Turnup's Training to go Super Saiyan

[Turnup]

I'm Turnup, former second in command to Supreme Commander Nappa. I was fortunately on a special mission in deep space when Frieza destroyed Vegeta. It seems our prince and the younger son of Bardock are the only remaining survivors... and it look's like I have a lot of catching up to do!

 

Aaand that's enough RP for me. Turnup's my Dragonball Xenoverse Saiyan brawler. Let's get down to business!

 

I discovered the rebellion about a week ago and immediately jumped into a challenge. This did not work out so well, because I do not have a solid nutrition plan and I'm at a transitioning point in my programming. As I described it to one of my gym buddies, I have entered the lowest tier of what you can consider strong by powerlifting standards. I am commercial gym strong:

 

415lb squat / 285 bench / 445 deadlift = 1145lb total

 

I'm 28 years old, 5'10, 223lbs as of last weigh-in.

 

I did a eat everything in sight dirty bulk for 2 months. Then I felt gross and low energy and tried a ridiculous low calorie carb cycle last week and felt like hell. My lifts suffered. I went from doing 2x5x405 deadlift one day, 5x3x405 on another, and then my 445lb PR a week ago, to barely being able to get 405 up once today. I also blame sleep. My buddy and I talked, and essentially, I need to deload, plan when I eat as well as what I eat, start supplementing, and get my sleep game tight.

 

We're going to talk specifics over lunch tomorrow. I hit up GNC for some supps. Going to get a jump start on getting my sleep game tight. Hopefully I'll have a new training and nutrition program to report tomorrow.

[Turnup]

11/15/2015 - Sunday

 

Allowed today to be an eat with reckless abandon day or a "refeed". Felt great after that crappy attempt at a carb cycle last week. Also got in an excellent overhead press bridge session with my buddy. Put up a PR 185lb.

 

I have my supplementation schedule figured out and entered into myfitnesspal to keep me on track. Going to cook some turkey burgers in a little bit so that I have lunch and dinner ready for tomorrow. For the moment, I am going with a "listen to my body" diet, while training my ass off and getting lots of sleep. Essentially, I eat quality food as I need it or when I anticipate that I will need it, such as before a workout or consuming caesin before bed.

[Koaladle]

I found it! I'm not 100% on the difference between the challenges and the DBL, but if it works for you I'll keep showing up. :-)

 

Whoo for personal records!! Well done!

 

[Turnup]

I found it! I'm not 100% on the difference between the challenges and the DBL, but if it works for you I'll keep showing up. :-)

 

Whoo for personal records!! Well done!

 

 

  Hey there. The battle log let's me log at my own pace in my own format. My goals are also more of a process than six weeks. I don't plan to track attribute points, so I like this better for now. Love the dancing Colbert btw haha.

 

11/16/2015 - Monday

 

Followed supplementation plan and stuck to whole foods. Had a lot of extra energy going into my training session, which consisted exclusively of squats:

 

Bar Warmup (45lbs high-rep)

10x135

8 x 225

5x315

3x365

2x385

1x405

1x425lbs PR!

5x335

5x335

5x335

5x335

5x335

 

Great sesh! Great feeling PR! Let out one hell of a yell when I got it up. Let the gains begin!

 

[Turnup]

11/22/2015 - Sunday

 

Weighed-in at 227lbs. Not what I was hoping for, but I'm beginning to accept the fact that I won't have full control over my nutrition until I'm moved out and fully independent at the end of next month. I also started taking creatine a week ago and that makes you retain water. My sleep was fairly crappy throughout the week. I need to watch my caffeine and electronic device time around bed time, but again, I'll sleep better in my new place. Now for the fun stuff...

 

Wednesday Training Sesh:

 

Deadlifts

 

15x135

12x225

12x225

8x315

6x365

6x365

6x365

6x365

6x365

 

These felt great, even after all the squats on Monday that I hadn't fully recovered from. I'm aiming to turn this into a 5x5 of 405 before I attempt to PR again. It was light enough to drill form with volume and heavy enough to work the muscles.

 

Front Squats:

10x135

10x135

10x135

10x135

 

I'm sorely lacking lifting shoes, so I step off of two stacked mats to make a heel. I just got myself flexible enough to hold the bar properly for these. Short arms, stubby fingers, and big biceps had me gripping straps at first. For now these are a bit awkward, but I'm making them work.

