Lifting things up, and putting them down

[t11t27]

what's up. i had a login a few years back but i forgot all my info.

little background:
23 yrs old lifitng 4.5 years, on and off, seriously & not so serious phases....right now, i am focusing on getting abs. I have never had visible abs before...so, that is my goal for right now. i am 5'8 180lbs at the moment with around 13/15% bodyfat. i am not strong for someone who has been lifting for as long as i am. it kind of gets me pissed sometimes.

here are my best lifts:
405x9 deadlift
365x8 squat
245x6 row
275x4 bench
90lb chinup x 5 -- (@ 210lbs)
18 pullups in 30 seconds (@ 190)
90lb. dip x 3 -- (@ 210 lbs)

my workouts are as follows
chest biceps
mon-off
tue-off
back triceps
traps/shoulder
fri - off
legs

3 phases: high volume, moderate, low (max effort)
for example for one week:
chest biceps - high volume
back tris - moderate
shoulders - max effort
legs - high
so on and so forth, you get it.

20 - 25 minutes steady state cardio almost everyday, unless knee feels otherwise. keeping heart rate at 137 - 140.
this week i started this new routine.

current diet: carb cycling approach

[t11t27]

im going to post my workouts for this week....just for consistency purposes

sunday - 8/12/12 - chest + bicep, high volume

Flat bench
7 sets of 6 with 185

Incline hammer strength press
10
8
then dropset

Machine fly
12
12
12
dropset

Wide pushups
3xfailure

Hammer Curl
3 sets of 12 with 35lb

Machine Preacher
3 sets of 10
1 set dropset and static hold

Straight bar curls
3 sets of 10

Pinky Grip Cable Curl (pinky fingers only gripping the bar..pretty wide grip)
3 sets of 10

2 sets of high rep pressdowns, plus some db shrugs..tried for 100 with 65lbs, but only got 40..lame.
20 min cardio

[t11t27]

tuesday 8 - 14 - 12
back + triceps - moderate volume

Weighted Chins (litttle wider than your conventional chin-up, palms facing me)
warmups with pulluos; bodyweight x 2 x 10
50x8
50x8
50x8

i used a 4 second descent and explosive at the bottom

Rows
185 x 6
185 x 5
185 x 8 -- got mad at that last pathetic set
185 x 6

I do these like 'pendlay' rows, but of course with a controlled descent

Lat Pulldown
3 sets of 8
-One rep is this : 3 - 4 seconds pulling down, pause at bottom for 2 seconds, pause in the middle for 1 second and then back to the starting point. These really burned.

Pushdowns
3 sets of 12

JM press (first time trying these)
3 sets of 8 with 95 lbs.
-These were with a 4 second descent, and exploding up. Never really done JM presses much before so i went light, but still made the tricep work..I made sure my form was to the T...When my forearm touched the bicep, my wrists cocked back, and exploded up using my palms.

high rep face pulls for 2 sets and 20 minutes steady treadmill.

not a bad workout. jm presses will be a staple for me after today. really enjoyed them.

[t11t27]

wedensday 8-15-12

shoulders low volume

worked up to 175x2 hang clean, which is a PR for me..tried to push-press it, but could not lock it out.

followed by a few sets of strict pressing. and 70lb dumbell shrugs for 50 reps, and light side raises for 20 reps.
no cardio. ankles feel like death

Bad workout even though i hit a personal record. i'm a weak bastard. i wanted to do max effort strict presses...but i suck at the bottom. only hit 155 couldnt lock it out either, so i ditched them and went on to hang cleans, got angry at the barbell and just did 175. tried 185, but i was gassed from all the bullshit at the begining of my workout.

[t11t27]

thursday 8-16-2012

put a 10lb plate in my bookbag and started running in the nearest park which has tons of hills for 15 minutes. then had a steady fast pace walk for about 35minutes after that. Very stupid to put that plate in my bag, it wasn't very stable. better than nothing I suppose.

Pissed. I took a week off from lifting last week since i just came off the "german body composition" program, my body was hurting after 6 cycles of the workouts. Fell off my diet big time, seeing the repercussions -

[t11t27]

saturday 8-18-12

legs - high volume

heel elevated front squat (i suck at these so bad, it's not funny..well if u were looking at my face while doing them, it probably would be hilarious)
95x2x12
135x12
185x6
185x6
185x6 --OUCH! hamstring!!!!
185x3 -- sorry hamstring, my apologies for being stupid.

i put 25lb plates underneath my heels, and i don't lockout..that is the key for this..quad killer in my opinion, and ego killer.

leg curl
2 sets of 15 painful reps

power squat machine .. back against pad
2 plates x 12
3 plates x 12
3 plates x 10
3 plates + 25 x 9
3 plates + 25 x 8

"platz style" leg press (heels just off the platform..tremendous stress on quads)
5 sets of 8 with 4 plates plus one double dropset to failure..(another ego killer)

RDL
275x8
225x12, dropset 185x12

Hyper-extensions
5 sets of 10

between everyset of every exercise i did a set of seated calf raises.

next time definitely warmup with leg curls..that hamstring pinch or whatever it was, really sucked.

10min steady state cardio..almost busted my ass like 100 times..jello legs.
not bad workout. couldve been better. ..
side note: dudes next to me pulling 315, screaming like they were getting stabbed in the face. with all kinds of gear on. i dont get it. i seen 500+ deadlifters with no strange noises released from their mouth

[daneoz]

Looking good man. I think your numbers are pretty solid

[t11t27]

thanks man. i try

[t11t27]

here's a shitty shot few hours after the workout. my camera on my phone is garbage, but its better than nothing. i consider myself lucky to even posses such devices

[t11t27]

weight this morning: 175...but after breakfast...180 - i'm at my leanest i have ever been.i think im around 13% bf right now. calipers been consistent for few days now.. still kind of flab though i;m going to try to take decent photos but i dont have a camera, and my camera on my phone is shit.

