ACutAbove06’s BodyBlog

Cardio is up to 60 minutes a day now.  Doing 20 minutes a day on the stairmaster on non-training days.

Thurday’s training was -

Training B1 - December 28

Decline Bench Press - 300lbs, 12 reps, Decline DB press 70lbs, 20 reps

Close-grip bench (machine) - 170lbs, 11 reps, rope pressdown 115lbs, 20 reps

Smith shoulder press - 180lbs, 11 reps, DB press 45lbs, 20 reps

Squat - 275lbs, 7 reps, widowmaker squat 135lbs, 20 reps

Seated calf raise - 2 plates, 8 reps (5 seconds going down and 15 seconds in the down position), 20 reps (2 seconds up and 2 seconds down)

Overall it was a good training session.  I am consistantly going up in either weight or reps.  I’ll post more tomorrow.

Ok, so I have been slacking on my bodyblog a little bit lately.  I have still been sticking to my diet and my training to a T.  Everything is going great and I will be posting more pics this week hopefully.

I’m tanning 2 or 3 times a week right now, drinking 2 gallons of water a day and eating a lot of chicken.  Occasionally I replace the chicken with lean ground turkey.

Below you will find my training for the past few weeks.  I wanted to have something of good comparison before I put my training down on here.  Here goes.  This may not look right to some of you, but remember I’m doing DC training.  It’s not explained below, but I am doing all the proper stretching required after each body part.

Training A1 - December 5 -

lat pulldown - 170lbs, 13 reps, close grip pulldown 110lbs, 20 reps

barbell row - 225lbs 20 reps, machine row 180lbs, 20 reps

barbell curl - 115lbs, 12 reps,  DB curl 30lbs, 20 reps

leg curl - 150lbs, 10 reps, seated leg curl 100lbs, 20 reps

forearms 70lbs, 20 reps, hold 90 seconds

Training B1 - December 7

Decline barbell press - 275lbs, 13 reps, decline db press 55lbs, 20 reps

close grip bench (on machine with ez curl bar) 160lbs, 14 reps, rope pressdown 100lbs, 20 reps

Smith military press - 170lbs, 7 reps, db press 35lbs, 20 reps

squats - 240lbs, 10 reps, hack squats 100lbs, 25 reps

seated calf raise - 140lbs, 10 reps, calf sled 180lbs, 20 reps

Training A2 - December 10

close grip pulldown - 160lbs, 20 reps, reverse grip pulldowns 100lbs, 20 reps

deadlift - 315lbs, 7 reps, t-bar rows 115lbs, 18 reps

hammer curl - 70lbs, 19 reps, preacher curl (ez curl bar) 65lbs, 20 reps

SLDL - 110lbs, 30 reps, seated leg curls 80lbs x 30reps

forearms - 80lbs, 20 reps, 90 second stretch

Training B2 - December 12

incline barbell press - 225lbs, 11 reps, incline db press, 60lbs, 20 reps

skull crushers, 95lbs, 30 reps, rope pressdown 110lbs, 20 reps

DB press - 60lbs, 17 reps, wide grip upright rows 60lbs, 20 reps

hacksquat - 315lbs, 6 reps, smith machine squat, 145lbs, 20 reps

donkey calf raise - 150lbs, 5 reps, static hold 120lbs, 60 seconds \

From here you will be able to see the improvements that I’ve made throughout my training.

Training A1 - December 14

lat pulldown - 180lbs, 14 reps, close grip pulldown, 120lbs, 20 reps

barbell row - 275lbs, 10 reps, machine row 200lbs, 20 reps

barbell curl - 125lbs, 13 reps, db curl 35lbs, 20 reps

leg curl - 150lbs, 12 reps, hyperextentions 20 reps

forearms - 70lbs, 20 reps, 90 second stretch

Training B1 - December 17

decline barbell press - 285lbs, 12 reps, decline db press 65lbs, 20 reps

close grip machine press - 170lbs, 10 reps, rope pressdown 110lbs, 20 reps

smith machine press - 170lbs, 13 reps, db press 40lbs, 20 reps

squat - 275lbs, 6 reps, 20 rep widowmaker set at 135lbs

calves seated - 90lbs, 7 reps, 90lbs, 20 reps (2 second up, 2 second down)

Training A2 - December 19

close grip pulldown - 170lbs, 18 reps, reverse grip pulldown 110lbs, 20 reps

deadlift - 325lbs, 8 reps, t-bar row 120lbs, 20 reps

hammer curls - 70lbs, 25 reps, preacher curl 70lbs, 20 reps

SLDL - 135lbs, 30 reps, seated leg curl 90lbs, 30 reps

forearms - 80lbs, 20 reps, 90 second hold

Training B2 - December 21

incline barbell press - 235lbs, 10 reps, incline db press 65lbs, 20 reps

skull crushers - 110lbs, 30 reps, rope pressdown, 110lbs, 20 reps

DB press - 65lbs, 22 reps, widegrip upright rows 70lbs, 20 reps

hack squat - 315lbs, 8 reps, widowmaker hack squat set 135lbs, 25 reps

standing calf raises - 150lbs, 6 reps, stretch 60 seconds, 150lbs

Training A1 - December 26

lat pulldown - 180lbs, 15 reps, close grip pulldown 130lbs, 20 reps

barbell row - 285lbs, 11 reps, machine row 210lbs, 20 reps

barbell curl - 130bls, 16 reps, db curl 40lbs, 20 reps

leg curl - 150lbs, 15 reps, hyperextensions 25lbs, 20 reps

forearms - 80lbs, 20 reps, 90 second stretch

There it is.  I will write more tomorrow.  Thanks for reading.

