View Full Version : Back From Hell
I was here on the FORVM when it started until about three years ago. But after a bad back injury and a worse surgery (they actually herniated two more discs while they were in there) I ended up with a severe drug problem. Close to death and far from my goals, I was able to beat it with the support of my wife and kids. But not before it beat me from 240 lbs to 130lbs... but now I'm back (at 155 lbs), with new hurdles and new goals.
My life changed even more this past February when our 4 year old son was diagnosed with Autism. Every day I see what he will spend his life trying to battle and push past. It makes me realize that what I've went through is nothing.
I've got my head on straight, I've got one year of clean time (I'm even on week two of not smoking after 20 years). I've never been more driven in my life. This will be a long battle and I'll be sharing it with you.
Looking forward to following along with your Journey.
Good Luck
Thanks. I look forward to sharing what I've been through and what I'll be going through. Not the just the physical transformation, but (more importantly) the emotional/mental one. I may have as many questions as I have answers after being out of the game for so long. But no matter what, this journey will be amazing.
C.Coronato
12-20-10, 2:08 pm
Welcome back my man. Some times tough times happen, you got passed it. Thats awesome. Keep going..
Well, week 1 is going good. Right now I'm just moving slow and working on my corre strength so I don't aggravate my herniated discs. Which works out perfect since I've never been able to aford a gym membership (the area I live in sucks) and we don't have room for a bench in this house. So this journey is going to be interesting to say the least! What I've been working with (all I currently have to work with) is kettle and medicine balls, heavy duty resistance bands, set of dumbells, and body weight moves. Once I get through Christmas I'm going to add whatever equipment I can afford and have room for. Hopefully a few more plates and a bar. Of course, I know how I spend $$ on the kids, so it may be a bit longer on the equipment! Hey, it's Christmas!
I've already learned two important things about myself on this journey..
1. I love doing cardio (what the fuck is wrong wioth me?)
2. broccoli makes my stomach churn like I just used a Gaspari product (NO MORE BROCCOLI)
Bruiser
12-26-10, 10:52 am
Well, I made it through week 1 of my Journey. Even held strong through the nightmare of Christmas dinner(s). Well, with one more to go. But the one at 2pm today is sweet potatoes and beef roast, so I might ucash in my cheat day today.
I'm seeing my gains come so fast it's amazing. I forgot how quickly my body responds to lifting and the high protein diet. I started at 155lbs and a 32" waist a week ago. Now I'm 170lbs with a 30" waist!! If you've read my previous posts you know, all I have for equipment is resistance bands, dumbbells, etc. No gym membership, weight bench, treadmill, or anything. Just old school body weight exercises an d the Animal attitude.
I got some cash for Christmas ($150) so I'm going to pick up some more equipment, but with limited sace in our house, I still can't have a bench. Plus my Autistic son likes jumping off things and throwing things... so a bench and heavy plates are too dangerous to have here.
Like I said, this is going ot be one interesting journey...
Sorry I missed an entry last week, The New Year brought me strep throat and a HIGH fever! I got to the Dr on Monday to get anitbiotics and by 8pm that night my temp was at 104.9 degrees! So between the sweats, the shits, and a throat so sore for four days that I could barely drink water... I ended up dropping ten pounds.
But Wednesday I got my supplement order and felt good enough to get back on schedule so I've been hitting it hard and making up lost ground. I feel great, I feel strong, and more driven than ever!
I started yesterday like I start every day, with two hours of cardio. What can I say? I actually LOVE doing cardio! It's the only time I get to be alone with my own thoughts. Anyways, after that I get into my routine and in the afternoon I train... leg day. A great, brutal, unforgiving session. No regrets... until today. I woke up sore as hell but pushed through my two hours of cardio. When I was done, I collapsed on the couch and looked ofrward to do my day off/recovery day. Until my wife called from work and asked if I was excited about tonght?! That's when I remembered the dinner tonight. We have to drive two hours to Milwaukee for the "Autism Speaks Awards Banquet" for our fundraising efforts last year. So two hours driving each way and walking around on rubber legs for 3+ hours shmoozing. It'll be a nice night out for me and my wife... but damn am I going to be hurting. I guess it's about time ot get outta my sweats and into my suit. Later brothers
Well, it's already been a shocking week 5. While I was knocking out my hour of daily cardio this morning, I heard about Jack Lallane passing away. He was the Original Animal. It just reminded me that there are no excuses to skip a training session, a meal, or even a rep. Before I got clean and sober, I always took the easy way out. There were no skipped reps because there were no reps. Now I look back at the wasted time, wasted energy, and an almost wasted life; and I realize maybe I should have paid more attention to those 4am informercials with Jack Lallane. Maybe you can learn a lot from TV afterall. I think I'll do an extra set on every excersize this week for Jack.
Where does the time go? I just realized how long it's been since I posted here. But here we go:
This week finds me in great spirits. Last night my Packers won the Super Bowl, and when I got up this morning... I was 180 lbs! I've been hovering at 178 for what seems like ever and I finally hit another 10 lb mark without giving up my daily cardio or putting on body fat. I 'm finally able to look at my body and know that I've got my training and diet dialed in perfect for now. I say for now, because my wife is getting a (VERY) well deserved promotion at work which means we will finally have the extra money for me to get my very first gym membership. Yeah, I said my first. I've been making do with what I've got at home (which you know if you've read my posts before). My body responds real good to serious training and I've been making amazing gains with nothing but dumbbells and bodyweight movements. I'm so psyched to see what I can accomplish with better equipment. This is journey just got a lot more interesting.
My new supplement order came today. I've been doing some fine tweaking of a lot of my supps. I use to use a cheap brand of aminos and switched to Universal BCAA 2000 about six weeks ago with some great results. Two weeks ago I added the cheap ones back in alongside the BCAA 2000 and my gains are tremendous. So when I ordered my supps this month, I ordered Amino 1900 (which are a lot more complete and cheaper than the "cheap ones") and Uni Liver. I'm going to take the Amino 1900 alongside the BCAA 2000 instead of the other brand. I've taken Uni Liver in the past and LOVED the gains I saw almost instantly. The place I order supps from has been out of them since I started to train again three months ago so I'm psyched about getting back on them. I'll keep you posted on this newly tweaked stack works.
People can say what they want about the old school supplements. But I knolw when it comes to my body and what it repsonds to, I would go without creatine and NO supps before I would go without aminos, liver tabs and digestive enzymes. It's the simple basics that people easily forget. Tried and true is good enough for me.
I'm in. Looking forward to hearing your positive progress, good luck brother.
I'm in. Looking forward to hearing your positive progress, good luck brother.
Thanks man. I work my ass off 24/7 when it comes to my body and can see changes nearly on a daily basis. But I do feel lucky that it responds the way it does seeing as I'll be 35 next year.
I think my stack is officialy tweaked to perfection! It's perfect now with the massive increase in aminos (literally too. have you seen the size of the Universal Amino 1900?) and the Universal Uni-Liver that I reintroduced to my stack. Yesterday was the best training session I've had in years. The vascularity and pump was absolutely sick. My twelve year old son said I looked like a cartoon character!! HAHAHAHAA Fuck Popeye. He's got nothing on me...
Since I've got my supplement stack tweaked to just about perfect, I am seeing HUGE changes in my body. I'm looking leaner, tighter, more vascular and yet still a lot fuller. The other day while training arms, I got such a sick pump, I had to cut my workout short because I couldn't bend my arms enough to get complete movement through my exercizes. Here's what I ususally do for arm day. I do a set of concentration curls followed by a set of one-arm overhead dumbell extensions (or whatever you want to call them). And I do four sets like this with practically no break. Then I do EZ bar curls followed by skull crushers for four sets each. Dumbbell curls followed by close grip bench press for four sets each. And then I end with dumbbell 21s followed by dumbbell kickbacks for four sets each. But the other day by the time I finished the EZ bar curl/skullcrusher sets (my second exercize for each part) I had to stop bevcause of the pump!! INSANE
Sometimes we're blessed with the genetics to be able to (naturally) build quality muscle and still get leaner at the same time (without chemical enhancement). I've officially hit 190 lbs and my waist size is now down to 31. Seeing as I don't really socialize much anymore, when I do bump into friends I can tell that they are thinking I must be using illeagal drugs to get big. This just pisses me off to no end. I battled an addiction to opiates that took me from 240 lbs to 130 lbs in just over a year and damn near killed me. I've been clean for over 1 1/2 years and sober for almost three years. So when people accuse me of s*** like this it really gets to me. I suppose I should take it as a compliment that they think I'm big enough that I must have used drugs to get here, but I look at it like they don't think I'm good enough to get here without them. It was my own past mistakes that make people assume I would use them to get big and I accept that. I know it doesn't matter what they think but I just had to vent.
Hey Bruiser thanks for the advice in my thread and thanks for sharing your story here...
Consider me Subbed...
I wanna see where your goin and how you get there.
and don't worry about people who think you have to use to get big. Take it stride man and just smile at em' knowing you aren't and don't have too.
and I'm lonving the fact that you're using nothing but old school supp's and workouts!
What kind of resistance bands are you using?
Hey Bruiser thanks for the advice in my thread and thanks for sharing your story here...
Consider me Subbed...
I wanna see where your goin and how you get there.
and don't worry about people who think you have to use to get big. Take it stride man and just smile at em' knowing you aren't and don't have too.
and I'm lonving the fact that you're using nothing but old school supp's and workouts!
What kind of resistance bands are you using?
Actually the resistance bands I use, is an "all in one" style. I got it on clearance at Target (only way I could afford it). It's basically two handles with three different bands you can clip in for different resistence, two at a time, use all three, etc. Because of my herniated disks, this is what I use for most of my back workout. With being careful becasue of injury, having no gym membership or room to put equipment inb my house, here's a few easy exercizes I do with the bands:
1) I hang one handle from a metal "over the door" hook on my bedroom door, hold the other handle with my arm out straight and push it towards the floor. I do this for lats because our door frames are week so I can't use a chin-up bar.
2) While sitting on the floor, I stretch one foot out and use it to hold the band in place while I pull back on the handles. This is my modified rows.
Actually the resistance bands I use, is an "all in one" style. I got it on clearance at Target (only way I could afford it). It's basically two handles with three different bands you can clip in for different resistence, two at a time, use all three, etc. Because of my herniated disks, this is what I use for most of my back workout. With being careful becasue of injury, having no gym membership or room to put equipment inb my house, here's a few easy exercizes I do with the bands:
1) I hang one handle from a metal "over the door" hook on my bedroom door, hold the other handle with my arm out straight and push it towards the floor. I do this for lats because our door frames are week so I can't use a chin-up bar.
2) While sitting on the floor, I stretch one foot out and use it to hold the band in place while I pull back on the handles. This is my modified rows.
Damn I was just about to ask about that "Got a Door Got a Gym" thing I see all the time on TV. One of the few TV things I would buy I see it's no use for you due to the weak frames.
Man just keep busting then with what ya got.!
I've been weighing the pros and cons of my gameplan and have decided that I am going to continue on this bulk cycle until my birhtday at the end of April. Hopefully hitting 200 lbs. Then I will take one week off and start my cut. It'll be interesting to see what this body will look like at 35 years old. I know I'll be in the best shape of my life, but just HOW good is the question...
BryanSmash!
03-13-11, 2:38 pm
Itll feel good once you break that 200lbs!
Bruiser
03-14-11, 12:40 pm
Itll feel good once you break that 200lbs!
I was there once before and I can't wait to get back there. I'm sure when I start my cut I'll drop 10-15 lbs, so I won't be at 200 for long. But I'm putting on solid mass at an incredible rate, so it won't be long before I'm there for good. Considering I was 150 lbs at Christmas, and am pushing 190 lbs now and I dropped a waist size. I can't wait to see where I can take this.
I was jacked to get back to training today. I was sick over the weekend and wasn't able to eat (I mean ANYTHING) all day Sunday. Luckily I was able to hold down my aminos. So after three days off I couldn't wait to hit arms today. I held food down so far today but then when I had my preworkout shake I got a little green. Maybe it'll be best to wait til tomorrow. Four days rest... this sucks!! I am almost outta protein powder, so it's probably best to wait and train tomorrow anyways, This s*** f***ing sucks. GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR
BryanSmash!
03-14-11, 3:59 pm
Rest up and feel better!
Rest up and feel better!
Rest and recovery...hope ya feel better soon man
I've been fighting off something for three days now. I was throwing up ALL day and night Sunday. I literally couldn't eat. A full 32 hours without a meal... I f***ing hate that. I was able to keep food down yesterday (barely), and I finally was able to push through and get a good arm workout. So today I got up and started like I do everyday. Big mistake. I held down two of my shakes today but couldn't hold down any solid food. I kept my aminos and liver tabs down so I went ahead trained shoulders and traps. Puked twice during side lateral raises, and once during Arnold Presses. Slugged down a shake (that's one of the two I held down). And now I'm relaxing until tomorrow (chest day). I can tell my body's fighting something off. My glands are so swollen that my neck looks like The House's Calves... time to get some antibiotics.. Damn. I know I'll get some s*** from you guys for not taking time off, but I got sick at the end of my two day rest... c'mon guys, we've all been there. It would be like taking four or five days off.
Well, I finally got my Animal Rage samples in the mail yesterday. I can't wait to try one today! I also changed up my eating schedule and training a schedule a bit. SInce I'm bulking until my birthday on Easter (the big 35) I've cut out my cardio completely except for my back exercises to keep my discs aligned. This way when I start my cut in 6 weeks, the cardio will be more effective (it's just the way my body has always responded the best). I've also started to wait for my frirst meal for two or three hours after I wake up. I get up and pack myself full of my Universal BCAA 2000s, Amino 1900s and Uni-Liver tablets. This stops the muscle breakdown from the night before and also gives me a little more time before I have to gorgre myself. I'm still eating the same amount of food in a day, because by the time I eat that first meal I'm so hungry I eat the amount I was eating for my first TWO meals before. Since I started doing this four days ago, I've already started seeing some fat loss, but not weight loss. The scale still says the same (192 lbs) but my muscles seem harder and the fat around my waist is starting to burn away. I think I'm going to give this another week and I might have to post my results as another one of my Bruiser's Daily Tips. I also am doing three days on and two days off, upping my recovery days. Apparantly there's something to this whole "overtraining" thing LOL. This has been an amazing week of gains and transformation. Even with getting over being sick.
I couldn't wait any longer and ended up using one of my Rage samples yesterday. I ripped through my shoulder workout TWICE! I couldn't get tired.After I finished my shoulder routine, I has so much energy left that I decided "What the hell? Let's do it again!" I love this stuff.
BryanSmash!
03-21-11, 6:46 am
Sounds like some good stuff!
