No catchy title

[JohnCaesar]

So this is my journal for my training. Right now I do not feel like saying much about myself or what I have done in the past. I may ramble some other day. I will just start it off with my current split.


A1
Smith Incline 11-15 RP
Clean & Press 6-9, 12-15
Rev Grip Smith 11-20 RP
WG Pulldowns 11-20 RP
Deadlifts 5-8, 8-12

B1
EZ Drag Curl 15-20 RP
Scott Hammer Curl 10-20
Seated Calf Raise 10-12
Standing Leg Curl 15-30 RP
Leg Press 8-12, WM

A2
Inc DB Press 20-30 RP
Smith Incline Shld Press 11-15 RP
Dips 11-20 RP
Rack Pullups 20-30 RP
Seated Row 15-20 RP

B2
Machine Curl 11-15 RP
Rev Cable Curl 10-20
HS Calf Raise 10-12
Seated Good Mornings 12-15
Squat 4-8, WM

A3
Smith Flat Press 11-20 RP
Hi Inc DB Press 20-30 RP
Tricep EZ Extensions 20-30 RP
CG Pulldowns 15-25 RP
Rack Pulls 9-12, 12-15

B3
DB Curl 20-30 RP
Rev BB Curl 10-20
Calf Press 10-12
Leg Curl 20-30 RP
Hack Squat 8-12, WM

Please feel free to comment and say what you want when reading.

[Lock it Up]

Good luck with the blast.

Any particular reason you are not using squats as a widowmaker and opting for the leg press instead?

Also, how has seated good mornings, and the clean and press for shoulders worked for you? I can't wrap my head around the seated good mornings...there seems to be better choices for hams IMO. As far as the cleans go, are you cleaning and pressing every rep like a power movement, or more of a stricter movement like Justin Harris does here:

[YOUTUBE]SpsZeSq4td0[/YOUTUBE]

[JohnCaesar]

A1 April 12, 2010

Okay, so this is the first day back after a 7 day cruise. My previous blast was 10 weeks and I feel like I cut it short. Stupid me was progressing but decided I should stop before I wear myself out. Hindsight is 20/20.

Anyways, without further adieu, here are today's results...

Pre-training cardio: Lifefitness exercise cycle 15 mins.

A1
Smith Incline Press 11-15 RP
Now: 100* x 6,2,1 = 9
16 count static
50 lbs DB stretch x 45 sec

Comments: Started off way too heavy. Stupid stupid stupid. I could probably make a few more excuses but will not take time.

*BTW, on most any machine or plate loaded equipment, I only count the amount of weight on each side. I do not feel like taking the time to add or do addtional math at the gym.

Clean & Press 6-9, 12-15
Now: 165 x 6, 135 x 10
12 Partials
45 sec stretch

Comments: Whew, I am fat and got winded on the high rep set. I may do better with a 9-12. The partials felt good and I think the groove will get better with them.

Reverse Grip Flat Smith 11-20 RP
Now: 90 x 7,4,3= 14
12 Partials
45 sec stretch w/ 95 lbs on cable stach down w/ d handle

Comments: These felt good today. Nothing else to say about it.

Wide Grip Pulldowns 11-20 RP
Now: 190 x 11,6,3 = 20
14 Partials Hanging from wide grip chin bar w/ 25 lbs
40 sec stretch w/ 25 lbs

Comments: Not bad, form started getting a little loose at the end. Partials hurt my shoulder a bit, but that was because I set up poorly.

Deadlifts 5-8, 8-12
Now: 385 x 5, 365 x 9
30 sec doorknob stretch

Comments: WOW, that was a pathetic effort. It was also sans straps. It has been a while since I did conventional deadlifts off the floor. I can tell not using the straps definitely hurt my confidence.


All in all, it was a fair day. 5 of 10, my sleep from last night was very poor. It is tought to sleep at night because of my allergies, which living in Nashville, TN does not help that any.

[JohnCaesar]

Good luck with the blast.

Any particular reason you are not using squats as a widowmaker and opting for the leg press instead?

Honestly, high reps squats never really hit my quads well. I am 33 now and have been squatting since I was 13. I tore both of my ACLs while in HS and basically had to relearn how to squat. I use a very narrow stance and have and long range of motion. So it ends up being a cardio session. My back tends to get pumped so bad during the set that I lose form pretty bad.

