New Journal for the New Me

[Kracin]

for some reason, my workouts never look as good on paper as anyone elses, i generally do as heavy as i can for 5 reps to get it flowing right, and do 5 sets when i find out what i can do 5 at, still hard to get the right numbers first. i should probably be writing this down though, but keeping it here will be good enough

today i went to the Y to do this because i am getting tired of this "smith" machine as i guess i have it, but the squat rack as i call it, i cant do everything i want to on it the way i want. i may have to just get rid of it some time here.

Military press: 155x5 (is that even a good weight? thats basically what i could get 5 reps out of, adding 5 on each side made it so i couldnt get the bar down as far as before, so i kept it where i could get the most motion i guess)

behind back cable pulldown: 130x5 ( i wanted to do presses behind the neck but i didnt see an open bench near the rack to get the right positioniing, dont know any other way to get it there either)

upright rows: 108x5, if its an 8 lb bar, which is what my ezcurl bar weighs (i love doing these, i can really feel it especially when i hit the 5th and i can barely get it to the top)

and alas, i am not used to doing certain exercises on certain days, so i forgot to do my tricep work. i will have to add it in with tomorrows back and calves, ill make sure to get it good tomorrow.

and also used their little decline situp bench to do 5 sets of 20 oblique situps each, focusing as much as i could on each contraction. ill do more next time though i dont think i worked them enough.

 

[sara]

for some reason, my workouts never look as good on paper as anyone elses

But with good results

 

[Kracin]

today was my last training day before my weekend off, and im going to do a rep range routine starting this monday for a week, then go back to the power again.

today was:

5x5@235 Deadlifts (i know i can easily do more, but i cant keep the bar gripped for that long, my hands slip on it. i need something that can help with that. maybe some kind of special gloves, or just something to strengthen my grip more which i thought was strong enough already)

5x8@65 DB Bent over row , ill use the 70 or 75 next time so i can get the full exhaustion at 5 reps if possible, ill have the strength for it then definately.

5x25@ 180 Standing Calf raises (ill also use the 100-110 dbs for these next time, definately not enough weight)

5x10 Dips (i also feel like i need a weighted belt or something to weigh me down a little more so i can get these down to 5 reps before its too tiresome).

4x25 Decline Situps (ill do 30 next time, and push it til i cant do a set all the way through until i hit the magic number and work past it)

thoughts or comments would be appreciated, todays workout felt decent. and i swear to god, the weirdest people go the the YMCA gyms.. i need to go somewhere else for my workouts, or find a friend to exercise with lol.

 

[sara]

Back to training tomorrow?

 

[Kracin]

hell yeah, chest, biceps and abs :-D

 

[Stu]

Impressive transformation. You have an awesome peak on your biceps.

Just a quick point. I see your taking 5g of CEE pre and post workout. With CEE you require a lower dose than Monohydrate. 1/2 a teaspoon (2.5g) pre and 1/2 a teaspoon (2.5g) post is more than enough

 

[Kracin]

thanks, im pretty new to all of this so i learn as i try new things generally. ill try the dosage lower though... do you know if the body can only absorb a certain amount of creatine at a specific time?

 

[Kracin]

workout was today, chest, biceps, and abs

3x12@135 flat bench
3x10@135 incline bench
3x8@135 decline bench (i wish i could do more with these, but i want to have a spotter there in order to hit my max on the last lift of each set so i can go all out without having to worry, i messed up on an incline lift and had to put it in my lap.... good thing i can lift that weight over my head easy lol)

3x12@80 standing curls
3x10@50 preacher curls
5 pullups then flex hang on the fifth up (i love the flexed hang, it really finished off the biceps with a great "tear" on them)

4x20 incline situps. i still need to find a way to get these down to doing more, but my tail bone is killing me almost the whole time.

more workout tomorrow now too, so ill have to get a good amount of reps in for that day, quads, traps, and hamstrings tomorrow.

 

[sara]

How did your " day off" from work go?

 

[Kracin]

well it turned out to be a day off from everything lol, i didnt even get my workout yesterday and kinda missed a meal or two, but its all back on track now and going good

today was decent, shrugs, stiff legged deadlifts, and squats

Shrugs:
3x12@120 (2 60 DB)
3x10@140 (2 70 DB)
3x8@160 (2 80 DB)

Squats
3x12@205
3x10@225
3x8@245

Stiff-legged deadlift
3x12@185
3x10@205
3x8@225

i threw in some forearm curls too just to try them out for now, so i can do something to imrpove my grip and up mydeadlift. thats the only thing that doesnt last, so i wanna get it better for next time.

just did 5 sets of 15 at 50 lbs with an ez curl bar of forearm curls to get them going the first time. after working it like that at first they felt incredibly tight which was awesome.

and 4x20 situps at a 45 degree decline.

 

[Kracin]

ok ok, so i missed a couple workouts, i wont miss my post for mondays really. and ive got new macros since i havent seen any gain in the past few weeks.

