Thread: my first 1ad/4ad cycle!

Originally Posted by stoned_free

i've enclosed some pics of my quads and calves, and any [positive] critiquing/ suggestions are welcome. i've been doing gvt for my quads and hams, and they loved it so much that they decided to grow an inch, but progress has been slowing, and i'm ready for a change. my calves have always been relatively big due to genetics. without any direct work, they're 14inches in circumfrence while relaxed, but i'm about to throw in some calf raises in order to spark some new growth. and again, thanks for all the advice, it is much appreciated

Its hard to make a definitive judgement without a full body shot, but it looks like your legs are a pretty good size compared to your upper body. And as someone with genetically challenged calves, I'd kill for yours...LOL. If my judgement is accurate, you appear to have very good genetics as a potential bodybuilder if you want to go that route(or else just a legend with the girls at the local beach). You have the leg part of the "x" down and getting the waist down should not be hard long term. You need to really work on getting that upper body wider.

so are you saying i should ditch the twice a week workouts? i just got done doing a lower body workout right now, and i did the half the volume of what i normally do, so i'll probably still have to do another leg workout later on this week. i'll definitely take your advice and follow the back/delt routine you gave me. how's this for a new split? mon: chest/bi's, tues: thighs/calves, wed: off, thurs: delts/traps/tri's, fri: back. i don't plan on becoming a pro in the future, i'm just looking to get big AND symmetrical, not just big and bulky. and i must say, even though i only started lifting after high school to get bigger, everytime i get asked to flex by the ladies, and whenever they tell me things like, "whoa, you're getting big", or "let me feel your arms" it definitely pushes me to keep on lifting . of course i know i'm nowhere near huge, but hey, who am i to tell them otherwise, lol. but seriously, i'm glad i've come a long way from weighing 115, 11% bf in high school with 12.5 inch arms, to 147, with 14.25 inch arms and the same size waist.

i've decided to post my workout progression in my log, so feel free to make suggestions where you see fit. today was chest/biceps day, and it was definitely one of my best chest workouts ever!
*note* i always do two warmup sets with 50 and 60% of my load, and one weight acclimation set

flat barbell bench: 155x6, 160x6, 165x6
incline barbell bench: 115x8, 135x6, 135x4
dips: b.w.x8, b.w.x9, b.w.x10

dumbell curls: 40x6, 42.5x4, 42.5x4
barbell curls: 65x8, 70x6, 70x6

on the flat bench, my plan was to do 3 sets of 155x6, but i was feeling stronger than ever, and knew i could do more, so i added 2.5 on each side on each set. i didn't reach failure on any of my sets, but i'm sure on my last set i could pushed one more. so far that's a 20lb. increase on my 6rep max!
today was my first day doing incline with a barbell, so i wasn't sure where i was at, last time i tried was about 3 months ago, and i was only able to hit 135x4. again, on my last set i could have definitely popped off two more, but decided against it because the platform where i rest my feet was beginning to slip out. ( i have to setup bricks to place my feet on when i bench because i'm a little guy, and my legs just dangle off the edge of my bench, lol, my home gym is hella ghetto).
i'm going to start adding weight on the dips, cause they're getting too easy with my bodyweight. dips are one of my favorite chest exercises. i love the stretch they give me.

my reps on the dumbell curls were a little low, but that's because i can normally do 40x8, but i feel a plateau coming on, so i tried upping the weight.
my barbell curl strength is about the same, but i feel a slight increase coming about, so i think i'm going start devoting my energy on that while i rest of the dumbell curls for awhile. meanwhile, i'm going to need another exercise to replace the db curls. any suggestions? i was think preacher curls.

