CPT Jeff’s BodyBlog

Wow, made it to week #8.  I had to push the regular days back a couple because my gym partner was on a fishing trip until yesterday and I didn’t want to cheat him out of the last chest and back exercise (plus I wanted a spotter).  So, today was bench and bent over rows.  I was doing good on the bench up until the 9th set.  I was only able to get 8 reps, but I was able to get all ten on the last set, so 98 reps in total at 225lbs.  Seems like a good number to end this routine on.

After the bench, we moved over to barbell rows.  Here I was able to complete ten reps for all ten sets, but by about set six I started feeling light headed after each set.  It was a good workout.  Now I’m very tired.

This is the last week that we’ll be doing the GVT routine.  I don’t know if I actually gained 10lbs of muscle over the last eight weeks, but I know I increased my stamina and the weight  that I am able to do over a large number of repetitions.  Next week we’ll be checking to see what our 1RP max is for various exercises.  The goal here is to reset and to determine what numbers we need to plug into the 5×5 spreadsheet that I got from another Jeff (Jacked in MI).

In case anyone is wondering, I did do the routine last week (week 7), but didn’t get a chance to really post anything.  I’ve been back to work now for a month (in two days), and the workload continues to grow at an exponential rate.  Fortunately, whatever I don’t complete today will certainly be there for me tomorrow.

Aside from that, I’m still taking the NaNO Vapor.  I did a scoop and a half this morning, and I’m starting to think that the flush feeling that I get is really what this stuff is supposed to do.  Only I’m feeling in it the car on the way to the gym, instead of in the gym.  I think I may need to drink it on the way to the gym as I start feeling its effects within 15 minutes of drinking it.  I may try this on Friday when I do legs and abs.

Here I sit in my hotel room on a business trip, knowing that I should already be in bed since tomorrow is a gym day, which means dragging my ass out of bed at 0500.  Tomorrow is legs and abs day, and I already know that the hotel gym, while it is better than most I’ve seen, just doesn’t compare to my home gym.  However, I’ve got to make due with what I’ve got.  I was lucky in that I was able to do chest and back day in my home gym before having to leave for this trip.

I started out week six feeling incredibly unmotivated.  I really just wasn’t into it.  I had plenty of sleep the night before, I had my usual dose of NaNO Vapor, I had Slipknot cranked on the iPod, but I just wasn’t feeling….  and it was bench day — damn it…  I loaded up the bar with 225lbs and was going pretty strong up until the seventh set where I could only get eight reps.  That was followed by 9, 8, and finally 7 reps to finish out the bench.  Looks like I’ll be trying that weight again for week seven.  After bench, I move on to the bent over barbell row.  I increased the weight from last week to 195lbs.  Unlike the bench, I was able to get ten reps for all ten sets, but even here I really didn’t feel it (meaning the motivation, I felt every ounce of the weight…  I’m still sore).

So, I’ll have to figure out how to do something similar to squats and calf raises in the hotel gym in the morning…  That should prove interesting.  Fortunately, I think that they have everything I need to get a good workout in on Friday.  Just not to sure about tomorrow.  Oh well, this should reset me with my gym partner who was out on a business trip the week before last.

Time for bed…

Yesterday morning I kicked off week number five of this German Volume Training routine.  It’s still kicking my ass…  Yesterday was chest and back day, which means that I got to hit the bench again (one of my favorites).  I increased the weight on the bench from 205lbs last week to 215lbs this week.  That first set felt very heavy, but I was able to push through it and complete all ten sets.  That means that I’ll be trying for 225lbs next week.  As expected, I’m really feeling it today.

After finishing with the bench, I moved on to barbell rows.  Like with the bench, I was able to go up in weight this week.  And like last week, I was able to complete all ten sets, but this time at 185lbs.  By the end of the workout I was wasted, but in a good way.

Tomorrow it’s back to legs and abs (feels like I just did them), and I’m going up in weight again.  I’ll be increasing the weight to 205lbs.  All I can say on that front is I’m glad my gym partner is back this week.

