egoatdoor’s BodyBlog

I finished week four of my Strength Training cycle Thursday. I am at or close to the peak weights I lifted at the end of the last cycle in June. This week, I should be matching or exceeding the previous highs and then I can add more incremental weights the last two weeks.

Up to 207 pounds. I hope to reach 210 at the end of the next three weeks. 

I’ve been looking at my logs from this time last year and noting the changes and improvements I’ve made this year compared to late October of 2008.

My scale weight is 3 pounds higher than last year and I am much leaner at the higher bodyweight. My upper body is much more defined and my abs are still visible first thing out of bed in the morning. Last year at this time at 199 pounds, my stomach was jutting out, not flat, and I had visible love handles on my sides.

What has made a difference is first, diet. I am eating more, but cleaner. This time last year, I was eating about 3500 calories a day on off days with about 270 grams of protein and 5300 on training days with 375 grams of protein. Now I am doing about 4000 and over 300 grams of protein on off days and 5700 ( and sometimes hitting 6000) and 425 plus of protein on training days. I am having very few cheat meals and days with the bulk of my "bad" food being one or two Three Musketeer bars a day. Last year, I was eating candy bars and Mountain Dew soda, pizza, eating sugary desserts when I went to Golden Corral and piling barbeque sauce on my red meats. Nutrient timing has also made a difference. I wrote a few months ago about what I had read in Scrawny to Brawny on my vacation. I am not mixing carbs and fats in my meals except in the post workout window, eating carbs at more strategic times of the day and having more protein fat meals. The fats are coming mainly from olive oil mixed in my salads and protein shakes. My olive oil intake most days is 4 tablespoons, which adds up to 480 calories and 56 grams of healthy fats. The addiitonal fat in my diet has boosted my testoterone levels and thus my strength in the gym. Lastly, I’ve put fish back into my diet the last couple of months in place of a chicken meal. Fish definitely helps me lean out when I am "dieting" and in this off season has helped keep me leaner than in the past.

Second, I am doing more cardio. Three days a week every week, 20 to 30 minutes a session. Not anything high intensity. Just enough to boost my appetite and keep my body fat levels acceptable. Last year, I was only doing two days a week at this time. The cardio has also benefited me in the gym. I’ve noticed my endurance during my sets is much better and I am recovering between sets much quicker. Some of my workouts are now 20 minutes less than they were six months ago.

Third is tanning. I had read that tanning helps pull water out from under the skin and I really think there is some truth to that. I’ve been getting about 90 minutes of sun each weekend at my complex pool since June. Enough to be effective and using sunscreen, but not so much to be dangerous. I am also drinking water constantly during this time, which actually results in the body excreting more water, not retaining it. Its almost like using a diuretic. My muscle definition the next Monday and Tuesday is quite stark and the effects of this for several months is seen in my increased overall leanness.

The best news is that I still have six weeks left to keep building as my vacation next year will be three weeks later than in 2009. Last year at this time, I was coming close to the end. I think I can easily add five more pounds in these six weeks and if I can get eight to reach 210, that would be super.

I’ve become an admirer of Dorian Yates the last couple of years. Not because he won six Mr Olympia titles, but for his philosophies and methods of training, some of which are common sense but ignored by most trainers, and others which are counter to some standard bodybuilding wisdoms, but work better as illustrated by his results and others who follow the same protocols.

He practiced and advocates a systematic, planned out all around program of training, nutrition and rest/recovery with specific goals and timeframes. Goals and planning instead of the aimless wandering that is common among most people. Systematic means keeping detailed journals/logbooks of training and nutritional intake. For him, it allowed him to see trends and gain an understanding of what exercises, foods and so forth worked for him and made adjustments and fine tuning an educated process rather than a shot in the dark.

From the start, he never followed the conventional wisdom of volume training. His logic was that as one got more advanced, the greater stress on the muscles and the central nervous system required more rest and recovery and less training volume, not more. He practiced high intensity training with only one or two working sets per bodypart, says he never trained more than two days in a row, does not think anyone should be training more than four days a week and most should be doing less than that.

He also did not change his training before a contest. He trained as heavy as possible, so that he forced the body to retain the muscle he built in the offseason rather than allowing it to wither away by switching to things like higher reps and "isolation" exercises.

He cycled his training in the off season, training all out for 5 or 6 weeks, then backing off for a couple of weeks to allow the mind and body to recover. It was sort of like today’s DC principle of blasting and cruising.

He maintained total concentration during a workout. While training, he avoided eye contact with anyone but his training partner and any conversation was only with his training partner and was limited to things such as what weight to use next. He owned the gym he trained in, but the members knew his rule and respected it while he trained. He was perfectly willing to talk and josh with people after the workout was done. 

