Memoirs of a reluctant Bulker

So, the time has finally arrived for the Summer heat to head on back down into simmer status here in the Arizona desert. And with that, it’s time to stop walking around in speedo-cognito, playing the bongo drums and humming out the theme song to "Monday night Football" wherever I go….

What’s that? I have some deep issues you say? Well my friend, I have already admitted that. However, and unfortunately, Science has yet to develop the cure for what I have….so I will continue to self-treat….At any rate, I digress…..

Along with the end-o-Summer, comes the end of my four month long cutting phase that I started back in April. Before I unveil my current four month plan / goal for bulking, here are the final starting and finishing stats:

CUTTING PHASE

Started: April 20

Weight: 220 pounds

Bodyfat: 26%

Arms: 19 inches

Waist: 34 inches

Finished: August 31

Weight: 192 pounds

Bodyfat: 10%

Arms: 18 inches

Waist: 29 inches

And here are some interesting nuggets I learned along the way:

1. Cardio after two months of dieting only served to flatten me out. I dumped the cardio two months in and continued to lose bodyfat and waist size, but felt as though my muscles were keeping their fullness.

2. Added healthy fats kept me from experiencing too many carb-depleted rages, as well as kept my energy and mood levels up in the decent zone. (There weren’t as many bodies to find hiding places for this time around) (Look, I’m kidding, calm down) 

3. Living lean really does allow you to feel healthier overall. Was able to go up and down stairs without getting winded….

4. As per usual, during the initial weight-loss, I did experience size-depletion-depression-syndrome (SDDS). When the shirts started fitting looser, it was somewhat depressing..

5. When you are lean, people you work with really only want to talk about fitness and will actually change their diet if you just so happen to be eating lunch with them. Some of them will actually morph into fitness experts for some reason. I actually had an individual I work with (who is not in shape at all) try to give me some tips on working out properly. Gotta love it, yes?

Okay, so on with the plan for bulking…………..here in just a moment, but first a bit of information regarding my long term goal:

-On the 21st of April 2008, in Tucson, AZ, I plan to step on stage at 200 pounds and 8% bodyfat to compete in the Jr. Masters division of the INBA’s Southwestern USA. Not sure how I’ll stack up against the competition, but hey, I’ll never know until I try right? So barring any unforeseen events of nature, gastrointestinal disorders of the debilitating kind, and / or the Rapture occuring, I will be there on stage, in shape, ready to do some Speedo-clad, muscle-pumping, house-rocking, mind-blowing, head-turning muscle-exhibitioning.

Nuff said about the long term goal, on with the short term, gonna be a FAT-MAN for awhile, stuff.

Diet: Eat ANYTHING and EVERYTHING in site in the hopes of gaining 8 pounds of pure muscle, along with who knows how much fat….roughly I anticipate gaining a minimum of 30-35 pounds overall.

Workouts: As many of you know, during my cutting phase, I subscribe to Blood Volume training. This type of training is really intended to refine and pump muscles, and really works well to bring out shape and assist with fat loss. During my bulk phases, I subscribe to Heavy Duty training principles made famous by Mike Mentzer and Dorian Yates. I attribute much if not all of my size to this type of training, as I have performed Heavy duty sets on and off for the past fifteen years or so.

What the heck is Heavy Duty training you ask, my most inquisitive friend? Allow me to sum up the principles in Cliff Note fashion:

1. Each muscle group worked only once per week.

2. Each muscle group worked at the highest possible intensity for only one working set per exercise until targe muscle group is fully exhausted.

Hold the phone…..HOLD THE PHONE….Did I just say ONE working set per exercise once per week?

Yep, that’s what I said and I know that many of you have already stopped reading, but for those who are still here, beit the absence of any other form of life, or because you have an insatiable thirst for continued knowledge here is the basic tenet behind this type of training. I believe this will help with any skepticism you may be feeling:

-When faced with an exercise, human nature dictates that more effort and thus a higher intensity will be put forth if there pre-exists the knowledge that only ONE set is to be accomplished. Make sense? No, still don’t get it?…..Let me see if I can spell it out in simpler terms via personal question format:

-If you are faced with three sets of an exercise, will you be inclined to exert maximum intensity for all three sets? If not, will you exert maximum intensity for the first set knowing you are to complete two more afterwards? And if not, when do you exert maximum intensity? The second set….the third, if you have any energy left? There may be the possibility that you don’t exert maximum intensity at all if you are faced with more than one set, yes? I say….

YES, THAT POSSIBILITY DEFINITELY EXISTS!!!!!!!

So, with the knowledge of knowing that I only have one set to accomplish for each exercise, I am able to way blast out……

-MONSTER SINGLE SET’S OF FULL-BLOWN, MIND-NUMBING, MAXIMUM-MUSCLE-DAMAGING EXERCISES!!

Now I know that this sounds simple in many aspects, yes? Let me tell you folks, it’s not that easy. If you are truly (TRULY) expelling all of your energies into one set, that one set can and most likely will be BRUTAL…..But as you know, that’s how I like it!!

BONUS ROUND!!!!

Congratulations: you are the only person to have made it this far in my blog today!! And for your toil, I now will lay out for you a bonus example workout utilizing the Heavy Duty principle. For our purposes here, I choose chest:

1 - set of Flat bench press for 20 reps (warm-up)

(Warm-ups are intended to not only get blood into the muscle group, but to also grease the mind-muscle connections, for assurance of proper form during the working set)

1 - working set of Flat bench (highest possible weight for maximum intensity. I try for a minimum of 6-8 reps and then will do partials to instill failure as much as possible…decending sets if necessary, until I know the chest has failed totally). Remember to feel the lactic acid and for best results…..

FEEL THE BURN IN THE TARGET MUSCLE!

1 - warm-up set on incline bench

1 - working set of incline bench…again, until total failure

1 - warm-up set of wide grip bench

1 - working set of wide grip bench….again, until total failure 

1 - warm-up set of close grip bench

1 - working set of close grip bench…again, until total failure

1 - warm-up set of dumbell flye’s

1 - working set of dumbell flye’s…again, until total failure

1 - warm-up set of decline bench

1 - working set of decline bench..again, until total failure

That’s it folks…pretty simple, yes? One last reminder in regards to Heavy Duty training….Go into each working set with the mindset that it is your last set for that exercise and be determined to absolutely just obliterate the muscle….If you do this, you WILL see growth!

Alrighty then, last word regarding the bulk: Stay tuned to my site here on BS as I plan to post progress pics documenting my appearance as it goes from lean to BEEFY…or FAT (depending on your perspective) over the next four months….

Thanks to all, Goodnight World and remember: If a woodchuck can’t chuck wood, then how would a woodchuck make any decent muscle gains?

This entry was posted on Friday, September 7th, 2007 at 2:52 pm and is filed under Training. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.