armymp530’s BodyBlog

Well, today was day number one back to the gym following my hernia repair.  I know it set me back alot, so I know I need to bust my butt.  I was cleared to go back 2 weeks ago, but I dont wanna have another set back, so I figure I needed another couple weeks to mentally tell myself I was fine.  Damn the strength is gone, and the diet sucked when I was off.  I am ready to kick it in to high gear though.

     I’ve read so many articles in the past in many magazines which focus on different training splits.  I have put alot of thought to it and created a program in which I really like, which pulls from a little bit of this article and a little bit of that article.  I am a true believer in working each muscle group alone.  The reason I do this is because it allows you to focus on each muscle group for maximum results each and every time you train.  Specifically it allows you to focus on the largest muscles in your entire body alone, once again for maximum results.  An example is the back muscles.  It is such a large area of emphasis for adding mass that a person must train it alone to gain maximum results.  There are so many angles a person can train from by doing different varities of grips and pulling to different areas during contraction.  Therefore it is important to focus on the variety.  Training multiple bodyparts together will not allow you to focus on every angle you need to fully develop your muscles.  Therefore it was important when I designed this program to know which muscles are the largest and which ones are the smallest.  As for what I consider large muscle groups are the chest, back and legs.  There fore I do not train any large muscles on back to back days with the exception of once every five weeks.  No matter what order you train in if you train three days in a row using nothing but large muscle groups, then think of what your body goes through during that three day period.  Alot of agony, alot of torn down muscle fibers, which requires alot of rest and alot of healthy nutrition and last but not the least important, lots of water intake.  So lets think of this logically.  As I said before I train a large muscle one day, a small muscle the next followed by a large muscle and so forth.  It there fore allows me to use sleep, proper nutrition and fliud intake to allow e to recover properly.  So what type of training split do I use and why?  Well, I train six days a week, as far as resistance training goes.  Some people might believe that six days a week is overtraining, but not if you consider how long it takes each muscle to fully recover.  Then think about how many days you need to train each muscle group separately.  If you figure each muscle group needing 48 to 72 hours to fully recover, and 96 hours for your larger muscles, then if you are on a six day split it is simple to break it down without over-training.  My workout goes as follows…

Week #1

Monday: Chest

Tuesday: Shoulders

Wednesday: Back

Thursday: Arms(Triceps/Biceps)

Friday: Legs

Saturday: Repeat first work of the week

Sunday: Rest

Week 2

Monday: Shoulders

Tuesday: Back

Wednesday: Arms

Thursday: Legs

Friday: Chest

Saturday: Repeat first workout of the week

Sunday: Rest

     As you see from this example the program allows you to use the same workout from your monday and repeat it again on that saturday upcoming.  This gives the body always at least 120 hours(five days) to recover from each muscle group, and no more than 144 hours(six days).  This type of split will allow you to train each muscle group six times during a five week period.  As far as sets and reps go, once again there is this article and that article.  In the past I used a small number of sets per exercise, for example three sets of say three different exercises for each muscle group.  After research and studying resistance training, I have shifted my thought process to start counting total number of sets for each muscle group, as well as counting exercises per muscle group.  The higher the the number of sets, the more volume I will get, and the higher number of exercises per bodypart, the more angles I am able to attack each bodypart from.  What I personally like to do is break a mass cycle down using both for a 5 week cycle.  For example during the first five weeks, I will do 4 exercises for large muscle groups, with five sets per exercise, giving me a total of 20 sets per mucsle group, therefore giving me a high level of volume.  For the smaller muscle groups, I do 3 exercises, while still performing five sets each which will give me a total of 15 total sets per muscle group.  The next five week phase of the mass program I switch to more angle training.  On large muscle group days I will increase the number of exercises and cut the number of sets per muscle group.  Example would be to perform 5 exercises, while performing 4 sets each giving me 20 sets on large muscles again.  On the small muscle group day I will perform 4 exercises and complete 3 to 4 sets of each giving me a total of 12 to 16 total sets.  I do reccomend taking a week off before starting the second five week phase of training.  Take measurements before and after and let me know your results.  Best of luck in your mass gains.

