Drivn2perfection’s BodyBlog

You sweat, you endure the pain, you push out that extra rep where someone else would give up… This is the mentality of a new me.  Create mass and push beyond the norms, where others would say you cannot go.

I have started going heavy and pushing out hardcore sets in the gym again.  Needless to say, the first week is beating my body up.  But I’m assured that this will push me past my sticking point and help me get to my 240+ lb goal of raw muscular mass.  I HOPE I can post update pictures of my bulk period here within the next 2 weeks.  Keep looking.  I will be looking forward to some criticism on what I should improve.

I think god was sending me a message yesterday at work.  Someone new started at work that had a great physique.  He came up to me and asked where I worked out, since he noticed I must do some sort of lifting.  I got to talking to him and realized he had a good 20+ lbs of muscle on me.  Him being 13 years older helps, but it also gave me a new sense of motivation to push even harder and work even harder on my diet to gain weight.

With that said, I did a GREAT leg workout today.  It was Quads and calves.

I supersetted every exercise with a set of calf raises on the guided barbell machine (heavy.)

Some numbers… Did Wide barbell squats (deep) at 365lbs for 7 good full reps..

I also did a few sets of narrow stance leg presses.  Did  870lbs for 8.5 slow reps!  Very pleased

Since my disappointing summer of lifting has been exactly that, I’ve decided to try a new approach to gaining weight after reading some articles on here and elsewhere.  I only gained 2-3lbs in muscle this summer and am far behind what I planned to be in order to compete next year.

I will be doing the 8-week ON // 2-week off program.  Since I’ve already lifted 2 weeks since my last small break, I will do 6 weeks of lifting, beginning with 2 weeks of 15 rep sets, 2 weeks of 10 rep, and closing with 2 weeks of 5 rep sets on exercises.  Hopefully a 2-week break will prevent my muscles from adapting to any loads or training and I can continue gaining mass like I had hoped.

UPDATE PICTURES will be posted today if possible.

Thanks.

As many of you know that follow my progress; I planned on updating pictures a while ago.  Unfortunately I haven’t had a good time to do that and I want to see some more weight gain before I take updated photos.  I am STILL doing my bulking stage throughout the rest of the summer and hope to hit a solid 230+ before the end of August.  I’ll try to take pictures then.

As for new differences… I will be doing a new natural stack and see how it goes for the next 2 months.  I’ll be starting the stack on **August 19th**

~The stack~

-Opti-Men Multivitamin

-Cytosport Fast Twitch (pre-workout NO)

-CL’s Purple Wraath (during workout aminos and endurance complex)
-Scifit Kre-alk creatine

-Universal Torrent (PWO)

-Scifits T7 natural flavones and ZMA before bed

Obviously I’ll still be eating 5k calories a day or so, depending on how much I can eat in a day lol.  Wish me luck!

Today was chest day in the gym for myself   I have had a lot of issues lately with my right rotator muscles and it has seriously hindered my ability to push myself on chest days.  Surprisingly, today went very well and I blew most of my records out of the water for sets of 6-8 reps or so.

*As for my bulking progress…  I have gained 3 or so lbs of muscle in the last two months and I am slowly gaining weight to hit my goal of 240lbs.  I should be able to hit it by the end of the year.

Current weight: 227lbs

Goal weight    : 240lbs

So here’s my dilemma. I’m 21, and have wanted to compete in natural competitions here in the midwest US for the last two years. I want to be completely proportional and have enough mass before I do one, though.  I seem to have hit a brick wall on mass, and I can’t seem to gain any more muscle or weight. I eat 6 meals a day, or so, and try to eat 4-5k calories a day.

THE QUESTION= What CAN natural bodybuilders take for supplements that would help me break my plateau? Here’s my stats…

Age: 21

Ht: 6′3"

Wt: 225-228lbs

BF: 8-9% ISH

Current supplements:  Pre W/O= N.O. booster / creatine (kre-alk) During= aminos (purple wraath) after= Universal torrent/100% whey OTHER= weight gainer once a day w/ milk  Other than that, I’m eating enough I would think… What more can I take that isn’t banned?

THANK YOU ahead of time.

Did chest today after 2 weeks off of lifting chest and it went pretty well!  Only thing that didn’t get stronger was my incline DB press.  My strength continues to go up each week… So I hope that leads into more muscle mass gains so I can hit my goal of 240lbs at my current BF! (around 9% or less)

So, as you all know, I have been on a heavier bulk for the last month or so.  I haven’t been able to gain much since I’ve started which kind of depresses me.  I eat 6 meals a day on average with about 800 calories per meal.  On average, I’m eating about 300g of protein and plenty of carbs and healthy fats with natural peanut butter being most of them.

Workout routine consists of a heavy week followed by a higher rep, endurance week.  Just wanted to keep everyone updated so they know what’s going on.  Going on vacations has hindered my progress but I’m going to keep pushing my way to my goal.

Today=  224lbs

Goal= 240lbs

So it’s been a while since I updated last… Figured I’d tell everyone what was going on.  Since I started my weight gain diet, I’ve been on vacation a decent amount.  I only eat about 2k calories per day there.  When at home, I eat 4-5k calories and try to get at least 300g of protein per day.  I’m starting to get my first layers of tan going from going to the pool!!

I intend on taking update pictures, to show the start of my bulk, on Monday or so.  Keep checking in to see if I’ve posted them!

-Brian

Four days into my new diet, I’ve noticed some good energy levels!  Eating mostly clean cut meats and lean meals for 5k calories has dramatically enhanced my ability to "overwork" so to speak.  Prior to this diet, I was taking in roughly 3000 calories a day and only 200g of protein  or so.  I tended to get sick every so often from overworking myself due to lifting 5 days a week for 1.5 hours a day, and also because I have hard labor work at my job 4-5 nights a week.  Now I am able to push that little extra and still stay healthy!

**Another happy note!**

-Today I did shoulders; and with my recent rotator cuff problems, I was skeptical on how it would turn out.  Luckily for me, it went VERY well and I didn’t seem to have any issues at all right my right rotators.  I hope the rotator cuff exercises are paying off, and will help me in the long run with my chest press movements!

Weigh in today (morning)= 222lbs

Goal by 7/25/08= 230lbs (dry, muscle)