Lock, you are right. I need to man up. Squats are the widowmaker. Just checked my logbook and I did not ever write down the leg press part there. I just went in a edited it so I will now be using squats for the widow as well.
:peace:

Also, how has seated good mornings, and the clean and press for shoulders worked for you? I can't wrap my head around the seated good mornings...there seems to be better choices for hams IMO. As far as the cleans go, are you cleaning and pressing every rep like a power movement, or more of a stricter movement like Justin Harris does here:

I do not know why but Seated Good Mornings are an exercise that I have always been able to find a good groove on. I have really good hip flexibility so it allows me to keep the work off my back. I keep them very slow and controlled and hold the stretch at the bottom for a count as well.

As far as the clean & press goes, I am using a pretty similar form to Justin but with a slight bit more leg drive on the press. I noticed he is not locking out at the top. I did today. I guess that would probably keep more pressure on the shoulders though. I am definitely working to keep the hip drive out on the clean. I can hang clean around 225 or so, the 165 is not a problem. My shoulder strength is the limiting factor on the presses. I have never had great should strength and I can never find a good groove on many seated presses, so I thought I would give this exercise a spin. Heck, worse case scenario is if I do not progress on it, I through it out and go to the Hammer Strength Should Press.

Thanks for the encouragement. Hopefully, I can beat up my logbook as well as you do.

[Lock it Up]

No worries as far as not using squats for a widow. If you feel like you can't progress on em, then don't do em. Simple as that. However, that's not an excuse for most guys, lol.

Here's a good quote by Dante on the subject:

I have no problem with anyone on leg training switching the exercises they do from the 6-8 heavy set to the 20 reppers on as long as the 20 repper gets done. Alot of the super large guys I train (270-340lbers) have serious trouble breathingwise doing a 20 rep free squat. Hell I have trouble doing it myself. You are carrying alot of bodyweight, breathing like a locomotive and hey lets not die on leg training day-LOL. Ill give you an example--One of my guys does smythe squats, free squats and leg presses as his three leg movements. On leg press day he does the heavy 6-10 (I make him do 10 reps on it) and then does the 20 repper on the same leg press. On smythe day he does his heavy 6-8 and then does the 20 repper on a horizontal hack machine. On free squat day he does his heavy 6-10 and does the 20 repper on a Cybex (different) leg press machine at a slightly different angle than the other leg press day. I got no problem with any of you guys doing that especially you large beasts. Now if you start doing only leg presses with the same leg press machine for all your 20 reppers then Im going to call you on it that your taking the easy way out.

Just something to think about.

[JohnCaesar]

Cardio Day 4/13/2010

Elliptical Trainer: 10 Minutes

Treadmill: 20 minutes 3.0 MPH 6.0 Incline

Slept terrible again last night. Anyways, the cardio is basically fasted. I take about 7g BCAA & 5g Leucine before I go as well as drinking a couple cups of coffee. I quit the elliptical after 10 minutes because it just did not feel good. The treadmill was much better this morning which was unusual.

I also did some rope pulldowns/ab crunches after stretching. Nothing official, just some quick and dirty intermixed with my post cardio stretch.

[JohnCaesar]

Stats

Well, in case anyone is wondering, here are some current stats.

height: 6ft & maybe part of an inch, who is counting?
weight: 261.5 lbs (that was Monday morning)
bodyfat: Too high (it is over 20%)

Let's see, last blast ended with soem of these numbers.

Seated DB Press: 65 x 19 rp
Back Squat: 315 x 8 ss
Hammer Strength Incline Chest Press: 135 per side x 11 rp
Incline DB Curl: 45 x 17 rp
Snatch grip deadlift: 365 x 6 ss
Seated Good Morning: 175 x 15 ss

here is my own personal synopsis of my last blast by bodypart:

Chest: nice strength improvment, yeah I did the dreaded Smith Flat Press in the 11-15 rp range, I did not get hurt and went from 100 lbs per side for 16 rp to 125 lbs per side for 10 rp, also moved up 15 lbs on Hammer Chest Incline

Shoulders: I never could find a groove on my exercises except for seated DB Military Press. Made some decent gains on it, but everything else was terrible. Had to switch out exercises.

