MonStar's Journal: Another Walk On the Westside

[M.J.H.]

CowPimp: Hey man, I have actually noticed some fat-loss honestly. Little by little I feel like the fat is coming off. The sodium usinate I have been taking steadily at 200mg twice a day. I am just starting some Nolva today since I felt like I was experiencing some gyno. But we'll see how things go. I started off this journal weighing around 243 lbs. I think it was, and most recently I weighed myself at 228 lbs. So I am gradually dropping the weight. Thanks for asking, bud.

 

[Cold Iron]

Little by little, lol. Monstar, is such a modest man. His jounal is < 3 weeks old and he's lost 15 pounds already. Thats outstanding and ..actually even too quick of weight loss IMO

Good job though bud, Youre going to look amazing after your cut, you better post pix

 

[M.J.H.]

Cold Iron: Yeah, little by little is right bud. The first week I dropped 10 lbs. I think it was. But honestly, that's more because of all the water that I was retaining. I know for sure that if I was dropping just fat it would have been much less. The first week I went from 243 lbs. to 233 lbs. I think it was. And then the following week I went from 233 lbs. down to 228 lbs. So hopefully this Friday (when I weigh myself again) I'll be around 224-225 lbs. We'll see how things turn out with this semi-cut that I am doing. I am not even eating all that clean, I am more just keeping my sugars/alcohol very very scarce. I am going to post some pics right around mid-February I think. Right when I have had this journal a full month.

 

[M.J.H.]

Wednesday; 2-2-2005

ME Squat/Deadlift (40 minutes, 23 sets)

Suspended Good Mornings (deep)
135x3
185x3
225x2
245x1
255x1
265x1
275x1
285x1
295x0

Support Rows
4 sets of 2 with 300
2 sets of 9 with 210

DB Lunges
3 sets of 8 with the 80's

Stiff-Arm Cable Pullovers
2 sets of 10 with 150

Rope Cable Pull-Throughs
3 sets of 6 with 200

Pretty good workout today I think, even though I had to rush like crazy. Hit 285 for a single on deep suspended good mornings. I was happy with this, because they were done extremely deep. Did some support rows, and some lunges. The lunges were absolutely exhausting, really good sets, there. Did some pullovers and pull-throughs and called it a day.

Diet:
- scrambled eggs, oatmeal + 1% milk
- 1 scoop of Swole preworkout
- whey protein + 1% milk postworkout
- tuna & cheese bagel
- beef stew
- MRP bar, coffee
- 2% cottage cheese + peaches
- garden salad + vinegarette dressing

Sleep: 7.5 hours.

 

[Cold Iron]

When you say deep, what are we talking about parallel?

 

[M.J.H.]

Cold Iron: Yeah man, deep generally means I am starting with my upper body at about a 90-degree angle to my lower body. Or a little deeper. Doing deep GM's from the bottom position (suspended) is a real task in itself. Let alone try to go for a 1RM.

 

[Cold Iron]

Good stuff, full ROM is what its all about. I love going deep on GM's.
That reminds me, today at the gym some guy was doing 4 plates on the hack squat and my buddy, who was in awe,( and who is also new to lifting) was nudging me to check it out. I look over and the guy must of been going down all of 4 inches. Whatta clown

 

[simbh]

Cold Iron: Yeah, little by little is right bud. The first week I dropped 10 lbs. I think it was. But honestly, that's more because of all the water that I was retaining. I know for sure that if I was dropping just fat it would have been much less. The first week I went from 243 lbs. to 233 lbs. I think it was. And then the following week I went from 233 lbs. down to 228 lbs. So hopefully this Friday (when I weigh myself again) I'll be around 224-225 lbs. We'll see how things turn out with this semi-cut that I am doing. I am not even eating all that clean, I am more just keeping my sugars/alcohol very very scarce. I am going to post some pics right around mid-February I think. Right when I have had this journal a full month.

Congrats on the 20 pound loss (or almost) . Mind if I ask what the usinic acid thing is for ?

 

[Cold Iron]

You just answered your own question in your first sentence

 

[M.J.H.]

Cold Iron: Yeah man, on an exercise like GM's, ROM is especially important. Because otherwise you're just selling yourself short.

simbh: Like Cold Iron said, the usnic acid is a fat-burner that I have been taking for about 3 weeks now I guess it has been. So far its working pretty damn good. For about 4-6 hours after I take it I feel like my body temperature feels like its a bit higher than normal. Seems to work well for me.

 

[M.J.H.]

