Sweating to the Oldies, volume 1

[galileo]

08.12.2002

I am almost ready to begin my bulking quest for stardom!

Here's the plan.

Step One (we can have lots of fun): Eat at maintenance until I come up with a very nice diet plan for my bulk, get the equipment I need to workout, and feel comfortable with my routine at mediocre weights.

Step Two: Increase calories by 500/day and attempt to gain about 1-1.5lb/week for 8 weeks. With any luck this will be mostly muscle.

Step Three: Cut back down using a steady lowering of calories from maintenance + 500 to maintenance - 500. This will be achieved at 200 calories a week. I may go ketogenic this time as well, so people can take a look at how they are run.

Overall this will be a 16-20 week process. My goals are to be 160lbs and as lean as I am now. Currently I am 152lbs and fairly lean.

For my bulk, I believe I will do a 40/30/30 (c/p/f) excluding my post workout protein shake which will be around (60/40/0).
_______________________________________________

My workout routine will look similar to the following, assuming I get all of my equipment.

Warmup: Blood flow to specific parts and light rope skipping.

Monday
Dumbell Incline Press 2x9-11
Weighted Chinups 2x9-11
Weighted Dips 2x9-11
One Arm Dumbell Rows 2x9-11
Dumbell Flat Flies 2x9-11
Dumbell Pullovers 2x9-11

Wednesday
Week One HipBelt Squats 2x9-11
Week Two TrapBar Deadlifts 2x9-11
Hamstring Leg Curls 2x9-11
Leg Extensions 2x9-11
Dumbell Calf-Raises 2x9-11
Weighted Crunches 2x9-11

Friday
TrapBar Shrug 2x9-11
Close-Grip Bench 2x9-11
Thick-Bar Curl 2x9-11
Lateral Raises 2x9-11
Lying Tricep Extension 2x9-11
Hammer Curls 2x9-11

Sunday
COC Strapholds 3x1
Wrist Curls 2x9-11
Plate Pinch 2x0-40 seconds
Note: This will vary. Probably often.

The key is progression. I want to attempt to add weight to each motion every week and if not, at least repititions.
__________________________________________________

Last night I attempted to workout but didn't get very far before my new bench started toppling. Now I have to call the company and try to get them to take it back. I dread that.

Please, comment on anything and let me know as I go what I could do to improve.

[galileo]

.08.13.2002.

Brief synopsis of the past few days.

.diet.

Diet has been OK. Been eating from 2000-2500 calories a day, mostly on track. After my workout on Tuesday I had 2 cups of milk and 33g of maltodextrin then went to Eat n' Park (like Big Boy) about 1 hour later and had 8oz of grilled chicken, 2 salads with low-fat ranch, 6 cheese sticks (needed some fat), coffee, water, and a few oz of strawberries. I felt like everything I ate went right in my muscles ;) I didn't count my calories in the last meal but it probably worked out to be right where I wanted to be. I am slowly upping the calories as I go.


.training.

Monday - I finished putting together my new weight bench. It was very unstable due to the bolts that went into the seat. I started my workout but felt no motivation. I didn't get enough sleep and I was hella tired. Here's what I did:

Warmup: incline dumbell press 25lbsx10
incline dumbell press 45lbsx11, 45lbsx9
I felt really tired and wasn't motivated to lift. It made the weights seem heavy.

Warmup: chinups bw x 10
weighted chinips +15lbsx9, +10lbsx7
At this point I was fully exhausted. The last time I did chinups I did 35lbs for 8 reps. I had a lot of stress the past 2 weeks but I never expected this much of a loss. Goes to show what no sleep and stress can do.

flat dumbell flies 25lbsx1
I started to do these and the bench wobbled like crazy. I wasn't sure how much I could handle doing the flies, but I couldn't do **** when the bench almost broke. I stopped my workout here. I was quite irrate.

Tuesday - I wasn't supposed to workout but I felt the urge and was very motivated. I did a short leg workout just to get myself used to the motions.

Warmup: deadlifts 140x8
deadlifts 230lbsx8, 230lbsx8
This was pretty simple but I feel I pulled too much with my back and not enough with my legs. I am going to use my warmup weight and work up a little slower so I can maintain what I think is good form.

Squats with a HipBelt 100lbsx8, 100lbsx3
It's next to friggen impossible to effectively do squats with this thing. I can't seem to balance the bar properly and it takes a ridiculous amount of effort to do the motion. I am going to try front squats and see if I can do them without back pain. If not, I am going to just do deads, leg extensions, and ham curls.


.notes.

I am going to start over at the beginning. I don't care how much weight I lift or anything @ this point. I want to progress slowly and prevent injury. The monday workout p1ssed me off pretty bad, so I want to make sure next week starts off on a good note.