Triceps: Instead of going with regular dips, I decided to use the Hammer Strength dip machine (plate loaded) it worked great, felt like my strength improved greatly, felt like by the end of the blast I had reached a good groove with my other exercises

Back Width: Everything went great here. I made progress on every exercise everytime except for a miss on rack chins, still having a tough time finding the groove on it

Back Thickness: Felt really good about this, had both rack pulls & snatch grip deadlifts in my blast and both progressed very well. I did fine on BB row adding a 2nd SS after realizing my recovery could handle it.

Biceps: These progressed but I had two different machines lifts in there, I realized in hindsight I could do better with more free weight work going forward.

Forearms: Made progress every time, worked just fine.

Calves: These were tough but I managed to progress very well on them. I absolutely love this machine http://www.advancedexercise.com/cata...shc__28224.jpg
I progress very well on it and can really grind out the reps no matter what.

Hams: I tried to stay more conventional with my exercises. I started with the Hi foot placement on the leg press but I could never find a groove with it. I ended up putting Seated good mornings into the fray and they work much better.

Quads: I was doing great because I had a good groove on the Cybex Leg Press (see Bruno's recent videos, that is the one I like) and then they decided to "fix" it. Never knew it was broke but anyways it was done for about six weeks so I ended up using the Cybex squat press. Progressed but never really found a good groove on it.

Ok, so it was rambling and directionless but this is just my writing style.

[Lock it Up]

Keep banging away man!

One suggestion: Try to extend your stretches to 90 seconds or upwards before adding weight, then once you hit 90 secs, up it just a tad for a given stretch. I truly feel this helps tremendously. I feel like a 90 second - 180 second stretch is much more beneficial than a 45sec stretch.

Just my opinion, but it has helped me progress on my stretches a ton.

Food for thought.

[JohnCaesar]

Suggestion received. I will work to incorporate it.

[JohnCaesar]

Crap, I just realized I put Seated Good Mornings & Squat on the same. Definitely not a sound decision. I probably need to change it.

Another thought is I need to get a camera so I can record some of my training for some critiques.

[JohnCaesar]

B1 April 14, 2010

First of all, my sleep was a little better last night, got maybe a total of five & 1/2 hours. Definitely not nearly enough though. I am going to take care of it going forward.

Pre-training cardio: Lifefitness Cardio cycle 10 min

B1
Ez Bar Drag Curl 15-20 RP
Now: 85 x 19rp
10 sec static
60 second stretch

Comments: The EZ bar at my gym is 15 lbs so I had 35 on each side. Biceps have never been my strong suit. I was not your typical noob as a teenager. When I was 14 years old, I was 6 ft 1 inches and weighed 230 lbs. I was never really into benching or curling because it had little carryover for me as a lineman (I was only benching around 175 at the time but could parallel squat 400 for reps and routinely curied the guys who skipped squatting but benched 315). I was also the idiot who squatted five days a week for months on end as well but I digress as that is a story for another day.
Anyways, this felt pretty good because after the static rep, I could not feel my hands for a about a minute. Good guess for a starting weight.

Scott bench Hammer Curl 10-20ss
Now: 30x11
Stretch: 60 seconds

Comments: First time I have tried this exercise and I like it. It was tough to grind the reps out but it was worth it.

Seated Calf Raise 10-12 (5 count neg, 15 count stretch)
Now: 125 x 10
No statics, partials or stretch

Comments: My left camp was trying to cramp everytime I hit the top of ROM after rep 5. I did not put seconds on there because there is not clock I can see when I am doing these. I just count. I ended up just dumping the weight after rep 10.

Standing Leg Curl 15-30rp
Now: 70 X 20
Stretch: 90 seconds

Comments: This exercise kills my lower back worse than anything else. I swear freakin' RDL would be easier on my back. I will stay with it just to see how it works only as long as I progress.

Leg Press 8-12, WM
Now: 385x8, 270x20
Stretch: 60 seconds

Comments: Ok, this weight should have kept me in a good groove but it just never was comfortable. I think the lack of sleep and diminished calories from yesterday really caused me to hit a wall during the set.


So, today is in the books. I am really disappointed that I ran out of energy halfway throught the session. I am pretty sure I did not get anywhere near enough carbs yesterday. I noticed that my sweat really, really stunk halfway through my session. I think this may have been a sign of ketosis. Lesson for today: be a bit more conservative when choosing starting points for the blast.

