MonStar's Journal: Absolute Dedication

[M.J.H.]

sara- LOL, just because I always make the stupidest faces in the world when I am doing any kind of posing! I don't even know what I do it, I really don't mean to. I don't mind posting videos, etc. But when it comes to progress pictures it drives me crazy to be making a stupid looking face, lol.

 

[sara]

ok
by the way.. you look great

 

[atherjen]

ewwwwwwwww sweatyyy again!!! Jk! looking great as always! appearing a bit leaner too! and that back shot- is just something else! (dont argue with me)

Nice workout too!! considering you didnt have that much sleep the nite before!! I bet my 5lb'rs would have felt like boulders if I tryed to train!
those dips!!! I suck.. lol way to go!

 

[Monolith]

Lookin solid, Mon.

How long till you try for 625 again?

 

[ncgirl21]

You know your face is too good looking to black out Be careful and have fun!!

 

[Saturday Fever]

Good lifting. Very good session considering the rest and such.

 

[M.J.H.]

sara- Thanks a lot for the support, I really appreciate it a lot.

Jen- Yeah I tried something new for the back shot, and as usual, I am sweaty, lol. I am glad to finally be here in Virginia Beach though. The trip was somewhat of a pain in the a*s. I hate driving by myself. I was really pleased with my dips and DB flyes in last night's workout. I am off to the gym in a few minutes now to do my pull session. I can't wait to workout at Bally's!

Monolith- Hey man, thanks for the post. I can't wait to try 625 again. I am not sure yet when I am going to try again. Hopefully before I end my S1+ cycle. Last night I really felt a difference. I am not sure how to explain it. I just felt unusually strong, etc.

Andrea- Aww, thanks so much. It's definitely nice to finally be here in Virginia Beach.

SF- Thanks man, appreciate it. Yeah considering the lack of sleep and everything like that, I was definitely pleased with my workout last night.

 

[M.J.H.]

Here are the videos from last night's workout. A dips, a DB flyes, and a skullcrushers video. Sorry that the videos ended up coming out so dark. They are here with the rest of my training videos:

http://www.ironmagazineforums.com/temp/Monstar/

 

[Monolith]

Awesome vids... especially the flys. Damn dude, i cant even press 90's, forget about that.

The skullcrushers looked like the way i do CG bench, tho... is that on purpose? Or have i been doing CG bench wrong this whole time?

 

[Flex]

nice lifts bro....

i see you're into that LIGHT WEIGHT like me

 

[stencil]

I love that dips video - it cracks me up because of the way one has to walk with those weights hanging between your legs. I use the same weight belt at my gym and I feel like such a dork hobbling around between sets. Good stuff.

 

[Saturday Fever]

He mentioned doing skulls to the neck. That creates more of a pressing movement. The other way you may have seen them done, or done them, is to keep your elbow and shoulder in a straight up-n-down line and just let your wrists descend to your forehead and back up.

 

[M.J.H.]

Monolith- Thanks a lot for the support man, really really appreciate it. Yeah I was definitely happy with my new PR on DB flyes, wasn't too bad at all. The skullcrushers are a variation of skullcrushers that I always do. Instead of lowering the bar to the top of your head I lower it to my neck. Basically lets you use your pecs a little and I can handle a lot more weight than I can with regular skulls.

Flex- Yeah, I love lifting light.

stencil- LOL, that's always just hilarious to me. The way you have to walk. Always exhausts my legs walking around with all that weight strapped around my waist. It was friggin' exhausting trying to pull +185 yesterday around my waist. Doing dips with the weight was cake compared to all the energy I had to expend getting the damn weight around my waist, lol. Thanks for the post.

SF- Thanks for helping clarify, man.

 

[M.J.H.]

Monday, 4-26-2004

Diet:
- MRP + 2% milk
- Balance Gold bar, Advant Edge bar
- 3 breaded chicken strips, breaded chicken sandwich
- peanuts
- chicken & rice, apple
- whey protein + 2% milk
- Gatorade during workout, whey protein postworkout
- breaded chicken
- chicken salad sandwich
- 1/2 peanut butter sandwich

Pretty good amount of food today I think, not too bad at all. Ended up today with roughly 4,700 calories and 360g protein. Not bad.

Sleep: 7 hours. Woke up once but that wasn't my fault. Took ZMA before bed, by the way.

Weight: 227 lbs. I was definitely surprised at my weight here at Bally???s tonight. I am not sure what I expected, maybe low 220???s. Maybe this S1+ is finally kicking in.

Wanted to note that I today I drove down to Virginia Beach! This is where I am originally from and I came down to look at some colleges and apartments, and maybe apply for a few jobs. I am probably going to be living here starting this summer. So trying to figure out where I am going to work, live, etc. One really nice thing is that my dad has a lifetime membership to Bally???s Total Fitness that is somehow transferable to me. So I am glad I don???t have to pay for a gym membership.

