Grunt11's Training Log

Accessory Workout Today:

Flat Bench Bar x 25 x 25
Parallel Grip Lat Pulls 50 lbs. x 25 x 25

Crunches BW (171 lbs.) +25 lbs. x 20 x 20
Hanging Leg Raises BW x 20 x 15
Side Bends 45 lbs. x 20 x 20

Seated Incline DB Curls 15 lbs. x 25
Overhead DB Triceps Extensions 15 lbs. x 25

GHR BW (-52 lbs.) x 10 x 10 x 10
Shrugs 315 lbs. x 15 x 15 x 15

Leg Curls 65 lbs. x 15 +5
Leg Extensions 85 lbs. x 15 +5

Diet:

Pre/Post Workout: 345 kCal
Meal 1: 730 kCal (1080)
Meal 2: 730 kCal (1810)
Meal 3: TBT

I made up for missed GHR and Shrugs from my ME Lower Body day and the Abs work I should also do that day. The arm stuff including Bench and Lat Pulls is all high rep to try and help rehab my arm tendons.
 
ME Upper Body Workout Yesterday:

Max Effort:
Flat Bench Press Bar x 20, 95 lbs. x 15, 135 lbs. x 10, 185 lbs. x 5, 215 lbs. x 1 x 1 x 1 x 1

Supplemental:
Triceps Dips BW (171 lbs.) +25 lbs. x 7 +2 +2 +2 (13)

Accessory:
Close Grip Chin Ups BW x 10 +5 +3 +3 (21)
Seated Incline Shoulder Press 125 lbs. x 9 +3 +2 +2 (14)
Close Parallel Grip Chin Ups BW x 7 +3 +3 +3 +3 (19)
Incline DB Press 50 lbs. x 12 +4 +4 (20)
Supported DB Row 95 lbs. x 10 +5 (15)
Leaning Lateral Raises 25 x 12 +4 +4

Diet:
Pre/Post Workout: 415 kCal
Meal 1: 730 kCal (1145)
Meal 2: 360 kCal (1505)
Meal 3: 800 kCal (2305)
Meal 4: 600 kCal (2905)

I did this workout a day early since I work this weekend and want to do my ME Lower Body workout today rather than Saturday.

I really felt the Bench in my Biceps on the first 215 rep. It feels almost like I’m having muscle spasms but they felt better on the later ones. Overall my arms feel pretty good considering I’m getting into the heavy end of my cycle. I think all the rehab stuff I’m doing is helping out now I just have to stay with doing it and not slack off because they start feeling better.
 
ME Lower Body Workout Yesterday:

Max Effort:
Box Squat Bar x 20, 95 lbs. x 10, 135 lbs. x 5, 185 lbs. x 3, 225 lbs. x 2, 215 lbs. x fail

Supplemental:
GHR (skipped)

Accessory:
BB Shrugs 335 lbs. x 15
BB Calf Raises 335 lbs. x 20
Leg Curls 75 lbs. x 15 +3
Leg Extensions 95 lbs. x 15 +5
Inclined DB Curls 17.5 lbs. x 20
Overhead Triceps Extensions 17.5 lbs. x 20
Band Flyes 26 lbs. x 20

I hit the wall on the Box Squats, defiantly overtraining my lower back/leg exercises so I decided to back off everything a little bit. At least I’m learning a lot more now about what my body can handle which I hope to put to use in making a the most efficient program that doesn’t over-do it.

In light of this and since I’m leaving on Friday, my first ME day of the week, I plan to skip the Dynamic Effort work on Tuesday and just do ME Upper and Lower workouts probably on Wednesday and Thursday and then I’ll probably SD while I’m gone.
 
Well I did ME Upper and Lower workouts Monday and Tuesday respectively and some Assistance work yesterday but I’m too lazy to go back and log them. The highlights are as follows:

I took 2 more lbs., down to -24 lbs., off my Glute Ham Raises for a total of 8 lbs. in this six week cycle. My body was still hammered after the week four deload and was unable to hit any new PRs which was a good learning experience. I’ve been adding in more assistance work especially for my forearm tendons and it seems to be working. If it keeps working I will detail what I’m doing.

The results of the cycle were the following. The first number is the change in the last 6 week cycle and the number in () is the change since 12 months ago.

Bench Press +5 lbs. (+120 lbs.)
Squat +5 lbs. (+220 lbs.)
Deadlift no change (+215 lbs.)
Body Weight 172 lbs. +2 lbs. (+23 lbs.)
BF % 13 +.5% (+5%)
Chest 42 +.75” (+5.5”)
Upper Arms (relaxed/flexed) 12.75”/14.75” +.25”/+.25” (+1.25”)
Lower Arms (relaxed/flexed) 11.25”/11.75” +.25”/+.25” (+1”)
Neck 16” +.5” (1.5”)
Thighs 23” +.5” (+2)
Calves 14.25” no change (+.5”)
Hips 38” +1” (+2”)
Shoulders 48” +.75” (+3.5”)
Waist 31.5 no change (+3.5”)

I hadn’t taken any interim measurements so I was quite surprised to see the gains I made. In fact I’m surprised I made better size than strength gains IMO.
 