today was a shoulder/traps/triceps, and i had one helluva workout! i took ego's advice on the shoulder exercises, and they were definitely killler! my workout went as follows:

overhead db press: 50x8, 50x6, 50x6
widegrip upright rows: 75x10, 80x8, 85x6
seated lateral raises: 15x8, 15x8, 15x6
reardelt lateral raises: 27.5x8, 27.5x8, 27.5x8
barbell shrugs: 185x12, 205x10, 225x6

closegrip benchpress: 135x6, 135x6, 135x6
skullcrushers: 65x10, 70x6, 70x7

i pulled out 2 extra reps on my first of db presses, but was only able to do my planned 6 on the next two, next time i will shoot for 3 sets of 7. i was definitely able to feel the upright rows, and next time i will up the whole pyramid by 5lbs. doing the lateral raises seated is ALOT different than standing, and i first attempted 20lbs, but had to lower the weight down, cause i couldn't even get a single rep in. the 15's felt nice, and next time, i wil shoot for 3 sets of 8. since the start of my cycle, my reardelt has continued to get stronger, and they're definitely starting to stand out now. i'm going to knock out 3 sets of 8 with 30lbs. next time. on my last set of shrugs, my forearms gave out before my traps, but it was still a 10lb. increase from last week's workout, so i'm not complaining.
i've seem to have plateaued on the close grip bench presses, but i've increased my 6 rep max by 20lbs since the start of cycle. i'm beginning to gain strength on the skullcrushers, so i'm going to make that my first tricep exercise, and pyramid up the weight. and since i'm ditching the closegrip presses for now, i'm going to start doing pressdowns as my second tricep exercise.

all in all, i had a great workout today, my shoulders were pumped so bad that it hurt, but damn it felt good! tommorrows back day, and right now, it's time to rest and eat like a maniac

just finished a back workout, and right now it feels like i really gave my lats hell! this has to have been one of the most focused back workouts i've ever endured, because i'm determined to bring them out and get my x-frame going! anyway, here's what i busted out today:

weighted chins: bw+5lbs x 6, bw+10lbs x 4, bw+15lbs x 3
deadlifts: 185x12, 215x10, 250x6!
reverse grip rows: 125x8, 115x10, 115x10
closegrip pulldowns: 85x10, 95x8, 100x6

normally i could do more reps with weighted chins, but this time i kept my elbows out and locked, stabalized my lowerbody completely, and focuses solely on my lats, and i've never felt them work harder! other times i would let my elbows in and let my biceps assist me and/or let my legs sway a bit in order to squeeze in a few extra reps, but really, i've been cheating myself. i haven't deadlifted in about a month, so i started low, but i ended up setting a new personal record, and it was also the first time i tried them from a platform, so i'm feeling hella good about that. it took me awhile to get a feel for the reverse grip rows on the first set, but after lowering the weight a bit and adjusting my stance, i was able to take my biceps out. they felt great because not only did i feel them in my lower lats, but my rhomboids and middle traps were burning more than ever! the pulldown station on my home gym is a little sketchy, and only fits 100lbs, but the unlubricated pulley which likes to stick in certain areas probably adds a few more lbs. of resistance. besides, by the time i got to them, my lats were fried...

i'm going to be making my lats my new priority, because honestly, they're lagging. but anyway, right now they're screaming at me for a chicken breast with brown rice, so gotta give them what they want. this weekend is off for me, but maybe i'll throw in some clean cardio or a hiit session, depending on how i feel. and again, if anybody has any suggestions or comments, feel free to let me know!

Great job with those last two workouts and congrats on the personal best on deadlifts.

ego, thank a lot man, especially for the new delt/back exercises .

here are my weekly progress pics. i've decided to start taking full body shots, in order to gain a better grasp of my proportions and trouble/lagging areas.

some more pics. i moved my calories down a bit, cause the fat gain started coming in finally, so i actually didn't gain any weight this week, but i did get harder all around, and gained some serious definition in a weeks time, and my belly circumfrence went down a half inch, my bicep and forearm (both relaxed) gained 1/8 of an inch, and so did my quads. the callipers read 7% bf. i swear this stuff is amazing!

