Egoatdoor

Up until a year ago ( I started taking it 5 1/2 years ago), I was cycling it 6 weeks on, 4 weeks off. I play it by ear now, cycling it more in coordination with my training schedules. For instance, if I am "cutting", I go off it. During an intense training period, I may go on it for 3 months. I don't load and also no longer take it on non workout days, so I don't think cycling is as critical anymore in my case.

Yes. I will stick to 12 reps for legs this week just like the other parts. Will try to increase my weight on the leg press this week and then go to 20 the next week.

Getting bigger is a battle and the weapon is my fork.

"The harder I work, the luckier I get"- Jenny Lynn

Egoatdoor

Tuesday morning cardio: 25 minutes of moderate intensity walking on treadmill, working up to 4.1 MPH at the peak, followed by 4 minutes of step ups with 15 and then 5 pound dumbbells. Did not go high intensity because my calves, quads and hams still not recovered fully from first my workout Sunday and then an intense deep muscle massage on Monday evening.

Wednesday's workout: Chest and back. 12 reps, last set to total failure. 2 minute rest periods.

Chest:
DB Incline Press 40x12 60x12 70(+5)x10
Weighed Dips 10x8 15x6 15x5
Low Incline DB Bench Press 40x12 50x12 70(+10)x10
Pec Dec 12-15 reps 40x12 60x15 80x14

Back:
Weighted wide grip chins 10x8 20x 6 1/2 20x5
BB Bent Rows 125x12 150x12 180x12(+2)
BB Reverse Grip Bent Rows 125x12 165x12 185(+5)x11
Seated Low Cable Rows 65x12 105x12 125(+5)x13

Its five hours later and my upper back muscles are tied up in knots. That's a pretty lethal combination of chins, followed by all those rows. I think I'm getting psychotic, but there's only two more intense workouts and then for at least one week, I'm taking it easy.

My weight dropped back to 190 1/2, back close to where it was two weeks ago and down 1 3/4 from last week. I certainly did not feel lighter and looked the same in the mirror. Funny thing was that during the workout, two different people asked me how I got so cut. ???? I'm thinking now that my body is reacting to going back to early morning cardio ( which I had not done since last February) by dropping bodyfat plus massages do pull water out of the muscles, so I may have lost some water weight from Monday night.

I'm fighting severe stresses on my time outside the gym. Its extremely busy at work and I'm having difficulty keeping up with the workload. I'm going to be too tired to go in this weekend after my morning workouts, so I'm going to pack my food and stay late the next couple of nights to get caught up. I also run the office football pool and this is taking up too much time with my workouts, eating, rest and keeping this journal, so I've mentally made the decision that I am not going to do this anymore after this year.

Getting bigger is a battle and the weapon is my fork.

"The harder I work, the luckier I get"- Jenny Lynn

Emma-Leigh

Not going to do what anymore?? The journal?? I hope you will still post!

Don't push yourself too hard Ego... Make sure you get your rest!!

Egoatdoor

No! I'm giving up the football pool.

Getting bigger is a battle and the weapon is my fork.

"The harder I work, the luckier I get"- Jenny Lynn

Egoatdoor

Saturdays' Workout: Shoulders, biceps and abs, 12 reps, last set to failure. 2 minute rests.

Shoulders:
DB Press 35x12 50x12 55x14(+1)
Seated Side Laterals 20x12 25x12 30(+5)x10 ( This was big jump and form was not the best. I wish this gym had 27 1/2s like the gym I was in last year)
Wide Grip Upright Rows 55x12 65x12 90(+5)x13
Rear Lateral Raises on Incline Bench 15x12 25x12 30x13(+2)
Rear Delt Machine 10x12 20x12 30x14(+2)

Biceps:
EZ Bar Curls 60x12 75x12 90x14(+2)
Incline Curls 15x12 20x12 25x12
Cable Overhead Curls 30x12 50(+10)x12 60x14(+2)

Abs: Hanging Leg Raises and Frog Kicks off a bench.