Last edited:
I probably won’t be posting or responding to PMs for a couple weeks. I’m going to be out of the country.
 
Inspiring stuff Grunt! Great progress this year. It's certainly true that if you lift heavy stuff on a regular basis and eat enough to grow, you will definitely get that 'thicker' look.

Enjoy your well earned break.
 
Impressive results. I've been watching this intently to see how it goes for you.


Good luck while you are out of the country.
 
Max Effort Lower Body, Today:

Max Effort:
Box Squats (very wide stance) 245 x 5 x 5 x 5

Supplemental:
Glute Ham Raises BW (164 lbs.) -30 lbs. x 30

Accessory:
BB Shrugs 225 lbs. x 20 x 20
BB Calf Raises 225 lbs. x 20 x 20
Leg Curls 35 lbs. x 20
Leg Extensions 55 lbs. x 20

Pre-habilitation:
Incline DB Curls 10 lbs. x 25
Incline Bench Press 45 lbs. x 25
Lat Pulls 50 lbs. x 25

Wow! I really had to check my ego at the door for this workout. This is the first time in over a year that I’ve done a 2 week SD, I usually do 9 days. For the most part, with the exception of pushing around some ground equipment, I either sat or laid around since most of my time was spent flying or sleeping after 30 hour missions. This felt more like a cardio than a weight lifting session. Could barely breath after just 5 Squats.

I’m going to do my best to be patient and start out this cycle right since this is the most rested I’ve been in a long time.

My forearms tendons feel the best they have in a long time so I’m going to do my best not to re-aggravate them.
I was shocked when I stepped on the scale and saw I weighed only 164 lbs., down from 173 lbs. I keep reminding myself to wait a week or so for the creatine and glycogen to build back up before I can judge what my “real” weight is. Note that I wasn’t trying to drop weight during SD but it was just so hard to eat with what we were doing.
 
Glad to hear your tendonitis has subsided. 1st workouts are always the toughest. You will be back to form in no time. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you and yours!
 
Max Effort Upper Body, Today:

Max Effort:
Flat Bench Press 165 lbs. x 5

Supplemental:
Close Grip Bench Press 145 lbs. x 5

Accessory:
Dips BW (166 lbs.) x 10
Close Grip Lat Pulls 140 lbs. x 10
Seated Incline Shoulder Press 110 lbs. x 8
Supported DB Rows 55 lbs. x 15
Incline DB Press 35 lbs. x 15
Leaning Lateral Raises 10 lbs. x 15

Pre-habilitation:
Tonnes of light Lat Pulls
Squats Bar x 25

Holy Outa Shape Batman! Taking a lesson from yesterday, I dialed it way back for today. Except for doing lots of warm ups and a bunch of light Lat Pulls I only did one “working set” for each exercise. Hopefully like after all my previous SDs I’ll start to get back in the swing on the second workout for each body part.

I’ve decided to use Close Grip Bench Press as my Supplemental Bench Press exercise since I figure my Triceps are the weak link in my Bench Press. I think I confirmed that today as I had a hell of a time not flaring my elbows out to the side as I tried to use more weight, a clear sign that my Chest and Shoulders are trying to compensate for my weak Triceps.

I’ve been reading a lot more about Conjugate Training, specifically the Westside method to help me fine tune what I am doing. A member, StormTheBeach, over at TNATION started a very helpful thread a few weeks ago in case anyone else is interested:

http://tnation.t-nation.com/free_on...he_westside_method_thread?id=4948755&pageNo=0


@ tdawg – thanks, I’m going to do the best I can to keep it a bay or hopefully get rid of it completely. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you.
 
Dynamic Effort Upper Body, Today:

Dynamic Effort:
Flat Bench Press 120 lbs. x 3 x 3 x 3 x 3 x 3 x 3 x 3 x 3 (24)

Supplemental:
Close Grip Bench Press 135 lbs. x 6, 145 lbs. x 6, 155 lbs. x 6 165 lbs. x 5

Accessory:
Lat Pulls 120 lbs. x 15 +5 +5 +5 (30) (plus lots of warm-ups)
Dips BW (170 lbs.) x 10 +4 +4 +4 +3 (23)
Supported DB Row 60 lbs. x 15 +5 +5 +5
Incline Seated Shoulder Press 115 lbs. x 10 +4 +2 +2 +2
Leaning Lateral Raise 15 lbs. x 15 +5 +5 +5
Incline DB Bench Press 40 lbs. x 14 +5 +5

Wow its incredible how much better the second workout after SD feels. I actually jumped the gun and did this a day early since my last ME workout was really just a lame Repetition workout. I’m glad I did since this is the best feeling workout I’ve had in months. Hell my 5RM max on Close Grip Bench Press equaled the best I could do on regular Flat Bench Press two days ago.

