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Ricky P
02-28-07, 4:27 pm
I took about a month off after I finished up school. Enjoyed the Holiday's and all that. As soon as all of that was out of the way, and the rest of my friends went back to school....I went back to work. I love it. I started earlier this month, Feb. 2nd to be exact. I honestly didn't know this section existed, another plus to this excellent forum. I usually just enter all my numbers into a bent up notebook I take to the gym, but this way I'll be able to share with my peers and hopefully get some support on those tough days. This forum is legit, there's nothing out there like it, pumped to be a part of it.

TheNaturalG
02-28-07, 4:30 pm
Yea this place truly is one of a kind. You will get the support you need here, good luck.

What gym on Long Island are you going to?

Ricky P
02-28-07, 4:34 pm
Februrary 28, 2007

Chest/Bi's

Today is Chest and Biceps. I switched up my routine to keep the muscles guessing. I was tired of Chest/Tri's, Back/Bi's, etc. I've liked this new routine, it's given me the ability to train my triceps really hard on their own day, and not have the fatigue set in like they would on a heavy chest day.

Chest:
Bench 3x15
Incline 3x15
Decline 3x10
Cable Fly 3x10

Biceps:
Single Arm DB Curl
3x15
Standing BB Curl
3x15
Hammer Curl
3x15
Drop Set DB Curls
10/10/10 (5 lb increments)

Ricky P
02-28-07, 4:37 pm
I'm in Nassau and have been going to this gym in my town for the last couple years. I haven't been home a whole lot because of school, basically just the summer so I haven't been able to find a gym that I like. This gym I go to is good, but not great. Price is reasonable though, and on LI, that's tough to find. It's called Evolution Fitness, Oyster Bay. How 'bout you?

TheNaturalG
02-28-07, 4:40 pm
Nice workout. I also used to do chest and biceps together to give another day to get worked harder. I am going to a gym in Massapequa called XXL. It is a local one so it is not to expensive. It is small and good.

Ricky P
02-28-07, 4:44 pm
That's cool. Yeah I like switching the workout up every couple of weeks, this way it never gets old. Good to know I got a fellow Animal here on LI, right on the other end of the 135. I know a lot of people down there in Massapequa, that's cool. Look forward to talking some more, I'm going to go get this workout done.

Ricky P
02-28-07, 7:29 pm
Had a little trouble with my bench today. I was set to do 15 reps on the bench, but decided to do 10, go up in weight a bit. The problem comes when I use the heavier weight for reps, around 7 or 8, my left shoulder starts to give out. Really pissing me off now. I want to make gains, but can't if I can't consistently put up heavy weight. I backed off and did less weight with high reps for the last two weeks, tried to go back today, same problem. And I know most would say, well you can't handle the heavier weight.... With DB's, I can put up serious weight without much problem.... So could it be my form or where my hands are located on the bench?

Regardless, beside the bench, got a decent workout today. Tried a new exercise on the Smith machine. My boy was there and while I was finishing up with my cable flies, noticed him working this exercise. He was doing flat bench but at the top of the rep would release the bar, throwing it up into the air and catching on the way down (Notice I said Smith machine earlier, haha this wouldn't be real safe with a free barbell). I decided to do some sets, actually really liked it added on to my workout. It gives a real good contraction because you explode through the top of the movement.

Ricky P
03-01-07, 10:07 am
February 29, 2007

Legs/Shoulders

I was wondering if I should give my legs an extra day to rest....Fuck that. I'm gonna hit 'em hard today. I tweaked the back of my left shoulder doing front delt raises earlier in the week. It actually really bothered me when I got home that night, thought it was going to be a problem but never really gave me a one which is a very good thing. I'm hoping it doesn't effect any lifts today. Probably just do some Jobes work to warm them up before I get into moving any weight. Jobes is basically a baseball specific work-out, works the rotator cuff and the muscles around it.



Legs
Squat 3x10
Deadlift 3x10
Lunges 3x10 (each leg)
Leg Extensions 3x10
Calf Raises (Smith) 3xFailure

Shoulders
Jobes 7/7/7
Shrugs (Smith) 3x10
Front Delt Raise 3x10
Side Delt Raise (Cable) 3x10
"Pour the Coffee" 3x10
Trap Raise (Cable) 3x10

Ricky P
03-01-07, 3:06 pm
So today I went in real pumped up, I wanted to rip up my stiff deadlifts. I started 225 for 10 then did 315 4x. My back wasn't happy about it so I just repped out 225 10x and went into extentions.
I had a real good shoulder workout today, but had to rip through it pretty fast b/c I had a job interview at 12:30 and time was ticking. I got home pounded a shake as I was getting in the shower and got to my interview in one piece. Tomorrow should be a serious back/tricep day, can't wait.

Big Wides
03-01-07, 3:19 pm
sounds good looks like soild workouts man, will be sure to check your progress

Ricky P
03-01-07, 3:23 pm
Sounds good, thanks brother.

Ricky P
03-01-07, 6:28 pm
Figured I might as well make today a starting point of sorts. I'm going to start keeping track online as well as in my notebook of my gains. This way if anyone sees anything that you think I could improve on or adjust, you can just shout it out for me. Plus it's March 1st, nice day to start, first of the month.

3/1/07

6'1
202lbs.

Bench 225x8
Squat 315
RDL 315x4
Incline 195x6

Ricky P
03-01-07, 6:50 pm
Goals:

Bench 315 for reps
Squat 350 for reps
Deadlift 405 within two months

Ricky P
03-02-07, 11:02 am
March 2, 2007

Back/Tri's

Time to get hardcore. Hate some back workouts, love some others, so I got mixed feelings about today. Love working the triceps, one of the stronger parts of me.

Back
Pull-Ups (Get 30-35 within 3 sets)
Wide Grip Rows 3x10
Close-Grip Pulldown 3x10
Straight Arm Lat Pulldown 3x10
Rev. Cable Fly 3x10

Triceps
Single Arm Pulldown 3x15
Reverse Grip Pulldown 3x15
DB Kickback 3x15
Body Weight Dips 3x15
Overhead Extension 3x15

Ricky P
03-02-07, 1:08 pm
Absolute domination on dips today. First set I was going to do 15 body weight, ripped out 20 with not much problem. Decided to strap on a belt holding a 25lb. plate, banged out 10 without much problem. Decided to step it up and strap on a 45lb. plate. Got 5 then stepped off. Was going to end it there but after a few minutes, ripped out 20 more before I left. Great tricep day, hit the back real well too. Overall good day to end the week and earn my off day.

Toni69
03-02-07, 2:04 pm
I'm in Nassau and have been going to this gym in my town for the last couple years. I haven't been home a whole lot because of school, basically just the summer so I haven't been able to find a gym that I like. This gym I go to is good, but not great. Price is reasonable though, and on LI, that's tough to find. It's called Evolution Fitness, Oyster Bay. How 'bout you?

I have family all over Long Island...nice workouts..strong..keep it up!

Ricky P
03-05-07, 7:51 am
Alright, it's time to get into it today. I took the weekend off to go up and see a buddy of mine at school. I literally had dreams about getting home to get in the gym, no joke. I can't wait to get there today, I'm going to hammer deadlifts hardcore, I'm pumped.

I'm dedicating this day to deadlifts, going to adopt the 5 sets @ 5 reps routine. I'm also going to hammer my shoulders while I'm there.

Legs
Deadlifts 5x5

Shoulders
Front Delt Raise 3x10
Side Delt Cable Raise 3x10
Shrugs 3x10
Upright Row 3x10

Ricky P
03-05-07, 9:52 pm
Today, I went into the gym after a long weekend off. I was real pumped and real focused, at least I thought I was. I really wanted to rip out some big time deadlifts today, but didn't get as heavy as I wanted to. I really dominated my shoulders though. Did some nice squats after the deadlifts just because I was so dissapointed in my performance deadlifting. Hey, shit happens, I'm just going to go harder on it next time. Gotta get to that 405 mark hopefully by the end of the month, that'd be nice progress. Tomorrow I start my first day of work at this marketing firm, but I gotta be there extra early, so it's going to screw up my morning gym routine. I'm going to have to get there after I get home, which is going to suck ass but I gotta suck it up and do it!

Ricky P
03-07-07, 12:24 am
Chest and Bi's

Had a pretty decent chest day today. Mixed some things up, got a really good pump on my last couple of exercises. Biceps was a-whole-nother story. I don't know if it was because it was late, and I worked all day and didn't have a lot of energy, or because my arms were tired, or because I just got an incredible pump.... Regardless, my biceps were blazed after I was done. Got a serious burn going tonight, I'm hoping it's just because I had a good workout. Only reason I'm skeptical is because I normally feel I do more than I actually did to get the burn. I went up in weight very slightly, and just felt a burn a lot earlier than I normally do. I honestly think it's due to the 180 I'm doing when it comes to the time of the day I've gotta hit the gym. I am by no means a morning person, but I honestly do just get a much greater workout in the morning before work. Since Monday, I've started a new job, same distance but I need to get there an hour and a half earlier than my last job. The gym in the morning is out of the question because I'd need more time to get my routine done in. I gotta be outta my house at 7am to get to work on time (NYC traffic, you understand?) so getting to the gym when it opens at 6am is pointless. So now I've gotta get to the gym after I get home at 7pm. Of course I have to eat when I get home, get my shit together, it's 8:30pm before I hit the gym floor. I don't mind it much, but it's just that the times are polar opposites, and I've gotta find a way to be focused and energized after an entire day of running around, and I mean literally running around.... I don't sit down except for lunch. But hey, it's life, gotta deal with that kind of shit ya know? Just something I've gotta grind out and get used to. Getting a couple packages of supplements in a couple of days, that always gets me refreshed and fired up about working out. To come home and find them on my doorstep will definitely get me going in a day or two, can't wait!

Ricky P
03-08-07, 1:04 am
Back/Tri Day


Had to get into the gym late again tonight. No problems though, got home, had some rice, popped the Pak and Pump and a shake and headed out. Did my back up pretty good. The wide-grip row is feeling pretty good. I really am enjoying the straight arm lat pushdown, feeling like it's hitting the lat's real nice now that I've got my form down. Also felt great again doing dips today. First set I felt a little wierd, guess I was just cold even though it was my last tricep exercise. Regardless, I did weighted dips hard after that. Ripped out 10 with a 25lb plate and 10 more with a 45lb plate. Felt strong, felt good. Time for rest, peace.

Ricky P
03-08-07, 11:48 pm
Legs and Shoulders Day

Got some nice squats in today. Did some good calf work as well. Long ass day at work but had a good night at the gym. Work gets real frustrating, but I get so fucking amped when I get home because I know I can just explode in the gym all that frustration. Ripped my shoulders apart after legs, felt great. Real pissed it's already done with, because now I have to get to sleep and wake up before it's light out to work for 12 hours. Can't wait for tomorrow night to let loose!

Ricky P
03-09-07, 11:12 pm
Little pissed off about today. Left for work at 7am, left work at 7:30pm. For some reason the gym I go to closes an hour earlier on Friday. I hit a shitload of traffic (NYC, typical) so I didn't make it home until about 9. And that's when my gym closes. I'm pretty pissed I didn't get to lift tonight, on top of that I was asked to go into work again tomorrow which is SATURDAY. I'll be honest I might not go just so I can get in a legit workout.

Ricky P
03-10-07, 3:50 pm
Today I'm doing chest and bi's. Chest I'm gonna try something with. I'm going to do a couple sets of negatives at the end of the reg workout, try and spark some new gains. I've been stuck at 225, and with a goal of 315, I need to get some more muscles working on all cylindars. I don't know how many other people have tried this techinique, but if anyone's got any experience in it - lemme know how it went for you. I'll definitely report on my progress.

Ricky P
03-10-07, 5:44 pm
The negatives were unreal today. In total I worked about 6 sets on the bench. I know I'll be in pain tomorrow but I can't wait. I had a great day in the gym today. Really did my chest up good, and absolutely smashed on my biceps. I'm trying to get this shake down and can barely lift my arm, it's the best feeling ever. I feel like I made some real serious progress today. I also ended my 4 week stretch of my 15 rep routine on my arms today, started with 10 reps on my bi's. Went up a good amount in weight for the 10 reps and just felt unreal. I can feel this is going to spark some more growth in these arms, can't wait for the results. Overall good day.

Ricky P
03-11-07, 11:54 pm
Back/Tri Day

Absolute obliteration of my triceps today. Awesome day, first time on the 10 rep routine, felt amazing. Did Good Morning's for the first time on my back, really trying to develop my lower back, if anyone's got any other good exercises to build muscle in my lower back just holler!

Ricky P
03-16-07, 1:36 pm
Been a while since I've reported.. This job is kicking my ass. I do what I have to though, I get home around 8pm and still get in a kick ass workout before the place shuts down at 10. This week it started taking a toll on me. I began getting pretty fatigued just when I got home from work, thought maybe I was coming down with something. Turns out I get home last night, keep getting the chills and my head is killing me. Take my temp I'm at a 102. So I took off today from work, but my muscles are killing me. Just sleeping was bothering me, I feel like I just got done hammering every muscle in my body. It's a real pain in the ass, this will be my third day in a row having to skip the gym. I'm hoping by resting up all day today, I'll feel like a million bucks tomorrow. I want to wake up in a good mood, hey it'll be Saturday, and lace up the shoes and absolutely hammer it in the gym. I've been going hard for about 4 weeks in a row, maybe these couple days are just what I need.

Ricky P
03-18-07, 2:35 pm
Finally getting back into the gym today. Feel pretty good, not completely 100 percent, but definitely A LOT better than the last couple days. I feel like the gym will only get me going further in the right direction, I just feel much better when I know I've gotten to the gym.

Ricky P
03-19-07, 5:00 pm
I was expecting somewhat of a let down in some areas of the gym yesterday being that I was coming off a little bit of a layoff.. My strength was surprisingly fine, right where I left off. Only thing is I took a lot longer b/t sets catching my breath. Whatever, just need to get back into it real hard. Going back in there today to fucking dominate my back and triceps.

Ricky P
03-19-07, 7:53 pm
Another great day hammering on the triceps. Did a lot of back work today. My goal before I start hammering away at my weight goals is really building up my back. I think my upper back is good, middle back is alright, but my lower back is lacking. I threw in some real nice back extentions today, felt a real good burn down low. Still had some fatigue, but not as bad as yesterday. Getting stronger by the day.

Ricky P
03-22-07, 1:21 pm
I did my legs and shoulders a couple of days ago. Went back to the deadlifts. Took some time off to try and build up my lower back. I tried a 5x5 routine, went 135x5 215x5 275x5 then I got to 315 and only got it up 3 times. I'm having a lot of problem with the grip. I use and over/under grip but have had difficulty hanging on to it. I don't use gloves and the straps don't feel comfortable with that weight. I got a tip to use some chalk so I'm gonna definitely try that out. Regardless, I got a real good workout in, my lower back was feeling it yesterday.

Today I'm doing some chest and bicep work. I'm going to adopt a new chest routine that I read in Muscle and Fitness. It seems good, probably get me over the 225 hump. It's a six week bench program. It goes of your 5RM. Basically I'm going to do 5 sets on the bench at 5 reps. The last set I'm going to increase the weight by 2.5% each day. So if day 1 is 225 on the last set, day 2 it will be 230. It gets more confusing but I'm going to write it all down in my notebook and take it with me and rip it up in the gym. Hopefully in 6 weeks I'm able to put up 275! That'd be awesome. Huge goals baby!

Ricky P
03-22-07, 7:17 pm
Love the new bench routine. Felt great today.

135x5
160x5
180x5
205x5
230x5
135x20

Did some cable flies and called it a day on chest.
Ripped out some biceps as well, felt an incredible pump. Did a drop set to finish it off:

35x10
30x10
25x10

Felt like my arms were going to fall off but I got through it. Thinking about switching up my arm routine though, it's been a while since I've done anything different.
If anyones got anything else beside these exercises, let me know!

Here's my routine as of right now:

Single Arm DB Curl
Straight BB Curl
Hammer Curl
Incline Curl
Drop Set
All @ 3x10

TheNaturalG
03-22-07, 8:09 pm
Nice workout bro, I hope the new chest thing works well for you.

Ricky P
03-23-07, 7:44 pm
Popping the Pak right now, getting ready for the gym. Back and Tricep Day. Going to bring a camera to the gym today. Feel like it's time to start taking an action shot or two. I'm going to bring it in on leg day also, get some deadlift video so you guys can see if my form fucking sucks or it's just me. Everyones got a picture of themself somewhere haha, I have no lifting or posing photos whatsoever.

Ricky P
03-23-07, 11:10 pm
So we brought the camera to the gym today. Enjoyed having a little extra motivation with me, never a bad thing. I actually decided to up the weight on my weighted dips. About two weeks ago I started adding weight to my dips, a 25lb. plate was comfortable for 10. Did a 45lb. plate for 5. Today here's where I'm at:

10 w/ 45lbs.
10 w/ 70lbs.
5 w/ 90lbs.

I got a little extra at the end, took on 2 45's, not expecting more than a couple but was surprised I got it up to five. Feeling good ripping out these dips.

So beside that highlight of my workout haha, here's what I did today:

Back
30 Pull-ups
Wide-grip Row 3x10
Rev. Cable Flies 2x10, 1x7
Weighted Back Extensions 3x10
Straight-Arm Pushdown 3x10
Wide-Grip Pulldown 3x10

Triceps
Single Arm Pulldown 3x10
Rev. Pulldown 3x10
Overhead DB Press 3x10
Weighted Dips (Above)

Ricky P
03-23-07, 11:26 pm
Here's a link to some of the photo's from today's session. This way you can get some sort of idea what I look like even thought most of them are from behind me. Anyway I hope the link works:

http://community.webshots.com/user/RickyPiovesan

I've got the light shirt on, my boy Doug is in the black shirt.

