MonStar's Journal: Absolute Dedication

[PreMier]

It seems like your drinking MORE than one time a week Is this true?

 

[M.J.H.]

PreMier- Yeah it is true, unfortunately.

 

[M.J.H.]

Here is a link to the 2 t-bar row videos, the first is 305 for a triple, and the second is 345 for 4:

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

Just to give you an idea of my form, etc. I normally just load the weight with 45's, but in my basement I only have two 45's, and two 35's, lol, so there are four 25's loaded on as you will see, and for 345 there are an additional four 10 lbs. plates.

 

[PreMier]

Nice, thats exactly how I do them. What the hell is playing in the background? The TV? You need some Pantera or soem Metallica

You do know that alcohol decreases protein synthesis by 20%?

 

[M.J.H.]

PreMier- LOL, thats just the radio playing in the background. For some reason everyone seems to miss that I had on earphones and was listening to my MP3 player. I keep the radio on too so my family upstairs can't hear the weights getting slammed around, lol.

BTW, I didn't know that about alcohol. It actually pisses me off because lately I have been drinking way too damn much. And yeah, ghetto style t-bar rows are friggin' great.

 

[chiquita6683]

U ANIMAL!!!

owow!!! i just checked out ur video clips.......i didnt know u could putem on here? or how? oh well, no point in figureing it out, ill just let all the hot buff jocks like u keep em on here

 

[Saturday Fever]

Alcohol is bad, no doubt, but don't worry too much. Just keep it under control. Don't wake up and skip the gym because of a hangover.

 

[Sapphire]

I just looked at your clips too! Very cool!

 

[atherjen]

good work on those t bar rows! dang you always grunt that loud.. or just at home?
anyway that you can lighten the vids up some.. like turn on some lights in your basement? its hard to see anything!

 

[M.J.H.]

chiquita6683- Yeah I always get my videos uploaded on here, lol. I guess just because I like to give everyone an idea of what my form is like, etc. Thanks for the support, though.

SF- Yeah man, I agree with you. I definitely don't think that alcohol is a good thing at all, but then again at the same time I really don't think that it's the absolutely worst thing in the world, either.

Sapphire- Thanks so much!

Jen- I only ever make any kind of noise when I lift at home, lol. I absolutely hate when guys are grunting and making all these stupid sounds at the gym. If it's a maximal deadlift attempt it's one thing, but for DB kickbacks, please. Trust me, I have so many lights on in the basement it's ridiculous. For whatever reason my digital camera in my basement just sucks. Sorry.

 

[ncgirl21]

Nice video!

 

[M.J.H.]

Andrea- Thanks so much, lol. Sorry they're so dark, I really need to mess with the settings.

 

[M.J.H.]

Friday, 4-30-2004

Diet:
- whey protein
- peanut butter sandwich
- Powerade during workout, whey protein postworkout
- tuna & cheese sub
- turkey & cheese sandwich, peaches
- 1/2 turkey & cheese sandwich, apple
- Metrx bar, Balance Gold bar
- spicy breaded chicken
- tuna & cheese sub
- MRP + 1% milk

Took in a lot of food today, wow. Ended up with roughly 4.9K calories today, and around 370g or so of protein today. Again, just rough estimates, but in this ballpark, of course.

Sleep: 7 hours. Sh*tty sleep again, woke up a bunch of times unfortunately. Whatever.

---Didn't apply my 2nd application of S1+ yesterday, so I am going to try and do it 3x today. Also noticed an itchy rash I am developing. Who knows what the hell it could be from. Also missed my dose of ZMA before bad last night, damnit.

Legs

Speed Deadlifts
385x2, 385x2, 385x2, 385x2, 385x2, 385x2, 385x2, 385x2

SLDL
CAT: 275x10, 275x10, 275x8, 275x8, 275x7, 275x7

Leg Extensions
Dropset: 210x12, 180x12, 150x12, 120x12, 90x12

OUCH. Tough, tough, tough short leg session today. I am have some serious issues with my Prelude right now so unfortunately I couldn't actually make it to the gym. So I was forced to do some kind of sh*tty workout in my basement. Well, I made the most of what I had available, and beat the f*ck outta' my lower back and legs.

