Ludlum3k’s BodyBlog

Yet again, I have neglected to update my BodyBlogs for whatever reasons, so this is for everything since last Wednesday. It’s not much, just last Wed I did a quick and dirty workout at home, just to get a little bit going for that day, the next workout was Monday, where I did chest, triceps and abs, and finally today, I yet again worked at home where I only did bis and a little forearms. Last Wednesday’s workout consisted of bent DB rows, BB curls and EZ preacher curls; just enough to get a little pump. Monday was a good workout, even though I’ve lost considerable strength over the last while, but I still hit everything hard, and I can still feel my chest hurting right now, so it must have worked. Started with incline bench, and followed with heavier flat DB flyes - which I think is the reason for my chest getting sore, since I havn’t done that in a looong time. Followed up with the machine press and low cable crossovers. For triceps, I just exhausted them with pushdowns, and finished with hanging knee raises and decline crunches. Today I hit my biceps harrd. Did BB curls, followed by preacher curls, then DB hammer curls - where I’d start in straight fashion and when fatigue set in, I continued with the set with alternating reps, then I did BB reverse curls, and finished with concentrated curls.

Wenesday August 22, 2007
Bent DB rows
10×30s
3×10x50s
BB curls
10×45
2×10x75
10×65
Preacher
2×8x60
2×12x40

Monday, August 27, 2007
Incline bench
10×135
10×155
6×185
8×155
8×135
Flat DB flyes
2×10x40s
2 x (8×40s -> 8×25s)
Chest machine press
2×12x145
8×145 -> 6×100
Low cable crossover
10×30s
12×25s
15×20s
Tri pushdown
2×12x115
12×85 -> 10×60
Hanging knee raises
3×10xBW
decline crunches
3×10xBW

Wednesday, August 29, 2007
BB curls
10×45
8×65
8×75
2×8x85
Preacher curls
2×10x60
2×10x50
DB hammer curls
10×20s
2 x (8×20s -> 4×20s alt)
BB reverse curls
2×10x55
10×45
Concentrated curls
10×20s
10×10s

Once again, it is monday, luckily it was not a "typical" monday that everyone hates. Work wasn’t that hard, just a long walk through the bush, didn’t end up getting cut up by tree branches like I did on Friday Got to the gym nice and early, and it was relatively empty, just the way I like it, and it was time for one of my favorite workouts: Chest + Triceps + abs. Granted I prefer having triceps being paired with biceps for an arm day, but for the next two weeks, I follow the 4 day split. Went back to incline barbell press, where there was a serious drop in strength, as expected, but it’ll come back fast. Followed up by incline DB press, incline DB flyes, and low cable crossover. Following the chest, I proceeded to triceps, where I decided to do reverse-grip tricep pushdownsfor three full sets, followed by two quick sets of normal grip pushdowns. Next, I supersetted incline reverse crunches with DB kickback. I decided to do this, rather than doing kickbacks then rev crunches in straight fashion, because my triceps were hit quite hard, so I figured I’d get more out of them this way. Which is what happened, although I think it sort of took away from the overall effect, as the added rest for each lessened the stress on the muscles. Finished off with regular crunches.

Monday, August 20, 2007
Incline bench
10×135
10×155
2×6x185
Incline DB press
2×8x60s
10×50s
8×50s -> 4×50s (rest-pause)
Incline DB flyes
2×10x25s
2 x (12×20s -> 6×15s)
Low cable X-over
10×30s
12×25s
15×20s
Reverse grip Tricep pushdowns
2×10x115
12×85
Tricep pushdowns
10×85
12×70 -> 6×70 (rest-pause)
Superset
    Incline reverse crunches
    3×10xBW
    DB kickback
    3×10x10s
Crunches
3×12xBW

This week, I’m going to borrow some SuperPump from my friend to give it a try, since I’m still trying to decide on my next stack.

A couple new experiments on Wednesday with regards to legs: 1) tried dumbell romanian deadlifts, 2) supersetted leg extensions with seated leg curls (never supersetted the seated variation), and 3) took my calf raises and moved them to the end of the workout, so I could try to achieve a better pump in the legs. Verdict: 1) the dumbell variety provided a good stretch feeling, but didn’t give any overall worked out feeling, 2) I think that because I didn’t give my quads and hams a break with the calf exercises it allowed me to get a better pump feel with this superset, but i do think that the seated variety works better, and 3) after achieving a greater pump in my thighs and then moving to calves, I think the calves were more exhausted somehow, and therefore felt it better, even though i only did two sets of them.
For Thursday, although I planned on heading to the gym, plans got changed so I had to settle for home. I did barbell behind-the-neck press, but I much prefer the Smith machine only for that exercise. Next I did wide-grip EZ bar upright rows, followed by barbell shrugs. This was my first time doing shrugs on shoulder day, but I think it was still effective. I tried bent over DB lateral raise for the first time, rather than using an incline bench, to find I think i prefer the incline. Finally winished off with seated DB laterals. Unfortunately, since I can’t do drop sets at home due to the adjustable dumbells i have, my shoulder workouts suffer as I don’t get a very good pump. But I had to do what I could…