Ricky P
03-23-07, 11:33 pm
I'm planning on taking video the next couple of days on Bench and on my Deadlifts so some of you can critique it, let me know if I'm doing anything wrong. Constructive criticism is welcome!

Ricky P
03-24-07, 6:11 pm
Just got home from my shoulder day. Got a nice workout in, even did more than I intended on doing. It's never a good thing to overlook a day, especially training, not like I went in today not concentrating or lost focus, but I can't wait until tomorrow. With this new chest routine I just want everyday to be chest day! It's the weekend and I'm waking up extra early just so I can get to the gym sooner. Five years ago if I said that it'd be a huge joke now I'm dead serious about it haha. Funny how people can really change.

That's another thing I always find motivation in, some people I was real close with five or six years ago that may have moved or I don't see much of anymore, would never believe it if I told them how dedicated I was to this life. I wouldn't be caught dead in a gym during High School, and I was a two sport athlete! That's another reason I don't really talk about it, I am a huge proprietor of doing and not talking. I don't care how much someone tells me they care about something, I need to see it to believe it. Put it this way, if someone from back then SAW me then they'd understand I've been putting my time in at the gym. That's always the best feeling, when someone just sees you for the first time in a while and notices a difference in your physique, it's a great feeling to know that you're not the only one who is seeing the results of your blood, sweat and tears! Hey for anyone visiting the site, thinking about getting into this life, stop thinking right now and dive right in. It is NEVER too late to make a change, and trust me, it will change your life for the better.

Not to shout out T_N Muscle (Shellie) or throw the spotlight on her, but I was reading about how she started, she was 45! Couple years later the girl looks like she's 25! I mean it's unbelievable, she's a professional bodybuilder! She didn't start thinking she'd become that, but her grit and determination opened up new doors, now she's got something truly special. It doesn't matter what time of your life that you're in, or what reason you have for doing this, it's never too late to start. This life can truly change a person, and I may have only been 21 when I decided to get serious about it, but I'm glad I made the decision when I did. To anyone out there thinking they may want to get into it, just do it, you'll never regret it!

Remember, video tomorrow of the bench so I can get some feedback from you guys (and gals)!

brandonA
03-24-07, 6:20 pm
Looking good Ricky...i have the same grip issue on deads too, let me know how the chalk works for ya...i hate straps, but might have to start using um. look foward to the vid...
-B

T_N_Muscle
03-24-07, 8:11 pm
Thanks for the shout out lil bro.......... cant wait to see the vid's!! stay strong hunny
Shellie

Ricky P
03-25-07, 4:17 pm
About to get to the gym and hammer the chest. I know I promised video of the bench, I will bring the camera but we'll be strapped for time so it might not come out of the bag. Rather have a good workout than mess around trying to set up the camera for a half hour. We'll see what happens, hope we can get it done!

Toni69
03-25-07, 6:23 pm
Hey...how are you? Just reading through your log here..nice stuff..looking good..motivation levels are high...your kicking ass. Keep that enthusiasm, even if you feel blah. When I am feeling really low, from my diet or just crap going on in my life, I just take it out on the iron. I forget I am tired, I dont think I have 20 more sets of exercises left before I have to do 45 min of cardio. I think of the end result, I think of my next brutal workout, I think of my son's smiling face when I walk in the door all sweaty and exhausted and he wants me to flex for him while he ooohs and ahhhs me.

Dig deep my friend, you will find what your truly made of each and every time you do!

Ricky P
03-25-07, 8:44 pm
So today's work out was pretty good. Day two of my six week chest program. I went up to 235 on my last set, felt pretty good. I got video of two sets on the bench. I repped out 135 for 25 on the last set to burn up my chest a little more.

Here's the workout today:

Chest
Bench - 5x5 - 135x5, 160x5, 185x5, 205x5, 235x5 -- 135x25
Cable Flies - 3x10 - 30x10, 40x10, 40x10

Biceps
Single Arm DB Curl - 3x10 - 30x10, 35x10, 40x10
Free BB Curl - 3x10 - 75x10, 85x10, 95x10
Incline DB Curl - 3x10 - 15x10, 20x10, 25x10
DB Drop Set - 35x10, 30x10, 25x10
-Had to pause twice during the drop set in fear my arms would fall off.

Here is the video to the 135x25 set on the bench:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5M6_mQOQn_M

Here is the video to the 235x5 set on the bench:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZGjk97c8fQ


I know the angle isn't the greatest, tough to find some level ground to put the camera down. Just if anyone sees anything I could correct or work on, let me know. Appreciate the tips!

Ricky P
03-26-07, 6:14 pm
Deadlift day today. I still don't have any chalk as of yet, hopefully by next DL day I have some b/c I'm getting real tired of these straps. I don't like the way they feel I don't feel as if I have a strong enough grip on the bar. I'll solve this problem soon enough. I'll try to get video of the DL's today because of all the exercises, this is the one I need some advice on. This is the newest lift to me, I've only been doing it for a couple of months so I still haven't had anyone tell me if I'm doing anything wrong. Time to go hammer smash my legs... PEACE!

brandonA
03-26-07, 6:33 pm
So today's work out was pretty good. Day two of my six week chest program. I went up to 235 on my last set, felt pretty good. I got video of two sets on the bench. I repped out 135 for 25 on the last set to burn up my chest a little more.

Here's the workout today:

Chest
Bench - 5x5 - 135x5, 160x5, 185x5, 205x5, 235x5 -- 135x25
Cable Flies - 3x10 - 30x10, 40x10, 40x10

Biceps
Single Arm DB Curl - 3x10 - 30x10, 35x10, 40x10
Free BB Curl - 3x10 - 75x10, 85x10, 95x10
Incline DB Curl - 3x10 - 15x10, 20x10, 25x10
DB Drop Set - 35x10, 30x10, 25x10
-Had to pause twice during the drop set in fear my arms would fall off.

Here is the video to the 135x25 set on the bench:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5M6_mQOQn_M

Here is the video to the 235x5 set on the bench:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZGjk97c8fQ


I know the angle isn't the greatest, tough to find some level ground to put the camera down. Just if anyone sees anything I could correct or work on, let me know. Appreciate the tips!

on your 235 set your head came up on the 1st one and your right foot came up on the last couple...im not a pro, but i always keep my head on the bench...and i make sure to keep my feet planted to drive with..fire through the hips...im sure the powerlifters will let you know...may want to post a seperate thread.....
-B

Ricky P
03-26-07, 6:35 pm
Yeah when I watched it I noticed my head on the first one, I don't know what that was about haha. Yeah I was actually supposed to do 3 on this program but I wanted to get 5, guess I struggled with the last couple keeping my lower half completely still. Thanks for the critique B, appreciate it!

brandonA
03-26-07, 6:47 pm
Yeah when I watched it I noticed my head on the first one, I don't know what that was about haha. Yeah I was actually supposed to do 3 on this program but I wanted to get 5, guess I struggled with the last couple keeping my lower half completely still. Thanks for the critique B, appreciate it!

anytime man..looking good and strong...hell i have yet to bench that much...
-B

Ricky P
03-26-07, 8:43 pm
I just uploaded two videos of my deadlifts from today's workout. I would love for some of you to take a look at these, like I said I'm not sure on my form although today I felt a lot more comfortable than I normally do, especially on my heavier sets. I normally have trouble with 315, today I used no straps, chalk or belts and got through the set no problem. It did get slippery toward the fifth rep but I held on. When the video's are posted and processed I'll post the links.

Ricky P
03-26-07, 11:50 pm
The video's finally processed on YouTube, took about three hours, no idea why. Anyway here's my workout:

Deadlifts
5x5
135x5
135x5
225x5
275x5
Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lkkyNDL2ra8
315x5
Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fbW02kbqVpc

Squats
On Smith Machine
135x10
225x5
275x4
295x4

Calves
On Smith Machine
135x15
185x15
225x15

Ricky P
03-26-07, 11:57 pm
If you guys could take a look at the DL video, especially the set @ 315, let me know how my form is. It felt a lot better than it had been in the past, but I've never had anyone take a look at it for me. Nothing better than my brothers (and sisters) here at the Forvm to critique it for me.

TheNaturalG
03-27-07, 12:08 am
The only thing I would say about the form is to watch your lower back it is rounding a bit.

Toni69
03-27-07, 5:23 am
I noticed the rounding of the back too. Deads is one of those exercises you must be strict with form or you can seriously do some damage that will prevent you from doing more than just deads. I think my 2 bulging disks were from doing improper technique on deads. It took months to come back from that and the pain was just horrible.

I saw you were trying to drive the weight with your legs, but your back rounded a few times, especially in the first lift. Remember its not always about the weight, its technique and the intensity in moving that weight, contracting the proper muscles during the movement, even when you pause at the top. If the weight is too heavy, your going to be concerned with trying to lift it off the ground, hence, not concentrating on your form.

Lean foward from the waist when you bring the weight down. When you begin, keep your head up and your back straight, allowing the glutes, legs and low back to drive the weight up.

I would warm up with some good mornings before doing deads too. Overall, not bad at all Ricky P. Nice bench presses...good rhythm.

brandonA
03-27-07, 12:06 pm
Toni had some great point as always...your deads look good bro, watch the back...look up as much as possible, for me that forces my sholders back, helping not to round out the lower back....how far is the bar from your shins? drag that bastard right up um...if you are too far away from the bar, you have to reach and will have a harder time keeping the back straight.....all in all looking good and strong bro....keep hittin it...

-B

Ricky P
03-27-07, 12:27 pm
Thanks for the tips guys, appreciated. I'll try to get another video the next day I Deadlift so we can see if I ironed out these problems.

Ricky P
03-27-07, 7:40 pm
So of course Toni was right, back is real stiff and sore today. Yeah, it could be worse, I like to look at the situation as the glass is half full. I'm an optimist what can I say? I like to think that my lower back is now stronger the next time I get in there. Next DL day is going to be real light as I told Toni, going to work hard on my form and get it down pat before I move back up in weight. She's always right, what else is new?

Today was supposed to be triceps and back, but because of the soreness and the fact I did my DL's on leg day, I did straight tricep hammering today.

Overhead Press: 70x10, 80x10, 90x10
Single Arm Pulldown: 60x10, 60x10, 70x10
Reverse Grip Pushdown: 100x10, 110x10, 120x10
Weighted Dips: 10xBW, 6x55(DB), 5x90, 5x100, 20xBW

Muscles in the front delts started to fatigue during dips, something that hasn't happened for over a month. Tomorrow is going to be a much needed day off from the gym. Thursday is going to be a very good chest day.

Ricky P
03-29-07, 4:40 pm
Awesome much needed off day yesterday. All my muscles are still sore today, especially my tri's. Thought the day off would be good for my tri's and give me a better chest workout today. I'm going to have to use a lot of chest today since my tri's are still burning a little bit.

I'm going to the NIT Championship tonight, don't know why but my boy from Buffalo is coming into NYC, calls me, tells me he got me a ticket.... Can't say no to that. So I won't have time to update this after the gym, I'll make sure I hit it up and let you know if I went up in my bench again. I'm going for 240 today, if I'm feeling good, I may jump to 245! We'll seeeeee.....

Toni69
03-29-07, 5:18 pm
Stretch your back, glutes and hams. If your hams are tight..causes low back probs...stretch for 20min at least, while watching tv at home if you have to, just do it. If you have a physio ball..that is even better!

Warm up back before doing next deads session.

Ricky P
03-30-07, 9:51 pm
Had a great chest day yesterday, felt strong.

Warm up
135x10
160x5
185x5
205x5
245x3

So I got to 245, felt like skipping 240. This week calls for only 3 reps, next chest day I'm targeting 5 reps. After that I'm bumping it up to 250lbs.

I got about an hour and a half of sleep last night. I saw some old buddies from college, we stayed out in NYC, one of them is from Buffalo and he was only here for the night - couldn't leave early no matter how bad my body wanted to. I had to get up for work at 5:45am (I got home at 4:15am so obviously I had a real sweet nap) then I worked until 4:00pm. I got home, had some food, pre-workout supps (Pak, Nitro, Real Gains) and headed to the gym.

I did some light weight Deads:
135x5
135x5
185x5
225x5
225x5

I got some more video of it, just so we can all take a look to see if my form has improved any. I tried something different to help keep my back straight, from my once over on the video it looks like it helped, but you be the judge.

Due to the lack of sleep I was gassed half way through the workout. It was a reminder - take care of myself or my goals will suffer set backs, and that's not happening. I'm going to get some great rest tonight, and I'm going extra hard tomorrow. Can't wait to report on tomorrow's workout.


When the video is posted I'll throw up the link.

Ricky P
03-31-07, 1:55 pm
Here are a couple video's taken from yesterdays light DL's:

Here's a 185x5 set:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CEY2QLg87xU

Here's a 225x5 set:

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

I think the overall was better but the 225 set I think the fatigue was setting in. To be honest I was a little dissapointed in my focus and concentration. I was deliriously tired but thought it'd be better if I got some work done at the gym. In hindsight I probably should have taken the day and rested up like I did last night and went hard today.

Either way, there are the video's, I'm going to go get a real good shoulder day in.

Toni69
03-31-07, 2:02 pm
MUCH FREAKING BETTER! Especially nice lift in the first vid, first lift..thereafter..looking waaaaaaay better! I saw you drive up with your legs..nice hold at the top..near perfect. Stay there and practice..build your technique and strength with that weight you used here today.

Toni69
03-31-07, 2:24 pm
Hey Ricky..I thought the show was going to be in LI, that is where Bev Francis has her Powerhouse I think. The show is in NYC, the Tribeca theatre, June 2nd? You coming or what? Loads of people from here are going..not only to support me but her show is a big show..many people go to watch it. I do have alot of people coming though, so it will be great..win or lose, just to meet some very special people from here. Its well worth the trip for me in the long run!

Ricky P
04-02-07, 4:47 pm
Yesterday was a real nice tricep day. My workout has been pretty much the same for triceps over the last month, so I decided to switch it up by switching up most of my grips. Instead of single arm pulldown, I used a reverse grip. Instead of the reverse grip pushdowns, I used a conventional pushdown which got a real nice burn going. I used the tricep press machine as well as doing some rope pulldowns. Did some body weight dips to finish it off, got a serious burn in the triceps. I think they responded nicely to the mix up in exercises.

Ricky P
04-02-07, 4:51 pm
Chest day today. Last time I hit the 245 mark for three reps, going to stay at 245 today, go for 5 reps. We'll see how that works out...

Then I'm going to smash on my biceps. I've been using a 10-rep routine on my biceps for about 3 weeks now. I really enjoyed the lighter weight at 15 reps, felt a much better burn but didn't want my arms to get used to it. I think I may use the 15-rep routine today to get a big burn going, the 10-rep days aren't doing it for me.

Ricky P
04-02-07, 8:00 pm
Real good chest day. Did my bench routine, still hammered some incline's and worked in a one arm cable cross exercise.

Bench:
135x5
180x5
205x5
225x5
245x5

Incline:
135x10
185x8
205x6

Cable Cross (One Arm):
20x10
20x10
20x10

Felt an unbelievable pump in my chest, especially during the cable cross. Love knowing that I'll be sore tomorrow from a great workout today.

Biceps, went back to 15 reps, excellent pump. Finished with a 5-rep, 5 second pause exercise, holding mid-way for 5 seconds, holding at the top for 5 seconds and holding mid-way again for 5 seconds, all together being one rep. Got five reps, arms flaming, and finished up. Great pump today, cannot wait for the soreness tomorrow.

Ricky P
04-04-07, 11:16 pm
Had a pretty taxing day at work. Had to dig up a trench for most of the day to lay some Belgiun Block so I got a lot of back work today, haha. Took some time after work to relax, then got to the gym to hammer legs and shoulders.

Got a real good pump in my shoulders today. I'm a little bothered with my performance on the Squat Rack right now. I'll have to step it up hardcore to get my numbers back up.

I also took G-Diesel's recipe for a nice Mass Real Gains concoction, took some Oats, Milk and Peanut Butter and blended it up, absolutely delicious. Probably going to post it under the Real Gains thread also to let everyone know how much I enjoyed it.

Ricky P
04-05-07, 5:12 pm
Chest and bicep day today. It's supposed to be tricep/back day, but I've got to get chest done before triceps. That was a mistake I made earlier in the week without thinking. I'm going for 250 today, a new high, for 3 reps. I'm going to go start supplementing and getting my mind right. Time to hammer smash!

Ricky P
04-05-07, 8:16 pm
Good day today. Skipped 250, went with 255lbs., five reps with a spot. Felt good with three, needed some help on the last couple. Here's my day:

Chest
Bench: 135x5, 175x5, 205x5, 225x5, 255x3 (2 more with help)
Flat Bench DB's: 80x10, 90x8, 100x7
One Arm Cable Fly: 20x10, 20x10, 25x10

Biceps
Straight Bar Cable Curl: 60x15, 70x15, 80x15
Single Arm DB Curl: 15x15, 20x15, 20x15
Single Arm Cable Hammer Curl: 30x15, 30x15, 40x15
Drop Set DB Curl: 30x10/25x10/20x10

Tomorrow is tri's and back, and they're going to get blitzed.

brandonA
04-05-07, 8:28 pm
Good numbers..keep it up, i will check out your vids alittle later

-B

Ricky P
04-09-07, 5:09 pm
Hit up a nice deadlift day yesterday. Took some video of it, will try and post it later on. Also hit up my shoulders pretty good.