 

Superset: Kneeling Leg Curl / Ab Wheel

 

3x12x60 / 3x10

 

Feeling stronger on the ab wheel, even though it was giving me acid reflux at the end.

 

11/20/2015 - Friday

 

My buddy had some upper body routine he took off of T Nation that he was all stoked to try out, but he was late to the gym as usual, so I just jumped on flat bench:

 

Barbell Bench Press:

45lb Warmup

20x135

10x185

7x225

 

Then he showed up:

 

Incline Paused Barbell Press:

45lb Warmup

95lb Warmup

135 Warmup

(I didn't record the warmup, if you couldn't tell )

7x185

6x185 - barpath got awkward and hit the rack on one of my early reps

7x185

7x185

 

Overhead Press:

8x95

9x115

7x115

7x115

 

Dead-stop Barbell Row:

8x165

8x165

8x165

 

Used straps because I was getting fatigued and I don't have much hand real estate to grip the bar with.

 

Hammer Curls:

15x25

15x25

 

Dumbell Flies:

I didn't even record these because my form was awful and I was getting sick of this bro routine at this point

 

Facepull:

20x35

20x35

 

So yeah, this is why I don't like doing chest and arms with this dude lol. I'm going to get my flat bench in tomorrow after squats. I'm heading in early.

[Koaladle]

O.O

 

This is terrifying.

[Turnup]

O.O

 

This is terrifying.

 

Haha not for the faint of heart.

 

Monday 11/23/2015

 

Got talked into another bro workout. Never again. This felt better than the last.

 

Bench Press - 3 Second Pause:

45lb Warmup

8x135

3x225

2x245

3x245 - light spot on last rep

3x245 - light spot on last rep

3x245 - light spot on last rep

 

4-Inch Invisible Board Press (Or as I like to call it... Half reps):

8x195

10x195

10x195

10x195

 

Feet Up Wide Bench:

10x165

10x165

10x165

 

Three Second Pause Lat Pull-Downs:

12x85

12x85

12x85

 

Tricep Pull-Down:

15x60

15x60

 

Dumbell Bicep Curls:

15x20

15x25

 

Tomorrow I'm getting in a personal sesh. Deadlift, Bench Press, Squat, Overhead Press. No bullshit, just heavy iron and then it's turkey time!

[Turnup]

I'm back and after being frustrated with my 227 weigh-in this morning, I'm shifting my focus to fat loss. I'm scaling back my workouts to 4x/week, each day focusing on one of the big three and a fourth day for OHP. I'm not going to spend the time recording several old workouts. It's time to look forward. First, to keep things simple, I am just going to give a brief outline for how the training will work:

 

Monday: Deadlift

I will be following a routine I found on T-Nation specifically designed to help people with short limbs and long torsos compensate for having the worst possible build for deadlifting. I'll go into details tomorrow or Tuesday when I write up the training session.

 

Wednesday: Bench Press

Flat Bench/Incline Bench/Close Grip Bench

I'm going back to 5x5 linear progression with Bench. Bench has frustrated the hell out of me for months. I need to get some volume in at a heavier weight to perfect my form and maintain my muscles during this fat loss phase. The bench variants will be done in bridges, building from low weight at high volume to near maximum 1 rep and back down again.

 

Friday: Squat

Squat Bridge

 

Saturday: OHP

OHP Bridge

Arms and Back Accessory Work

The beginning of my Pull Up Training

 

Each day I will be doing 20 minutes of cardio and will try to get cardio in on the off days as well.  Gonna work on my diet plan next. I'm experiencing a shift in my priorities as I'm feeling and looking fat. I want to be look good in addition to being strong, so it's time to make a course correction.

[Koaladle]

There are a ton of articles on the main site about the importance of diet, and how a good diet is where most of the fat loss comes from. I will go digging through the archives after breakfast if you're interested. :-)

[Turnup]

There are a ton of articles on the main site about the importance of diet, and how a good diet is where most of the fat loss comes from. I will go digging through the archives after breakfast if you're interested. :-)

 

Any knowledge that you can find, I will read! Right now I've used IIFYM.com to come up with the numbers and put myself in a minor caloric deficit. Been at it since Monday. Hope all is well

[Turnup]

My routine deviated significantly from what I posted above, but I still got 3 solid days in, hitting the big three and OHP. I didn't do the T Nation routine, besides some paused squats. I discovered that leading off the week with deadlift isn't the best idea. Work was tiresome and that contributed to one less day than I had planned.