:frusty:

[JohnCaesar]

Cardio Day 4/15/2010

So, I got some good sleep last night. Almost a solid 8 hours. I felt like a million bucks all day so far! After I woke up, I went and layed in the tanning bed for a few minutes then off to the gym and

Elliptical trainer: 20 minutes

I know probably not as long as I should have went but I kept my heart rate around 130 and it felt good. I felt it was all that was needed. Really nothing else to say about it at the moment but I am going to post more later.

[JohnCaesar]

A2 April 16, 2010

So, I need to get another MP3 player. I lost mine in the gym a few weeks ago. Unfortunately, I have lost the ability to block the gym noise over the past few years. Does this affect my concentration? I hope not, because that would just be another pitiful excuse.

Pre-Training Cardio: Treadmill 3.0 mph 5.0 incline

A2
Incline DB press 20-30rp
75lbs x 24
12 count partials
40lbs DB x 70 second stretch

Comments: Not too shabby. I was going to start with 70's but just felt good warming and thought let's do a little more. I really felt good on the partials and per Lock's advice I am working to increase the time spent stretching. I am just trying to figure out how to time these better. Do other people look at clocks, have wrist watches or what?

Hammer Strength Shoulder Incline Press 11-15rp
85 lbs x 17
21 partials
Smith shoulder stretch x 60 seconds, arm behind back stretch 60 seconds

Comments: Well, I am not sure where this one came from, but wow. Feeling really good right now. Hopefully the rest of the day keeps rolling like this.

Dips 11-20rp
BW + 20 lbs x 12
11 partials
90 lbs on d-handle behind neck stretch x 60 seconds

Comments: Not too shabby, the stuff I have been working on have really brough my dips up. Back in December, the last time I tried them, I could barely get 5 with BW.

Rack Pullups 20-30rp
30 lbs x 18
BW + 45 lbs for 15 partials pullup
BW + 45 lbs hanging stretch x 60 seconds

Comments: I just do not feel these very well. I always felt pullups, why can I not find a groove on this exercise? I do the stretch hanging in a pullup position and it felt great. I know, I know, time to shut up.

Seated Row 15-20rp
220 x 16
No partials/static
doorknob stretch 60 seconds

comments: Well, it is about 7 hours after training and my lower back is starting to get sore, so I guess these worked. I wish I had not of worn straps on them, it was unneccessary.

Well, it was just an okay day, started off pretty well but went downhill. I will post some more thoughts later.

[JohnCaesar]

Epiphany

So, I have decided DC is not for me. I am just not enjoying it at all. It is just not my style. This was to be the start of my sixth blast but I am throwing it all away. I have some ideas as to what I am going to do. I am not real worried. I have been in the weight room for over 20 years and I have figured out what has worked for me.

[JohnCaesar]

April 19, 2010

So rather abruptly, I chose to end my use of the DC training methodology. Before anyone makes any presumptions, it was not because it was too tough, no results, yada yada yada... Rather I simply decided it was not for me. Yes, DC without a doubt works. It is a wonderful training program with a very specific goal: To be the biggest strongest bodybuilder that one can be. I just did not enjoy it. Honestly, I can handle the intensity and I can "bring it". I just love being in the gym as much as possible. I hate doing cardio on machines. I like doing olympic lifting. A myriad of factors influenced my choice. No reason to get into all of those at the moment. Anyways, I am going to keep a journal with what I can remember of the day.

A1 Front Squat
135 x 3 x 1 set
185 x 3 x 1 set
225 x 3 x 10 sets

A2 Close grip bench
135 x 3 x 1 set
185 x 3 x 1 set
225 x 3 x 10 sets

Comments: These evercises were supersetted with about 30-90 seconds between supersets. It has been a long time since I front squatted and I will be sore tomorrow. The close grip was not too bad. I had a little help on the last set. the front squats were deep and I started off with a pretty wide base but the last couple of sets I brought my feet together. My gracilis is already fried and sore. It hit my hamstrings a bit as well. Right now, the limiting factor with my front squats will be my upper back and being able to stay upright. Time will fix that issue.

After this I did a myriad of assistance exercises including:

Face Pulls
side bends w/ kettlebell
Kettlebell cleans
hanging knee raises
seated calf raise
ab rollouts
Grip work

I did not really keep count of any of them and I am not really worried about the progression. I just know that today quicked my butt and makes me hungry for tomorrow.