My body weight is back up to 170 lbs. It’s amazing how much difference a few days of Creatine and eating more Carbs again does to nutrient and water retention. It’s probably also what made the biggest difference in how good and how well today’s workout was.

I had been feeling some shoulder pain, really a shooting pain radiating down my arms. I just read somewhere that a pinched nerve in some upper vertebrae can cause this, from arching the back while benching and also from squatting with a heavy bar. So I decided to put the foam roller to use, I got it before my trip but hadn’t really used it, today. I rolled my upper back over it and heard several vertebrae fire off like a machinegun, got up and the pain was gone. That alone was worth the investment. Now to see what other cool things it does.
 
Max Effort Lower Body, Today:

Max Effort:
Low Wide Stance Box Squats Bar x 10, 95 lbs. x 5, 135 lbs. x 5, 185 lbs. x 5, 225 lbs. x 5

Supplemental:
Glute Ham Raise BW (171 lbs.) -52 lbs. resistance bands x 19 + 11 (30)

Accessory:
BB Shrugs 235 lbs. x 20 x 20 x 20 (60)
BB Calf Raises 235 lbs. x 20 x 20 x 20 (60)

Pre-Habilitation:
Incline DB Curls 20 lbs. x 20 +5 +5 (30)
Overhead DB Triceps Extensions 15 lbs. x 20 +5 +5
Band Flyes 10 lbs. x 20 +5 +5
Band Face Pulls 14 lbs. x 20 +5 +5

I switched to very low and wide stance Box Squats since my Hamstrings seem to be the weakest link in my Squat and Deadlift, so it also follows the Westside principle of doing what you suck at so it gets better.

All my repetition exercises will continue to follow the HST principle of progressive loading. For the first two weeks I’m also doing that with my ME and Supplemental lifts just to get back into the swing of things and also hopefully take advantage of the long SD I had by not jumping up the weights to fast.

I’ve decided to go ahead and follow the standard Westside template of for workouts a week on the proscribed days. However, I’ll be adding in other assistance work as I feel able with the goal of doing something every day as is recommended.
 
Accessory Workout, Today:

Crunches BW (171 lbs.) x 20 x 20
Side Bends 50 lbs. x 20 x 20
Hanging Leg Raises BW x 20 x 20

Pre/Re-Habilitation:

Leg Curls 25 lbs. x 20
Leg Extensions 35 lbs. x 20
Reverse Curls 5 lbs. x 20
Squats Bar x 20
Lat Pulls 50 lbs. x 20
Flat Bench Bar x 20
Bench Supported Incline DB Rows 15 lbs. x 20
BB Shrugs Bar x 20
Finger Extension (isometric) 20 sec x 5

GPP:

Above exercises done in a fast circuit.
Power Cable Drags (weight unknown) 90 feet x 5
Power Cable Pulls (weight unknown) 90 feet x 2

Ok I’m sure people are wondering WTF a “Power Cable Drag/Pull” is. Well I don’t have I weight sled and don’t want to invest in one unless I can prove to myself that doing concentric only rehab work really works for me. So I’ve taken to Dragging, putting it over my shoulder and walking, these heavy power cables we use to hook up generators to our aircraft. By pulling them I’m using my arms and back to pull the cable toward me. If I notice this is improving my recovery and/or GPP I will go ahead and invest in getting a sled or try to come up with some other way of doing this at home.

The finger extensions are just putting my hands in something, usually the cup holders on either side of me as I sit in traffic and push my finger out against the sides holding isometric contractions for 20 seconds. This is supposed to help my tendons by balancing out the gripping my fingers are doing. I’ve also adding in Reverse Wrist Curls for the same reason.

I probably won’t log all of these Accessory workouts separately like this but rather roll them into the previous ME or DE workout (I love that the Edit function doesn’t time out like most forums). Even though the Westside template only calls for 4 “official” workouts a week they recommend 10-12 mini-workouts of around 20 minutes to work on other things than your main lifts.
 
Max Effort Upper Body, Today:

Max Effort:
Close Grip Bench Press 155 lbs. x 5, 175 lbs. x 5, 185 lbs. x 5

Supplemental:
Close Grip Bench Press 170 lbs. x 7 +2 +1, 165 lbs. +2 +2 +2 +1 (17)

Accessory:
Lat Pulls 120 lbs. x 15 +5 +5 +5 (30) plus lots of light warm-ups
Dips BW (171 lbs.) x 14 +4 +3 (21)
Supported DB Row 65 lbs. x 15 +5 +5 +5
Shoulder Press 120 lbs. x 10 +3 +2 +2 (17)
Leaning Lateral Raise 17.5 lbs. x 15 +5 +5 +5 (30)
Incline DB Bench Press 45 lbs. x 14 +6 +5 (25)

It’s nice to feel your strength coming back after SD. I was a little scared when I could only do 10 body weight Dips the last workout, even though I’d already done 2 pushing exercises I should have been able to do more.

