M.J.H.'s Journal: Baby Got Back + P/RR/S

[Stewart14]

so you do arm exercises the following day after upper body compounds? How does that work for you long term? I would think that the arm exercises would eventually suffer since you are using them so much for the movements the day before, and vice versa, but I've never done it, so I wouldn't know.

 

[M.J.H.]

Stewart
Yeah that's the way that the creator of the program always suggested doing arms. I have always enjoyed it because leg day is certainly not my favorite day and being able to throw in some biceps or triceps makes it all that more enjoyable.

 

[M.J.H.]

Thursday; 6-7-2007


Vertical Push/Pull - Power

Standing Military Presses
185 x 4
185 x 4
185 x 4
185 x 4

Pull-Ups
+90 x 3
+90 x 3
+45 x 5
+45 x 5

DB Lateral Raises
45's x 5
45's x 5
45's x 5
45's x 5

Crossbench DB Pullovers
110 x 4
110 x 4
110 x 4

Upright Rows
155 x 6
155 x 6
155 x 6
155 x 6

BTN Cable Pulldowns
190 x 4
190 x 4
190 x 4
190 x 3

Cardio
10 minutes of incline walking on the treadmill.


Diet- Still very clean, today was somewhat all over the place but not bad. Last night I had a few beers but nothing too big of a deal. Overall very high in protein, so far so good.

Sleep- 7 hours.

 

[Gallaman]

Nice workout M. Looks eerily similiar to mine...

I was thinking of going for another shoulder/lat grouping, but stopped with two exercises for each. On a better day I would have gone for it but work kicked my ass today - but it was still a solid session.

How do you like those upright rows? My shoulders feel to vulnerable to try them out.

 

[PhreEkGarden]

Question for you MJH, or anyone that might have advice on this...

Im doing a ME upper,ME deads,RE upper,ME squats rotation. Its working really well and ive been doing 3rm's on squat day, and 3x8 atg squats after 3rm deads. I really just began westside so I havent even done a deload yet, but my deads and bench are fine, squats are still going up, I just feel like the squats are taking somewhat of a toll on my body. Was kind of wondering what I should do? Switch exercises? What exercises do you recommend for squats? Hope thats clear enough... any advice is appreciated.

 

[Stewart14]

Question for you MJH, or anyone that might have advice on this...

Im doing a ME upper,ME deads,RE upper,ME squats rotation. Its working really well and ive been doing 3rm's on squat day, and 3x8 atg squats after 3rm deads. I really just began westside so I havent even done a deload yet, but my deads and bench are fine, squats are still going up, I just feel like the squats are taking somewhat of a toll on my body. Was kind of wondering what I should do? Switch exercises? What exercises do you recommend for squats? Hope thats clear enough... any advice is appreciated.

I think that is the reason Westside has you combine ME Squat/DL into one day and alternate exercises. Squats and deads are too similar to be maxing on weekly, IMO.

Maybe just try sticking to the basics, do a ME bench day, a RE upper, ME lower and RE Lower. For ME lower, you can do squats, box squats, deads, sumo deads, trap bar deads, good mornings, etc., then on RE lower day do your 3x8 squats, 3x8 RDL or SLDL, hypers, abs, etc.

Just a suggestion

 

[M.J.H.]

Gallaman
Hey man, I usually do around 3 exercises for each bodypart on each day, give or take. I really like upright rows I've never had a problem with them, sometimes I feel like my wrists are going to pop though, the heavier I go. Yeah training 3 days on / 1 off definitely takes a little getting used to, but I think once I'm into the swing of it, I'll be fine.

PhreEkGarden
I'm not too sure what you mean, dude, sorry. From what I can tell from your post it looks like you might be overdoing ME workouts. Doing three ME workouts and just one RE session seems like it could quicky lead to CNS overload and/or overtraining. I know my CNS couldn't take all the 1RM's, that's for sure. I always liked putting an ME and DE/RE day together, and then a rest day following that. So I would have a heavy day, a light day, and a rest day, before another heavy day. I would give that a shot and see what you think of it.