Started off with some speed deads, an exercise that I havn't really done since Westside for some reason. Trying to get back into them a little because I want to hit that 625 on deadlift, damnit. Hit up 8 sets of 2 with 385 which were pretty good I guess. Didn't use a belt or anything, and honestly 385 felt extremely light. For whatever reason whenever I deadlift in my basement it always feels like I am barely lifting anything at all, lol.

Then onto SLDL. These completely bent me over and gave it to me dry, LOL. Talk about an exercise kicking my f*cking a*s. I used the CAT principle but only did it to 50 reps, not 100. I was planning on going to 100. But after the first 2 sets of 10, I was friggin' destroyed. Nothing, and I mean nothing, is more physically exhausting for me than high-rep deadlifts. Took as little rest as possible between sets but that still was quite a while. By the 5th and 6th set I was so friggin' dead, I could barely even stand up straight, I had to sit down.

Finished up with a good dropset on leg extensions. Used the Paramount leg extension that I have in my basement. The ROM is awful on it, honestly, but it got the job done.

Day 24 of S1+. Like I said yesterday I only applied it once, so I am going to make an effort to apply it 3x today if I get the time. We'll see what happens. I really cannot be missing doses. I am also going to take a rest day tomorrow, I really need it. Today and yesterady my sleep has been less than I would like, so I definitely need it.

 

[Saturday Fever]

CAT done on compound lifts is a whole new world. It's brutally effective though. Be extra sure to consume 25-30 calories per pound of bodyweight today, your body is going to be in an extreme recovery mode.

The great part about CAT on compound lifts is that you're hitting so much so hard. Your erectors, your glutes, your hams ALL just got their asses kicked.

I'd say you deserve a rest day.

 

[Monolith]

Damn man, nice deads. Really awesome w/o you got there.

 

[M.J.H.]

SF- Yeah, I too feel that I deserve a rest day, lol. I beat myself so friggin' hard the past few days it's ridiculous. Especially yesterday, wow, I completely kicked myself in the a*s with all that heavy rowing. I really need to focus on calories, protein, and sleep at this point. And cutting back on the alcohol, that's for sure. I mean I never drink THAT much, but 2 nights in a row is just too much for me. I absolutely love CAT though, no matter how bad it kicks my a*s.

Monolith- Thanks man. Yeah I was pleased overall with my workout, honestly. I mean considering that I was training in my basement where it's almost impossible to get any kind of leg workout at all, I was pretty damn happy.

 

[Monolith]

So can you attribute any improved performance/gains to the S1+, yet?

 

[GRIFF]

Real nice workout bro, lookin awesome. Saw the videos today, all of them were very impressive, I especially like the 605 deadlift, very very impressive. Keep it up man!

 

[M.J.H.]

Monolith- Honestly man, I really can't attribute all that much to S1+ at all. Other than the simple fact that all of this time I have considerably upped my protein intake as well, along with my calories. So whether or not the S1+ is actually doing a whole lot is hard to say. I mean I have been training often, but I always do, my strength has been steadily increasing, but it always does, etc. I am still just waiting for the huge dramatic increase in size/strength that everyone in the reviews is talking about.

GRIFF- Thanks man, really appreciate the support. Yeah 605 was pretty good. I would love to get a 625 dealift video up in the next few weeks...

 

[Saturday Fever]

Drop the S1+ when your bottles are done, maintain the diet.

There are two things to consider.

1) Can you maintain the diet without the S1+?
2) If you can, are you still making the same progress?

Here's my honest opinion. You're 20 year old. Your test levels are just insane still. Abuse that to its fullest. I'm always more than happy to help.

 

[yellowmoomba]

Monstar -

Nice workout!

You are the king of breaded chicken!! Do you eat it everyday?? It seems like its in your diet every time I check

 

[M.J.H.]

SF- I actually stopped the S1+ as of yesterday. This rash on my upper arms, chest, traps, and delts is just out of control. The itching is way too intense to deal with, and I honestly don't think that the gains are worth the rash that I am experiencing. I am thinking about starting M1T in a few days, actually. But I am definitely going to be maintaining my diet, however. I am also taking into consideration that I am only 20, etc.

yellowmoomba- LOL, thanks man, and yes, I am the king of breaded chicken. I absolutely love breaded chicken. It's definitely something that I am a big fan of. I know its not as healthy as grilled chicken, but honestly there is no comparison in terms of taste.

