Jettisoned Ponderings

Legs tonight lasted less than half the intended time. First, a lack of attention to detail had me thinking that squats were 4×8 since that’s what we were going to do for lunges and curls, too. I spaced that in fact the squats and good mornings were to be 4×6. So… I started at my same weights as last week but didn’t notice the error of my ways until the last set. So, the first 3 sets all had 2 bonus reps. Got 5 of 6 reps on the last set which has the biggest weight increase of 30lbs. Can’t complain much about 6 extra reps from the last workout, especially being tired. 2 sets into good mornings GJ and I were both fried. Today was longer and we helped do more interior painting at my parents’ house, plus run errands so meal timing was a bit off. So… in the interests of avoiding injury and crappy lifts we called it a night (this was at about 10:15pm) and now I’m just up waiting for the next couple days’ meals to finish cooking. Then its R&R time for me…

The workout program has certainly been getting my body on the right track to growing. The numbers have been steadily going up in appropriate intervals. We’re in the 6th week now of at least 9 weeks (up to 13 if need). Started up the Tren/HMG/MMA-3 stack on Saturday and its surprisingly kicking in quicker than I expected. Tren alone back in Jan didn’t start working noticeably for about 5 days. This time it was a matter of 3 days before I noticed some significant jumps (4 extra plates on the last set of leg press). Yesterday I said to GJ, "Is it odd that I can feel my muscles growing…?" which of course made her laugh and nod. My body has been feeling different though in that pumps last longer and visually my body has a "fuller" appearance (as per my previous blog). Typically I’d weigh in about 191-192 in the mornings, but today I was at 196. So perhaps things are starting off the way I hoped. From here it’ll be a matter of keeping up on the diet and calories to push past the 200lb mark again and get the weight up as much as I can during these 6 weeks.

Waiting for my shift to end today as I was about to leave one of my co-workers came in, paused… "You look bigger"

…I just grinned ^_^

With the EST test falling through from no one being sent their products, I’ve opted to run a cycle of some other products I’ve had on had. Rather than loading on one product, this time I’m lowering the dosage and stacking a trio. Started them last night, so I’m not expecting anything for a few days, but who knows. Thankfully the government with its infinite wisdom *cough* has been taking its sweet time signing the last product ban into law, so I was able to get a hold of what I needed. The trio is Tren (I know this one works! Used it back in Jan), MMA-3 (Bold), and HMG (similar to Epistane); 1 cap of each both AM and PM. Hopefully it’ll work out! Bumped up the calories a bit to around 4500 for this run. Time will tell the rest, but with the gains this workout is yielding for numbers I’m pretty excited and optimistic.

Its been a year since I’ve been able to donate blood due to piercings, but I was finally able to yesterday. Being my 8th time I’ve done it, I got my 1 Gallon donor pin! Seems like a lot, but really it made me realize that I need to donate more often since its taken me a number of years to get in only 8 times when really I could be doing it a few times a year. I may also look into plasma and platelet donation in the future simply because since I’ve put the extra weight on I can donate more since its based on gender, age, bodyweight, etc. versus just taking a single pint at a time.

This is my favorite week of this program doing the slower tempo sets. I always feel like this is the type of work that yields the best gains for me. Also, because its lighter and slower it really forces good form. One thing I’m absolutely thrilled about is how my form has improved dramatically on squat the last month! That, and I’m able to go comfortably much deeper and with heavier weight than usual. I do contribute part of that to the recent use of the Manta Ray, but last night I was really able to get the squats right to where the hams and glutes had to do most of the work at the deepest part of the motion. It says a lot for me when I’m doing the exercises this slowly, with good form, and about 50lbs more than before. So… a shorter workout last night but intense enough none the less:

4×8 - Tempo Contrast Back Squat
135, 155, 185, 205

4×7 - Isometric-Dynamic Contrast Prone Leg Curl
60, 70, 80, 90

1 Superset - Back Squat / Wall Squat Isometric Hold
185×20, Wall Hold Time: About 20 second before GJ sat on me… :p

1 Set of Romanian Deadlifts
225×20

Its been nearly a month and no one in the product testing group from EST has gotten their products. I’m not holding my breath since the guy who set it up had to resort to giving us all the CEO’s email so we could write him and see if that would do any good. I did so, but I doubt I’ll hear back.