Like Wednesday, this was a very good workout, but outside the gym ( later on) I was wasted. Not sure if the O Word ( overtraining) was kicking in, or if I was just not getting enough sleep. Went to bed real early Saturday, 10PM, after not being able to post this workout because the server here was down..GRRRR!!!

Getting bigger is a battle and the weapon is my fork.

"The harder I work, the luckier I get"- Jenny Lynn

Egoatdoor

Sunday's Workout: Legs and Triceps. 12 reps, last set to failure. 2 minute rests.

Calves:
Seated Calf Raises 4 working sets 25x12 40x12 55x12 60x13(+5!!)
Toe Presses on Leg Press 310x12 380(+10)x12 465x13
Smith Machine Calf Raises 95x12 105x12 120x16(+3)

Hams:
Lying Leg Curls 55x12 80x12 95x13(-1)
DB Stiff Deadlifts 40x12 50x12 60(+5)x14

Quads:
Leg Press 220x12 280(+20) x12 350(+30)x13
Hack Squats 150x12 190(+20)x12 230(+10)x10
Lunges on an aerobic step 8x12 10x12 12x12

Triceps:
DB Overhead Extensions(two hands) 35x12 55x12 70(+5)x13
Close Grip Bench Press 85x12 105x12 125x13(+1)

Quads and calves were absolutely fried today.

Energy level was much better today after 8 1/2 hours sleep the night before. Had my post workout meal and was able to then watch the NASCAR race without dozing off which had happened last week and on Saturday. I do need a break and this is a good time with the holiday week. Going to work out two days, Wednesday and Saturday or Sunday only, whole body, low intensity workouts with compound exercises only. Then I'll evaluate what I want to do next week.

Nutrition: Hit my calorie target and then a little bit more. Target was 4250. Actual 4276. Protein 251g (23%). Carbs 601(55%) Fat 104(22%). Protein grams were up, carbs down from last week. Went over 300 g Protein on Friday. Had a lot of chicken breast that day, including at the buffet where I went for dinner.
Target this week is 4300.

Getting bigger is a battle and the weapon is my fork.

"The harder I work, the luckier I get"- Jenny Lynn

Egoatdoor

Tuesday morning cardio: 20 minutes of HIT, interval walks on treadmill. Worked up to 4.9MPH. Then finished with fast walks up the ramp in the gym holding dumbbells for 4 minutes.

Wednesday's workout: Full Body workout. Low to moderate intensity. 12 reps on all exercises except chins. Not to failure and weights reduced from the last two weeks. 2 warm up sets and 2 working sets for each exercise. 90 second rests.

DB Bench Press( first two are warm ups) 25x8 30x5 45x12 55x12
Smith Military Press 55x8 65x6 75x12 85x12
Deadlifts 85x8 105x8 155x12 185x12
Weighted Chins 5x8 10x8 15x7 20x6
EZ Bar Curls 35x8 45x8 55x12 75x12( last couple of reps were tough, bis were fatigued from the chins)
Stiff Deadlifts 65x6 75x7 115x12 145x12
Squats 85x8 105x7 175x12 235x12 ( really fatigued after this)

Taking three days off, then will do another full body workout Sunday and then go back to the normal 3 day split routine next week. May do a light cardio session Saturday morning.

Weighed 190 3/4 last night, up 1/4 pound from last week and 2 pounds over my weight this time last year.

My calories are behind schedule this week. Did not eat enough Tuesday and Wednesday to make up for a 3500 calorie day Monday. Mondays have been low lately because I go to bed early for Tuesday 5 AM cardio. This Monday was real tough because I had a 3 hour business appointment which ran through lunch and no one bought food in. My lunch was a take out sandwich, soup and juice at 3PM. I have not been stuffing myself at holiday dinners the last couple of years, my body is used to small feedings and it doesn't want seconds and thirds of turkey anymore. So no stuffing myself tonight. I may eat out at the buffet either Friday night or Saturday to get some extra calories.

Getting bigger is a battle and the weapon is my fork.

"The harder I work, the luckier I get"- Jenny Lynn

kim

I hear you with the stress Ego Hope you can find time to relax and came back to something much more relax. It's just crazy how we can be running everyday's.

