MonStar's Journal: Stopping the Madness!

[CowPimp]

I'm just curious, what sort of grip do you use for the bench press? I've been thinking of trying a slightly more narrow grip. I still go pretty wide from my days of incorrect form, and I don't think there's too much point.

 

[M.J.H.]

Arnie's left nu: Hey man, thanks. Nothing too crazy, honestly. I was supposed to be at work this morning early, but I ended up sleeping in until 11:00 AM, hangovers are a b*tch!

CowPimp: I use a grip where my pinky fingers are on the rings of the bar, if that makes any sense. It's honestly not all that wide of a grip at all, compared to what I see most guys doing in the gym. I prefer a closer grip and using more triceps.

 

[yellowmoomba]

...........hangovers are a b*tch!

Happy 21st!!

 

[M.J.H.]

yellowmoomba: LOL, thanks bud.

 

[M.J.H.]

Sunday; 10-24-2004

Shoulders

Good shoulder workout today. Really hit my shoulders hard, 10 sets of BTN presses definitely gave my rotator cuffs a beating as well. Overall I would say that my workout was definitely good.

Seated BTN Presses
10 sets of 10 with 135

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

Not too much to say about my workout today, I felt good. Shoulders looked pretty damn good in the mirror, honestly. No complaints thus far. I can tell that I am holding a bit of water though, that's for sure. All of the carbs and alcohol from yesterday I guess.

Diet:
- MRP bar, granola bar
- grilled chicken + cheese soft taco
- Swole preworkout
- whey protein + 1% milk postworkout
- wedding soup
- cottage cheese + pineapple
- chicken noodle soup
- chicken salad pita
- peanut butter

Sleep: 7 hours.

Day 20 of M1T, 15mg a day.

 

[JerseyDevil]

Incline BB Presses
2 sets of 10 with 245

Mike... you are too hard on yourself man. Your BB incline is awesome. 245 x 10 is roughly equivalent to a 320 single. Since you did back to back sets of 245 x 10, I suspect your true 1RM is more like 325-330.

 

[CowPimp]

CowPimp: I use a grip where my pinky fingers are on the rings of the bar, if that makes any sense. It's honestly not all that wide of a grip at all, compared to what I see most guys doing in the gym. I prefer a closer grip and using more triceps.

Cool, that is the other grip I have been playing around with. Recently, my middle fingers have been hitting the rings, but I feel like I can maintain better form at pinky-to-ring width.

 

[Velvet]

Good morning hon

 

[M.J.H.]

JerseyDevil: Thanks for stopping by man, appreciate the support. I don't know, I guess my incline strength isn't THAT bad. I just feel so weak on that exercise for some reason. Incline DB presses I feel pretty strong on, but incline BB presses I just feel like I could really use some increasing. I highly doubt my 1RM is over 300, by the way. I have hit 295 for a single before, and that's about it.

CowPimp: I change things up a lot. Yesterday on my 10 sets of 10 with BTN presses I was changing my grip up from pinky on the rings to middle finger on the rings. Really gives a different feel to be honest. I like the change of pace.

Velvet: Hey there, good morning!

 

[M.J.H.]

Monday; 10-25-2004

Back

Really good back workout today! I was very pleased with how exhausted my lats were from the 2 exercises that I did today. Originally I was just doing GVT (10 sets of 10) to change things up, but lately I have really liked doing it a lot. I think that I am responding well to the change.

Bentover Rows
10 sets of 10 with 225

Nautilus Pullovers
2 sets of 7 with 300

Lats took a hell of a beating on the 10 sets of 10 today. Alternated my grip on each set from overhand to underhand, basically just to change things up. Really nice to feel how changing the grip slightly really makes it a completely different exercise in a way. Beat the hell out of my lats with 10 sets of 10 and then I fried my lats completely with pullovers, great sets. Overall workout was great.

Diet:
- Swole preworkout
- whey protein + 1% milk postworkout
- turkey & cheese sandwich
- chicken quesadillas
- 6" tuna & cheese sub
- cottage cheese + pineapple
- peanut butter
- chicken noodle soup
- whey protein + 1% milk

Sleep: 6 hours.

Day 21 of M1T, 15mg a day.

And let me say, this is going to be my last and final day taking M1T for this cycle. Today I feel extremely foggy-minded. I can't concentrate at all. I just feel like I am in a complete and total daze. I am going to start tomorrow on 6-OXO. Most likely 3 caps 2x per day.

 

[Mudge]

Yeah I dont know how steep the incline is that you work with, but at my gym its damn steep, and thats about what I press.

 

[ncgirl21]

Hey Mike It looks like your birthday went pretty good !! Diet and training is looking awesome too babe- keep it up

 

[M.J.H.]

Mudge: I agree man, that has something to do with it. Because my incline BB press at my gym is very steep. Probably 45 degrees or so. It's a pain in the a*s, that's for sure. I really want to hit 315 for a single on incline BB bench. Or maybe even just hit 295 for some reps. I just feel like its my weakpoint in all my pressing exercises.

Andrea: Hey there! Thanks for the support, I really appreciate it. I am honestly going to try and get down to Virginia Beach as soon as possible. Are you always off on the weekends? I really need to pay my grandfather a visit so the sooner the better, honestly. Preferably before Thanksgiving. I'll figure something out. I have a Saturday class so it will probably be during the week, most likely.