Nice man, glad to hear you're feeling better and that the Rage is kicking ass and helping you take names...
Thanks guys. I had another brutal session today. Legs and chest. Tore it the F*** up!! If I wasn't so strapped for cash right now, I would definately order Rage, I Love the intensity I get. But I barely had enough to order my Pak, Amino 1900s and Uni-Liver today.
I'm up to 194 lbs now and I can see some body fat of course. It drives me nuts because I know if I start my cut I'll be even more vascular and have skin like an onion in no time. But with being so close to 200 lbs, I want to wait til Easter (my birthday this year) to start my cut. The extreme rate I've been putting mass on, I know this is going to be an intense and important month, but I'm growing impatient. I've put on 45 lbs since X-Mas and my waist hasn't grown. It's getting almost creepy how fast I can build muscle at my age. I can't wait to see how insane I look after my cut!!
Bruiser
03-23-11, 11:09 am
It's been pouring out for three days now. Sunday night our roof started leaking to the point it's a steady stream running into our kitchen. Then the hot water heater went out. So Monday when it was light out I went down into the crawlspace/basement to look and found over a foot water on the ground!! Geez... I wonder why the water heater went out?!?! And of course we rent, so our landlord isn't returning phone calls. Hasn't even answered his F***ING phone all week! So we have no hot water to take showers, and we have two young kids. To top it off, I had to take the car to the shop Monday morning to have a new exhaust put on, and when I got inside there is an inch of water on the driverside floor, front and back. Biut the seats and everything is dry!!! So I had the mechanic take a look and he said everything seems to be sealing okay so there's nothing he can do... HAHAHAHAHAHAHAA. They say "When it rains it pours"... but that's supposed to be F***ING SYMBOLIC!!! F*** it. I'm building an ark.
BryanSmash!
03-23-11, 4:07 pm
Thats fucked up, hope it gets better quickly!
Thats fucked up, hope it gets better quickly!
Well, the roof is still leaking. The water heater is still shot. But we don't have water in the basement... it's sewage! So now I'm waiting for someone to fix it. But we did actually get good news last night (while having to take the kids over to my parents to sleep) we got a call on a house we've been looking at renting... WE F***ING GOT IT!!!!! It's about time something good happened for my family.
At least today is arm day. With all this shit (literally) going on I won't need to take my Animal Rage! I've got enough built up!!!
BryanSmash!
03-24-11, 7:12 pm
Congrats on getting the house!
Congrats on getting the house!
Thanks man. The new place has got a garage and my wife already gave me the go ahead to turn it into my gym. I can't wait!!
After five days of dealing with no hot water, the inability to flush the toilet and the stench from the 12 inches of raw sewage in our basement... we finally got everything cleaned up and fixed and were able to come back to the house today. We had to sleep on an air matress on the cement floor in my parent's basement all week. I got stuck eating s*** food all week while we stayed there and I missed two training sessions because all my equipment was at home. It didn't help that I was out of my Universal Amino 1900s and had to ration my Uni-Liver.
But when I got back to the house today... there on the porch sat the most beautiful cardboard box... my supplements from Prosource! When I opened it and saw my my Animal Pak, Animal Pump, Universal NSC, two tubs of Amino 1900 and two tubs of Uni-Liver I wanted to grab a spoon and pour myself a big bowl of Amino 1900 and Uni-Liver like some sadistic cereal of the Gods!
BryanSmash!
03-25-11, 8:42 pm
Thanks man. The new place has got a garage and my wife already gave me the go ahead to turn it into my gym. I can't wait!!
Thats definitely the way to go..Ive been working out in my garage for well over a year and never looked back.
Thats definitely the way to go..Ive been working out in my garage for well over a year and never looked back.
I can't wait. I can't have a bench in the place we live now, because my son who has autism likes to jump off things and it would be too dangerous for him. I do all my chest work with dumbells lying flat on my back on the floor right now. So I've already found a nice bench with preacher attachment and leg attachment for under $100. Plus I've got a new heavy duty pulley to mount in the rafters to use as part of a homemade lat tower. It's gonna be great to be able to have some decent equipment. It'll be cold as hell in these Wisconsin winters though!!
Shoulders today. I'm not sure what's up but after my first set of presses my delts were on fire. I really had a hard time getting through it today, but I did. Here's my workout. Almost every delt exercise is superset with another.
4 Sets
Dumbbell shoulder presses (12-15 reps)
superset with
Front lateral raises (8-10 reps)
4 Sets
Upright Rows (10-12 reps)
superset with
Barbell shrugs (20 reps)
4 Sets
Side Lateral Raises (10-12 reps)
superset with
Dumbbell Shrugs (20-25 reps)
4 Sets
Lying Rear Delt Raises (15 reps)
I was just dying getting through this today. I did change up my order a bit. I used to start with my rear delts but moved those to the end. I got a lot better workout today doing that. I think they were basically destroyed by the time I got to the rear delt raises so that just shredded them. I'm finally starting to see my shoulders starting to square off from the side. No matter how hard I trained them in the past, when I turned sideways they'd disaappear on me. But I'm definately hitting them right now.
Well, I've had a change of plans. I wasn't going to start my cut until my birthday which falls on Zombie Jesus Day/Easter this year but since we are moving to our new house on May 1st, I've moved up my start date to this Friday, April 1st. I figure it'll be too hard to cut while in the middle of a move. I don't know if I'll have my cardio equipment easily accesible while packing, moving and unpacking. Plus I don't know if I'll have the extra time to do 2-3cardio sessions a day or eat clean while busy during the move, And I KNOW I won't have the energy to move while eating practically no carbs. I'll be lucky if I can move my own body by week 2. So I'm on the fence right now, because I'm looking forward to seeing my progress, but dropping carbs SUCKS!! Three more days of bulking... time to go eat pasta and get it out of my system.
I forgot to mention I hit 202 yesterday morning! That was after my morning BM, before any food or water and on my new digital scale. That makes 50 lbs since Christmas... and my waist is only at 33" (started at 32"). I can see a little fat around my chest, lower back and thighs but I think I'll still be around 180-185 after my cut. But I'm not going ot make the mistake a lot of people make (including myself in the past) and I'm going to cut until I'm shredded, not until I hit the weight I want. This way I know if everything is dialed in right or if I need to adjust on my next bulk. I'm actually getting excited about starting Friday! I'll do what I have in the past.
1. Take a week off training starting my first day of cut
2. Start doing 2-3 cardio sessions (1st thing in the morning, afternoon, before bed)
3. 24 hour fast on the first day of my cut
Taking the week off gets my body ready for the hell that is cutting, and since I usually don't have a lot of fuel in the tank that first week (until my body gets used to low to no carbs) training is almost wasted. I stopped doing my cardio about three weeks ago, that way when I start my three sessions a day it really kicks my fat burrning up to another notch. This is one of the best tricks I ever learned. The 24 hour fast sucks, but I've noticed when I do the fast, it helps clean my body out and I feel like I'm starting fresh. I still take all my Amino 1900s, Uni-Liver and the Pak so I can keep my body from going into hypertrophy. Well, two and half days to go.
BryanSmash!
03-29-11, 5:06 pm
Congrats on getting back there!
Congrats on getting back there!
Thanks man. It feels great.
I decided "What the point to wait?" and started my cut today. So I haven't eaten since 7pm last night, and won't again until 7am tomorrow. I just took my Animal Cuts, Universal Amino 1900, Uni-Liver, garlic and cinnamon. I'll do my cardio in 45 minutes and then take my first Pak, Calcium/Magnesium/Zinc, fish oil, selenium and more Amino 1900. Then throughout the day I'll take my aminos every two hours (about 7 times) and my Uni-Liver every 3 1/2 hours (5 times a day) and drink plenty of water with a little Diet Dew just to keep from losing my mind. NO CALORIES. As my "Deathrow Meal" last night I ate four bowls of whole wheat pasta with meat sauce, a protein shake, some ranch pretzels, 8 mini candybars and half a box of swiss cake rolls. F*** you... I know that's ridiculous, but I won't have food for 36 hours (even though I call it a 24 hour fast) or ANY carbs for one week!! And after the migraine I got last night from my blood sugar spike I don't even want to look at carbs for at least a week! hahahahaha Well, I'll post as things progress and as my carb deprived brain turns to mush and wants tor ramble.
I forgot to mention I took my glutamine this morning and will take it in the afternoon and at bedtime as well.
Well, I wasn't able to get in all three cardio sessions yesterday. I got in my first two 40 minute sessions but couldn't get in my third one at bedtime because my son is sick and needed me. Which means it's just a matter of a few days before I'm sick too.
I took my supps this morning and I'm waiting to do my first cardio session an d then I FINALLY ger to eat!! 36 hour fast done. Now the next step. Clean eating with no carbs for the first week. Since I'm taking the week off training, I won't have any carbs until next Wednesday. After that I will only have carbs (raw oats) in my PWO shake. I won't weigh myself until tomorrow to get a good reading becasue of the fast.
BryanSmash!
03-31-11, 6:44 pm
That sounds challenging, good luck!
That sounds challenging, good luck!
Thanks bro. Tough but worth it. I'm already seeing a difference
So far the cardio and diet are going great. I'm seeing a lot of changes after two days. My skin is already getting thinner and my vascularity is amazing. But this cut cycle reminded me of one horrible detail... I F***ING HATE TUNA FISH!!!!!
I know that we are all our own harshest critic, but it's getting a little ridiculous for me. I'm 192 lbs today (5' 11"), that first ten lbs always falls off me instantly. Yesterday I was impressed at how my cut is going. Skin is thinning out, vascularity is improving and even my jaw line is looking razor sharp (I'm blessed with a jaw line like The House). But a cut also brings out our weaknesses, even if we don't think we have any. My arms have always been a hard body part for me to grow no matter what I ghange in my training. Four years ago (I was 245 lbs) before my back injury/surgery they were only about 16.5" and then I lost 110 lbs from the painkiller addiction and not training. Since I started training again just before Christmas 2010, I've gotten them back up to 15.5" with pump. I know it's not much at all. I should be happy seeing as they are only 1" smaller than they were when I was 45 lbs heavier and they have grown at least 1.5" since Christmas. But seeing myself carb deprived, flat and feeling emaciated the first few days of this cut, I just look in the mirror with hatred. As I said, I take the 1st week of a cut off training (except three 40 minuite sessions of cardio a day) to let my body heal, plus I drop to less than 15g carbs the first 3-4 days (usually just what's in milk and protein powder). This is what has always worked for me. I guess I'm just getting picky in my old age because everybody says I look like a monster. And a buddy of mine who is a lot younger is jealous of my arms. Huh? Could you imagine how scrawny all pro bodybuilders would be if we could see ourselves through other people's eyes? Mr. Olympia would weigh 200 lbs!!!! Our world would be a whole lot different.
Well, I can still see my body changing everyday. The diet and cardio are definately working. I've added a few things to my stack to help out. here's what my stack and a rough idea of my diet look like.
Diet -
Meal 1: 8 oz top round steak (I like to have a calorie dense meal to start the day)
Meal 2: Six eggs
Meal 3: Two cans of tuna (f***ing gross)
Meal 4: Mixed greens salad with 12 oz chix breast cut up in it
Meal 5: Six eggs
1 Shake
Stack:
Animal Pak, Cuts, Pump, PM
Universal Uni-Liver, Amino 1900, NSC
Fish Oil
Garlic
Cinnamon
Calcium/Magnesium/Zinc
Fenugreek
Selenium
Digestive Enzymes
Everything seems to be dialed in right now. Tomorrow I'll start to add just a little bit of carbs back in to get ready to start lifting again on Tuessday. I can't wait
BTW I weighed in at 189 lbs today! I'm solid and still see some fat to burn off. I'm taking a guess and going to say I should be between 175-180 lbs after my cut. Which is damn good considering I weighed less than 150 lbs at Christmas!!! That's still a 25-30 lb gain in muscle in three months. Honestly, if I end up at 170 lbs after my cut, I'll still be happy. That's still good for that short of a period at my age.
I was asked the details of my stack (or "Pile" as I call it). Here it is with more specifics.
Wake up (5-6:00am):
Animal Cuts
Garlic
Cinnamon
*Uni-Liver
**Amino 1900
(wait 1 hour and do 40 min of cardio)
With breakfast:
Animal Pak
Fish oil
Calcium/Magnesium/ Zinc
Selenium
***Digestive enzymes
Natural Sterol Complex (right after I eat)
Around noon:
Animal Cuts
Garlic
Cinnamon
Amino 1900
Uni-Liver
(wait 1 hour)
Animal Pump
NSC
(do another 40 minutes of cardio)
Amino 1900
Uni-Liver
(Train)
Intraworkout:
Uni-Liver
Amino 1900
Postworkout:
Amino 1900
Uni-Liver
Animal Pak
Creatine
Fish oil
Cal/Mag/Zn
Selenium
Glutamine
Bedtime:
Animal PM
Amino 1900
Uni-Liver
Cal/Mag/Zn
Fenugreek'
Selenium
Fish oil
Glutamine
Valerian
Cinnamon
Garlic
*Uni-Liver is taken every 3 hours throughout the day
**Amino 1900 is taken every 2 hours throughout the day
*** Digestive enzymes are taken with every meal and shake
Well, the scale said 185 lbs this morning. I'm burning fat at an enormous rate and can't wait until Monday and Tuesday! Monday I add a few more carbs back in and Tuesday is when my week off is done and I get to get back to training!! This is when I will see the REAL changes I've made. With my bodyfat dropping rapidly and no carbs being taken in, I've looked real flat (even though I can see I'm a lot more vascular and my skin's getting thinner). So with adding carbs and lifting, I'll get to see myself swollen up and pumped. It'll be the first part of this transformation that I get to see. I'm sooooo psyched!
BryanSmash!
04-03-11, 6:11 pm
Good discipline Bruiser keep it up!
Themostocles
04-04-11, 2:12 am
Did I hear the words 'at my age' out of your mouth?! You are only 34! I have to tell myself that, because Im only 4yrs off that lol... Great work on your bulk!
Did I hear the words 'at my age' out of your mouth?! You are only 34! I have to tell myself that, because Im only 4yrs off that lol... Great work on your bulk!
