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Howitzer
08-20-10, 7:22 pm
Sorry if this seems like a repost, but I can't delete my old fucking thread and it's in the wrong section. Since I do want feedback, I'm going to post here and let the old thread die.

Sup Animals. I'm going to hop on the bandwagon here and post my trials and tribulations. I got into bodybuilding at the very end of 2008, at age 22. I had about ten pounds of pork on me, and was otherwise a skinny shit. I've done a good job until the last 3 months. I finished school, came home, and hit the books. It paid off. I finally made National Registry EMT-Paramedic (that's not an EMT). Then I went abroad and successfully completed 7 credits of language classes in a month. So I've accomplished a lot, but my diet and workout routines suffered tremendously. I'm back though, and I'll have the wonderful school gym to go to inside of two weeks.

First thing is first. Diet: getting back to basics. I'm finding that bread related carbs and not enough fiber are clogging me up something serious, so fuck bread and crust and everything that has been baked. It's meat, vegetables, fruit (preworkout with tuna), legumes, and dairy. For carbs I'm going to hit brown rice, quinoa, and wild rice. I think my clogging issue might be due to gluten sensitivity, so I'm skipping out on oatmeal until I see my doc (which hurts my fucking feelings).

As of now, my stack consists of:

Morning with breakfast: Pak
Preworkout: Pump
Whenever I feel like it (all the time): 100% Beef Aminos.

I'm interested in several other animal products like Nitro and torrent and the whey, but until I get my new paramedic gig, I'm keeping it to the bare minimums (except on food. I'll pay through the nose for good quality food)

Right now, I'm trying to get back into the gym slowly, so I don't die, want to kill myself, or injure myself. I've lost a lot of strength that should come back fairly fast if I work into it. This semester I'll be doing calisthenics in the morning with the school ROTC, so that will take care of my cardio. I'll post more about my workout once I get into a more regular schedule.

Alright, now the preachy bit. I keep hearing talk about the sacrifice to be a bodybuilder. I ask (respectfully) what sacrifice? You gotta work hard. You gotta eat food that doesn't always taste good. You gotta get your 8 solid hours of sleep in. Look at what you can get though: Killer physique, exceptional health, self esteem like nothing else, and the fucking confidence to go out there and conquer whatever you want. There's a price, in my mind, but there is no sacrifice.

Your brother in iron.
Howitzer.

Howitzer
08-20-10, 7:26 pm
The diet is getting underway quite smoothly now that I have access to my own kitchen. Here are some of the things I have been eating:

Black beans mixed with quinoa, salsa, and beef (love the cinnamon powder mixed with the beef)
tuna
Egg whites and salsa
A bit of protein powder (only one shake a day plus the pwo shake.)
Fat free milk.
ETC.

So the diet is coming together.
I got back to school looking forward to using the gym and wouldn't you know it. Closed until next monday. Screw it. I have a friend in ROTC, and we are doing runs with mixed in calisthenics just to get back into the swing of working out. We're also going to hit up the "ab ripper X" from the P90X series. That's sure to be "fun". I'll post some of my workouts once I'm honestly back in the gym, which is next Monday. I'm taking an antibiotic right now, so no Pump, but I'm still on the Pak and Beef Aminos.
Let's get some feedback Bros and Sisters!

Your brother in Iron
Howitzer

Howitzer
08-22-10, 1:17 am
Ab ripper X. What can I say. It's the first super serious ab workout I've done in lord knows how long. Wonderful pain. I think I got about 250 out of 340 reps done. Brutal. But that's what I need.
Post workout meal/prebed meal: 20 ounces fat free milk. 24grams casein protein, 24 grams whey protein. 1 tablespoon peanut butter, 1 ripe banana. The jury is in. Delicious.

Paramedic job interview tomorrow, so hopefully I can start making enough dough to support a diet rich in lean, quality meats. Everything else I buy is whole food and on the cheap (veggies, quinoa, salsa, beans, brown rice) but the meat is the killer. The gym at school opens Monday. It's going to be pain time again, and I'm looking forward to it.

Kaboom

Howitzer.