Scott 

I am the guy who loves lifting, and lifting but fails to realize that cardio and abs are so very improtant.  Well, it is not because I fail to realize it, but just choose not to do them.  I need to see the difference sometimes to help me gain the motivation of what a solid ab workout and good cardio program can do.  I am 5′9", and around 215.  My bodyfat percentage on the handheld BF tester reads 20%, which is way too high.  I want to get it down to around 10% and do all I can to keep as much lean mass as possible on.  First of all I do understand that because I am doing cardio, I will not be able to keep on all the mass I want, but do understand the muscle that is there will show alot more.  I guess what I need the most is for people who have had great success through cardio and ab routines guide me with my motivation.  How many calories do I need to consume with added cardio in order to keep on as much lean mass as possible?  I am not looking to just lean out in the midsection, but like I say keep as much lean mass as possible and start leaning out at the same time.  Anyones advice would be great.

I am needing more leg mass…so I started doing pre-exhaust techniques tonight during my leg workout.  I started out with quads and did 4 sets of 10 reps on leg extension, and then 2 sets of 10 on leg press before doing my squats.  I then did 4 sets of 10 reps on squats…185×10, 225×10 275×10 and 295×10.  Then I moved to hams where I did 4 sets of 10 on leg curls and moved to straight legged deadlifts and did 4 sets of 10 at 125×10, 135×10, 145×10 and 155×10.  My legs were fried.  I then finished off with 4 sets of 10 reps on standing calf raises. 

I am competition minded now.  I have set my date for my first competition as well, which God willing will be May of 2010 in Omaha.  I will compete in the Heartland classic.  So, I am seeking advice from those who have competed before.  I am wondering how long a cutting cycle should be?  What type of training should I seek for posing?  And tanning?  I know nothing about tanning…I am a red head and WE DONT TAN.  So, any advice I can get would be helpful.  I know I have a long long long ways to go for my goal, but I am ready to take my training to the next level.

     First off I want to wish everyone a very happy Thanksgiving day and wish you all a speedy recovery for all the overeating you are about to do.  You know which ones you are!!!  I wish you a fast track back so that you cann still meet all of your goals you have set for yourselves.

     Now that I got that out of the way, time to tell you about the focus I need to deal with this next month.  It is currently thankgiving morning here in the Iraqi desert.  Just another day for me here.  I will call my lovely wife in a bit, before I go to bed.  When I wake up, I will be ready to go eat a small turkey dinner.  Maybe take in some sweet potatoes, and some green beans and some fresh fruit of some sort.  They have all the other fixings as well, but I have not decided which ones I will enduldge in.  Tomorrow will happen as God wants it to.  So is the holiday season really gonna be such a big factor to me?  I give myself one cheat day per week anyways, so tomorrow is it.  The beauty of being gone is the fat that I dont have to worry about the leftovers in the refrigrator.  I eat the meal one time, and eat clean the rest of the day.  So I see this as a huge advantage for me. The same will happen for christmas this year.  I will of course still be here, but not for much longer after that, Thank God!!!  So focus will remain here.  I am more worried about when I get back home, and all the food I will endulge in which I havent had an opportunity to eat for soooo long.  So as you can see, my battle is "NOT" the holiday season, it is in fact the following month when I return home.  I do plan on attending my first bodybuilding competition in may when I go watch the Heartland Classis in Omaha, NE.  Then I would like to compete the following year, so I seriously need to focuse from the time the big bird drops me back off in Nebraska.  By the way, Go Huskers…Beat the Buffaloes on friday!!!!!!!!!!! 

Today was "BACK DAY", and I was telling myself all day long that I was going to not deadlift today.  The new program I started doesnt have deadlifts until like the third week.  So I was focused to stick to the program as listed, and have a very good workout.  So, gym time came and guess what?  I did deadlifts.  I love deadlifting so much that when I have a good week doing so, it helps me focus for all my other workouts.  I like to keep my deadlifting towards the beginning of the workout week, so that I can see the positives.  If I dont do well, I then know I need to raise the bar for the rest of the week.  Anyways, did I mention that my workout was excellent today with the deadlifting?  My working plan was 3 sets of 4-6 reps.  Of course after a safe warmup.  My sets I completed today were as follows…405 for 6 reps, 415 for 6 reps and my all time best of 425 for 6 reps.  I have a little less than two months left here in the Iraq Desert.  My goal is to have my last set be close to 440 on my last set by the time I get out of here.  So I think that is the main reason I did decide to deadlift, and besides the fact that it is one of the biggest power moves around for building mass.  So, after I get home from here I will take about two weeks off of deadlifting and then hit it hard again in 2009, hoping to reach 500 pounds for reps byt the end of next year.