 

[M.J.H.]

Saturday, 5-1-2004

Diet:
- whey protein + 1% milk
- tuna & cheese sub
- turkey & cheese sandwich, melon
- grilled chicken sandwich
- Metrx bar, Pure Protein bar
- orange chicken, rice, vegetables, wine
- banana, 1% milk

Diet was okay today, honestly a bit low I think in calories and protein. Ended up with roughly 4K calories, and around 300g of protein or so. Not too bad afterall.

Sleep: 7 hours.

Weight: 225 lbs.

Cardio

First thing this morning on an empty stomach I did 15 minutes of interval training on the treadmill, 1 minute of walking at 3.9 MPH followed by 1 minute of running at 8.1 MPH. I was going to do 20 minutes but for whatever reason I was completely exhausted, and out of time. Had no time at all to do abs. Oh well.

Stopped my S1+ as of yesterday. Developed an awful rash that pretty much left me no real choice except to stop. I am going to be taking 6-OXO today, tomorrow, and on Monday or Tuesday I am going to be starting M1T (Methyl-1-Testosterone). I am going ot be starting with 5mg 2x per day and then the following week up the dose to 5mg 3x per day.

 

[Saturday Fever]

Don't take M1T by itself. Take 600mg of 4AD with it everyday. Get some Nolva or Clomid to recover afterwards and don't even bother with 6OXO.

Think about it. M1T is not a prohormone. Your lifestyle will need to be adjusted for this.

 

[M.J.H.]

SF- Now I agree with man, that M1T is not a regular PH and I should adjust things. But I am going to try M1T by itself, since I have already been taking 1-test and 4-AD in the S1+. I just want to see how my body reacts to the different compounds. Honestly 1-test and 4-AD didn't do that much for me, so I want to take methyl-1-test exclusively to see how I respond to that.

But like I said in your PM, my training is right now, in your hands.

 

[Monolith]

Hey Mon... that 6oxo really wont do jack for the 3 or 4 days youre gonna be using it. IMO i think it would be best if you just kept using the S1+ until the M1T got here, rash or not.

 

[Saturday Fever]

You asked for it.

Upper Day 1
Flat Bench: sets of 3 to a 3RM
Close-grip Decline OR Dips: high/low like you do now
Triceps: 2-3 sets of 4-8 (skulls, etc)
Shoulders: 4 sets of 6 or 3 sets of 8 (heavy like a db press or uprights)
Shoulders: 2 sets of 12 (side laterals or front raise)

Lower Day 1
Squats/Deads/GoodAMs: to a 1RM (always mix it up)
Compound Assist: high/low (pick any leg lift you like. leg press, SLDL, etc)
Legs: 3 sets of 8 (prefer hamstrings here, hypers maybe?)
Back: 5 sets of 5 (rowing or chinning, etc)
Biceps: whatever you want

Upper Day 2
Close-grip Bench: sets of 5 to a 5RM
Rack Lockouts: to a 1RM (vary the lockout, 4", 6", etc)
Triceps: 6-8 sets of 6-10 (skulls, oh db press, etc)
Triceps: 2-3 sets of 6 (pushdowns, dips, etc)
Shoulders: 4 sets of 6 or 3 sets of 8 (side laterals or front raises)

Lower Day 2
Speed Work: 8 speed sets of 2 reps
Compound Assist: high/low (SLDL, Good AMs, etc)
Heavy Legs: 6 sets of 4 (leg press, etc)
Hamstrings: 4-6 sets of 6-10 reps
Heavy Back: 3-6 sets of 4-6 reps (rowing)
Heavy Back: 3 sets of 8 (chins, whatever)
Biceps: anything you want

 

[M.J.H.]

Monolith- Yeah man, I realized that 100%. So I am going to force myself to make the rash even worse by continue using the product, and hopefully eveything will be okay. We'll see what happens. I am going to use it tonight and tomorrow and hopefully the M1T will come in the mail on Monday, I got it overnighted here.

SF- Thanks so much man! I am going to have a few questions, as I am sure you know. Let me take one day at a time and as questions to make it easy. Also, I am thinking about running a 2 days on, 1 day off split. Sound okay?