It looks like my body weight has stabilized at 171 lbs. which is only down 2 lbs. from the end of my last cycle. Still I hadn’t wanted to lose any weight during SD but it was just too hard to eat right on that trip.

I’m sort of breaking a general rule by doing the same exercise for both ME and Supplemental lifts. I don’t think it’s strictly prohibited but they generally say if one is Triceps dominant the other should be chest or shoulder dominant. However, I really want to test if Close Grip Bench Press will translate over to a better Regular Bench Press for me so I figure it’s worth the experiment for a few weeks.
 
Dynamic Effort Lower Body, Today:

Dynamic Effort:
Low Wide Stance Box Squats (175 lbs. x 2) x 9 (18)
Speed Pulls (225 lbs. x 1) x 18 (18)

Supplemental:
Glute Ham Raises BW (171 lbs.) – 48 lbs. bands x 8 x 8 x 8 x 6 (30)

Accessory:
BB Shrugs 245 lbs. x 20 x 20
BB Calf Raises 245 lbs. x 20 x 20

This workout felt great. I love feeling more energized after a workout than when I started.

I’ve incorporated Speed Pulls into my DE day since based on my 1RM attempt last cycle my Deadlift suffered by not doing them. Still being a novice I need the reps to improve my form and I just flat out like to Deadlift. The plan I’m using has me cycling up to about 85% of my 1RM so for the last couple week I will probable switch this over to my ME lift or it will probably be too much for my lower back.

One thing I noticed doing speed pulls was that as I did more reps and my form got better I felt it much less in my lower back and really started feeling it in my lats. Once I got in the groove it felt a couple of times like my lats were going to spasm on me they contacted so hard.

I did a bunch of Upper Body Pre/Rehab work yesterday. I’m trying to take this more seriously and get in the 10 or so additional mini-workouts suggested. However, I’m being a little lax on GPP work right now.
 
Pre/Re-Hab Mini-Workout, Today:

Pre/Re-Hab:
Squats Bar x 1 minute
Deadlifts Bar x 1 minute
Bench Press Bar x 20
Lat Pulls 50 lbs. x 20
Reverse Wrist Curls 5 lbs. x 20
Indian Club Swings 8 lbs. x 30
L-Flyes 7.5 lbs. x 20
Front, Side, Inverted Front Raises 2.5 lbs. x 20
Band Face Pulls 14 lbs. x 20 (both supinated and pronated grip)

I’m trying a bunch of different stuff for Accessory and Pre/Re-Hab mini-workouts with the goal of eventually solidifying a routine and working up to 10 mini-workouts a week. I will do some or some variation of certain exercises every day and some exercises only on the day after either an upper or lower body workout depending on the exercise.

I really need to get back to working on my GPP since I was supposed to do 5 total minutes of Squats and Deadlifts but 2 minutes was about it. In a way I’ll be glad when the holiday is over so I can get back to hill sprinting on the way in to work. It’s about 10 miles to the nearest hill from my house and I usually just don’t feel like making the drive for 15 minutes or less of running.
 
Dynamic Effort Upper Body, Today:
(BW=172)
Dynamic Effort:
Flat Bench Press (125 lbs. x 3) x 8 (24)

Supplemental:
Close Grip Bench Press 165 lbs. x 8 +3 +3 +3 +2 +2 (21)

Accessory:
Close Parallel Grip Lat Pulls 130 lbs. x 14 +4 +3 +3 (24) (plus a bunch of lighter warm-ups)
Dips 175 lbs. x 14 +4 +3 +3 (24)
Supported DB Row 70 lbs. x 15 +5 +4 (24)
Leaning Lateral Raises 20 lbs. x 15 +5 +4 (24)
Incline DB Press 50 lbs. x 12 +5 +5 +4 (26)

Another great feeling workout today. I decided to drop the shoulder press since my Shoulders, Chest and Triceps are already getting hit 4 times so a 5th just seems and feels like overkill.

I think I’m getting the hang of the Speed Bench Press. They are feeling much more comfortable, not like when I started and if felt like I was jolting all my muscles. I think I’m learning to keep everything tighter so that the sudden reverse of direction doesn’t feel like it’s ripping me apart. After I finish them I feel incredibly energized and powerful. We’ll see how it goes when I start adding the bands back in.

Despite being off work I’ve been doing really well at keeping my diet good quality and the calories up around 3,000-3,200. That is probably part of the reason my workouts have been feeling so good this last week.
 
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