Deadlifts 5x5
135, 135, 225, 275, 275

Shoulders
Upright Row 60, 70, 80
Front Delt Raise 15, 20, 20
Side Delt Cable Raise 20, 20, 20
Smith Shrugs 135, 225, 275

Chest and bicep day today... Going to go for 255 again for a solid five on the bench, maybe skip to 260 for 3. We'll see how it goes... Either way I'll keep you posted

Ricky P
04-10-07, 10:41 pm
So yesterday I did my 5x5 on the bench. I didn't jump to 260, I stayed at 255. I wanted to get 5 controlled reps, but could only manage three on my own, got to five with VERY LITTLE help from my spotter. Haha. At least I'd like to think it was mostly me..

Anyway after the 5 sets on bench, we did 3 more sets of DB's. I also hit the One Arm Cable Cross and Pec Deck for a better stretch.

Chest:
Bench 5x5 - 135, 175, 205, 235, 255
DB Press - 90x10, 100x8, 110x4
One Arm Cable Cross - 20x10x3
Pec Deck - 90x10, 100x10, 110x10

Biceps:
Single Arm DB Curl - 20x15, 25x15, 25x15
Straight Bar Cable Curl - 70x15, 80x15, 90x15
Hammer Curl DB's - 25x15, 25x15, 30x15
Smith Machine Toss - 65x10, 75x10, 80x10
Single Arm Cable Curl - 40x15, 45x15, 50x15

Overall, today my chest is sore, biceps feel pretty tight.

Today was Back/Tri's. Got a real good pump in my triceps today. Lot's of concentrated 15 rep sets. Got a good pump in the mid-back, did a couple sets of back extensions to really target the lower back.

Back:
Pull-ups (Close): 15, 10, 5
Close-Grip Row: 100x10, 110x10, 120x10
Wide-Grip Pulldown: 90x10, 100x10, 110x10
Straight Arm Pushdown: 60x10, 70x10, 80x10
Back Extensions: 10/Body weight, 10/10lbs., 10/10lbs.

Triceps:
Cable Pushdown (Straight bar) - 90x15, 100x15, 120x15
Single Arm Reverse Pulldown - 30x15, 40x15, 40x15
Rope Pushdown - 70x15, 80x15, 90x15
Dips - 15, 15, 15

Serious pump in the triceps like I said, although I only hit up three exercises, I concentrated my reps and got a real heavy pump going.

Ricky P
04-13-07, 6:47 pm
Alright so I decided to take two days off from the gym. I've been telling other people if they aren't feeling 100% lately or they feel they're lagging, to take a break. I decided to heed my own advice and take a couple days to myself. I got some good rest, and am mentally and physically ready to get after it hard right now.

Today is another Chest and Bicep day. I'm going for 260 for three reps on the bench. Monday I was going to go up to 260 but stayed with 255. Today I'm full on rest, I'm going to go hard for that 260.

Ricky P
04-13-07, 10:57 pm
Today was a pretty good day. I had a long drive home from Cortland this morning. A solid 250 mile drive for a traffic ticket that got thrown out. Got home, had a shake, got ready and hit the gym with my boy Doug.

It was a solid chest/bicep day. The last chest day I had, I felt a little tired, lagging quite a bit. Like I had said, I took two days off, and felt much better. I had a lot more energy tonight. I hit up 260 for three pretty solid reps, and got some help putting up the forth. I'm going to drop five next time I'm in there, as I inch my way toward 275 and my ultimate goal of 315.

I was a little gassed after my chest work, realizing I still had to bang out my biceps too. After the first set of preacher curls, I got my focus back and got a real good pump going. Here's the breakdown from tonight:

Chest:
Bench: 135x5, 175x5, 205x5, 235x5, 260x4
Cable Cross: 20x10, 30x10, 40x10
Incline Bench: 135x10, 175x8, 205x4 (6 w/ help)

Biceps:
Preacher Curl (Straight Bar): 20x15, 30x15, 40x15
DB Curl: 20x15, 25x15, 25x15
Hammer Curl (DB's): 25x15, 30x15, 30x15
Single Arm Cable Curl: 40x15, 45x15, 50x15


Here is a link to my lifting partner Doug's brand new Journey log:

"Endless Road to Perfection"
http://forum.animalpak.com/showthread.php?t=5383

He's new here to The Forvm, let's show 'em how we do it here.

hjayss
04-14-07, 2:22 am
Bro the workouts are looking more and more angerous bro keep em coming.

Ricky P
04-15-07, 3:36 am
Early day today, woke up early on my Saturday to get into the gym because Deezy had things to do today! It's all good though, I like to get a lift done early, I have more energy in the morning, even though I am NOT a morning person by any means.

Serious pump in the triceps today. Beginning of the workout, the look of my triceps was different than the end of the workout. It was a real noticeable difference, you could see my arm was flooded at the end of the workout. It was awesome to see it worked so hard. I also got a good pump on the back as well. I'm hoping to get in a light leg workout tomorrow, I've been somewhat neglecting my legs, I'm going to have to hit them hard, wake them up!

Ricky P
04-15-07, 3:44 am
Also placed an order for a real big boy stak today. I ordered another tub of Chocolate Real Gains, Stak2, Torrent, and Shock Therapy. I've got about 36 Pak's left so I'm good with that, and still have a good amount of my L-Glutamine, so my stack is looking pretty good right now. I can't wait for UPS to drop this on my doorstep. I'm so amped up about it right now.

I've used M-Stak, but haven't used Stak2 yet. Heard awesome things about Torrent and Shock, so I'm real excited to be using them all for the first time.

I'm planning on using RG's in the morning, a small amount pre-workout, and at bed. Torrent immediately post-workout, Shock pre-workout. It'll all end up stacking together nicely I think. AMPED!

Toni69
04-15-07, 6:27 am
Looking real good here Ricky! You lke being called Ricky? Where did Pio come from? Just wondering.

Your workouts are really solid...really nice numbers at that..strong as hell my friend! I love to see my favorite guys progressing like this. I hope one day, maybe this Animal Bootcamp, we all get together and train. That would be sick! I believe each one of has something to bring to the table.

Your looking fantastic here...keep it up! I dont expect anything less than continuous progress from you...so get on it!

Ricky P
04-15-07, 6:20 pm
Thanks Toni, and yeah - Ricky is fine. I don't care what it is - Rich, Richie, Rick, Ricardo, P or Pio for the last name... any of the names that come with it - EXCEPT DICK! That we can refrain from using. Haha.

Anyway I just got back from the gym, last week someone else was working the desk, and he said 6 o'clock. I think he was staying late to lift that's why he was closing later. So today I went at 4, did my legs until about 5, and the girl started turning everything off. So I didn't get my shoulders done. But I'll just hammer them tomorrow.

I did three sets on the Smith machine of Ass-to-the-ground Squats, and I mean DEEP. Did two sets at 135 and one at 185, each @ 10 reps (I watched The House squat earlier today on his video, so I was motivated to go deep today).

I then got into my five sets of Deads. Toni, I'd love if you could take a look at the video I took today, and I welcome anyone else to look too. Again it takes time to process, but when it does, I'll post the links. I went up to 315 for the first time since about a month ago when my form was all over the map. I have to admit I was a tad bit gassed from the squats and previous four sets so we might see some slight roundage in the back so be on the lookout for that.

I hit up three sets on the Smith for calves, 135x15, 185x15 and 225x15.

Links for the vid's will be up in a couple hours, stay tuned..

Ricky P
04-15-07, 9:48 pm
Alright, here are three video's of my DL's today...

Here is my warm-up @ 135:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_F0DZOOgtw

Here was just me getting loose, getting my form down.

Here is my set @ 225:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQOBzpRS6VY

Felt very comfortable here, at this weight I'd like to say it's realtively easy to get up five times.

Here is my last set @ 315:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tS-KilDaX_E

Now here, I feel like I fell off pretty quick. I think my first three reps are somewhat solid.... but four felt terrible and so did five. I think I got into my own head about how gassed I was when I put down #3. I all of a sudden started thinking about how I didn't want to get to five, but I'd fight through it anyway kind of thing. When in reality, I shouldn't even have thought to "fight through" anything, when I should have just done 5 reps!

I felt good like I said, up until those last two reps. Maybe those squats before the Dead's weren't such a hot idea.

**The 135 and 315 links, still coming up as not processed - they have been processed so it may take a couple minutes. If it's not working - check back in about 5-10 minutes!**

Big Wides
04-16-07, 12:47 am
form looks like it has improved, i would try sinking your hips a little bit lower if you can before you pull i have found that it gives more speed to the deadlift. try it with the lighter weights to get used to it and see if it helps

Ricky P
04-16-07, 5:33 pm
Thanks for the tip Big Wides, appreciate it.

I said I'd hammer smash shoulders today, and that's what I'm getting ready to do..

I have to admit.. I'm a bit put off by this VA Tech school shooting. I got in the car to come home from work and heard it mentioned in between songs and I was taken back. It's just the magnitude of an event like this... probably won't hit us for a couple of weeks. I'm still in somewhat of a shock from it. As of right now, 32 completely innocent people are dead, for no other reason than sitting in a classroom, or even in their dorm room minding their business. There are still 28 people in the hospital who are being treated for life-threatening injuries. Some of them might make it, but their entire world's have just turned upside down.

For me, I can't help but think that I was in college just a couple months ago - and this could have easily happened on my campus. I just can't imagine what the families of anyone who goes to school there must be going through.

If we were to never be humbled about who we are and what we're doing, this is the time we have to take a step back and think, there are much bigger things to life than dieting and lifting. This coming 4 days prior to the anniversary of the Columbine shooting, what was once the deadliest shooting in this Nation's history, now falls second to today's shooting. It's something that hasn't necessarily sunk in yet... Just a terrible tragedy.

Ricky P
04-16-07, 8:01 pm
Pretty legit shoulder workout today. Did more exercises than I normally do for shoulders, but since they were all I was hammering on I upped the volume.

Front Delt Raise: 15x10, 20x10, 25x10

Side Delt Raise: 20x10, 20x10, 25x10

Upright Row (Wide): 60x10, 70x10, 80x10

Upright Row (Close): 40x10, 50x10, 60x10

Reverse Cable Flies: 10x10, 10x10, 15x10

Smith Shrugs: 135x10, 225x10, 315x6, 315x6
superset
Shrugs with 45lb. plates: 10, 12, 12, 15

Rev. Grip Smith Shrugs: 135x12, 135x12, 135x15

Toni69
04-17-07, 2:15 pm
Ok, Im surely not a powerlifter, but I have trained with a few in my time. I am also reading many of the logs here.

Your deadlift is looking way stronger and better, however your lacking power that you need to drive the weight up..especially in that last vid. Now, I am being honest and telling you what I think you should do..whether or not you follow my advice is up to you and if any powerlifters have anything to add or say about my post..if I am wrong, than correct me as such.

I suggest you go lighter, technique should never be compromised for lifting more weight. Now, you seem as if you really enjoy doing deads for that power and to move some heavy weight. If this an important exercise for you and you want to pull some serious weight, then you need to focus your training on explosive power. I talk alot with this one dude who trains in my gym and plays rugby. He does all these explosive exercises and its really cool to watch him, its totally different than what BB's do.

Exercises would include power shrugs, clean and jerks, hang cleans or power pulls, weighted and unweighted vertical jumps, and box jumps.

Also good mornings to strengthen you lowback, SLDL's for the hams...to increase strength, mass and even flexibility through the glutes and hams. Also regular shrugs and definitely ab training...your abs are doing serious work in pulling that weight as well.

TheNaturalG
04-17-07, 5:51 pm
The 315 looked strong good job bro. The last 2 reps though your back was rounding a bit though so be careful with that.

I would also get a Pressing exercise into your shoulder workout.

Ricky P
04-18-07, 1:47 pm
Toni and The G, really appreciate the advice. And c'mon Toni, up to me if I'm gonna listen - OF COURSE I AM! I've said it before, I value your opinion very much, lots of serious information there and I'll be sure to work on it. I'll let you all know how it progresses.

Ricky P
04-18-07, 6:03 pm
CHEST/BICEP DAY! First day on Stak2, Shock and Torrent. Real excited. Repped out 260 three times last chest day, got a lot of rest since then, hoping to put it up 5 times, but if I'm feeling good, who know's maybe I'll up it.

Ricky P
04-18-07, 8:40 pm
Fuckin' awesome day today in the gym. Had an off day yesterday and came back with some serious energy today. Anytime I start a new stack I've got some extra energy so it was just a great day to rip out a serious chest workout.

Here it is:

Chest
Bench: 135x8 (W/U), 175x5, 205x5, 235x5, 255x5, 275x3

I decided to go nuts, why not? I jumped it up to 275, got one on my own, and Doug (aka Deezy here on The Forvm) helped me rep out the last two. It was a big milestone lift for me, 275 wasn't even imaginable 2 months ago.

Incline Fly (DB's): 20x10, 30x10, 40x10

Cable Fly: 30x10, 40x10, 50x10

Incline Bench: 135x10, 185x6, 225x5

Incline I hit another milestone. My goal was to throw up 225 at some point, didn't realize it would happen so quickly. I was putting up 205 six times, so I figured I'd rip 225 although I had a lot of work already done on my chest at this point. I threw up the first TWO (Doug helped me a LITTLE on the second) and then helped spot me to five.

Biceps:
Preacher (E-Z): 20x15, 40x15, 50x15

Single Arm DB: 20x15, 20x15, 25x15

Sing. Arm Rope Hammer: 30x15, 30x15, 40x15

I'll be honest, my biceps didn't need much today. They got a serious pump going my first set on the preacher. I didn't want to over-work them, I just did these three exercises and that was plenty to get the blood pumping into them.

Overall it was a real good day in the gym, great start to this new stack. The Shock Therapy was great, the Stak2 was awesome and the Torrent that I just downed was better than I expected. Looking forward to the next couple weeks to see the gains I make on this stack.

Ricky P
04-19-07, 7:56 pm
Alright, I don't want to jinx it.... but day two on this stack was just as good if not better than the first day. I even did cardio! That's right....

.... CARDIO

It was back and tricep day, and they got worked.

Back:
Wide-grip Pull-ups (30): 10, 10, 10

Close-grip Pulldown: 100x10, 120x10, 140x10

Close-grip Row: 100x10, 120x10, 140x10

Bent-over BB Row: 105x10, 135x10*, 145x10

Straight-Arm Pushdown: 60x10, 70x10, 80x10

*At the end of the second set, I immediately began the Jump Rope for thirty seconds at the end of each set from here on out until the end of the workout.

Triceps:
Sing. Arm Rope Pushdown: 40x15, 50x15, 60x15

Inside-Grip Pushdown: 80x15, 90x15, 100x15

Reverse-Grip Pushdown: 100x15, 110x15, 120x15

DB Kickback's: 15x15, 20x15, 20x15

Body-Weight Dips: 15, 15, 15**

One minute of Jump Rope after last set of dips to finish strong.

Total time elapsed jumping rope: Ten minutes and thirty seconds.

Again, just felt great intensity in there today. Took care of business, lots of moving around, no standing or resting - great first day of cardio. Getting myself prepared for my upcoming cut.

Big Wides
04-19-07, 8:02 pm
cardio, crazy ass. glad to see that the new stack is working great and the numbers are looking awesome too.

Ricky P
04-19-07, 11:25 pm
Appreciate it my man, and yeah this stack is kicking ass right now.

Toni69
04-20-07, 6:29 am
Im glad the Mstack is giving you an edge there...just feed off it. The hard work, dedication, diet, attitude all work together to make gains....keep it up! Even if you come across (and you will) that day where you feel low, use the power of the mind to push through, use your attitude toward lifting to reach your goals..that should never change, no matter how tired your body feels. And do rest when rest is due.

Ricky P
04-20-07, 9:23 pm
Scheduled shoulder/leg day today...

Did a lot of volume on the shoulders, mixing in some new exercises. After an hour and a half, I decided it'd be much better to smash my wheels tomorrow. I can dedicate my Saturday to my legs because the only thing I have to do is watch the Yankee game - and I've got a DVR, so it's all good.

G, I took your advice and threw in some pressing movements that I've been neglecting.... Glad you brought that to my attention.

Here's my day today:

Front Delt Raise: 15x10, 20x10, 20x10

Side Lat. Raise: 15x10, 15x10, 20x10

Upright BB Row: 60x10, 70x10 (5 reps out, 5 reps in on grip), 80x10

Smith Shrugs: 135x12, 225x10, 315x10
supersetting with: 45lb. plates, 10 slow and concentrated reps.

Smith Overhead Press: 135x10, 145x10, 155x10

DB Shoulder Press: 40x10, 45x10, 50x10

Total Time Elapsed Jumping Rope: 8 Minutes.

Sir J-Werk
04-20-07, 10:19 pm
Good looking shoulder w.o! How did those presses work for you? Keep it up Brother!

Stay Strong, stay Focused, stay Animal!
Respect.

Ricky P
04-21-07, 10:13 pm
Leg day today.

