a_welch503 WORKOUT JOURNAL

[.V.]

Well, I had to do something with all that scrap steel leftover from where the tree crushed my carport. Then yesterday I had a really good idea. Downloaded a picture of the Titan Power Cage - and instead of ordering it, started building one. There are just enough straight pieces to do it with - even a couple for messing up on.

[.V.]

11-27-2005

Chest
Flat Bench..........155x3x4
Incline Bench.......135x3x6
Decline Bench.....145x6,6,5

Abs
Cable Crunch.......110x3x10
Decline Crunch.....110x3x10

Cardio
Cardioglide......20 minutes

Diet - by bedtime will be:
Totals: P-342g, C-239g, F-39.5g, Cal-2680
Glutamine-9g, GABA-6g, Creatine-10g
Water > 1.5 gallons

Comments
Good workout today. The flat bench was a bit hard - I'm going to try to increase reps next time though. The incline and decline were really strong today - except the last rep on incline it was a real struggle. Couldn't get the 6th rep on decline either but EVERY other rep was great. I'll repeat incline, try to increase reps on flat, and get another rep on decline before moving on.

Ab work with 110 is getting easier - soon it will be time to increase weight on it again.

Cardioglide on level 4 I felt like I had a bit left in me after 16 minutes so added another 300 reps on it to make 20. I'll increase intensity to level 5 next time.

[.V.]

11-28-2005

Legs
Squats............210x3x6
SLDL..............210x3x6
Calf Raises......275x3x10

Arms
BB Curls..........105x3x5
Skull Crushers.....95x3x5
DB Curls...........45x3x5
Cable Pusdown.....100x3x4

Diet - like usual. Between 2700 and 3000 calories. Fat low, carbs high, protein higher. Total cereal x 1. Chicken and rice X 3. Chicken and potato x 1. Green vegetables x 3. Protein shakes x 4. Forgot to take GABA preworkout but had everything else food, suppliments on schedule.

Comments
Today, I woke up tired without energy. My legs didn't feel good. I didn't feel good. Finally got motivated enough to get out to the gym and got all my planned leg work done. It felt pretty heavy, but I got all planned reps. Going to increase weight on all lifts next time. My arms, on the other hand, felt great. Got everything pllanned. I will be increasing reps on all lifts next time. Actually the BB curls and skull crushers both felt awesome while doing them. My chest, shoulders, and back are pretty sore from the last couple of days - but it's a good sore for a change. By the time I got into the gym, it was pretty late and I'm not getting up at midnight to do cardio. So it will be skipped today.

[KaiserSose]

Great job on the arms today. 105 x 3 x 5 on barbell curls and 95 x 3 x 5 is no joke. I'm just curious, do you find your chest to be weaker than the rest of your body? I don't mean to be insulting in anyway, but, for someone who is able to do so much with all of his other exercises, those seem to be lagging behind for you. Anyways, keep up the good work, I like reading your journal you have shown very consistent progress.

[rangers97]

i wish i could do skull crushers with ANY weight....damn elbow tendinitis .

Good work on the barbell curls too by the way, and excellent work on the homemade power cage--that is some cool $hit!

[.V.]

Thanks guys. You know how my strength does, it goes up, it goes down. Then I just start at the bottom and work my way back up again. I'm just happy that it's going in the right direction again. I think that If I don't exacerbate the MS by pushing my CNS too far in a quest for bigger numbers and concentrate on quality - I'll do better this time. The CNS is odd, sometimes it loves the abuse - and responds well to it. Then eventually it says, "ENOUGH". And makes me take a break. I'm planning a break in 3 weeks whether I need one or not.

Kaiser, yes my chest is terribly small and weak. I can push or should say could push 205 before the last MS attack using a PL setup (one rep max only). For reps I was in the mid 160's low 170's. Now that I'm using a BB set up to work on size instead of just bigger numbers, I don't expect it to go up very quickly. I've already gained a very small but noticable amount of size in my chest by changing my setup and being more concerned with the pecs doing the work instead of trying to push as heavy as possible. I'm still pushing as heavy as I can but only as heavy as I can control using the right muscles. Too many times after chest day, I had sore lats - they looked pretty good for me, but my chest sucked.

The cage? I'll post up some pics of it when I get it done. I'll leave a note for my wife to post the aftermath if she finds me crushed under it.

[KaiserSose]

That makes sense then. Well, results are all that matter anyways. I hope this new method works for you.

[gcs118]

Pics pics pics...

[seraph]

nice work on those BB curls :

[.V.]

11-29-2005

Shoulders
Mil Press..............105x3x6
Upright Row............110x3x4
DB Shoulder Press.....45x6,4,5
Shrugs.................240x3x4

Back
CDL....................240x3x4
BOR....................160x3x4
Lat P/D................160x3x6

Other
Loaded, unloaded, carried, stacked 4 truck loads of firewood. Doesn't count as cardio - but was still good exercise. Since I'm out of wood to split, I decided to move 1/2 of my wood pile into the wood shed. I'll move the other half in a couple of days.

Diet: P-237g, C-195g, F-37g, Cal-2074
Came up pretty short on calories today. Been going for 3000 and hitting between 2700 and 2900.

Comments
Got my increased reps on mil press and increased weight on upright row today. The mil press felt very heavy and it was a real struggle to get the last rep. The 2nd set of upright rows didn't feel right, I almost had to hitch the weight to get it past the clavicles to the chin. I'll be repeating both of these next time. I lost ground on the DB shoulder press today. I think it was nutritionally induced. Not enogh time to eat right this morning before working out. I got all of my planned work on my back today and will be increasing reps on CDL and BOR next time. Increasing weight on Lat pulls next time.

