danzik17's Log - 4-6 Week Strength/Bulk [Forum Archive]

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danzik17's Log - 4-6 Week Strength/Bulk

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Posted by: danzik17

Quick overview for those just tuning in:

I tried to hit sub 10% BF but was unable to. I estimate I hit 11-12% and then fat loss came to a grinding halt.

I got sick of doing that for 6-8 weeks with little to no progress, so I decided to do an impromptu strength training period. Since I've been cutting for an absurdly long time at this point, I'm figuring that maybe switching up to a calorie surplus will be beneficial in the long run when I go back to cutting.

Goal: Strength gains. 5lbs increase in weight on my lifts each week, every week. Diet will be a surplus but bulking/muscle gain isn't the prime goal for this 4-6 weeks, I'll just take what tags along with the strength gains.

Training: Built should love this one.....I decided to give powerbuilding a try

Completely different from how I've trained before and it's kind of fun lifting heavyass weights a lot unlike during my depletion workouts.

I'll be running a Week 1 push/pull/push, Week 2 pull/push/pull routine.

Posted by: danzik17

RI - About 1 3/4 - 2min RI
Reps/Sets: 3x5 progressively heavier (after warmup)

Week 1

Push
--------
Squats
Floor Press
Leg Press
Standing shoulder press

Pull
--------
Rack pulls
T-Bars
Weighted chins
Hypers

Push
---------
Squats - High repetition. 20 rep breathing squats after warmup.
Incline Bench
Arnold Press

Week 2

Pull
--------
Deadlift
Cable Rows
GHRs
Weighted chins

Push
------------
Dead Press
Quarter Squats
Push Press
Leg Press

Pull
---------
Deadlifts
Cable Pulldown
Hypers
Unilateral cable rows

Posted by: danzik17

Just to give an idea of the reasoning behind my training in case anyone wants to comment:

The odd day out in the week is going to be used for HEAVY lifting to mentally prepare myself for the next week. For example, if my bench goal for the next week is going to be 225 then I will be deadpressing either 230 or 235. Just to get a feel for heavier weights before I go to actually lift it.

Posted by: danzik17

7/10/2009

This workout won't follow the template as I wrote that up after today's lifting.

Listed sets won't include multiple warmup sets.

Squats - 225x4, 235x4, 240x4

DB Bench - 75x4, 80x4, 85x3, 85x2

Leg Press: 425 x 6, 515 x 4

Decline Bench: 140x4, 140x4, 160x3

Posted by: danzik17

7/13/2009

Deadlifts: 225x3, 230x3, 240,3, 245x3, 250x3 (PR)

Rows: 180x3, 190x3, 200x3, 205x3, 205x3

GHRs: 2. That's not sets. That's reps. 2. I hate you Built! Did a lot of negative reps since I couldn't do the concentric.

Pullups: BW + 30x3 (5 sets)

Cardio: 20min of Hill Walking. Need to work on my cardio capacity/heart rate.

Posted by: danzik17

7/15/2009

Quarter squats: 225x3, 275x3, 275x3, 295x3, 295x3

Dead Press: 135x5, 185x3, 175x3, 175x3, 175x3

Leg Press: 515x4, 605x3, 605x3, 615x3, 615x3

Push Press: 50x5, 70x5, 80x3, 90x3

Two things to note: I need to work on my forearm strength. In the bottom position of the dead press I was having a LOT of trouble with them. Push presses were also a bit off since it was my first time doing them - I was really just gauging the weight for the future. 85-90lbs seems to be a good weight for 3-4 reps for now.

Posted by: katt

those routines look at little brutal. Weighted chins & pullups at the end of the routine??? Good luck with that, I probably couldn't even get one rep.

Posted by: tryn2getbig

Just curious, but what is Deadpressing? Is that like a negative bench press where you've got a spotter to help bring the weight back up, you just do the negative? Also, you have listed GHRs, what are those?

Sorry for the questions... Thanks in advance!

J

Quote:

Originally Posted by danzik17

Just to give an idea of the reasoning behind my training in case anyone wants to comment:

The odd day out in the week is going to be used for HEAVY lifting to mentally prepare myself for the next week. For example, if my bench goal for the next week is going to be 225 then I will be deadpressing either 230 or 235. Just to get a feel for heavier weights before I go to actually lift it.

Posted by: danzik17

Quote:

Originally Posted by tryn2getbig

Just curious, but what is Deadpressing? Is that like a negative bench press where you've got a spotter to help bring the weight back up, you just do the negative? Also, you have listed GHRs, what are those?