Stewart
Couldn't have said it better myself, bro.

 

[PhreEkGarden]

Thanks guys, I was thinking about getting rid of an ME day. I got the 2 ME day idea from a writeup over on bb.com. It seems a bit much though. I made some good gains on it but I think I better back it off before I start going overboard.

 

[Stewart14]

Thanks guys, I was thinking about getting rid of an ME day. I got the 2 ME day idea from a writeup over on bb.com. It seems a bit much though. I made some good gains on it but I think I better back it off before I start going overboard.

thats what always happens...you start something new with what seems like a lot of volume and intensity and you get through the first week or 2 and the numbers keep going up, but by the end of that second week you start to feel fatigued or beat up, even if your numbers are still going up.

 

[Fitgirl70]

Mornin' MJ

 

[M.J.H.]

PhreEkGarden
Yeah for an advanced lifter from time to time, I don't think it would be an issue. But on a regular basis doing three ME days instead of two I think would be very detrimental. See how it goes in the next few weeks and maybe try and design your ME days more efficiently.

Stewart
Agreed. As soon as I radically change something I always notice a nice improvement at first, but then will of course burn out. Hence why I'm hoping for great results with P/RR/S.

Fitgirl
Afternoon, Fitgirl!

 

[M.J.H.]

Friday; 6-8-2007


Rest

Cardio
(4) ~80-yard uphill sprints + (2) ~120-yard uphill sprints.


Diet- Clean, the usual. Maybe a bit high in calories lately because the last few nights I've had a few beers in addition to what I normally eat. Today my carbs are real low probably under ~50g or so all day.

Sleep- 6 hours. Couldn't fall back asleep this morning! After the wifey woke me up with a favor you would think I'd pass right back out, but I couldn't!

 

[nads786]

wassup mj i finally registered for this site

 

[bigb21]

same here.. cool site bro.. im gonna have to put a journal up myself... and 50 carbs bro.. wayyy to low...

 

[M.J.H.]

nads
Thanks for stopping by, bro. Yeah I'm going to be keeping my journal over here from now on.

bigb
Hey man, yeah you'll like it here. It's a much smaller forum and everyone knows each other a lot more. Definitely start up a journal here so I can take a look at it.

 

[M.J.H.]

Saturday; 6-9-2007


Hamstring Dominant Legs - Power

Deadlifts
495 x 3
565 x 2
545 x 2
515 x 3

So f-cking pissed today about my deadlift strength, not sure what happened here. I tried 565 lbs. today for a triple and only managed to get a double. I'll have the video up hopefully later tonight. Pulled 565 for a double in flip flops, which looked kind of funny. I was all sh-tfaced at the gym today, which was probably why my strength was down. I was 2 beers under, a few bowl packs, and a pain killer.

Skullcrushers
145 x 6
145 x 6
145 x 6
165 x 2! PR

Not sure if this was a PR or not, but I was taking the bar down to my forehead / eyes instead of my neck, like I normally do.

DB SLDL
120's x 5
120's x 5
120's x 5

One-Arm DB French Presses
50 x 4/4! PR
50 x 3/3
40 x 6/6

Leg Extensions
Stack x 6
Stack x 6
Stack x 6
Stack x 6

Cable Crunches
Stack x 20
Stack x 20

Cardio
10 minutes of climbing the stairmaster.


Diet- Been pretty clean lately, a lot of Michelob Ultra it seems lately. But for the most part, most of my calories are clean.

Sleep- 7 hours.

 

[M.J.H.]

Sunday; 6-10-2007


Horizontal Push/Pull - Rep Range

Not a bad session today, really seemed to get a good workout overall. I really like the rep range workouts, they seem to really exhaust each muscle group completely. Going from pretty heavy to fairly light, in the same workout.