Howitzer
08-22-10, 3:20 pm
Aight, so I've been offered a job that will pay for rent, food, and supps. I'm pretty much in the clear to train without guilt now. The thread about old school strongmen and bodybuilders that's been going around has been really inspirational. Taking a look at the old 1940s and 50s physiques has sort of made me reevaluate what I want for myself. I know I don't want one of the freaky new, 3% bodyfat, competition physiques. It's just not me. But looking at the old school guys who have really big, low fat (5-6%) looks is really what I've had in mind all along. See figure 1

http://www.davedraper.com/site%20images/steve-george-armand-clancy.jpg

I've been rethinking the supplement regimen too. Do I want creatine at all? Do I just want vitamins, aminos, and protein? These are questions that I will need to evaluate as I continue on my journey to up my caliber. Any input from Bros or Sisters would be greatly appreciated.

Kaboom

Howitzer

Howitzer
08-23-10, 8:55 pm
Alright. First day of classes. The gym reopened, and I got my restart. Do to the proximity of classes, I didn't eat as much as I wanted to, but drank a lot of fat free milk to make up for it. My diet is starting to really take shape, and as a result I've been feeling a lot better and a lot fitter. Nothing like a regular BM to really make your day just right.

Remembering that the last time I was regularly working out was three months ago, my chest workout:

DB Flys, 3x10 30. 2x10 35
Bench Press 1x5 135 (fail) 1x11 135

Short, sweet, and one hell of a pump. I miss stacking over 200 lbs onto the bar, but I really want to get the strength back quick, and that means not fucking up my shoulder or something by thinking I can just start lifting at my heaviest right away.

I plan on taking a run in the morning since I have no classes till 1pm. Tomorrow is going to be a leg day.

Input please!

Howitzer

Howitzer
08-24-10, 1:31 am
Alright, it's almost bedtime. I've been fooling with my prebed meal, which is about as important as breakfast in my opinion (but has been woefully inadequate most of my life). Tonight it's a can of rinsed black beans: 1.5 grams of fat (no saturated), 21 grams of protein, 69 grams of carbs (18 grams of wonderful dietary fiber), 3 grams of sugar.

In addition, I have made a shake consisting of 1.5 servings fat free milk (12 grams protein) 19.5 grams of carbs (16 grams of sugar), a tablespoon of peanut butter (natty) 8 grams of fat, 1.25 grams saturated. 3 grams of carbs (1 fiber, 0.5 sugar) and 3.5 grams of protein. 1 scoop of casein protein (1 gram fat (0.5 saturated)) 3 grams carbs (1 fiber) 24 grams of protein.

Totals for meal: Fat: 10.5 grams (1.75 grams saturated) Carbs: 91 grams (of which 20 grams are fiber and 19.5 grams of sugar) and the protein total: 60.5 grams.

Not too shabby. I'm a bit disappointed that the sugar is so high, but for all the other macros I'm getting, it seems pretty good. Do the bros and sisters agree?


Howitzer

Howitzer
08-24-10, 8:40 pm
My preworkout meal this evening turned into a cheat meal. I was having quinoa and beef, and my house-mate had extra sticky rice left over from his own cooking, so I mixed that in. All that delicious rice and quinoa conspired against me and took me down... hard. So after a two hour food coma that involved me lying face down on our house's ratty ass sofa, I'm eating another small preworkout meal and hitting the dungeon gym in the lower level of the school sports center. It's got more of a hardcore feel, and when I don't want to workout, or I want to work out extra hard, that's where I go to get motivated. I should be doing back and biceps tonight, so there will be another update.

Please hit me up with some feedback fellow Animals!

Howitzer

Howitzer
08-24-10, 10:47 pm
So back/bicep night devolved into bicep night. My housemate's girlfriend caught me, and I ended up talking about the GRE exams with her for a while. I'm not one to really do too much talking at the gym, but this is a good friend who I couldn't blow off. Not if I want my living situation to remain civil anyway.
At the end of the workout, I took a look back in my log to really see where my biggest strength gains came from in the last year and a half. I'm definitely going back to a 5x5 system. I was just stacking weight on week after week when I did that.

Pullups: 6/6/3 (shitty awkward bard with a medium spaced grip.)

DB curls 1x10 25, 1x10 30, 2x9 35, 1x7 and 1x5 40lbs. Now that I know I can still curl a 40lb (thank everything that is good and decent in the world) I'm going to really use the 5x5 system and attack the curls and the preacher bench.