Here's how it went down:

Light DL's: 135x5, 135x5, 225x5, 225x5, 225x5

ATG Squats: 135x10, 135x10, 175x10

Leg Extentions: 130x10, 150x10, 170x10

Calves (Smith): 135x15, 185x15, 225x15

Box Step-up (BB): 135x10, 135x10, 135x10

ATG Squats felt awesome today. Those were my favorite part of my leg day. Tomorrow is the big boy chest day. Time to get real serious on the bench, looking forward to it.

ChrisG
04-22-07, 2:21 am
Lookin' good man. Nothin' hurts better then some good ole ATG Squats ;)

Ricky P
04-22-07, 12:46 pm
Oh yeah Chris, you know it!

Big boy chest day, also bicep day... Can't overlook that. I usually get to the end of my chest and think - 'Oh man, I've been here an hour and a half and still have to do my biceps!!' Usually after the first set I go from a little annoying to absolutley jazzed up once I get that pump going. Then I don't want to leave.

Looking forward to a nice day of benching, last time in there I hit 275 which was a big mark for me. I felt real good, hoping today I can stay there and continue to make progress. I don't want to fall under that mark. I'll report as soon as I'm home.

Ricky P
04-22-07, 4:24 pm
Chest and bicep day is over. Kind of depressing. Can't wait until Thursday to do it again. Wednesday would be the next scheduled day but the fact that my front delts and my shoulder joints really gave me problems today, I think an extra days rest is in order. I felt good regardless, strength wise... But had I not been bothered by this pain I may have gone up in weight.

Here's how it boiled down today:

Chest
Bench: 135x10 (W/U), 205x5, 225x5, 245x5, 265x5, 275x5

Cable-Cross Flies: 40x10, 50x10, 60x10

Incline Bench: 135x10, 185x6, 185x6
** This is where the pain caught up to me. I was planning on 185x8 on the second set and then 225 on the third.. I got to about 5 on my second set and my left shoulder just gave out. Really disappointing. I rested for a couple minutes to let it calm down, then just did 185 once more to finish the exercise off.

Again, a little put off by the chest workouts, got into biceps a little slow. And again, got right into them after my first set. Another low volume/high pump day. Didn't need much to get a pump going - felt real good.

Biceps
Preacher: 30x15, 40x15, 50x15

Single Arm Cable: 40x15, 50x15, 55x15

Straight Bar Cable: 70x15, 80x15, 90x15

Came home and enjoyed a nice cold Torrent, and about to have some Tri-tip steak.

Deezy
04-22-07, 4:30 pm
workin hard brother, gonna hit the 315 mark by the end of the summer, no doubt about it. we set a goal and were gonna make it, failure is not an option.

Ricky P
04-22-07, 4:34 pm
Love where your head's at.

ChrisG
04-22-07, 5:25 pm
Hey man you gave it all you had and that's what matters. Your shoulder may of slowed you down a little bit but you can give em hell next week after you let it rest up.

Ricky P
04-23-07, 9:05 pm
Back and Triceps today.

Pretty good pump going, although I was feeling a little more tired than normal today.. Didn't really like that, but I got it going when I had to - just feel like I crashed since I've been home. Looking forward to that off day tomorrow.. Anyway, I still feel like I absolutely hammer smashed my triceps with a mallet! Back felt good too, haha.

Here's how the cookie crumbled today:

Back:
Wide-Grip Pull-ups: 10, 10, 10

Wide-Grip Cable Rows: 100x10, 110x10, 120x10

Close-Grip Pulldowns: 110x10, 130x10, 150x10

Straight-Arm Pushdowns: 60x10, 70x10, 80x10

Triceps:
Inside-Grip Pushdown: 90x15, 110x15, 140x15

Reverse-Grip Pushdown: 110x15, 120x15, 130x15

Single-Arm Rope Pushdown: 40x15, 50x15, 60x15

DB Kickbacks: 15x15, 20x15, 25x15

Triceps, like I said, were smoked. Planned on some body weight dips to finish it off, but had to cross them off the list. The pump was plentiful after the kickbacks, I was ready for my Torrent.

Ricky P
04-25-07, 5:11 pm
LEG DAY BABY! I'm normally not THIS excited for leg day, but we had an off day yesterday and I'm more than anxious to get back in there today. I hate off days, I feel like the day is a waste without being down at the gym.

I plan on a nice steady DL day, and some serious ATG squats. I'll report when I get back on how badly I destroyed my legs.

Toni69
04-25-07, 5:20 pm
LEG DAY BABY! I'm normally not THIS excited for leg day, but we had an off day yesterday and I'm more than anxious to get back in there today. I hate off days, I feel like the day is a waste without being down at the gym.

I plan on a nice steady DL day, and some serious ATG squats. I'll report when I get back on how badly I destroyed my legs.

I actually get excited over leg days now..I used to dread those wo's, now I love them. Maybe its because I finally see changes in a lagging area or maybe its the whole challenging, exhausting yet mentally stimulating aspect of it all...I dont know..all I know is we must be gluttons for pain, huh?

Looking good as always..how are the deads coming along? I know your hitting them hard..I would not expect anything less from the likes of you!

Ricky P
04-25-07, 8:03 pm
Alright.... Today was unreal.

Three exercises, absolute abuse occurred. My legs were Jell-O. We went after it hard, there was no excuse not to. Dizziness, nausea, it all set in after the fifth set of ATG squats.... But leg press had to be done. It just had to.

Here's how the cards fell:

LEGS!

Deadlifts: 135x5, 135x5, 225x5, 225x5, 315x5 (Much better form on the 315's Toni, I swear! No camera today, you're just going to have to trust me! Haha.)

ATG Squats: 135x10, 135x10, 155x10, 185x10, 225x8

Leg Press: 225x10, 405x10, 585x6

There was just no consideration put into how we would feel tomorrow, I actually do not want to be able to walk tomorrow. I wanted to hammer the shit out of my legs, and I think I accomplished it today. I wanted that 5x10 on the ATG squats, I WANTED IT! I wanted to test my body to see how much it could handle. I couldn't get those last two on the last set, but you know what? I will next time! Great day at the gym, just hardcore leg smashing and I love it. Haven't been there in a while.

Deezy
04-25-07, 9:40 pm
Our wheels are def gonna have flat tires tom hahaha. Big ups to the new legionary

Ricky P
04-26-07, 9:13 pm
Whew.... Awesome pumps in the gym today. Stak2 is starting to get into full effect. Where I was getting gassed a couple weeks ago, I'm blowing through with full force right now.

Here's how the cards fell today:

Chest:

Bench: 135x10(W/U), 205x5, 245x5, 265x5, 275x5, 285x5
285 is a new PR. Exactly a month ago my PR was 235x5.

DB Flat Bench: 80x10, 90x10, 105x7 (aka failure)

Cable Cross: 20x10, 30x10, 40x10
Serious concentrated reps, slow and precise, rediculous pump.

Biceps:

Preacher Cable Curl: 30x15, 40x15, 50x15

Straight Bar (Cable): 80x15, 90x15, 100x15

One Arm Cable Curl: 40x15, 50x15, 60x15

Seated Concentrated Curl: 20x15, 20x15, 25x15
Absolute slaughter on the last set, veins popping out of the neck.

Great pump today, felt great.
Update on the leg workout from yesterday, the legs feel like I got beat with a bat. It's great.

ChrisG
04-26-07, 9:47 pm
Congrats on the PR dude. 235 to 285 in a month is impressive!

Ricky P
04-26-07, 10:46 pm
Congrats on the PR dude. 235 to 285 in a month is impressive!

Thanks man, I really appreciate it. I have to think the 235 (at the time), I was probably just playing it safe there. I've never gone past that, and using a 5x5 routine I just flew up from there. I know a couple people who saw the video I posted of my 235 said it looked like I got it pretty easy for a max, so I started piling on the weight over the last month. Now I'm at a spot I really have to work hard to get through. My goal of 315 WILL be accomplished by the end of this summer though. I guarentee it.

Big Wides
04-26-07, 11:30 pm
great progress bro, love the bench jump and the all around strength gains that you have made so far. now new boundaries need to be set and broken just as fast, great job!

Sir J-Werk
04-26-07, 11:38 pm
Way to blast that PR Brother! 285 is pretty damn sick as far as I am concerned right now.... only 100lbs to go and I'll have ya caught! ;)

Way to push Brother, way to push! Great workout!

Stay Strong, stay Focused, stay Animal!
Respect.

Ricky P
04-27-07, 2:03 pm
great progress bro, love the bench jump and the all around strength gains that you have made so far. now new boundaries need to be set and broken just as fast, great job!

Thanks brother, I'm looking forward to setting some new goals. This first goal I thought was always unattainable. I'll be honest, getting into this Forvm a couple months back has really lit a fire under my ass. It's been a fun ride so far.



Way to blast that PR Brother! 285 is pretty damn sick as far as I am concerned right now.... only 100lbs to go and I'll have ya caught! ;)

Way to push Brother, way to push! Great workout!

Stay Strong, stay Focused, stay Animal!
Respect.

Well I recommend this 5x5 program. It's really the first strength program I've done on the bench let alone any single exercise, but my strength has increased dramatically. It's been a lot of fun seeing the strength increase, sad to see I only have about a week left on the program. And hey, that 100 lbs. will fly by, trust me.

Ricky P
04-27-07, 10:45 pm
Back and Triceps....

Started off with the back, pull-ups were a little tougher than normal today. That's all good because I went pretty hard after that. The straight arm pushdowns felt real good on my lats and my mid-back.

Here's how the dust settled:

Back:

Wide-Grip Pull-ups: 10, 10, 10

Wide-Grip Row: 110x10, 120x10, 130x10

Close-Grip Pulldown: 110x10, 130x10, 150x10

Straight-Arm Pushdown: 70x10, 80x10, 90x10

Back Extentions: 10/BW, 10/10lb., 10/25lb.


Triceps:

Inside-Grip Cable Pushdown: 120x15, 140x15, 160x15(Racked)

Reverse-Grip Pushdown: 110x15, 120x15, 130x15

Single-Arm Rope: 40x15, 40x15, 50x15

Straight Bar Pushdown: 100x15, 110x15, 120x15

Overall had a real good pump today. Triceps felt a little more gassed than usual, probably still tired from the smashing they took last go around and the big chest day yesterday.

Ricky P
04-29-07, 4:02 pm
Yesterday was set aside for shoulders. The shoulders got hit up pretty good, threw some new exercises into the mix to give the muscles a little extra flavor.

Here's how the workout went:

Shoulders

Smith Overhead Press: 135x10, 155x10, 165x8
Think I went a little too heavy on the last set, felt some strain in the lower back, will definitely back off next time.

Front Delt Raise (Cable): 40x10, 50x10, 60x10

Side Delt Raise (Cable): 20x10, 20x10, 20x10

BB Upright Row (Outside Grip): 70x10, 70x10, 80x10

Smith Shrug superset with 45lb. plate shrug: 135x12 45lb./15, 225x12 45lb./15, 315x15 45lb./15

BB Upright Row (Inside Grip): 50x10, 60x10, 70x10


Now as for today, I'm not feeling 100% and it's a scheduled off day, but I'm thinking about going down and getting some cardio in. I think whenever I'm feeling crappy, some cardio - as much as I even hate the thought of it - might make me feel a little better. Sweat it out.

Ricky P
04-30-07, 5:01 pm
Today I'm looking to go at it real hard. I'm looking forward to another intense leg blasting day. Lots of volume, going hard on the squats. Going to add some lunges in there today, maybe back off the leg press.

Ricky P
04-30-07, 8:15 pm
I've got to say, I'm a genious. Big time leg day today, and I mix up my Shock Therapy.... and leave it on my desk. I go to the gym, ready to blast away and start feeling tired a quarter of the way through my lift. I get home and realize I never even had my ST! So pissed. Still had a real productive workout, wonder what it would've been like with the ST.

Here's how the wind blew:

Legs:

ATG Squats: 135x10, 135x10, 155x10, 185x10, 225x10
Said I'd get those ten reps on that last set, and yeah.... I did.

Smith Lunges: 135x10, 135x10, 135x10

Light DL's: 135x5, 135x5, 185x5, 185x5, 225x5

Smith Calf Raises: 135x15, 185x15, 225x15

Ricky P
05-01-07, 7:51 pm
Today, I decided to go with Shock and Storm pre-workout, and I've never felt better. I was tired to be honest and when I got the gym, it's tough to find another day where I was more ready to go and I needed it, because it was bench day.

I felt so good, I attempted a new PR of 300lbs.

Here's how it went:

Bench: 135x10 (W/U), 205x5, 235x5, 255x5, 275x5, 300x5
Now I'll be honest, the set of 300x5 was mostly forced reps. I don't think I'm there yet, but it was a good boost knowing I couldn't hold 275 up without gravity taking over just over a month ago. Now I'm able to force 300 five times. Awesome to see what some hard work and dedication can do.

Cable Fly: 30x10, 40x10, 50x10

Light Overhead Extentions: 40x10, 50x10, 60x10

Incline Cable Fly: 30x10, 50x10, 60x10

Also scheduled to do biceps today, but thought better of it at the end of the workout. I felt a little gassed and I'm going to rest them until tomorrow. I'm pushing the tri's back to Thursday due to the work they got today.

brandonA
05-01-07, 8:00 pm
Today, I decided to go with Shock and Storm pre-workout, and I've never felt better. I was tired to be honest and when I got the gym, it's tough to find another day where I was more ready to go and I needed it, because it was bench day.

I felt so good, I attempted a new PR of 300lbs.

Here's how it went:

Bench: 135x10 (W/U), 205x5, 235x5, 255x5, 275x5, 300x5
Now I'll be honest, the set of 300x5 was mostly forced reps. I don't think I'm there yet, but it was a good boost knowing I couldn't hold 275 up without gravity taking over just over a month ago. Now I'm able to force 300 five times. Awesome to see what some hard work and dedication can do.

Cable Fly: 30x10, 40x10, 50x10

Light Overhead Extentions: 40x10, 50x10, 60x10

Incline Cable Fly: 30x10, 50x10, 60x10

Also scheduled to do biceps today, but thought better of it at the end of the workout. I felt a little gassed and I'm going to rest them until tomorrow. I'm pushing the tri's back to Thursday due to the work they got today.

Congrats Ricky....300 for 5 even forced is awsome, now you know what the weight feels like....

-B

Ricky P
05-01-07, 8:06 pm
Haha, hell yeah I do. Can't wait to rep that weight. My goal of 315 is looking much better. I want to rep out 315 on my own by the end of the summer.

Ricky P
05-02-07, 5:38 pm
Back and Triceps are going to get hit today. I'm not giving the Tri's an extra day, they can handle it! If I felt like I did yesterday after I downed the ST and Storm, I'll go after the Bi's too. I just got a pair of "Blood Stripe" wrist straps from APT - Powerfreak's recommendation in the wrist strap thread... They're awesome, now I'm all pumped to get to the gym. Think I'm going to try BigAnt's secret drink today also while I'm at the gym. Lots going on today.... will report back....

Sir J-Werk
05-02-07, 6:36 pm
Looking forward to it Brother! Keep pushing that bar higher and higher!

Stay Strong, stay Focused, stay Animal!
Respect.

Ricky P
05-02-07, 8:24 pm
Got a great lift in today. Gotta say, around 2:30 before I left work.... I wanted nothing but my bed when I got home. I got home, regrouped and got my shit together. I went after the back pretty good with a mix-up in the exercises, same with the triceps.

Here's how the shit hit the fan today:

Back:
Close-Grip Pull-ups: 15, 10, 5

Reverse-Grip Bent-Over BB Row: 135x10, 155x10, 175x10

Close-Grip Cable Row: 120x10, 130x10, 140x10

Straight-Arm Pushdown: 70x10, 80x10, 90x10

Back Extensions: BWx10, 10x10, 25x10

Reverse Cable Fly: 10x10 (Low Angle), 10x10(Mid), 10x10(Mid)

Triceps:
Inside-Grip Pushdown: 120x15, 150x15, 160x15(Racked)

Single-Arm Rope Pushdown: 50x15, 60x12, 70x10

Outside-Grip Pushdown: 90x15, 100x15, 110x15

Single-Arm Rev. Pulldown: 30x15, 40x15, 50x15

BW Dips: 10
Inflamation started to kick in around the front of the shoulders again.... I stopped at ten, decided it'd be better to let them rest rather than tear into them more than they already are. I'm also going to skip my shoulder day this week in hopes they are able to rest and repair themselves with some extra time off.

Ricky P
05-02-07, 8:27 pm
Also, as a side-note.... Took BigAnt's secret drink to the gym with me, or planned to. Basically it was Storm and Gatorade (Grape/Grape) and water.... Forgot the Glutamine and Creatine when I left the house. It still got me through the workout pretty good. I enjoyed having it with me to sip on all workout.

Next time I'll be sure to add the other ingrediants, all but the BCAA's b/c I currently don't have it. It's a nice little flavor to have with you in the gym, I say if you haven't tried it, you should.

Ricky P
05-03-07, 7:37 pm
So today I was able to make 4/5 of BigAnt's drink.... Good results. I got great vascularity, more than I normally get. I pumped up the biceps today..

Slight set-back, as I reported a couple months ago in a different thread I am bothered by an occasional headache during training. Now it doesn't happen often... Last time it actually happened was back in September when I was lifting much heavier than normal on the leg press. Well today, I was pushing through a superset, my last one - and BAM! There it is. A splitting migrane, felt like a blitzkreig of bombs going off in my head. Lasted about three to four minutes, and I walked around and finished up my workout. Have to admit the intensity I did have in the beginning of the workout definitely fell off. I was going to do a couple shoulder workouts, staying away from the front delts and do just some trap exercises... But I decided against it.

