Tribal’s Tiki Hut

My workout today was full of success, as shown by the numbers below.  It’s going to be rather interesting if I can hit 220×6 next week (everything written is done with full ROM, bar to chest, at a natural controlled pace), it’s going to be difficult; if I do accomplish such a feat I’m going to be very surprised and ecstatic!!!  I would have never thought I would be remotely close to repping damn near two plates, ever…

My workout is as follows:

Flat Barbell Bench Press - 135×6, 155×4, 185×2, 215×6 (**** YEAH SEAKING!), 190×6x3

Incline Barbell Bench Press - 145×6, 140×8, 140×5x2, 140×4, 140×3 (Burning Out!)

Flat Dumbbell Fly - 15×10x5

Dips - 6, 4, 2, 1

I followed the above with 30 minutes of steady state cardio at 4 mph/4% incline.  Not to be arrogant but what I’m beginning to wonder is how I’m able to throw up such numbers when the people around me at perhaps the same strength level look to be in much better physical shape than me but can’t do the following.  It really is quite strange, but I do enjoy it.  Hopefully all these assistance exercises this week will give me the edge to accomplish my goals.  For now I’m going to stick to my diet because my excessive binging yesterday was quite disgusting…Loads of crawfish and spare ribs were on the menu -_- I absolutely hate it when I cheat, but I guess it’s a necessity if I want to stay sane.

Quite frankly I’m loving A2G squats, after staying at parallel for perhaps several years I find that A2G suites me well.  I feel as though I get a full stretch and of course maximum ROM doing A2G.  Although I do find that my lower back does round at the deepest part of the squat and no matter how I reposition myself it seems impossible to rectify such a problem, the best thing that I can do for myself is to not prolong my time at the reverse point of my squat and explode upward to shift the weight to my legs.  I’m still experimenting with what my body can handle with the following exercises therefore the amount of weight used isn’t spectacular in any way, shape, or form.

My workout is as follows:

A2G Squats - 135×8, 165×8, 165×5, 165×5, 165×5, 165×5

Leg Extensions - 45×15, 90×12, 115×12, 125×12, 130×12, 130×12

Leg Curls - 45×12, 55×12, 45×12, 45×10, 45×10, 45×10

Dumbbell Lunges - 45×12, 40×15, 40×15, 40×8

Those leg curls really had me working, I don’t think I’ve directly worked my hamstrings in over a year and that single plate destroyed them.  Overall another successful day at the gym.

I’m definitely doing something right because my strength just keeps increasing and now I’m really noticing that I put on more mass from my initial starting point of 165lbs. Every time I pass a mirror I just stare in awe for a couple of seconds as to how my body has changed in just a short amount of time.  I really do look forward to busting my ass every single day of the week minus Sunday to get the results that I so desperately crave.  After my success with 205 on the flat barbell bench last week I opted to go five pounds heavier…I couldn’t be happier with the following results.

My workout is as follows:

Flat Barbell Bench Press - 135×8, 155×6, 185×3, 210×6 (Yay!), 185×6, 185×6

Incline Barbell Bench Press - 135×6 (6 sets…) I’m going to definitely increase the weight next week.

Flat Dumbbell Bench Press - 55×6 (6 sets…) Same as above

Flat Dumbbell Fly - 20×6 (3 sets…) Reoccurring trend

Dips - 4, 8, 6, 5, 2 Reps (Dead tired)

I just noticed the only training blogs I’ve written up were simply based on chest day/Monday’s…it’s quite a shame really, but it’s the only day where I have plenty of time to burn on the computer, I’ll definitely try and get a few more blogs throughout the week whenever possible.

My CL stack is nearly finished, every bottle is down 1/8th of it’s original fillings except for the GlycerGrow tub which seems like it’s going to last eternity.  It’s going to be rather interesting to see how different my performance will be after my White Flood tub.  As soon as the Green MAG is empty I’m putting an order for Universal Storm to give that a try and spicen things up a bit; as for the Purple Wraath I’ve already switched it out for Intra-Aid (B2G1 Free deal was a steal!) which should arrive this Wednesday.  All in all the CL stack has given me the kick in the ass that I needed to get back in shape, I’ll definitely be going back to said stack after I’m done with the Universal products unless they’re better   For now I’ll stick to my basics of Whey/Creatine/BCAA’s/Multi, I’ll scrap the Pre-workout products until I feel like I need another kick in the !@#$% several months down the road.

Cottage cheese + skim milk before bed = "Ridic" Recovery Times!

I think I may be back on my feet again after the breakup…at least I think I’m happier o.O

I’m officially back on track, my vacation side tracked my gains for a bit but now I’ve regained my size and strength; so far so good.  Today was chest day, after last weeks cluster !@#$% I opted to try a slight change in my routine.  Usually I would warm up with excessive reps with very light weight to get a slight pump going, but I wanted to bust through a couple personal records today, and that I did.  I also incorporated a longer rest time (3 - 5 mins.) in between heavy sets.  I’m pretty sure I could have pumped out more on the flat bench for my heaviest set, but I was hesitant since I was lacking a spotter…

My workout is as follows:

Dips - 8, 6, 5 Reps

I have a tendency to radically alter the exercises after every following session just to keep my muscles guessing and keep boredom at bay by not following a strict by the book routine.  I’m not quite sure if my volume is excessive or not nearly enough, but so far it’s working great for me!  Any advice/tips to further my progress would be greatly appreciated!

