smallguyjoe’s BodyBlog

I finally did it!!! No spotter… good form, and the 10th rep wasn’t even that hard!!!! YES!!!!

Now I gotta put up 315 for reps, hahahahahaha In time

Anyone who read my post from the other day where I was complaining and all… I figured I’d let ya know that I found that I’m doin better than I had thought

I looked through my journal and saw that when I had hit 169 lbs in October I was just filled with water… I was actually more like 167 lbs! I was 167 like the day before I woke up 169, and when I started my cut I dropped back down in like 1-2 days - water retention! Anyway, after my 2 week cut I started trying to gain mass slower, and it seemed to be goin good since the scale was moving up still, but very slowly.

I had gotten discouraged b/c after cutting for 2 weeks my arms had gone back down to 15.25. I weighted a few weeks to measure them again in hopes that they’d be back up… they weren’t OR, SO I THOUGHT!!!!

I measured my arms (along with the rest of me) last night, and they are back up to 15.5!!!! I must’ve measured em wrong when I did it the other day! I even took a picture w/ the tape around my arm…

This picture’s also in my workout journal - it’s bigger there, so ya can see it better  

I also found that I’ve made some improvements over the past month or so… 

weight 168.2 lbs (morning of 11/30/2007)

measurements:

waist = 33
hips = 38.5 (+.5)
thigh = 23.5
chest = 44.25 (-.25)
shoulders = 50.5 (+.75)
arms = 15.5
calves = 14.5
forearms = 12.5 (+.25)
neck = 15.5 (-.5)

bf% = 8.3% (really like 10-11%)
abs 13 (+1)
chest 4
quad 12 (-1)

So, not so bad after all!!!!

Also, I’m super happy b/c I started creatine this past Tues (5 grams per day) and this morning (12/01/2007) my weight is up to 170.4 lbs!!!! 2.2 lbs in just a day! hahahahaha I know it’s water retention, but it feels really cool to look down in the morning and see 170 lbs for the 1st time ever!!!!

Progress after all!!!

I was doin a great a couple of months ago… I had started my bulk after my cut had ended, and my size and strength gains were goin great! I had been training high intensity and high volume, and I was eatin A LOT of good foods! My weight went from 152 to 169 from Aug 1st to Oct 20th. I had gained a bit too much fat so I decided to cut for 2 weeks. A little bit before my cut I noticed that I was starting to show some signs of over training… decreased appetite and decreasing strength in the gym… and I was really tired. I decided to stop cutting, stop my morning cardio, and go to a 5 day split instead of 6 (where I was training everything 2x per week).

I started eating more carbs and less protein… I noticed better strength and energy and I feel better in and out of the gym.

However, I after training less and with less volume I feel that my growth is slow… slower than when I trained with higher volume and at a high intensity (dropsets and supersets for EVERYTHING!).

Also, I’ve  decided to live a little and eat more leniently (mostly just on the weekends). It shows on my physique, b/c I’ve gotten carried away a bit.

The good news is I think I’ve learned some things through it all…

My body responds well to high volume and high intensity… it just needs a break after about 2 months of it. Also, I don’t need to eat quite as much as I was in the beginning of this bulking phase.

I’m trying a new routine right now, the Tri-Phase workout, although I have modified it very slightly and the 3rd phase will be of my own design - most likely the routine that proved to be very good for me a couple months ago. The tri phase workout program is a 9 week program. After these next 9 weeks I think I’ll be over do for a cut… I may not even make it through without giving in to cutting. I’m very disappointed with myself, but I plan on stepping it up now and doing better.   

WOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!

I had gotten 6 reps w/ 315 for the past 2 weeks which was good b/c I had been stuck at 315 x 5 for a good while, but today when I pulled it up a 7th time I was sooooooooo happy!!! I’m gettin stronger!!!! I’m gettin bigger… WOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOO  

I’m goin for 225 x 9 tomorrow… we’ll see!!! If I just get 8 again I’ll be happy, but I’m really hopin to hit 9. The past couple weeks I’ve done things a bit different, so tomorrow I’m gonna do my origional game plan for gettin the most reps w/ 225… that is:

135 x 5

185 x 5

225 x ? - hopefully 9… last time I did this I got 8 reps

The past 2 Sundays I’ve worked w/ dumbbells on flat bench… last Sunday I did:

db flat press 60’s x 8, 80’s x 8, 100’s x 5, 100’s x 4, 85’s x 7

We shall see what that all has done for my flat bench w/ 225

My incline barbell was stronger this week… 185 x 8 with no spotter… if I had someone behind me I’m sure I could’ve gotten at least 9 w/ no help and maybe 10 w/ minimal help. This is a big improvement for me. Like I said… I’M GETTIN STRONGER!!!!

