Diary of a Wimpy Kid - cont'd

[matty_mcfly]

He lives. and he will be swole.

 

We missed you too KB.

[Kidney bean]

All hail the pump.

 

After dieting for most of this year so far I am refocussing back to my long term goal to become huge, which I will be doing for 5 months, until the beginning of October if not beyond.

 

The 3 months stint of dieting taught me a lot about myself and about my goals, and how I want to approach this. Oh yeah I *hopefully* lost some fat along the way.

 

I have realised how so many past challenges, programmes, goals, ideas etc for lifting always seem to fizzle out halfway through. Therefore, I am making quantifiable and accountable targets and I am going to use every piece of ingenuity, effort and will to troubleshoot any problems I have.

 

Body

Starting 6th April 2015

152lbs, 30" waist, 5ft 10 I would hazard a guess of ~12-15%bf, which makes lean mass 130-134lbs

 

 

Looking at this:

http://www.muscleandstrength.com/expert-guides/bodybuilding-genetics

 

My lean mass max potential is 160-170lbs. or total weight 182-194lbs at 12%bf.

 

For the purposes of bodybuilding and hypertrophy, I'm classing myself as somewhere between a beginner and novice. I've been lifting way beyond that time period but boy do I have a lot mass to build and think I could gain 1.5lbs of muscle a month, with overall weight gain of 2-2.5lbs a month.

 

That breaks down to 0.5-0.65 weight gain per week.

 

 

 

End date: 5th October

end weight 162-164.5lbs, lean mass ~140lbs. 

 

Target for 4th May is 154-154.5lbs

 

Useful article:

 

http://rippedbody.jp/how-to-bulk/

 

Now its a case of actually nailing down my BMR and finding the right calores for a surplus. I'm doing smart shit now, like tracking calorie intake, bodyweight and waist measurements in the same place so that I can cross refernce them. I also have an excel spreadsheet that does the necessary calculations for calorie adjustments based on how far off my goal I was etc.

[Kidney bean]

Training

I've put reverse pyramid training on the backburner for a while and increase my work capacity. I want to incorporate more volume into my training, and would rather do more reps with lest rest in between sets. I'm focussing on size, not strength although I understand they are interrelated.

 

http://www.strengthe...-work-capacity/

 

I did the math on my total volume for each lift each workout- taking the best possible performance in each case. I then divided it by 8 or 10 then by 3 for the basis of my new routine. Most lifts were surprisingly manageable, but for others I had to drop a few kgs which is no big deal. 

 

• Start at 3x8-10
  
• Each session, aim for 1-3 reps more than last time
  
• work up until I can do 5x10 - either by adding one more set or more reps
  
• Then increase the weight and drop the reps/ sets and start again
  

On paper its relatively simple, but I know it will be tougher to increase by reps than by sets (eg I find 4x10 tougher than 5x8-9, although the latter may have more volume).

 

Starting April:

 

Big Compounds

Deadlift 3x8 @ 85kg 

Squat 3x10 @ 60kg 

Bench press 3x10 @ 45kg

OHP 3x8 @ 35kg

Cable Rows 3x10 @55kg

Chins 4x6 @ bodyweight (this is a bit different, I haven't settled on a progression pattern yet)

Romanian Deadlift 3x10 @60kg 

 

If I increase by 3 reps each week, it should take me 2.5 months to get to 5 sets and start again with heavier loads. I have no doubt each lift will increase at different levels- and will probably have a tough time with the chins. I am not going to bother projecting what they will be like in October.

 

I've also embraced some bro exercises- leg presses, biceps and tricep sets, calf raises. I have string for arms. For shame.

[Kidney bean]

Week 1 ending Sunday 12th April:

Starting weight 152lbs, presumed BMR of 2700, and calories at 2750

By weeks end: 151.3 lbs

 

Down 1.5lbs... haha ok.

 

Now I presume I didn't lose fat at that intake. I figure its my body re-adjusting from a holiday break and getting used to a higher calorie and carb intake. I also like to think its the afterglow effect of my dieting where my weight stalled at 151lbs for a few weeks despite being in a deficit.

 

Week 2 ending Sunday 19th April:

 

Starting weight 151.3lbs, presumed BMR 3000, and calories at 2900

By weeks end: 150lbs

 

Weight has gone down again, despite the cautious bump. I'm still very sceptical that someone my height/ weight and with a desk job should be losing at that intake (and I was going over most days). My excel spreadsheet calculates that I should be eating 3600cals a day in order to gain. I'll bump it up to 3000cal and see what happens.

 

My body looks alright, though. It took a while but the weird pouch around my stomach finally evened out and my skin firmed up.

 

Training logs to come. That's going well.

[Kidney bean]

Last two training sessions:

23rd April - 'Lower A'

Meat:

Deadlift @ 85kg 4x9 (up 3 reps)

Leg press @ 80kg added 5x12 (up 2 sets)

--

Vegetables:

Lying Leg curl @ 13/13/14 (up 1 rep)

Seated leg press @ 60kg 3x8

Standing calf raises 3 x 14-16 (I lose count and get bored)

---

Dessert:

You're damn right I did triceps and biceps in between sets of accessories.

I'm new to leg presses, and find them pretty good for targeting my quads more than squats. The problem is, my gym has like 6+ press machines, each one with different levels of resistance/ weight etc, so it's tough to keep the exercise consistent and plan for progression.

-----------

24th April - 'Lower A'

Meat:

Chin ups (bodyweight) 9/9/9/8/8 (up 3 reps)

OHP @ 35kg 8/8/7/7/7 (up 5 reps with an extra set)

Cable rows @ 55kg 9/9/9/8/9 (up 1 rep)

---

Vegetables:

Dumbbell incline press @ 15kg 3x10

---

Dessert:

Triceps extensions and bicep curls 3 super sets

I think I was smoked from the workout the day before, really not into it. That said, pretty good gains. I'm doing chins and rows at that volume/ intensity twice a week, so that's a great rate of improvement although they are definitely going to be the first things to slow down.

[matty_mcfly]

Yes! Curls and extensions!

[Disil]

Had to think of you when the purgatory bit came :