Anyway, here's how it went down:

DB Curl: 30x10, 40x10, 50x10

E-Z Bar Inside Grip
superset with:
E-Z Bar Outside Grip: 75x10/75x10, 85x10/85x10, 85x10/85x7(failure and near coma)

Straight Bar Cable Curl: 100x10, 110x10, 120x10

DB Hammer Curl: 40x10, 50x10, 55x10

Sir J-Werk
05-03-07, 7:46 pm
Sucks about the migraine Brother.... Have you found anything about what might have caused it (them)? ... Way to push through the end of the w/o.... especially the "near coma." Lol.

Stay Strong, stay Focused, stay Animal!
Respect.

Ricky P
05-03-07, 7:50 pm
Sucks about the migraine Brother.... Have you found anything about what might have caused it (them)? ... Way to push through the end of the w/o.... especially the "near coma." Lol.

Stay Strong, stay Focused, stay Animal!
Respect.

Haha, to be honest man I really don't know.. I got them on occasion during baseball too growing up. It could be not having a consistent breathing pattern.. maybe I'm holding my breath in just a little too long trying to push heavier weight.. I don't know.. I haven't gotten it checked out yet and without any medical insurance, I can't. Haha, so we'll just have to wait and see. It wasn't as bad as ones I've gotten in the past, sometimes the pain will just be real dull but stick around a couple days - in this case I don't feel much at this point and it's been about an hour so I think it's all good.

Sir J-Werk
05-03-07, 8:16 pm
I'm glad that it didn't stick around on ya.... You may be right about the breathing part.... Hopefully this dosen't become a constant thing for you to deal with....

Stay Strong, stay Focused, stay Animal!
Respect.

Ricky P
05-03-07, 10:00 pm
Yeah I hope so too brother....



In regards to my workouts - It's been a long time since I've taken some time off. I took a couple days off back in March when I got pretty sick, but since then it's 24 out of 30 days in April, 39 of 47 overall since then. Notebook comes in handy for these types of things..

Anyway, I've been feeling real sluggish before the gym and throughout my days at work this past week. I know when I see other people describe their situations, I recommend a day or two away from the gym - but I neglect to listen to my own advice. And I don't want to be a hypocrite. I think it'd be smart to lay off the gas a little bit and take a couple days to rest up. Without work and working out, this weekend should be a nice spot for some days in bed.

All that said, and discussed with my lifting parter, my tired self decided to go for my first run of the season. I usually keep it around a mile.... But I decided to go for three miles tonight.... Yeah.... I don't know what I was thinking. I usually jog/sprint... But I kept a nice pace and just kept going.. I know tomorrow at work I'm going to desperately regret it, but it felt good to get out there and clear my head a bit.

So just letting you all know, some time off is needed.. I'll be around on the Forvm though if anyone needs any kind of advice or anything - can't take days off of here.

ChrisG
05-05-07, 1:21 am
Yeah I hope so too brother....



In regards to my workouts - It's been a long time since I've taken some time off. I took a couple days off back in March when I got pretty sick, but since then it's 24 out of 30 days in April, 39 of 47 overall since then. Notebook comes in handy for these types of things..

Anyway, I've been feeling real sluggish before the gym and throughout my days at work this past week. I know when I see other people describe their situations, I recommend a day or two away from the gym - but I neglect to listen to my own advice. And I don't want to be a hypocrite. I think it'd be smart to lay off the gas a little bit and take a couple days to rest up. Without work and working out, this weekend should be a nice spot for some days in bed.

All that said, and discussed with my lifting parter, my tired self decided to go for my first run of the season. I usually keep it around a mile.... But I decided to go for three miles tonight.... Yeah.... I don't know what I was thinking. I usually jog/sprint... But I kept a nice pace and just kept going.. I know tomorrow at work I'm going to desperately regret it, but it felt good to get out there and clear my head a bit.

So just letting you all know, some time off is needed.. I'll be around on the Forvm though if anyone needs any kind of advice or anything - can't take days off of here.

It's all good man. Rest up good so that you can come back and destroy everything set in front of you.

Ricky P
05-08-07, 5:06 pm
Alright everyone, he's back..

Enjoyed my extended weekend, my four days off were great and now I'm fully focused and ready to get back on the motherfuckin' grind. Today I'm opening up with chest - going to start a new program. My 5 x 5 strength program on the Bench is officially over...

Here is the report on my 5x5 program:

Start: March 22, 2007
5RM: 225

End: May 1, 2007
5RM: 285
Forced Reps @ 300

Made huge strides on this program, and am looking forward to the next couple weeks to continue to make gains on the bench. Today I'm going to probably go with an 8, 6, 4 routine.

I'm going to look to get on a squat routine as well, I know i mentioned before I didn't like where my numbers were on my squat - I just recently started hammering ATG squats and have already noticed some gains and muscle in the legs.

Ricky P
05-08-07, 8:03 pm
So today was just an all around great day. Work was nice and relaxing - beautiful 70 degree day and didn't have to expend much energy on the course. Came home to my Pak and Stak and my Shock and Storm and got my ass back into the gym with some serious focus.

Here's the 4-1-1 on the lift today:

Chest:

Bench: 135x10 (W/U), 205x8, 225x6, 265x4, 275x2

Flat DB Press: 90x10, 100x6, 105x6

Cable Cross (Low): 30x10, 40x8, 50x6

Incline Bench: 135x10, 185x4*
*Felt a slight pinch in my front left delt, racked it and went into biceps.

Biceps:

DB Curl: 30x10, 40x10, 50x6

Straight Bar Cable: 110x10, 120x10, 130x10

21's (2 sets): 50, 50
21's: 7 reps lower half of movement to mid-range, 7 reps mid to top, 7 full repetitions without pause.

Preacher: 30x10, 40x10, 50x6

Ricky P
05-09-07, 10:53 pm
Back and Tricep day:

Got to the gym a little later than normal. Wanted to miss the "after work" shift so I waited it out until about 7:30...

Here's how the brussel sprouted today:

Back:

Pull-ups (Close/Wide): 5/5, 5/5, 5/5

Bent Over Rows: 135x10, 155x10, 175x10

Light Deadlifts: 135x8, 225x6, 275x4

Reverse Cable Fly: 10x10, 10x10, 10x10

Triceps:

Skull Crushers: 75x10, 75x10, 75x10

Inside-Grip Pushdown: 140x10, 150x10, 160x10(racked)

Wide-Grip Pushdown: 100x10, 110x10, 120x10

Cable Kickback: 40x10, 50x10, 60x10

Tricep Press: 230x10, 250x10, 270x10

Real humid tonight.. Doors were open in the front of the gym, sweat a lot more than normal.. Little tougher to breath also. Gotta get that cardio up. Cutting time soon, cardio is going to do my body good.

ChrisG
05-09-07, 11:54 pm
Welcome back man.. your progress on that 5x5 is amazing.. did you go up in certain increments each week or just did it by feel?

Stretch
05-10-07, 1:27 am
Awesome gains on that chest program Ricky. In regards to the reverse cable flyes, how do you like them? Are you seeing any positive results? Just asking because I have been contemplating adding them in.

Peace,

Stretchc

Toni69
05-10-07, 3:50 am
I see some rest did the body good..hitting it hard here...keep it up! The fun has only just begun!

hjayss
05-10-07, 5:46 am
Nice back and tri day bro throwing up some tight numbers.

Ricky P
05-10-07, 4:06 pm
Welcome back man.. your progress on that 5x5 is amazing.. did you go up in certain increments each week or just did it by feel?

Well, I read the program in which I found a couple months back in M&F. It called to go up 10% each week in weight. From 225 to 230, to 235 and so on.. I never really maxed out or did a 5 rep routine, so I didn't know where my ceiling was at the time. I know I went from 225 to 235 by the end of week one. It calls for the next chest day to be at 240x3.... Then the next chest day, 240x5. Then go up in weight again....

I felt like I was making progress faster than the program had called for, and maybe 225x5 wasn't my 5RM.. I skipped 240 and 245, went straight up to 250 and pretty much went from there.. I usually didn't do the 3 reps either, I usually just went with the 5 reps on that last set each time.

Basically it should look like this:

Day 1: 135x5, 155x5, 185x5, 205x5, 225x5
Day 2: 135x5, 155x5, 185x5, 205x5, 230x3
Day 3: You can vary the first four on your own, 230x5
Day 4: Do whatever you want to make it to 235x3
Day 5: -------, 235x5
Day 6: -------, 240x3
Day 7: -------, 240x5

....And so on....

Again, I skipped most of those 3 rep days because I wanted to make as much progress as possible, and if I couldn't get the 5 reps... I got them the next time at that weight and went up again..


Awesome gains on that chest program Ricky. In regards to the reverse cable flyes, how do you like them? Are you seeing any positive results? Just asking because I have been contemplating adding them in.

Peace,

Stretchc

I like them a lot. I vary between the cable and DB's.. I lay on the back extension bench and will use some light DB's at times, but I prefer the cable because I'm in more control and get a real good pump in the back. Just make sure you position yourself correctly so you're not targeting your rear delts, bend over and try to touch those shoulder blades together.

Ricky P
05-10-07, 4:08 pm
I see some rest did the body good..hitting it hard here...keep it up! The fun has only just begun!


Nice back and tri day bro throwing up some tight numbers.

Appreciate the support guys! Hey Toni, how we feelin' about first place?!?! I've got supreme confidence.

Stretch
05-10-07, 4:15 pm
I like them a lot. I vary between the cable and DB's.. I lay on the back extension bench and will use some light DB's at times, but I prefer the cable because I'm in more control and get a real good pump in the back. Just make sure you position yourself correctly so you're not targeting your rear delts, bend over and try to touch those shoulder blades together.

Thanks for the input brother, keep grinding mano!

Peace,
Stretch

Ricky P
05-10-07, 7:29 pm
Anytime my man.

ChrisG
05-10-07, 9:14 pm
Well, I read the program in which I found a couple months back in M&F. It called to go up 10% each week in weight. From 225 to 230, to 235 and so on.. I never really maxed out or did a 5 rep routine, so I didn't know where my ceiling was at the time. I know I went from 225 to 235 by the end of week one. It calls for the next chest day to be at 240x3.... Then the next chest day, 240x5. Then go up in weight again....

I felt like I was making progress faster than the program had called for, and maybe 225x5 wasn't my 5RM.. I skipped 240 and 245, went straight up to 250 and pretty much went from there.. I usually didn't do the 3 reps either, I usually just went with the 5 reps on that last set each time.

Basically it should look like this:

Day 1: 135x5, 155x5, 185x5, 205x5, 225x5
Day 2: 135x5, 155x5, 185x5, 205x5, 230x3
Day 3: You can vary the first four on your own, 230x5
Day 4: Do whatever you want to make it to 235x3
Day 5: -------, 235x5
Day 6: -------, 240x3
Day 7: -------, 240x5

....And so on....

Again, I skipped most of those 3 rep days because I wanted to make as much progress as possible, and if I couldn't get the 5 reps... I got them the next time at that weight and went up again..

Oh yea man.. I've seen some similar programs. I'll be maxing out this weekend before my M-Stak cycle so I'll see where I'm at and then might give this a try.

Ricky P
05-10-07, 10:54 pm
Sounds good Chris.. I'll be sure to follow you through it whether you use that program or not.

Just got done ripping up the shoulders at the gym, here's what it looked like:

Shoulders:

Shoulder Press (Machine): 90x10, 100x10, 110x10

Lateral Raises (DB's): 15x10, 15x10, 20x10

Smith Shrug superset with 45lb. plate shrug: 225x10/45x10, 315x8/45x10, 365x6/45x10

Upright BB Rows:
Outside Grip- 70x10, 80x10, 80x10

Inside Grip- 60x10, 70x10, 80x10

Big Wides
05-10-07, 11:02 pm
nice work on switching up the grip on the upright rows, not to many people do that on a regular basis, let alone in a workout. nice way to hit those delts and traps

Ricky P
05-10-07, 11:23 pm
nice work on switching up the grip on the upright rows, not to many people do that on a regular basis, let alone in a workout. nice way to hit those delts and traps

It definitely hits them hard. I like to switch the grips up on most exercises, but that one in particular I like to switch up in the middle of the workout or just do two sets with different grips. The pump is great in all areas of the shoulder, really gets everything. I've definitely seen better development in the rear delts and the traps since I've started doing these on a regular basis a couple months ago.

Ricky P
05-12-07, 3:17 pm
Nothing gets me going like the days when I place an order for a new stack. This last stack was spectacular, I got great results from Torrent, Shock, and Stak2. It's time for the new M-Stak, I took the previous M-Stak a little over a year ago but I'm intrigued by the new formula considering I got good results from the old one. I'll also be receiving Cuts, Ultra Whey Pro, UniSyn, BCAA Stack and Storm. I've been bulking for a couple months but I think it's about that time to start a cut. I've heard great things about Cuts and am real anxious to try it for myself. All the hard work I've put in and the pain I'm about to endure I'm sure it'll give me the results I'm looking for. Looking forward to starting this stack off sometime next week after my week off from Stak2.

ChrisG
05-12-07, 4:46 pm
Nothing gets me going like the days when I place an order for a new stack. This last stack was spectacular, I got great results from Torrent, Shock, and Stak2. It's time for the new M-Stak, I took the previous M-Stak a little over a year ago but I'm intrigued by the new formula considering I got good results from the old one. I'll also be receiving Cuts, Ultra Whey Pro, UniSyn, BCAA Stack and Storm. I've been bulking for a couple months but I think it's about that time to start a cut. I've heard great things about Cuts and am real anxious to try it for myself. All the hard work I've put in and the pain I'm about to endure I'm sure it'll give me the results I'm looking for. Looking forward to starting this stack off sometime next week after my week off from Stak2.

Sounds good bro. I'm taking pretty much the same stack as you were except with the new M-Stak.. I start it on Sunday but after the 3 week cycle I'll be cutting down as well. Saw a log or two of some people taking M-Stak and Cuts together and got good results so that new stack of yours looks promising.

Ricky P
05-12-07, 6:10 pm
Sounds good bro. I'm taking pretty much the same stack as you were except with the new M-Stak.. I start it on Sunday but after the 3 week cycle I'll be cutting down as well. Saw a log or two of some people taking M-Stak and Cuts together and got good results so that new stack of yours looks promising.

Good to hear, definitely can't wait to get started on it. I'm not going to go crazy and change my routine though. I'd like to cut the water weight off, but I'm not entering any contests anytime soon so I don't need the hardcore results at the moment. Just looking to cut off some water weight but I'm still going to lift heavy. I'm not going to go high-rep/high-intensity right now. I still want to maintain my strength and still make gains in there.

Ricky P
05-12-07, 6:16 pm
LEG DAY BABY!

Lonely Saturday afternoon at the gym today. One other person in the weight room on this gorgeous 75 degree day. Sun was out so I took the doors off the Wrangler and had a nice ride down to the gym. Got in there and it was all business..

Here's how that business went down:

Legs:

ATG Squats: 135x10, 185x10, 225x10

Leg Press: 315x10, 495x6, 675x2 - 405x6

Leg Extensions: 150x10, 170x10, 190x10

Calves (Smith): 135x15, 185x15, 225x15

Love that feeling of absolutely smashing the legs, just a good day in there today. Another day in the books, coming back bigger and stronger next time.

Thanks Chris - Forgot about this:

Took video of these sets at the gym today... Have to be processed but will defintiely be posted through a link later in the day so sit tight.

ChrisG
05-12-07, 6:28 pm
Strong leg day. What do the numbers in italics mean?

Ricky P
05-12-07, 6:30 pm
Haha, good question - I forgot to do that....

Ricky P
05-12-07, 9:39 pm
Here are a coupe videos from today's leg day:

The 225x10 ATG Squat:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IxsWyLk9zQc

The 495x6 Leg Press:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R3d4j8e_wao

Funny thing is, I'm known for having naturally thick legs (my quads/hams/glutes) but my shins and calves look tiny. And my calves are not that small either, but this video just kind of shoots them down, haha. I'll just have to make them bigger.

Ricky P
05-13-07, 7:17 pm
Second day in a row I was solo in the gym. Don't enjoy working out without a spotter but I wanted to get it done today. I really didn't like my numbers in this workout, but to be honest they're just numbers - the pump I got and the muscle fibers I destoryed.... my chest thinks I hit PR's on every exercise. I'm going to be extremely sore tomorrow.

I jumped around almost aimlessly today, no real plan I just hopped onto exercises doing random sets and random reps. I hit up machines I haven't used in a couple years, hitting the chest in all different areas. It definitely worked as a shock method.

Here's how the burn went:

Chest:

Bench: 135x15 (W/U), 205x10, 235x5, 245x5, 135x25

Cable Cross: 20x12, 30x10, 40x8

Pec Deck: 100x12, 110x10, 120x8, 130x6

DB Press: 80x8 (This just was not going to happen for me. I planned on putting up 105's on my third set... no shot.)

Chest Press: 170x8, 190x6

Smith Decline: 135x10, 185x10, 225x8

JMC
05-13-07, 11:09 pm
Good numbers ricky...sometimes it feels good just to go in all unorganized and throw weight around....body needs that at times!

Ricky P
05-14-07, 4:32 pm
Definitely right, got to break the monotony some how.

Back and tricep day today. My lagging chest day has motivated me to really step it up on my triceps. Something is lagging so the secondary muscles in that movement have to be punished for not being there when I needed them.

Side note.... I am still having trouble walking from my leg day.

