MonStar's Journal: Absolute Dedication

[M.J.H.]

SF- Okay man, sounds good to me. Yeah I really think that the longer I hold off on testing my bench 1RM the better. When I was trying to hit a new PR all the time on bench my bench just wouldn't budge at all. CG's are definitely great, I mean don't get me wrong I enjoy them, they just take some getting used to that's all. Since I have started your program man I really think my triceps have started growing, by the way.

 

[Saturday Fever]

Well, when I say close-grip I mean hands in the smooth at the center of the bar, but just barely. For me, and the bars I use, that puts my hands about 6-8" apart. If you're going closer than that, you may want to widen a bit. Shoot for 6-8" apart.

 

[M.J.H.]

SF- When I do close-grips I usually do them with either 3 fingers or 2 fingers in the smooth. Just so you have an idea of what kind of grip I am using. Usually that's around 8" apart I would say, something along those lines. I am not going THAT close, just close enough that I can easily tuck my elbows underneath the bar, etc.

 

[Saturday Fever]

Do squats for your main lift. And SLDL for high/low on the 2nd exercise. You can do squats to below parallel, above parallel, or whatever. We're going to use squats to get your deadlift up.

 

[M.J.H.]

SF- LOL! This is friggin' insane, I went to the gym before reading your post because I wanted to get it out of the way early today. And as I was driving to the gym I was thinking, I wonder what SF would have recommended me to do? And I kept throwing around ideas in my head. Finally I decided to do box squats for my max-effort lift followed by SLDL as my high/low exercise. Is that crazy or what, lol?

 

[M.J.H.]

Friday, 5-14-2004

Diet:
- MRP + 2% milk, apple
- Gatorade during workout, whey protein postworkout
- whey protein + 2% milk, 1/2 peanut butter sandwich
- grilled chicken sandwich
- homestyle chicken sandwich, 2 glasses of wine, sex on the beach, caramel apple margarita

Eh, some mixed drinks tonight! Diet wasn't too too bad overall.

Sleep: 8.5 hours. F*cking constantly woke up last night. I started 500mg of usnic acid again before bed, this could have been it, who knows. Maybe M1T and usnic acid are not the best combination. I just need to lean up, its f*cking hot out, and I pigged out last night like some fat a*s slob, godd*mnit.

Weight: 230 lbs. This is absolutely f*cking ridiculous. 5 lbs. weight gain in one godd*mn day? That's absurd. I am cleaning my diet up, no more junk, no more heavy alcoholic drinks, etc. Jesus.

Lower Body 1

Box Squats
135x3, 225x3, 315x3, 365x2, 455x1!, 475x1!

SLDL
425x2, 425x2, 425x2, 425x2, 405x3, 405x3, 475x1

Cable Pull-Throughs
200x12, 200x12

V-Bar Cable Pulldowns
260x3, 260x3, 260x3, 260x3, 260x3, 260x3

Hammer Curls
Dropset: 50x10, 40x10, 30x10, 20x10

Nautilus Pullovers
220x12, 220x12

Wow, GREAT workout today! Honestly I was a little lethargic during this workout, but that didn't stop me from setting some PR's, etc. Ended up hitting a 30 lbs. PR for squats today, off the box. Really really pleased with my strength off the box. My previous PR was 445. First I hit 455 which came up like nothing at all. Then 475. 475 honestly was really really smooth. I loaded up 500, and was going to try and nail that, but I decided to hold off. I need to keep my squatting confidence up and if I would have missed 500 my confidence in my squatting strength would have dropped, for whatever reason.

SLDL's were really good today, hit my hamstrings and glutes hard, along with my lower back. Pull-throughs were pretty good, only did 2 sets instead of 3, my lower back was starting to ache pretty bad. Did high/low today with CG pulldowns, which were really good. Hit my lats hard, etc. Good slow negative, which was good. Dropset with hammers killed my friggin' biceps, ouch. Finished up with 2 sets of pullovers, good slow reps hittin' my lats hard. Overall workout was good.

Day 12 of M1T, still taking 15mg per day. Not sure if I should stop after 2 weeks or continue into week 3. I added 500mg of usnic acid before bed, because I really need to tighten up my midsection, its friggin' summer now, I can't be flabby anymore.

 

[Saturday Fever]

Box Squats
135x3, 225x3, 315x3, 365x2, 455x1!, 475x1!