You have a great workout program.

Have a nice rest holliday's out from all of stress.

[b]kim - Fit by 43

Egoatdoor

Been resting the last couple of days and my energy level is returning. Had a really good cardio session this morning. Did 30 minutes on the threadmill in my apartment complex' fitness center and once I got going, I really pushed. Got up to 4.7 MPH, which is pretty fast on that particular treadmill.

Food shopping and laundry is done. I also made my hotel and plane reservations for my Florida vacation at the end of March and my trip to the Arnold Classic in Columbus the first week of that month.

Need to now get my meals in. I need 4600 plus to hit my 4300 average for the week. At 1950 so far and dinner is in another hour. Spending the rest of today and tonight eating, reading and maybe watching a video. This is actually my first Saturday since the spring where I was not either in the gym, at the beach or at a car race. I'm thinking I need more of these and may switch some Saturday training sessions this winter to Friday night.

Change of workout plans for tomorrow. Instead of doing a whole body and then starting my 3 way routine Wednesday, I am going to do my 4 way split, Sunday, Wednesday, Saturday and next Sunday. So tomorrow is chest and back, then either hams or calves and shoulders Wednesday. This will be high volume 12 rep week. A low rep (8-10 with heavy weights) week is coming sometime soon. I haven't done this since September, but mentally I am not ready to hop right into this next week.

Getting bigger is a battle and the weapon is my fork.

"The harder I work, the luckier I get"- Jenny Lynn

Egoatdoor

Sunday's workout: Chest and back. High volume. 12 reps. 3 working sets per exercise. 5 exercises for chest, 6 for back. 45 second rest periods.

Chest:
Smith Machine Incline Press 75x12 90x12 100x12
Incline Flyes 30x12 40x12 45x12
DB Bench Press 35x12 45x12 50x12
Smith Machine Low Incline Press 95x12 115x12 125x12
Compound set of Cables Crossovers and Weighted Dips:
Cable Crosses 30x12 40x12 40x12 Weighted Dips 5x8 10x6 10x4

Back:
Deadlifts 155x12 205x12 215x12
Reverse Grip Bent BB Rows 115x12 140x12 155x12
Weighted Pullups 10x8 15x7 20x7
Close Grip Pulls to Front 60x12 90x12 110x12
Seated Low Cable Rows 75x12 95x12 105x12
Weighted Hyperextensions 5x8 10x12 25x8

Good workout. Glad to be back after 3 days off from weights.
Tuesday morning is cardio, then calves and shoulders on Wednesday.

Nutrition:
It was a horse race the last two days, but I made my calories target of 4300 for the week. Calories: 4302 Protein 271 g(25%) Carbs 579(53%) Fat 105(22%)

Protein was up 20 grams from last week and carbs down 22. I had alot of chicken, bluefish, turkey ( Thanksgiving and then leftovers) and additional protein drinks this week.

Target this week is 4330, up 30. This is starting week 6 of 13 for the building phase. I've sensed a bit of a plateau the last couple of weeks, but some of it may have been due to stress and/or an overtrained condition. If I still sense that I'm stagnated this time next week, I'll boost the calories by a larger increment.

Getting bigger is a battle and the weapon is my fork.

"The harder I work, the luckier I get"- Jenny Lynn

Journey

Your so dedicated.. I love it!

Egoatdoor

Tuesday cardio: 30 minutes of moderate intensity intervals on the treadmill. Worked up to 4.3 MPH. I got up late, so I skipped my step ups afterwards.

Wednesday's workout: Calves and shoulders, high volume training, 12 reps, not training to failure. 45 second rest periods.