ChrisG
05-14-07, 4:39 pm
Your videos looked awesome man. Yea lifting without a spotter while going on heavy on some things kind of bothers me sometimes so I know what you mean.. on leg day I always wait for my stepdad to get home to spot me on squats just to be safe. Gettin it done no matter what gets in your way is true dedication my friend.

Toni69
05-14-07, 5:01 pm
Hi there..long time no speaky huh.
Now, nobody should ever say squat about doing squats on the smitty! Yours were perfect...you had perfect form, power and control. I am thinking I may switch it up tomorrow from normal barbell squats to the smitty for a change. You got me all psyched for quads tomorrow and I am on zero carbs now mind you!

Leg press...Ricky...all I am gonna say is next vid you best hook on a few more plates there! I did like that look back in the camera..your darn cute! :)

Anyway, always great wo's from you..your very committed and a hard worker, and with these attributes going for ya, you will achieve your goals...no doubt! Words to live by; "There's a difference between interest and commitment. When you're interested in doing something, you do it only when circumstance permits. When you're committed to something, you accept no excuses, only results.”

Sir J-Werk
05-14-07, 5:55 pm
Ricky, when you say lagging chest are you talking strength, development, or both?

Stay Strong, stay Focused, stay Animal!
Respect.

Ricky P
05-14-07, 8:43 pm
Your videos looked awesome man. Yea lifting without a spotter while going on heavy on some things kind of bothers me sometimes so I know what you mean.. on leg day I always wait for my stepdad to get home to spot me on squats just to be safe. Gettin it done no matter what gets in your way is true dedication my friend.

I appreciate the compliment, that's what we're all here for - because we're all truly dedicated to our own individual goals. That can go out to you and everyone else here.


Hi there..long time no speaky huh.
Now, nobody should ever say squat about doing squats on the smitty! Yours were perfect...you had perfect form, power and control. I am thinking I may switch it up tomorrow from normal barbell squats to the smitty for a change. You got me all psyched for quads tomorrow and I am on zero carbs now mind you!

Leg press...Ricky...all I am gonna say is next vid you best hook on a few more plates there! I did like that look back in the camera..your darn cute! :)

Anyway, always great wo's from you..your very committed and a hard worker, and with these attributes going for ya, you will achieve your goals...no doubt! Words to live by; "There's a difference between interest and commitment. When you're interested in doing something, you do it only when circumstance permits. When you're committed to something, you accept no excuses, only results.”


Haha, Toni I'm glad I could spark some excitement about the Smith machine for you. I know it's not the first option - but my gym has no squat rack, it's pretty pathetic. The Smith has been nice though because I've been able to vary my foot positioning and where I line up to hit all areas of the quads and even hams.

As for the leg press.... What can I say, I didn't want it to fall on my chest with no one there for a spot. I did throw a couple more plates on each side for my last set and I'll be sure to do it again next leg day, JUST FOR YOU! Maybe I'll go even heavier. You know how to push me.

And that quote - awesome. I actually saw it on my way out to the gym and it got me so pumped for my work out, I hit three body parts. Thanks for the extra kick.


Ricky, when you say lagging chest are you talking strength, development, or both?

Stay Strong, stay Focused, stay Animal!
Respect.

To be honest J, it was just a bad day. I mean, normally I feel pretty strong on my chest days - but I just was a little out of it. I made sure I smoked it as hard as I could though to make up for the exercises I fell off on. So all in all I guess you could say it was just strength that wasn't there for me Sunday, but I'll be sure to bring it next chest day.

Ricky P
05-14-07, 9:02 pm
Much more volume than normal, I usually target two body parts a day - but yesterday I didn't have time to drop weight on the Bi's before it closed so I just focused hard on my chest and left the Bi's for today....

But.... Come today I forgot I left my Bi's on deck and was scheduled for a serious Back/Tricep day.... Well, Toni gave me a kick in the ass, and I was already feeling a little amped up from my Shock Therapy I had just guzzled down so I decided to have a serious session today.

Here is how it boiled down:

Back:

Pull-Ups (Close/Wide): 7/7, 7/7, 7/7

T-Bar Rows: 2 pies @ 10 reps, 3 pies @ 8 reps, 4 pies @ 6 reps
(Thanks J-Werk for the reminder on these)

Bent-Over-Rows: 135x10, 185x8, 205x6

Reverse Cable Flies: 10x10, 20x8, 20x6

Triceps:

Close-Grip Bench: 135x10, 185x8, 205x6
First time doing this in about three months, felt ten times better since the last time - weight felt much lighter and triceps felt a lot of work.

Skull Crushers: 75x10, 85x8, 105x8

*Inside-Grip Cable Pushdown: 140x10, 150x8, 160x6(Racked)
*Giant Set, no pause - straight through.

Tricep Machine: 250x10, 270x8, 285x6 (Racked)

Biceps:

DB Curls: 40x10, 45x8, 50x6

BB Curls: 70x10, 80x8, 80x6

Sing. Arm Cable Curl: 30x10, 40x8, 50x6


Didn't expect to rip out this many exercises, but it was a great feeling to get it done. I skipped the biceps, and no matter what price I had to pay or how much longer I had to stay - I had to get them done because it was my problem I created by not giving myself enough time to get them done yesterday. Now it's off tomorrow to rest - I have the NYPD Physical Ability test Wednesday morning.... Not very taxing but I'd like to be at or near 100% for it.

Sir J-Werk
05-14-07, 9:36 pm
Ricky, nice w/o Brother! Those T-Bars look damn strong! ;)

Good luck on your NYPD examine! Nail it Animal!

i hear ya on the bad lifting days.... No one likes them but they happen. Good thing is that when they do come around you have some awesome Brothers and Sisters here you to help keep your head up and the motivation high.

Stay Strong, stay Focused, stay Animal!
Respect.

Ricky P
05-14-07, 10:49 pm
Ricky, nice w/o Brother! Those T-Bars look damn strong! ;)

Good luck on your NYPD examine! Nail it Animal!

i hear ya on the bad lifting days.... No one likes them but they happen. Good thing is that when they do come around you have some awesome Brothers and Sisters here you to help keep your head up and the motivation high.

Stay Strong, stay Focused, stay Animal!
Respect.

You're damn right about that. I've got to say, since I've been a member of this Forvm, my sessions in the gym have been out of control. I'll be honest I've gone from your average guy who went to the gym to make some gains, to an absoulte hunger driven gym rat. I really feel as though I've got a support system behind me that I go to everyday and they never let me down. It's a great feeling to know that you've got that at all times, open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Ricky P
05-14-07, 10:54 pm
J, thanks for the good luck shout-out as well! I'll make sure to show 'em Animal.

As for the workout today, I've also been using BigAnt's concoction. It's a little off from his exact formula, but here's how mine looks. I take a shaker bottle, mix it with ice water/Storm/Glutamine/Creatine... I then pour it into an empty 1 liter Poland Spring bottle. I then fill the rest with Gatorade (Any of the Blue or Purple to go with the Grape Storm). I really think that helped fuel most of my workout today. I just didn't want to stop. It's a great thing to sip on between sets, knowing you have constant flow of nutrients into your muscles is a great feeling.

Ricky P
05-14-07, 11:33 pm
Side note: Finished my second tub of Real Gains today which has been done over a period of the last month and a half. I went from 198lbs. to 203lbs. A five pound increase since I took the two tubs, I like the results. Know I've mentioned it, but I'll be starting a cut in about a week. I'm going to be taking progress photos as well starting yesterday. Probably check in every week or two with the photos and I'll post them at the end of the cut.

JMC
05-15-07, 10:24 am
You gonna take cuts? I swear by that shit bro....highly recommend!

Ricky P
05-15-07, 12:11 pm
You gonna take cuts? I swear by that shit bro....highly recommend!

Yeah I am going to stack it with Pak (obviously) and the new M-Stak. I'm not going to do a hardcore cut, I'm still going to try and make gains and lift heavy, I'm not going to change my routine I'm just going to lose some water weight and eat cleaner than I was when I was on my bulk.

Cru
05-15-07, 2:13 pm
Rick, good lifts and volume bro, good to see a ballplayer who can throw some iron around.

On the BigAnt juice, why not try and throw some BCAAs in the mix? I've been using that formula for about a month now, with good strength gains to show from it.

Good luck on your NYPD test bro. Show 'em how Animals rock n' roll haha.

brandonA
05-15-07, 2:33 pm
Good luck on the test bro, you got this......

-B

JMC
05-15-07, 2:51 pm
Yeah I am going to stack it with Pak (obviously) and the new M-Stak. I'm not going to do a hardcore cut, I'm still going to try and make gains and lift heavy, I'm not going to change my routine I'm just going to lose some water weight and eat cleaner than I was when I was on my bulk.

That's what I do every few months...get on a can of cuts and eat REALLY clean....more than I do now. It helps keep the fat off the belly...and it's mental too. Keeps me from "thinking" I'm getting fatter.

Ricky P
05-15-07, 7:35 pm
Rick, good lifts and volume bro, good to see a ballplayer who can throw some iron around.

On the BigAnt juice, why not try and throw some BCAAs in the mix? I've been using that formula for about a month now, with good strength gains to show from it.

Good luck on your NYPD test bro. Show 'em how Animals rock n' roll haha.

Haha, we gotta keep up some sort of rep for some of these ballplayers. Those typical strength programs (aka maintenance programs) just don't cut it..

I actually just got my Orange BCAA Stack today - so that'll definitely be in there for tomorrows lift no doubt. Just had to make due with what I had at the time, but now it'll be the real deal.

Thanks for the good luck shoutout.


Good luck on the test bro, you got this......

-B

Even though I've got to get up at 4:30 to beat that traffic on the Belt - haha, I definitely got this! Thanks brother.


That's what I do every few months...get on a can of cuts and eat REALLY clean....more than I do now. It helps keep the fat off the belly...and it's mental too. Keeps me from "thinking" I'm getting fatter.

Haha, I'm in the same boat. Whatever it takes to give us that mental edge is huge. Once that goes, you could go off the deep end in a hurry!

Ricky P
05-16-07, 11:21 am
Just a quick report on my NYPD Physical Ability "Test"....

Wasn't told we'd be wearing weighted vests - but it still wasn't a problem.. Finished in 2:48 out of the limit of 4:30. I made sure I went early to get out early but out of the first seven or eight I had the "Time of the Day". No shot I cared to stick around to find out if it stood up, I'm sure it didn't. I was actually dissapointed with my time I wanted it in less than 2:30, but I've never done the course before so that prediction or goal was a shot in the dark, just wishful thinking.. Regardless of the time which didn't matter much anyway - I passed and need just my interview with my investigator and a final oral pyschological interview May 30th, and hopefully I'll find out soon after that if I'll be going into the Academy at the end of July.

Toni69
05-16-07, 12:48 pm
Just a quick report on my NYPD Physical Ability "Test"....

Wasn't told we'd be wearing weighted vests - but it still wasn't a problem.. Finished in 2:48 out of the limit of 4:30. I made sure I went early to get out early but out of the first seven or eight I had the "Time of the Day". No shot I cared to stick around to find out if it stood up, I'm sure it didn't. I was actually dissapointed with my time I wanted it in less than 2:30, but I've never done the course before so that prediction or goal was a shot in the dark, just wishful thinking.. Regardless of the time which didn't matter much anyway - I passed and need just my interview with my investigator and a final oral pyschological interview May 30th, and hopefully I'll find out soon after that if I'll be going into the Academy at the end of July.

Good for you! Well done! I bet you will look so cute in that uniform! ;) Your time was great! Stop being so hard on yourself..and for a first timer too..very impressive Ricky!

JMC
05-16-07, 1:00 pm
That's awesome man....keep the updates comin'! Are you trying to get into a specific precinct or do they assign you wherever?

Cru
05-16-07, 1:06 pm
congrats on the test bro, impressive time.

ya those maintenance programs are good for nothing, except wasting time maybe. good choice on the BCAA stack, can't go wrong with orange. how many times have you had to stop lifting and explain to someone just what exactly it is that you're drinking? that conversation never gets old...

Ricky P
05-16-07, 1:28 pm
Good for you! Well done! I bet you will look so cute in that uniform! ;) Your time was great! Stop being so hard on yourself..and for a first timer too..very impressive Ricky!

Haha, well I had my friends telling me I should do it in 1:45 and 2:15.... I was giving myself a :15 cushion with my 2:30 call so when I heard 2:49.... Eh, was a little put off, thought I got through it quicker but I guess that vest slowed me down more than I thought...


That's awesome man....keep the updates comin'! Are you trying to get into a specific precinct or do they assign you wherever?

I'd like to get into the K-9 Unit, I have a severe love for dogs and what could get better than getting paid to work with them all day? I think that'd be awesome. Kid I know got placed working at Shea Stadium through a close family friend.... So if I could have my way - I'd be put at Yankee Stadium and work the 2008 All-Star game! Haha. Hey, it could happen..


congrats on the test bro, impressive time.

ya those maintenance programs are good for nothing, except wasting time maybe. good choice on the BCAA stack, can't go wrong with orange. how many times have you had to stop lifting and explain to someone just what exactly it is that you're drinking? that conversation never gets old...

Yeah I'm excited to start the orange BCAA stack today.. I used the grape Storm so my Poland Spring bottle looked real wierd when I mixed it with blue Gatorade - this navy blue liquid being downed from a water bottle. I definitely got looks but nothing too crazy. I don't tend to see whether other people are looking at me or not - and I usually rock my iPod so I guess no one wants to come up and ask me when they think I'm listening to music. I wouldn't even bother explaining what it was though if someone had asked, I'd just say it's a secret on behalf of BigAnt!

JMC
05-16-07, 1:41 pm
Hell yeah bro....
Yankees fan myself! (Dad is, me since I've been little...not one of the NEW fans) That job would be the shit hands down! I want to meet Donnie Baseball!!! Kind of off subject, but it's always been a dream to get up to NYC and get to a game. Finally did so back in 04, that place is awesome...no other park like it.

Sorry....off subject here.

Ricky P
05-16-07, 2:00 pm
Hell yeah bro....
Yankees fan myself! (Dad is, me since I've been little...not one of the NEW fans) That job would be the shit hands down! I want to meet Donnie Baseball!!! Kind of off subject, but it's always been a dream to get up to NYC and get to a game. Finally did so back in 04, that place is awesome...no other park like it.

Sorry....off subject here.

Hey - who cares about being off subject when we're talkin' about the Yanks.... I went to Shea back in '04 for a Yankee/Met game. One of my former coaches was a Batting Practice Pitcher and a Bullpen Catcher for the Mets that year, and we got to the park around 12:30 for a 7:35 game. We were in the tunnel, in the Mets dugout and on the field during BP. We were out on the field around 1:30 to watch Reyes and Matsui take grounders and double play feeds. During that, A-Rod walked in from centerfield, much bigger in person, especially when he walks right past you about 6 feet away. I was standing about 9 feet from Mattingly, Jeter, A-Rod, Sheff and Giambi during their BP. It was Jeter's first game back after he dove into the stands against the Red Sox with that catch he made on Trot Nixon, his face was all brusied up. Me and my friend walked past Sheff in the tunnel behind Right Field, he said "What's up, fellas?" Awesome. Also sat in the Cage with Don Baylor and Cliff Floyd as Baylor gave him some 1 on 1 instruction. Then we hit in the cage when they left, it was sick. Tony Clark also happens to be the nicest guy in the world, dude is 6'7" he's a monster. Bubba Crosby asked us where the weight room was while we were in the tunnel, haha I had no idea but I pointed down the hall somewhere - I'm sure he found it..

Oh man, how am I going to concentrate on protecting and serving with all this going on?!

JMC
05-16-07, 2:19 pm
That's a great story bro! I'm not big one autographs or anything like that...it's just cool sometimes to get up close to see how those guys do their shit day to day. Awesome shit man!!!

Ricky P
05-16-07, 5:52 pm
Yeah, exactly. I mean I played for a long time - and stuff like this still gets me going as you can see. Just being around some of the greats of the game is really a feeling that's tough to describe. And you're right, not one moment I spent thinking about asking for an autograph, I just wanted to shake their hand and pick their brains.

To have some sort of analogy for the heavy bodybuilders of the Forvm this time for me was something like if you were to see Arnold standing 10 feet from you and he turned and nodded at you or something. I mean it's subtle but it stays with you.

Alright, time to hammer on the shoulders!

Stretch
05-16-07, 6:20 pm
Not a Yank's guy myself, but being a sport nut...I can definately relate brother. That story, and the corresponding experience is one that will be with ya for a long time.

It is actually one of the things that I really love about this sport of ours...for the most part, our "heroes" are still very accessible. Hell, even up here in the Northwest, we have enough large amateur competitions that we can meet most of the stars. Hell, just in the last 2 years at the Emerald I have had a chance to sit and chat with just about all top ten from the 'O'...minus Victor I think (No dig on Victor now, he just hasn't been there). The best part was that they were all friendly, and pleasant (no they were not dieting...which might explain it LOL).

Peace,
Stretch

Cru
05-16-07, 6:43 pm
That's badass man, getting to the see the pros up-close is one of the coolest things there is. I had a chance to meet Roger Clemens, as his son Koby played on the same team I did one fall. I'll never forget that handshake.

Ricky P
05-16-07, 8:49 pm
Not a Yank's guy myself, but being a sport nut...I can definately relate brother. That story, and the corresponding experience is one that will be with ya for a long time.

