Jettisoned Ponderings

After a year of homework and thought on it, I’ve decided to take on a run of Superdrol. For those who aren’t familiar with it, it is a very strong and harsh compound. There is a very good reason why cycles are limited to only a few weeks. Its becoming more and more common in a lot of new products I’ve seen and concerns me that a number of people I’ve talked to on it aren’t aware of just what they’re doing. Superdrol is not a prohormone, its a designer compound. I’m taking a number of protectant and support supplements, but still expect my post-cycle blood work to show elevated liver enzymes and my cholesterol to be shot. Does it work? Yes, but only when done right and these things are reversible. Anyhow, just a heads up on that.

3 weeks at 20mg/day is all I plan to do. Starting off with Arms today. Starting bodystats are 194.5lbs at 14.1%.

Yesterday at work my knee started hurting. 2 hours later it was swollen and hurt to fully extend and I couldn’t externally rotate without it hurting intensely. I slept with it elevated last night and that helped a bit, but it came right back once I tried to get up this morning. I’ve called out of work and spent the day with it elevated and icing it and slamming multiple doses of Xango (seriously, far more effective than ibuprofen) to bring down the inflammation. I have tomorrow off thankfully. The plan was to rest until Monday, but I didn’t see this coming. Hopefully by the end of tomorrow it’s all better or I’m going to have to postpone my leg workouts.

Bulking this run is going to be a pain. I know with my present job that I can’t eat on a fixed schedule for two of my meals. I have a rough idea when I may be able to eat, but it always depends on how busy we are. I looked over my macros today and figured that as long as I can get 3 shakes in and my post-workout meal in the mornings I will be getting adequate calories as long as I get to eat two other times. The breakfast and 3 shakes will have me up to 3921 cals (285 pro, 513 car, 93.5 fat) so a couple other meals should be adequate. On off days I can control the other two meals. What I get fed at work is up to the cook that day, but its always got a little meat and I can add a cup or two of rice to ramp the carbs. I will need to take in a gainer shake before bed, but at long as I get it down ideally a half hour before I call it a night I’m usually fine. Thankfully I have always handled carbs well before bed and it lets me have better lifts in the mornings. If it proves a problem, I’ll back down to just milk and protein without the extra carbs.

Finally got around to back this evening. Tried out some of the new machines and found just how much of a mechanical advantage some of my old equipment provided. A little adjustment was needed to get the appropriate intensity, but all went well. I left worked, but something felt inadequate. It may have also been due to trying a couple entirely new exercise variations. The real test will be to see how I feel in the coming days. More than likely though I’ll revert to a similar structure as my past workouts. There are some mass builders that I like to reserve for being on cycle and going heavy, and others like now when I’m on minimal supplements and going for lighter weights and slightly longer tension times. More on that to come…

Life is ever so slowly becoming manageable. Diet still remains the biggest issue. I need to overhaul the diet to accomodate my work. Basically I know that after about 3 pm I’ll only have one chance to eat, and briefly at that, until I get home in the evenings somewhere around 10:15-11:15pm depending on the day and closing time. It sucks, but it’ll have to do for now. I’m still hunting for other jobs for early AM shifts instead of closing hours. It’d be nice if one would pull through soon…

Beat the heck out of my legs last night after only having worked them really once in the last almost three weeks. Its been very stressful lately. I’ve decided to hit legs twice a week now, so the workouts aren’t quite as high of volume as I’d usually do. This morning my hams are hurting more than my quads. Gonna have to do something about that… Part of it is experimenting with the new machines and finding which are going to be the best to get the results I want. Leg press or Squat press? Precor front squats or Smith front squats? Life Fitness or Cybex extension/curl machine? So on and so fourth.

Nutrition will be the other component. I have to change my ideal diet plan around to accomodate my work chaos since I don’t get a fixed time for evening breaks as its all dependent on customer traffic. Gotta figure out something though or else none of the work will matter if I can’t get the calories to back it up.

Arms tonight, my favorite!

I haven’t been as active on here lately, or in the fitness world in general for that matter. A marriage going through a separation is never easy. Things aren’t hostile, and a lot has come to surface that has shed some light on things that were overlooked, assumed, or misunderstood in the past that led up to this. Courtney and I have learned a great deal about each other and ourselves. Not sure how things will end up, but that’s alright. I have my own faults that I am working to mend within myself. Only I can change me and I have to put more time and effort into my person and character right now than my body. The stress can’t keep taking its toll like it has been.
Just wanted to let you guys know. Thank you for the PMs I’ve gotten already, they’ve been a needed encouragement.

Last night’s workout was phenomenal! I haven’t been on any of my usual supps for two months so they kicked in full and hard last night! The NOS-FX alpha test was a disappointment, but that’s what they’re for. Some good things came from is, but I really missed not being able to get a full and sustained pump. So last night we hit arms, but back with my Full Blown Extreme, creatine, extra 40g complex carbs, 15g glutamine, and man did it make a difference! The new workout is also I believe my best arm workout I’ve put together to date. Courtney came with me on a whim and even she admitted that she liked it when all was said and done. More veins were poppin’ up than I’ve ever had and the swell was pretty ridiculous. I can’t wait for the rest of this week! Today I am still resting legs, however, since they were completely thrashed last week and have been excessively sore for nearly an entire week. Its worth it though to wake them up.