HAHAHA... It's funny, I tell myself that because I know that as my body gets older, I'm not going to build muscle or lose fat the way a lot of these younger guys on here do. Plus with my health issues (three herniated discs, arthritis in my back, and fibromyalgia) I can only train to a certain extent before I regret it. So I look at it like this: I turn 35 on Easter (Zombie Jesus Day) and if when my cut ends I was able to put on 10+ lbs of lean muscle since Christmas... that F***ING rocks! It looks like it will be closer to 20-25 lbs of lean muscle. I was 150 lbs at Christmas, got to 202 one week ago and was 185 yesterday with a bit more to lose. Like I said.. at my age... lol
Well I went up a bit in weight, but I'm sure it's from lack of digestive health right now. With no carbs (hence no fiber) my body isn't working like a Swiss Watch anymore (more like a Swatch right now). But today is Monday! So I'll be adding in a 1/2 cup of oats with milled flax seed today. I can't wait to see the glycogen storages smile at me!! lol Tomorrow I finally get back to training! I can't wait. That first pump.... I feel like a junky jonesing for his drug. BTW I still HATE tuna fish!
Themostocles
04-04-11, 10:56 pm
(three herniated discs, arthritis in my back, and fibromyalgia)
My uncle is in a similar boat; he has fibro, rheumatoid arthritis, and cardio myopothy... still lifts. Everything is modified, but he does it. With similar determination you'll be surprised at what goals you can reach
My uncle is in a similar boat; he has fibro, rheumatoid arthritis, and cardio myopothy... still lifts. Everything is modified, but he does it. With similar determination you'll be surprised at what goals you can reach
Thanks man. That's why I train as hard as I do. Some days I can barely get out of bed, but I know that the more I train and the stronger I become, the longer I will stay mobile. Then I look at my youngest son. He was diagnose with Autism last year and battles every single day, that's when I look in a mirror and know that I have nothing to whine about and one of the greatest reasons in the world to keep myself strong.
Well, I'm still at 187 lbs. The diet is going great and so is the cardio. I waas able to finally add in a few carbs yesterday and it was great to see my muscles fill up a bit. I was going to go with quick oats, but decided on egg noodles instead. I LOVED IT!!! My brain is functioning normal again (whatever that is). Today I get to start training again! Arms today. We'll see how it goes. I'nm soooo F***ING jacked right now. Well time to knock out my first cardio session.
BryanSmash!
04-05-11, 5:41 pm
Dont worry about the weight Bruiser, just what you look like in the mirror, thats the true measure of your goals.
Well I knocked out my second 40 minute cardio session and then went right into my first training session since starting my cutting cycle. I was worried that since dropping 15 lbs this past week and taking a week off that I lost a lot of muscle. I started my arm workout and noticed that my strength was way down but said f*** it and kept going. Once I pushed through the first superset, it was like it all came back to me. By the time I got into the third superset, I was already pumped beyond belief. After finishing up, I took my shirt off and looked in the mirror, I couldn't believe my eyes!!! This is me? It's the first time I have ever seen my body look like this! Pumped and shredded at the same time. My vascularity is sick and my arms are so pumped that the skin on them turned bright red. And I've got abs! All at the same time. That's when my beautiful wife of 5 1/2 years walked in and saw me posing. The look on her face said it all. Instead of looking tired from just getting off work... she looked like a horny teenager! Damn... turning 35 isn't going to be so bad after all.
This is what my workout looked like:
Superset 1 - done for 4 total sets:
Overhead dumbbell extension (8-10 reps)
No rest straight into
Concentration curls (12-15 reps)
No rest
Wrist curls (15-20 reps)
Superset 2 - done for 4 total sets:
Skull crushers (12-15 reps)
No rest
EZ Bar Curls (10-12 reps)
No rest
Behind the back wrist curls (15-20 reps)
Superset 3 - done for 4 total sets:
Close grip bench press done on floor - (20-25 reps)
No rest
Dumbbell 21's
No rest
Reverse wrist curls (15-20 reps)
Themostocles
04-05-11, 11:46 pm
Damn, you're making me look bad lol. And, you've got atleast one more person in your corner
Damn, you're making me look bad lol. And, you've got atleast one more person in your corner
Thanks bro.
Scale said 185 lbs today. So far I'm feeling great for how fast I'm burning fat and with praactically no carbs in my diet. Getting a little brain sludge, but not too bad. I've got shoulders later today but right now I gotta do my second 40 minute session of cardio...
DAMN! By the time I finished my second cardio session, I had nothing left in the tank for training shoulders. I was wiped out yesterday by the time I got to train my arms, so I think I'm gonna have to change some things up. I'm going to start training every other day and just doing one cardio session in the morning on training days instead of doing two. We'll see how that goes tomorrow. I guess that's it for today. Time to eat some tuna (STILL F***ING GROSS!!!)
Themostocles
04-06-11, 11:02 pm
DAMN! By the time I finished my second cardio session, I had nothing left in the tank for training shoulders. I was wiped out yesterday by the time I got to train my arms, so I think I'm gonna have to change some things up. I'm going to start training every other day and just doing one cardio session in the morning on training days instead of doing two. We'll see how that goes tomorrow. I guess that's it for today. Time to eat some tuna (STILL F***ING GROSS!!!)
I used to chase my tuna with diet sprite, will burn the taste out of your mouth lol
I used to chase my tuna with diet sprite, will burn the taste out of your mouth lol
I use Diet Mt Dew!!! Of course I feel stupid washing down a 75 cent can of tuna with $1 worth of soda. lol
Yesterday I was 189 again. The mirror doesn't lie though. I figured whenn I started this cut that I had quite a bit of fat to losee. I was 150 lbs at Christmas when I started this bulk cycle. Ten days ago when I started this cut I was 202 lbs. 50 lbs in three months. I figured I would get down to 175 lbs when my cut was done, which might not seem too "Animal" but that would be 25 lbs of lean muscle in a total of 4 months (counting the cut) which is dman good. But as I hover between 185-190 lbs, I still see the fat practically falling off me. We've all been in mid bulk when someone asked us what we weighed. And their response mad us say "muscle weighs more than fat". Well, apparantly that's true!! LOL I was worried that after my cut I was going to drop to 170 or so. But this is looking great. Everything is dialed in. I hit shoulders yesterday and my strength is back full force. I could barely sleep last night because I couldn't put my arm up under my pillow becasue of how sore my shoulders were!! Here's my shoulder session.
All supersets done with no rest for 4 total sets.
First superset:
Dumbbell shoulder press (30,25,20,15)
Upright barbell rows (20,15,15,12)
Barbell shrugs (20,15,15,10)
Second superset:
Lateral raises (15,15,110,2,10)
Front raises (12,12,10,10)
Dumbbell shrugs (30,25,20,15)
Finish up with lying rear delt raises (15,12,12,10)
Bruiser
04-08-11, 11:38 am
The scale said 186 this morning. I'm glad I bought Fibersure yesterday!! lol With dropping my carb intake to almost zero, my digestion has been screwed from lack of fiber. I've been having horrible stomach pains and have been so bloated that it's putting pressure on my lower back! So I added 10g of the Fibersure to my bedtime shake and woke up this morning and apparantly had a 3 lb BM!! I now recomend this to EVERYONE on a cut cycle. Well I knocked out my first cardio session to day and I'm going to do another one this afternoon and see if I got enough left in the tank to train or wait until tomorrow (and train every other day like I was considering). Plus my shoulders are throbbing from yesterday.
Bruiser
04-10-11, 11:20 am
I ended up training despite how bad I was hurting. I'm glad I did because I had the best workout since I started my cut. I did my usual leg/chest/back combo day. Yes, all three. With nothing but dumbbells and an EZ curl bar (and no bench), there are only a few exercises I can do for each of those body parts. Here's what it looked like:
Like my other training sessions, these are supersets with no breaks:
Warm up:
Push ups with feet inclined - 25,20,15,10
Bodyweight jump squats - 30
Superset 1 (done for 4 sets):
Dumbbell squats (hanging at my sides) - 15-20 reps
Calf raies - 40 reps
One arm dumbbell rows - 15 reps
Dumbbell flys while lying on floor - 15 reps
Superset 2 (done for 4 sets):
Dumbbell box squats (dumbbells hanging at my sides) - 15-20 reps
Calf raises - 40 reps
Bent over barbell rows with EZ curl bar - 15-20 reps
Dumbbell bench press while lying on floor - 20-25 reps
Cool down:
Pushups with feet inclined - 15,12,10,5 reps
Body weight squats - 20 reps
Bruiser
04-10-11, 11:23 am
Sore as hell from training yesterday. But it feels good to be hitting the weights as hard as I am while cutting. My body fat seems to still be dropping although my weight isn't. I was 188 lbs today. I'm sure my digestion is the difference in my weight from day to day. With today off training, it will be just two 40 minute cardio sessions. That is if my legs can take it after yesterday!!
Bruiser
04-10-11, 11:29 am
Well, today is F***ED up so far. I spent two hours in the ER to find out I've got pinkeye!! It was matted shut when I woke up this morning! But as soon as I got home I knocked out a 20 minute cardio session anyway. I'm worn out but at least I got in some cardio today. I'm looking leaner by the minute and it looks like I'll be keeping about 25-30 lbs. of muscle from my bulking cycle. Not bad, not bad at all. I'm going to try to get in another cardio session in a couple hours, even if it's just another 20 minutes. No training today. It's been working good doing three days on, two days off. Plus I'm REALLY feeling my leg/chest/back session from Friday! That 20 minutes of cardio felt brutal on my legs. God I love feeling this sore!!
DAMN!! Who thought something like pinkeye could wipe me out this bad. The pressure behind my eye is excrutiating and the allergy medicine they told me take to dry it out made me light headed. I still pushed and forced myself to do 10 more minutes of cardio. It wasn't much but I feel like I have to. My wife just left to go up north for the week to train for her new job. So now I've got to get over this eye thing because it's just me and the kids all week. No rest for the wicked. No rest for the Animal.
BryanSmash!
04-10-11, 2:16 pm
Way to get the work done, one eye lol. Keep it up!
Way to get the work done, one eye lol. Keep it up!
Thanks man. I figure I can still train and do cardio this week as long as I keeep an eye on the kids... oh... wait... HAHAHAHA
I keep thinking the scale is off because my body is looking leaner and leaner every day but the scale's not dropping. I can see that I seem more muscular but I thought that was just from dropping BF. It appears that I'm actually putting on more lean mass while on this "cut cycle". Apparantly my "bulk" was WAY more calories than I needed because I'm still putting on mass with about 1/2 the calories and damn near no carbs! Trust me, I'm not complaining. I just wish this pinkeye would get better! I was planning on training arms today and start my new routine but every time I even lean over it feels like my eye is going to pop out. I picked up my dumbbells and the presswure in my eye was so intense I had to drop them. I guess I'll try to start tomorrow. The new(ish) training program I'm starting looks like this:
Week 1:
Monday - arms
Tuesday - shoulders and traps
Wednesday - arms
Thursday - chest, back, legs
Friday - arms
Week 2:
Monday - shoulders and traps
Tuesday - arms
Wednesday - shoulders and traps
Thursday - chest, back, legs
Friday - shoulders and traps
Week 3:
Monday - chest, back, legs
Tuesday - arms
Wednesday - chest, back, legs
Thursday - shoulders and traps
Friday - chest, back, legs
Week 4:
Monday: arms
Tuesday: OFF
Wednesday: shoulders and traps
Thursday: OFF
Friday: chest, back, legs
The last time I did this it sparked some serious new growth! My arms are really lagging so I might do Week 1 and 2 both as "arm focus" weeks and then move on to delts and traps. But I'll have to see how recovery goes. Plus by the middle of May, we'll be moved into our new house and I'll have a weightbench and homemade lat tower in the garage so I'll have a completely different training routinge to create.
Bruiser
04-12-11, 10:44 am
The scale loved me today! 184 lbs but looking leaner than that! I thought I was going to be about 170 lbs by the time I finished this cut (which would still be 20 lbs of lean mass in four months) but it looks like I'll be closer 175 lbs. I'm actually adjusting to the diet almost too well. I'm having to force myself to eat now! I was able to knock out 40 minutes of cardio this morning and will train arms later today. We'll see how it goes.
I also picked up two more 10 lb plates yesterday and some more supplements. I got some powdered aminos (Atomic 7 gives me gut-rot so I had to switch to another brand) and powdered glutamine. I've been sipping on that mixture since I got it yesteday. 2 scoops aminos, 10g glutamine and water. Plus I'm still taking my Amino 1900 and Uni-Liver. We'll see how this changes things up.
I got through most of my arm session today. I had to cut my triceps short which sucks. Triceps are one of my favorite muscles to train because of the pump I get. But that was a no-go today. When I was laying on my back to do skull crushers and close grip bench press, I was only able to do 2 sets of each instead of 4-5 sets each. As soon as I laid down, the pressure behind my eye (the infected one) doubled. As soon as I picked up that bar it felt like my eyeball was protruding out of the socket!! I thought I accidentally F***ED up and did an "Actual" skullcrusher by the feel of it!!! So I still got my biceps and forearms trained completely and about half my tris. So not bad for barely being able to move around becasue of this infection and the accompanying headache. Here's what I got done:
Concentration confusion curls (20,5,15,10)
Overhead dumbbell extension (4X12)
Wrist confusion curls (20,10,25,15)
Skullcrushers (2x15)
EZ Bar Curls (4X10-12)
Reverse wrist curls (4X20)
Dumbbell 21's (4 sets)
Closegrip bench (2X30)
Dumbbell curls (4 drop sets)
Shoulders should be mostly safe to train tomorrow. Only movement I do while lying down is when I do the lying rear delt raises at the begining and end of the session. So the pressure shouldn't be too bad on my eye. But we'll see... lol
ZombiePower
04-12-11, 8:27 pm
just read your thread you have motivated me with the troubles you face but overcome good luck with your journey bro
just read your thread you have motivated me with the troubles you face but overcome good luck with your journey bro
Thanks bro. I appreciate it.
Themostocles
04-12-11, 11:04 pm
This is just my two cents, stay off the scale everyday... it freaks me out when Im trying to drop weight. Just use the mirror and self awareness. Trying weighing every threedays or so...
Bruiser
04-13-11, 10:11 am
This is just my two cents, stay off the scale everyday... it freaks me out when Im trying to drop weight. Just use the mirror and self awareness. Trying weighing every threedays or so...
That's good advice, but I'm OCD when it comes to weighing myself everyday. Today I was 186 lbs. I know the big reason I'm up and down every day is becasue of lack of fiber during my cut. I used to eat a ton of fiber (oats, flax seed, Fiber Plus Cereal, etc) and now I just use mainly Fibersure and very little oats and flax seed. I know what you're saying though, because when I look in the mirror I can see how much fat I'm losing every day whether the scale says so or not.
Damn even with the pink eye your killin it in here! and congrats on the cutting cycle and hwo well it's going if your maintaina sa much muscle mass as you are! Awesome man!
Bruiser
04-13-11, 10:19 am
Damn even with the pink eye your killin it in here! and congrats on the cutting cycle and hwo well it's going if your maintaina sa much muscle mass as you are! Awesome man!
