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zxe003 training journal
- Thread starter zxe003
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zxe003
New member
Right now I'm 5' 11" weighing in at about 258, down 12lbs from 3 weeks ago. My bf% is the main factor that I've been focusing on. I'm currently dieting down, but I'm trying real hard not to sacrifice any muscle gains. So far so good. Just so you know where I'm coming from....In High School (which was like 7-8 years ago), I was about the same height but weighed between 165 and 170. I used to be really active and lifted usually 3-4 days a week aside from sports. After I graduated, I just started partying hardcore and doin all sorts of shit that wasn't any kind of good for me. I still managed to keep my weight in the 170 range though. After about 2 1/2 years of partying, I met my wife and got really lazy. I stopped going out and just started working full time while we lived with her parents. Just vegging around combined with her mom's cooking, I shot up to 220 in like 8 months! Over the next couple years I continued to add on weight. I finally got sick of the inactivity and about 3 years ago, I got back in the gym. When I started lifting again, I weighed in at about 250lbs. For the next year my training would be sporadic (like 2 months on, 1 month off, etc.). Needless to say, results were inconsistent. Finally I buckled down and stayed commited until my son was born at which time I had to take like a 6-8mo. hiatus. During this time, my training was really focused on adding more muscle and strength. I already looked like a big boy, but I wanted the strength and muscle to back it up. Putting on muscle mass has not been a problem as I shot up to 270 without really increasing my bf%. Now I want to shed all that excess fat off, which is something I never really focused on. I'm hoping to get down to about 220, but ripped! I've still got a ways to go, as I'm still learning about my body and what it responds to best. I've been happy with my progress thus far...the only thing that is a bitch, is the loss of strength while I'm cutting. This has been the hardest thing to deal with. Sorry for the long ass story, but this kinda puts into perspective where I've been, where I'm at and where I plan to be.
As for the variance between my military's and Arnolds.....I've kinda adopted the high intensity as opposed to high weight principle. I've already got a heavy compound lift with the military's, so the rest to me is all about the burn. I used to overkill my delts with nothing but heavy presses...and I found that there was just no need. Plus, you'll see that I always superset these with something, like Bb or Db Upright Rows....unless I'm using them as a warm-up. This creates more volume and a lot more pain than just straight sets with more weight. If you don't believe me, give it a shot one time. Pair up that superset after your heavy military's and keep your rest periods down to between 10 and 30 seconds. See how much weight you can do with these. If you can do more....you're the man, more power to you! For me, it's pretty damn challenging. Thanks for the interest and support bro. If you have any other suggestions I'm all ears....that's what I post up a journal for...to track progress and get input. Thanks.
As for the variance between my military's and Arnolds.....I've kinda adopted the high intensity as opposed to high weight principle. I've already got a heavy compound lift with the military's, so the rest to me is all about the burn. I used to overkill my delts with nothing but heavy presses...and I found that there was just no need. Plus, you'll see that I always superset these with something, like Bb or Db Upright Rows....unless I'm using them as a warm-up. This creates more volume and a lot more pain than just straight sets with more weight. If you don't believe me, give it a shot one time. Pair up that superset after your heavy military's and keep your rest periods down to between 10 and 30 seconds. See how much weight you can do with these. If you can do more....you're the man, more power to you! For me, it's pretty damn challenging. Thanks for the interest and support bro. If you have any other suggestions I'm all ears....that's what I post up a journal for...to track progress and get input. Thanks.
zxe003
New member
Thursday 06/10/2004
Another quick workout. Arms were looking huge as fuck today. Seemed like everything I did would blow them up! Wish my arms would look like that at all times!
Biceps
Alternating Db Curls
25'sx12 (warm-up)
35'sx10
45'sx8
55'sx6 *at this point did dropsets down the rack
55'sx3, 45'sx3, 35'sx3, 25'sx6
Wide Grip Straight Bar Curls
50x15
60x12
60x10
60x10
Double Bicep Cable Curls from High Pulleys
50(each side)x10
55(each side)x8
60(each side)x8
Triceps
Cable Pushdowns
80x15
80x15
100x12
110x10
120x8
Reverse Grip Cable Pushdowns
80x12
80x10
90x10
Alternating Overhead Db Extensions
25'sx10
25'sx10
25'sx10
Another quick workout. Arms were looking huge as fuck today. Seemed like everything I did would blow them up! Wish my arms would look like that at all times!
Biceps
Alternating Db Curls
25'sx12 (warm-up)
35'sx10
45'sx8
55'sx6 *at this point did dropsets down the rack
55'sx3, 45'sx3, 35'sx3, 25'sx6
Wide Grip Straight Bar Curls
50x15
60x12
60x10
60x10
Double Bicep Cable Curls from High Pulleys
50(each side)x10
55(each side)x8
60(each side)x8
Triceps
Cable Pushdowns
80x15
80x15
100x12
110x10
120x8
Reverse Grip Cable Pushdowns
80x12
80x10
90x10
Alternating Overhead Db Extensions
25'sx10
25'sx10
25'sx10
zxe003
New member
My triceps respond to just about anything I do. Pushdowns have been one of the biggest contributors to the size in of my tri's, believe it or not. So they become my default workout for triceps whenever I'm in a hurry on arm day. Next week I'm gonna hit up skullcrushers, single DB overheads and maybe start em off with some CG bench.
zxe003
New member
Friday 06/11/2004
Okay, I finally did it.....I've begun working on legs again. After about 6 months of neglect, I realize that I need to bring them up to par. I started off light on the volume today and tried to keep it short and sweet. I definitely did not want to overdo it, as I know I'm gonna be walking funny for a couple of days anyways. Started off with squats. This is gonna take some getting used to. Beast-I feel you on the bar placement issue. Anyways, felt like I could definitely go heavier than I did on the squats, but was trying to be very cautious since I'm trying to get reaccqainted with the exercise.