Flat Bench: sets of 3 to a 3RM

Okay man, how do you want me to do this? Basically just pick a weight and every upper body 1 day increase the weight until I find my 3RM? Or just work up to my 3RM like this:

135x3, 185x3, 225x3, 275x3, 295x3

Is that what you're saying? So every time I do my upper body 1 session basically try and hit a new 3RM with flat BB presses, correct?

Close-grip Decline OR Dips: high/low like you do now

Just making sure you're talking about 8 sets of 2, or 10 sets of 1, etc. correct?

Triceps: 2-3 sets of 4-8 (skulls, etc)
Shoulders: 4 sets of 6 or 3 sets of 8 (heavy like a db press or uprights)
Shoulders: 2 sets of 12 (side laterals or front raise)

This is all pretty straight forward, but you might have to check out each individual workout.

Squats/Deads/GoodAMs: to a 1RM (always mix it up)

Okay so basically Westside style here, correct? Working up to a 1RM gradually increasing the weight, pyramid style, of course. Are you saying mix it up with only squat/deadlift/GM or are you saying change this exercise up completely with rack pulls, etc.?

Compound Assist: high/low (pick any leg lift you like. leg press, SLDL, etc)
Legs: 3 sets of 8 (prefer hamstrings here, hypers maybe?)
Back: 5 sets of 5 (rowing or chinning, etc)
Biceps: whatever you want

Okay this seems pretty straight forward, shouldn't be a problem at all. Basically high-set/low-rep for an accessory lift, followed by assistance work.

Close-grip Bench: sets of 5 to a 5RM

This would look more like this:

135x5, 185x5, 225x5, 255x5

Correct?

Rack Lockouts: to a 1RM (vary the lockout, 4", 6", etc)
Triceps: 6-8 sets of 6-10 (skulls, oh db press, etc)
Triceps: 2-3 sets of 6 (pushdowns, dips, etc)
Shoulders: 4 sets of 6 or 3 sets of 8 (side laterals or front raises)

Wow, so a bit more volume here for my triceps, okay seems simple enough.

Speed Work: 8 speed sets of 2 reps
Compound Assist: high/low (SLDL, Good AMs, etc)

Okay I am probably going to be alternated speed deadlifts with speed squats. And then the accessory lift I am assuming is just standard high-set/low-rep.

Heavy Legs: 6 sets of 4 (leg press, etc)
Hamstrings: 4-6 sets of 6-10 reps
Heavy Back: 3-6 sets of 4-6 reps (rowing)
Heavy Back: 3 sets of 8 (chins, whatever)
Biceps: anything you want

Again, all of this seems to be pretty straight forward.

BTW, stay tuned for Upper Body 1 tomorrow!

 

[Saturday Fever]

Okay man, how do you want me to do this? Basically just pick a weight and every upper body 1 day increase the weight until I find my 3RM? Or just work up to my 3RM like this:

135x3, 185x3, 225x3, 275x3, 295x3

Is that what you're saying? So every time I do my upper body 1 session basically try and hit a new 3RM with flat BB presses, correct?

Find your 3RM every time. Every so often we'll add twists to this to avoid CNS overtraining.

Just making sure you're talking about 8 sets of 2, or 10 sets of 1, etc. correct?

Yep.

Okay so basically Westside style here, correct? Working up to a 1RM gradually increasing the weight, pyramid style, of course. Are you saying mix it up with only squat/deadlift/GM or are you saying change this exercise up completely with rack pulls, etc.?

Everything. Sometimes full deads, sometimes squats to above parallel, sometimes Good AMs with a partial ROM, etc. The greatest variety in the routine will be here.

This would look more like this:

135x5, 185x5, 225x5, 255x5

Correct?

Yep, with twists added from time to time like the 3RM work.

Wow, so a bit more volume here for my triceps, okay seems simple enough.

Well, you want big arms, right?

Okay I am probably going to be alternated speed deadlifts with speed squats. And then the accessory lift I am assuming is just standard high-set/low-rep.

Correct. I'm looking forward to marking tomorrow's post to compare in a couple months.

 

[atherjen]

interesting... this I look forward to watchin progress!