MonStar's Journal: Stopping the Madness!

[M.J.H.]

SF: Hey man, thanks for stopping by, appreciate it. Sounds good but, I am up for anything on GM's. I would even give CAT a try, although I think it would kick my f*ckin' a*s to Sunday, LOL. But we'll figure something out. I really enjoy more hamstring/glute training lately.

DeadBolt: Hey, thanks for the support bud. Don't worry about not being able to stop by all the time, I completely understand. I try to read as many journals as I can---even though it's tough with school and work and all that. Thanks again for the post.

Arnie's left nu: Nautilus is just a line of equipment, lol. Sorry for the confusion. Here is what Nautilus leg extensions look like:

The only reason that I specify Nautilus is because if anyone else is using Nautilus equipment they can get an idea of what kind of weight I am using. And yes, I think that the M1T is definitely kicking in. My sets of SLDL at the end of my leg session were VERY intense.

 

[Velvet]

Good morning hon

Ya, we have a whole line of nautilus equip in the PT section of our gym..it's sooooooooooooooo smooth..altho I don't tend to use machines often..love free weights and cables personally

Impressive leg workout!

 

[BritChick]

Good morning Mike

 

[M.J.H.]

Velvet: Hey there! Thanks for stopping by, good morning to you. Yeah I really like the cables and freeweights a lot. The only Nautilus that I actually think is worth doing, personally, is the leg extensions, leg curls, pullovers, and seated lateral raises. Everything else I am not crazy about. Thanks for stopping by, though!

BritChick: Good morning, hope that you have a great day.

 

[M.J.H.]

Tuesday; 10-19-2004

Shoulders

Good workout today I think, hit my shoulders hard. On my seated DB presses I really did not use that great of a ROM, at the bottom of each rep I kept getting this popping in my shoulders, so I didn't want to risk anything. Overall workout was great though, hit my shoulders very hard.

Seated DB Presses
2 sets of 10 with the 90's

Smith-Machine Military Presses
2 sets of 5 with 195

Upright Rows
2 sets of 8 with 155

DB Lateral Raises
2 sets of 8 with the 45's

One-Arm Cable Front Raises
2 sets of 12 with 50

Hit a nice PR on DB presses, not too bad. Really fried my shoulders to start with the seated DB presses. Then for the seated Smith presses my shoulders were just exhausted. Good set on both pressing exercises, though. Did some upright rows, and some DB laterals. The DB laterals I used a little momentum, but nothing extraordinary. Finished up with some one-arm cable front raises, good sets! I really like them a lot.

Diet:
- banana
- Swole preworkout
- whey protein postworkout
- breaded chicken sandwich
- grilled chicken sandwich
- MRP + 1% milk
- turkey & cheese sandwich
- cottage cheese + peaches

Sleep: 8.5 hours.

Day 15 of M1T, 15mg a day.

Okay so far on the M1T I am just noticing being foggy-minded a lot. Other than that, I feel good. Little more drowsy I guess, but nothing that bad. One thing I think that I am noticing is water retention. I can tell that my midsection is tighter than it has been in a long time. I guess due to the fact that I have not binged in 3+ weeks. But anyway, my abs are looking very blurry. I am thinking that it has to be water retention from the M1T, right?

 

[Rocco32]

So do you like using the Smith Machine for your Military Presses? And great job on the PB!

 

[Saturday Fever]

Very nice pressing. Your bench will be pleased.

 

[Velvet]

Ditto, nice bench hon! Do you have a history of shoulder problems (I just started poking around in your journal so I don't know your history!)...way to go tho, for listening to your body!

 

[ncgirl21]

Hey Mike Impressive workouts babe!!

 

[yellowmoomba]

Hey Mike Impressive workouts babe!!

Ditto !! (minus the babe part)

 

[M.J.H.]

rock4832: I do the military presses seated, in the Smith-machine. I like it I guess, I mean it's not as good as DB presses IMO. But I like the stability of the Smith-machine for seated presses. I am not crazy about seated military presses with a barbell. I either do BTN presses, Smith-machine military presses, DB or Arnold presses.