SLDL
425x2, 425x2, 425x2, 425x2, 405x3, 405x3, 475x1

Oh yeah. We've got to get you into a groove with your squatting. They're going to be the key to putting your deadlift up to 700 by the end of the year. Let's stick with a squat theme for a bit. Same type of thing we did with deads. Let's do squats way too deep and let's do squats not going deep enough for the next couple weeks.

Suspended squats or suspended good mornings would be a good one to throw in the mix as well. I get the feeling that once you're out of the hole you're good to go.

Great session.

SF- LOL! This is friggin' insane, I went to the gym before reading your post because I wanted to get it out of the way early today. And as I was driving to the gym I was thinking, I wonder what SF would have recommended me to do? And I kept throwing around ideas in my head. Finally I decided to do box squats for my max-effort lift followed by SLDL as my high/low exercise. Is that crazy or what, lol?

Perhaps there's some psychic craziness going down here.

 

[X Ring]

Jesus!! You are a freakin animal!!!

5lbs in one day is easy. you are on m1t and you ate a lot. I can change 3-5 lbs per day easy enough. more if I really try. and that is up or down although it is easier to go up

 

[M.J.H.]

SF- Okay man, you layout what you want me to do and I'll go to the gym and do, you know that. I can definitely get into the groove with squatting. I love squatting ATF, and I absolutely love box squats. I am starting to enjoy them more and more. I really want to squat 500+ in the next few months. We'll see what happens. Deadlift 700 is just friggin' insane. When I hit 675 I am going to sh*t my f*cking pants. But yeah, there is some kind of telepathy going on here, lol. Next session is going to be Upper2 on Sunday, so do you have anything in mind?

BTW, I am thinking about some floor presses maybe? Havn't done them in a long time.

X Ring- Thanks man. Yeah I just hate seeing myself gain so much weight, especially when I was already feeling flabby. Really need to tighten up some, no matter what. I mean I want to continue adding strength, but my midsection is just flabbier than ever, and it's f*cking summer time.

 

[Saturday Fever]

3 sets of 20 with DBs for your first lift, followed by either a floor press to a 1RM or Close-grip Decline Lockouts to a 1RM as your 2nd lift. After that just the usual bit.

The DBs will exhaust your shoulders real quick doing 20 reps and will put a lot of stress on the triceps, which will aid lockout strength. You should feel sufficiently dead by the time you get to your 2nd lift.

You might want to grab a set of smaller DBs and do a warmup set of 20 to give yourself an idea which DBs to use for your 3 sets, since it's important you hit 20 reps each set.

 

[M.J.H.]

SF- Okay man, 3 sets of 20 with DB's on what though? Flat DB presses? Swiss ball DB presses? Seated overhead DB presses? Should I be shooting for failure by the 20th rep? I am probably going to do floor presses to a 1RM, see what kind of weight I can throw around for them.

 

[Saturday Fever]

Flat DB Press, sorry. The thing to focus on is getting 20 reps. If you almost fail, that's cool, just do it on the 20th rep.

 

[atherjen]

EXcellENT box squats Mike!!
thats alota weight on SL deads too! crazie!
Im sure with SF's help and whatnot you can hit those huge PR's your aiming for by the end of the year, if not sooner!


ohh.. and dont feel bad, 5lbs? I can easily gain 8 or so overnight from a huge cheat! goes straight on my ass and legs! love being a woman!!
CUT back on the drinking mister!!

 

[PreMier]

Originally posted by atherjen

CUT back on the drinking mister!!

Definately. Alcohol is seriously inhibiting your progress IMO. Especially being on a PS.

Do what you must, but just want you to be careful. M-1T is very hepatoxic, and you should not be drinking much. Have you had your BP checked? Or bloodwork done?

 

[M.J.H.]

SF- Okay man, will do. Thanks.

Jen- Thanks for the support. I really really need to start seriously cutting back on my drinking. I keep questioning why I am not losing fat but at the same time I keep forgetting that I have been drinking on a regular friggin' basis for a while now. That's really gotta' be cut back a lot, damnit.

PreMier- Nah man, never had blood pressure checked, at all. Maybe I should consider getting this checked. I have been drinking a good bit while on M1T, damnit. I know thats not a good idea. F*ck me.

 

[M.J.H.]

Saturday, 5-15-2004

Diet:
- whey protein + 2% milk
- Pure Protein bar
- turkey & cheese sub, breaded chicken, strawberry daiquiri
- turkey burger, salad with vinegarette dressing, long island iced tea, sex on the beach
- tuna & cheese sub, Balance Gold bar
- whey protein + 2% milk

Diet sucked today, I was at the beach all day. Roughly around 300g of protein, and about 4.2K calories I think, I am not sure. As you can see some mixed drinks throughout the day.