Pull

Hammer Strength Low Rows
100x12, 190x10, 280x8, 370x6, 240x14

Bentover Rows
305x3, 305x3, 305x3, 305x3, 305x3, 305x3, 305x3, 305x3

CG Cable Rows
200x12, 200x12, 200x12, 200x12

Concentration Curls
40x12, 40x12, 40x12

Hammer Curls
Dropset: 50x10, 40x10, 30x10, 20x22

Worked out at Bally???s Total Fitness today here in Virginia Beach. Eh, not the greatest workout tonight at all. Felt like I really messed up my shoulders, I am not sure what happened. I think my rotator cuffs were a little stressed from yesterday???s heavy dips. But still that???s no excuse for lack of focus and all that today in the gym. Started off with Hammer Strenght isolateral low rows. Not my favorite exercise in the world, basically just did them for a change. Worked up to 4 plates on each side for 6. Not bad. My heaviest set here today though really seemed to beat the hell out of my rotator cuffs. Felt a sharp pain in them after the set.

Moved onto bentover rows with 8 sets of 3 with 305. Not too bad I guess, I don???t know. Used some body English on the last few sets. Used a double overhand shoulder-width grip and did these pretty much Yates style. I have not done bentover rows in a long time, so I am just starting to get back into them again. These were really hard on my rotator cuffs, damnit. Finished up my lats tonight with CG cable rows. Used the entire stack which here at Bally???s was only 200 lbs. Who knows why it doesn???t go heavier??? Anyway, great sets. Those 4 sets of 12 of cable rows probably hit my lats harder than the first 2 exercises. At least in terms of my upper back feeling absolutely trashed.

Biceps today I tried to keep it fairly simple. Basically because I was out of energy, my shoulders hurt, etc. Hit 3 sets of 12 with the 40???s on concentration curls, biceps looked pretty damn good. Vascularity in my biceps is really impressing me lately. I don???t know how I seem to getting more and more vascular. Then finished up with a dropset in hammer curls, which was extremely intense. Nice way to finish up my workout.

Day 20 of S1+ today. Honestly, I mean I think I am noticing somewhat of a difference. But in terms of some huge dramatic change in my workouts, strength, etc.---I can't say that's happening at all. I mean I really have to consider that during all this I have upped my calories some, and drastically upped my protein intake. So I am honestly not sure what to think. I mean I can't say that I am dissapointed or impressed with S1+ yet. I am currently doing 7/8 sprays 2x per day. So I am not dosing low at all.

 

[Monolith]

305lb bent rows are nothin to frown at.

And careful with that rotator... the last thing you wanna do is injure that, especially in the middle of your cycle.

 

[M.J.H.]

Monolith- Eh, I wasn't all that pleased today with my strength on bentover rows. Not necessarily because its a sh*tty amount of weight but more because I didn't feel all that strong doing them, etc. Oh well. Yeah, I definitely need to be extremely careful with my rotator cuffs, I cannot afford to get injured anytime in the near future.

 

[atherjen]

yikes!! take it easy on those rotators!!
and those bent over rows are great!! wether u think so or not.
glad to see that you think the S1 is kicking in ! good to see the increase in food and protein as well.
damn good deal for Ballys! Have some good workouts there this weekend a fun time overall!

 

[yellowmoomba]

Nice Videos!!

Those deads are impressive!!

 

[GRIFF]

257 replies!? Where the hell have I been!? I'm totally out of the loop, I'll have to check out those videos when I get home so I can rip on your form and call you a pussy, haha j/k bro, workouts are looking reeeeeal nice. Good to see the weight bumpin up huh? Gotta be packin on the good stuff, thats what I like to see.

 

[AnnaDTX]

Hey babe, nice videos!! Looking good!

 

[M.J.H.]

Jen- Yeah I am definitely going to be careful with my damn rotator cuffs. I am always worried about getting injured. I guess because that's honestly the absolute worst thing that could happen to me its always just something I kind of fear is going to happen. I think as long as I train carefully, etc. I should be fine, though. My bentover rows were okay I guess. I honestly wasn't too happy with them, for whatever reason. Thanks for the support!

yellowmoomba- Thanks for the support man, really appreciate it. Yeah I just really want to hit 625 now. Thats honestly what my main focus is. Thanks again though man for chiming in. Nice to see a new face.

GRIFF- LOL, yeah man definitely check out the videos. I absolutely love taking videos. Especially in my basement because its just so damn easy, convenient, etc. The DB flyes and skullcrushers video though is dark, so it's kinda' hard to see. You would never guess I had 3 different lights on, lol.

Anna- Hey there, thanks so much for the support! Havn't seen you around here in a while.