Total -
Calories - 4554
Carbs - 558 g
protein - 337 g
fat - 93 g

 

[sara]

Welcome back

 

[Kracin]

ok so i missed my post for monday lol..... how bout i just say it right now?

chest and bicep day.

flat bench
5x5@185 (i feel so weak when i bench. but im slowly working my lats and triceps now too which should help with it)

Decline Bench
5x5@185 (failed on the last rep of the last set, but thats ok i guess. almost got it)

flat flyes
5x8@105 (2 55's, i liked these alot, think ill use 60s or 65s next time to get a better burn though)

Curls (ez curl bar)
5x5@100

2 sets of chinups and then a flexed arm hang

 

[Kracin]

tuesdays workout today

squats
5x5@185 (still testing what weight i can do while still getting the right stance. i wasnt getting anywhere near correct on my workouts before which upsets me because i could be so much farther a long if i did anything right, but i never do lol)

stiff-legged deadlift
5x8@180

shrugs
5x20@130

 

[sara]

tuesdays workout today

squats
5x5@185 (still testing what weight i can do while still getting the right stance. i wasnt getting anywhere near correct on my workouts before which upsets me because i could be so much farther a long if i did anything right, but i never do lol)

stiff-legged deadlift
5x8@180

shrugs
5x20@130

You had great results workingout alone at home.. you will get there in no time

Have a good night Ian

 

[Kracin]

yep well it never posted yesterdays routine, sorry.

today was good, felt decent about the deadlifts so i moved the weight up a little because i got a tip to do them first so i didnt ruin my grip lol.... worked good, never had a slip on my grip this time, ya i know simple solution lol but im an idiot when it comes to obvious things like that, yet people call me smart lol

deadlifts
5x5@275, ill use 3 45s next week and push as hard as i can on them.

bent-over single arm DB rows
5x5@75 , i switched up to the 75 this week, which was pretty cool because i could barely get my 5th on the 65 on my last power week... i would have gone just 70 but they were MIA lol

standing BB calf raises
5x30@225

leg press
5x5@350 first time i used this, i figured id add in a couple more leg exercises so i can get my deadlifts going better, after i got the hang of them they were simple at this weight so ill move up more next time and hopefully it wont kill me lol. machines are always easier for some reason



so this workout was great i think, i still worked almost 2 hours overtime at work and was dead tired when i got home, ate, got my energy back. went and put a lot into it. but im going to switch around my thursday and friday lifting starting next week so i can do deadlifts with a gruop of older guys who are going to be able to give me some help with it, so you might see a lot higher on deadlifts soon its good to be pushed the right way. ohhh and theres a powerlift meet on june 4th at the Y, so ill find out who is competing and what they are lifting at right now, and aim myself for around there, and if i can get myself to almost that point, then ill try and compete in the meet which will be cool..... ill be a RAW lifter though lol, i know for sure at least 3 of the powerlifters there have suits and shirts.... lol

 

[sara]

bump!

:bounce:

 

[Kracin]

lol a little bump huh...

well fine ill update with something.


i said i as going to do more with deadlifts... well i did!, on thursday since i had to do them early to make good time and get to my DEP (delayed entry program, for the navy) meeting. i pulled 315 3 times... and hurt myself doing it! yeahhh, so on friday i reported it at work as an injury, wasnt a back injury either lol that was fine, i was straining so much with it, my sides were slightly bruised for a day or twom just gotta built those muscles up heh. so yeah nothin much after that, pathetic workouts since then, ill make tomorrow good, or try to.

 

[Kracin]

felt better about my workouts today which was good.

shrugs were 5 sets of 10 at 95 lbs in each hand with a good 3-4 second hold at the top on each rep, this is great because i wasnt able to do barely 8 at 80 lbs last time.

squats were even better too, with proper form and a full 90 degree angle on the legs squat, 3 sets of 5 at 255!

to go with squats there 3x5@390 on leg press machine

and 3 sets of 20 inclined situps

 

[Kracin]

well the reason i had such a good workout is cause i got my hydro test done today. and i was a littl eheavier than i thought i was! ..... but thats good!

200.6 lbs at 7.3% body "fatness" lol yes thats a word
last time i was
180.5lbs at 5% body "fatness".

if you dont want to do that math, thats 20 lb gain, 15 is lean and 5 is fat, in 2 months (a couple days less than 2 months). so thats great IMO at this rate i can keep the bulk up for another 2 months or until im at 220, then cut down to 210 which will put me back around 5% bodyfat or less. !

 

[ccr_bballer33]

impressive gains bro, how tall are you? I'm 6'4 and at about 200lbs 10% bf..and I've been bulking with great gains in lifting but not really weight wise. I've upped my calorie intake. anything you suggest? what is your diet look like, broken down each meal?

 

[Kracin]

i thought i posted my meals here in my journal? just look back a little bit, it should all be there.

 

[sara]

Great results Ian!
Once again, I'm very proud of you

 

[Alaric]

SOLID TRANSFORMATION!! Truly inspirational....How tall are you btw?

 

[Kracin]

6'1 here, thanks btw