Sleep: 6 hours. Busy.

Rest

Went to the beach today for my rest day. I think I needed this rest day. Aching all over, pretty much. Nothing extreme but I really just need to be careful lifting this heavy I think. Lately my elbows, wrists, knees, lower back, etc. have been giving me a hard time. Nothing too bad at this point but some mild aches and pains here and there that I really do not want to see get any worse.

Day 13 of M1T. Still taking 15mg per day. Going to change that to 20mg starting on day 15, and continue that for the duration of week 3 and then I'll be finished my M1T cycle. All I have to say at this point is that M1T is great stuff. Its such a small tablet, but it's so f*cking potent, and I absolutely love it. I am going to do another M1T cycle after I run my PCT.

 

[Saturday Fever]

Stop drinking. I consider you a good friend so I don't hesistate AT ALL when I say stop. The only thing making you sore or hindering you at all are the drinks.

 

[M.J.H.]

SF- I know man, and thanks, I appreciate it. I am really going to try and limit it to once or twice per week. Lately it has been all the friggin' time, and it's really starting to get out of control. I am really getting sick of it, seriously. I just go out and the next thing I know is I am drinking like crazy. And I wonder why I am having such a hard time losing any fat!

 

[atherjen]

I miss the ol booze free Mikey I agree with SF..
ask yourself.. do you NEED the liquer to have a good time?????

 

[M.J.H.]

Jen- It's almost crazy that I used to NEVER drink a few months ago. I don't know what the hell got into me. I mean I have a great time when I drink, I just think that I really need to limit myself on how often I drink, and what exactly I drink. I mean God knows how many grams of sugar/fat are in a mudslide, lol. But honestly, I have a good time whether I drink or not. So it's not like I drink to have a good time, if you know what I mean. It just relaxes me, and all that good stuff.

 

[Monolith]

Stick to cocaine instead, it's healthier.

 

[M.J.H.]

Monolith- I'll pass on that, especially considering that I just found out one of my friends is in rehab for it.

 

[M.J.H.]

Sunday, 5-16-2004

Diet:
- whey protein, peanut butter toast
- turkey & cheese sandwich
- meatball sub, melon, peaches
- EAS AdvantEdge bar, Balance Gold bar
- MRP + 2% milk
- Gatorade during workout, whey protein postworkout
- chicken lettuce wraps, 2 chicken breasts + tomatoes, green beans

Really really trying to clean my diet up. Today I felt flabbier than I have in months and months. Weighing 230 lbs. is not going to cut it, unfortunately. Ended up with roughly 4.4K calories today I would say, and about 300g of protein.

Sleep: 2.5 hours, once again, busy. Really need to get some more sleep. Need to focus on getting my alcohol down and my sleep up.

Weight: 230 lbs. This is just ridiculous, I feel so godd*mn flabby at this point it's making me sick. Honestly, it's summer time, and I feel fatter than ever.

Upper Body 2

Flat DB Presses
60x20, 60x20, 60x20

Floor Presses
135x3, 225x3, 275x2, 315x1, 325x1, 345x0

Tate Presses
60x8, 60x8, 60x8, 60x8, 60x8, 60x8, 60x8, 60x8

Seated French Presses
125x7, 125x7

DB Lateral Raises
50x7, 50x7, 40x16!

Good workout today I think, no the greatest though honestly. Again, the start of my workout was somewhat lagging, and then as the workout progressed my intensity got higher and higher. Started off with flat DB presses, 3 sets of 20. Good sets, by the 17th or 18th rep I was really feeling it. Moved onto floor presses that I absolutely sucked on. Was extremely weak, I am not sure why. I think because I couldn't arch my back, and when my elbows touched the floor I think I lost all of my momentum. Oh well.

Tate presses were really really good! I absolutely love doing them. Hit 8 sets of 8 with the 60's, no too bad at all if you ask me. Form was flawless on these sets. Hit some French presses afterwards, triceps were toast. 2 sets of 7 kicked them in the a*s. Finally finished up with some DB laterals, hit a nice PR of the 40's for 16. That's really not an impressive PR, but it was just a VERY intense set, so it's a PR in my book.