today was chest/biceps day, and it was fuckin amazing!!! i blew away last weeks sets on all my chest lifts, and and made some decent weight increases on my biceps.
flat bench: 160x6, 165x6, 175x6!!
incline bench:115x10, 135x6, 145x5!
dips: bwx10, bwx10, bwx10

barbell curls: 60x10, 70x8, 75x6
db preacher curls: 22.5x10, 27.5x6, 32.5x4-17.5x8 (dropset)

i uppped my 6rep max for flat bench by 30lbs. during my cycle, and i couldn't be happier. i also went up 10lbs. on my incline bench. dips remained consistent. but i figured since i also slapped on 20lbs. of bodyweight, that's like increasing the weight .
i upped my 6rep max on barbell curls by 5lbs. as well, which is pretty decent for one week's time imo. and this was my first time doing preacher curls in over a year, and they felt extremely nice during the stretch. i threw in the dropset because i knew this was going to be my last workout on androgens, so i thought i'd make the most of it.

hey everybody. sorry for the delayed update, but my cycle ended last saturday, and i ended up at 148 lbs. and 8% bf, for a total of 20 lbs gained in 8 weeks. that's 17.12 lbs of lean mass, which i happen to be quite content with. strength was incredible. monday i benched 185 for 4 reps, and i'm in pct, so that's great, and yesterday my squats went up to 205, 8 reps ass to grass! i'm confident that i can keep most if not all my gains by the end of pct. i'll post my results after pct, which will be in 4 weeks. by the way, i'm on nolva, metacort, e/c/y, alcar, and creatine right now. the nolva at 30mg weeks 1-2, 20mg week 3, 10mg week 4, and the metacort at 5 pumps a day. i haven't experienced any losses in libido, and the ecy is helping to combat the lethargy. strength is rising still, so that's a plus. i have pics from last saturday, which i'll have uploaded by friday. so until then.

S, You're making good progress. Its great to see somebody here really improving as you have.

hey everybody, i know these update pics are a bit late, but my camera erased my pics from the end of my cycle, so i took some yesterday. today i weighed in at 150!!! my bench is at 185x3, shoulder press at 55x6, deadlift is 265x6, and today i squated 225x6, and did stiff-legged deadlifts at 225x6. so strength hasn't gone down, but it has plateaued. and i'm still gaining. pct hasn't been as rough as i thought. i'm currently taking metacort (5 sprays daily), creatine, aakg (although i haven't noticed any difference with it), alcar, nac, milk thistle, ala, and some e/c. anyway, here are my most recent pics.

more pics

Your back looks much better....wider and even some nice definition too...shoulders are also a bit wider. Good job.

If you feel that your lifts start to plateau, don't be afraid to take a week or two and switch to higher reps, say 10 or 12. Drop the weights a bit, but keep them challenging. This will work different muscle fibers and could kick the body into a another growth spurt because you have surprised it with a change of pace so that the body gets out of its low rep comfort zone.

I also remember seeing that you were hitting the wall on dumbbell curls I think. The bis are a small muscle and constantly increasing the weight on a low rep routine can be hard without getting into excessive cheating. An option is to a drop set on your last set( I think you did do that one day on side laterals?). Do as many reps as you can with the higher weight, then grab a dumbbell at half the weight and do more reps until you totally fail, focusing on contracting the bis hard on each rep. This will extend the intensity beyond what you could have done by just stopping when you failed at the higher weight.

hey, i'm back. it's been two months since my last update, becaues i got pretty fat during pct... and was embarassed to post any pics, but i just finished a quick mini cut and feel more confident about putting up some pics. anyway, my new stats are:
150lbs., not sure about bf% because i lost my callipers, 15"arms, 22"quads, 30"waist.
Bench:205x4, Row:185x4, Squat: 235x5, Deadlift:275x4 from a 6" platform
i'm pleased with my results and continuted to grow in size and strength during pct, which came as a surprise. right now my focus is on maintaining my weight while dropping some bf percentage for summer. i will be starting a new journal for that, so please, any advice would again be appreciated.