Upper Legs
Squats
135x15 (warm-up)
135x12 (warm-up)
185x10
205x8
Leg Extensions
110x10
110x10
110x9
Seated Leg Curls
180x15
240x12
295x10
*The jumps in the weights were so high because I was still trying to guage how much weight I could use for reps. The whole stack is 295....reps with this were just about right, but what do I do when this is not enough? Any suggestion on how to add more resistance for this exercise is welcomed. Also....Is it okay for my Hammys to be so disproportionately stronger that my quads? I know they're gonna be stronger, but by so much?
Decided to save calves for the beginning of next week.
Okay, I finally did it.....I've begun working on legs again. After about 6 months of neglect, I realize that I need to bring them up to par. I started off light on the volume today and tried to keep it short and sweet. I definitely did not want to overdo it, as I know I'm gonna be walking funny for a couple of days anyways. Started off with squats. This is gonna take some getting used to. Beast-I feel you on the bar placement issue. Anyways, felt like I could definitely go heavier than I did on the squats, but was trying to be very cautious since I'm trying to get reaccqainted with the exercise.
Upper Legs
Squats
135x15 (warm-up)
135x12 (warm-up)
185x10
205x8
Leg Extensions
110x10
110x10
110x9
Seated Leg Curls
180x15
240x12
295x10
*The jumps in the weights were so high because I was still trying to guage how much weight I could use for reps. The whole stack is 295....reps with this were just about right, but what do I do when this is not enough? Any suggestion on how to add more resistance for this exercise is welcomed. Also....Is it okay for my Hammys to be so disproportionately stronger that my quads? I know they're gonna be stronger, but by so much?
Decided to save calves for the beginning of next week.
wnt2bBeast
New member
Glad to see you hitting the quads again..i think 5x5 is a great way to introduce your body to squats again..I did it and it was great for my strength, technique, joints etc..I started out a little lighter just to get the ball rolling but its helped tremendously!!
ChinkNasty
New member
zxe003 said:
A seated leg curl? hmm...I may just not be thinking of that exercise right now but is it any different from lying leg curls? ehh..anyways, I would really focus on balancing your strength out by doing a lot of quad work just becuase my legs are the same way except the opposite - my quads are a lot stronger than my hams...I tore my left hamstring a couple years ago in a rugby game and not only did I pass out from the pain, during rehab my doc said that both my hams were really fucking weak relative to my quads (primarily due to neglect) and that there was a high possiblity I could tear my right ham...I've been doing a ton of SLDL and leg curl work to compensate since then...so thats just my 2 cents...balance it all out
good luck
CN
zxe003
New member
wnt2bbeast-thanks for the advice...I think you're right about the 5x5's. I'll start that next leg workout. thanks bro.
chinknasty-when I'm talking about seated leg curls, I mean the machine. That's interesting that your quads were stronger. Most bb's I know said they naturally started off with stronger hams. I'm gonna definitely work on bringing the quads up in strength to balance my legs out though. Thanks for the input bro.
chinknasty-when I'm talking about seated leg curls, I mean the machine. That's interesting that your quads were stronger. Most bb's I know said they naturally started off with stronger hams. I'm gonna definitely work on bringing the quads up in strength to balance my legs out though. Thanks for the input bro.
zxe003
New member
Monday 06/14/2004
Today was nothing special. Didn't feel as motivated today coming off a pretty lazy weekend. I'm starting to think that my body has to remain active every day for optimal performance, but I know if I try to do some shit like that, I'll plateau hella quick from overtraining. Anyways, still hit it as hard as I could today.
Chest
Incline Bb Press
135x20 (warm-up)
135x15 (warm-up)
235x5
235x5
235x5
235x5
235x5
Flat Db Press
100'sx10
100'sx8
HammerStrength Press
160(each side)x8
160(each side)x5.5 *started to fatigue
135(each side)x8
1/4 ROM Peck Decks
100x20
115x15
Dips
BWx12
BWx10
BWx10
Weighed in today still at 258 which is cool considering I was mostly inactive over the weekend and had about three cheat meals(lol).....had to, it was my Dad's b-day!
Today was nothing special. Didn't feel as motivated today coming off a pretty lazy weekend. I'm starting to think that my body has to remain active every day for optimal performance, but I know if I try to do some shit like that, I'll plateau hella quick from overtraining. Anyways, still hit it as hard as I could today.
Chest
Incline Bb Press
135x20 (warm-up)
135x15 (warm-up)
235x5
235x5
235x5
235x5
235x5
Flat Db Press
100'sx10
100'sx8
HammerStrength Press
160(each side)x8
160(each side)x5.5 *started to fatigue
135(each side)x8
1/4 ROM Peck Decks
100x20
115x15
Dips
BWx12
BWx10
BWx10
Weighed in today still at 258 which is cool considering I was mostly inactive over the weekend and had about three cheat meals(lol).....had to, it was my Dad's b-day!