Thanks bro. I'm amazed myself at how much lean mass I'm keeping during this cut. The sad part is that if I could stay healthy (me and both my kids actually) I would see even more results right now. I woke up today with BOTH eyes matted shut!! WTF!?! It spread to the other eye now... I guess those eyedrops they gave me aren't doing S***!! Oh, well. As long as the pressure behind the eye is better I'll have a good training session. Shoulders today. Already knocked out my morning cardio.
Well, I was wrong about shoulders going better than arms did. As soon as I picked up a dumbbell my eyes started hurting. I never in a million years would have thought that something like pinkeye would F*** with me this bad!! It's like the worse case of sinus pressure times ten!! It actually almost hurts as bad as when I fractured my eye socket (well, I didn't fracture it... someone did that for me!)
I still got through most of my shoulder routine. I did go heavier than usual with upright rows since I got two more 10 lb plates Monday. Here it is:
Steering wheels for warmup sets:
Lying rear delt raises (12,12,10,10)
(the following all done as supersets for 4 sets each with no rest)
Dumbbell press (15,20,10,15)
Upright rows (15,12,10,8)
Barbbell shrugs (4 X 20)
(these were supersets but I only got two full sets of each before I had to quit)
Side lateral raises (10,12)
Front raises (10,10)
Dumbbell shrugs (20,20)
It sucked having to call it quits before getting through the full routine, but I need to let myself rest if the pinkeye is gonna get better. (yes, I consider this workout "resting")
BryanSmash!
04-13-11, 4:03 pm
You may have to workout blindfolded from now on lol, nice work!
Themostocles
04-13-11, 10:51 pm
You may have to workout blindfolded from now on lol, nice work!
The force is strong with this one...
Bruiser
04-14-11, 10:22 am
You may have to workout blindfolded from now on lol, nice work!
My luck I'd drop the weights, not see where they fall and smash my foot!!! lol
Bruiser
04-14-11, 10:23 am
The force is strong with this one...
After I smash my foot I'll be known as Limp Slidewalker...
This pinkeye is pissing me the F*** off!! I'm so sick of the pressure built up behind my eyes, it's causing some vicious headaches that I can't get rid of. I was barely able to get through my cardio this morning. No way I can train today. I guess I'll try to do another cardio session. Plus my youngest son was up until 4:30am. He's getting really sad and missing his mom (she's gone all week training for her new promotion). Long day....
Carrnage
04-14-11, 3:51 pm
Well, I was wrong about shoulders going better than arms did. As soon as I picked up a dumbbell my eyes started hurting. I never in a million years would have thought that something like pinkeye would F*** with me this bad!! It's like the worse case of sinus pressure times ten!! It actually almost hurts as bad as when I fractured my eye socket (well, I didn't fracture it... someone did that for me!)
I still got through most of my shoulder routine. I did go heavier than usual with upright rows since I got two more 10 lb plates Monday. Here it is:
Steering wheels for warmup sets:
Lying rear delt raises (12,12,10,10)
(the following all done as supersets for 4 sets each with no rest)
Dumbbell press (15,20,10,15)
Upright rows (15,12,10,8)
Barbbell shrugs (4 X 20)
(these were supersets but I only got two full sets of each before I had to quit)
Side lateral raises (10,12)
Front raises (10,10)
Dumbbell shrugs (20,20)
It sucked having to call it quits before getting through the full routine, but I need to let myself rest if the pinkeye is gonna get better. (yes, I consider this workout "resting")
Love the work in here brother!
Love the work in here brother!
Thanks man. You guys keep me motivated no matter what I'm dealing with.
I was able to fight through this headache and get another 30 minutes of cardio in. I can't wait to push through this. I've got no intensity during my training this week, or even during my cardio. I'm running on empty right now and just can't find a fuel source to help me through this. Just when I think I'm feeling better, the sinus medicine kicks in and makes me dizzy and nauseous. I guess I'm going to just have to take some R&R and not think about when I'm going to train and worry about how I'm feeling instead or I'm never going to get better.
BryanSmash!
04-14-11, 6:14 pm
Definitely take some rest Bruiser!
The Iron Gumby
04-14-11, 6:50 pm
That's when my beautiful wife of 5 1/2 years walked in and saw me posing. The look on her face said it all. Instead of looking tired from just getting off work... she looked like a horny teenager!
Oh Hell Yeah! Pain meet gain.
Oh Hell Yeah! Pain meet gain.
Yeah man. I was really shocked at her reaction. She hates listening to me talk about lifting, diet, supplements, etc. Plus, she gets SOOOOO pissed off when I'm cutting and can't eat the meals she cooks. But when I saw that look... I knew she approved of it all and probably won't complain about this lifestyle now. lol It felt really good to know that the other person I'm doing this for appreciates it!!!! Yes, call me a softy... but I still want to impress my wife and have her look at me in awe like it's our first date.
Well, I listened to you guys and didn't weigh myself for a few days. I was 189 lbs this morning! I'm not sure what's going on with my body... but I like it! I can see that I'm getting shredded but the scale is going UP. I have added a new amino powder throughout the day and jacked up my glutamine dose a lot, so I wonder if that has something to do with it. I look a lot harder and the body fat is dropping big time. I know, I know. What a horrible problem to have!! lol
I think I'm just about over this F***ING pink eye. It feels better and I was even able to lift today after I knocked out two cardio sessions. I did 40 minutes when I woke up, another 30 min at noon and did a quick training session before I had to get the house in order. My wife called and said she's coming home from her week of training a couple hours early!! I had to cut my session way down and attempt to "undo" the mess of me and our two sons from having a week of no Mommy to yell at us for being disgusting, stinky boys!! It's going to take three cans of air freshner to get rid of the smell from the 5 day farting contest we've been having!!
Here's my quick training session I did today:
Pushups with feet inclined (20,15,20,15)
Dumbbell squats (20,10,25,15)
Calf raises (30,40,25,45)
Dumbbell flys lying on floor (20,10,25,15,30)
Dumbbell bench press lying on floor (20,25,30,35,40)
Dumbbell box squats (20,15,20,10)
I woke up with a bad case of gut rot. I hoped it'd clear up by itself but I think it's just from not having enough carbs these past few weeks (too few carbs = too little fiber). Which I'm sure is why the scale hasn't liked me and is slowly climbing even though my body fat is dropping... I'm backed up. Oh well, when all else fails there's always coffee and creatine. I've got no training this weekend, just cardio. 40 minutes this morning and another one this afternoon. We'll see how it goes... and hope I do!! lol
Well, my stomach is still killing me. So I said F*** the cutting diet tonight! I ran to McD's and grabbed two double quarter pounders with cheese. If that doesn't clean me out and get my digestion moving nothing will. I forgot how absolutely horrible the food is from there. If I can hold it down it should grease the wheels. I'll just have to do 12 hours of cardio tomorrow instead of 2...
BryanSmash!
04-17-11, 1:44 am
12 hours of cardio lol? Mickey Ds aint that bad!
12 hours of cardio lol? Mickey Ds aint that bad!
It sure felt that bad after I ate it. It tasted pretty good but sat like a big greasy brick in my gut. It did finally help kick start my digestion a little bit though. BTW... did you guys get the snow yesterday like we did?! It wasn't warm enough for it to stick but was coming down like a blizzard.
BryanSmash!
04-17-11, 9:01 am
It sure felt that bad after I ate it. It tasted pretty good but sat like a big greasy brick in my gut. It did finally help kick start my digestion a little bit though. BTW... did you guys get the snow yesterday like we did?! It wasn't warm enough for it to stick but was coming down like a blizzard.
lol yeah snowed most of the day, even got some on the ground this morning.
lol yeah snowed most of the day, even got some on the ground this morning.
This snowing in April bulls**t better be done soon. We signed our lease so we can move into the new place May 1st and avoid doing it during winter.... WTF!?!?! But this is Wisconsin. If you don't like the weather, wait an hour.
BryanSmash!
04-17-11, 9:21 am
This snowing in April bulls**t better be done soon. We signed our lease so we can move into the new place May 1st and avoid doing it during winter.... WTF!?!?! But this is Wisconsin. If you don't like the weather, wait an hour.
lol I hate to remind you that it has snowed in May as well.
lol I hate to remind you that it has snowed in May as well.
Geez Bryan... thanks for shitting in my Cheerios!! lol I can't wait until I'm old enought to retire and move somewhere that gets less snow, like Alaska!!
BryanSmash!
04-17-11, 9:32 am
Geez Bryan... thanks for shitting in my Cheerios!! lol I can't wait until I'm old enought to retire and move somewhere that gets less snow, like Alaska!!
lol better view up there at least!
Bruiser
04-18-11, 10:49 am
I've got my digestion regulated again and I'm down to 186 lbs. I was expecting by the time I was done with this cut that I'd be down to 170 lbs. It looks like I put on a lot more lean mass than I thought I did! I figure there's about five more pounds to lose to put me b ack to where I was with BF%. Which will put me right where I wanted to be at with my schedule. Next Sunday is my 35th birthday and will be exactly 4 months from when I started lifting again. That will make a completed bulk and cut in four months with a lean mass gain of 30 lbs!! I have realized thta I haven't been taking in enough water this past week. I think my intake may have dropped below 1 1/2 gallons instead of over 2 gallons. This and the constipation would explain the loss of defintion I've seen the past few days. I did a "system flush" last night and this morning and cleaned myself out real good. Now I'm pushing the water hardcore today. I knocked out 40 minutes of cardio this morning and will train arms this afternoon. Now that my pink eye is cleared up and I'm feeling better I'm going to start that new Specific Muscle Overload Training I've been designing. I will train arms Monday, Wednesday and Friday; while I train shoulders Tuesday and legs/back/chest on Thursday. I will repeat this for two weeks. We'll see how it goes.
Bruiser
04-18-11, 10:59 am
I realized this morning why I have a hard time keeping my heart rate up during cardio and why it takes me 60-90 minutes to get 40 minutes of cardio in. This morning while trying to do cardio, my soon-to-be 5 year old son (who has Autism) woke up as what I'm guessing to be his favorite Power Ranger Samurai. He then proceeded to roundhouse kick the back of my knees for twenty minutes! I loved it!! I had tears rolling down my face from laughing every time he let out a "Hiiiiiiiyyyaaaaaaa" and attacked me. If I had the choice of having 5% BF with uninterupted cardio or being a sloppy 300 lb guy being attacked by a Power Ranger... just call me Tubby.
Killer arm session today!!! If the other two this week go like this one, I'll definately spark some new growth in my lagging arms. It even hurts to type right now!! F***... Actually had to cut a set off two of the supersets becasue my arms were so pumped the skin was starting hurt! As always, my workout consists of one set of tricep followed by one seet of bicep followed by one set of forearm exercises. I call this one set. Done without rest. Then start the next set.
Preworkout supps:
Pump
Amino 1900
Uni-Liver
Glutamine
Arginine
Amino powder
Intraworkout supps:
Glutamine
Amino powder
Uni-Liver
Amino 1900
Warm up (done as supersets without breaks three times):
Pushups with thumbs touching - 20
Dumbbell 21's
(no warmup needed for forearms)
Superset #1:
Single arm overhead dumbbell extension - 10 reps
Concentration Curls - 15 reps
Wrist curls - 15 reps
(repeat 3 more times, no rest periods)
Superset #2:
Skullcrushers (lying on floor) - 15 reps
EZ Bar Curls - 10 reps
Reverse wrist curls - 20 reps
(repeat 2 more times, no rest periods)
Superset #3:
Close grip bench press (lying on floor) - 20 reps
Alternating standing dumbbell curls - 20 reps
Behind back wrist curls - 15 reps
(repeat 2 more times, no rest periods, last set of each to failure)
Postworkout supps:
Pak
Fish oil
Cinnamon
Amino 1900
Uni-Liver
Postworkout shake:
75g strawberry protein powder
1 scoop fruit punch creatine mix
20g glutamine
2 scoops amino powder
1/2 cup raw quick oats
1 cup frozen fruit
skim milk
This whole workout only takes about 40 minutes. I love the way I set up everything so I can move from one exercise to the next without stopping. This routine has more than made up for lack of equipment. Same thing with my chest/leg/back day. With no rest period and SERIOUS intensity, I can get by with just a set of dumbbells and an EZ curl bar!!! Of course I can't wait to hopefully have room for a bench when we move to the new house...
BryanSmash!
04-18-11, 5:30 pm
Nice workout, thats a giant shake too!
jandirigma
04-18-11, 7:09 pm
Killer supersets, bro! As always, so creative with stacking supps and using your food. The pre-workout one seems mean.
Nice workout, thats a giant shake too!
Thanks bro. Today is shoulders and then on Wednsday I'll tweak this arm workout and do it again!!! I've never been a shake lover. I get soooo F***ING bloated after drinking them.even with taking my digestive enzymes. So when I have a PWO shake or my bulk cycle mass(ive) shakes... I make them F***ING count. Since I started doing this partricular PWO shake I've noticed that the pump I get from training lasts A LOT longer. Most of the day in fact. I credit that to the glutamine. I think I'll post my bulking cycle mass(ive) shake on my daily tips this week. Keep an eye for it. I might post this one too (if I haven't already, it's hard to remember s*** at my age!)
Killer supersets, bro! As always, so creative with stacking supps and using your food. The pre-workout one seems mean.
Thanks. I've found that training with supersets like I do can more than make up for the lack of equipment and small window of time I have to train. There are days when I'm in a rush that I can blast through shoulders in less than 20 minutes!!! This is the key for anybody who also chases their kids while trying to train... it's like cario and lifting at the same time!! lol
I tracked down a weight bench to go in my home gym/garage for when we move in two weeks. All it will cost me is that I have to help him dig it out of his garage and help haul a load to the dump. It's got a leg attachment, preacher curl attachment, lat tower and has an adjustable bench. The funniest thing is... it's MY BENCH!! When I had my back surgery and had to sell off/give away all my gear and equipment, most of it went to my buddy. I decided to ask him if he still has any of it that he doesn't use, and TADAAAAA... I get my bench back!!!
soulspline
04-19-11, 10:21 am
I tracked down a weight bench to go in my home gym/garage for when we move in two weeks. All it will cost me is that I have to help him dig it out of his garage and help haul a load to the dump. It's got a leg attachment, preacher curl attachment, lat tower and has an adjustable bench. The funniest thing is... it's MY BENCH!! When I had my back surgery and had to sell off/give away all my gear and equipment, most of it went to my buddy. I decided to ask him if he still has any of it that he doesn't use, and TADAAAAA... I get my bench back!!!
nice bench bro wish i have one here aswell :)
Bruiser
04-19-11, 11:23 am
nice bench bro wish i have one here aswell :)
Yeah bro. I LOVED that bench!! I can't believe I'm getting it back. Full circle my man, full circle...