It is actually one of the things that I really love about this sport of ours...for the most part, our "heroes" are still very accessible. Hell, even up here in the Northwest, we have enough large amateur competitions that we can meet most of the stars. Hell, just in the last 2 years at the Emerald I have had a chance to sit and chat with just about all top ten from the 'O'...minus Victor I think (No dig on Victor now, he just hasn't been there). The best part was that they were all friendly, and pleasant (no they were not dieting...which might explain it LOL).

Peace,
Stretch

Haha see that's what I'm talking about.. Just being able to relate and chat with someone you respect and look up to is one of the best things that can happen. With the big guys, it's so easy to lock everybody out of your world and avoid people - but they really are easy to talk to and not as intimidating as you'd think. Now I can't speak for ALL athletes, but most of them are more humble than we give them credit for. Anytime you can meet and chat with someone of that caliber is a giant experience, you got that right..


That's badass man, getting to the see the pros up-close is one of the coolest things there is. I had a chance to meet Roger Clemens, as his son Koby played on the same team I did one fall. I'll never forget that handshake.

That's a pretty awesome experience in itself. I mean, shaking hands with the best pitcher of his generation is unreal. That must've been like shaking a bear claw. You touched a hand of a SEVEN time Cy Young Award winner... That's just remarkable.

Ricky P
05-16-07, 9:19 pm
Shoulder day.... More volume than normal since I was only going to smash one area of my body. I thought I'd be in and out but the session lasted longer than normal due to the increase in volume..

Here's how the water boiled:

Shoulders:

Machine Press: 100x10, 110x8, 120x6

Side Raise (DB): 15x10, 15x8, 20x6

Front Delt (DB): 15x10, 20x8, 25x8

Upright Rows (Outside Grip): 70x10, 80x8, 80x8

Upright Rows (Inside Grip): 70x10, 80x10, 80x8

BB Shrugs superset with 45lb. plates: 135x15/15, 225x12/12, 385x6(Smith)/12

DB Shrugs: 105x10, 115x8, 125x6

Lot of pump in the traps and delts, felt good and had a steady intensity throughout. Loved the complete version of the BigAnt concotion, while I finally added my BCAA orange stack into the mix.

JMC
05-17-07, 10:28 am
Sick workout as usual bro!

So you're on the Big Ant drink huh. I've got about a $250 order I'm gonna place here as soon as Torrent is back in stock. I've got enough to make a version of it. I may leave out some of the sugar, i.e. Gatorade/powerade what have you.

Have you noticed a difference during your lifts?

Ricky P
05-17-07, 1:23 pm
Sick workout as usual bro!

So you're on the Big Ant drink huh. I've got about a $250 order I'm gonna place here as soon as Torrent is back in stock. I've got enough to make a version of it. I may leave out some of the sugar, i.e. Gatorade/powerade what have you.

Have you noticed a difference during your lifts?

I actually did my first couple lifts without the BCAA's I noticed some pretty good vascularity. I got real good pumps. I added the BCAA's obviously yesterday for the first time and will continue to do so from here on out and had a steady pump throughout. There were no highs and lows it was just straight through full intensity. I didn't feel any sets that I didn't want to get into or was low on intensity, just overall felt real good throughout the entire lift and I was in there for about an hour and thirty to two hours.. I love it.. Beats the shit out of water..

ChrisG
05-17-07, 6:57 pm
Workout looks strong bro.. how wide do you consider wide grip upright rows and how far up do you bring them? I tried them out today and I guess I went too wide.. couldn't get the bar up that high and felt like I was doing more of a shrug then upright row.

Ricky P
05-17-07, 7:30 pm
Workout looks strong bro.. how wide do you consider wide grip upright rows and how far up do you bring them? I tried them out today and I guess I went too wide.. couldn't get the bar up that high and felt like I was doing more of a shrug then upright row.

Wide to me is honestly just shoulder-width... I don't actually go wider than normal. I creep in from there to target different muscles. I go up pretty much until my forearms are just about parallel to the floor.. I make sure I squeeze my rear delts at the top and control it down.

Ricky P
05-17-07, 7:37 pm
Leg day.... Took a tad bit extra on the Shock Therapy before I went to workout.... Made a huge difference. I was screaming at the top of my lungs in my car on the ride down, singing a song that was over for about a minute while the DJ's were talking..

Here's how it went down:

Legs:

ATG Squats: 135x10 (W/U) 185x10, 225x8, 245x4

Leg Press: 315x10, 495x8, 585x6, 765x0 (Sorry Toni, I tried - Nothing left in the tank..)

Leg Extensions: 170x10, 190x8, 210x6

Smith Calves: 185x15, 225x15, 245x12

Took some video, stick around I'll probably get the links up later tonight since YouTube takes forever to process them..

Ricky P
05-17-07, 10:09 pm
**245x5 on the ATG Squats was actually 255x4.... Can't edit last post at the moment..

Sir J-Werk
05-17-07, 11:30 pm
You guys keep having these stellar leg days and I swear there is going to be a huge chip forming on my shoulder soon! lol! ... Strong, Brother, way strong.

Might I suggest keg tosses? ;)

Stay Strong, stay Focused, stay Animal!
Respect.

Ricky P
05-18-07, 4:51 pm
Haha, I thought you'd like that.. Yeah man I felt the same way a couple months ago.. Everyone seems to have these uncompromising leg days each and every time they hit their legs - there's not maintenance, no light days - I decided to step my game up, squats and presses every single time and the weight is going to increase each day.. I'm going to need Flex a couple years before I thought I would haha..

ChrisG
05-19-07, 10:55 am
Leg day.... Took a tad bit extra on the Shock Therapy before I went to workout.... Made a huge difference. I was screaming at the top of my lungs in my car on the ride down, singing a song that was over for about a minute while the DJ's were talking..

Here's how it went down:

Legs:

ATG Squats: 135x10 (W/U) 185x10, 225x8, 245x4

Leg Press: 315x10, 495x8, 585x6, 765x0 (Sorry Toni, I tried - Nothing left in the tank..)

Leg Extensions: 170x10, 190x8, 210x6

Smith Calves: 185x15, 225x15, 245x12

Took some video, stick around I'll probably get the links up later tonight since YouTube takes forever to process them..

Yea bro when you take a little extra of that shock therapy it gives you a nice kick in the ass.. I just got a picture of you in my head driving down the road bangin your head to some music LOL. When you start M-Stak are you going to be taking the stimulant with ST? Actually... are you going to be taking the stimulants in M-Stak, Cuts, and take ST? You'd probably get the jitters lol

Ricky P
05-19-07, 11:05 am
Well I'm going to start today and I'm going to take it all haha, It's CHEST DAY! It's early so it'll wear off before bed I hope! Haha.

ChrisG
05-19-07, 11:07 am
Well I'm going to start today and I'm going to take it all haha, It's CHEST DAY! It's early so it'll wear off before bed I hope! Haha.

Haha yea don't take it TOO late lol.. on Tuesday I took M-Stak and ST at about midnight with the stimulant in it because I had to get a late session in.. ended up getting to bed around 5am LOL

Ricky P
05-19-07, 11:36 am
Haha, oh man that's crazy. Midnight, I would've just gone all natural right there - gotta give you some props for trying that craziness.

Well today I'm starting my stack of M-Stak and Cuts. First time on Cuts so I'm anxious to see some water weight shed off. I took M-Stak last year but am real pumped to try the new one today with the new ingredients. Going to start it out on Chest day, no better day to do it.... Well beside Leg day, but I just hammered those Thursday so here we go....

ChrisG
05-19-07, 12:09 pm
Nice man. I save the stimulants from my off days and take the extra one on leg day lol.. can't wait to see how you like cuts so I know what I'm in for in June

Cru
05-19-07, 2:38 pm
since you're starting cuts, you gonna crank up cardio or keep it about where it is?

Ricky P
05-19-07, 2:53 pm
Pretty pumped today at the gym. The stack worked well for day one.. Unreal pump on the bench, felt real strong. I don't know who said you're going to lose muscle when you cut because today I felt incredibly strong and can't imagine losing any muscle. Then again, I'm not going to be going on a typical hardcore cut - just going to eat cleaner and still lift heavy ass weight.

Chest:

Bench: 135x10 (W/U), 205x10, 235x8, 255x6, 275x4

DB Flat: 95x10, 105x6, 115x3

Pec Dec: 120x10, 130x8, 150x6

Chest Press: 170x10, 190x8, 210x6
superset with:
Smith Bench Toss: 135x10, 185x6, 135x6

Biceps:

DB Curl: 40x10, 45x8, 50x6

BB Curls: 70x10, 80x8, 70x12

Drop Set (Giant Set): 30x10 --> 25x10 --> 20x10

ChrisG
05-19-07, 4:49 pm
You probably felt like you could run through a freight train with all those stimulants! lol... solid workout bro. What the hell is a smith bench toss.. is that like a keg toss? lol

Ricky P
05-19-07, 5:46 pm
since you're starting cuts, you gonna crank up cardio or keep it about where it is?

To be honest, my cardio is almost non-existant at the moment. I'm going to crank it up soley because I don't really do it - so anything is going to include turning up the volume. I'm going to wake up earlier on weekends and run before I eat breakfast while my body is still fasting and during the week I'm going to have to get it in after a workout.


You probably felt like you could run through a freight train with all those stimulants! lol... solid workout bro. What the hell is a smith bench toss.. is that like a keg toss? lol

Haha, that's a workout I have no name for whatsoever so I just called it that. It's basically a flat benchpress on the Smith, when I get to the top of the movement I toss the bar up, catch it and get into the next rep. It really causes a lot of concentration on the pecs and the movement is pretty explosive. It's something I've only tried a couple times but I like to toss it in to mix things up, really kills the pecs and works the rear delts a little bit.

Ricky P
05-20-07, 2:16 pm
So yesterday I started my Cuts and M-Stak... I'll be honest I had just an awkward feeling all day after the gym.. Little jittery, little anxious... I may have taken the two Pak's of Cuts too close.. I took one around 10:30am and the other at 3:00pm, I figured that'd be a good amount of time in b/t the two.. Oh well, I knew it'd take some adjusting so it's just something I'm going to have to get used to. Just looking forward to the results. Back and tri's today baby.. I'll be back.

Cru
05-20-07, 2:28 pm
how's cuts affecting your appetite? bout the same as usual or you having a harder time getting everything down? i tried a fat burner last year that just made me sick if i tried to eat 5-6 spaced out meals per day. never stopped being full. how's cuts so far?

ChrisG
05-20-07, 2:33 pm
So yesterday I started my Cuts and M-Stak... I'll be honest I had just an awkward feeling all day after the gym.. Little jittery, little anxious... I may have taken the two Pak's of Cuts too close.. I took one around 10:30am and the other at 3:00pm, I figured that'd be a good amount of time in b/t the two.. Oh well, I knew it'd take some adjusting so it's just something I'm going to have to get used to. Just looking forward to the results. Back and tri's today baby.. I'll be back.

Check out other logs that have their timings in it bro. I'm pretty sure most people take the first one earlier in the morning and take the second one around the same time. Getting all that extra energy in you is good for when your working out but when your trying to calm down afterwards and relax it's like impossible lol

Ricky P
05-20-07, 6:09 pm
how's cuts affecting your appetite? bout the same as usual or you having a harder time getting everything down? i tried a fat burner last year that just made me sick if i tried to eat 5-6 spaced out meals per day. never stopped being full. how's cuts so far?

Well it's too early to tell as of right now.. It's been a day and a half, so far I've been eating normal.. I'll definitely report more as time goes on and I get some more days to compare against each other.. Cru hope you don't mind I hit you up on MySpace!


Check out other logs that have their timings in it bro. I'm pretty sure most people take the first one earlier in the morning and take the second one around the same time. Getting all that extra energy in you is good for when your working out but when your trying to calm down afterwards and relax it's like impossible lol

Yeah I had eaten so early yesterday morning, I waited until I was hungry before I popped Cuts, that was my mistake. I get up for work around 5:30 during the week so it'll be much easier to pop that first Pak of Cuts on a regular basis.

Ricky P
05-20-07, 6:20 pm
BACK DAY!

Woke up, didn't have much energy but once I sat down and went through my pre-workout ritual, I got my energy up. Got focused and got ready to hit the weight room hard. Love Sunday's because NO ONE is at the gym. Also when it's nice out like today, even more people don't show up so it's nice to have the gym to yourself to get your work done.

BACK:

Pull-ups (Close/Wide): 10/5, 10/5, 10/5

Bent-Over-Rows: 135x10, 155x8, 175x6

T-Bar Rows: 2 pies @ 10 reps, 3 pies @ 8 reps, 4 pies @ 6 reps

DB Rows: 70x10, 85x8, 100x6

Reverse Cable Flies: 10x10, 10x10

Triceps:

Close-Grip Bench: 135x10 (Sharp pain in the front right delt, don't know what it is - still hurts.. Stopped this exercise, went on to the next)

Skull Crushers: 85x10, 105x8, 115x6

Inside-Grip Pushdown (Giant Set): 150x10, 160x8* Rest/Pause 160x6

Tricep Press: 260x10, 275x8, 285x6*

*Racked Machine

Pretty solid Sunday workout with the exception of that sharp pain I experienced in my right delt. I don't know when it happened, it just started shooting after I stood up off the bench. I'm hoping it calms down by tomorrow otherwise I'll be one unhappy camper.

Cru
05-20-07, 9:00 pm
haha no prob big rick, enjoyed the rob and big clip...."do work son! 22's!" haha that show never gets old.

Ricky P
05-21-07, 6:18 pm
haha no prob big rick, enjoyed the rob and big clip...."do work son! 22's!" haha that show never gets old.

Greatest show on television right there....

I was just preparing my pre-workout supplements and thought about how I never really share how I get ready or what I take before I get myself out the door.. Lately it's been a little different because I've added some new supps to the list so things are a bit off from what I normally do..

As of right now, here is how I prepare for the gym:

30-45 minutes before workout: Cuts (empty stomach)
30 minutes before workout: Pak and M-Stak
15 minutes before workout: Shock Therapy in about 18-20oz. cold water
During workout: Poland Spring bottle (1 Liter) - 20-25 oz. water, scoop of Storm (Fruit Punch), 2 tspn BCAA Stack Orange, aprox. 5g Glutamine, 5g Creatine, rest filled with Lemon-Lime Gatorade.. (Credit to BigAnt)
Immediately After W/o: 2 Scoops Ultra Whey Pro (Choc. Ice Cream) in 20oz. cold water with 5g Glutamine, 5g Creatine.
Also take in some CLA (Conjugated Linoleic Acid - 770mg), Arginine (500mg), and Flax Seed Oil (1000mg) - Usually before and after workout and then again before bed..

Again this is a bit different from what I normally would do - I usually like to get in about 20g of protein pre-workout with a one scoop shake, but when taking ST and Storm, it's hard to go from a Choc. Ice Cream shake to a Wild Berry drink. We all make sacrafices but I'm not about to do that right now.. Also I just added BigAnt's drink as a staple to my workout so that's new within the last two to three weeks.. And this is only my third day on this stack of Cuts/M-Stak so the timing might not be where it'll stay, I'm still feeling it out. But this is what I've done today..

Shoulder day - will report back..

ChrisG
05-21-07, 6:24 pm
That's a lot to take in a short amount of time. lol I have some CLA lying around here somewhere but never take it.. never heard of anyone taking it before except for you.. notice any benefits from taking it?

Ricky P
05-21-07, 6:27 pm
That's a lot to take in a short amount of time. lol I have some CLA lying around here somewhere but never take it.. never heard of anyone taking it before except for you.. notice any benefits from taking it?

To be honest Chris, I just started taking it about a week ago. I like the benefits it SHOULD bring me, so I'll definitely let you know what comes of it.

JMC
05-21-07, 7:07 pm
Hahaaaa.....just read your back day....
Unlike you, I won't hack on your numbers dog!!!! J/k of course, lookin good as usual my man!

Ricky P
05-21-07, 9:18 pm
Hahaaaa.....just read your back day....
Unlike you, I won't hack on your numbers dog!!!! J/k of course, lookin good as usual my man!

Haha, look at my leg day, that'll give you some ammo! Get on me for those - because that's the day I hate posting my numbers on.

Ricky P
05-21-07, 9:29 pm
Nice little shoulder day today.

Let's get right into the numbers for my boy JMC because I know he's dying to see them:

Shoulders:

Machine Press: 110x10, 120x8, 130x6

Lateral Raises (DB's): 15x10, 20x8, 20x6

Upright Rows (Wide-Grip): 70x10, 80x8, 80x6

Upright Rows (Inside-Grip): 70x10, 80x8, 80x6

Light BB Shrugs (superset with 45lb. plate concentrated shrug): 135x20 (15), 225x18, 315x16 (30)

DB Shrugs: 115x10, 120x8, 125x6

JMC
05-22-07, 12:25 pm
Hahaaaa! All about the numbers ;-) Lookin sick! I like the "light shrugs" at 315...NICE! What do you mean by concentrated shrug with the plate. I take it as holding one plate with two hands and sqeezing out shrugs?????

Stretch
05-22-07, 12:32 pm
Lookin good Ricky! Keep up the work and I expect to see leg days posted! =)

Ricky P
05-22-07, 5:14 pm
Hahaaaa! All about the numbers ;-) Lookin sick! I like the "light shrugs" at 315...NICE! What do you mean by concentrated shrug with the plate. I take it as holding one plate with two hands and sqeezing out shrugs?????

I do the BB Shrug and then when I rack it I step back and pick up a 45lb. plate in each hand and shrug those real slow. BURNS!