 

Monday 12/7/15

 

Deadlift:

15x135

10x225

8x315

6x365

5x405

3x425 - Rep PR

Fail-455

Fail-455

1x425

1x405

5x365

5x365

5x365

 

Paused Squats - 3s:

5x275

5x275

5x275

5x275

5x275

 

Tuesday 12/8/15

 

Bench Press:

45lb Warm Up

135lb Warm Up

10x185

10x185

5x225

5x245

5x245

5x245 - Last 2 spotter assist

8x225

15x185

24x135 - Wasn't using collars and the weight started to slip off around the 20th rep

 

Overhead Press:

 

45lb Warm Up

10x95

5x135

3x155

FAIL-175

3x155

3x155

4x155

4x155

3x155

6x135

 

Machine Reverse Flies - Didn't even bother writing down the weight. My training partner called it active fat guy resting lol.

 

Incline Press:

 

45lb Warm Up

10x135

8x155 - spotter corrected bar path a bit

8x155 - spotter assist on last rep

7x155

7x155

135x20 - spotter assists began at 15

 

Saturday 12/12/15

 

45lb Warm Up

135lb Warm Up

8x185

6x225

5x245

3x255

2x265

2x265

2x265 - last rep spotter assist

2x265 - last rep spotter assist

3x255

3x245

3x245

3x245

8x225 - last three spotter assist

30x135

 

Incline Bench:

 

45lb Warm Up

10x135

6x185

2x225

2x225

2x225

3x225 - Rep PR

3x225 - last rep spotter assist

18x135

 

Squat:

 

45lb Warm Up

12x135

10x225

6x315

3x365

2x385

1x405

1x385

3x365

5x335

5x335

5x335

5x275 - 3s paused

5x275 - 3s paused

13x225

20x135

 

Looking forward to weigh-in tomorrow, feeling leaner!

[Turnup]

Weigh-In, Sunday, December 13, 2015: 221lbs

 

I'm not sure by what voodoo I lost 6lbs in a week, but I'll take it. It's probably a little fat and a lot of water. If my numbers from yesterday are any indication, my strength levels are currently unaffected. I feel and look better, so that's cool. My face is less full and my gut doesn't stick out as far. I didn't even do any cardio and ate a 1000 calorie burger after last night's training session.

 

I'm going to try to stick to what I did this past week and see what happens next weigh-in.

[Turnup]

Sunday: 12/20/2015

 

Saw Star Wars last night post Korean BBQ with friends. Not even going to bother to weigh-in. My buddy has my gym notebook, so I don't have my numbers to report, though I do remember slamming out a 225lb x 4 Incline Press PR.

 

Going to take it easy next week as I have a really tight shoulder that was giving me problems on flat bench yesterderday and my back is overall pretty worn out.

[Turnup]

I'm back for 2016 and I'm liking the look of the new challenge format. I already have two days of calorie counting, 1 gym session, and 1 at home ab roller session under my belt. I finally have my own apartment!!! Work is going well. I finally have everything in place to conquer my fitness and life goals.

[Koaladle]

Happy New Year! Congrats on getting your own place. It really is the best ever.

[Turnup]

Happy New Year! Congrats on getting your own place. It really is the best ever.

 

Happy New Year to you as well! I'm enjoying the undisturbed freedom.

 

Unfortunately on Wednesday I came down with a severe head cold. I suffered through that work day, but have taken Thursday and Friday off from both work and the gym. Fortunately, I was able to secure the antibiotics that I needed and am on the upswing as of this early Friday afternoon. I had to do abs he day before getting sick... it hurts like hell to cough  . I didn't calorie count yesterday and won't be today. I eat meals when I can, snack on lots of fruit, and drink lots of fluids. I'm planning to get back into the gym tomorrow and Sunday to get my body acclimated to lifting again. This hasn't been the ideal start to the year, but one crappy week won't define my January.

