BuckSpin - A Year Of Change

It was primarily a great eConversation with natty pro Tommy Jeffers a few weeks ago that led to this decision…..

He convinced me that, for a natty BBer, hitting each muscle group 2x/5 days in a Power/Hyper approach was the best bang for the buck as far as training gains.

I realized that, as awseome as my training has been going lately, that perhaps one of the reasons it has been going so well is that perhaps I was not hitting each enough (1x/9 days). I also realized that the entire time I have been training I have worked in a hypertrophy range (8-12 reps) in various forms. I’ve steadily upped the intensity & reduced the working sets, but still a classic BB approach.

I know my recovery time has been off the charts as of late, strength never better, and all in a calorie deficit (cutting), etc. so I figured I would give this a try last week.

Some hilites:
SLDL = 405×4
BB Deadlift = 405×1 (initial lift into place for SLDL, not counted in reps)
Rack Pulls = 545×3 (heaviest weight I have ever lifted at any time….ever)

Whole…..new….ballgame…..as far as intensity, plus as far as mental approach. May have only been 3 or 4 reps, but that was enough. I knew I could not have done a single rep more, nor did I feel I had any semblance of a 2nd set effort after the pinnacle/target set. After those 4 SLDLs @ 405 some guy was asking me all kinds of questions as I was draped over the leg press having a difficult time constructing a proper sentence. For all intents & purposes you would swear I was at the 4th stage of tequila!

Problem was that my training is limited to 4 days/week (Sun, Tue, Thur, Fri) and there is really nada I can do about that. Keeping quads & hams seperate means legs 4x/week, plus get everything else in.

Although I did enjoy the new routine that I initally designed very much, it just felt very helter skelter running from an all out deadlift to doing hyper specific arm work.

I’ve often joked with Mrs. BuckSpin that "I am so tempted to say (bleep) it and just squat, deadlift & press"

So I am…

Starting Sunday 12/6 I will be doing my 1st written/established program, The Bill Starr Strength Factor Routine (from the Article "The Forgotten Factor: Strength" in Robert Kennedy’s REPS! Magazine, Winter 2006 Edition, Page 104)

This is my reasoning:
- A lot of O35s I have spoken with have mentioned they wished they had spent their early years just building a solid base of mass. I’d be a fool to ignore this wisdom…
- I am looking at this for the long haul & view it like the building of a house. Would you start wallpapering a room before your cleared the lot & set a foundation? To that end there are 3 parts:

• Clearing the lot (did that with my transformation/weight loss)
• Pouring a thick slab on a rock solid foundation & building a strong frame on top (in process)
• Finish & decorate each room (muscle group iso work, stage cutting)

Makes too much sense….

- What I was able to learn about this, if you really look at it, is not all that far removed from how one of my idols (Dorian Yates) trains/trained. Incremental sets building to one, all out set. Sounds pretty damn HIT to me….
- I’m in the process of cutting & have a way to go yet. You need calorie surplus to add mass, but you can get strong as (bleep) and not get any bigger. If I’m not gonna get bigger, I may as well spend my training time getting as strong as I can. This approach addresses that perfectly, plus sets me up for a hooge mass gain when “its time”. If my lifts stall, I’ll just up the cals a hair & see where it goes…
- Tommy Jeffers mentioned he felt a 4-6 rep range was great and that, as a trainer, he could take an experienced PLer, diet them down & tweek their training and they would just crush a BBer. Again, another nugget mined & not to be discarded.

Like everything I do, I have a plan & have researched this. It just makes sense for a noob like me who likes to train very intensely.