[Lee J B]

Dan, its dissapointing to hear about your lack of motivation , I hope you can get some much needed rest and give it a real good shot... again good luck with the bulk.

[galileo]

Originally posted by Lee J B
Dan, its dissapointing to hear about your lack of motivation , I hope you can get some much needed rest and give it a real good shot... again good luck with the bulk.

Thanks for the words! I have been looking forward to this for a while.

I found myself way more motivated after getting a full 8 hours of sleep. Holy **** did it make the difference!

[galileo]

08.14.2002
...you win some.

.diet.
My diet was ace today. I ate 2520 calories with about a 30/36/34 (f/c/p) split. Most of my meals were kept at the 30/40/30 ratio. Once I up my calories to 2750 I will be exactly at the proper ratio.

Breakfast: 3 scrambled eggs, 2 slices whole wheat and oat toast, 12 oz milk
Brunch: 2 oz oatmeal, 1 tbsp high lignin flax oil, 3oz blueberries, 4oz tuna, 8oz milk
Lunch7oz cottage cheese, 4oz strawberries, 1 cup Blue Bunny Lite 85 yogurt, .8oz almonds
Linner1 slice 7-grain bread, 4 oz turkey, 1oz almonds
Dinner3-4oz chicken breast, 3oz 100% whole wheat pasta, .5 cup low-sugar pasta sauce, 1 tbsp high lignin flax oil

80 fat, 250 carbs, 200 protein

I did have a cup of coffee with fat-free french vanilla creamer with one meal. I am almost out of creamer so I'll switch to only Jasmine Green Tea soon. Mmmmm.

.training.
none

.sleep.
I went to bed at 11:30 last night and got up at 5:30. I had to though, I haven't seen my girlfriend in a few days and I wanted to stay with her.
Total sleep: 6 hours

.stats.
Weight: I weighed about 155 today. Up 3lbs. Some was probably water retention since I started working out again. I am sure a little bit is muscle (2-3oz) :)

I will take measurements of everything else once I get a tape measure from my girlfriend. Then you can see what a wuss I am. I bet my biceps are about 12.5" :( The last time I measured them I was 17 years old and they were 15.5" and I was about 165lbs. I was lifting casually for a few months with my brother. I knew jack-squat. My biceps were always strong, so with any luck I'll get big arms again.

.notes.
Everything was ace today. I came home and took a nap and it rocked.

Before the nap I took my two kittens to the vet. They were both feeling ill in different manners so I needed to fix them up. Petra (1 year old, beige tabby) has a yeast infection in her ear. That's friggen weird. It's gone undetected for about 6 months now after numerous vet visits. Oh well, she'll be OK now! Joose Bunny (10 week old Diluted Calico) had tape worms and an upper respiratory infection. I learned that cats get worms from eating fleas. Learn something new everyday! Anyhow, that fancy trip cost my ass $102. At least Bunny won't be sneezing in my face anymore.

[Lee J B]

Nice diet, today ! , keep it up , hope to see them biceps pumped though , gotta have good biceps Nice work bro.

[galileo]

08.15.2002
...you lose some

.diet.
Diet was head on with little variation. I ate around 2480 calories today and my split was around 30/37/33. I can't get on fitday to get the rest of the information, so I'll edit it later.

breakfast: 3 scrambled eggs, 2 slices 7 grain toast, 12 oz milk
brunch: 2 oz oatmeal, 1 tbsp high lignin flax oil, 3oz blueberries, 4oz tuna, 8oz milk
lunch: 7oz cottage cheese, 4oz strawberries, 1 cup Blue Bunny Lite 85 yogurt, .8oz almonds
linner: 1 slice 7-grain bread, 3 oz turkey, 1oz almonds
dinner: 4oz chicken breast, 3oz 100% whole wheat pasta, .5 cup low-sugar pasta sauce, 1 tbsp high lignin flax oil

snacks:Coffee with vanilla creamer and regular creamer. I am done with the vanilla creamer.

postWorkout: I ate my dinner post workout + 20oz of milk and 44g of maltodextrin. Wasn't the best, but works.

.training.
I used my COC T and #1 and did heavy singles throughout the day. I took 1.5 weeks off and lost a lot of hand strength. I know stress was a big factor.

This workout was very difficult. I had a hard time setting up my racks and bench and stands (first time) for shrugs, close grip, and tricep extension. I ended up skipping the extension because my workout was running long.

Warmup: trapBar shrug 140lbs x10
trapBar shrug 190lbs x11, 11
I'm not sure if I did the full ROM with these. I was so busy messing around with equipment that my lifts suffered a bit.

Warmup: closeGrip bench 100lbsx10
closeGrip bench 120lbs x11
These hurt my wrists pretty bad. I can imagine when I get the weight up it will be even worse. I think I may find a new tricep motion.