More cardio!!!  It’s getting awfully repetitive.  LOL  It gives me a chance to think and focus on my events for the day.  So again, 45 min first thing in the morning.

On Tuesday I did DC training.  I did incline dumbbell press with a stretch for 60 seconds at the end.  Followed that with  skull crushers and a good 60 second tricep stretch.  Next I did dumbbell presses and stretched out the shoulders.  After that was hack squats followed by a widow maker 20 rep squat set.  (That’s miserable to do!)  I finised with some calf raises on the donkey calf machine.  My workouts are going great.  Energy and strength are definitely there.  The better I find myself looking in the mirror the harder I’m working to better my apperance.  My motivation is the mirror.  I’m not using any scale or tape measure right now.  That is pointless and messes with my head too much.  Starting Thursday I will begin posting weights that I’m lifing so that a proper comparison can be made as to the progress that is being made from each workout.  Thanks for reading!

Since doing DC training I don’t find it as important to write something in my blog everyday.  I pretty much write a summary of a few days.  Now that I’m only weight training 3 days a week I’ll focus more on those days. 

Still sticking to cardio first thing in the morning.  As of last Saturday I’m up to 45 minutes and then on off weight days I’m doing an extra 20 minutes on the Gauntlet (stair machine) so that I can be sure to burn the extra calories that I would have burned had I been weight training.  And let me just tell you how the Gauntlet kicks your ass!  LOL  It’s no joke.  I go HIT the whole time.  It’s been really great on my quads and calves and I can most definitely tell a difference even after only a week of doing it. 

Sunday I did more DC training.  Did back for width and thickness.  I did some close grip pulldowns and deadlifts.  Did hammer curls for biceps and did sldls for hamstrings.  Finished with forearms.  I will go into more depth as I get into it.  These first few weeks I’m more feeling it out and finding out what weight I can do for full reps while still getting a good pump.  I’m lifing good weights and I’m feeling much stronger as opposed to a few weeks ago when my diet began.  Here we are 12 weeks and 5 days away and I’m feeling and looking great.  More to follow. 

Cardio as usual.  Today was DC training part 2.  Today was all pulling movements.  Felt very good.  Started with back.  I did widegrip pulldowns and moved into closegrip pulldowns for my closer.  After that I did bent over barbell rows and closed with machine rows.  Moved on to barbell curls and finished with dumbell curls.  Next I did laying leg curls and closed with seated leg curls.  Over all it was a great workout.  I’m taking 2-3 minutes rest intervals between sets and doing intense stretching between bodyparts.  It was a big day of overloading and rest pause.  I feel really good about this training.  I’m keeping a log as to my exercises, weight I lift and number of times I lift it.  I kind of have to do that to ensure I’m making progress.  More to follow on this as the time comes. 

Day 18 - Did cardio per usual at the ass crack of dawn!  Did my HIT cardio that evening.  All is well.  Energy is high, strength is up and I’m feeling very intense in the gym.  I’m starting to adapt to my diet.  It’s amazing what you can get used to. 

Cardio for 40 minutes as soon as I got up.  That’s just the usual now.  Since I’m doing DC training I’m only lifting 3 days a week.  To enable myself to burn the calories I would normally burn I have incorporated a HIT session on my non-lifting days.  I do 20 minutes of HIT cardio.  Then I hit abs for a little while. 

I was looking a lot fuller today and I felt great.  Tomorrow is day 2 of DC training.  I will post more about it and how I feel about it as I progress.  It’s a proven method so I hope to reap all the benefits everyone else has. 

Cardio as usual.  As of Saturday I am up to 40 minutes per session.  40 minutes seems nothing short of an eternity.  It’s going well though.  I’m reading a lot of magazines and I have my Ipod, so I manage to pass the time. 
Friday I did legs.  Did high volume training.  Nothing under 15 reps and sometimes going as high as 40 reps per set.  Right now my legs are my weakest point.  I will be posting pics of my legs this week.  Legs are beginning to have separations and are looking much better. 

Saturday did shoulders.  Doing a lot of raises before I hit the heavy pressing movements. I really want to warm up good and get that blood flowing before I hit the heavy stuff.  Actually I save my pressing movements for last as to not injure myself by going too heavy.  I’m really trying to stay safe and injury free right now. 

Sunday I did something a little different.  My trainer and I got together for some DC training.  We did chest, tris and shoulders.  Wow!  If you’ve never done it before it will kick your ass!  As of Sunday I will be doing DC training for the duration of my contest preparation.  It makes sense and I believe it will allow me to come in to this contest in my best possible conditioning.  More to follow….

Cardio first thing in the morning on an empty stomach for 35 minutes.  Today was a non-training day.  It is also my moderately high carb day. I double my oatmeal to a cup and a half, I double each of my servings of sweet potatoes to 8oz per serving.  I had 3 scoops of Waxy Maize from True Protein.  Felt pretty good all day.  Energy was good. 

Began tanning this week.  I’m going to try and tan at least 2-3 times a week right now.  Starting on Saturday I will be upping my cardio to 40 minutes per session.  As of Saturday I will be 14 weeks out.  My obliques are tightening and I’m beginning to get more vascular in places I never was.  My shoulders and chest are starting to get striations.  More in my shoulders than in my chest though.  More to come tomorrow.