Sunday 8-19-12

Chest / Biceps - Moderate Volume

warmup:
stretch
machine fly 2x12
pullup / chin up 1x5 / 1x5
b.w. dip x 5

Weighted Dip
50x6
50x6
75x5 + 2 negatives

Incline Dumbell
80x6
80x6
80x6 -- (last rep, static hold for aboyt 30 seconds? it felt like 30, i wasnt counting)

Decline Fly
30x6
30x8
30x7

Straight Bar Curl
4 sets of 6 with 80lbs

Machine Preacher
4 sets of 8 with 100

abs:
decline situps 4x8
weighted situps 3x10
plank 1x35seconds
leg raises 4x10

stationary bike for 23minutes...Avg. HR : 120 -- no good!

i felt like crap today. i didnt really go insane today due to my leg workout yesterday. woke up and pretty much had to roll my self out of my bed. i couldn't walk for shit then after some mild stretching i finally got walking. heart rate should be at 137. stupid stationary bike. i hate it. but, due to my ankles feeling like shit and forcing myself to run yesterday after a nice high volume leg workout didn't help matters. oh well, tomorrow is another day

[t11t27]

just a.m. fasted cardio today. 20minutes steady state jog.
scale read 170 this morning. i dont think the scale is that accurate. i put a 10lb plate on it, and it fell between 9 & 10. it's not digital either. measured bf..added up to 12% based on the chart...but, i doube thats very accurate also. i just use the calipers for consistency. so i;d say 12-13 percent right now.

i took some crappy photos. back relaxed, back flexed, front relaxed, front flex..yeah i know, the back hair, lol, but whatever man it is what it is..and yeahhh my left arm is out of the back flex shot. whoopsy daisies

[t11t27]

Wedensday 8-22-12 weight this morning - 170

Back / Triceps - Low Volume

Close Grip BP
worked up to 1x1 with 250

Rack Pull
worked up to 2x1 with 455 - just straps, no belt

plus some pullups and push downs.
20 minutes elliptical

eh. so-so workout...gym atmosphere really was terrible than normal..so i cranked up the latest Blood Red Throne album on my mp3 so it was a nice pick me up
plus, i was doing some thinking...and oncei reach my current goal, i'm gonna max out on the big 3, start consuming 4,000 calories, and use a Westside variation i have used in the past for insane size and strength gains in the span of just 4 weeks...but i;ll run that variation until i get bored i suppose...just when the time comes, i'm gonna have to read up on how to ease into a diet like that when coming off this low cal diet.

-tom

[t11t27]

Thursday 8-23-12

Traps / Delts - High Volume

superset: Dumbbell Shrugs / Rear Delt Machine
105x12 / 100x10
105x12 / 100x10
105x10 / 100x10, dropset 80xfail dropset, 60xfail

superset: Seated Laterals / Seated DB Clean and 1/2 press
20x12/20x10
20x10/20x10
20x10 - stand up 20xfail / 20x10

Pronated Machine Press
100 x 1 minute...rested about 15 seconds, 100 x failure...rest 10 seconds, 80 x failure
almost like a rest-pause thing going on here.

face pulls
2 sets of 1000000000 reps

abs
decline situp - 3x10
plank 2x40 seconds
weighted crunch 3x10

I didn't want to do anything today. getting a cold, no motivation at all. felt like absolute shit in general...i watched the dvd..and i think i need a "skipload" soon . I;m just flat as fuck in every sense of the word.

and i swear...if i hear one more person "oh my god u got skinny..ur losing weight..wow ur so skinny now balh blah blah blah blah blah" i will murder somebody in the face! its called dieting and its called trying to get ripped! sedentary people really, really, really, really are annoying as shit. don't tell me what i can and cannot do in order to be a member of ripped ville. have ur stupid ass ham and cheese sandwich on whole wheat bread with your stupid granola bars s! go fuck yo selves!!! twice!!! rant over..done...for today at least. bad day if u couldnt tell LOL

[t11t27]

Saturday 8-25-12 -- morning weigh in: little below 170

Legs - Moderate Volume

-some lying leg curls to warm up and hyper-extensions,, after stretching.

Back Squat
4 sets of 3 with 315..(wtf!)
then one set of 5

Anderson Squat
-i never done these before.
-so, i did a few sets with 135 for 6-8 reps
-finally, i got 185 for 5, then 185 for 3. this shit is ridiculously straining! great pump though.

Dumbbell Farmer Carry - Moderate pace (yeah i know, not necessarily "leg exercise" but it's great for the lower back. not to mention abs, hips, traps, grip)
105's for 1 minute
105's for 40 seconds
105's for 1 minute

Leg Press
5 plates x 8
6 plates x 10

I noticed something today..Ever since i started dieting, my squat suffered. not huge, but it did take somewhat of a blow...I'm used to banging out 8+ reps with 315 for multiple sets...Jesus H Christ, today's squatting was pathetic! But, I gotta keep telling myself "don't worry bout the weight, your goal is too get them abs ya dumb fuck"

I had zero gas left after those farmers walks. that's a great combo though..Anderson Squat followed by Farmers Walks...doing that every moderate leg session from now on. that's a MAN workout! LOL

[ch3v3ll3]

Quads look good man. Pics overall are solid