I can’t really complain since I’m not out any money, and really its just been more time off products so that whatever I run next will have a better kick.  I’ve got a couple other stacks I’ve been wanting to run and had on hand to use. I’m tempted to opt out of the testing since it hasn’t even begun and start my other lil stack up. I know I want to do something during this workout program and we’re coming into week 5 now, which will complete the first pendulum swing. Probably will go 2 more swings I’m guessing since no plateau is in sight.

In the spirit of vblogs, just thought I’d make this one up while I was making my meals yesterday.

Part 2:

Prompted by another blog I just read, I hunted down what the heck Michael Phelps possibly eats to his this much food. Of course, lots of fats are in it. Here’s the article:

August 13, 2008
Swimming sensation Michael Phelps has an Olympic recipe for success - and it involves eating a staggering 12,000 calories a day.

"Eat, sleep and swim. That’s all I can do," Phelps, who won two more gold medals today, told NBC when asked what he needs to win medals. "Get some calories into my system and try to recover the best I can."

By comparison, the average man of the same age needs to ingest about 2,000 calories a day.

Phelps, 23, will swim 17 times over nine days of competition at the Beijing Games - meaning that he will need all the calories he can shovel in his mouth in order to keep his energy levels high.

Phelps’ diet - which involves ingesting 4,000 calories every time he sits down for a meal - resembles that of a reckless overeater rather than an Olympian.

Phelps lends a new spin to the phrase "Breakfast of Champions" by starting off his day by eating three fried-egg sandwiches loaded with cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, fried onions and mayonnaise.

He follows that up with two cups of coffee, a five-egg omelet, a bowl of grits, three slices of French toast topped with powdered sugar and three chocolate-chip pancakes.

At lunch, Phelps gobbles up a pound of enriched pasta and two large ham and cheese sandwiches slathered with mayo on white bread - capping off the meal by chugging about 1,000 calories worth of energy drinks.

For dinner, Phelps really loads up on the carbs - what he needs to give him plenty of energy for his five-hours-a-day, six-days-a-week regimen - with a pound of pasta and an entire pizza.

He washes all that down with another 1,000 calories worth of energy drinks.

Phelps remains on course to at least equal Mark Spitz’s record of seven gold medals won at the 1972 Munich Games.

At these Summer Games, a typical day for Phelps starts with a 5 a.m. wake-up call. Most of his races have taken place between 8 p.m. and 10 p.m. ET when in China - 12 hours ahead of East Coast time."

Source: Here’s The Original Article

Yesterday’s workout was good. Every lift was either a bit easier at the same weight, or had a nice increase from the week before. I know I burned myself out a bit more by the increases in the first half, but still stuck it out through the rest. Next week I’ll have to save a little more and focus on the latter sets for an increase. Also, on the incline press I’m always trying to find ways to focus more on the pec and not the delt. Instead of keeping the weights parallel I added about ten or fifteen degrees of pronation in the wrist so the elbows still staid in the appropriate position. Immediately the delts disengaged and the pecs took all the abuse. Of course I made GJ do the same thing right after which she made some amusing expressions in response to, heh. Anyhow, here are my numbers from yesterday and how they changed from 2 weeks ago when we did this program last time.

Tuesday:
Bench Press: 4×8, 5-0-1, Rest: 90 seconds
155, 165, 170, 170 (+20, +20, +15, +5)
Barbell Rows: 4×8, 5-0-1, Rest: 90 seconds
145, 155, 165, 175 (+10 all sets)
Military Press: 4×8, 5-0-1, Rest: 90 seconds
95, 100, 105, 110×7
Incline Dumbell Press: 4×10, 3-0-1, Rest: 90 seconds
35, 40, 45, 50 (Added more wrist pronation last 2 sets)
Seated Cable Rows: 4×10, 3-0-1, Rest: 90 seconds
100, 110, 120, 130 (No Change, but easier)
Lateral Raises: 4×10, 3-0-1, Rest: 90 seconds
15, 15, 15, 15 (No Change, but easier)