This is going to be a quick recovery of strength, but it's going to be a brutal couple of months.

Post workout meal: a cup and a half of oatmeal with a scoop of whey. Glass of fatfree milk.

Howitzer

Howitzer
08-25-10, 9:39 pm
Not enough calories today. Not enough sleep last night. The nap today helped, as did the bowl of rice. However, making these kinds of mistakes on a regular basis will probably lead to burnout and failure. I don't do failure.

Preworkout meal was a glass of milk with a scoop of whey, a large can of tuna, and a cup of coffee. Post workout was another shake. I have homework and a job packet to do tonight, so there will be plenty of time for some more meals.

Today was upper back day (I know I did pullups yesterday, but I needed a 'real' workout) and shoulders. Shoulders are my least favorite group of muscles to work, so I added a few extra reps in. Back felt good, and the 5x5 program is definitely going to do its job if I put in the time (which I am).

Cardio, 24 minutes

Wide lat pulldown 1x5 130/150/160/170/180 (weird machine. Up to 5x5 180 next time)
DB rows 1x5 60 4x5 70 (going to have to use the downstairs gym to go higher. 70 is max weight in the upstairs gym)
Diagonal DB raises 5x5 20lbs
Kettlebell snatch/press 2x5 40
Standing BB military press 3x10 70lbs (increase weight.)

So that was upper back and shoulder day. I don't work out my traps every shoulder day because they are pretty responsive and don't need to get hit all the time. I do need to work in a rhomboids exercise and get that diamond rocking. Lower back on leg day when I do deads.

Going to choke down some more protein this evening. Loving the 1% cottage cheese. Also, eating a can of rinsed black beans every day has been giving me the fiber I need to really feel good and regular. Sorry if this is too much info, but that's one aspect of body awareness that I've been trying to figure out for a while, and now that everything is...working, I feel a lot better and more energized. So yes, Howitzer's recipe for regularity is a can of rinsed black beans mixed with fresh cut salsa every day!

Almost done with my antibiotics, which I am really looking forward to. I'll be able to start taking pump again and get that extra squeeze at the gym.

As always, please let's give Howitzer some input.

Howitzer

Howitzer
08-29-10, 4:19 pm
Alright. My preworkout meal has been consumed. 1.5 cups of plain oatmeal mixed with a scoop of whey. Took some beef amino tabs too.

I've been doing some hard thinking about what I said before. Do I want to take creatine? Do I want to take other supplements? What are my goals? Well fellow Animals, I have answered those questions.

I have decided that I do not want to take certain supplements. I want to go all out and see how far I can go with only vitamins, aminos, and protein to supplement my food and training. Therefore, I will only be taking Pak, 100% beef aminos (might switch in to Uni Liver at some point to try it out.) and Nitro (which I am looking into.) Pretty soon I will be posting a current pic of my base and will do a progress pic every month and a half or so. I see photos of men like Steeve Reeves and George Eiferman, and I realized that these men don't just represent the old ideal of bodybuilding, they represent the peak of physical health and excellence. They lived into old age and were very healthy. That's what I want for myself. Howitzer is going to throw it way back to the old school and give it a whirl.

Please let me know what you all think of this, and drop some wisdom on me too!

Howitzer

Howitzer
08-29-10, 7:55 pm
Had a good workout this afternoon. Just finished my post workout meal which was about 25-30 oz of fat free milk with a little bit of malted milk mixed in. Then I had about 4 oz of lean ground beef mixed in with quinoa (about 1/2 cup dry) and mixed with a sinful stirfry sauce. I'm going to have a few cups of veggies and a can of black beans later, and probably a couple of cans of tuna before my prebed casein shake.

Here's what I did today:

Step mill: 15 minutes
Tread mill: 10 minutes

Seated calf raises (all weights are the weights added to whatever the seat weighs) 1x20 45lbs 1x15 90 lbs 1x15 125 lbs
Anterior tibialis DB lift 5x12 70 lbs (I love this exercise. I always get a massive pump and nothing says serious like having muscles on your shins that stand out)
standing calf raises 2x15 140lbs (+bodyweight)
Deadlift 1x8 135lbs 4x5 205 lbs (definitely going to up these numbers next week)
Cable ham curl 4x5 150 lbs (each leg) Add a set and reps next week.