Sorry for the questions... Thanks in advance!

J

Deadpressing starring HeavyBomber:

YouTube Video

GHRs starring Built:

YouTube Video

Posted by: danzik17

7/17/2009

Deadlift: 230x3, 235x3, 245x3, 245x3

Lat Pulldown: 120x3, 140x3, 160x3, 160x3, 160x3

Hypers: 60x5, 60x5, 70x5, 70x5

Cable Rows: 170x3, 180x3, 180x3, 200x3, 200x2

So the hardest part of this whole thing is just gaining weight. Just the act of it. It's hard to see yourself put on some fat and not freak out and immediately return to cutting, but I'm doing my best.

Posted by: danzik17

Doing some research in my off-time and I'm going to embark on one of the most difficult things I can do diet wise...I'm going to give up all things caffeinated until I start my next cut.

I'd like to see if I'm suffering from adrenal burnout from overconsumption of caffeine for too long (I AM a coffee addict after all), so I will be replacing all of those drinks with *shudder* herbal teas.

Posted by: Little Wing

stash has a white peach tea and a coconut mango that's pretty good. i say as i sip a low fat unsweetened iced coffee. but if you want no caffeine

this is really good

i put a bag or two in a quart of water and sip it during the day. "Licorice Spice is a dessert-like tea, naturally sweetened with licorice root which is 50 times sweeter than sugar cane but has no calories."

Posted by: danzik17

Unbelievable just how hooked on caffeine I was. I can barely walk up stairs let alone do anything seriously physical. Hopefully these symptoms fade quickly but in the end I should be in a better position to drop fat because of it.

The other thing is as soon as my fridge gets fixed I'm cutting off the extra fat I put on. I thought I could deal with it but I can't, I HATE everything aboout the extra fat that comes with putting muscle on from the way it looks to just the way it feels.

I'd start it now but without a working fridge it's impossible to run something like a PSMF/UD 2.0 like I prefer. Obviously without a working fridge I couldn't keep close enough track of my calories either and was eating too much.

Posted by: Gazhole

Hang in there dude, the workouts are looking great and you seem to have a strong handle on exactly how you want this program to work.

I freak out sometimes aswell, but you just gotta try and ignore it. Look at the big picture - if you've cut before you can cut again, but first you need to get that muscle packed on!

Deadpressing is a lot of fun, also!

Posted by: danzik17

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gazhole

Hang in there dude, the workouts are looking great and you seem to have a strong handle on exactly how you want this program to work.

I freak out sometimes aswell, but you just gotta try and ignore it. Look at the big picture - if you've cut before you can cut again, but first you need to get that muscle packed on!

Deadpressing is a lot of fun, also!

Thanks. I haven't logged workouts in a bit because of random shit that keeps happening, but they're still going. All goals have been met so far with one exception, the workout the day I decided to stop caffeine - I went to failure on my warmup weights that day

Case in point about shit happening though, I'm stuck at the office at 9:30pm because random shit failed right before 5PM. Gym closes at 10PM, no possible way for me to make it tonight (NOTHING I hate more than when work makes me miss the gym, NOTHING!)

If I don't get home to late maybe I'll do a mile walk with my sandbags rather than my workout, otherwise I'll have to move it to tomorrow (which screws up later in the week, but I'll deal with that then).

Posted by: Gazhole

Dude that caffeine thing sounds crazy, you need to sort that out :-S

But yeah, i hate it when work gets in the way of the gym aswell. Either Uni work, or when i worked fulltime. Just the most annoying thing ever because looking forward to training after was one of the only reasons i got through the day :P.

Glad to hear the workouts are still mostly going well though

Posted by: danzik17

Some random stats:

Deadlift: 255lbs
Squat: 250lbs
DB Bench: 90lb DBs
Rows: 205lbs
Pullups: BW + 35

All of my core lifts have progressed as planned. I'm a little dissapointed that I'm only doing +35lbs on the pullups though - I was doing +45lbs for WAY more reps last October/November before I hurt my leg (couldn't put on a weight belt and just never got back into it).

As for the caffeine thing Gaz knows this already but cutting out caffeine seems to have restored my adrenal function somewhat. I'm not eating clean at all right now but maintaining at 183-185lbs. Mind you these are at calories that previously I know would have caused me to balloon in weight, so that's a pleasant surprise.

Posted by: Gazhole

Good lifts, dude! Are these 1rms or 4rms?

Looks like your metabolic rate has gone up a bit, which isnt a bad thing. Youll just have to eat more when you bulk, lol :P

Posted by: danzik17

I never measure my 1RM. That's just ego food imo, not something I'm terribly interested in.