Bruiser
04-19-11, 11:37 am
6:30am
Woke up for good after a night without decent sleep. My son is sick again so I was up with him most of the night.
Morning supps:
Amino 1900 X3
Uni-Liver X3
Animal Cuts
Garlic - 3g
Cinnamon - 2g
Morning Muscle Juice (amino powder, glutamine, fibersure, Dt Dew)
7:30am
Cardio
9:00am
Breakfast - 8 oz round steak
Animal Pak
Uni-Liver X3
Amino 1900 X3
Fish Oil - 4g
Looks like I'll be hitting shoulders today. My arms are killing me after yesterday. I think I might have to start taking ZMA again at night to help me get quality sleep in the few hours I do get. Plus I need the extra recovery with how hard I seem to be training now. i can't really call this a cut cycle anymore. More of a "low-to-no carb cycle". I've been putting on more lean mass and with all the cardio... my body is just aching!! I might add GABA back in to my nighttime stack (pile) too. Whan I ran the ZMA/GABA combo I slept like a drunk with narcolepsy. I guess it's time to try it again.
Boulder shoulder day!! Today I'm changing s*** up and gonna do some new movements. Been getting more grinding in my joints. Time to change it up. Supersets like always though.
Preworkout supps:
Animal Cuts
Animal Pump
Uni-Liver X3
Amino 1900 X3
Preworkout Muscle Juice:
Glutamine
Amino powder
Arginine
Creatine
Wait 45 minites
Warm-up:
Steering wheels
Lying rear delt raises - 4 sets, 10-15 reps
(each superset is done as 1,2,3 repeat and no rests)
Superset #1:
1. Military press with EZ curl bar - 10-15 reps
2. Upright row with EZ curl bar - 8-12 reps
3. Shrugs with EZ curl bar - 15-25 reps
(repeat 3 more times, no rest)
Superset #2:
1. Arnold Press - 12-15 reps
2. Front dumbbell raise - 8-10 reps
3. Dumbbell shrugs - 15-25 reps
(repeat 2 more times, no rest)
Finish them off!!!
Side dumbbell raises - 3 sets to complete F***ING FAILURE... and then one more of half reps... and then I threw up!
It only took 25 minutes to destroy my shoulders!! It took longer to make and drink my pwo shake!! lol
Postworkout supps:
Animal Pak
Uni-Liver X3
Amino 1900 X3
Fish oil - 4g
Garlic - 3g
Cinnamon - 2g
Digestive Enzymes
PWO Shake:
1 cup raw quick oats
1 cup apple/grape/carrot juice
75g strawberry protein powder
1 scoop fruit punch creatine
2 scoops amino powder
20g glutamine
skim milk
TheGreatWhite
04-20-11, 12:32 am
One thing that helps a lot is a TON of myfascial stretching...get that foam roller out! It really seems to help me and the clients I train in recovery....you won't have to worry about the muscle breakdown like you would doing static stretching, plus you still get the bloodflow to those sore muscles and other areas....flex twice a day helps too! Your trianing's looking rock fuckin solid my brother! Keep killin it!
One thing that helps a lot is a TON of myfascial stretching...get that foam roller out! It really seems to help me and the clients I train in recovery....you won't have to worry about the muscle breakdown like you would doing static stretching, plus you still get the bloodflow to those sore muscles and other areas....flex twice a day helps too! Your trianing's looking rock fuckin solid my brother! Keep killin it!
To be honest with you, I don't know what all you guys are talking about when you say "foam roler". I'll pick one up if it's cheap and will help though (of course, I don't even know what one looks like!! lol). Right now to keep me mobile, I do 20 minutes of core strenghtening and yoga every morning. It helps with the three herniated disks in my back.
Themostocles
04-20-11, 8:26 am
If a foam roller is too expensive you can improvise... a rolling pin or PCV pipe can do the same thing... just hurts alot more
Thanks guys. I'll have to hunt one of these down. The yoga/strectching just isn't cutting it anymore. A lot of the soreness is gonna go away this weekend when I'm done with my cut cycle and carbload. Whenever I drop to low-to-no carbs I get sore as hell... of course this is the same time I'm always doing tons of cardio. So the combo of cardio and carb deprivation will be coming to an end. I'm still gonna track down a foam roller though. Getting old, gonna need it anyways. lol
Bruiser
04-20-11, 11:31 am
Four days left on this cut. So now it's time to do the usuall. Here's my plan the last four days.
1. 20-30 minute cardio sessions
2. try to sqyeeze in 5-6 cardio sessions a day
3. drop to NO carbs except for milled flax seed
4. do a system flush (flax seed, fibersure, coffee, vitamin powder, fruit/veggie powder in my water bottles all day)
I always like to finish off my cut cycle like this. Just like finishing off my bulk, I like to have a "fresh base" to start with. Plus I've found that with the VERY LOW carbs, I need to get my digestion in order before I start packing the food in again. This also seems to help me drop a lot of subcontanious water and fat the last four days (usually about another 5-6 lbs.)
I got two cardio sessions in already. And I'm running to the can like a dehydrated goose.
Morning supps: Animal Cuts, garlic, cinnamon, Amino 1900, Uni-Liver, Morning Muscle Juice
Breakfast: round steak, Animal Pak, Digestive enzymes, Fish oil, Amino 1900, Uni-Liver
Arms again today as part of the Specific Muscle Overlaoad Program I'm doing. I'll post it later. BTW... shoulders are killing me today. Changing it up yesterday was a GOOD idea...
damn man everything still looking good! Good luck on those last 4 days bro! and looks liek you finally out of the pink eye mess! Stay healthy man!
I took all my preworkout supplements and Muscle Juice. Did more cardio while I waited for it all to kick in... then stomped up to the dumbbells, ready to attack!! When I curled the first one, I felt my back tweak a little!!! Not just a twinge... but a tweak. And after 12 years of chronic back pain and living with three herniated disks, I know when to stop. I always feel two "WARNING" tweaks before my back goes out. I know part of the issue is that I haven't been able to make it to the chiropractor in a week. And it will be next Monday before I can get bak in. I usually go three times a week (Mon, Wed, Fri) but didn't have a sitter last Fri, Dr was sick Monday, I won't have a sitter tonight and he's closed this Friday. So I have no choice but to call it a day, and chill on the couch. I'm soooo pissed. But with the wife leaving to train for her new job for a week again this Sunday, I can't risk being laid up. So I guess I'll grab a shake and watch The Wrestler again (just got it from Netflix today). What a way to finish off my cut cycle...
TheGreatWhite
04-20-11, 2:48 pm
lol, a foam roller is just a piece of industrial foam, shoulodnt be too expensive. Google image it.
lol, a foam roller is just a piece of industrial foam, shoulodnt be too expensive. Google image it.
I'll have to try to find one now... the way my back is feeling, I'm in desperate need of one.
Just when it looks like things can't get worse... I broke my F***ING toe last night!! I went to step over my 5 year old and caught my pinky toe on the edge of the bunk bed. There goes the last 4-5 days of my cut cycle. Kinda hard to do cardio when you can barely put weight on your foot. So it looks like I'm going to carb load the next four days, and officially start a new bulk cycle Monday. Adapt and overcome.
I've been thinking about carb cycling and seeing if I can get rid of this last 5+ lbs of fat I wanted to burn off. So I'm planning on trying a new type of diet for my bulk this time. I'm a little hesitant to change anything from my last one though considering I put on 30 lbs of lean mass in four months. But I've always had better luck changing my routine copletely each cycle. It's almost like starting from scratch.
BTW... my back is feeling a little better. I'm gonna try to sneak to the chiropractor this afternoon.
Oh yeah, that's the spot, mmmmmm, oops, sorry. I'm sitting here after NOT doing cardio for the first time in over a month, eating a rye bagel with ham and swiss for the first time in over a month. And I just realized... I would be happy to just sit here and get fat. GOD I missed my morning bagel! Yup. It's officials bros. This cut is over. Time to bulk and see just how much F***ING space I can take up on this little planet.
BryanSmash!
04-21-11, 5:14 pm
Start eating some food now lol!
Start eating some food now lol!
Damn, if you saw all I ate today, you'd be sick!! I jumped right back on the horse... and then ate it...
jandirigma
04-21-11, 9:44 pm
Oh yeah, that's the spot, mmmmmm, oops, sorry. I'm sitting here after NOT doing cardio for the first time in over a month, eating a rye bagel with ham and swiss for the first time in over a month. And I just realized... I would be happy to just sit here and get fat. GOD I missed my morning bagel! Yup. It's officials bros. This cut is over. Time to bulk and see just how much F***ING space I can take up on this little planet.
I get that feeling when I eat fish and chips. Wanna end up on the couch and turn into a beer swiggin' Fat Albert. Have a sweet time swelling up, bro!
Bruiser
04-22-11, 10:46 am
I get that feeling when I eat fish and chips. Wanna end up on the couch and turn into a beer swiggin' Fat Albert. Have a sweet time swelling up, bro!
I'm looking forward to this bulk cycle. The full four month cycle (bulk and cut) that I just finished got me about 30 lbs lean mass. If I can replicate that again during this 4 month cycle, that'll put me at 210ish lean at the end of August, and if I can follow that up... 240ish at Christmas!!!
Bruiser
04-22-11, 11:01 am
Besides a broken toe and an entire house to pack up in a week... I'm happy as hell. Really looking forward to seeing what I can do with this bulk cycle. I put on 50 lbs in the last 3 month one (then dropped 20 the 4th month). So I'm looking at topping that this time. My bulk cycle will run to August 1st. With having the opportunity to build my own gym in the garage at the new house I'm looking at being able to layer on the mass a hell of a lot easier. Remember... I did all this with a set of dumbbells and an EZ curl bar!! Plus I was one of the winners picked for the Rage promo and will get a free can of that (the paks) to help me out. I'm also going to be able to stay a lot leaner during this bulk, even though I'm hoping to put on a lot more mass. I'll be putting a heavy bag in my gym/garage (best cardio EVER) and doing some of the old drills I used to do when I had a bigger yard.
Here's my favorite, "The Gauntlet":
I'll take four 5 lb plates, four 10 lb plates and four 25 lb plates and set them on the ground like this: 5, 10, 25, 5, 10, 25 and lay them so they're five feet apart in a line. Then 20 feet parallel I set out the same. I start on one side and sprint over, grab a 5, run back and set it down on the other side, grab a 5 from that side run it over and set it down next to the 10, grab the 10 and run it back, etc. The sprint gets your heart rate going, and the change in weights (up and then down and back up) will burn your arms and shoulders up!!
I'm SOOOO F***ING PSYCHED to get to the new house!!! Anybody that wants to come down and train with me when I get set up is more than welcome. I'd love to have someone to run "The Gauntlet" with!!!
Well, time to eat again. Training arms today, was supposed to yesterday but had a funeral to go to and had to do our Easter shopiing for the kids. I'll post how it goes today. Looking forward to training with a belly full of carbs!!
MRmichael.hooker
04-22-11, 12:00 pm
happy as shit for you about the weight and house man. Buying/moving into my house was amazing!! I saw you were talking about having some training partners for the gauntlet, where do you live at?
Bruiser
04-22-11, 12:37 pm
happy as shit for you about the weight and house man. Buying/moving into my house was amazing!! I saw you were talking about having some training partners for the gauntlet, where do you live at?
We're only renting the new place, but we're excited to be moving to a bigger house. I live in Southern Wisconsin, so if you're ever up here, we'll train.
I am in for this ride Bro.
LT
My first training session following my cut went awesome!! After a month of low-to-no carbs, you forget what your body can look like all carbed up, PWO, with a pump. I finished training arms, took my shirt off and looked in the mirror... HOLY F***ING S***!!! I'm huge!! It was a great feeling to see the way I looked. Damn. My 12 year old son said it best when he saw me posing and said, "Dad, you look like the Hulk!! And not that old guy painted green from the TV show... but the new version!!!" Now I know I'll never get to the level that Big Lou Ferrigno is on... but it still felt damn good to hear that. More importantly, my son still thinks I'm a superhero... and that's better than any compliment or trophy I could ever get!!!
Anyways, here's my session today. I tried to do some new movements or change up my grip. As always (no rest between movements) one tricep set + one bicep set + one forearm set = 1 superset.
Warmup:
Push-ups with thumbs touching (20,15,10)
Resistance band bicep speed curls (25,20,15)
Resistance band wrist curls (20,20,20)
Superset #1:
1. Two hand overhead dumbbell extension (8-12 reps)
2. Seated dumbbell curls (10-12 reps)
3. Wrist curls (10-15 reps)
(1,2,3 repeated three more times for a total of 4 supersets with no rest)
Superset #2:
1. Skullcrushers (8-12 reps)
2. EZ Bar curls (8-12 reps)
3. Reverse wrist curls (8-12 reps)
(1,2,3 repeated three more times for a total of 4 supersets with no rest)
Superset #3:
1. Close grip bench press lying on floor (10-20 reps)
2. Standing dumbbell curls (10-12 reps)
3. Behind the back wrist curls (12-15 reps)
(1,2,3 repeated for two more times for a total of 3 supersets)
Finished off with:
Dumbbell drop sets to complete failure with negative reps at the end (2 sets)
I was totally spent after this, but had more to do. I'm going to start working on fascial stretching (trying to expand the muscle fascia). So after I was all blown up and pumped to holy hell, I sat down and held a dumbbell at the start point of an overhead tricep extension (elbows up and the dumbbell resting between my shoulder blades) for 20 sceonds. Then stood up and held a dumbbell in each hand at the bottom of a bicep curl and let it hang there for 20 seconds. Then I flexed and held it for as long as possible (that SUCKS!!). Rested for 30 sec and repeated it all two more times. I was even MORE pumped when I finished all this. Then I had an idea. I hopped in the shower right away and cranked the water as hot as possible. Then stood there and stretched my arms again (no dumbbells obviously) and flexed again with the almost boiling water pouring over my arms. I could feel the burn of the fascia stretching even more (not just the burn fromt he water). The reason I'm trying the shower trick is because when our skin is warm, it has more elasticity. So I'm going to see if doing this will help loosen up the muscle fascia and allow for more muscle growth!! Everything I've read about bodybuilding and anatomy says this should work. I know that after the initial stretching the burning stopped, but when my skin got heated up in the shower and I started stretching and flexing, I felt the fascial burning again. Only time will tell.
chuckzilla
04-22-11, 6:31 pm
some real good here brother. thank you for the motivation.
some real good here brother. thank you for the motivation.