When I do upper back day, I'm going to do my squats. I cannot do back squats because I always end up pulling my abdominals (it feels like my stomach is getting torn out) so it's going to be lunges and hack squats for me. Oh, and high box jumps.

Kaboom

Howitzer
08-30-10, 6:30 pm
So playing by the new rules ain't so bad. I'm eating a good deal of red meat. A ton of veggies and beans, and quite a few egg whites. Eating big is no problem. Now that I've simplified my supplementation, I'm looking into recomplicating it by way of EAA stack and or Nitro. Those on top of Pak, beef aminos, and protein will have me swimming in the good stuff.

It's chest night, and I'll try to have a report up after my workout.

KABOOM!

Howitzer
09-01-10, 11:07 pm
Had my preworkout meal this evening. Quinoa and beef. Had a two hour food coma and woke up feeling dehydrated (I don't have AC in central Virginia) and extremely bloated. I downed a shake and rode my bike over to the gym. Within about 5 minutes on the step mill, the majority of my bloating had fixed itself. Thank goodness no one was nearby. I was running short on time, so this is what I ended up doing:

step mill: 20 minutes

Concentration curls 1x10 25lbs 2x8 30 lbs
DB curls 2x8 35lbs 1x6 40lbs
Reverse Barbell curls 2x10 just the bar (45lbs) <----this really solidified my pump.

At that point, the school gym was pretty much closing, so I took the short bike ride home and got my meal. 2 cups of oats, 2 scoops of whey.

I put in an order today for juicy watermelon EAA stack and Sport Pharma chocolate Just Whey. I'm excited to see these quality products at my door and evaluate their effectiveness for myself.

Input is always appreciated!

Howitzer

C.Coronato
09-02-10, 9:33 am
Looking good bro .. you will enjoy both products. The Just Whey flavor is great man, i love that stuff.

Howitzer
09-04-10, 6:27 pm
My EAA stack and Just Whey came in the mail. Awesome stuff. From what I've had so far, I think I'm going to be sticking with these products. The Juicy Watermelon Stack tastes really good, which I'm very excited about. I've had one other amino acid drink powder before. Thank goodness it was a 1 serving sample. That shit was disgusting. The stack actually tastes pretty damn good, and given enough water it fully dissolves too. The full dissolution of the powder was honestly the more important aspect of the product to me. The taste is secondary. If I had to gag down both foul and powdery water, I would not have been impressed.

Looked in the mirror, and I'm definitely putting a little bit of pork on around the mid section. I honestly expected this, but didn't expect it to happen so quickly. All of my carbs are complex, and I'm eating lean cuts of meat, chicken beef and occasionally fish. To me, this means I need to continue upping my cardio. I want to keep putting on muscle, but since I'm not getting into the gym quite as much as I want yet (working on a hiring process and school) I'm going to be doing cardio to make up for lack of lifting days.

So as soon as I guzzle another liter of water and another cup of coffee, I'm going to make up a big thing of Juicy Watermelon EAA stack solution, and go for a bike ride. We got some good hills around here, and the temperature is finally not suffocating.

Howitzer

Howitzer
09-04-10, 7:47 pm
Do you know how you cool yourself down if you get too hot on a bike? Go faster! The bike ride was about 40 minutes of solid pedaling. I was sipping EAA stack at each of the stoplights I had to pull over at (maybe, 4). At the end of the ride, I had to hit the longest hill, right before home. My thighs were on fire, and it was awesome. Got a good 3/4 cup of quinoa on the stove right now with some beef thawing. I'll be able to eat in maybe 15 minutes. Until then, I'm hitting the stack and chugging fat free milk (I've already had about 16 oz.) These rides are going to get longer and faster, and I'm loving it.

Howitzer
09-08-10, 12:53 am
Yesterday was spiritual. There were three events that made it so for me. There was a thread that I posted to. An individual suggested that Animal or Universal make a "mental focus aid." I responded (with my new sig) that you can't get focus out of a can. It comes with being an Animal.