As I worked my way into week four last week, I also started back to work last Wednesday (legs and abs day).  As I had mentioned in my last post, I felt great last Monday.  However, as good as I felt on Monday is about how bad I felt on Wednesday.  On top of that, my gym partner was out on a business trip for the net of the week, which doesn’t make it any better.  So, quick recap, Wednesday I did squats, got all ten sets at 195lbs.  Then did calves at 210lbs for three sets, then finished with one set of sit-ups with a 45lbs disk (at which point I felt like shit).

Friday I started with dumbbell shoulder press, and got all ten sets at 60lbs (better than the week before), then moved on to standing ez-bar curls, followed by overhead dumbbell tricep extensions.  I was able to complete everything here.

Just for kicks and because I had a little more time on my hands, I decided to add in two more arm exercises.  I read a post last week by "thenaturalone" on building arms and decided to give part of it a try.  I would have done more, but quite frankly I didn’t write it down and only remembered part of it by the time I hit the gym.  It really was a spur of the moment kind of thing.  So, after finishing the regular arm stuff, I set up a preacher bench with two 35lbs dumbbells and a 65lbs straight bar.  Following the suggestions from the post, I did eight full reps with the dumbbells followed by three half reps.  Then I dropped the dumbbells on the floor, and without any break, grabbed the straight bar and did eight more full reps followed by three half reps.

I don’t know how effective it will be if I continue on with it, but wow did I feel it.  My biceps were pumped…  I only wish that I could have remembered the rest so that I could have done triceps as well.  I guess I’ll have to include that for this Friday’s workout…  I can’t wait…

Well, today is the first day in this routine where I felt that I actually kicked this routine’s ass..  Yeah, it felt great.  Today was chest and back day.  I started with 205lbs on the bench and was able to complete all ten sets.  This means that I’ll be hitting 215lbs next week, but hey, growth is the goal.

After bench I moved on to bent over barbell rows.  This I kept at the 175lbs that I was shooting for last week.  I was only able to get four sets done last week before having to run back to the locker room.  This week I was able to blast through all ten sets.  I just felt incredibly strong today.

On the supplement front I took another scoop and a half of NaNO Vapor and noticed something else that’s kind of strange.  I was very hungry when I woke up this morning because I didn’ have any snacks before bed last night.  I had a really good dinner yesterday and wasn’t hungry for the rest of the night.  I’m guessing that since I was as hungry as I was, the NaNO Vapor had an easier time kicking in.  About half way to the gym I felt that tingling sensation in my face again.  However, after I got to the gym I looked in the mirror and noticed that I my face was flush and also notices some light blotches on my arms.  By the time I got onto the gym floor everything was back to normal.  I think that when I’m that hungry I’ll need to scale the amount of NaNO Vapor back some.  Has anyone else experienced this?

Hope everyone has a great week…

Feeling much better today as I got to sleep in a little (woke up at 7am), hey, it’s Saturday.  Got to the gym by 8am and kicked it into high gear to finish off week three of this GVT routine with shoulders and arms….  Yes, my arms are feeling every word I type.

Since I was able to complete all ten sets last week, I bumped up the weight I was using on the dumbbell shoulder press to 60lbs dumbbells.  My first thought after finishing that first set was "damn that was heavy"…  I was able to get all ten reps up through the eighth set.  Set nine I was only able to get eight, then I set ten I pushed a little harder and got nine reps.  That really hurt…  I pushed with everything I had.

After the shoulder press I moved on to standing cheater bar curls.  Like the shoulder press, I upped the weight this week to 90lbs and was able to get ten reps for all three sets.  However, as easy as the first set felt that third set was a killer.  I had a hell of a time getting the ninth and tenth rep in while maintaining good form.  Next week is going to be even worse (I mean better)….

The last exercise for today was the standing overhead dumbbell tricep extension.  I don’t know if I mentioned it before, but I love working on my triceps, even more than I love the flat bench.  While I was able to complete all three sets, 90lbs is heavy and on the last few reps, my body was shaking all over…  It was another good workout today.  Tomorrow will be a good rest day then Monday I start it all over again beginning week #4.  When I finish next week I’ll be half way through this routine and it’ll all be downhill from there…

On the supplement side of the house I took another scoop and a half of that NaNO Vapor this morning, before I left for the gym, and "ta da", no nauseous feeling… I guess it was just the cold that I was getting over.  Kind of interesting, this is the second morning that I’ve taken it and had a tingling feeling in my face that’s reminesient to the tingling feeling that I felt in my arms while I was taking beta alanine (IntraXcell) last November/December.  Not sure if it’s the same thing or not, but I’m feeling pretty good about the NaNO Vapor, oh, and it still tastes good.