SF: Thanks man, appreciate it. Yeah I haven't really benched heavy in a long long time. I really like decline and incline BB presses---but flat BB presses I have been shying away from lately.

Velvet: Hey there! I really like seeing you posting in my journal, so stick around!

About my shoulder history, I have never had any injury or anything of the sort at all. Basically my only concern is that when I go down to a certain point on shoulder presses, I end up getting some popping in my shoulders. Never any pain really, but it really causes me to limit my ROM on shoulder pressing.

Andrea: Thanks for the support! I haven't had time to chat with you on MSN lately, but I'll try and get on soon!

yellowmoomba: LOL, thanks bud.

 

[Saturday Fever]

Eh, oh well. Decline, incline, flat, whatever. You're putting on a triceps display either way.

 

[Duncans Donuts]

Why are you against the barbell military press seated?

 

[M.J.H.]

SF: Good point man, that's definitely a good way of looking at it. I always forget how hard I am really blasting my triceps with all of the chest and shoulder pressing that I do. They seem to respond nicely to all of the volume, though. The only trouble I have with them is every now and then my elbows will crack some, nothing too extreme, though.

DD: I am not necessarily against them, I am just not a big fan. I have done them in the past and I feel like they put my rotator cuffs in an awkward position. However, somehow BTN presses feel natural to me. I am not sure why. The groove of seated or even standing military presses I just do not care for. I might give them a shot again and maybe try and get the hang of them. We'll see.

 

[BigDC]

good to hear you pushed hard. 90s x 10 is amazing...i got 90s x 6 yesterday and that was about as much as i could handle.

 

[Duncans Donuts]

I used to do military presses on the smith - nothing wrong with them, but my shoulders have seemed to just expand much better since I started doing them free barbell. Since you do the DBs, though, I don't see why you would need to switch.

 

[CowPimp]

Impressive pressing movements. Hell, I'm not sure I DB bench press that.

 

[Velvet]

Ya, I get that popping noise in my right shoulder whenever I do any type of lateral movements. How are you on hump day? Any big plans???

 

[M.J.H.]

Dave: Damn man, 90's for 6 is great though. Especially considering the face that you're what 40-50 lbs. lighter than me? Really impressive stuff, bud. Keep it up. Like I said in a few years you're gonna be unstoppable!

DD: Hmm, interesting point bro. I'll have to keep this in mind on my next shoulder day. Maybe I'll change things up and start off with seated military presses. I always see guys doing them I have just never been a big fan. My ROM is always limited on them because when I take any kind of overhead press down past my ears my shoulders end up popping, etc.

CowPimp: Hey man, thanks for stopping by. I am working on strengthening my overhead pressing movements.

Velvet: Really? That's interesting because I never get any kind of pain my lateral movements, only on my pressing movements.

And you just completely confused me, lol. How am I on hump day? What's hump day? Big plans?

 

[Velvet]

Hump day = Wednesday (middle of the week, once you hit noon on wednesday you've gotten over the 'hump' and the rest of the week is all down hill) is this a canadian thing? ha ha

 

[M.J.H.]

Velvet: LOL, I think that it's definitely just a Canadian thing, unless I have just never heard of it before! I have never heard anyone say anything about hump day, lol. The only way that I have heard hump used is talking about someone's butt or a*s, haha. I actually thought you were talking about leg day, LOL!

 

[M.J.H.]

Wednesday; 10-20-2004

Calves/Abs

Eh, not so great of a workout today. Honestly I really didn't feel like training arms today, so I decided to b*tch out and do some calves and abs. Decent workout considering it's difficult for me to put a lot of intensity into these bodyparts.

Smith-Machine Calf Raises
2 sets of 20 with 195
2 sets of 12 with 285
2 sets of 6 with 375

Seated Calf Raises
4 sets of 20 with 265

Swiss Ball Crunches
3 sets of 15 with 25

Vertical Leg Raises
3 sets of 12

Overall workout today I would say was good. My calves for some reason really frustrate me though. For whatever reason on my first 3-4 sets of calves I really feel each set. I mean I get a nice burning in my calves, really decent pump, etc. Then all of the sudden my calves just go numb! I don't know what happens. Pisses me off, though. The seated calf raises I could barely feel in my calves. Did some Swiss ball crunches and then some vertical leg raises. Good sets.