Wish me luck w/ the 225 x 9 tomorrow

Oh yeah, I also joined this gym - ACAC… it’s super nice… pretty expensive, but I’m gettin a sweet student discount I hope to work there someday, so I’m gettin my foot somewhat in the door.

Ok… I was mainly just estatic about deadliftin 315 x 7

Bye bye  

Well for the time being I’m just gonna resume bulking, but at a slower pace. I’m not exactly sure anymore how much my body needs to gain muscle. I was eating a ton and was gaining strength and size, but I think my body fat was rising too fast. I could be wrong, but whatever. I’m sick of training my butt off and not being ripped and vascular, so I’m not gonna allow myself to get too high in body fat just to make the scale go up.

I had planned on doin 6 week bulks followed by 2 week cuts, but I think before I go that route I’m gonna see how my body responds to just lower calories - not so low that I’m losing weight/strength but I’m gonna experiment to find an amount that my body gains strength well with. I figure if my strength improves every 1-2 weeks then that means i’m eating enough and that my weight should increase at least 1 lb of muscle a month. I could be wrong, but I wanna find out. 

If it turns out that the only way I’ll put on muscle is if I gain all the fat with it then so be it. I just wanna see if I can gain muscle without too much fat. Really I wanna look like I workout all the time. We’ll see how it goes, eh?

The main thing is once my waist gets to 32.5-33 I’m definitely cutting back down to atleast 31. I can’t stand the way I felt when my waist was a 33 last June I aint tryin to look or feel like that again! 

Alright, my ultimate goal is to be shredded for next July and August… I wanna really do it this time… I’m talkin 3% bf w/ the 3 site caliper test at my gym… I hit 5% this Aug. and I looked all right, but I want even more definition and striations… I didn’t have enough this year. I wanna be really tight and hard lookin next July and August - probably actually be 4% bf in actuality. This is my goal.

My plan is this… "bulk" for 6 weeks and then "cut" for 2 weeks. I’ll repeat this until sometime in May. Then I’ll cut May, June, and thru July as needed. I’m hoping to stay lean enough to where I won’t actually need to "cut" during July, but only maintain my bf% throughout July and during our Aug. vacation I’ll start eating to gain muscle again.

I’m hoping this approach to gaining muscle will work well and I’ll be able to stay somewhat lean.

Here’s my estimations of where I’ll be by July/Aug…

Aug 1 - Sept 15 = *155 lbs 6% bf to 160 lbs 8% bf (I was 152.4 but gained like 2 lbs of water just in like 2 days of eating a normal amount of carbs)

Sept 15 - Oct 1 = 160 lbs 8% to 158 lbs 7%

Oct 1 - Nov 15 = 158 lbs 7% to 163 lbs 9%

Nov 15 - Dec 1 = 163 lbs 9% to 161 lbs 8%

Dec 1 - Jan 15 =   161 lbs 8% to 166 lbs 10%

Jan 15 - Feb 1 = 166 lbs 10% to 164 lbs 9%

Feb 1 - March 15 = 164 lbs 9% to 169 lbs 11%

March 15 - April 1 = 169 lbs 11% to 167 lbs 10%

April 1 - May 1 = 167 lbs 10% to 170 lbs 11% 

May 1 - June 1 =  170 lbs 11% to 166 lbs 8.5%

June 1 - July 1 = 166 lbs 8.5% to 162 lbs 5.5%

July 1 - Aug 1 = 162 lbs 5.5% to 158 lbs 3.5% BLAMMO!!!!

There ya have it! August 1st 2008 I plan on bein 158 lbs 3.5% body fat! 

225 lbs for 10 reps is awesome for my little legs I remember a few months ago when getin 10 reps w/ 185 lbs was a big accomplishment. I make sure to go deep, so it’s taken me some time to get the #’s up with my squats… not to mention the fact that I didn’t start training legs until last July 2006… LOL!

Anyway, the past few weeks I’ve been gettin 6-7 reps with 225 lbs, and then I watched Pumping Iron the other day and it got me all amped to get bigger, so I decided I was gonna squat until I failed. I really need to start pushin my legs like I push my back and chest.