Thanks man. Now if I can just stay healthy and not break anything for another few weeks... I might get some REAL training done!!! lol
Well, I just ordered from Prosource.net... $130!! Here's what I ordered:
2 Uni-Liver (250 ct)
4 Beef Aminos (200 ct)
Animal Pak
Animal Pump
GABA
ZMA
I figured even though I ALWAYS praise Amino 1900 over Beef Aminos, I wanna start alternating them so my body won't adjust to one amino source. I think keeping it guessing and changing it up every month might spark some new growth (especially starting a new bulk cycle). And I can get 800 of them for the price of 650 of the Amino 1900s!! So I'll be taking 5 of them 5 times a day. Alternating them with Uni-Liver. (damn I feel sorry for my family... I'm going to stink!!). And even though I always preach the benefits of Calcium/Magnesium/Zinc supplements as compared to ZMA... I need the help with recovery. I haven't been sleeping for S*** and I've been getting REALLY sore after training, so I want to see if this will help again. Plus I'm adding GABA too. I've been reading a lot about the GABA/Fenugreek stack and the ridiculous amount of growth hormone release with it!! Studies are showing that the only thing better than that combo is actual HGH!! So I figure with the Fenugreek I already take, and adding the ZMA and GABA I should see some dramatic changes here in the next month!!
Bruiser
04-23-11, 12:08 pm
Even though I only go three days of training in this week, I'm taking the weekend off. We've got too much going on with the holiday. Today we had to go to my parents' for Easter. Now we have to clean the house and get stuff for Easter Dinner (lunch) tomorrow. We have to go check out the new house with the new landlord to see what still needs to be done before we can move in. My wife has to get ready to leave for the week tomorrow at 2pm again. And we're apparantly going to have my birthday celebration today instead of tomorrow on my birthday, because I want tomorrow to be about the kids' Easter. So it's going to be a long day. But I'm enjoying the hell out of this bulk cycle already!! So far today I've eaten:
Woke up 6am:
Morning Muscle Juice
Breakfast 7:30am:
8 oz round steak
Egg Bagel with cheese
At my parents' house around 9am:
1 lb of ham
4 biscuits with pork sausage gravy
2 scrambled eggs
Hashbrown casserole (w/ cheese, sour cream and bacon!!!)
Cinnamon roll w/ nuts
bowl of fruit
I'll have a shake in a little while... if I've got room!!
Cellardweller
04-23-11, 12:48 pm
My 12 year old son said it best when he saw me posing and said, "Dad, you look like the Hulk!! And not that old guy painted green from the TV show... but the new version!!!" Now I know I'll never get to the level that Big Lou Ferrigno is on... but it still felt damn good to hear that. More importantly, my son still thinks I'm a superhero... and that's better than any compliment or trophy I could ever get!!!
Subbed in 'cause I fucking love super heroes!!!
Bruiser
04-24-11, 10:44 am
Well, it's going to be a busy day today. The kids are having a great time so far. They did their Easter Egg hunt, and that evil little bunny brought them some neat gifts. We're having my parents and my brother in law over for dinner (at noon). Well, they actually invited themselves!!! WTF!?! Plus my wife has to leave at 2pm today, and she'll be gone until Friday.
I got up a did my core work (like every day). Now with everything going on the rest of the day, it's going to be a straight bulk day. Eat, eat, and eat some more. Hell, I've got 17 lbs of ham in the slow cooker... gonna be a good day!!!
Well, another year older... another holiday gone. Completely F***ED up day. Totally s***ty. Now I don't know if our new house will even be ready next weekend when our lease runs out here. I hate my relatives, I hate my in-laws and I miss my wife (she's gone for a week). I ate so F***ING much today that I want to throw up (I guess that's a good thing during a bulk). I hate holidays... so I'm going to bed at 8pm so I can cuddle with my boys, read them a bedtime story and fall asleep in the bunkbed with them. Good night bros.
BryanSmash!
04-24-11, 10:22 pm
Hey at least you had some good food!
MRmichael.hooker
04-25-11, 5:33 am
Well, another year older... another holiday gone. Completely F***ED up day. Totally s***ty. Now I don't know if our new house will even be ready next weekend when our lease runs out here. I hate my relatives, I hate my in-laws and I miss my wife (she's gone for a week). I ate so F***ING much today that I want to throw up (I guess that's a good thing during a bulk). I hate holidays... so I'm going to bed at 8pm so I can cuddle with my boys, read them a bedtime story and fall asleep in the bunkbed with them. Good night bros.
Ive pretty much figured out anytime you are trying to get a new home, shit always has to go wrong and hit the fan. It's like, a rule with closing. Can't be smooth. But you have the right mentality, when shits going bad, just be with the kids and it will all be forgotten for the moment.
Bruiser
04-25-11, 10:15 am
Here's my new and improved Ulti-Mass Stack. I should be getting everything this week.
Animal Pak
Animal Pump
Animal M-Stak
Animal Rage
100% Beef Aminos or Amino 1900 (alternate month to month)
Uni-Liver
Natural Sterol Complex
Galric
Fish Oil
Cinnamon
Fenugreek
ZMA
GABA
Glutamine
Amino Powder
Creatine
Protein Powder
Bruiser
04-25-11, 12:55 pm
Well, I just got a card with $100 in it from my parents for my birthday. I guess they don't bother as bad as I thought... does that make me a bad person? AHHHHH Who cares?! lol So I'm running to town to get some supplements I forgot to put on my Prosource order, pick up a few plates and see if there's a new issue of MD out yet.
What a grea day so far!!! Everything is going awesome today (a nice change from yesterday). I went to town and picked up two tubs of amino powder, amino tablets, protein powder, Natural Sterol Complex and glutamine powder. All of it was on sale and the manager (GNC) gave me a 20% off coupon she had saved!! So I stopped at Best Buy and they had the newer Hulk movie on DVD (the one my 12 year old compared me too) and The Wrestler on DVD for $4.99 EACH!!!! WTF!?!? Good day for Daddy so far. Then when we pulled into the driveway I see a package on the porch... my Animal Rage from the Promo came already!!! I got the 44 paks, and they also sent a sample of Cuts and Rage powder!! So I took the Rage sample powder and I'm waiting to train arms today!!
Preworkout:
Rage powder sample
Amino Powder
Glutamine
Pump
Amino 1900
Uni-Liver
Warm up (done as supersets without breaks three times):
Pushups with thumbs touching - 20
Dumbbell Curls - 20 reps
(no warmup needed for forearms)
Superset #1:
Single arm overhead dumbbell extension - 10 reps
Concentration Curls - 15 reps
Wrist curls - 15 reps
(repeat 3 more times, no rest periods)
Superset #2:
Skullcrushers (lying on floor) - 15 reps
EZ Bar Curls - 10 reps
Reverse Wrist curls - 20 reps
(repeat 2 more times, no rest periods)
Superset #3:
Close grip bench press (lying on floor) - 20 reps
Reverse EZ Bar curls - 15 reps
Dumbbell 21s
(repeat 1 more time, no rest period)
PWO:
Pak
Amino 1900
Uni-Liver
Fish oil
Garlic
Cinnamon
Digestive Enzyme
I was having a great workout today, the Rage was really driving me harder than I was expecting. I was focused and jacked up. But I got two important phone calls during my session that I had to take. It sucked having to stop for 15 minutes at a time, but it couldn't be avoided. When I made my massive PWO shake, I actually threw in a piece of rhubarb pie left over from yesterday. Damn that was good.
Shoulders today. I'm still in the midst of figuring out how my training is going to go this bulk cycle. I'm changing a lot of things up, and then gauging how I'm feeling and looking. Then I'll decide what movements I'm keeping and what I'm dropping. I tried a new shoulder movement today. It destroyed my delts BAD!! 2 hours and I'm still having trouble lifting my arms up. I think it's a keeper. What I did was do a military press using an EZ curl bar (it's all I got) then do one behind the neck. Then alternate 1 front, 1 behind for a total of 10-12. Holy Brutal Bulls*** Batman!! I could barely finish my training after these. I also tried something different for a warm-up. I played baseball on the Nintendo Wii for 60 minutes before hand (anybody says that's not a workout on it's own, hasn't played it). So between that and the alternating EZ curl bar presses, I could've been done for the day, but I kept going. (of course everything is supersets with no rest periods)
Warm-up:
60 minutes Wii Sports Baseball
Lying rear delt raises - 4 sets of 8-10 reps
(I went up 2 1/2 lbs on these, which is a lot on this movement)
Superset 1#:
1. Alternating EZ curl bar presses - 10-12 reps
2. Upright row - 10-12 reps
3. barbell shrugs - 15-20 reps
(1-3 repeated 3 more times with no rest periods)
Superset #2:
1. Arnold presses - 8-10 reps
2. Dumbbell lateral raises - 6-8 reps
3. Dumbbell front raises - 6-8 reps
4. Dumbbell shrugs - 10-15 reps
(1-4 repeated 2 more times with no rest)
Finished with 10 more minutes of Wii Sports Baseball (I couldn't even really swing the "bat"!). I'm really digging this routine. I'll see how sore I am the next two days though. I might be keeping this one. Of course when I have the rest of my equipment (bars, bench w/ attachments, heavy bag, etc) it might change again. I'm really proud of myself for moving up 2 1/2 lbs on lying rear delts. The way I'm doing them, I was instructed to start with a 2 1/2 lb plate. You lay on your left side on a bench (I use the bed). Hold the plate with you rthumb in the hole and pinky up. Keep your arm straight and raise slowly to parallel and hold for two seconds. Lower SLOWLY. Switch sides. This hits the rear delt so specifically, that it doesn't take much weight at all. I was instructed if you go heavy with these, you'r not using the rear delt. Once I got the mind/muscle connection and form down, I moved up to a 5 lb plate which I've been doing for three months. Today I used a 7 1/2 lb weight!! I'm so proud of myself. I never knew pride could feel so much like burning agony!! lol
BryanSmash!
04-26-11, 6:28 pm
Nice work, way to hit those delts!
Themostocles
04-27-11, 1:30 am
Mmmm... nothinhg like having to flop your arms around to get them above waist level >>
Nice work, way to hit those delts!
Thanks man. With my current set up, I can only really hit arms and delts. It's hard to do the rest with just dumbbells and an EZ curl bar. So I always put everything I've got into coming up with new ways to destroy them! Mission accomplished.
Mmmm... nothinhg like having to flop your arms around to get them above waist level >>
Tell me about it! I could barely lift my half gallon PWO shake. I thought I was going to need a spotter for it! lol
Bruiser
04-27-11, 10:02 am
Today is arm day... again. I'm hitting arms Mon/Wed/Fri this week and probably next. Working on sparking some new growth. I wasn't going to do it next week too, but it looks like I won't have my gym/garage set up at the new house until next Wednesday now. So I'm debating if I should "officially" start my Rage log today. I might as well, otherwise it will be another week. And I can't wait that long! We'll see how I'm feeling by the time it comes to taking my preworkout pile (stack).
I was 195 lbs this morning. It's not going to take long to pile on some new mass this time. My goal is 240 lbs at the end of July. Then I start my one month cut again. I'm hoping to dupicate my last bulk/cut cycle, 35 lbs mostly lean mass in four months. That would be great!
soulspline
04-27-11, 10:24 am
Four days left on this cut. So now it's time to do the usuall. Here's my plan the last four days.
1. 20-30 minute cardio sessions
2. try to sqyeeze in 5-6 cardio sessions a day
3. drop to NO carbs except for milled flax seed
4. do a system flush (flax seed, fibersure, coffee, vitamin powder, fruit/veggie powder in my water bottles all day)
I always like to finish off my cut cycle like this. Just like finishing off my bulk, I like to have a "fresh base" to start with. Plus I've found that with the VERY LOW carbs, I need to get my digestion in order before I start packing the food in again. This also seems to help me drop a lot of subcontanious water and fat the last four days (usually about another 5-6 lbs.)
I got two cardio sessions in already. And I'm running to the can like a dehydrated goose.
Morning supps: Animal Cuts, garlic, cinnamon, Amino 1900, Uni-Liver, Morning Muscle Juice
Breakfast: round steak, Animal Pak, Digestive enzymes, Fish oil, Amino 1900, Uni-Liver
Arms again today as part of the Specific Muscle Overlaoad Program I'm doing. I'll post it later. BTW... shoulders are killing me today. Changing it up yesterday was a GOOD idea...
gotta love those fish oils broh! sweet plan!
Bruiser
04-27-11, 11:20 am
gotta love those fish oils broh! sweet plan!
Thanks man. I was able to drop 4 more pounds before I broke my toe and had to call it quits on the cut cycle (hard to do cardio with a broekn toe). That's why I like to change it up so often. The new bulk is going solid. I'm not worrying about eating too clean this time. My goal is too see just how much space I can tak up on this tiny little planet!!
I've been thinking about trying Animal Omega. But with the fish oil and Flax Seed I take, I'm doing pretty good.
Preworkout: Rage Paks, Pump, Amino powder, Glutamine, Amino 1900, Uni-Liver
Superset #1:
1. Single arm overhead dumbbell extension - 8-10 reps
2. Concentration Curls - 10-12 reps
3. Wrist curls - 15-20 reps
(1-3 repeated 3 more times, no rest periods)
Superset #2:
1. Skullcrushers (lying on floor) - 10-12 reps
2. EZ Bar Curls - 8-10 reps
3. Reverse Wrist curls - 15-20 reps
(1-3 repeated 3 more times, no rest periods)
Superset #3:
1. Close grip bench press (lying on floor) - failure
2. Reverse EZ Bar curls - failure
3. Dumbbell curls - failure
(just did the one superset to failure, with forced and negatives too)
PWO: Pak, Amino 1900, Uni-Liver, Fish oil, Garlic, Cinnamon, Digestive Enzymes
I didn't hit as many as movement as I usally do, but I just trained arms hard on Monday and I went up in weight on every movement. I hope I can lift my arms Friday to do this all over again. My arms are going to either blow up or fall off,
As I suspected... my arms fell off!! lol I'm so sore this morning that it hurts to type. If I could take my supplements and my Morning Muscle Juice I'd feel a little better. I can't though because I'm going to get blood drawn and give urine at 8:00am and can't have anything in me. I haven't eaten or taken a supplement since 8pm last night!! This sucks. But I need to get all my panels done. I always like to so that every few months so I always make sure I'm as healthy as I look and feel. They're checking blood sugar, cholesterol, triglycerides, hormones, liver and kidney function. Should be fun.
