abualbara’s BodyBlog

Well.. It’s been a while since I blogged anything. Been busy, didn’t have time for the net much. But I decided to blog the end of my cut phase since it started back on March 1st, 2008. Had some ups and downs, but overall, I think I’m contempt with what I’ve achieved so far. I know it could have been better if I had stuck to the nutrition part. But, I had to manage with what I could afford.

Anyway, here are some of the positives and negatives:

Pos:

- lost 9 kilos (19.8 lbs): went from 93 kg (204.6 lbs) down to 84 kg (184.8 lbs).

- shreded a lot of fat and looking lean.

- gained some nice cuts and definitions.

- improved a lot in my legs.

- finally saw that I did have a 6 pack hidden somewhere… lol. I’m going to enjoy it while it lasts.
Negs:

- hurt my shoulder and forearm in some heavy lifts, which hendered my plan for progress. each workout was a pain.. tried many different things and none worked till I decided to go to my doctor and ask for a cortisone shot. It’s starting to feel better.. but the pain is still there. So, no more heavy lifts for a while now.
-  didn’t stick to my diet and nutrition at times because I just couldn’t afford buying all that I needed.

- didn’t take the needed supps to help me along the way due to some financial difficulties.

- And finally, none of my pants fit me anymore. They’re all so very big.. I don’t really know if this counts as a neg or a pos!!!

All in all, it was quite an experience since it was my first time doing it. I have learned a lot during the way and I think it’ll be better the next time around.

It’s been a while since I blogged anything. all was due to the darn telec company that we have here. I was out of connection for a whole week. Anyway, this is week 6, and I’m noticing some great gains so far. Weight has dropped down to 87.2 kg (192 lb). this is a loss of 12.5 lbs total since the beginning of March. I’m getting leaner by the day. Still, I think I got long ways to go. If I can just dial in my diet routine, it would be perfect. There are days that I go real good, and others that things kinda fall a bit.

I had a great workout yesterday, even though I felt tired as heck. It was chest, back, tri day. Weather was really bad.. hot and full of dust. I couldn’t breathe well in the gym because of the dust. Even though, I managed to get a good workout out of it. I felt the hardest pumps ever. I even looked so buffed afterwards (lol).

Workout consisted of supersets of the chest and back. And, ended with one exercise for tris on the cables. All took about 50 minutes and I was out of the gym.

Got quads and bis this afternoon. Let’s see how that goes too.

I had a great back workout yesterday. Did some changes from the last two weeks. I did the following:

1) deadlifts: 5 sets (increasing one plate on each side till I got 190 kg).

2) front lat pull down: did 7 sets. then 1 drop set. (got the full stack).

3) lat DB pullover: 5 sets.

4) finished w/ 5 sets of cable side bends.

I had a great workout at the gym today. I decided to do only quads for legs today like I said I would. so, I did 5 sets of squats starting with 1 plate on each side (20 kg) and adding up 1 plate on each side for each set, going for 220 kg (that’s 484 lbs) on the last set. Felt like I was out of air.

Then, I moved to superset leg extensions with seated leg press. I did only 4 sets for 12-15 reps, and really felt like I was going to vomit.

That was it for quads. They were burning like crazy. Then I dragged my ass to do some nasty sets of standing BB bicep curls. Took the advice of my good friend Steve (snagency). Here is what it was:

load up the BB with my max weight. Do 1 rep, put it down, take off a little bit of weight (the min I could take off was 5 kg total), count to 10 then do another rep. Repeat this till I have done about 7 drops of weight. Take about 2-3 minutes of rest. Then, do this again 2 more times. That’s a total of 3 sets for a 7 drop sets in each one. I’ll tell ya.. my biceps were crying for help. I was squeezing the weight with the minimum amount of assistance till I couldn’t even do more than 4 reps on the lightest weight.

I’m going to do arms again (bis and tris this time) along with my hams at the end of the week (usually a Thursday for me). I’ll stick to this for a few weeks to see what outcomes of it.

Thanks a lot Steve

Today was the beginning of the 3rd week of leaning out. I did the same as last week by supersetting chest and shoulders. Boy, was I tired today (I was on low carb). I did add an additional 3 sets of behind the back BB shrugs. My shoulders were really getting it.