Thursday; 2-3-2005

DE Bench (55 minutes, 27 sets)

Speed Bench Presses
10 sets of 3 with 155

Incline DB Presses
2 sets of 5 with the 120's
2 sets of 12 with the 100's

Seated French Presses
4 sets of 6 with 125

Nautilus Overhead Presses
2 sets of 10 with 160
2 sets of 7 with 220

One-Arm Cable Pressdowns
3 sets of 12 with 80

Seated DB Front Raises
2 sets of 15 with the 30's

Nice workout today! I am going to try and focus from now on on doing more volume (25-30 total sets) on my DE days and going a bit lighter, and on my ME days doing a bit less volume (20-25 sets). So we'll see what happens with this new style of training. My bar speed on bench is definitely improving, without a doubt. Overall workout today was solid.

Diet:
- whey protein + 1% milk, oatmeal + 1% milk
- tuna salad sandwich
- garden salad + vinegarette dressing, 3 parmesan chicken breasts
- 1% cottage cheese + peaches
- 1 scoop of Swole preworkout
- whey protein + 1% milk postworkout
- tuna & cheese bagel, coffee
- peanut butter

My appetite was through the roof today! I have been hungry all damn day... I absolutely love a multi-grain bagel with tuna & cheese! So damn tasty.

Sleep: 8 hours.

Today is my 3rd day of the USP tamoxifen citrate (Nolva), going to be taking 80mg a day for the first week. And then lowering it to 60mg per day.

 

[Luke9583]

Finally getting some sleep, eh bro?

 

[M.J.H.]

Luke: Yeah, my sleeping patterns are all out of whack. Sometimes I'll sleep 9 hours straight without waking up at all. And other times I'll barely sleep 6.5 hours. I don't really understand it.

 

[M.J.H.]

Friday; 2-4-2005

Rest

Cardio
First thing this morning on an empty stomach I did 18 minutes of interval training on the treadmill. Really exhausting, honestly. I wanted to quit in the middle of it so damn bad. Alternated 1-minute of walking at 3.2 MPH with 1-minute of running at 8.6 MPH. I was definitely moving at 8.6 MPH, that's for sure.

Diet:
- tuna salad sandwich
- grilled chicken & cheese soft taco
- tuna & cheese bagel
- 1/2 turkey & cheese sandwich
- 2% cottage cheese + mandarin oranges
- garden salad + vinegarette dressing

Sleep: 7 hours.

Today was my weigh-in day. Without shoes, but with clothes, I weighed in today at around noon at 224 lbs. This is down 4 lbs. from last Friday. I am glad that I am still gradually getting closer and closer to my goal weight of 215 lbs.

 

[simbh]

Luke: Yeah, my sleeping patterns are all out of whack. Sometimes I'll sleep 9 hours straight without waking up at all. And other times I'll barely sleep 6.5 hours. I don't really understand it.

Try melatonin ... It sure helped me to sleep when I had toruble sleeping due to the 1-ad ... Now I get no less than 7-8 hours if I don't have to get up early.

 

[M.J.H.]

simbh: I actually take melatonin every single day bud. Usually 3-6mg depending on how I feel. The stuff does work pretty damn good, I have to admit. Thanks for stopping by, bro.

 

[ihateschoolmt]

At 215 what % bodyfat are you hoping to be?

 

[M.J.H.]

ihateschoolmt: I really don't have any idea at all, honestly. Maybe around 10%? I don't know bodyfat %'s too much. I use the mirror at the biggest gauge of my bodyfat. I'll be posting some pics probably this Friday, though.

 

[M.J.H.]

Saturday; 2-5-2005

DE Squat/Deadlift (60 minutes, 29 sets)

Speed Squats
8 sets of 2 with 245

T-Bar Rows
4 sets of 6 with 270

Seated Good Mornings
4 sets of 7 with 155

Incline DB Rows
3 sets of 10 with the 30's
2 sets of 8 with the 45's

Nautilus Leg Extensions
2 sets of 12 with 260

Incline DB Curls
3 sets of 8 with the 45's

DB Shrugs
2 sets of 10 with the 100's

Really good workout today! Great intensity, great focus, great everything honestly. Started off with speed squats, and then moved onto my ghetto style t-bar rows. Did some seated good mornings, and then tried this exercise a guy in my gym showed me---incline DB rows. You face the incline bench (reverse incline style) and you row the DB's to your hips, keeping your palms facing each other. Leg extensions were pretty good, hit my quads hard. Incline curls were good, too. Hit my traps hard with shrugs.