 

This weekend will be about getting everything dialed in as much as I can at the apt this month. There's still stuff I need to buy to furnish and optimize it, but it's more than functional in it's current state. God willing that I'm healthy by Monday, next week will be about establishing a routine: Work/Shopping/Nutrition/Training/Sleep.

[Koaladle]

Deeeeefinintely don't push it on getting better. This may not be the best start, but you're totally right that it won't define the year. Get well soon!

[Turnup]

Friday, January 9, 2016

 

Took another sick day and the last of my antibiotics and napped A LOT. It was glorious. The sleep was so healing. I have to thank my roommate and other training partner for getting me into the gym. I wasn't feeling 100%, but I was feeling good enough. I decided the best course of action would be to acclimate my body to training by giving it a taste of everything. After a decent dose of preworkout, I did the following:

 

Treadmill: Max Incline, 2.5mph, 10min w/ 2 min cool down

 

Bench Press:

95 warm up

135x15

185x8

205x8

225x6

205x10 - last one spotted

 

Significantly weaker here, but happy to be under the bar again.

 

Deadlift:

135x15

225x10

315x8

5x5x365

 

Quite satisfied with my performance here.

 

Squat:

135x10

225x10

3x3x315

 

Was pretty tired from deadlifting, so I didn't push it. I wanted to get a feel for the movement again with some weight on the bar.

 

During the workout my mother texted me that she had an extra plate of tomato pesto baked chicken, broccoli, and baked potato for me, so I enjoyed the first real meal in a few days after the lift.

 

I took my supplements and a nice warm shower and haven't coughed or sneezed for at least two hours. Now to get a nice long sleep in to banish this cold for good.

[Koaladle]

Every time I see your name, vegetable puns come to mind.

 

 

...so I leave one here to celebrate your victory over cold season.

[Turnup]

Haha! I do love me some vegetable puns!

 

 

Raditz approves as well.

 

Going to try out the on site gym in my apartment complex for some accessory back and arm work today! 

[Koaladle]

Question: do you have a 4WC going, or are you just keeping everything in one place? I'm posting solely in my battle log at this point, with links to the current month.

[Turnup]

Question: do you have a 4WC going, or are you just keeping everything in one place? I'm posting solely in my battle log at this point, with links to the current month.

 

Keeping everything here now. I will probably venture to the warrior board for February, because I really like this new format. The actual workouts and meal plans, should I decide to include them, will be here and both battle log and challenge will be in my sig. This month got off to a rocky start and I'd rather start a challenge off from the beginning when I can have some specific short term goals. Right now it just "stop feeling crappy and get into the groove" lol.

[Turnup]

Saturday, January 9, 2016:

 

Took the apartment complex gym for a spin. It's nothing spectacular, but it'll do for cardio and accessory stuff. The dumbbells don't go past 50lbs. It's a very liability conscious fitness center. All of the cable machines seem to come at me at weird angles too. I had to bow my head down in an odd fashion to prevent the lat pull-down bar from smacking me in the back of the neck. Here's what I did:

 

Treadmill:

Max Incline, 2.5mph - 15 minutes

No Incline, 2.5mph - 5 minutes

 

Lat Pull-Down:

100x12

100x12

100x10

100x10

 

Triceps Extension w/ Straight Bar:

60x15

80x20

80x20

80x20

 

Seated Row:

85x15

85x15

85x15

 

Incline Dumbbell Press:

50x15

50x15

50x15

 

Broke a sweat and got a good pump. Not bad for an apartment fitness center training sesh, even if the equipment is kind of wonky and the free weights are light.

[Turnup]

Sunday, January 10, 2016:

 

Treadmill:

Max Incline, 2.5mph - 10min

No Incline, 2.5mph - 5min

Max Incline, 2.5mph - 5min

No Incline, 2.5mph - 10min

 

Bench Press:

45 WU

135x20

185x6

225x4

225x5

225x5

225x5

225x4

225x3

225x4

225x3

 

Dumbbell Bicep Curls:

20x15

20x15

20x12

20x10

 

Just a quick workout to get some cardio in, drill bench form some more, and show my biceps some love. Feeling healthy and rebooted to start proper programming again this coming week.