As I mentioned in my last post I was feeling sick last Friday when I did shoulders and arms.  Well, as it turned out my cold got worse over the weekend.  I was still feeling it on Monday when I went back to the gym to do chest and back.  I started with 195lbs on the bench and managed to complete all ten sets this time.  This was the first time I had been able to since starting this program.  Score one for me.

After doing bench, I moved on to do barbell rows (like usual), and started off at 175lbs (since I got all ten sets the previous week).  After I hit the forth set I felt like I was going to hurl, but this time I actually needed to head back to the locker room.  I wasn’t sure if it was because I really was still sick, or if it was because of the NaNO Vapor I took, or not enough food the night/weekend before, or a combination.  After that I was pretty much done for that workout and basically wasted for the rest of the day.

Normally, my next workout day would be Wednesday, but my workout partner needed to push it off a day so today we did legs and abs.  By this point I am over my cold and I felt good doing squats.  I used 185lbs today as last week I was able to complete all ten sets.  Today I was also able to complete all ten sets.  I was really starting to feel the stress of it by the time I hit the eighth set, and the last two were killers.  After squats we moved on to calf raises at 200lbs.  Again, got all three sets at fifteen reps each.  Similar to Monday I was really starting to feel stressed all across my body.

The last exercise for the day was sit ups on a decline bench.  I started by holding a 45lbs disk in front of me while I knocked out 35 reps.  Holy crap…  At that point I needed to run to the locker room again…  Now, I’m not sick anymore, I know I had plenty of food and water yesterday, but I did have more NaNO Vapor…  Hmmm.  Fortunately this time I really didn’t hurl, just erped a couple of times and then I was fine.  So I went back to the bench and did two more sets of sit ups to finish things off.  Don’t want to cheat myself.  The first of the last two sets was 45 reps of alternating oblique crunches, and then 40 reps of slow sit ups.  It was a good workout, but I really didn’t start feeling normal again for another two hours.  And next week I get to look forward to (you guessed it) more weight…

On another note, as I mentioned above, I started using NaNO Vapor this past Monday (although not under the best conditions).  I have to admit, it’s probably one of the best tasting (grape) supplements that I’ve tried yet.  On Monday I used one full scoop, and today I used a scoop and a half.  I think that I may need to drink it on the drive to the gym instead of before I leave.  I began feeling it’s effects while I was in the car (20 minute drive to the gym).  I’m not really sure how much it helped and I’m not sure how much it would help while doing 10×10 type exercises as opposed to low reps and high weights.  I’ll still try it when I do shoulders and arms on Saturday (moved back a day as well) and well see how it goes.

It’s not that today’s workout was any tougher, but it seems that I’ve managed to come down with a small cold.  So as I’m hobbling into the gym on sore legs with the muscles in my chest feeling better than yesterday, my lungs are heavy with congestion, I’ve got a bit of a sore throat, and a stuffy nose…  Basically, I feel like crap.  However, I’ve got a gym partner (thankfully) and I’m not going to leave him hanging so I just Soldier through it…

Today was shoulders and arms.  Since I was able to complete all of the seated dumbbell should press sets last week, I bumped up the weight this week to 55lbs.  I was again able to complete all ten sets.  It felt like I wasn’t going to be able to get the last two reps on the last two sets.  So, I pictured Rock standing in front of me saying "come on you wuss…  push it"…  Thanks Rock…

About half way through the shoulders exercise I started to think that it was a little annoying in that the dumbbells go up in 5lbs increments.  So, when I complete all ten sets and am ready to go up in weight the next week, I’m going up by 10% instead of the recommended 5%.  I realize that I could solve that by using a barbell, but then I lose the benefits of the dumbbells.  Looking for a little opinion on this one, does anyone think it would make sense to alternate between dumbbells and barbells to achieve the 2.5lbs (5%) increases?