[.V.]

11-30-2005

At work today so no workout. Good thing too I needed a day for recovery.

Keeping diet as planned. I don't like eating all these carbs when I'm not lifting or doing cardio. Also since today isn't a workout day, I got all my nutrients from whole food. No whey shakes. Man, that's a whole lot of eating. Today I've had 6 pieces of chicken, one steak, the same amount of rice and potato, and the same green veggies as usual. I'm thinking about opening a can of chicken or tuna in a few minutes and adding some fat to it so I don't get hungry and have to eat during the night. Maybe I'll just wet it with some mustard and put it on some whole wheat bread...I don't know.

People at work already think I'm crazy for the way I eat so strict all the time. Now they are convinced that I'm totally mentally ill after the last few times I've unpacked my little cooler that I bring my day's food in. But I really hate resturaunts and who could afford to eat this much in resturaunts anyway?

They think I'm a freak and I feel superior while I'm heating up my chicken while they debate over mexican, burgers, or chinese.

EDIT: Decided to go with the chicken breast with mustard on whole wheat.

Daily Nutrition:
P-182g 38%, C-208g 47%, F-31g 16%, Cal-1852

Now, I think I know why I'm usually so weak on leg day. Leg day has usually been the day after I work. At home I'm getting P-382g, C-260g, F-44g, Cal-2951 with my new and hopefully improved diet (if I don't skip any meals). A day at work drops my calories by over 1000 - eating all day long like a pig. Since I split a day up over two days, now chest day is going to be the day after I work. It looks like I'll have to start keeping a tub of protein at the office to get all my target calories for the day. Besides skipping the shakes increases my fat intake % from 14 to 16. Probably not good with all these carbs I'm eating. Now my question I had about supplimenting while at work on a nonlifting day has been answered anyway. Unless it's OK to have lighter calories on an off day while bulking.

It's getting to be a pain in the butt trying to figure out the right calories/carbs/protein/fat to make some gains now. Adding the extra carbs has made it easier to get in more calories though - it's going to be better than last time when I couldn't get close to enough.

[.V.]

12-01-2005

Chest
Flat Bench..........155x3x5
Incline Bench.....135x5,6,5
Decline Bench.....145x6,6,5

Abs
Decline Crunch.....110x3x10
Cable Crunch.......110x3x10

Definitely increasing weight on ab work next time to 115lb. Working on more reps on all chest work next time.

Diet - not clean, not good. Today was my scheduled cheat meal for the month. I went to the Mexican place for supper and said, "give me the worst - most fattening thing you've got". She said, "it's all terrible and fattening but really tasty". At least I think that's what she said. My Spanish is terrible and her English was worse. She brought out one enchilada, one burrito, beans and rice. And I ate it all - plus some tortilla chips and some most excellent hot sauce. Additionally throughout the day, I had several servings of chicken and rice. About like yesterday. I'm completely out of protein powders. I think it's impossible to get 3000 clean calories a day without protein supplements.

I also think my ramblings yesterday about diet contributing to my weakness the day after I work have been proven true. Today, chest day sucked. I made 1 rep each set improvement on flat bench. Powered right through them easily. Then went for that 6th rep and failed. The rest of my chest work was less than last time. No question about it the day after I eat less I'm weaker. It's a 60 mile round trip one way and 100 mile round trip the other way, but tomorrow I'm driving for 3 tubs of protein. Two for home and one for work. I also haven't noticed any significant strength gains since increasing my carbs from around 100g/day to 250+g/day. How high do they have to go before they help? High enough to make me really fat?

Talked to my friend the BB Doc and he said my plan of almost 3000 cal/day at 49% protein, 38% carbs, 13% fat should be just the trick to get me some real results.

I just want them today. But since my I came up short on calories yesterday and probably today too without my suppliments I probably shouldn't be looking for any miraculous strength, muscle mass changes. The diet plan is finalized - the groceries are bought. Now all I have to do is get more protein and I'll see what happens.

Finalized nutrition numbers: P-382g, C-324g, F-44g, Cal-3207. This will mean even more boring food, more strictness, more dietary disipline. I will have my monthly cheat meal though - something I really haven't done much of before. If this all pays of like I expect it to - it will be worth it.

[rangers97]

why don't you order you supps online? If you order tomorrow , you can have it by monday, and if you order during the week, it usually comes the next day. Netrition.com has everything you need, even GABA,

[.V.]

Netrition.com huh? I'll have to check them out - if they'll deal by phone and mail. I've been getting my GABA and glutamine from AST. I don't order online though. Everything by mail. I'm a cash only guy and when I have to write a check, I use a money order. Just funny that way. I don't even have a checking account, credit card, anything like that. Rob me once - my fault for owning plastic. Rob me twice - my fault for being stupid enough to still own plastic. At least with AST, I can deal with them by phone and mail. Besides the chick at AST has such a cute voice.

[.V.]

12-02-2005

Uncheduled day off. All these carbs have given me some gastrointestinal ummm I'll call it discomfort. Couldn't lift because I remember last time I started hitting the carbs and squatted when the GI stuff started in. Not repeating that again - I do the laundry around here.

Taking advantage of today to eat big and rest bigger. Keeping nutrition on plan...still not enjoying it. Got my protein tubs today. Hopefully tomorrow I will be able to lift. This part of my carb intolerance shouldn't last much longer than yesterday, last night, and today.