Warmup: thickBar curl 60lbsx10
thickBar curl 70lbs x 11, 11
I love thick bar curls. I went very slow and was very deliberate on this movement.

Warmup: lateral raise 5lbs x10
lateral raise 15lbs x 11, 11
I really love this excersize! Very slow movement. I raised the weight for 2 seconds, paused, and lowered it for 2 seconds. I will consider doing the same for other movements. It feels great!

lying tricep extension
Skipped (bad tricep day)

hammer curls 35lbs x 11, 8
I was exhausted at this point but the curls still felt good. Very slow as well.

.sleep.
I feel asleep last night on the couch at about 7:30 and woke up a little after 9:00. I made my lunch and went back to bed. It rocked.
Total sleep: 8.5 hours

.stats.
Weighed in after my workout and meal at a whopping 162lbs. I dunno what happened here. I must hold a ton of water weight.

I wrapped tape around my bicep and flex then marked the tape and measured it. Yes, that was very ghetto. Yes, my arms were only like 14.25". Yes, I have a long way to go.

.notes.
I believe I am going to cut all of my weights done to nil and start from the bottom up with very slow reps. It will be nice since I don't really have a spotter and I am still having trouble with my equipment.

I went to Da' Park (Eat n' Park) after my workout then headed over to Wal*Mart and Giant Eagle to pick up groceries. I got some decent whole wheat bagels on sale for like $1.50 a pack with my Giant Eagle card. Now I have 18 bagels ($4.50!) and I'm set for my diet. Tomorrow I am upping my calories to the final level doing the 40/30/30.

I ordered some creatine which I haven't decided how I will take. Also grabbed some Vanilla All-Natural 100% Whey from Optimum Nutrition. Gonna make me some killer smoothies!

[Lee J B]

woohoo ! another one for the creatine ... your gonna love it! BTW. good idea on the weights, best to cut down to a low weight if you want a good, proper lift. Still following your progress, looking foward to the rest.

[galileo]

08.16.2002-08.18.2002
Sleep? Ha! I laugh at your pathetic sleep!

.diet.
I ate decent this weekend. I brought food with me various places. Sunday I had pizza instead of my last 3 meals *lol* but I think I did well anyhow.

.training.
none

.sleep.
I slept from 2:30-1:30 on friday night [broken] and from 3:00-12:00 on saturday night. Overall, got a decent amount of sleep!
Total sleep: Averaged about 9 decent hours a night

.stats.
155lbs this morning for an overall 1lb gain this week. I think that the other few pounds is water since it fluctuates but in the morning I am rocking steady at 155.

.notes.
I hope my stuff comes in from dpsnutrition.com on Monday. I am doing chest and I'd love to have everything ready for postWorkout!

I wish my weekends were like 5 days long and I worked 2 days. We have life backwards.

[galileo]

08.19.2002
It's fun to start over, mommy!

.diet.
Diet was OK except for no eggs. :\

breakfast: 60g of Fiber One, 1 banana, 1 yogurt, 12 oz milk
brunch: 2 oz oatmeal, 1 tbsp flax oil, 2oz blueberries, 4oz tuna, 8oz milk
lunch:7oz cottage cheese, 4oz strawberries, 1 brownBerry whole wheat bagel, 32g natural peanutButter
linner:2 slices 9-grain bread, 2 oz turkey, 1oz almonds, 1 blueBunny yogurt
dinner:3-4oz chicken breast, 3oz 100% whole wheat pasta, .5 cup low-sugar pasta sauce, 1 tbsp high lignin flax oil

Same as before yadda yadda.

post workOut: 1 liter of orange juice, 75g of dextrose, 33g of protein, 1 liter of water, nurrsed over 90 minutes.

.training.
The format is warmup, workout. I am starting over with all of my weights.


frontSquat 45x8, 75x12 This was light but new.
shrugs 140x8, 170x10 Easy, hands hurt
dips bwx8, +5x10
chins bwx8, +5x8
latRaise 5x10, 15x10
inclineDBPress 15x8, 45x10
oneArmRow 15x8, 45x10 L,R


.sleep.
I went to bed at 12 and got up at 6:45!
Total sleep: 6.75 hours

.stats.
Weight: 155lbs

.notes.
Mmmmm, bulk.

[galileo]

****, I ****ed this up by editing my last post instead of making a new one. Screw me.

[Lee J B]

lmao

[galileo]

I've been super lazy with this journal. I'm sorry.

http://www.wannabebigforums.com/show...threadid=18725

That's my journal from another site. I like to separate the two forums, but what the hell. No sense in doing double-duty.

[Fudomyo]

Man you are way funnier over there!

lmao at rantboy

[galileo]

Yeah, well that side of my persona is well accepted over there That site is full of like 10 really wise folks and a bunch of morons. I found most of my input falls on deaf ears, but here people read most of the posts. So why not at least make people smile? Heheh.