Dorian also advocated proper form. Controlling the weight, especially on the negative phase of the rep. His philosophy was if the weight could not be held for one second at the contracted end of the rep, then the weight was being lifted by momentum, not the targeted muscle. This is seen in his video, as well as a couple of others where he is training professional bodybuilders who started the workouts "heaving and dropping" on the positives and negatives and were forced to practice some humility by reducing the weights and doing the exercise right.

I finished my five week DC cycle last night and I almost feel sorry for stopping. This has been probably the most mass gaining cycle I’ve ever done. I started August 29th at 196 pounds and ended last night at 204 with only a 1% increase in my Omron bodyfat percentage reading. Two trainers in my gym mentioned the last couple of workouts that they had seen significant changes in my physique. I could definitely see more size and muscle density particularly in my chest, shoulders and traps.

My strength is definitely higher, which is probably a function of the strength training cycle I did plus carrying more bodyweight than before.

Here are examples of my last lifts versus my final lifts on the last DC cycle last February:

Free Motion Incline Press  190×14 Rest Pause("RP") vs 175×15

Smith Machine Incline Press 185×15 RP vs. 165×18

Seated Smith Military Press 95×25 RP vs. 75×27

Standing Smith Military Press 110×20 RP vs. 100×18

Smith Incline Close Grip Bench Press 147×16 RP vs. 125×19

Smith Close Grip Bench Pres 150×20 RP vs 130×18

Hammer Strength Low Rows 140×21 RP vs. 120×19

EZ Bar Reverse Curls 75×13 Straight Set ("SS") vs 65×16

Sumo Leg Press 310×18 SS vs 290×16

Squats 295×9 SS vs 245×12. The 295s were done going much deeper also.

I am taking a two week cruise of lower intensity workouts before I begin a second Strength Training cycle of seven weeks that wil take me to the end of my "offseason" in early December. I am looking for gains in my lifts again this cycle compared to where I finished up the last program in June. 

I busted through the 203 pound barrier yesterday. I woke up at 198 1/4, started my workout last night at 200 1/2 and went to bed at 203 1/2 after a very testoterone boosting DC leg workout. I peaked last year at 203 in early November but with a very different body composition. This year, my stomach is still flat and my upper body is much more defined with wider chest and shoulders. In 2008, I had developed a bit of a pot belly.

My body has reacted very positively to this DC cycle. I started at 196 on August 29th and am continuing to make gains on my exercises with still a very high energy level even in the fifth week. The last two workouts, I have crushed the logbook.

My target has been 207 by the first week of December. I think that is definitely attainable and 210 is not outside the realm of possibility. I have a little more than nine weeks left with another 5×5 strength training cycle starting in two weeks. I made some surprisingly strong gains on my first 5×5 cycle this spring.

My diet has been much cleaner this year with less junk and very few cheat meals. When I am eating out at Golden Corral, its all healthy protein and complex carbs with no desserts. Improvements in meal composition such as not mixing carbs and fats as I was doing before and adding olive oil to my diet for healthy testoterone boosting fat are another factor. Finally, I added a weight gainer shake to my diet a few weeks ago and this has boosted my gains to another level.

My last DC workout is Thursday night, then I take a two week cruise before beginning Strength Training II.

I finally broke through the 200 pound barrier Thursday. I was 201 post workout.

I had been stuck at 198/199 for ten days. I bumped my calories the last three days. Tuesday was 6300 on a training day. Wednesday was close to 4900 calories. That day, I added an Iso Mass shake to two meals and then had dinner at Golden Corral dinner. Beef, fish, chicken, steak fries, corn bread, green beans and a cup of chicken noodle soup. Thursday I had Iso Mass shakes along with my mid morning and lunch time meals and then trained at night.

At 201, I am six pounds ahead of last year at the same time. 

The workout was super, one of my best. I crushed the logbook, adding weight AND reps on almost every exercise. I am through three weeks of DC and have two more weeks left.

Everyone is working rear delts.

Its 4:45 AM. I’ve finished my cardio and am setting up stations for my ab workout(its 4 ab movements back to back using decline bench, cables, leg raise station and a flat bench). There are two rear delt machines nearby and BOTH are being used. WTF???

The bench press stations, squat racks and power racks are empty.

These skinny no muscle been working out for years with nothing to show for it middle aged men are working THEIR REAR DELTS!

But they aren’t the only offenders. The rear delts are the most overworked wasted effort muscles in the gym. Anorexic, skinny and average sized people who need to build a foundation of muscle in their major muscle groups BEFORE working on small stuff ( its like trying to put a roof on a house before the foundation is constructed).  Overweight people who regardless of how many isolation movements and endless number of situps, crunches and the like will NEVER have any definition until they substantially reduce their bodyfat percentages first. Yet I’ve seen personal trainers ( who should know better) giving rear delt exercises to severely overweight beginners.