So this will be my training for the forseeable future:

Sunday (Heavy Day)

Back Squats: 5 x 5 ramping to limit
Bench Press: 5 x 5 ramping to limit
Deadlifts: 5 x 5 ramping to limit or Bent-Over Rows: 5 x 5 ramping to limit
Incline Dumbbell Press: 2 x 20
Calf Raises: 3 x 30

Tuesday (Light Day)

Back Squats: 5 x 5 using 50 lbs less than Monday or Lunges: 4 x 6 ramping to limit
Good Mornings: 4 x 10 or Stiff-Leg Deadlifts: 4 x 10
Standing Overhead Press: 5 x 5 ramping to limit
Dips: When you can do 20 reps, start adding weight and drop the reps back to 8
Curls: 3 x 15

Thursday (Medium Day)

Back Squats: 5 x 5 using 20 lbs less than Monday
Incline Bench Press: 5 x 5 ramping to limit
Shrugs: 5 x 5 ramping to limit or Clean High Pulls 5 x 5 ramping to limit
Straight Arm Pullovers: 2 x 20
Chins: 4 sets to failure

I can choose either of the optional back exercises and stick with them or set them up as follows and alternate:

Week A: Deadlifts, Good Mornings, Shrugs
Week B: Bent-Over Rows, Stiff-Leg Deadlifts, Clean High Pulls

After two or three weeks, I can add in back-off sets on all of the pressing exercises, squats, and lunges. No back-offs for any back movement. Should I want to work more on any back exercise, I’ll do another top-end set. If I get 5 reps on the top set, I’ll add weight next week.

So I will spend this week in an “ala carte” mode training 1) trying to dial in as to what my 5RM on the lifts is and 2) actually learning some of the lifts! LOL I’ve never done a BB Row or Good Morning or Clean High Pulls (with a BB), plus I need to reanquant myself with the BB Incline (was using the Smith). I’ve only been doing BB Deads for singles for a few months.

The one lift that historically everyone seems to stall at/on in this due to having overdone it (Flat Bench Press) will be very interesting for me in that I have not done a single Flat Bench Press since 1985!!!! I have absolutely no idea what I can do. I did get a single CGBP (thumbs able to touch) rep of 225 last Friday as a Power set after doing a Strip/Ladder Pause Press set on the Smith as a pre-exhaust as well as the CGBP WU sets. I have no plans to do any wide grip, elbows flared BP. This is about pushing iron the best way I can. I am seriously more nervous about this than the DLs or Squats.

Its really freakin’ cool picking up really heavy $#@! I found out, so lets see exactly how far I can push myself….

Under my Forums avatar is a series of what appear to be random numbers:

848|88 & 10410|1010

Its not the da Vinci code or anything, but they do stand for something. The 848|88 is for Straight Leg Dead Lifts. The 10410|1010 is for Rack Deadlifts.

The numbers mean "8 plates for (get it? "for") 8 reps by August 8th" & "10 plates for 10 reps by October 10th."

10410 is history. Last Thursday it went down.

On my favorite training day (Back Day) my Rack Pulls progressed like this (bar just below knees):

Warm Up: Bar x 10 WU, 225×10 WO, 295×5, 365×5, 425×5

The last WU set felt good. I usually do 3. Did 5. I was scheduled for a working set of 485 in that I had opened with 475×10 last time. But I felt good, Metallica was blarin’, so I went for it.

Got 11. 10411! 495×11!

Felt awesome.

Finished up with 515×5 & 535×2 (a new PR for me)

One down, one to go.

And on the 848 a week ago I finally pulled (after working sets of 365×8 & 385×4) 405×1. First time I have been able to lock out 8 plates straight leg.

So the chase for 848 is on.

I’m already thinking that 12412|1212 sounds cool….

In replying to a thread in the O35 Forum I posted my daily nutrition with macros/etc. Someone correctly pointed out that I had miscalculated my macros due to not taking into account the cals in those macros. Upon recalculating them I was a bit stunned:

My Day:

Middle of the night snack (aka "when nature calls"):
1 scoop protein powder
2 cups skim milk

1st thing upon waking:
1 scoop protein powder
2 cups skim milk

Breakfast:
"fistful o’ pills" (will list upon request)
6 whole eggs
3/4 cup steel cut oats
8 almonds & 2 walnuts, chopped
1/2 tsp cinnamon, pinch of nutmeg
1 tbsp raw honey
1 stevia packet
1 medium grapefruit
2 cups water
22oz black coffee