Incline DB Presses
100's x 8
100's x 8
100's x 7

Bentover Rows
275 x 7
275 x 7
275 x 6

Decline Bench Presses
225 x 10
225 x 10

Support Rows
145 x 10
145 x 9

Flat DB Flyes
40's x 12
40's x 12

Rope Cable Rows
160 x 12
160 x 12

Cable Crossovers
50 x 17
50 x 15

Seated Bentover DB Rows
50's x 15
50's x 14

Cable Crunches
Stack x 15
Stack x 15

Cardio
10 minutes of climbing the stairmaster.


Diet- Clean, the usual. Drank quite a few beers last night, but overall not really bad at all. So far today it's been good, too.

Sleep- 9 hours.

 

[M.J.H.]

Random back picture that I snapped at the gym today, lol.

 

[M.J.H.]

And here's what seated bentover DB rows look like, I really like them. I've only done them a few times in the past but they're a nice burnout exercise, even though the ROM is so short:

YouTube Video

 

[Gallaman]

Sunday; 6-10-2007


Horizontal Push/Pull - Rep Range

Not a bad session today, really seemed to get a good workout overall. I really like the rep range workouts, they seem to really exhaust each muscle group completely. Going from pretty heavy to fairly light, in the same workout.

Incline DB Presses
100's x 8
100's x 8
100's x 7

Bentover Rows
275 x 7
275 x 7
275 x 6

Decline Bench Presses
225 x 10
225 x 10

Support Rows
145 x 10
145 x 9

Flat DB Flyes
40's x 12
40's x 12

Rope Cable Rows
160 x 12
160 x 12

Cable Crossovers
50 x 17
50 x 15

Seated Bentover DB Rows
50's x 15
50's x 14

Cable Crunches
Stack x 15
Stack x 15

Cardio
10 minutes of climbing the stairmaster.


Diet- Clean, the usual. Drank quite a few beers last night, but overall not really bad at all. So far today it's been good, too.

Sleep- 9 hours.

Crap, it was a rep range workout today? I did another horizontal push/pull power workout. I figured a week's worth of workouts (constituting 7 full days) and then changing to RR or S. I know doing it this way wouldn't get each of the 4 workouts equally in each rep range but with the 3 on 1 off split I figured it was best to take it the full week and split it up?

 

[M.J.H.]

Gallaman
Yeah dude, sorry I guess I should have clarified. With P/RR/S according to the article it's a power week, rep range week, and then shock week. But the way that I'm doing the split, it's only really a 4-day rotation, so my power cycle only lasts maybe 4-5 days, etc. I guess you could do two power workouts, two rep range workouts, then two shock workouts, if you wanted. I just think two power sessions in a row would burn me out, fairly quickly.

 

[Gallaman]

Gallaman
Yeah dude, sorry I guess I should have clarified. With P/RR/S according to the article it's a power week, rep range week, and then shock week. But the way that I'm doing the split, it's only really a 4-day rotation, so my power cycle only lasts maybe 4-5 days, etc. I guess you could do two power workouts, two rep range workouts, then two shock workouts, if you wanted. I just think two power sessions in a row would burn me out, fairly quickly.

Ok I need to decide what to do then with this. I'll probably switch right away to a rep range workout tomorrow and for the next 3 workouts instead of trying another power week.

 

[M.J.H.]

Gallaman
Yeah dude, definitely switch to rep range week, I think it would be the best idea. The way I laid it out instead of taking 3 weeks for each cycle you get through a full P/RR/S cycle in just over 2 weeks. So this way at least you're regularly changing things up, etc. So far no complaints about the program, you'll really like the rep range workouts.

 

[AKIRA]

Boy did I make a mistake coming into here when I am thinking of losing weight!

Lot of good numbers there, but "i thought youd be bigger."

Ill have to check these "ghetto vids" when I get home.

When you say Support Rows...what are they?