Diet:
- MRP bar
- 1 scoop of Swole preworkout
- whey protein + 2% milk
- tuna & cheese bagel
- chicken salad sandwich
- garden salad + vinegarette dressing
- peanut butter

Sleep: 7.5 hours.

Today is my 5th day of Nolva at 80mg per day. So far, so good. Going to keep it at 80mg for a few more days. My gyno seems to be the same, at this point.

 

[chris mason]

Here you go Monstar, I finally got the 625 lbs RAW (no belt etc.) deadlift (with a hook grip = double overhand) video uploaded:

http://www.wannabebig.com/vids/Chris%20-%20Deadlift%20625%20(hook).mov

 

[M.J.H.]

Chris: Thanks for posting the video man, that's absolutely insane grip strength bud. I can't believe you can pull 625 raw, with a double overhand grip. The grip strength you most possess is beyond words, lol. I can't even do bentover rows with 315 with a double-overhand grip. Let alone pull up 625.

 

[M.J.H.]

Sunday; 2-6-2005

ME Bench (55 minutes, 25 sets)

12" Rack Lockouts
135x3
185x3
225x3
275x3
315x2
335x2
355x1
365x1
375x1
385x0

Seated DB Presses
4 sets of 8 with the 70's

Decline Skullcrushers
4 sets of 5 with 125

Smith-Machine Incline Presses
3 sets of 4 with 245
2 sets of 8 with 195

One-Arm DB French Presses
2 sets of 10 with the 35's

Good workout today! Really had an intense and focused workout, no complaints at all today. Worked up to 375 for a single on 12" lockouts. These were pretty damn tough. The last time I thought I did 12" lockouts, I was really doing around 8" lockouts. I messed up the distance. Anyway, the bar was about 6" off my chest for these, today.

Did some overhead presses after that, some decline skulls, and then some incline Smith presses. Finished up with some French presses, my triceps were absolutely exhausted. Good sets overall.

Diet:
- oatmeal + 2% milk
- 1 scoop of Swole preworkout
- whey protein + 2% milk
- tuna & cheese bagel, minestrone soup

DIET SUCKED AFTER THIS!

Went to a friend's for the Superbowl tonight, what a bad move. Ended up eating a bunch of chips and dip, veggies and dip, 2-3 slices of cake and ice-cream, and then 4-5 glasses of wine. Ate some cookies too, talk about going all out. I'll be back on track tomorrow of course. I wouldn't consider this a binge, by any means, which is a good thing.

Sleep: 9 hours.

Today is my 6th day of Nolva at 80mg per day.

On a side note, GO EAGLES!

 

[soxmuscle]

Chris Mason, that is really impressive. Wow.

 

[Cold Iron]

Nice job with the journal Mike, awesome lifts too


Chris that is an amazing overhand pull

 

[ihateschoolmt]

Here you go Monstar, I finally got the 625 lbs RAW (no belt etc.) deadlift (with a hook grip = double overhand) video uploaded:

http://www.wannabebig.com/vids/Chris%20-%20Deadlift%20625%20(hook).mov

That's amazing. How much can you pull with a over under grip?

 

[chris mason]

I haven't tested my max mixed grip in some time but I suspect it would be more than I can hook grip (it always has been).

Just to be clear, the double overhand grip I am using is a hook grip which is stronger than just a standard double overhand. It is what Olympic lifters use. You wrap your thumb with your index and forefingers.

Thanks for the compliments and sorry to hijack Monstar's journal.

 

[CowPimp]

Sick pressing strength MonStar, and same to you Chris. Congrats to both of you on those numbers.

 

[M.J.H.]

soxmuscle: Agreed, Chris has some of the most impressive raw strength that I've seen on any of the forums.

Cold Iron: Thanks man, my first slip up so far was yesterday. During Superbowl Sunday, of course. Ended up eating some cake and ice-cream and some chips and brownies and things like that. Not the best idea obviously.

ihateschoolmt: God only knows.

Chris: Don't worry about it bud, doesn't bother me. I really wish that you would keep a journal here so everyone could see your 185 lbs.+ curls and 225 lbs.+ skullcrushers. Talk about insane.

CowPimp: Thanks for the support, bud.

 

[Luke9583]

This journal is incredible

 

[M.J.H.]

Luke: Thanks for the feedback man, really appreciate it. I am kind of pissed that I slipped up yesterday, although it was bound to happen sooner or later. I am glad that I made it 3 weeks without cheating on sugary foods, etc. Not too shabby in my opinion.