
Tricep pushdown 3x17kg (37,5lbs)

My body is very unreliable when it comes to pullups. One day they feel fine, and they other day, my body wont even let me finish the set, with the same weight. What's up with that
rock.gif


Anyway, the rest of the workout felt great. Heavy fascial stretching for the tricep felt absolutely fantastically painfull, and I got the most incredible pump I've ever had. My left shoulder is bothering me a little when I do the stretch though (an old injury from doing too heavy overhead presses), but I think it's gonna be fine eventually.

Yesterday I ingested 3380 kcal, and today I had an estimated 3180 kcal (hard to count the calories when someone else is cooking dinner for you). I'm switching from whole to lowfat milk, which will bring down my daily intake to about 3000 kcal.

I noticed that there was some essential information missing from my initial post. Starting the cycle at 69 kg (151lbs), and 183cm (although I don't expect much of a change in the latter
wink.gif
). I haven't made any accurate measurements of my bf%, but i'm guessing in the 12-14% area.

Cheers,
/Minime
 
Last one my 15's today, since I'm only doing one week of'em.

Deadlifts 1x50kg (110lbs)
Pullups 1x -15kg (33lbs assistance, only managed 13 reps)
Incline dumbbell bench press 1x13,5kg (30lbs per hand)
Dumbbell rows 13,5kg (30lbs per hand)
Overhead dumbbell press 1x10kg (22 lbs per hand)

I should've hit my maxes today, but somehow the deadlifts felt very light. Either I have miscalculated something or it has something to do with me coming off creatine (which would be kinda' backwards). Should I let the rest of the weight progression be, or should I add a little to it in case it isn't just this max that is too light?

Yesterday I had 3050 kcal, and a beer that I don't know the nutritional values of (). Would 200-400 kcal (considering the calorific value of alcohol is high) a bottle be a good guess? Today I had 3200 kcal.

Cheers
/Minime
 
Missed todays workout - went to the doctor and got some blood taken and didn't feel very up and energetic afterwards, so I'll wait until tomorrow.

3075 kcal today.
 
Do another week of 15's and really push your 15 RM's.  Do at least 2 sets, or even try for 3 if you can.  I truly believe that 15's done correctly are great for growth as well.  If you look, there's really no wonder you haven't had success with them; your not pushing yourself at all!  Just my opinion...
smile.gif
 
Okay, I'll do that. I've hit my maxes on everything but the deadlifts, but I'll try pushing them all up a bit. I'll add another set in as well. Doing three sets, and keeping volume constant, wouldn't that leave me with nine work sets for the 5's?
rock.gif
 
If you want to keep the volume relatively constant throughout the cycle, then just stick with 2 sets.  You won't be able to maintain 45 reps during the 5's...so if that's your plan, keep the reps around 30.

I do 2x15
      3x10
and a combination of
      4x6
      5x5
      8x3 at the end of my cycle.  Good luck!
 
Wow, eight sets of three? that's seems like alot. When I'm on my maxes, I usually get half of my target reps for the second set, and even less for the third. Clustering helps out, of couse...

Todays workout then... Tried something new; adding 20grams of dextrose to my pre-workout-shake, and instead of drinking it all at once, I had half of it before and sipped on the rest throughout the workout. Even though there are other factors as well, my energy level was clearly higher than it usually is. I'll continue doing this.

Squats 1x65kg, 1x75kg
Dips 2x -10 (second set clustered)
Seated cable row 1x33kg, 1x40kg
Overhead dumbbell press 2x11,5kg (second set clustered)
Hammercurls 3x8kg, with heavy stretching

That's it.
 
Those scales are not the best way to measure bodyfat, but have you followed the instructions closely? There are rules as to liquid intake n hours prior to the measurement and stuff like that that should be followed to increase accuracy.
If you follow the rules and keep the variables as constant as possible it is at least a good way to measure progress.
 
i too have a body analyzer scale at home and it tells me Im at 25% bf. Then someone in my log recommanded this accumeasure bf caliper, so i bought it as it's only like 15$ and easy to use. The caliper says i'm around 22-23% bf. So the scale is close but i guess the caliper is a bit more accurate.
 
The only instructions in the manual are &quot;Step on scale with bare feet&quot;. Crappy thing. Oh well, I'll get calipers instead.
 
<div>
(Minime @ May 23 2008,6:39)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">The only instructions in the manual are &quot;Step on scale with bare feet&quot;.</div>
Yeah, your combat boots will throw the calculations off...
wink.gif
 
<div>
(TunnelRat @ May 23 2008,6:49)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">Yeah, your combat boots will throw the calculations off...
wink.gif
</div>
Oh, so thaaaaat's why... What if would just run over the scale with a tank, is that better?
smile.gif
 
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