Wednesday, August 15, 2007
Squats
2×10x135
8×185
6×205
10×135 (narrow stance)
DB romanian deadlifts
10×40s
10×50s
2×8x60s
SUPERSET
   Leg extensions
   12×100
   2×10x100
   Seated leg curls
   3×12x70
Standing calves
12×160 -> 10×100
10×160 -> 10×100

Thursday, August 16, 2007
Behind-neck press
2×10x95
2×8x115
EX upright row
2×12x50
2×10x60
BB shrugs
2×15x225
2×20x225
Bent over laterals
3×10x15s
Seated laterals
2×10x15s
2×12x10s

As an extra note, later in the evening, I was applying at Popeye’s, GNC and Nutrition House, and while I was waiting at Popeye’s to talk to the owner, one of the staff gave me a dose of MuscleTech’s NaNO VAPOR to try. I’ve always been sceptical of MT products, but this sort of product is similar to my other favorites, such as NO-Xplode, NOX-CG3 and Shock Therapy, so I was fully willing to try. I didn’t feel to much at all, but it tastes alright, so I can’t complain. If someone gave me a really good offer on a tub of it, I’d probably take it.

Just came back from the gym where I did back and biceps. I was able to do bent over DB rows effectively this week, and have come to the conclusion that I think barbell rows are still better; but I figured I’d give it a try. The DB variation does give a deeper contraction, but still doesn’t provide the feel that the barbell form does. Second, I did seated cable row, which felt effective. Instead of going to traps, I took them out because I might try them on shoulder day, plus since I normally do them in the middle of my back day, I think they may take away from the pump I’m trying to achieve in my lats. I was thinking of doing them at the end of my back routine this week, but decided not to. Instead, I went straight to lat pulldowns, and finished my back with straight-arm pulldowns. Onward to biceps; I did preacher curls, finally I got to use the real preacher curl instead of the machine preacher, because normally the free-weight one is surrounded by groups of guys trying to look cool. Finished with two sets of concentrated curls with drop sets.

Tuesday, August 14, 2007
Bent DB rows
10×35s
10×50s
2×8x65s
Seated cable rows
3×10x100
Lat pulldown
2×8x120
10×100
12×80
Straight-arm pulldown
10×50
2×12x40
EZ Preacher
10×70
8×70
10×50
12×40
Concentrated curls
2 x (8×20 -> 8×10)

Finally I got to do chest at my normal gym, so I can have all of the proper equipment rather than my crappy adjustable dumbells and the like. It really helps, because I can really thrash myself in a way that working out at home can’t. First of all, I didn’t do any barbell moves, instead I went straight to Incline DB press (at about 60 degrees), followed by DB flyes with the same incline. Next, to continue with my upper chest, I did reverse grip DB press, which works perfectly with a chest/tri split, due to the involvement of the tris. The last chest move was low cable crossover. This time, each set I raised the notch of the vertically adjustable cables by one each set to give more angles to the finisher. For tris, I went straight to cable pushdowns, and really concentrated on making them work harder than ever, and I must say that I was successful, because I could actually feel each muscle fiber working its hardest. Finally, I finished with DB kickback for only two sets, since my tris were completely done, but I tried certain variations to hit all three tricep head; meaning I started with the standard ones with a neutral grip, but for the second half of the first set I started to twist my wrist to further hit the outer heads, and the second set was done purly with a supinated grip to hit the medial head.

Monday, August 13, 2007
Incline DB press
10×50s
3×8x70s
8×60s
Incline DB flyes
3×12x20s
Reverse grip DB press
12×40s
10×50s
8×50s
Low cable X-over
12×30s
12×25s
12×20s
Tri pushdown
12×85
12×100
10×100 -> 10×60
Tri kickback
2×10x10s

Well today was my second day back at it, and I knew that it was going to be more brutal than anything should ever be. Let me just say that I’m thoroughly f***ed… Combining legs with back and some biceps, especially on the second day back, is a deffinite recipe for unimaginable pain. I can’t wait to wake up tomorrow at 5:45 am for work to find that I can’t move… *sigh* Oh well, this is the way of the bodybuilding life. Only the Animal ads can put my feelings into proper words.

