Supervic2007’s BodyBlog

Finishing this phase pretty strong.  I can feel the chest muscles responding well.  Not quite ready to hit regular bench or dumbells again but getting closer.  Still need to build up a little more strength but I think I can start introducing light weights now!

Great pumps today - LOVE CABLES.  Really feels good to angle back and chest to hit exactly where I want!  Also - I am starting to see some definition in the outer tricep head.  Another week or so and I can consider a cut.  Probably want to run this growth phase out a little more. 

Here is today’s workout:

Hammer Incline - 70/70 x 10, 80/80 x 10, 90/90 x 6, 100/100 x 3 with drop set 70/70 x 5

Hammer Press - 60/60 x 10, 65/65 x 10, 70/70 x 5

Life Machine Flys - 180 x 10, 190 x 10, 200 x 8

Decline Cables - 60 x 10, 70 x 10, 70 x 8

Incline Cable - 50 x 10, 60 x 10, 60 x 10

Rope Press Tricep - 50 x 10, 60 x 6, 50 x 10

Bar Press Downs - 70 x 10, 70 x 10, 70 x 10

Reverse Tricep Extensions - 50 x 10, 60 x 10, 60 x 8

50 Crunches (mixed straight and obliques)

50 Butterfly kicks

Mixed leg lifts - 10 straight then lift and and hold at 10, 30, 45, 60, and 90 degree andles for 2-8 count

Static 3 point hold for 20-30 seconds - 2 sets

That’s all folks.  I also did short poses in the mirror.  Still a little self consious in the lockerroom but getting better about focusing on making sure the muscles are full of blood.  Keep it up all.

Having a hard time getting back into my morning/evening shake routine and now I gave in to this stupid pizza and doughnut craving today.  Not crying tooooo much since I have made some progress - but I know it could have been better and this does not help.  Oh well…. tomorrow is another new day and we are going hiking in the mountains.  i also got some Bowflex select dumbells so i can rehab my shoulder more aggresively and do some lunges and core training while my wife uses our new treadmill. 

Just thought it was ironic that I let my diet go down the tubes while the NPC USA competition is going on here in town. LOL Anyway - keep training hard and watch out for those sneaky doughnuts!!!! 

Had a good back day.  Finally starting to be able to feel the difference in flexing my inner vs outer lats.  I apparently need to keep volume in my routine.  Fewer heavy reps just don’t get it done for me.  Well - I learn something new all the time.

It was cool seeing ,what I will have to assume is, a competitor for this weekend’s Mr. USA working out in my Gold’s gym today.  I see a lot of put together people but this guy was clearly a BB from across the room.  Huge and lean - kind of puts things in perspective.  I had definitely better be in this for the long haul cause THAT does not happen overnight or without a h*ll of a lot of work. 

Still - progress is what it’s all about and ,diet aside this week, I deel like I keep making some!  Keep it up!

Monday night - Tae Kwon Do actually but the alliteration makes for a better headling - lol.  Decided that I really needed to do something outside of the gym so I went to the park at night started doing forms after a calisthenic warm up to get the blood moving.  I did 10 different forms in about 15 minutes (moderate speed, strong-deep breathing, medium force) with shoes on grass.  I grabbed some water and did them again barefoot (slower, harder, deeper breathing).  I was really starting to feel it by the time I was hitting Koryo (9th form).  I finished up with 10 minutes of kicking exercises (butterfly jumps, triple kicks, change ups, etc) combined with low movements like sweeps and grapples which really forced full breathing, engaged large muscle groups etc.  Good stuff.  I decided that this needs to be part of the routine - not because it is a huge cardio benefit - but because it was an awesome cleansing experience.  Good Stuff!

Decent day today(Monday).  Better overall feeling but not quite as intense a pump as last week.  I was able to focus prett consistently and I kknew when I was trying to go for too much and could adjust to keep a overall energy level.  Now I just need to dial in on the "part of the day" to make sure I can hit it hard but not at the expense of the rest of the exercises.

I am starting to realize my nutrition is working for overal strength goals but bodyfat reduction has slowed.  Of COURSE - it has nothing to do with the occassional cheat meal(s?)  but I really think I need to address subcutaneous water retention, caloric reduction, sodium (drink a lot of diet soda), etc.  Just alittle frustrated that progress is "almost there" but seems to stall.  Gotta Break through!!!

I have been suprised that when I can apply discipline in my life to reach my physical potential - I feel some bizarre compulsion to do the same thing in other areas.  This is a challenge because I have a lot of interests and ,although there are many areas I could focus on, time is limited.  I have updated my webpage with music/ lyrics I recorded a while back and felt compelled to and a new some, update some old ones, and just put it all out there. 