Day 14 of M1T, today is my last day of 15mg per day. I am going to bump my dosage up to 20mg for this final week, and then run my 6-OXO. I am really hoping for some good gains this last week. Going to focus on keeping my alcohol down and my sleep up, and my workouts very intense, so stay tuned.

 

[Saturday Fever]

Floor press is nuts because it's real variable to the CNS. Your body isn't familiar with lifting weight lying on the floor and it just goes nuts on you. Good lifting. The sets of 20 look great, that's a tough lift.

 

[Monolith]

Originally posted by MonStar
Monolith- I'll pass on that, especially considering that I just found out one of my friends is in rehab for it.

Ahh... sorry to hear.

Workouts lookin good, though!

 

[M.J.H.]

SF- I have to agree completely man, floor presses kicked my f*cking a*s yesterday, damnit. Really pissed me off because I expected to hit 345. Got halfway up and just, couldn't finish it. Oh well. Any thoughts for my next Upper1 session?

Monolith- Thanks man.

 

[M.J.H.]

Monday, 5-17-2004

Diet:
- MRP + 2% milk, apple
- Gatorade during workout, whey protein postworkout
- whey protein + 2% milk
- tuna sandwich, apple sauce
- celery + peanut butter
- tuna salad
- Healthy Choice ice-cream
- 1/2 peanut butter sandwich

Diet was okay today, not too bad. Ended up with roughly 4K calories today I think, maybe a little more. Also around 270g of protein. Low in protein, damnit. Oh well.

Sleep: 7 + 1 hours. Kind of confusing. Fell asleep then woke up and then went back to bed, etc. etc. Getting busy, yet again. So no complaints.

Weight: 228 lbs.

Lower Body 2

Speed Deadlifts
385x2, 385x2, 385x2, 385x2, 385x2, 435x1, 435x1, 435x1

Box Squats (above parallel)
135x3, 225x3, 315x2, 405x1, 495x1, 545x0

Nautilus Leg Extensions
250x12, 250x12, 250x12, 250x12

V-Bar Cable Rows
260x10, 260x10, 260x10

Support Rows
210x12, 210x12, 210x12

Eh, okay workout today. Really felt extremely foggy minded and lethargic. Couldn't focus to save my friggin' life. I don't know what my problem was today, honestly. Whatever. Speed deads were pretty good. First single with 435 was very quick, smooth, lockout was strong. The next 2 I just couldn't get in the groove, not sure what the problem was. Whatever it was, it was making 435 feel like 535, whatever. Moved onto partial ROM box squats, which pissed me off. Worked up to 495 for a single. 495 came up fairly easily, not too much effort at all. Then I did 545. As I came down and touched my a*s to the box with 545, the bar touched the safety pins and through my balance off completely. Frustrated, to say the least.

Moved onto leg extensions, not much to say. 4 sets of 12 with the stack, not too exciting. Cable rows and support rows for my lats to finish up my workout today. Pretty good sets I guess. Lats were fairly exhausted.

Stopped M1T today, and started 3 caps of 6-OXO 2x today. Going to do that for roughly 10 days and then do 10 days of 2 caps 2x per day, and finish up the last 10 days with 1 capsule 2x per day. We'll see how I feel at that point. Also starting to add usnic acid back into my supplement regimen, just because I weigh a flabby 228 lbs. and it's friggin' summer time. Ridiculous.

I was going to do a 3rd week of M1T, but I can't deal with the lethargy and foggy mindedness that goes along with the stuff. At least not at this point. The next time I run an M1T cycle I think I am going to combine it with 4AD and run it for 3 weeks.

 

[Saturday Fever]

Box Squats
135x3, 225x3, 315x3, 365x2, 455x1!, 475x1!

Box Squats (above parallel)
135x3, 225x3, 315x2, 405x1, 495x1

Looks just fine to me.

The speed deads with 435 probably could be avoided. At most you want to be doing 60% of your 1RM on speed days, but keep a good amount of work in the 50-55% range. But you still squatted 495 afterwards, so there's no reason to be displeased with the session at all.

Get angry when you start squatting below parallel.

 

[ncgirl21]

Hey Mike Hope your doing good!! Workouts still look great Getting pretty strong huh

Oh- FYI- mudslide:

http://www.bartenderscompanion.com/recipes/frozen-drinks/kahlua-mudslide.htm

Double the calorie content in that because at most restaurants they give you more than a 7 oz. drink.

 

[atherjen]

GRRR to you and your nice speed deads!!! wish I could even near pull close to that for conv. u suck. LOL