Which bridges nicely into my next event: I've been kinda down about my shape after the summer. I lost a ton of strength and it's really demoralizing. Well, when I post back to this guy, I was like "yeah wait a fucking second. I AM an animal." Then (get ready for some serious cheese factor) I saw the new Halo Reach trailer (see link). I've been a huge fan of Halo for a long time. Seeing live action spartans pumps me up. I get the feeling "I want to be able to go and keep going and be strong enough not to stop"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_IMTK7yuoq0

Which leads to my workout that evening. What can I say. I walked in there and felt like I was destroying the weights. No caffeine pill, no creatine, nothing but me and my shaker bottle full of EAA stack and the weights. I'm back, all in. And if all of my workouts are like the one I had last night, my strength will have nowhere to go but up.


So that's my super cheesy post. The 1 super cheesy post. That appreciation of pain has come back, and I'm going to be laying it all on the line. Strong or bust.

KABOOM!

Howitzer

Howitzer
09-09-10, 2:35 am
Kettlebells. Compound movements. Pain. I love the way compound exercises make me hurt. I love kettlebells. Unfortunately the school gym's kettlebells go to 45 pounds. Bitch weight for some of the lifts that I want to do with them. More than enough for others. I have a feeling that before long, I'm going to be doing 70 lb high pulls. I like those.

I think compound motions are going to start playing a much bigger part in my routines. It's late, so I'm going to hit the sack and get my zs in for the night. Workout updates later.

Howitzer

Howitzer
09-26-10, 6:04 pm
What up animals. It's Howitzer. A ton of shit has gone down since my last post, so here it goes.

I got my job, and I in processed for it last Thursday. I will never again complain about filling out a W2 tax form. Nothing can prepare you for Federal paperwork. It's like running a marathon where people are hitting you when you stop for water. Anyway, rent, food, and supps are now going to be all within budget. I'm totally stoked about that.

My routine definitely took a hit while I was doing all of these processes. I was getting new requests for paperwork at all hours that had to be done immediately. I also have school to worry about. Bitch Bitch Bitch, moan moan moan. DONE.

I did hit the gym a few times there in the mix, which was wonderful. Found a couple of sweet exercises too. In the next week, I am nailing down the routine with these new exercises, and going to post the whole damn thing up here. In the meantime, has anyone heard of static curls? I curl 40 lb dumbbells for reps, and I will say that 25 lb dumbbells annihilated me when I did 2 sets of the static curls mixed in with a compound exercise. Absolutely brutal in the best possible way!

Tonight: Stair sprints. I have a parking deck nearby with 4 flights of stairs. I'm going to sprint them as many times as I can. Jog down, sprint up. It might be a puking night.

Howitzer

SpankyC
09-26-10, 6:25 pm
Yesterday was spiritual. There were three events that made it so for me. There was a thread that I posted to. An individual suggested that Animal or Universal make a "mental focus aid." I responded (with my new sig) that you can't get focus out of a can. It comes with being an Animal.

Which bridges nicely into my next event: I've been kinda down about my shape after the summer. I lost a ton of strength and it's really demoralizing. Well, when I post back to this guy, I was like "yeah wait a fucking second. I AM an animal." Then (get ready for some serious cheese factor) I saw the new Halo Reach trailer (see link). I've been a huge fan of Halo for a long time. Seeing live action spartans pumps me up. I get the feeling "I want to be able to go and keep going and be strong enough not to stop"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_IMTK7yuoq0

Which leads to my workout that evening. What can I say. I walked in there and felt like I was destroying the weights. No caffeine pill, no creatine, nothing but me and my shaker bottle full of EAA stack and the weights. I'm back, all in. And if all of my workouts are like the one I had last night, my strength will have nowhere to go but up.


So that's my super cheesy post. The 1 super cheesy post. That appreciation of pain has come back, and I'm going to be laying it all on the line. Strong or bust.

KABOOM!

Howitzer

yeah buddy Halo Reach is awesome hahahaha

Howitzer
09-29-10, 4:46 pm
Did you know that running while dehydrated leads to vomiting? True statement.

Anyway, worked out with my friend and the ROTC today for the first time. Calisthenics were not too challenging at all. We did pyramids pushups and leg raises starting at 12. A quick quarter mile warm up jog. Then another mile and a half road run. Apparently my running form is terrible, and my endurance is not so awesome on runs. That might be one reason the front of my legs are on fire when I run (the running form). Something to work on.

Steak and quinoa for lunch makes everything better. Increasing my hydration. Bout to take my pack.

