Sculelos Madcow 5x5 Journal

[Sculelos]

Workout #17 6-12-08 W6D2

Last week didn't go well at all. I just got bombarded with stuff at work and had a lot of appointments and then got a rash that took me a few days to recover from.

Either way though I will not give up so I'm back and hopefully I can hold strong since I have had terrible consistency recently. Otherwise my workout was good today and I still am getting stronger. Also I messed around with doing strict Pendley Rows and I could do them at 185lbs but it was difficult holding correct form. I'll probably do a mixture of Pendley Rows and Barbell Rows because I'll always be able to do much heavier Barbell rows then Pendley and there has to be benifits to doing both. Also I'm going to call my overhead press, push press since I use a small amount of body motion while doing it and it doesn't fall under military press. Well enough talking here are my workout stats.

Weight: 225lbs

Squat: Easy

45 x 5
95 x 5
140 x 5
140 x 5

Push Press: Somewhat Difficult

45 x 5
60 x 5
85 x 5
110 x 5*PR

Deadlift: Hard, these definitely taxed me today and I started pausing between reps on 275lbs due to the immense strain. Got them all up fine but I was definitely pushing myself today.

135 x 5
185 x 5
230 x 5
275 x 5*PR

 

[brad34]

What is a "PR"?

Also, What's your diet look like? How much protein? Estimate calories?

 

[Sculelos]

What is a "PR"?

Also, What's your diet look like? How much protein? Estimate calories?

PR stands for personal record. I put my calorie estimate at around 6-7,000 calories a day. Although lately maby only 5-6k. Around 200-250 grams of protein most days, I find that if I get too much protein it makes it harder to digest and it doesn't help me at all. I should try to increase my calorie intake but when get so high it becomes harder to consume more.

 

[tha Mad Cow]

Sculelos, Im beginning to wonder just how intensely you workout bro! You should definitely step it up right about now. Id love to see you progress further with the frame you have but up to this point your growth has been terrible. If it isnt your diet needing to be more lean you need to push your body to its limit. Its time to reevaluate your dedication to your transformation. Im sure everyone here will help in any extra ways we can.

Push yourself to new limits for your new body

 

[ceo]

PR stands for personal record. I put my calorie estimate at around 6-7,000 calories a day. Although lately maby only 5-6k. Around 200-250 grams of protein most days, I find that if I get too much protein it makes it harder to digest and it doesn't help me at all. I should try to increase my calorie intake but when get so high it becomes harder to consume more.

You need to be taking in 2 grams of protein per pound of bodyweight minimum, broly. How often are you eating? You are having protein at every meal, right? You can take bromelain to help you digest that protein. You must be eating a shit ton of carbs if your protein is that low and cals are so high. I doubt you're getting more than 100-150 grams of fat, but you most likely should be. Also, try to avoid combining carbs and fats in the same meal.

 

[Sculelos]

Sculelos, Im beginning to wonder just how intensely you workout bro! You should definitely step it up right about now. Id love to see you progress further with the frame you have but up to this point your growth has been terrible. If it isnt your diet needing to be more lean you need to push your body to its limit. Its time to reevaluate your dedication to your transformation. Im sure everyone here will help in any extra ways we can.

Push yourself to new limits for your new body

My workouts are intense but I need more of them, 1-2 workouts a week is fine if I want to maintain or gain slowly but I'm going to do my best to amp them up to a solid 3x per week. I agree that I need a more lean diet as 250g of protein a day isn't terrible but it's not exactly great for someone as large as I am. I guess I'll try drinking two protein shakes a day and also look for other ways to increase my calorie and protein amount. I might buy a weight gainer as some days it just seems really difficult to get my 6,000-7,000 calories in.

You need to be taking in 2 grams of protein per pound of bodyweight minimum, broly. How often are you eating? You are having protein at every meal, right? You can take bromelain to help you digest that protein. You must be eating a shit ton of carbs if your protein is that low and cals are so high. I doubt you're getting more than 100-150 grams of fat, but you most likely should be. Also, try to avoid combining carbs and fats in the same meal.

Hmmm, why would you avoid carbs and fats at in the same meal? Either way I'll amp up my protein intake. I usually eat around 5-6 times per day but only get around 40-50g's of protein each time I eat... I think maby a protein shake twice a day might help me.

Either way I'm going to keep on working out and will work on my diet a bit more. Protein or Weight gainer supplements may be helpful since I already eat a ton of food but probably need to increase it further to gain more muscle.

Thanks for the advice guys.

 

[tha Mad Cow]

You have all the knowldge about what you're doing bro. Now its just time to make it practice 24/7

 

[dolf215]

Avoid carbs and fats in the same meal because carbs will cause an insulin spike and if there is fat in your gut at that time guess what being shuttled into the cells. Split your meals into pro/carbs, pro/fats as best as possible. But please don't get over anal with it to where you're not eating enough!

 

[tha Mad Cow]

Sculelos is that guy in your gym who has been working out there longer than you but doesnt look any different.

Reevaluate your protein/carb sources. 6-7k sloppy calories is probably why you still have so much fat to your frame still. If at all possible HIIT sprints would be an awesome addition as well as choosing leaner sources of food.
It sucks and eating healthy can actually cost more but its worth it.
Devote yourself to just three solid months and i promise you will never go back.

As far as your training goes i encourage you to get a partner as soon as possible. Going past failure may be just the catalyst you need to spark some new growth. You wont be able to get those forced reps on your own.

 

[ceo]

Sculelos is that guy in your gym who has been working out there longer than you but doesnt look any different.

Reevaluate your protein/carb sources. 6-7k sloppy calories is probably why you still have so much fat to your frame still. If at all possible HIIT sprints would be an awesome addition as well as choosing leaner sources of food.
It sucks and eating healthy can actually cost more but its worth it.
Devote yourself to just three solid months and i promise you will never go back.

As far as your training goes i encourage you to get a partner as soon as possible. Going past failure may be just the catalyst you need to spark some new growth. You wont be able to get those forced reps on your own.

And which guy are you?

Sculelos has been at this a year. Started with the 3x5, and has moved on to the 5x5. He has gained about 40 lbs. in a year. The dude is like 6'4" so gains don't show up quite as quickly as on a shorter guy. So what if he's put on some fat? He is progressing in his weights every time he does that exercise again.

If he adds 5 lbs to his bench every week, he just added 260 pounds to his bench in a year. So in a year he'll be benching 420 for 3-5 reps. What will you be benching? Even if he does half that, he adds 130 lbs. and in a year he's benching about 300 for 5 reps. Still not too bad eh? He's young and he's smart. He's not trying to load up a bar and bench as much as he can to impress all his friends...and end up injuring himself. He's building strength slowly and steadily.

At the rate he's been going (if he keeps it up), he'll hit probably 275 by the end of the year. So fucking what if he doesn't look like apretty boy bodybuilder with abs? He'll eventually be a 320 lb. monster benching 600 lbs. And then...maybe he'll decide to dial in his diet for 10-12 weeks and be a 280 shredded monster.

Sculelos, you're doing good bro. Just be sure to stay consistent with your workouts. Nothing wrong with taking a little time off here and there for a week or two. You saw what happened last time...you came back to the gym stronger than before.

Oh, and dolf215 was right about why not to combine carbs and fats. It can't be avoided to a point, but it's pretty easy. Worst offenders are usually desserts. A bunch of sugar and fat in one delicious treat. Yum! By all means though, don't skip every dessert!