Pre Training Meal: (4x week, 20-30 minutes before training)
8oz over baked sweet potato, peeled
1/2 cup skim milk
1 cup water
1 scoop protein powder
5g creatine monohydrate
2g L-Arginine (on Leg or Back days I will add 2g Glutamine)
1 tsp non-akaline cocoa powder
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1 stevia packet
1 tray ice cubes

All in blender. Drink up

Post Training Meal: (4x week, 10 minutes after training)
See Pre Training Meal

Lunch: (on training days, typically within 45-60 minutes of training)
12oz pre-cooked weight chicken breast
1 cup brown veggie rice
8oz fresh veggies
2 cups water
8 almonds & 2 walnuts (only on non-training days)

Snack: (on non-training days before Lunch, on training days after)
1 scoop protein powder
2 6oz FF plain yogurts
1 large apple
8 almonds & 2 walnuts (only on training days)

2nd Snack:
See Snack

Dinner:
See Non-Training LUNCH

Pre-Bed Meal: (right before bed)
1 cup FF no salt cottage cheese
2 tsps non-akaline cocoa powder
1 tbsp natural peanut butter
1 stevia packet
1g L-Arginine
500mg Glutamine

"Grazing": Who knows? Kids don’t finish a Eggo, a PB sandwich, bake sale at the school, occassional slice of thin crust cheese pizza, a bagel, granola bar, slice of banana bread, etc.

When I work I sip black coffee all day.

My Macros:

Non-Training Day:
CALS: 3726
CARBS: 408g/1632cal (43.8%)
PRO: 339g/1356cal (36.4%)
FAT: 82g/738cal (16g sat) (19.8%)

Training Days (combined total w/ above):
CALS: +963 (4814)
CARBS: +141g (559g/2236cal) (46.4%)
PRO: +92g (451g/1804cal) (37.5%)
FAT: +4g (2g sat) (86g/774cal - 18g sat) (16.1%)

Holy $#@! do I eat a LOT! LOL!!!

These were waiting for me when I got home from last night’s wine tasting:

Monochrome Chuck Taylors bay-bee!

Up to now I had been wearing an oldddddddddddddd pair of Reebok hightops that have seen much better days. The sole of the right one has gone kablooey, so I am really looking forward to safely pulling some deads & doing some squats while stylin’!!!

In that I have had a few people at the fitness center mention that they thought I had gotten noticeably bigger since January, I took some measurements for the 1st time in a while today. I always do these 1st thing on a Sunday in that this is typically when I am at my "tightest", if you will.

To say I was stunned is an understatement. All measurements done via the BB protocol (same as last time):

To keep things in the big picture, I’m inlcuding my 1st measurements from last June 1st in ( ) when I started weight training:

Weight: 215lbs! (195.5") - Got as low as 186.5 last November. I’ve gained almost 30lbs since Thanksgiving!
BF: 15% - Got an electrostatic BMI & added 7% for variance
Chest: 45" (40.75") - Going on 10 months of 100% incline work
Arms: 16"!  (14.5") I have been at 15" FOREVER!!!! WOOHOO!!!
Hips: 37" (38.5") - This got as low as 34.5" last year, but this new booty can’t be denied!
Waist: 36" (34.75") - This got as low as 33.5" last year. Gotta have a lil’ fat to make gains
Thighs: 24" (22.25") - Hopefully these will go up big time soon
Calves: 17.25" (16") - They say these should be 1:1 with arms…I wish!
Forearms: 12" (9.75") - Ab wheel & planks
Shoulders: 51" (47.5") - Finally getting a lil’ width
Neck: 17" (14.75) - Shrugs? I dunno

This has really helped to re-ignite that fire that has been embers lately!

Today was a big day for me. Did something that I literally have not done in a quarter century.

I did Back Squats.

I’ll type r-e-a-l s-l-o-w now to allow that to sink in (or give you time to wipe the spewed coffee off your monitor).