All of those weights are for 3 reps during working sets.

As for the metabolic stuff, I'm happier about it for cutting. Previously I had to cut calories to absurdly low levels to see any measurable progress (on a steady deficit style diet). Hopefully now I'll be able to run reasonable calorie levels and and still have a good deficit, but we'll see.

Posted by: danzik17

8/3/2009

Squats: 240x3, 245x3, 250x3, 255x3, 255x3 (PR again!)

Leg Press: 515x3, 605x3, 625x3, 645x3, 655x3 (PR if I remember correctly)

Push Press: 80x5, 90x3, 100x3, 100x3, 100x3

DB Bench: 70x3, 75x3 (Ran out of time, gym closed

)

Only 60lbs to go on the squat until I hit 3 plates.....awwww yea! Maybe in the next 2-3 months?

Posted by: Gazhole

Dude, very nice Squats and Leg Press! 3 Plates is GOING to happen, no question.

Good work

Posted by: P-funk

PRs are always good!

keep at it.

patrick

Posted by: danzik17

8/7/2009

Squats - 225lbs, 1x20
Light pullovers/flys

Was pretty cooked after the set of 20 squats. 215lbs was my previous best, so I progressed on this lift as well

Posted by: danzik17

Still can't do even one GHR. I wonder if I'm performing the exercise incorrectly, or maybe my hamstrings really are just that weak.

Who knows

Posted by: Gazhole

Great squats, man! 20 Reps is harsh at any sort of heavy weight. I would die around 12 with that weight, haha.

As for GHRs, maybe take a vid?

Do you use any supports like bands, or a pole? I used to do them on the lat pull machine set to like 20/30lbs, and grab the cable as i performed the movement.

Posted by: danzik17

8/12/2009

Very simple workout, was just a warmup and then two exercises.

Quarter Squats: 290x3, 295x3, 300x3, 300x3, 300x3 (First exercise on a barbell that I hit 300 on!...yea quarter squats count..right?

)

Push Press: 100lbs 3x3

I was happy with the quarters but disappointed with the Push Press. I really expected to do 105-110 or at least bang out more reps, but it wasn't happening.

Posted by: Pylon

Hey, a lot of people do quarter squats for their whole workout, but don't realize it. You did it on purpose, which makes it ok.

Great job!

Posted by: danzik17

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gazhole

Great squats, man! 20 Reps is harsh at any sort of heavy weight. I would die around 12 with that weight, haha.

As for GHRs, maybe take a vid?

Do you use any supports like bands, or a pole? I used to do them on the lat pull machine set to like 20/30lbs, and grab the cable as i performed the movement.

I use a bosu ball and leg extension machine ala Built style but I have a lot of trouble connecting to my hams and glutes in this exercise - I find it very difficult to make them fire. Last time I tried to do them, I put so much effort into the first rep that I somehow gave myself an incredibly nasty calf cramp that left me limping for a few hours and hurting well into the next day. Fun

I'll see if I can grab a video next time. I only have 1 more week of this program anyway, then it's a 1 week deload follow by an equal length cut (4-6 weeks) to drop some fat.

I'm leaning much more towards see-sawing than doing the traditional 4 month bulk 4 month cut since I REALLY do not enjoy having a lot of fat on the midsection. That and since I gain fat at a good rate, I shouldn't let my BF get too high or calorie partitioning is going to take a hit and get into a nasty negative feedback loop.

Posted by: danzik17

So yesterday marked the last workout of this bulk. I'm getting to be a bit too soft for my liking, so I'm going to do a cut the bulk short and do a cut for 1-2 months to drop back down, then will bulk again (rinse, repeat).

Beginning weight: 170lbs or so
Ending weight: 190lbs

Squats: +30lbs

Deads: Unknown since I didn't previously do them, but they're at 265lbs

Pullups: +40lbs (Not quite matching where I was a year ago, but not bad for a 5 week bulk)

Rows: +30lbs

There's others, but those are the core lifts that I was looking to increase.

This will be interesting (at least to me) though, since this is my first bulk - looking forward to seeing where my weight ends up after my cut. Hopefully I gained in the area of 4-5lbs of muscle to put me at around 173-175lbs at the end of this cut. For all I know it may be more though (fingers crossed) - I had been in a deficit for a LONG time before this, so my body seemed all too happy to pile on the weight for the first couple weeks.

Posted by: gtbmed

If you dead 265 you should be able to do a 300 lb. rack pull. Just another exercise to hit 300 on - sometimes it's good to feed the ego.