I was all pissed goin into the gym b/c I had to wait in a stupid long line to get a parking permit for school  and I got a stinkin parking ticket while in the darn place!!! Anyway, I remembered the part where that dude in Pumping Iron squatted til he dropped, and I got all amped and said to my self I’m gettin 10 reps! And, I freakin did it! When I got to 8, which is the best that I’ve ever done, I said "I still got more!" I went down and commin up was tough… I breathed out and unfortunately let out a little scream… I said to myself, "There’s no way i’m not gettin this 10th one now… even if I have to sit in this rack I’m goin for it!"… down and then back up… I let out another bit of a scream, and BLAMMO!!!! I had done 10 reps with 225 lbs!

It felt darn good

P.S. I then did 2 sets w/ 245 lbs and then my last set was with 185 lbs… I also was supersetting squats w/ leg presses My legs are gonna be hurtin tomorrow! 

Today I trained with these two animals who I’ve trained with a few times the past couple months. Thes guys lift soooooooooooo freakin heavy and they look like monsters. They’re both very impressive strength and appearance wise. Anyway, everytime I train with them they push me to my full potential - making me go as heavy as I can - they spot me and make me go when I think I’m done or make me try a weight that I don’t think I can do. Anyway, look at this workout I did with them yelling and screaming at me today…

Flat bench - warm up 135 lbs/185 lbs 5/5 reps

225 lbs 7 reps

255 lbs 6 reps

275 lbs 4 reps - rest 10 seconds - 2 more reps

315 lbs 4 reps

355 lbs 2 reps - I went for a 3rd rep and my arms gave out.

365 lbs 2 reps

Incline bench

135 lbs 10 reps

185 lbs 8 reps

225 lbs 4 reps

225 lbs 4 reps - 4th was pretty much forced

Flat flyes

50 lbs - 7, 6, 4 reps

That’s it, but it took a long time b/c all 3 of us were working in with eachother.

So, I’m very happy that even though they were spotting me I was still doing a lot of the work on those extremely heavy sets. They were very impressed and shocked that I handled the 315 as well as I did… that’s why they made me try 355 and then 365. I would never attempt to lift 315 lbs by myself or even with another person spotting me. These guys just pump me up and they are good spotters. It was an awesome workout though… benching weight that heavy feels amazing and the pumps were really good since it was so fricken heavy

I think really my max bench is only 275 lbs, but it was cool to work with the heavy weight and get my body and mind used to the extremely heavy weight.

Bascially I was just all excited b/c those #’s are freakin insane for my size and weight… I mean 365 lbs is 210 lbs more than my body weight!!!!  

Good times

Some day I’ll put up 315 lbs with out a spotter… not anytime soon, but someday   

I decided to set some new goals, and so I did

I’m around 152-154 lbs now and will most likely start clean bulking soon… definitely by Sept. I figure if I can put on at least 1 lb of muscle a month then Sept. - Aug. I’ll be 11 lbs of muscle heavier putting me at 163-165 lbs. I put 165 lbs as my goal… I think I can do it. Maybe I’ll even be able to get a couple months of 2 lbs of muscle gain Also, I know that I can get over 165 lbs easily by and most likely well before Aug. but my goal is to be same body fat as I am now (5-7% bf ?) and 165 lbs by Aug. 1, 2008. 

My other goal is to get my arms up from 14.75 in to at least 15.75 in. This too I think is something that I can make happen. My arms grew about an inch or more over the past year or so; I’m hopin for the same this year. I think at 15.75 my arms will look better. I’m thinking that at my height 17 in would be the biggest I want my arms to be. 17 in might even be too big, but I got a long while til that day comes

Anyway, those are my top priorities from Sept. to this time next Aug., as far as body building goes.

I just got my body fat tested w/ calipers… it’s the 3 site method, and I know I’m actually higher, but I’m 5.1% body fat according to that method!!!!

I’m so happy that I acheived my goal! My goal was to be 5-6% bf w/ calipers and that’s exactly what I am and I did it in the time frame that I set out! It feels good to have done it.

June 1st I was exactly 161.8 lbs bf? - probably 10% w/ calipers… now exactly 8.5 weeks later Aug. 1st I’m 152.4 lbs 5.1% bf.

I’m just feelin good about it all! Like I said, I know I’m not actually 5% bf, but I’m so happy w/ my progress. The # is only another way of tracking my progress.

My abs went down the most - from 12 to 8. My chest only went down from a 4 to a 3. My thigh finally went from a 10 to an 8!!! My legs took forever to budge… their definition is still the weakest, but they have got some separation now - that makes me pretty happy too.

So, I guess I’ll be starting my journey to get BIG again soon