I finished P/RR/S a couple of months ago. Very fun program. I just disagreed INCREDIBLY with the tempo that is writeen for the Power weeks.

 

[AKIRA]

That dip vid, that looks like 90lbs. Is that 90lbs + your weight? Wait, no...what the fuck I am confused. I didnt think you were swinging though.

The T-bar rows are heavier than I can do, but if the range of motion is truely that short, I just wouldnt even do them.

This was a good workout for you, I am sure the lifts were done well within your limits. I only say that because I do feel that on some of your videos (deadlifts not withstanding) you did not use very good form in an effort to get big numbers. The dips and ghetto rows come to mind the most. Now, since you deadlift so well, I am sure your low back must be like a piece of steel by now, so you can afford to try some of these weights, but I kept getting the feeling that you were gonna snap your back on the rows, and what's with the swinging dips? you had like a half rom on those dips.

I am not trying to discredit you, but I think I do agree with one of the comments posted on one of your videos about why you aren't as jacked up as you should be, and I think a lot of it has to do with your form.

Where is that deadlift vid?

 

[M.J.H.]

AKIRA
Hey dude, thanks for stopping by. I'm not really too sure what you guys mean, I guess just that with a 650 lbs. deadlift you would expect a physique closer to a competing bodybuilding? Considering that I've never done an anabolic cycle it's pretty difficult to keep your bodyfat % under 10%, and keep that much size. I'm pretty happy around 210 lbs., honestly.

Anyway, back to your questions. I'm going to see if I can find a video of support rows, I know I've taken one before. They're basically done with your chest against a bench, and it's a plate loaded apparatus.

In regards to my dips, when I say +90, that's 90 lbs. in addition to my bodyweight. If you saw the +200 or +225 dips, I was using 100 lbs. plates, and that's why it may look deceiving. Here's a video of 4 plates, or +180 lbs., for a double I believe.

YouTube Video

And about my deadlift, I am not sure what you're asking about it, either. Here is a deadlift video of 635 lbs. for a single, I'm not sure which one you're talking about.

YouTube Video

And here's 645 lbs. for a single, which looks like it comes up even easier than 635 lbs., lol.

YouTube Video

Finally, here's a picture of what support rows look like. I can't find the video of me doing them.

 

[yellowmoomba]

Nice Dead! You're a frickin' MONSTER!!!!

 

[AKIRA]

I figured thats what a supported row was. Its also called a spider row. I do them now cuz of my herniated disk. Deadlifts are cake compared to bent over rows. Weird.

Good Deads!

 

[AKIRA]

AKIRA
Hey dude, thanks for stopping by. I'm not really too sure what you guys mean, I guess just that with a 650 lbs. deadlift you would expect a physique closer to a competing bodybuilding? Considering that I've never done an anabolic cycle it's pretty difficult to keep your bodyfat % under 10%, and keep that much size. I'm pretty happy around 210 lbs., honestly.



In regards to my dips, when I say +90, that's 90 lbs. in addition to my bodyweight. If you saw the +200 or +225 dips, I was using 100 lbs. plates, and that's why it may look deceiving. Here's a video of 4 plates, or +180 lbs., for a double I believe.

I didnt think youd have a bodybulder physique at all with those numbers. I would expect a physique found in the strongman contests. Ya know, real huge, but not pretty?

Your set up for the dips is what really convinced me they were 45s. I havent seen 100lb plates in a while, but you seemed to shrug 2 of them into place?

When I setup for dips, I kneel or sit down and wrap the belt around me first, slide the chain through the plates then make the connection. Its annoying sometimes cuz the loop I need to hook onto sometimes falls backwards and I have to start over. But since the plates are standing instead of stacked, its not too bad. After its hooked, I more or less squat the weighted plates up. I wouldnt ever step into the already setup belt and just shrug them up. Not that I could, but cuz it might make my shirt come up and pants fall down!