MRmichael.hooker
04-28-11, 8:01 am
My arms are going to either blow up or fall off,
Hopefully blow up lol. But hey if they happen to fall off, you dont have to worry about bringing them up anymore, so really a win-win
Hopefully blow up lol. But hey if they happen to fall off, you dont have to worry about bringing them up anymore, so really a win-win
hahaha. I would seriously rather die than hurt like this. Holy F***!! This Specific Muscle Overlaod Program I'm designing is going to kill me. I can already see it's working, but I won't be as optimistic when I can't wipe my own ass today!! lol
MRmichael.hooker
04-28-11, 8:08 am
hahaha. I would seriously rather die than hurt like this. Holy F***!! This Specific Muscle Overlaod Program I'm designing is going to kill me. I can already see it's working, but I won't be as optimistic when I can't wipe my own ass today!! lol
haha, good luck with that! the ass wipeing in mean.
Bruiser
04-28-11, 10:22 am
Well, I'm back from getting labs done. I have to wait to hear any results of course. But as soon as I walked in my front door I took my Amino 1900, Uni-Liver, and Morning Muscle Juice. My headache is gone, I feel better, and my arms don't hurt nearly as bad!! It shows what aminos and especially glutamine does for recovery. As I drank my Morning Muscle Juice I could literally feel the soreness draining from my body. Anybody who's not using something like this needs to try it. Here's my newest variation of "Bruiser's Morning Muscle Juice"
16 oz water
15g glutamine
3 scoops amino powder (similar to Atomic 7)
vitamin powder (single packets)
superfood drink mix powder (single packets)
I've switched from using Vitamin Water to vitamin powder. Don't get me wrong. The Pak is still the best on the market, but when I wake up I like to saturate my body with vitamins, aminos and nutrients ASAP. So I use a general vitamin powder along with a superfood drink mix in the morning to get the body rehydrated and filled up everything it needs. I still take my two Paks a day, but doing it this way seems to help a lot. I wish Universal would put out a powdered vitamin drink mix!! Then I wouldn't have to feel like I'm cheating on them.
What are you doing for the next two months? I'm gettin' HUGE!!
http://i1095.photobucket.com/albums/i466/pierce76/AnimalPile.jpg
http://i1095.photobucket.com/albums/i466/pierce76/AnimalPile2.jpg
http://i1095.photobucket.com/albums/i466/pierce76/AnimalPile1.jpg
I finally tracked down the pictures of me from Christmas when I was 150 lbs. Here are a bunch of them. I'll post current pics later of what I look like now at 203 lbs. The pics aren't that great. I don't have any of me flexing or really posing, these are pics that were submitted for a tattoo contest. But they give you a good idea of what I started with.
http://i1095.photobucket.com/albums/i466/pierce76/Front3.jpg
http://i1095.photobucket.com/albums/i466/pierce76/Front2.jpg
http://i1095.photobucket.com/albums/i466/pierce76/Front1.jpg
http://i1095.photobucket.com/albums/i466/pierce76/Front.jpg
http://i1095.photobucket.com/albums/i466/pierce76/Front4.jpg
http://i1095.photobucket.com/albums/i466/pierce76/Back1.jpg
http://i1095.photobucket.com/albums/i466/pierce76/Back2.jpg
I do sort of miss seeing the veins in my abdomen though... but that's all I miss. DAMN I was scrawny!
Here's some pictures I took today. Four months ago when I started I was at 150 lbs, now I'm a solid 203 lbs. That's 53 lbs in four months!! I didn't realize how big I've gotten until I took these pics and looked at them side by side with the other ones. Keep in mind that I did all this with just a set of dumbbells and an EZ curl bar. No bench. And I guess it's time I let the cat out of the bag about my cardio... I did it all on the Nintendo Wii Fit Plus! That's all I had to use. So I don't wanna hear anybody complain about how they can't get big because they don't have a gym membership, an elyptical, etc. Now I really can't wait to see what I can do when I get my gym set up in the garage at the new house next week. I can't even imagine what I'll be able to achieve.
http://i1095.photobucket.com/albums/i466/pierce76/4-28-11Front2.jpg
http://i1095.photobucket.com/albums/i466/pierce76/4-28-11Front1.jpg
http://i1095.photobucket.com/albums/i466/pierce76/4-28-11Front3.jpg
BryanSmash!
04-28-11, 6:31 pm
Good progress Bruiser!
Good progress Bruiser!
Thanks man. It's great to finally be able to share my preogress with everybody.
Bruiser
04-28-11, 10:28 pm
It's bedtime. I'm F***ING exhausted tonight and sore as hell. But I haven't been able to get a decent night sleep in weeks. I got my ZMA and GABA today, so hopefully that will help me sleep and take the edge off my soreness. It's been a long week getting everything ready for the move, packing, cleaining, meetings with autism therapists and teachers, etc. Not to mention I've had to do it all on my own because my wife is gone all week for work. And the actual move is this weekend. Damn, this is gonna suck. Damn, I miss my wife. Come on ZMA and GABA... kick in.
Necromatrix
04-29-11, 7:49 am
Thanks for stoppin' by my journey.
Amazing progress and a hell of a hurdle you have overcome. Keep up the great work! Subbied.
Thanks for stoppin' by my journey.
Amazing progress and a hell of a hurdle you have overcome. Keep up the great work! Subbied.
Thanks man. It seems like 4 years ago when I had less hurdles and more equipment, I didn't have nearly as much progress. It shows that it's intensity and drive that gets you huge, not expensive euipment and gym memberships...
The_Genius
04-29-11, 9:01 am
sub'd hell of a battle your putting on here. keep it up.
sub'd hell of a battle your putting on here. keep it up.
Thanks man. It's nice to know the hard work I'm puttinng in is appreciated by someone other than just me.
The_Genius
04-29-11, 9:49 am
Thanks man. It's nice to know the hard work I'm puttinng in is appreciated by someone other than just me.
Thats why we're here. Support is key in this game
Bruiser
04-29-11, 10:22 am
Thats why we're here. Support is key in this game
"Support" would be coming and helping me pack up our house and move this weekend!! lol I'm so F***ING sore already, this weekend is gonna SUCK!!!
The_Genius
04-29-11, 10:29 am
"Support" would be coming and helping me pack up our house and move this weekend!! lol I'm so F***ING sore already, this weekend is gonna SUCK!!!
HAHAH goood luck with that
Just got the chance to run through your journey, awesome stuff going on in here. Life has thrown some bad bones your way but your kicking ass man. Keep doing what your doing. Progress pics are a big change from your former self. Awesome work man!
Just got the chance to run through your journey, awesome stuff going on in here. Life has thrown some bad bones your way but your kicking ass man. Keep doing what your doing. Progress pics are a big change from your former self. Awesome work man!
Thanks man. I knew that I had gotten bigger, but until I saw those pictures side by side, I had no idea what I had accomplished... so far. I've shown everyone those pictures who will look at them. My wife was even shocked seeing the side by side like that. After seeing the day to day changes, you forget the extent of the overall transformation.
Life hasn't been easy but it never is. If I didn't have my battles, I wouldn't fight as hard as I do. Everytime that I'm tired, feeling exhausted and don't want to work out, I look at my son (who has Autism) and think about the battles he's going to have to fight EVERY SINGLE DAY and the wars he's gonna have to win just to compete in this world. That makes me want to try harder, that makes me know I have to be bigger and better than everyone else. I need to be as much of a role model in every aspect of my life as humanly possible, and then some. Because how can I expect hiim to reach the level of the kids in his school and surpass them while battling a developmental disabilty if I can't get off my ass and try to improve myself. The same goes for my 12 year old son too. He's my step son but I treat him as my own since I'm the only father he has (Bio-Dad is a worhtless douche). I need him to know that no matter what genetics gave you, no matter where you cam from... you can pound it into submission and achieve anything you want. If it wasn't for my wife and kids, I'd have died from drugs and alcohol. I owe them my life, and I plan on making that life last as long as possible.
B, skimmed thru your journey and Ive got to give you some props for your dedication and perserverance. Readin thru some of your stuff on here was kind of a wake up call, get my head out of my ass and start puttin in work, despite the daily sh** Im going thru. Keep up the hard work big guy.
B, skimmed thru your journey and Ive got to give you some props for your dedication and perserverance. Readin thru some of your stuff on here was kind of a wake up call, get my head out of my ass and start puttin in work, despite the daily sh** Im going thru. Keep up the hard work big guy.
Thanks man. It's nice to know that people can take something away from everything I share on here.
Cellardweller
04-30-11, 9:08 am
Those pics are awesome B. I can't wait to see what you can do with the new gym.
Our new landlord doesn't have the F***ING house ready yet. We're supposed to move in today. They still need to finish installing the carpet, the rooms need to painted and the bathroom is torn apart! Not to mention that the previous tenant still has S*** in the garage and says he "should" have it out later today!! IT"S MY F***ING GARAGE A**HOLE!!!! The motherf***er has til noon and I'm dragging the s*** into the driveway and light a F***ING match! I swear before then end of the day I'm going to be wearing someone's ass as a workboot!!
Those pics are awesome B. I can't wait to see what you can do with the new gym.
Thanks man. Now I just hope the garage will get emptied out so I can build my gym!!
Cellardweller
05-01-11, 1:13 pm
Today I had to throw down in the basement gym. After I dug my shit out from under the boxes of Christmas decorations and things that are magneticly drawn to unused weight equipment, I got it done. That is one of the reasons I'm subbed in. You're doing what you can with what you've got and have amazing results. I belong to a crappy racket club gym and seeing your progress pics reminds me I could be doing more. Really, you've accomplished alot in a short amount of time with not a whole lot. Be proud man.
Today I had to throw down in the basement gym. After I dug my shit out from under the boxes of Christmas decorations and things that are magneticly drawn to unused weight equipment, I got it done. That is one of the reasons I'm subbed in. You're doing what you can with what you've got and have amazing results. I belong to a crappy racket club gym and seeing your progress pics reminds me I could be doing more. Really, you've accomplished alot in a short amount of time with not a whole lot. Be proud man.
Thanks man. It's nice to know that I can help. It doesn't matter if it's what I say or what I do, as long as it's inspiring to someone else. Good luck.
Well, we're moved into the new house! We still need to clean it up, paint and unpack everything. Yesterday I got to take my first Pak at the new house! New milestone. lol Looks like I won't be able to train until tomorrow or Wednesday when I get my bench and clear a spot in the garage to set up my gym. I can't wait to get our kitchen all set up either! Been forced to eat fast food and pizza all weekend during the move. Didn't even have the stuff available to have a protein shake!
Well, I gotta go before the neighboors figure out I hacked their wireless internet. We won't have ours until later this week. Later brothers.
soulspline
05-02-11, 10:09 am
Here's my new and improved Ulti-Mass Stack. I should be getting everything this week.
Animal Pak
Animal Pump
Animal M-Stak
Animal Rage
100% Beef Aminos or Amino 1900 (alternate month to month)
Uni-Liver
Natural Sterol Complex
Galric
Fish Oil
Cinnamon
Fenugreek
ZMA
GABA
Glutamine
Amino Powder
Creatine
Protein Powder
dang love those bro nice combination...wait is that real garlic or on tabs?
cinnamon :) hohohoh i also use 1 table spoon per day of that :)
So you are taking a few days off! Nice to do every now and then. Then you are forced to eat fast food! Again, nice to do every now and then. I don't see a problem in this. LOL!
Well just officially got notice that I am going to be a grand dad. My son and his girlfriend will be having a kid sometime in dec-jan. Crazy. He is 22 and I think he will be a great Dad. His GF has a kid that is almost 3 and he has been around since before he was one. So we have taken him in as ours and my son is in the process of officially adopting him. Life is moving on and this is one of the reasons I am ready to retire. So when the new kid arrives, the adoption will be finished and we will have 2 grandkids officially.
BryanSmash!
05-02-11, 4:14 pm
Well just officially got notice that I am going to be a grand dad. My son and his girlfriend will be having a kid sometime in dec-jan. Crazy. He is 22 and I think he will be a great Dad. His GF has a kid that is almost 3 and he has been around since before he was one. So we have taken him in as ours and my son is in the process of officially adopting him. Life is moving on and this is one of the reasons I am ready to retire. So when the new kid arrives, the adoption will be finished and we will have 2 grandkids officially.
Congrats old man!
Bruiser, sorry this ended up on your page. It was supposed to be on mine. The internet here is really bad.
dang love those bro nice combination...wait is that real garlic or on tabs?
cinnamon :) hohohoh i also use 1 table spoon per day of that :)
I get the cinnamon in capsules but also season with it. It helps with blood sugar (I've got high blood sugar). The garlic I get in gel caps pretty cheap but also season most of my food with minced garlic as well. The garlic helps with cardiovascular health and cholesterol levels as well as I've noticed imporved vascularity.
So you are taking a few days off! Nice to do every now and then. Then you are forced to eat fast food! Again, nice to do every now and then. I don't see a problem in this. LOL!
I guess it really hasn't been days off, since I'm probably working harder lifting and hauling S*** than I do training. Not to mention that I'm doing it for 10-14 hours a day not just one hour like my training sesions.
No worries about the post. Congrats though. That's awesome. I'm still trying to adopt my 12 year old step son but his bio-dad won't sign off. It would be great to be able to "Legally" be his father, but we all know I already am his dad... so it technically doesn't matter.
I can't wait until 11am. I get to pick up my weight bench finally. So this morning I'm going to clear a spot in the garge and start planning the layout of my gym. We've got a lot of stuff we'll be storing out there, but it's a two car garage, so I'll have plenty of room. It's an old garage, no insulation so it's gonna be cold training in wintertime in Wisconsin! I'm trying to track down an old snake heater now so I don;t have to worry about it later. There's not even any drywall or anythiing, so I nailed a few pieces up (basically half a wall) where the bench is going so I've got a place to tack up my Animal calandar and posters! I'll post pictures later this week.
The_Genius
05-03-11, 9:37 am
Sounds like a nice little dungeon haha
Glad to see things are getting settled in. Yeah man the father of the kid is good to go with it, he is a POS and wants nothing to do with him.
Get them walls closed in man. Go to a construction site and see if they have any scraps and just fill everything in. Or buys some.
Lets see some pics.
Sounds like a nice little dungeon haha
It feels like a dungeon. It's damp, musty and smells like dead field mice... I F***ING LOVE IT!! lol
Get them walls closed in man. Go to a construction site and see if they have any scraps and just fill everything in. Or buys some.
Lets see some pics.