I have been on several programs throughout my lifting days, but everytime I change programs I have to ask myself, is it the right thing to do?  Was my old program working for me the way I wanted it to?  Was I showing good results and changed programs too quickly?  Was I plateaued? Well, in this case, I was doing fine, showing great results as of lately, was consistent with my strength gains, had alot of motivation going, but still chose to change.  Why?  Well, because I do know from several years of doing this, your body finds a way to adjust and realize, if you are busting your ass in your workouts, you will find success.  Your body adapts to the changes and stress you put on it, and you keep kicking ass.  I think one of the big reasons why people change so abruptly is that in the sport of bodybuilding a person always is trying to find new ways to gain the edge.  A new routine will stimulate growth, so I decided to do so, regardless of the fact I was still showing positive success prior to the change.  I am sure that I will change programs several more times as well. 

If you are working a program and dont know if it is best to change or stay, just remember not to second guess yourself, so you dont lead yourself to bad workouts.  Just remember how you got there.  Remember all the hard work you put into it.  Remember where you were when you started.  Now think of all that and try to remember how many times you have changed your workout plan.  I would be willing to bet that everyone here has changed their workout plans multiple times, so…

If you need, change your routine, and keep kicking ass!!!!

Hey everyone, I just wanted to say that I am 8 weeks away from returning to my home after a year in Iraq.  That means I only have 8 weeks to add make my impression of how hard I worked when I was gone during my free time.  During this year I have lost about 5% bodyfat, and maintained the same bodyweight of about 215 to 220 pounds.  I wasnt consistent on my cardio, or abdominal programs for most of the year, but in the last couple months have increased a little.  I do abdominal work for sure two times a week now, but soon will increase that to three times once I am six weeks out.  As for cardio I was doing the same, lower intensity about two times per week.  I am restructuring my program to do cardio four or five times per week for that same six week period.  My goals for adding mass and lifting will change as well.  I plan on doing a program called Max-OT.  It is a program which I experimented with before my deployment, and will use for quite some time now.  It is geared towards overloading muscle fibers instead of going for muscle fatigue.  Lower reps of 4 to 6 repetitions, and not quite as much volume.  It focuses on always changing up your routine, somedays working out back alone, to working out back with biceps, one time you might workout chest with triceps, and the next you might workout triceps with Biceps, or just chest alone.  So you get the picture.  Keep the muscles guessing, but what is consistent is the heavy lifting I will be doing.  Added mass is just around the corner, so it is time to impress the people back home and finish this year off as strong as ever.

OK, so I have been thinking about it.  This next couple months is just the beginning of my bodybuilding career.  I have been lifting seriously for about 2 and 1/2 years now, with goals of competing someday in the future.  But have I seriously been doing what I need to do?  Hell no I havent.  I look at all these blogs, peoples profiles, and see how far behind I really am.  I blame some on the age, me being 37 and that younger people in their prime should be stronger and grow faster.  Hmm…is that really true?  Hell no it isnt.  What I have noticed is that through out this last year, out of all my friends here in Iraq, there are none who are as strong as I…There are none of them who use different intensity techniques which I have recently aquired thanks to Arnolds encyclopedia, there are none who typically follow nutrition as much as I.  I like to think of myself as a machine when I enter the weight room.  Imagine yourself as a football player, going into the stadium…When you exit the locker room, its all about the gameface.  Tapping the "Horse Shoe" as they do at my beloved University of Nebraska.  Putting on my gym gameface.  I pre-plan training.  I think the biggest thing I need to work on is procrastination.  I tell myself several times that cardio and abs are not that important, cuz I just want to build the solid mass.  But then I get jealous when it comes to those who win transformation competitions.  I saw how did they do it?  I say how can I do it too?  Well the answer is simple.  Keep doing what I am doing, and stop the procrastination and hit the abs…hit the cardio…and tighten up my diet.  I can conquer, and I will compete in a competition before I turn 40…Not when I turn 40!!!