Lookin good Ricky! Keep up the work and I expect to see leg days posted! =)

Oh.... That will be later on today.... Stay tuned.... Haha..

Ricky P
05-22-07, 8:40 pm
LEG DAY BABYYYYYYYYYYYY

Here are the numbers because I know you can't wait to see them:

Legs:

Squats: 135x10 (ATG W/U), 225x10, 275x8, 315x6

Leg Press: 405x10, 495x8, 585x6, 675x4, 765x4

Leg Extensions: 180x10, 200x8, 220x6

Calves (Smith): 135x20, 185x15, 225x10

Planned on only doing three sets on the Leg Press, but I felt real good so I went for heavier weight and more sets. I want massive tree trunks, can't leave anything in the tank....

JMC
05-23-07, 10:20 am
Alright here goes.....

Naaa, not gonna hack those #'s bro....nothing wrong there at all! One question though, where's the hammies? Do you alternate foot placement on leg press to hit those bad boys? Are you ignoring the poor guys??? For some reason standing alternate leg curl is probably my favorite leg exercise....whether I'm going light or heavy.

Also on your calves...do you stand on a plank, or those plastic steps, or anything at all??? Just wondering? Do you train calves any other days???

Ricky P
05-23-07, 4:29 pm
Lots of good questions there - as for the calves I do stand on one of those plastic aerobic steppers with my toes to get full extension. As for the hammies, I do alternate my foot placement although not that much.. Our hamstrings are naturally stronger than our quads because they're such a bigger muscle, I'm trying to get them balanced together before I start hitting them both at the same time..

JMC
05-23-07, 5:09 pm
I'm with ya on the steps...they put a stack of them way back in some aerobics room. Interesting take on the hamstrings though. While they go unnoticed most of the time, I think that's where you get a shit ton of power and size from. Kind of like the triceps in the arm. Overlooked with it comes to big guns (by regular folks), but 2/3 of your arm.

Ricky P
05-24-07, 8:04 pm
Chest day. Was going to get on my biceps as well, but am pushing them back to shoulder day which should be Saturday if all goes as planned..

Here are the numbers for those that enjoy them:

CHEST:

Bench: 135x10 (W/U), 225x8, 255x6, 275x4, 135x10 (Reverse-Grip), 135x25 (Drop Set)

Cable Flies: 30x10, 30x10, 40x10

Pec Dec: 130x10, 150x8, 170x6

Incline Bench: 135x10, 185x8, 205x4

Tried the reverse-grip on the bench, form was a little sloppy, but reps 7-10 were real solid. Going to need work and repetitions on that before I attempt to increase the weight..

ChrisG
05-24-07, 8:49 pm
Tried the reverse-grip on the bench, form was a little sloppy, but reps 7-10 were real solid. Going to need work and repetitions on that before I attempt to increase the weight..

I tried that one day messing around.. felt EXTREMELY awkward lol

hjayss
05-25-07, 4:13 am
Loooking good bro keep em coming...the numbers are coming up steadilly love it...

JMC
05-25-07, 9:56 am
Ricky my brotha! Reverse grip bench is NO JOKE! Good shit tryin them out though. Don't know why but I just noticed you've got a nice push/pull routine going. Have you ever supersetted those days....e.i. bench to curl for sets, then flys to hammers, etc...you get what I'm sayin'?

Ricky P
05-25-07, 1:02 pm
I tried that one day messing around.. felt EXTREMELY awkward lol

Yeah, definitely awkward at first, but toward the end of the set it started to smooth out pretty well.


Loooking good bro keep em coming...the numbers are coming up steadilly love it...

Thanks brother, appreciate the support. I hope they keep going up, got some goals I need to hit with only a few months to go!


Ricky my brotha! Reverse grip bench is NO JOKE! Good shit tryin them out though. Don't know why but I just noticed you've got a nice push/pull routine going. Have you ever supersetted those days....e.i. bench to curl for sets, then flys to hammers, etc...you get what I'm sayin'?

Funny thing is I just posted on your journey about trying some supersets before I saw this haha. I was talking about how I liked the idea of supersetting, the way you were incorporating them into your workout. So I'm with ya on this one, definitely going to try to hammer some out tonight.

Ricky P
05-26-07, 6:40 pm
Hit up the back and triceps today. What was going to be a light day turned into more of a hardcore day. I went up in weight in almost all my exercises. Had some new music on the iPod that got me going pretty good.

Back:

Wide-Grip Pull-Ups: 10, 10, 10

T-Bar Rows: 2 pies @ 10 reps, 3 pies @ 10 reps, 4 pies @ 8 reps

BB BOR: 135x10, 155x8, 185x6

Reverse Cable Flies: 10x10, 10x10, 10x10

DB Rows: 80x10, 95x8, 110x6

Triceps:

Single Arm Rope Pushdown: 60x10, 70x8, 80x6

Tricep Press Machine: 265x10, 275x8, 285x6(Racked)

Reverse-Grip Pushdown: 110x10, 130x8, 150x6

DB Kickback: 20x10, 25x8, 30x6

ChrisG
05-26-07, 7:50 pm
Those are some heavy rows bro.. gettin up there with the big boys.

Ricky P
05-26-07, 8:03 pm
Thanks my man - Yeah I haven't done those in a long time - I think last time I did them I was using 55's and 60's. I just thought, I'm going heavy here and not looking back.. As long as my form isn't off I'm going to keep moving up.

Nightshift
05-27-07, 2:26 am
Nise solid work here brother! I like what I'm seeing!

Ricky P
05-27-07, 10:39 am
Nise solid work here brother! I like what I'm seeing!

Appreciate the props brother!

JMC
05-27-07, 4:39 pm
Nice back and tri work my man! Hey i noticed you don't track your abs here...do you work out abs??? I only looked back a few pages and didn't notice anything on there.

Ricky P
05-28-07, 3:50 pm
Nice back and tri work my man! Hey i noticed you don't track your abs here...do you work out abs??? I only looked back a few pages and didn't notice anything on there.

That's a pretty good point, I really don't do much for them. I was about to start incorporating some hanging leg raises into my routine after my workout but haven't gotten into it yet..

hjayss
05-29-07, 2:53 am
lot of good stuff really like the t bar rows I think we are all in agreement on that. way to throw those kickbaks in there if done right a great movement for tris looks great in the mirror to you can see the developement happening...keep em coming bro.

Ricky P
05-30-07, 12:19 am
lot of good stuff really like the t bar rows I think we are all in agreement on that. way to throw those kickbaks in there if done right a great movement for tris looks great in the mirror to you can see the developement happening...keep em coming bro.

Yeah man the T-Bar rows are awesome, I love that I got those back into the workout. I feel like my back gets thicker after each set of those, they get me pumped for back day.

Today I hit up the Shoulders and Biceps.... Long day today at work, real gassed but I had to get myself into the gym..

Shoulders:

Shoulder Press (Machine): 110x10, 120x8, 130x6

Front Delt Raise (DB): 15x10, 20x8, 25x6

Lateral Raises (DB): 15x10, 20x8, 25x6

Upright Rows (Outside Grip): 70x10, 80x8, 80x8

Upright Rows (Inside Grip): 70x10, 80x8, 80x8

Smith Shrugs: 225x10, 315x8, 315x8

Biceps:

DB Curls: 35x10, 40x8, 45x6

Drop Set: 30x10 ----> 25x10 ----> 20x10

Pretty pathetic effort on the biceps... Just completely lost all energy at this point. Going to rest up hard for leg day tomorrow..

Nightshift
05-30-07, 2:04 am
Looks like a good workout to me brother! Not every workout will be PR worthy. Just hit your Bi's that much harder next time!!

hjayss
05-30-07, 2:47 am
I see a lot off us have to endur work then hit the gym. What would it be like to just eat sleep and go to the gym ahhhh. In the real world nice work out still glad you collected and got a solid w/o in...

Ricky P
05-30-07, 8:25 am
Looks like a good workout to me brother! Not every workout will be PR worthy. Just hit your Bi's that much harder next time!!

Good point brother, and yeah they'll get punished next time..


I see a lot off us have to endur work then hit the gym. What would it be like to just eat sleep and go to the gym ahhhh. In the real world nice work out still glad you collected and got a solid w/o in...

Man, what I'd give to be back in school.... I didn't know how easy I had it..

Nightshift
05-30-07, 8:32 am
Hey man, I'll PM you later with a sure fire way to destroy your Bi's.

JMC
05-30-07, 9:19 am
Pretty pathetic effort on the biceps... Just completely lost all energy at this point. Going to rest up hard for leg day tomorrow..

I woudn't sweat that at all! That's been happening to me on my back/bi day as well. I get to those last sets and there's just shit left in the tank. Like Nightshift said, next time you'll remember that, and there will be some abuse goin down!

Ricky P
05-30-07, 6:16 pm
Hey man, I'll PM you later with a sure fire way to destroy your Bi's.

Awesome, brother. I'm lookin' forward to it. That's one area of my training that's been very bland for a while now. I'm lookin' for something new to spark some growth and excitement.


I woudn't sweat that at all! That's been happening to me on my back/bi day as well. I get to those last sets and there's just shit left in the tank. Like Nightshift said, next time you'll remember that, and there will be some abuse goin down!

Hell yeah, I'm going to start with taking it out on my legs tonight.. I'm planning on doing a lot of volume, I usually get in about 3-4 exercises but I might bump it up to about 5 or 6 and really tear into them. I've neglected my hammies for a while and I think a little Stiff Leg DL'ing will get them going again.. And some leg curls, why not..

JMC
05-30-07, 7:06 pm
Awesome, brother. I'm lookin' forward to it. That's one area of my training that's been very bland for a while now. I'm lookin' for something new to spark some growth and excitement.



Hell yeah, I'm going to start with taking it out on my legs tonight.. I'm planning on doing a lot of volume, I usually get in about 3-4 exercises but I might bump it up to about 5 or 6 and really tear into them. I've neglected my hammies for a while and I think a little Stiff Leg DL'ing will get them going again.. And some leg curls, why not..

YES! SLDL's babyyyyyyyyy!!!!!!!!!!!! That's what i'm fuckin sayin'...pound them out with a superset of hacks or leg press!!!!

Sir J-Werk
05-30-07, 7:54 pm
I've neglected my hammies for a while and I think a little Stiff Leg DL'ing will get them going again.. And some leg curls, why not..

I got a little froggy and super setted those two things today.... heavy on the SLDL's and light on the leg curls (don't flex your calves and you will have a sick pump in your hams guarenteed! ... Little tip I got from Toni.) Trust me you want send some lovin' to your hammies! I'm finding out just how important those baby's are in Deads and Squats! ... Give some love to those adducters and abducters too! (So say-ith Sgt. Rock.)

Stay Strong, stay Focused, stay Animal!
Respect.

Ricky P
05-30-07, 10:56 pm
I got a little froggy and super setted those two things today.... heavy on the SLDL's and light on the leg curls (don't flex your calves and you will have a sick pump in your hams guarenteed! ... Little tip I got from Toni.) Trust me you want send some lovin' to your hammies! I'm finding out just how important those baby's are in Deads and Squats! ... Give some love to those adducters and abducters too! (So say-ith Sgt. Rock.)

Stay Strong, stay Focused, stay Animal!
Respect.


YES! SLDL's babyyyyyyyyy!!!!!!!!!!!! That's what i'm fuckin sayin'...pound them out with a superset of hacks or leg press!!!!

Fellas, lot of talk about supersetting.... And I went for it..

Legs:

Squats: 135x10 (W/U), 225x10, 275x8, 315x6
superset with
Leg Curls: 90x10, 110x8, 130x6

SLDL: 135x10, 225x6, 225x6
superset with
Reg. DL: 135x10, 225x6, 225x6

Smith Calf Raises: 135x15, 185x15, 225x15
superset with
Leg Extensions: 180x10, 200x8, 230x6

Yeah, I got a good sweat going.. It was nice, late lift so no one was in the gym and I was able to move around without anyone in my way and vice versa.. I hit a zone in the middle of the deads and just took off, got through the last couple exercises real quick and precise.. I usually take an hour and a half to two hours with my leg days, but this with the supersets took just under an hour... Felt like I got a lot done and with quality lifts, in a short amount of time. Good stuff fellas, love the supersets..

ChrisG
05-30-07, 10:58 pm
Looks good bro! Super setting stiff-leg deads and deads together scares me! LOL

Ricky P
05-30-07, 11:00 pm
Looks good bro! Super setting stiff-leg deads and deads together scares me! LOL

Yeah, dude.... It sounded like a good idea in my head.... I will probably keep the rep range a lot lower next time..

ChrisG
05-30-07, 11:11 pm
Yea man whatever works bro. I've just thrown out my lower back a few times in the past and gotta watch out for my back.. I can't even do DL's and SLDL's in the same week because it just kills my back.. but my deadlifts are pretty much in between both of them anyways.. I try to make sure that my back does most of the work and not my legs.

Have you ever tried super setting chest and back exercises? I've been thinking about trying it out one week..

Ricky P
05-30-07, 11:15 pm
Yeah I know that back in the fall I stuck with a pretty basic push/pull routine. I just didn't like the "standardness" (if that's a word) of it. I like being able to do my chest and bi's on one day and my back and tri's on another because it gives me time to rest each alternating group so I can hammer on them harder than I would if I trained them on the same day..

ChrisG
05-30-07, 11:20 pm
Yea I agree with you on that.. if I was to superset chest and back that's all I would do that day. None of those 3 hour sessions where half way through your having trouble just standing while trying to hit the next muscle hard.

Sir J-Werk
05-30-07, 11:24 pm
Legs:

Squats: 135x10 (W/U), 225x10, 275x8, 315x6
superset with
Leg Curls: 90x10, 110x8, 130x6

SLDL: 135x10, 225x6, 225x6
superset with
Reg. DL: 135x10, 225x6, 225x6

Smith Calf Raises: 135x15, 185x15, 225x15
superset with
Leg Extensions: 180x10, 200x8, 230x6



Ricky P, good lookin' out on the super sets.... If I may make a suggestion about how you set them up.... And this is personal preferance, so what you end up doing is total up to you....

Squats (Heavy) SS w/ Leg Ext (Light)
SLDL's (Heavy) SS w/ Leg Curls (Light)
Deads
Calf Raises
.... This way you work quads, then hams, then a dual muscle group power lift....

Outside of that, Bro, it's looking good! Good job.

Stay Strong, stay Focused, stay Animal!
Respect.

Nightshift
05-31-07, 1:16 am
Love that leg workout you did!! Great work.

Ricky P
05-31-07, 1:28 am
Ricky P, good lookin' out on the super sets.... If I may make a suggestion about how you set them up.... And this is personal preferance, so what you end up doing is total up to you....

Squats (Heavy) SS w/ Leg Ext (Light)
SLDL's (Heavy) SS w/ Leg Curls (Light)
Deads
Calf Raises
.... This way you work quads, then hams, then a dual muscle group power lift....

Outside of that, Bro, it's looking good! Good job.

Stay Strong, stay Focused, stay Animal!
Respect.

Werk, you kidding me? Make all the suggestions you want my man I love to hear your's or anyone else's opinions. And yeah I agree that's probably a much better way to go about it. To be honest, tonight I just literally did the supersets wherever I could... Not much thought went into what muscle I was hitting, I just knew while I was SLDL'ing, I might as well drop my regular DL on it too. Mostly it was an efficiency and time issue tonight. I agree completely though, I know next time I plan on a big superset night it will be more organized and probably contain a lot more purpose than the one I had tonight, haha.


Love that leg workout you did!! Great work.

Thanks my man, hey anytime you want to hit me up with that Bicep workout I'd love to take a look at it..

hjayss
05-31-07, 3:38 am
This is what I like to see superset chat, bicep chat...get those supersets in brotha any combo is good but I like werks gonna steal that one for thursday...

JMC
05-31-07, 10:07 am
Ricky P, good lookin' out on the super sets.... If I may make a suggestion about how you set them up.... And this is personal preferance, so what you end up doing is total up to you....

Squats (Heavy) SS w/ Leg Ext (Light)
SLDL's (Heavy) SS w/ Leg Curls (Light)
Deads
Calf Raises
.... This way you work quads, then hams, then a dual muscle group power lift....

Outside of that, Bro, it's looking good! Good job.

Stay Strong, stay Focused, stay Animal!
Respect.

WHOOOOOO!!!! Ricky that's what I'm talkin about baby...superset leg day!!!

I'm gonna actually go with another suggestion that totally contradicts Sir J's recommendation...absolutely no disrespect of course, this is all just personal preference. I like to try to superset hams with quads. Kind of sticking with the push pull mentallity. So SLDLs with extensions or curls with press, so on and so forth. Not to sound like you don't already know this man....

Glad to see some hammies pumpin!!!

Ricky P
05-31-07, 4:39 pm
I love how we're all just on an extreme superset binge right now, it's awesome haha. Yeah, my hammies were getting tighter and tighter by the hour today at work. Each time I got in and out of my little truck my hammies got tighter each time.

I forgot to add on that I did two sets of hanging leg raises last night after the workout. First set of 20, next of 30 to get some ab work in.. I'm hoping to add on each workout and at some point have a pretty legit ab cycle to rock on after each workout..

JMC
05-31-07, 6:43 pm
Yeah my boy who got me into lifting seriously years ago started me off supersetting EVERYTHING! I mean no breathing, almost running to the next set supersets. It's harder when the gym is full and I work out by myself and don't have his NewYork-Rican ass on me at all times! Ahhh, that's an excuse of course. The best workouts ever though.