So many people here have put it all out there for their own reasons, true, but it sure has been inspirational to me as well. So I have added my personal webpage (I was reluctant because it is my name - lol) and hope that sharing a more complete picture of myself and the progress/ challenges I experience in and out of the gym - I can identify growth and groeth opportunites and- hey -  someone else might benefit as well.

Anyway - just wanted to acknowledge that there is a whole lot more going on here other than growing muscle fibers and "eating big" - thanks to everyone who has helped me.  

Good Back Day - OK Biceps and traps

Added reps, weight and exercises today to get some more volume going.  Feeling good pump and muscle connection now on the lats.  Traps need some different exercises for stimulation but felt pretty solid today.  Need to change sequence on my bicep exercise.  I am not isolating well and I am pre-exhausting so when it comes time to deliver  -results are a little disappointing.  I was able to recover somewhat and get a decent pump by the time I was done.

Not sure about the rest of you, but I started spending just a few seconds after my last set squeeezing the muscle and workjing on posture and then a few minutes in the locker room when I am done.  It helps my motivation to keep that pumped image in my head the rest of the day and I can feel how well I have done at exhausting the muscle and getting blood into it.  I at least feel like I am continuing to learn and improve so I guess I just need to KEEP IT UP!  

Great chest day - ok tricep and abs. 

Hammer Incline Press

10 x 60/60, 10 x 70/70, 10 x 80/80, 8 x 90/90

Hammer Press

10 x 60/60, 6 x 60/60, 8 x 70/70 (not sure but I think I shifted my form on my middle set and stresset triceps much more than pecs)

Life Machine flys

10 x 170, 10 x 180, 8 x 190

Cable Crossover - Decline

10 x 60, 10 x 60, 8 x 70

Cable Crossover - Incline (Awesome pump here - really starting to see muscle seperation on contraction - first time for this group)

10 x 50, 10 x 50, 8 x 60

Rope Tricep Extension (hard pulley)

10 x 40, 10 x 40, 8 x 40

Cable Press down

12 x 40 (oops forgot to move pin), 10 x 70, 9 x 70, 8 x 80

Reverse Cable Pressdown (simply shift to reverse grip on e-z style bar)

10 x 60, 8 x 60 - fried

Abs

45 crunches (mixed straight and angled)

50 scissor kicks (vary leg height/speed from rapid flutter to slower 90 degree)

25 leg lifts (4 - 12 coount and vary pauses at 30, 45, 60, and 90 degrees)

2 extended and 10 speed leg lifts (anchor hands to floor and go FAST and HARD)

roll over and hold static squeeze on elbows for 30 seconds - then stretch a little

All that was pretty good.  Since I had to work a lot over the weekend and ate cr…I mean really poorly - I have some catch up to do.  Thanks to all you out there showing me you can do it - I know I can too!!!!  Keep it up!

Pretty good back day!  I was feeling the lats a little more than usual and went a little harder than normal as well.  Pre-exhausted biceps a little more than desirable during back exercise but just used lighter weight and focused on squeezing the muscles. Ended up with a better lat pump and mild bicep pump than normal which is good because back is a weaker area for me.  Here was today’s workout:

Assisted Wide grip Pullups (weight 267)

12 (100lb assist) 10 (90lb assist) 6 (90lb assist) 6 (110lb assist)

Cable Rows (DD grip)

10 x 135 , 10 x 150, 6 x 165

Lat Pulldown (Medium bar- transverse grip)

10 x 150, 9 x 165, 6 x 180, 4 x 195

Hammer Machine Lat Pulldown

10 x 80/80, 8 x 90/90, 5 x 100/100

Close Grip Standing Bicep Barbell Curl (for brachialis)

10 x 50, 9 x 50, 6 x 60

Wide Grip Standing Bicep Barbell Curl (for inner head)

8 x 50, 10 x 40, 9 x 40

Hammer Machine Bicep Curl

8 x 40/40, 8 x 40/40

Only had 45 minutes so I could not hit delts at all and missed legs this week but felt pretty got about what I did get done.  also stayed fairly good on diet but slacking on nutrient timing.  just gotta KEEP IT UP!!!!

retty good chest routine.  A bit limited due to shoulder but the hammer machines ease the strain a lot.  Anyway - pushed through and got a GREAT pump in the chest.  Fatiguing on presses - doing some machine flys and then the decline / incline cable crossovers really are working well.  I switched out my machine tricep exercise for rope extensions to help outer head definition.  Also - sticking with cables helps me avoid elbow joint strain (just what I need - another problem joint).  I also started flexing a bit after the set and holding the contraction a little longer on my finishing reps - seems to help.

Finished up with a quick ab workout - crunches, scissor kicks, leg lifts, static pose (holding a pushup position after fatigued).  Was pretty good day.  I am going to switch next workout to legs and give the shoulder more rest.  So far - so good.  Only downside is my bodyfat % is not dropping as fast as it was initially.  Must be slacking on the diet