 

[AnnaDTX]

Hon, I am on here, I just don't post anything yet. I am to busy reading and reading.

 

[Saturday Fever]

Good session. The bentover rows will pay off big time in the end. They're such a good lift to help so many other body parts.

 

[ncgirl21]

Hey! Looks good in here like always! Nice workout- so I take your enjoying Ballys? Congrats on getting to 227!!

 

[M.J.H.]

Anna- Oh okay, feel free to ask questions, or make any comments. Nice to see that you're reading regularly though.

SF- Yeah man, I really really like bentover rows. They're just so damn exhausting. I did 1 of those 8 sets with an underhand grip and for whatever reason, now, I can't stand them with anything but an overhand grip. Before I used to love a double underhand grip, funny how things change.

Andrea- Thanks so much for the support! Yeah I am really enjoying my training at Bally's. It's definitely a nice gym. Yeah I can't believe I got up to 227 yesterday. I am curious what I weigh today. I am going look at a few places today for a new creatine product, SAN V-12. We'll see if I can find it.

 

[Saturday Fever]

I am curious what I weigh today.

Let's race to 240. I'm 230 today.

 

[M.J.H.]

SF- LOL, that's not a good idea. Because I could honestly get up to 240 in a day or two just by stuffing my face with everything in site. I think strength races are definitely a better idea.

Maybe we should race to a triple BW deadlift?

 

[Sapphire]

I figured I would check out YOUR journal and say HI!!!

 

[M.J.H.]

Sapphire- Thanks for checking out my journal, I really appreciate it. Always nice to see new faces.

 

[M.J.H.]

Tuesday, 4-27-2004

Diet:
- MRP + 1% milk, peanut butter toast
- apple
- cottage cheese + peaches
- Command bar, low-carb cookie
- Powerade during workout, whey protein postworkout
- lettuce wraps, sweet & sour chicken, brown rice, 2 martinis
- whey protein + 1% milk
- whole-wheat tuna sandwich

Diet was okay today I guess. Went to a restaurant that I have never been to P.F. Chang???s, a Chinese restaurant that is excellent. Some of the best Chinese, or maybe food in general that I have ever had. Ended up getting 2 mixed drinks, lol, oh well. They were light not too heavy at all, so they couldn???t have been too high in calories.

Ended up with around 4,600 calories, and about 330g or more of protein.

Sleep: 7 hours. Woke up once but that wasn't my fault. Took ZMA before bed, by the way.

Weight: 227 lbs.

Legs

Sumo Deadlifts (3??? extended ROM)
135x3, 225x3, 315x2, 405x1, 495x1, 545x1!, 565x0

ATF Squats
315x2, 315x2, 315x2, 315x2, 315x2, 315x2, 315x2, 315x2, 385x1!

Leg Extensions
255x10, 255x10
Dropset: 255x8, 225x6, 180x6, 120x6

Seated Calf Raises
180x20, 180x20, 270x15, 270x15, 180x30, 180x30

Wow, absolutely GREAT workout today. One of the best workouts that I have had in a long, long time. Started off with sumo stance deadlifts, but I did them with an extended ROM. Underneath each foot I stacked two 25???s, that are each 1.5??? wide. This really put a lot more stress on my lower back and helped me strength off the floor a good bit. Worked up to 495 which was honestly tough as hell coming off the gorund. Then I moved onto 545 which was just painful, lol. Right off the ground it wasn???t too bad, and then as I came up it wasn???t too too bad. 565 I couldn???t even budge off the floor at all, whatever. Pulling 545 with an extended ROM felt awesome.

Moved onto ATF squats, which I have NEVER done before today. And I have to say, that I absolutely fell in love with them. I went deeper than I have EVER squatted before in my life, and it felt friggin??? awesome. Used a closer stance for me feet which was definitely something that I am not accustomed to. Went all the way down real deep and felt very very strong in this exercise. Ended up doing 8 sets of 2 with 315, and then hit 385 for a single. Finished up with some leg extensions, on some piece of sh*t Life Fitness machine, I prefer Nautilus by far. Quads got an INSANE pump, however. Then seated calf raises, nothing exciting.

---Bought and started some SAN V-12 today. Going to be taking a scoop of that in my Gatorade/Powerade while I train rather than my regular creatine. I am not sure if this has anything to with my workout today being absolutely incredible or what. But I felt great. Pump in my quads was insane, pump in my calves was also insane. So far I am loving this stuff!

Also, I want to add that I moved my 500mg of usnic acid to before bed, instead of preworkout. I really think that it was making my lethargic, etc.

Day 21 of S1+. Honestly, today, I am not sure it was because of the V-12 or what, but I feel GREAT. I mean better than I have felt in a long time. My intensity and focus at the gym was insane. Just overall today I feel incredible. I am still doing 7 sprays 2x per day.