To put this in perspective, the last time I had a BB on my shoulders:
- M*A*S*H aired its final episode
- The song of the year was "Rosana" by Toto
- North Carolina State shocked the "Phi Slamma Jamma" Houston Cougars for the NCAA basketball championship
- Nintendo was brand new
- The FCC gave Motorola the OK to start testing these things called cell phones

I am now working with an online coach to help me get "da wheelz". Short n’ sweet, if you want the wheelz you gotta pay the band. I’ve been doing Front & Zerchers, Hacks & Leg Press. But today I started what I will call "Dime A Dance"  . In short, I replaced my current squat selection with these. The plan is to add a dime every session as long as I can move that load in GOOD form. It is the same routine my coach used, and if I can get the same results….

The load was very light, but that is by design. Learn good, controlled form, then up the tonnage.

Now, today gets even better. You may remember my mentioning previously that I found out that world class (and BP record holder at his weight & age) powerlifter Tony Petrino trains at the same fitness center I do.

He was there this AM. He’s NEVER there then! What are the odds that on the first day in 25 years I’m gonna do Back Squats a guy who can squat 900lbs is there????

So, I got a one on one training session with him.   He spotted me on my 2nd working set, critiqued my form (caught a mistake on knee flare which I fixed on the 3rd set), gave me a great 5-10 minute mini-clinic and then watched me do the entire 3rd set with more feedback. He saw immediately that my form suffered slightly around rep 7 or 8, and even in my uber-noobness I felt it & agreed 100%. Priceless. This will really help me a lot!

I’ll have to say a novenna to the patron saint of squats this evening. Someone was watching over me today.

Cool day….

1 year ago today (February 4th, 2008) this was me. A burger shy of 270lbs and 43% BF built up over 2 decades of apathy:

This is my 1st "Rebirthday". I will celebrate this day every year. Thanks to all my BB Friends for all the help over the past year.

Today’s training was a real break through for me, an epiphany if you will. Over the weekend I watched all the "Gettin’ Cut With Glass" video workouts as well as read that great Fitty thread on training (and identifying) biceps.

So, with all this new info swirling in my brain (gbg will be glad to know I’ll probably be asking a terrabyte less of questions  ) I restructured Chest/Bis today…..and completely & totally checked my ego at the fitness center door.

What I Learned:
- Small muscles, when REALLY isolated, are not very strong at all
- Said muscles can be worked to insane pumps & concentric failure with an embarrassingly small amount of weight
- The Smith machine is a godsend for those w/o PTs
- The Smith machine really allows you to work through imbalances (this is big for me as I try to bring my non-dominant arm/side up) fearlessly & push to those last 2 or 3 good, self-forced reps without a BB or PT.
- Reverse Preacher Curls are the Devil’s playtoy
- Incline DB Curls with locked elbows & open hands after Reverse Preachers borders on Geneva Convention violation
- Then doing Rope Cable Curls with elbows nailed to my sides & hands rotating out at the top after both of the above made my eyes water with a stupid amount of weight not there
- That Cable Flies with hands open, elbows locked & to a full "clap" & squeeze are full of pretty, pretty colors after 4 other incline chest exercises.

- That ego has NO PLACE   in bodybuilding. None. Nada. Zip. You have to have the conviction to, in a room full of guys tossing around huge weights in so-so form, do what you need to do & do it RIGHT, regardless of how many snickers it may evoke. Form is THE cruel taskmaster I will obey.

That said, I will post the teeny, tiny numbers in my Journal with the knowledge that, dare I say, for the 1st time EVER I really, really, worked the way I should have been working all along and the sore reality that those lil’ numbers made me wince & water eyed.

There. I said it.

I started a workout journal in the O35:

http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=113167271

Goal is to update it every session for the next 3 years, when I (hopefully) will have worked hard enough to not embarrass myself competing.

No, nothing to do with Optimus Prime…

I’ve started a BodyGroup dedicated to those who have either undergone, are undergoing, or are ready to undertake total life transformations from fat to fit.

If you have undergone a life changing transformation and are willing to help others do the same, or if you are in the process of, please come join us.

If you are READY to begin a transformation, change your lifestyle and seize your life back, read this carefully:

If you can keep up with & contribute to the strength of the pack, you are welcome to join us.