Calves:
Seated Calf Raises 4 working sets 25x12 35x12 40x12 45x12
Weighted Calf Raises on hack squat( a new exercise. more on this later) 25x12 45x12 55x12
Toe Presses on Leg Press 4 working sets 250x12 320x12 350x12 370x12

Shoulders:
Smith Machine Military Press 60x12 70x12 75x12
Clean and Press 65x12 75x12 80x12( this was difficult)
Wide Grip Upright Rows 50x12 55x12 60x12
Seated Side Laterals 10x12 12x12 15x12 20x12
Rear Laterals 5 working sets 15x12 20x12 25x12 25x12 25x12
DB Shrugs 35x12 40x12 45x12

Calf workout was OK, pump was not the greatest. Delt workout was much better.
Weighted Calf Raises: I don't like the standing calf machine there because it does not allow a full range of motion. Doing calf raises on the Smith Machine using a step is my alternative, but I still wanted to do something where I felt it more in the calves. I had been looking at Emery Miller's website( she won the middleweight title at the NPC Nationals a couple of weeks ago) last weekend and she mentioned that she did calf raises weighted by plates hanging from a belt. This gave me an idea and on Sunday, I experimented with this standing on a platform, under the Smith Machine and standing on the hack machine platform facing the machine with my feet hanging over the edge of the platform. I felt a real burn on the last one, got a full range of motion and the plates did not get in the way like they did on the deadlift platform. So today I did this new exercise. The last set with 45 and 10 pound plates was not too hard, so I will go up the next time.

I weighed in at 191 1/2 Wednesday, up 3/4 from last week.

Doing a second cardio session Friday morning. Next week is looking very busy and I may not be able to do cardio again until next Friday.

Getting bigger is a battle and the weapon is my fork.

"The harder I work, the luckier I get"- Jenny Lynn

kim

You are so disciplinated and have so great workout Ego. Wow eating 4300 calories a day Where do you put all those food I find hard sometimes eating around 2000 calories when I'm able to do it. It's hard packing so much calories when it's almost only clean food.

Ego, you are right now adding lbm, right, how many times cardio's a week a you doing. From now I'm doing nothing for cardio's, well I hate it so much, but I guess it will be better if I do some, right.

Have a great training day tomorrow.

[b]kim - Fit by 43

Egoatdoor

It wasn't hard once I got used to it starting 4 years ago when I decided I had to get bigger. It does take discipline and having enough time to take 20-30 minutes sometimes to eat a meal. I usually eat 5 full meals on weekdays plus 2-3 "snacks" which are generally protein bars, whey drinks or servings of dry cereal like shredded wheat or some nuts. I'm not constricted by my job on weekends, so I may get in 6 meals 2 1/2 hours or so apart.

I'm fortunate too that I am generally very hungry in the morning and eat a large breakfast ( and if its after morning cardio, its REALLY BIG), then a protein bar 90 minutes later and sometimes a protein drink 90 minutes after that. I also work only 7 minutes from home, so I can go home for lunch and prepare a full meal there also.Thus, I am getting alot of calories in the first 8 hours of the day and not having to eat a ton at night,which helps keep the body fat in check.

The buffet lunches once or twice a week that I mentioned at the start of the Journal also help. On those days, my caloric intake is usually closer to 5000, so I can slack off one or two other days and still hit the 4300 average.

A big issue is the cost. My monthly food bill runs $250-275. Add $36 for the buffets and then supplements like whey powder, creatine, glutamine and vitamins and its a pretty hefty monthly bill. I'm glad I have a good paying job so I can afford this expensive hobby and also one where I am sitting most of the time in an office so I can discreetly get my snacks in during the day.
I'm a guy with a fast metabolism, so it may be a different, but my diet is not all "clean" during the offseason. First, if it was, my food bill would be much much higher and possibly unaffordable. I do include a good amount of lean red meat( much cheaper per serving than chicken and turkey), red potatoes ( a relatively inexpensive complex carb), a good amount of pasta and some cheat stuff that is not too bad for a fast metabolic bodybuilder such as fig newtons, graham crackers and either low carb ice cream or frozen yogurt. I also use the post workout "90 minute" window when the body needs simple carbs to start the healing process to throw in alot of simple carbs like fruit, bagels, potatoes and the ice cream stuff. Now, of course, when I go into a "cutting phase" starting in late January, the "cheat stuff" is gradually eliminated and the last few weeks are extremely "clean". I find it is much easier to maintain the discipline of a clean diet and do not suffer from cravings during the cutting period when I am not being too restrictive in what I eat the rest of the time.
I generally do cardio once a week during the offseason and then start gradually increasing it to 3, 4 or possibly 5 days during the cutting phase. But I also play it somewhat by ear in the offseason based on my schedule, how I feel and how I look in the mirror. I will add a second session some weeks, like this week. I did not start doing cardio in the offseason until the spring of 2002 and I have found it both boosts my metabolism in the offseason( so I don't have to be so "strict" on the diet) and keeps me leaner overall so that I can do my cutting in both a shorter period of time and can cut the calories in a much smaller and more gradual fashion. Before that I was being measured at bodyfats in the mid teens at my "fattest" point. Now its 11% or 12% at worst.