But anyways, enough complaining, time for some details. I was able to obtain my samples of Shock Therapy and Storm from my friend, both grape flavor, and the verdict: Shock Therapy grape flavour is probably better than the Wild Punch Kicker flavour, but Storm is much better in Fruit Punch. Same effects I guess, except for feeling the buzz a little more at first due to the fact that it’s been a while since I’ve taken these, but today was certainly the day to do so. As mentioned before, the split is screwed up for the next while, so I managed to fit legs, back and a little biceps together; considering legs alone are too death. But again, first week at it, I needed to use lighter weights to get myself back into the groove. I started with squats, and we all know how they are. Next I did Romanian deadlifts, which is what I’m going to regret the most, because my hamstrings are already f***ed, so I can’t begin to imagine tomorrow. Followed by standing calf raises, which are always fun. Next I decided to try the technique from the back episode of Getting Cut With Glass: bent over DB rows, since I’ve been so curious to try them ever since I saw it. And let me say, I think they’d work much better if done on a strictly back day, because the fact that my hams were so dead from the romanians, it made the exercise lose its effectiveness, so I’m still looking forward to trying them some other time. This was followed by some slow, deep contracting lat pulldowns. Finally, I did machine preacher curl 21’s to finish.

Thursday, August 9, 2007
Squats
2×10x135
2×8x185
Romanian deadlifts
3×10x135
Standing calves
2×12x200
10×200 -> 4×140 -> 5×100
Bent DB row
3×10x45s
Lat pulldown
4×10x80
Machine preacher
3 x 21’s x 40

Damn it feels good to get back in the game!!! After over a month of not hitting the gym, it’s time to come back and make up for lost progress. I’ve missed all of this, no thanks to work and other things… I’ve had lots of time to think about it all, but I can’t stands no more. There’s so much to say, hopefully I won’t forget, and if I do, it’ll just have to be included in the next BodyBlog.

Where to start? I guess I’ll start with the new split plan for the next month or so (until I’m back at school). Since I can only afford to get in probably 3 gym sessions per week for the next few weeks (with the exception of this week where I only have two ) The plit will have to be something like this

Day 1: Chest, Delts, Triceps
Day 2: Legs, abs
Day 3: Back, Biceps

Next, the supplements… Since finances will be tight for the next while, all I have to work with is the protein shakes I have (ISO Sensation, and Muscle Milk) and the bottle of Allmax Caffeine I purchased yesterday, which was a damn good deal. However, when I am permitted to get the supplements I so dearly love, I have some difficult decisions to make. ONE: I am curious about possibly trying some form of Tribulus/Testosterone supplements, such as Vitrix. Been doing a lot of looking into it since I feel it’s a touchy subject, but from what information I’ve been finding is I feel that it might be time to give it a try, but with caution, for I still have my nagging little doubts. TWO: Which pre/post supplements to get? I was more than delighted with both Universal Nutrition’s Shock Therapy and Controlled Labs’ White Blood for pre-workout and Universal Nutrition’s Storm for Post-workout. However, I would like to look into Controlled Labs’ Green Buldge and White Flood. The reason for White Flood over White Blood is because my favorite type of supps are the pre-workout NO boosters with all the added energy boosters (like Shock Therapy, NO-Xplode, and NOX-CG3) and I was so amazed by the Controlled Labs and all the hype for Green Buldge in the BB.com forums. So yeah, there’s a lot of that kinda stuff on my mind.

Finally, today’s workout. Today, I had to use my beautiful home gym to do chest, delts, and triceps. As a bodybuilder, I know that the incline is my best friend for chest development, and I have experienced this, so I went right into the inclines. Started with Incline bench press at the standard degree for any incline bench (approx 40-45 degrees) because that’s what I’m accustomed to at my regular gym. Next I bumped up the incline (approx 55-60 degrees) to do the incline DB press. Followed up with incline DB flyes at the same angle. Next was delts, and since I know that no matter how much effort I do, front delts are still involved in the presses, and due to my previous years of neglecting the attempt to exclude the front delts from the bench, my front delts are decent; thus I still need to bring up my middle delts to give myself rounder shoulders. This was done by doing behind-the-neck barbell press (yeah yeah I know many people think that’s taboo, but I’m always making sure to be safe). This was followed by seated DB lateral raises. Since I can’t do the dropsets as my main weapon for shoulders like I normally do, since I’m working at home, I had to utilize the rest-pause technique. Finally it was triceps time. I think my triceps got thrashed the worst out of everything, probably because of the work they did previous to their specific exercises. I did decline skull crushers, supersetted with close-grip presses, and followed up with DB kickback (ouch…) My verdict, the triceps will probably be most sore tomorrow, shoulders got a great pump, considering they were worked at home, and my chest will be sore tomorrow. Unfortunately, the inevitable drop in strength was experienced, as all the lifts were done with less volume and/or weights that previous, but it usually comes back very soon, so there was no real discouragement, just gotta work hard as always. Anyways, time to put it all down.

Monday August 8, 2007
Incline Bench
12×135
10×155
8×155
8×135
Incline DB press
9×50s
7×50s
6×50s
Incline DB flyes
2×12x20s
12×15s
Behind-Neck press
7×95 -> 3×95
8×75 -> 4×75
7×75 -> 4×75
Seated DB lateral
10×15s
10×10s
10×10s -> 5×10s
Superset
Decline skull crushers
8×70
8×60
8×50
Decline close-grip bench
8×70
8×60
8×50
DB kickback
10×10
2×12x7