These people, skinny, average and overweight alike, how many are getting ready to step on stage where fully developed muscle groups such as rear delts really matter? Can count them on one hand and have several fingers left over. SO WHY ARE THEY DOING DIRECT EXERCISES FOR REAR DELTS???? There is an argument ( which I do not necessarily agree with) that all heads of the delts need to be worked so asymetries do not develop, but IF one feels the need to work this small muscle, compound movements like deadlifts, chins and military presses will give much more bang for the buck.

Maybe these people all have a fantasy of some buff girl (or guy) walking up to them on the beach and saying " What nice rear delts you have". 

I am a big fan of professional tennis, especially the women’s game, even though I could never play a lick.

During what are called the "Grand Slam" events ( Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon and the U S Open), I am in front of the TV as much as I can watching the matches.

The U S Open is going on right now in New York and it has been one of the oddest tournaments in years. Whereas on the men’s side, everything has gone true to form with all of the top 16 seeds reaching the 3rd round, the women’s side has been totally topsy turvy.

Yesterday, Venus Williams lost to Kim Clijsters, a Belgian in her mid 20s who was number one in the world a few years ago,"retired", had a baby eighteen months ago and two months ago, made a comeback. She’s just in few weeks has already beaten several top players. Its like she never went away. The match yesterday was really strange because Kim won the first set 6-0( they call that a "bagel") and then Venus returned the favor with a 6-0 second set! Kim won in the third 6-4. On Sunday, there were actually four "bagels" in the four women’s matches. In the last, a top player named Vera Zvonareva totally imploded in the last set, losing 6-0 after having six match points, none of which she won, in the second set.

The tournament started with 128 players, split into four "quarters". In one of the quarters, every seeded player has lost and four of the most unlikely players remain, one of which is guaranteed to make the semi finals which by itself if a huge pay day. These players are Yanina Wickmayer, Petra Kvitova, Kateryna Bondarenko and Gisele Dulko.

And in another quarter is a heretofore unknown 17 year old American teenager, Melanie Oudin who in her last two matches, beat the number 4 player in the world and then a past U S Open champion and tour poster child, Maria Sharapova, both in a packed stadium before national TV audiences. In a real statistical oddity, Oudin is fighting a mini "cold war". She has beaten all Russians up to this point, three, plays another Russian today, Nadia Petrova and if she wins, could play another Russian, who is also a past champion, Svetlana Kuznetsova.

Its almost time for today’s matches to begin…… 

I finished week one of my DC cycle Friday night. I was conservative in my weight selection the first workout, but on the last two, I pushed the envelope and made personal bests on several exercises.

It was an interesting dicotomy this week in that my recovery times between sets were much less than months ago and my energy levels high throughout the workouts, but afterwards on Monday and Friday(workouts 2 and 3), I was exhausted and literally wanted to take a nap in the locker room.

I gained three and a half pounds during the week to 199 yesterday.

To add more calories to my diet starting now, I’ve added  a "weight gainer" to my nutritional program. I am not a fan of these ordinarily because of the number of calories and fat content, but what I am doing is only taking a third’s serving( one scoop). I also found a product with low fat content, Ultimate Nutrition’s Iso Mass Xtreme Gainer. 

Starting yesterday, I am taking one scoop in the morning with meal #2 on training days. This is about 220 calories, 130 more than the EAS Myoplex Deluxe I was having before. So its an instant easy 130 calorie incremental increase for the day. I’ll see how it goes for awhile. If down the road, I need even more calories, I can add a second serving in the afternoon or start taking it on off days.

I’ve been going to Golden Corral once or twice a week recently to boost my calories on off days. But unlike the past, I am passing on desserts. Two or three plates of nutritious food like chicken, beef, fish, potatoes and vegetables, spaced over an hour or an hour and a half.
 

I start a five week DC Training cycle on Saturday. My exercises will be the following:

Chest: Free Motion Incline Press, Smith Machine Incline Press, Smith Machine Bench Press

Shoulders: Seated Smith Military Press, Standing Smith Machine Military Press, Free Motion Seated Military Press 

Triceps: Smith Close Grip Incline Press, Smith Machine Close Grip Bench Press, Seated Dip Machine

Back Width: Underhand Pulldowns with Shoulder Wide Grip, Pulldowns with Shoulder Wide Grip, Hammer Strength Low Row Machine

Back Thickness: Deadlifts, Seated Cable Rows, T Bar Rows  

Biceps: Plate Loaded Seated Curl Machine, Seated EZ Bar Preacher Curls, Close Grip EZ Bar Curls

Forearms: Pinwheel Curls, "Mindi O Brien" Hammer Curls, EZ Bar Reverse Curls

Calves: Toe Press Machine and Seated Calf Raises ( both done DC style). The other workout will be normal straight sets of Toe Presses on the Leg Press.

Hamstrings: Lying Leg Curls, Sumo Leg Press, Seated Leg Curls

Quads: Leg Presses with legs close together, Squats, Hack Squats

I will be doing two widowmakers. Dumbbell Shrugs after shoulders and dumbbell stiff deadlifts after hamstrings.