My advice if you hate it, but want to do it anyway in the offseason, is to keep the sessions short, but intense and also mix in some things that are different or fun. I really don't like it either and if I spent more than 30 minutes on say the treadmill, I'd be ready to kill somebody. Mine are generally 15 -25 minutes. If I do 30, its low intensity.

Getting bigger is a battle and the weapon is my fork.

"The harder I work, the luckier I get"- Jenny Lynn

Egoatdoor

Friday morning cardio: Walking 20 minutes of high intensity intervals. Worked up to 5.1 MPH which may have been the fastest I've gone in that gym. Finished with 4 minutes of step ups on a platform using 15 lb and then 5 lb DBs.

Saturday is chest ,bis and abs. Off now to eat my last meal, need 500 calories. Then to bed at midnight, up at 7, in the gym by 8:30.

Getting bigger is a battle and the weapon is my fork.

"The harder I work, the luckier I get"- Jenny Lynn

Egoatdoor

Saturday's workout: Chest, biceps and abs. High volume training. 12 rep sets. 45 second breaks.

Chest:
Incline DB Presses 30x12 40x12 50x12
Low Incline DB Press 40x12 45x12 55x12 60x12( this was a hard set)
Weighted Dips 10x5 10x5 10x3
Incline Flyes 30x12 40x12 45x9
Bench Press 105x12 115x12 120x9

Biceps:
EZ Bar Curls 55x12 65x12 70x12
Incline Curls 10x12 12x12 15x12
EZ Bar Preacher Curls 35x12 40x12 45x12
Hammer Curls 10x12 20x12 25x12

Abs: Decline Bench Sit Ups, Hanging Leg Raises, Oblique Crunches and Broom stick Twists

Legs and triceps on Sunday. Quads are looking pretty big and cut, possibly due to the extra cardio day this week, two days of deadlifts recently and doing clean and presses on Wednesday. I have not done a 20 rep leg day in a month. Since I will be doing at least one week of low reps starting next week, I am going to do a 20 rep leg day tomorrow instead of 12.

I did my monthly food shopping at BJ's tonight and surprised myself. I found two Christmas gifts there when I wasn't expecting it and saved myself some hassle next week. I'm getting all of my Christmas shopping done next Friday and Saturday and I really hate the malls, so the less I have to find there the better.

Getting bigger is a battle and the weapon is my fork.

"The harder I work, the luckier I get"- Jenny Lynn

shutupntra1n

Hi

I was looking here and was excited to see that your work outs remind me of some, actually a lot of mine. Boy we would make a good team

The 4 set/12 rep work outs worked well for me. Now I always do 4 sets unless I just want to shock the muscle for a change of pace and with few exceptions like abs. Nice journal btw. Very thorough and well maintained.

LAM

what don't like like shopping at KOP ? ha..ha..I hate that place I feel like a rat in a maze...

nice journal, keep up the good work !

Dumbest statement made in the Anabolic Zone for Nov

TBD

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What you talking about Willis ?

Egoatdoor

Thanks. Yours is good too.

Team, huh? We could call ourselves " The LA Fitness Twins."

Getting bigger is a battle and the weapon is my fork.

"The harder I work, the luckier I get"- Jenny Lynn

Egoatdoor

Thanks for the compliment.

On the mall, yes it is King of Prussia and everything sucks about it...the traffic, the parking ( last year I got there at 9AM on a weekday and still ended up walking a half mile it seemed ) and the crowds. And believe it not, the closer one at Plymouth Meeting is even worse.