Your numbers are good, pretty similar to mine. I like the program you did too.

Posted by: danzik17

Quote:

Originally Posted by gtbmed

If you dead 265 you should be able to do a 300 lb. rack pull. Just another exercise to hit 300 on - sometimes it's good to feed the ego.

Your numbers are good, pretty similar to mine. I like the program you did too.

Actually I hit 300 on the dot with rack pulls last Wednesday

*Edit* Oops! It was quarters I hit it on. Rack pulls were at 295lbs - 300lbs was my goal for THIS Wednesday but as I said I'm cutting the bulk a week short.

I just didn't mention the partial rep exercises like rack pulls and quarter squats since they weren't my primary focus.

Posted by: danzik17

Cut is going to have to go on hold for 1-2 weeks. There is something fucked up in my right hand and I'm afraid of making it worse. I may pick up some straps so I can continue to do pulling movements, but any pushing movement really is out of the question right now and I don't want to risk losing the muscle I gained on this bulk because I can't lift.

The plan is to eat at maintenance and continue with doable exercises like Leg Press, Squats, Rows/Deads (if I get straps). Anything where I have to put pressure on my hand is on hold for now.

Posted by: Gazhole

Thats a smart plan dude, let it heal up before you stress it too much.

When i fucked my right hand up straps did help a fair bit, though it was a pain using them for every set. I didn't go quite as heavy with that hand either, but it certainly went some ways to maintaining.

Posted by: danzik17

Interesting tidbit - I got a copy of my bloodwork from my thyroid tests. I'm not hypothyroid, but I'm not spectacular either. The lower end of T3 is listed as 97....I'm 105.

No progress on the wrist front. In fact just typing this makes it twinge a bit. It doesn't help that my job basically entails typing on a keyboard all day.

Did no lifting today to let it rest. I hope it's not CTS

Posted by: P-funk

Can you find a soft tissue therapist to work on you?

patrick

Posted by: danzik17

There's a facility relatively close to me that seemed to be decent (Went there a few times for my hamstring).

I may give them a call tomorrow to set something up - I was kind of hoping that I had just tweaked something and it would go away in a day or so, but it doesn't seem that way.

Posted by: Gazhole

Seconding the "give em a ring" option. Fingers crossed its not CTS, man. When i worked administration my wrists always killed, so i hear you on the keyboard crap

Posted by: danzik17

Got an appt for 6PM tonight. Let's see how this goes.

Posted by: danzik17

Diagnosis? Shoulder nerve impingement and poor shoulder mobility. We were able to reliably replicate the pain/tightness sensation in my right hand/wrist/forearm.

The extra muscle/fat that I put on during the bulk is putting pressure on the nerves in my shoulder and the push presses I was doing combined with poor shoulder mobility didn't help the case.

We also discovered some impingement in my left shoulder when I was unable to get a stretch in my left lat.

I've got some homework to do in the form of various stretches every couple of hours and also changing my setup at work to where my keyboard/mouse allow my shoulder to remain at a more natural position. I also have 3 more visits with the PT tomorrow, Monday, and Wednesday.

I should be able to do leg presses/squats tomorrow with no issues and I'm allowed to do upper body work so long as I progress the weight slowly and be mindful of any pressure or pain - I'm not to do any weights that cause either (i.e. I'm going to probably do several sets of highish reps so I can use a medium weight)

Posted by: danzik17

8/21/2009

Just did squats. 3x235, 3x245, 3x250, 3x250

I could have done more actually, but the bar seemed to be putting pressure on a part of my neck that we were working on stretching in PT so I didn't want to push it and have something bad happen.

Posted by: Gazhole

Good diagnosis there, seems like they know exactly how to fix it. Like you said, just keep it light and stretch those areas and you'll be fine in no time

Posted by: danzik17

8/29/2009

Squats: 250x4, 255x3, 260x3, 260x3 (PR)

Cable Rows: 160x10, 185x5, 195x3, 200x3

Did a PR on squats because I had one hell of a sleep last night and was feeling pretty energetic. I could have banged out even higher I'm betting, but I was happy enough.

My impingement is getting better each day, though weird stuff hurts. I can do freaking 200lb rows, but flicking the windshield wipers on in my car caused me insane amounts of pain

We did some shoulder flexibility tests at PT which I failed pretty horribly - with my back/head against the wall, I could only come to within 3 inches of touching it with a dowel (butterfly stretch). We're going to work on that to prevent this injury from just re-occuring a few months down the road (among other things).