Diet:
- banana
- Swole preworkout
- whey protein postworkout
- turkey & cheese sandwich, mixed fruit
- mixed nuts
- 3 pieces of baked chicken, rice
- MRP bar
- chicken noodle soup
- MRP + 1% milk
- peanut butter

Sleep: 6 hours.

Day 16 of M1T, 15mg a day.

 

[ncgirl21]

Here ya go hun!!

Choclate Bean Cake

15 oz (1 can) black beans, drained and rinsed
4 large eggs, seperated
1- 1 1/2 cups splenda (depending on how sweet you like it)
3 TBSP baking cocoa
2 TBSP strong coffee-- (this is dry coffee, I think 1 tbsp. is enough
1 Tsp baking powder
2 TBSP smart spread or canola oil- I used applesauce
1 Tsp vanilla extract
2 TBSP chopped walnuts or hazelnuts (optional)- I didn't use this

Preheat oven to 350 F
Prepare a 8x8 baking pan by spraying with PAM butter spray

Blend the egg yolks, splenda, baking powder, smart balance (or oil) vanilla, coffee & cocoa in a blender or with a stick blender.
Add the rinsed beans, puree until smooth.
Transfer bean mixture to a bowl if using the mixer.

In a sep. bowl whip the egg whites with a pinch of salt with a hand mixer until stiff peaks form. Mix 1/3 of the egg whites into the bean mixture to lighten the bean mix. Fold in the remaining egg whites in two portions. It's ok if some white streaks remain in the batter.
Pour the batter into the baking dish. Sprinkle top with chopped nuts if desired. Tap the pan on the counter a couple of times to release any air pockets.
Bake at 350 F for 35-40 min or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Allow to cool 10 minutes before slicing.


You can try this out for icing:

1 box SFFF white chocolate pudding
4 oz. FF cream cheese
1 cup LC milk
1/2 cup FF whip cream

Whip it up!! You could also add some PB into the batter and have a chocoalte PB cake

 

[Velvet]

Velvet: LOL, I think that it's definitely just a Canadian thing, unless I have just never heard of it before! I have never heard anyone say anything about hump day, lol. The only way that I have heard hump used is talking about someone's butt or a*s, haha. I actually thought you were talking about leg day, LOL!

ha ha, too funny..learn something new everyday!

Bean Cake NC??? Yer kidding me right? I usually like your recipes but beans and chocolate..there must be a law against that!

 

[ncgirl21]

Bean Cake NC??? Yer kidding me right? I usually like your recipes but beans and chocolate..there must be a law against that!

Try it Vel!! I didn't make this one up myself, I got it from someone else, I was SUPER skeptical and then I made it and it really does taste like a chocolate cake!!

 

[M.J.H.]

Andrea: Hey there, thanks for stopping by with the recipe. I'll definitely have to give it a shot. When are you heading back up to see your dad next, by the way? I was going to drive down to Virginia Beach this Saturday for my 21st birthday but I decided to stay here, oh well.

Velvet: The sounds of it are a little out there, but who knows, it could turn out delicious! A lot of times when I expect something to turn out not so great it ends up being fantastic. You just never know.

 

[PreMier]

Everyone I know, knows that Wed is hump day.

 

[M.J.H.]

Jake: LOL, I think I am just retarded! I asked a few people that I work with and they all said they knew that it was Wednesday. Who knows.

 

[PreMier]

Maybe you should go hump something(preferably a hottie) today. That way you wont forget

 

[CowPimp]

Overall workout today I would say was good. My calves for some reason really frustrate me though. For whatever reason on my first 3-4 sets of calves I really feel each set. I mean I get a nice burning in my calves, really decent pump, etc. Then all of the sudden my calves just go numb! I don't know what happens. Pisses me off, though. The seated calf raises I could barely feel in my calves. Did some Swiss ball crunches and then some vertical leg raises. Good sets.

Aren't calves a bitch? I always try to hold any calf movement at the peak of the contraction. I do the same for any crunch and shrug variations. For some reason, if I don't, I never can ensure full activation of the muscles. I suggest you try it, if you don't already.