Getting bigger is a battle and the weapon is my fork.

"The harder I work, the luckier I get"- Jenny Lynn

shutupntra1n

Hi
When do we get some pics

Egoatdoor

Sunday's workout: Legs and triceps. High volume. 20 reps, 60 second breaks on legs, 12 reps, 45 seconds on triceps.

Calves:
Weighted Calf Raises on hack squat 7 working sets
Toes pointed straight 20x20 30x20 40x20 45x20
Toes pointed in 50x20 60x15 50x15
Seated Calf Raises 15x20 20x20 25x20

Hamstrings:
DB Stiff Deadlifts 20x20 25x20 25x16 15x20 8x20
Seated Leg Curls 20x20 25x20 30x20

Quads:
Squats 115x20 135x20 145x20
Leg Press 150x20 170x20 190x20
Hack Squat 120x20 130x20 130x20( this set was really hard the last 5 reps)
DB Lunges onto a step 8x15 10x15 with each leg

Triceps:
Lying Extensions w/ EZ Curl Bar 45x12 55x12 60x12
DB Overhead Extensions(two hands) 30x12 50x12 55x12
Pushdowns 90x12 110x12 120x12
Close Grip Bench Press 65x12 85x12 105x12

This was an Energizer Bunny workout...I kept going on and on...11 working sets on quads with little rest between sets..finish the set, add new weight, take a breath and start the next set. After hacks, I was a bit dizzy and rested a couple of minutes before finishing with lunges. I also never do that many sets on tris. I had worked them yesterday doing chest and by the time I got to close grip benches, they were fried.

Did some posing after legs and had really good definition. The vastus medialis( the "teardrop" ) and vastus lateralis( the outer muscle) were clearly visible and separated which is unusual for me at 191 pounds and bodyfat in the double digits. Had decent, but not great hamstring/quad separation in side poses. I think the high reps today and the second day of cardio Friday helped with all of this definition.

This week is high weight, low reps (8-10). Its a Max OT format. On each exercise, 1 to 2 warm ups with light weights, an "acclimation set" with moderate weight and then two working sets with heavy weights, the last set to failure, sometimes with a spotter to help. Goal on last set is to add weight or reps to what I did the last one or two times I did this program. I do not do this program often. The last times were one week at the end of August and two weeks at the beginning of July. It will be interesting to see if I have increased my top end strength the last three months.

My schedule this week will be challenging for workouts and eating. I am on the road for work most of Monday and Tuesday, including a very late Tuesday afternoon appointment. This is my massage week, but my Monday night session is an hour later than usual. So, I can't get to bed early enough for Tuesday cardio and I may get home late on Tuesday, so Wednesday morning is also out. Right now, I plan to workout Wednesday night, do cardio Friday morning, Christmas shop late morning and early afternoon, train Friday night, off for more shopping on Saturday and train Sunday morning. I will adjust Friday and Saturday if I have to.

Nutrition:
Made my target of 4330. Actual numbers: Calories 4347, protein 248 grams(23%), carbs 595 (54%) and fat 115(23%). Protein was down from the week before, carbs up and so was fat. More red meat, including homemade tacos for dinner a couple of days this week, and I was bad at the buffet Friday night with some pot roast, french fries and fried shrimp . There was some good fat as I am adding flaxseed oil ( 130 calories, 14 grams of fat) to my protein drinks to help get the calorie count up.

Target this week is another 30 calories to 4380. Its going to be a challenge as I will be running around a lot on Monday, Tuesday and Friday.

Getting bigger is a battle and the weapon is my fork.

"The harder I work, the luckier I get"- Jenny Lynn

LAM

Isn't the Exton Mall closer than Plymouth Meeting ? I was there last month, they have changed that place a lot since I moved...

Dumbest statement made in the Anabolic Zone for Nov

TBD

-----------------------------------------------------

What you talking about Willis ?

kim

I can't help, but ,I just love reading your log journal's with your reflexion on everything. Keep your good job and rock the sky by 45, but I guess you did already rock it

[b]kim - Fit by 43