After the should press we moved on to standing cheater bar curls for biceps.  Both of us completed all three sets last week at ten reps each set using 75lbs total.  So this week we increased the weight to 80lbs. This week was no different, I was able to complete all three sets.

By this point, I just wanted to leave, however, it was time to move on to triceps.  I really love working triceps.  As I was able to complete all sets last week, I increased the weight here to 85lbs dumbbells for overhead tricep extensions.  Again, I was able to complete all three sets, which means that next week I’ll use a 90lbs dumbbell.  Wow was I happy when this workout was over.  Hopefully today is the day that my cold starts to wind down so that I’m ready to rock on Monday.  I’ve got a feeling that I’m just not going to want to get out of bed tomorrow.  Like last week, my shoulders don’t feel all that bad right now, but if last week was any kind of gage, I’ll be hurting (but in a good way) for the rest of the weekend.

On a seperate note, I did take the PMD Platinum Pump Fuel back to GNC Wednesday afternoon and got my money back.  The sales person suggested that should stick with it for a few more days to start feeling it, but I didn’t take the bait.  I’ve got some NaNO Vapor showing up today that I’ll start using on Monday and we’ll see how that works.  I know that when I used Black Powder I felt the focus and the pump each time I took some.  I’m hoping that the NaNO Vapor will produce the same (or better) results.

Have a good weekend and keep the faith…

Halfway through week #2 of the GVT routine and today I’m really sucking wind…  I don’t know if it was because I worked in my garden yesterday or just didn’t sleep well last night.  Since I hit ten reps for all ten sets for squats last week, I bumped up the weight by 10lbs to take it to 175lbs.  It was tough, but I was able to complete all ten sets this week as well.  Which means that I’ll need to go up again next week.  Those last couple of reps on the last two sets were extremely tough this morning.  I actually felt wasted after doing squats and still had calves and abs to do…

After squats I moved on to calves.  I increased the weight here as well, taking it to 190lbs.  I was able to get 15 reps for all three sets, again very, very tough.  After calves, I moved on to abs on a decline bench.  I started with a 45lbs disk doing 40 sit ups, then did 45 alternating oblique crunches, then finished up with 40 slow sit ups.  Holy crap…  At the end I was shaking and felt a little like I was going to hurl…  Oh, and I’m still feeling my chest from Monday…

On the supplement side of the house, I took two scoops of the PMD Platinum Pump Fuel hoping that I would feel something at the gym this morning.  To my disappointment the only thing I felt was some bloating.  This supplement may be good for some things, but if you’re looking for that "Hulk" feeling this is not the pre-workout supplement that’ll get you there.  I’ve decided to order some NaNO Vapor today for use on Friday.   At this point I feel like taking a nap when I should be feeling energized for the rest of the day…

Ok, so Friday I thought that I should have used more weight for the shoulder press…  As it turns out, I was pretty stiff come Saturday morning and pretty much felt that way all weekend.  The interesting part was that I felt it in my lats as much as I did in my shoulders.  I guess that was a good weight to start with.

Today was chest and back.  I started with 195lbs on the bench (same as last week), but this time I made it past the eighth set before I started dropping reps, and then I was able to keep that last two sets at eight reps.  This is much better than last week, and I really had to push myself to keep going.  I kept the rest between sets down to about 60 to 80 seconds…  Wow that kicked my ass…

After chest I moved on to barbell rows.  I started at 165lbs, also the same as last week.  However, this week I was able to get ten reps for all ten sets.  Which means that next Monday I get to go up by 5%.  I did notice though that I was feeling this exercise in my forarms as much as I was in my back.  It was another good workout….

As I mentioned on Friday I’m trying a new supplement called PMD Platinum Pump Fuel.  I’ve got to say that I’m not very impressed with it so far.  I first tried it this morning, using one scoop before I ate anything.  I’ve got to agree with Ryan in that a body builder’s stomach is rarely ever empty.  I was still feeling somewhat full from yesterday.  The up side is that even with just water the grape flavor tasted really good.  When I hit the gym on Wednesday I’ll try upping the amount to two scooops like I was doing with the NO-Xplode.

Speaking of Wednesday, I’ll be back to doing legs and abs.  My gym partner says that his abs are still hurting from last week.  We’ll see how it goes this week…