(RANDOM:  I’ve also noticed on Friday I can actually curl 40lb. dumbbells quite easily now…it’s very interesting since I’ve been stuck on 30lbs. since high school)

My early morning routine ever rarely deviates.  As soon as I roll out of bed I put on a shirt, stumble to the kitchen with squinty eyes (as if they weren’t squinty enough) and create what I call breakfast.  It consists of 1 scoop of whey protein, 1 cup of oatmeal, 8-12oz. of skim milk, and whatever fruit is in reach goes in there; hit the blend button and viola you have instant breakfast coupled with a negligible amount of solid food as to not upset the stomach.  This is what I’ve been doing for the past few weeks for breakfast, although I occasionally throw in 2 tablespoons of peanut butter if I know it’s going to be a rough morning.

After said breakfast I make my way to the computer room and read whatever e-mail has accumulated overnight and listen to music, as far as I’m concerned the genre of the music I listen to changes per month.  This month has been ridden with hardcore Japanese infused hip/hop rock; it’s quite the eye opener.  I’ll be sitting on my ass for an hour straight then head to the bath to freshen up, immediately after I throw down my pre-workout CL combo of GM+GG wait thirty minutes then WF+PW.  This entire time I’m also throwing down just short of two quarts down the hatchet.  After the initial Beta Alanine tingles I ready up get dressed and equipped purple wraath bottle in hand to head out to the gym whether it be at my garage/LA Fitness/or even my friends apartment gym.

Deadlifts and I haven’t been the best of friends, but we have mutual respect for each other.  It’s quite embarrassing really, deadlifts are supposed to be the king of moving ludicrous amounts of weight but in my case it’s perhaps my weakest lift.  I’m still getting a feel for my form even with the help of others correcting my positioning and giving me judicious amounts of advice I’d still like to play it safe and really perfect it till I start going heavy.  In my honest opinion this is one exercise where there shouldn’t be any room for error lest you like playing Russian roulette with your lower back, and I definitely don’t like that game…So I’m taking it nice and slow.  I haven’t really recorded my deadlifts on my physical log since my workouts have consisted of doing 135lbs. 5×5 just for form, execution, and just to get a general feel for the exercise as well as my body positioning.  Recently I’ve been increasing the weight with today as an example:

135×12
155×4…
185×6
And then back down to 135×6

I’ve yet to go over 185lbs. without fear of injury, although today I felt as if I could perhaps do a substantial amount more than usual because the weight moved with such ease and fluidity off the ground and back down.  That wasn’t my only exercise today which consisted of bent over rows, seated cable rows, chin ups, single arms dumbbell rows (accompanied by the usual 15 minute steady state cardio on the treadmill), but it’s the one I’ve just been keeping an eye on because I want the BIG numbers!

Came back home and was delighted to open the mail receiving my sample MRP from Labrada as well as one of their pre-workout product.  God my bedside cabinet is filling up with samples.

Did I mention I also received my first issue of Maxim today with Malin Akerman on the front cover? (Made that front cover my current wallpaper since my ex used to be plastered on there) 

It’s so strange looking at other women after the breakup after keeping my eyes on one little lady for so many years, I feel dirty and ashamed in a way.  I figured the wallpaper alone should be enough damn motivation to keep improving…

This is my first blog ever, thank you bodybuilding.com for popping my blog cherry!

I’ve been a member of bodybuilding.com since my junior year in high school and have made several accounts since then, only to have forgotten the passwords to most of them since I mainly used them to order supplements from the site as opposed to keeping track of my gains and having my goals set in front of my sights.

(I apologize the following is an excerpt from one of my product reviews, but it gives decent background information about my previous experience in this sport)

I started lifting weights my junior year in high school which would be around mid 2005.  I was a stick weighing in at a whopping 145lbs needless to say I worked extensively on the basic compound exercises of weight training and bumped all the way up to around 170lbs. over a period of 3 years.  I was never strict with my diet or the consistency of my training and quickly lost motivation during the first year of college.  It’s been my 3^rd month back in from an absence of any REAL exercise for nearly an entire year and a half.  Over the past three months I’ve lost 20lbs of excess weight (185lbs. down to 165lbs.) I’ve accumulated my freshmen/sophomore year in college while maintaining or many times exceeding my strength supplementing only with Whey protein.

(Now that’s over time for the current news update)

I’m coming out of a great relationship as opposed to a horrible one.  So what went wrong you may ask?  I basically told the girl of my dreams we were rushing things…and then she started to believe it.  Three days after Valentines she told me “I’m not happy with us anymore.”  There’s so much more to this story, but I’d rather not go into detail because I will break down thinking about such things, I always do (stress, cortisol, etc., no good).  My future is blurry, I had everything set and in place for the next 5 years in my life, but now I have to change the game plan due to this severe setback.  Ever since then I haven’t been the same, no longer am I training with happiness and zest with a pep in my step; instead what’s taken over this body is pure rage and anger.  I used to smile and laugh when I worked out back then no matter how heavy the weight was or how strenuous my cardio had become.

No longer do I smile or laugh, I’m trying to find happiness, but it’s so hard.

(Side note:  My chest workout this afternoon was unbelievable, even after a week of no exercise due to vacation my energy was through the roof and my strength just seems to keep increasing)