 

[CowPimp]

Damn, 45 degree incline? I usually set my bench to somewhere in the 15-30 range when I do inclines. I would think 45 degrees would hit the shoulders really hard. Maybe I should try that for a shoulder exercise...

 

[Mudge]

Thats why I do zero overhead pressing, the benches at my gym are fixed unless I pull one into a power rack.

 

[JerseyDevil]

The incline bench's at my gym are 45 degrees also. Definitely hits the shoulders hard...

 

[Velvet]

Good morning Mikey

 

[CowPimp]

Thats why I do zero overhead pressing, the benches at my gym are fixed unless I pull one into a power rack.

Do you do any other anterior delt work?

 

[ncgirl21]

Morning hottie~~ !!

Yup, I work M-F. I'm off every weekend though, just let me know a little ahead of time and I'll try to work something out.

 

[Mudge]

Do you do any other anterior delt work?

Pretty regularly up until the last 2 weeks, I do a set of side laterals and thats about it now along with a set of rotator work. Front raises were nice for awhile, but I can't seem to handle a lot of shoulder volume anymore.

 

[BritChick]

Hey Mike

 

[M.J.H.]

CowPimp: Yeah 45 degrees is really steep. When I do incline DB presses I always drop the incline down a bit because I do them on an adjustable bench. But for incline BB presses it's always very steep. It is like a shoulder press in a way, it drives me crazy.

Mudge: I used to be the exact same way man, never did any overhead pressing at all. The only shoulder work that I did was lateral raises, upright rows, etc. But anymore I feel like my shoulders are responding nicely to all of the direct work they're getting.

JerseyDevil: Yeah, I don't understand why, either. You would think that they would make them adjustable so you didn't have to go so steep if you didn't want to. Oh well.

Velvet: Mikey huh, lol? Good morning! Well, afternoon, now. I didn't wake up until this afternoon, lol.

Andrea: Hey there, I snapped a pic this morning for you, or afternoon I guess, before I went to the gym. This was pretty much me after I just rolled out of bed and was heading to the gym. I am still half asleep, lol. I'll let you know about me heading down to VA. I am hoping for sooner, rather than later. Probably before Thanksgiving, at least I am hoping. Are you heading up to NY anytime soon?

BritChick: Hey there!

 

[M.J.H.]

Tuesday; 10-26-2004

Chest

Great chest workout today, damn I am loving Swole! I just feel like my pumps are absolutely insane on this creatine product. My chest today felt like it was going to burst out of my shirt, lol. Great workout overall. I am loving GVT style training.

Decline BB Presses
10 sets of 10 with 225

Flat DB Flyes
2 sets of 8 with the 70's

10 sets of 10 on declines absolutely toasted my pecs. By the 8th and 9th sets I was hitting failure on 10th rep. So I really feel like I picked a good weight to use. I did complete all 10 sets of 10 reps, though. Finished up with some DB flyes. Great sets, there. Chest was fried.

Diet:
- Swole preworkout
- whey protein + 1% milk postworkout
- MRP bar
- 6" turkey & cheese sub
- baked chicken, rice, corn
- grilled chicken & cheese soft taco
- MRP + 2% milk
- 1/2 tuna sandwich
- chicken noodle soup

Sleep: 9 hours.

Day 1 of 6-OXO, 3 caps 2x per day. Great to be off the M1T, honestly. I like the gains that I get from it but the foggy-mindedness is never fun.

Weight: 231 lbs. I gained 5 lbs. from this M1T cycle. I am going to weigh myself again at the end of my 6-OXO cycle to see how much weight I actually end up maintaining. We'll see what happens.

 

[Mudge]

You have eyes like my dad, sharpshooter eyes.

Is GVT not supposed to be high intensity? I've read a little about it before, but didn't really remember anything about using the same weight every set, I either wasn't paying much attention or I plain forgot.

I think its about time for me to spend 1-2 weeks doing something different, and tonight is day #1 for the week (chest/triceps...)

 

[Velvet]

You just got up That's so unfair lol

Nice pic, you have a beautiful smile! So do you hate the name Mikey? My son is a Michael and he hates being called that lol

 

[M.J.H.]

Mudge: Sharpshooter eyes huh? Never heard that before, thanks though. GVT is not all that intense really. It's just something that I have been doing to change things up. It's almost endurance training in way, honestly. 10 sets of 10 of the same exercise IMO is very energy draining. I mean maybe I am not in the greatest endurance shape, but that's killing me! I am not even sure if I am doing it right. I have just been using the same weight trying to hit 10 reps on all 10 sets.

Velvet: LOL, yeah, I had off from school and work today actually. Today is my bum day, haha. Aww, thanks so much for the compliment on my smile. I rarely take smiling pics, lol. I don't hate the name Mikey! LOL, I just think it's funny it reminds me of a little kid.

 

[Velvet]

I don't think you are little at all Got lots going on I'm outta dis joint, have a great nite

 

[shutupntra1n]

Good smile Mike!

 

[klmclean]

Hey, Monstar

Thanks for dropping by my journal yesterday and for the encouragement. Looks like you're doing great. Glad to see you're back on track Oh, yes, very nice pic! I wish I looked that good when I've just rolled out of bed

 

[Mudge]

I hear that Mike, I'd bank on having very tired triceps at the end of that - and a pumped as hell chest.