I weighed in at 89 Kilos. That’s a 1 kilo drop in 3 days (even though I cheated just a little on my diet). So, I’m proud of myself for that. I do feel that I’m leaning out. I’m going to start taking some fat burner stuff to help out even further. We’ll see how that goes.

I’m also going to alter the splits a little. Tomorrow is legs day. I will only day quads and do biceps afterwards. at the end of the week, I’ll do hams along with biceps and triceps. This way, I would be working my arms twice a week to hopefully get them to blow a little.

Second day of the second week is "Legs Day". Decided to superset. I did 5 sets of 12-15 with moderate weight. Here is what I did:

1) warmup exercise: 4 sets of squats with light weights to get the blood flowing.
2) superset 1: Leg extensions (50-40 kg) + Seated leg press machine (160-140 kg).
3) superset 2: Seated leg curls (40 kg on all) + SLDL on a raised platform (40 kg on all).

4) ended with 6 sets of standing calf raises for 12-20 reps with 40 kg.

5) I also threw in 4 sets of behind the back BB wrist curls with 20-35 kg. I have weak grips and haven’t worked my forearms in a while.

That was it. the whole routine took less than 60 minutes.

This is the second week and day 5. Decided to superset chest and shoulders. It was a good workout.. intense and to the point. My shoulders were burning like crazy. I love the soreness.

Here’s what I did: all were 4 sets x 12-15 reps.
1) superset 1: incline DB bench press. wt. used: 40-37.5 kg DBs. with seated rear DB raises: 15 kg DBs.

2) superset 2: flat BB bench press: wt. used: 80-95 kg. with BB upright rows (wide grip): wt. used: 20 kgx1 set, 30 kgx3 sets.

3) superset 3: flat DB flyes: 15 kg DBs. with DB front raises (both): 10 kg DBs x 1 set, 7.5 kg DBs x 3 sets.

4) Then, I did 5 sets of kneeling rope ab crunches for a total of 130 reps to end the day.

The whole workout took less than 60 minutes, which is really an achievement for me. It usually takes longer than that, because I have 2 partners and sometimes they keep me behind.

Had a great day last Thursday. It was the last day of the first week of my cut phase. It was time to hit the arms (my favorite). I watched a good video of Charles Glass training Adam Kirby with arms. So, I followed his advice.

1) close grip preacher curl (Biceps): 1 warmup set of 20 reps. Then, 4 working sets of 12-15 reps (start wt: 30 kg, adding 5 kg each set).

2) Decline EZ bar french press (Triceps): 4 sets of 12-15 reps.

3) Incline DB curls (Biceps): 4×12.

4) Rope Tri extensions: 4xfaliure.

5) Finally, did 4 sets of leg raises on the parallel for lower abs.

I weighed at 90 kg at the end of the first week. This is a 2.5 kg drop of weight. I do feel that I’m getting leaner and looks like the progress is coming along well.

Day 3 of the first week of my cut phase. Decided on back exercises. It was short and sweet. Probably, the fastest in a while.

This is what I did:

1) long-bar rows (old-school T-Bar): 1 warmup set of 20 reps. Then, 5 heavy sets of 6 reps (used 120-130 Kg).

2) front cable pull-down: 1×25, 1×20, 1×15, 2×10 (wt: 45-75 kg).

3) machine seated rows: 3×12 (at max wt. of 90 kg).

4) DB one-arm row: 4 sets x failure (50-60 kg DB).

Also, did 5 sets of decline oblique crunches and 1 set of waist twists for abs.

It was legs day today.. just came back from the gym. Had a great workout.

1) Squats: warumup set (60kgx20), working sets: 80×15, 120×10, 160×6 + a drop to 60×20 reps. this last one had me out of breath.

2) Leg Extensions: 3 setsx15 reps (50 kg). Did those slow with a pause at the top.

3) Leg Curls: 40kg x 3 sets x 12-15. Then 45kg x 3 sets x 12.

4) Standing Calf Raises: 6 sets (2 toes in, 2 toes out, 2 toes straight) x 15-20 reps @ 60 kg.

Then it was abs. I did 5 sets of abs on a flat bench sitting on the edge.