I'm thinking of running the Push/Pull/Legs 3 day split for a while. Really change it up and simplify. Might do a muscular endurance day once a week or once every two weeks to change it up and challenge myself. Overall athleticism is the goal here. The end result is that I'll grow, but in the short term I am certain to see marked increases in strength and endurance (and yes you can increase both at the same time) So it's going to be 2 a days three times a week. Cardio in the early morning. Weights in the evening. I'll let you bros know how that goes.

Howitzer

Howitzer
10-01-10, 3:03 am
So today my lats started hurting. And I was trying to figure out why. They hurt equally on both sides. Really sore. I tend not to get sore after workouts... and back day was on Monday. When I have gotten sore, it's usually only 2 days after. This time it's kicking my ass though at 3-4 days out. I guess I'm doing things right, now I just need to do more of it.

Jay
10-27-10, 7:59 pm
How are things going in here

Howitzer
10-27-10, 9:13 pm
I dunno. But it looks like I should blow out the cobwebs!

My routine is slowly returning to normal. The intensity is coming back, the diet is re materializing, and my motivation is back where it was. That heartrate problem I was having has gone away. The doctor was right when he diagnosed me with "stress." So my heart is now moving along at a comfortable 72 or so (my normal resting).

I'm pretty sure I've lost a bit of mass in the last few weeks. I've been glued to a computer or books or in the back of an ambulance pretty much all the time. The good news is that when my next paycheck comes in, I'll be able to pay rent, bills, and most important of all: Food!

On the injury front, my abs have healed up from running PT with the ROTC. I got myself up on a frame and did pyramiding leg lifts superset with hyper extensions. It felt awesome! I'm coming back stronger from an injury than I was going in, which sounds weird but it feels really cool! I wouldn't recommend that being anyone's mode of massive strength gain though... But I bet I could sell the idea for millions to some sucker and call it "evidence based fitness." I think that's how all of these get fit quick schemes get started. Moving on...

I think my favorite part of this update is that I feel good leaving the gym again. A tough workout followed by that lovely energized sensation, and just in time too: On Sunday, I will be turning 24 years old. I'm giving myself a birthday present too. I'm promising myself that'll I be in that gym thick or thin 4 nights a week. This 3 night a week thing was a failure as an experiment.

All in all, this month was my rockiest patch since I started this journey. But I feel good coming out of it, and I can only see myself getting bigger. The rest was good too. My system is cleaned out of all the supps, and I'm well rested.

Alright. Ranting update complete, which means it's time to eat! Thanks for keeping me accountable.
Howitzer

Howitzer
11-02-10, 3:13 am
Tonight was a leg night. We jogged to the gym cause it was fucking cold out. Did an honest to goodness sprint for a nice stretch there, which is something I haven't done in a while. I think I can still move pretty fast, but no solid measurement. That sprint led into cardio for the night. 15 minutes on the treadmill, nice and easy, followed by 10 minutes on the step mill. That got the sweat rolling and the legs warm.

Started with leg presses tonight. My core training is going well because my guts didn't feel like they were going to tear out. Started with 90 lbs and the sled and went for 20, just to get limber. Then, it was steps up. We ended up doing sets of 9 or 10 with 270 lbs plus the sled. It felt good. It felt like I could do more. But I had done a ton of sets, and there was more to do before we left.

Slammed calves, seated calf press. My lifting partner, who is currently now in the best shape of his life, asked me what this kinda... "depression" on the back of his leg was. I pulled up my scrub pants leg and flexed my calf "that my friend, is definition. You have some." He was totally stoked and hit calves extra hard.

Finished up with anterior tibialis lifts. Warmed up with a 60 and 65 lb dumbbell for 20 and 15, then moved on to 2 sets of 12 with a 70 lb dumbbell. Need to go downstairs next time and get an 80, because the 70 isn't challenging anymore.

Deadlifts tomorrow, so we stayed away from the machine leg curl.

Abs and back tomorrow. It's going to hurt to stand on Wednesday.

Preworkout was a scoop of whey, almond butter, and oatmeal. Post workout shake (40 grams protein) followed shortly after with a huge bowl of lentils (18 grams of protein per serving, with 10 grams of fiber. 85 cents per pound)

I am back on track!

Howitzer