On a different note, UPS screwed up an order so my Superdrol will be delayed. No big deal. It’ll give me more time to get a little accustomed to this volume and fine tune the workouts a bit more. I have to change my back workout since I have a dozen new machines at my disposal that I didn’t have available before.

Given that on any cycle recovery is faster and its near impossible to over-train, this workout is going back to the volume of lifts that I first started lifting with. Last week reminded me how well I respond to this volume and I plan to utilize it for the 3 weeks I’m on cycle. The goal is a full hard pump and a lot of stimulation through tension time while still alternating body parts when possible to allow brief recovery for smaller muscle groups. These workouts are going to be rough and exhausting. Good thing I have a very high-carb diet planned as well. All sets: Straight Set Weight, Reps will start low and increase with later exercises (Rest-Pause also), 3 sets of each exercise with a 2-0-2-0 Tempo.

Arms:
Preacher Curls
Close Grip Bench
Drag Curls
Reverse Cable Pushdown
Incline Dumbbell Curls
EZ Bar French Presses
EZ Bar Reverse Curls
Barbell Wrist Curls

Legs:
Barbell Power Squats
Stiff Leg Deadlifts
Leg Press (Neutral Stance)
Prone Curls
Smith Front Squats w/Raised Heels
Seated Curls
Standing Calves

Delts, Traps:
Smith Shoulder Press
Pec Deck Rear Delts
Hammer Grip Lateral Raises
EZ Bar Front Raises
High Bench Dumbbell Shrugs

Back:
Romanian Deadlifts
High Bench 2 Dumbbell Rows
Parallel Close Grip Front Pulldowns
Lying Straight Arm Pullovers
Close Grip Seated Rows
Assisted Dead Hang Pull-Ups

Chest:
Hammer Strength Chest Press
Decline Dumbbell Press
Incline Smith Press
Decline Cable Fly
Incline Dumbbell Fly

Seeing as how I don’t live down the street from my old gym anymore and it will also be torn down in a year or so to build a new one, it came time to hunt for a new gym. I checked out the new 24 Hour Fitness Super Sport and was quite disappointed in it. There was empty gym floor space (Get more equipment! Its a Super Sport!) far too many cardio machines, just not a good feel. Accompanied also by the typical rude staff that doesn’t really wanna be there. (I really do not miss working for that company…) For $50 a month, I couldn’t see it being worth it.

Then even closer to us is Lifetime Fitness. Its 140,000 sqare feet of useful space! The weights/machine area is easily twice the size of any gym I’ve seen. 4 indoor lap pool lanes, 7 more outside when the second pool is open, two big hot tubs, indoor turf field, two basketball courts, indoor and outdoor rock wall, huge (and CLEAN) locker rooms with free locks provided, spin room with filtered fresh air recirculation, plenty of cardio in two locations so they’re out of the way during weights, and a good deal more. I mean… There is absolutely no comparrison. Best of all, since its a little more pricey it keeps the crowds curbed so I don’t have to wait forever for a machine. Did I mention there are 3 squat cages and 3 Smith machines (one is a VERTICAL one! Finally!) Since I’m under 26 there’s also a discounted dues bringing it to the same price as 24 Hour. Why the heck didn’t I check this place out sooner!? The other city we’ve considered moving to once Courtney graduates is also having a 220,000 sqare foot facility built there. Good thing we have access to all the clubs!

So I’m really excited to start training there. Last week killed me so I do need to rest another day but this week I’ll be getting familiar with all the machines I have at my disposal and adjust my new workout accordingly to best utilize them.

If you’re in a rut, give this a try. This past week I took one of Vince Gironda’s 8×8 workouts through the ropes and after doing it made a couple changes. I’ve gotta say that I haven’t been this sore from a workout in a long time! All reps are a 2-0-2-0 tempo, straight sets (same weight all sets) and rest should never be more than 30 seconds between sets. I aimed for 15 seconds, or about 10 deep breathes. Hustle, get it done, get out. If 1 week wasn’t enough, try one more. You’ll have a good sweat and even better pump when its all done if you did it right!

Day 1 - Chest, Biceps, Forearms
Decline Cable Crossovers
Bench/Smith Press To Neck
Incline Dumbbell Press (Palms In)
Wide Grip V Bar Dips
Drag Curls
Preacher Curls
Incline Dumbbell Curls
EZ Bar Reverse Curls

Day 2 - Shoulders, Triceps
Seated Dumbbell Lateral Raises
Wide Grip Upright Rows
Front To Back Barbell Shoulder Press
Dumbbell Bent Over Lateral Rear Delts
Kneeling Rope Extensions
Lying Tricep Extensions
2 Dumbbell Tricep Kickbacks

Day 3 - Back, Abs
Sternum Chin Ups
High Bench 2 Dumbbell Rowing
Low Cable Row w/18" High Pulley
Med Grip Lat Pulldowns
Weighted Crunches

Day 4 - Legs
Front Squats
Hack Machine Squats
Sissy Squats
Leg Extensions
Prone Leg Curl
Seated Leg Curl