Posted by: Gazhole

Strong squats man!

good PR!

Lol at the rows/windshield wiper thing. I love stuff like that, its like powerlifters deadlifting 1000lbs then pulling their back lifting a sofa that weighs next to nothing, haha.

Glad to hear you're on the road to recovery though!

Posted by: danzik17

Will be starting a steady cut @ 2300 calories tomorrow to see if my maintenance has gone up at all.

*Edit - Just ran the approximate foods that I was eating during my bulk (was not tracking generally). Looks like I was eating around 3-3.3K calories per day, so 2300 calories should definitely be good.

As much as I would love to run a PSMF and drop some serious fat quickly, I don't think it would be a good idea with me still being in PT......gotta have some energy for that.

Posted by: danzik17

8/31/2009

Deadlifts: 245lbsx3, 250lbsx3, 250lbsx3

DB Bench: 60x5, 65x3, 65x3

Dips: BW 5x3

Happy with the deads - they didn't really hurt my hand at all. Not so pleased with the dips; they didn't really hurt my hand, but I doubt I could have pulled off more than 10 BW ones. Disappointing since previously I could bang out sets of 20-30BW dips without getting tired, but meh.

On the PT side, the plot thickens. We're now focusing on my lats in addition to my shoulder because the tension in them is drawing my shoulders forward which in turn is contributing to the problem. It's like freaking dominos.

Posted by: danzik17

Unbelievable how linked together everything is.

We determined that not only are my lats extremely tight, but my thoracic spine mobility (I guess?) is very poor.

Funny as it is, my PT guy has be doing some extremely similar stuff to what P-Funk was having me do when he was trying to help back in December. For the record, I was performing those stretches so horribly wrong at the time as I recently found out

Posted by: danzik17

9/5/2009

Deadlifts: 250x3, 255x3, 260x3

DB Press: 60x4, 65x3, 70x3

Hypers: 25lbs x5, 45lbs x4, 70lbs x4

Dips: BW 3x10

Dips are coming back up. Previously I think I only did 5 per set, I'm up to 10 again. I wasn't even tired, but I figured that was enough progress for one session (don't push it).

Maintaining strength on deads still which is good, but I'm not very deep into this cut yet. REALLY wish I could be running a PSMF or UD2.0 but that wouldn't leave enough energy for PT sessions.

Posted by: danzik17

Also just tried jumping rope downstairs. Holy shit is that a good cardio workout in addition to balance and coordination.

I can only do a few jumps at a time before screwing up, but I hope to improve my balance/coordination by doing this to the point that I can do maybe 10-15 minutes?

Posted by: danzik17

Update:

Well, squats are still hovering around 260lbs, but I'm not actively trying to up them right now. I don't know about my other lifts since I'm not really performing any right now due to my shoulder/arm/hand.

PT Update:

Making some good progress in PT. I identified a nasty trigger point on my rear left delt that was really hindering my movement. After he did some soft tissue work on that specific spot for ~5-10 minutes, he said my movement was noticeably improved (raising my arms vertically).

Doing a LOT of core stabilization and strengthening work. We did some weird spiderman type exercise on the ground where you kind of "climb" the floor from wall to wall a few times which was just brutal. There was also some leg stretches while stabilizing on a bosu with my arms which was almost as brutal.

The overall consensus is that I should expect to not only be fully functional in approximately 6 weeks, I should be improved with better flexibility and mobility. For now, it's just consistent stretching, soft tissue work, then reinforcing good movement patterns to get to where I need to be.

I will say it's a bit of fun to be involved in designing my own recovery programs. I've taken what he has given me and added on my own spin on things which is what resulted in identifying the weak spots in my rear left delt and what I believe to be an imbalance between my abs and lower back (my lower back is overpowering my front, how uncommon!).

Diet

I've been playing around with intermittent fasting because it's the only diet that really fits my schedule right now between work and PT. Well, a steady diet would too, but screw that. Not interesting enough.

It's really NOT as bad as I thought it would be. I was extremely thirsty all day, but the only time I ever started REALLY craving food was about an hour before the end of the fast, and that was really only because of me thinking "only an hour until I can eat!!!". Theoretically I dropped 2/3 of a pound of fat in a day which is nice. I'll run this for a few more weeks to see how it progresses. 2 fasts per week, Tues/Thurs - net fat loss should be a touch over 1lb per week.

Posted by: Gazhole

Sounds like good news all round if you're sorting your issues out. Thats great that there was a noticeable improvement in the same session!

Lifts are still looking strong in here, too

Gonna try those spiderman things.

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