Before winter I'm planning on closing up the walls. Even though we rent, we're going to be here for a few years and we want this place to be as comfortable as possible. I had to cover up a missing window pane in the garage with plexiglass yesterday. I kinda like the unfinished look to the garage, but it's so cold in there it sucks. It's been in the mid 40's this week, WTF?! So I think getting some drywall up will help keep it a little warmer. Plus I need to get a new doorknob for the sidedoor, I almost got locked in the other day. After unloading crap to store in there, I pulled the overhead door shut. That's when I found out that it's really hard to open it back up from the inside and there's no handle on the sidedoor on the inside! Luckily my parents pulled in to help unload or I'd of been stuck for a while!! lol
MRmichael.hooker
05-04-11, 7:17 am
It feels like a dungeon. It's damp, musty and smells like dead field mice... I F***ING LOVE IT!! lol
We should save up some money and just build a nasty, filthy, underground, disgusting, amazing gym
Hell yeah! My garage will now be reffered to as "The Battlefield". I picked up the bench yesterday and got it put together. I've just got some minor adjustments to make and it'll be ready for my afternoon session. I'll get some pictures of "The Battlefield" when it's all set up today and post them. I can't wait get to under that bar. I haven't benched in 3 1/2 years. I'm almost afraid of where my strength is at. For all I know my bench PR is going to be 100 lbs (of course I only have 140 lbs of plates). But the way I look at it is like this; even if all I could bench is 40 lbs, I'm going to do it with as much intenstity as I can. Countdown to training is at T-Minus 6 hours...
We should save up some money and just build a nasty, filthy, underground, disgusting, amazing gym
... with a puke bucket in the corner next to a pile of tuna cans and a drain in the floor for when ya gotta piss...
MRmichael.hooker
05-04-11, 7:24 am
... with a puke bucket in the corner next to a pile of tuna cans and a drain in the floor for when ya gotta piss...
Neil Hill's gym in wales has a 'bathroom' that is just the open space underneath the staircase. just a bunch of leaves and piss/puke. And a leaky pipe is the only source of water. We should build something to make that look like a luxury
Neil Hill's gym in wales has a 'bathroom' that is just the open space underneath the staircase. just a bunch of leaves and piss/puke. And a leaky pipe is the only source of water. We should build something to make that look like a luxury
hahaha, hell yeah. I'm in. lol
MRmichael.hooker
05-04-11, 8:26 am
pretty sure just working out in a place like that, youd add 5lbs just stepping inside
Necromatrix
05-04-11, 10:42 am
Hell yeah! My garage will now be reffered to as "The Battlefield". I picked up the bench yesterday and got it put together. I've just got some minor adjustments to make and it'll be ready for my afternoon session. I'll get some pictures of "The Battlefield" when it's all set up today and post them. I can't wait get to under that bar. I haven't benched in 3 1/2 years. I'm almost afraid of where my strength is at. For all I know my bench PR is going to be 100 lbs (of course I only have 140 lbs of plates). But the way I look at it is like this; even if all I could bench is 40 lbs, I'm going to do it with as much intenstity as I can. Countdown to training is at T-Minus 6 hours...
Outstanding attitude.
Give 'em hell!
Well, I finally hit the weight bench today. With no spotter, 3 1/2 years without benching and limited plates, I did what I could. I put 100 lbs on the bar and started with the bench on decline. I did 10 reps, moved it up a notch and did 10 more and continued until I hit the top for incline presses. Then I worked my way back down and up again with limited rest periods (just to move the bench position basically). When I was exhausted I would drop my reps to whatever I could do safely with no spotter. I figured I didn't want to get crushed my first day. Then I started at the top position and grabbed 20 lb dumbbells and did flys. Worked my way down to flat and back up again. Then When I couldn't take it, I dropped the bench to flat and did one set of presses as close to failure as I could by myself. It only took about twenty minutes to do the whole session, but DAMN my chest was pumped! I'm gonna be hurtin' tomorrow because it already feels like I broke my moobs... this is gonna be fun. The only bad part was that I can't find where my wife put the blender here in the new house, so my PWO shake wasn't the greatest having to do it in a shaker.
BryanSmash!
05-04-11, 4:32 pm
Way to get at it!
Necromatrix
05-04-11, 6:28 pm
Way to get at it!
X 2 !
Thanks guys. I figured out that I did 16 sets counting dumbbell flys. My tits are killing me today! I'll be hitting back and neck today. The only problem is that I still can't find my blender! ARRRRRGGGHHHH
Aggression
05-05-11, 10:10 am
In .. because we're like-minded with Rage and it's flavor.
Hypotheticals .. fuck 'em.
Bruiser
05-05-11, 10:16 am
In .. because we're like-minded with Rage and it's flavor.
Hypotheticals .. fuck 'em.
No S***!! Even when I tried to sort of agree with him just to end it, he still complained. "Hypothetically", we should all get to vote on who has access to the FORVM. lol
Bruiser
05-05-11, 11:25 am
Today I'm doing back and neck. Tomorrow legs. So I won't hit shoulers until next week. But I was wanting some advice on my routine. I usually do military press, shoulder press, Arnold press, upright row, lateral raise, front raise and lying rear delt raise. This is all in one session. Plus I train traps at the same time. Do you think I should change it up and maybe one week do presses and then do raises the next week? My shoulders are a weak point for me. I look great from the front, but when I turn sideways, I disappear. I mean they are squaring off a lot more than they used to, but I'm just not happy with them. I was thinking about separating presses and raisies and then alternate shoulder routines. I can do more sets of each and have a good full session each week. What do you think?
shortstack
05-05-11, 11:30 am
Some good work in here Bruiser. Just read through your first post. Congrats on getting back in the fight and getting back where you need to be.
You need any help or anything, just let me know brother.
Jeremy
Bruiser
05-05-11, 11:43 am
Some good work in here Bruiser. Just read through your first post. Congrats on getting back in the fight and getting back where you need to be.
You need any help or anything, just let me know brother.
Jeremy
Thanks Jeremy. It's been a long battle to get back into lifting. Now with four strong months under my belt, I'm looking and feeling better than I ever have in my life. I've been doing it all with just a set of dumbbells and an ez curl bar. So now that I've got my gym set up in the garage with an actual bench, I feel like I'm just getting started. I can't wait to see where I'll be in another four months. Take a look back at my posts from last week and check out the before and after pics!
Today F***ING SUCKED! Being my first real day of training my lats, I had a lot of trouble. It's been 3 1/2 years since I was able to train them. I had almost no mind/muscle connection. The lat tower would only hold 60 lbs before it started wobbling. And my chest is killing me from yesterday, and I could feel it pulling hard when I was doing pull downs. But I did what I could, and modified my grip and even the uses for some of the equipment to get as much in as I could. Here's what it looked like.
Back:
Wide grip pull downs - 4 X 10-15
Close grip pull downs - 4 X 10-12
Reverse grip pull downs - 4 X 15-20
Then I laid way back on the bench and used the tower more like a rowing motion - 3 X 10-15
Then I put 60 lbs on the leg curl attachment and used it for rows
Two hand rows - 4 X 10-15
Reverse grip rows - 4 X 10-15
One hand rows - 2 X 6, 4
Neck:
I used the Grizzly Head Harness
20 lbs. - 3 sets to failure
Overall a good session I guess. It's been so long since I've been able to hit lats that I can't help but be disapointed with my performance. I felt so F***ING weak. It will come back slowly. I'm not going to push myself too hard and cause and injury though. I figure I'm going to drop it down to 20 or 30 lbs next week and just focus on form and mind/muscle connection. It'll come back to me. The rest of the session felt real good though. it was just lats that sucked.
Necromatrix
05-05-11, 3:22 pm
You did what you could, nothing to be dissapointed about with that. Muscle memory is a hell of a thing, you're strenght will come back before you know it. Keep your head up, stay angry, and the rest will come.
Bottom line is your doing it all again. Your hitting it the right way. Just make sure you get yourself enough off time as well. Your going to be really sore for the first week or 2. Awesome seeing someone hit it up straight from their home with little equipment. One hell of a way to make things work.
You did what you could, nothing to be dissapointed about with that. Muscle memory is a hell of a thing, you're strenght will come back before you know it. Keep your head up, stay angry, and the rest will come.
It's just tough to feel so weak when I was feeling strong as hell training this past four months. Not to mention moving everything we own to the new house last weekend (which I'm sure doesn't help with the soreness and weakness). After leg day tomorrow I'll take the weekend off... probably.
Bottom line is your doing it all again. Your hitting it the right way. Just make sure you get yourself enough off time as well. Your going to be really sore for the first week or 2. Awesome seeing someone hit it up straight from their home with little equipment. One hell of a way to make things work.
I thought I was hitting chest hard with the dumbbells the last four months. I saw new growth, I'm filling out. But after yesterday, I realize I need to prepare myself for a whole different type of war. And with the lats, I'm sure by next week I'll have a little more strength back after recuperating from the move last weekend. And I figure I'll just go with 30-40 lbs next week and work on muscle memory and form. Probably some static holds in the down position of the pull downs too. It'll get there. It's just sucks to feeling so weak. I appreciate all the motivation bro. Thanks.
MRmichael.hooker
05-06-11, 5:34 am
I thought I was hitting chest hard with the dumbbells the last four months. I saw new growth, I'm filling out. But after yesterday, I realize I need to prepare myself for a whole different type of war. And with the lats, I'm sure by next week I'll have a little more strength back after recuperating from the move last weekend. And I figure I'll just go with 30-40 lbs next week and work on muscle memory and form. Probably some static holds in the down position of the pull downs too. It'll get there. It's just sucks to feeling so weak. I appreciate all the motivation bro. Thanks.
Man you better be ready to see some new growth and look to your chest. Especially after not having a bench in so long. This is going to be a HUGE shock to your muscles. Keep up the hard work man.
Man you better be ready to see some new growth and look to your chest. Especially after not having a bench in so long. This is going to be a HUGE shock to your muscles. Keep up the hard work man.
No kidding bro. I hit it so hard that it still looks a little pumped two day later. I'm sore as hell today. I could barely sleep last night because it hurt to roll over. lol
MRmichael.hooker
05-06-11, 6:15 am
No kidding bro. I hit it so hard that it still looks a little pumped two day later. I'm sore as hell today. I could barely sleep last night because it hurt to roll over. lol
NICE
NICE
I'm really looking forward to my chest and back filling out more. Since I haven't had the means to train them properly, my thickness in that area has been seriously lacking. This is going to help my physique a lot. Unless I get like "contest lean", I always carry fat in my chest, under my arms and in my lower back. By training the chest (finally) it's going to help my chest fill out on top which will make the fat less noticable. Training lats (finally) is going to help make the under arm and lower back fat deposits less noticeable. I'm not looking to ever compete so I'm not too worried about getting onion thin skin. I think I'll be REAL happy with the results I'll be seeing in the next month. I just need to stop beating myself up over one bad session and start beating the S*** outta my muscles!
MRmichael.hooker
05-06-11, 7:17 am
. I just need to stop beating myself up over one bad session and start beating the S*** outta my muscles!
Everyone gets bad days. How else would you know when your having a great one if it wasn't for a couple bad ones?
Everyone gets bad days. How else would you know when your having a great one if it wasn't for a couple bad ones?
Exactly If we didn't beat ourselves up, we'd never improve. But isn't that what all Bruised Hookers say? lol
MRmichael.hooker
05-06-11, 7:28 am
Exactly If we didn't beat ourselves up, we'd never improve. But isn't that what all Bruised Hookers say? lol
hahah true
Exactly If we didn't beat ourselves up, we'd never improve.
Absolutely!
Really looking forward to training today. First leg day with proper equipment. I've now got the abilty to do leg extensions, standing leg curs, and lying leg curls. I'm gonna be on jello legs for the next week when I'm done with them.
Well, leg day never happened, so it'll have to wait until next week. The good thing is that the resaon I couldn't train is that the landlord finally sent his (not-so)handyman to fix s***. So we now have a dryer and tub/shower that works. He showed up without calling first and stayed just long enough to F***up my day. So I'm going to take the weekend to fully recover from chest and back this week before starting my new 5 day training routine on Monday (my moobs are STILL killing me from Wednesday). Plus I've got to fix the washer hookups so I can swap the landlord's washer for ours. And I've got to refinish our bathtub (my wife's decision) which by the time it cures will make for 8 days without being able to shower (can you say swamp ass anyone?).
Ed Eliason
05-07-11, 9:11 am
Here's some pictures I took today. Four months ago when I started I was at 150 lbs, now I'm a solid 203 lbs. That's 53 lbs in four months!! I didn't realize how big I've gotten until I took these pics and looked at them side by side with the other ones. Keep in mind that I did all this with just a set of dumbbells and an EZ curl bar. No bench. And I guess it's time I let the cat out of the bag about my cardio... I did it all on the Nintendo Wii Fit Plus! That's all I had to use. So I don't wanna hear anybody complain about how they can't get big because they don't have a gym membership, an elyptical, etc. Now I really can't wait to see what I can do when I get my gym set up in the garage at the new house next week. I can't even imagine what I'll be able to achieve.
http://i1095.photobucket.com/albums/i466/pierce76/4-28-11Front2.jpg
http://i1095.photobucket.com/albums/i466/pierce76/4-28-11Front1.jpg
http://i1095.photobucket.com/albums/i466/pierce76/4-28-11Front3.jpg
Wow man, that's one hell of a transformation! Great work!
Wow man, that's one hell of a transformation! Great work!
Thanks bro. It feels good. Now I hope the current pictures will turn into the "before" pics that I'll be embarassed of in 4 more months!
I found my blender and had my first mass shake in a week. Damn I missed those. I decided on my new training schedule, this is what it will look like starting Monday.
Monday - Biceps and Triceps
Tuesday - Shoulders and Traps
Wednesday - Back and Neck
Thursday - Chest
Friday - Legs
Saturday - Off
Sunday - Off
I'll give this a shot and see how sore I am and adjust accordingly. Can't wait to start this new one.
chuckzilla
05-07-11, 5:49 pm
bruiser, your training schedule looks good but will your shoulder workout be ok after doing tricep the day before? have a good weekend big man then hit it hard starting monday.
bruiser, your training schedule looks good but will your shoulder workout be ok after doing tricep the day before? have a good weekend big man then hit it hard starting monday.
I think the shoulders should be fine. I always trained them after arm day before. We'll see with the new routine if that changes becasue since I got my bench I'll be changing up my movements as well. I'll be able to add some close grip bench press and tricep pushdowns to the arm sessions. I'm REALLY looking forward to arm day Monday. I haven't had a preacher curl attachment in 3 1/2 years. I can finally do my "Bruiser's Bicep Blowout".
zubda345
05-08-11, 10:15 am
I found my blender and had my first mass shake in a week. Damn I missed those. I decided on my new training schedule, this is what it will look like starting Monday.
Monday - Biceps and Triceps
Tuesday - Shoulders and Traps
Wednesday - Back and Neck
Thursday - Chest
Friday - Legs
Saturday - Off
Sunday - Off
I'll give this a shot and see how sore I am and adjust accordingly. Can't wait to start this new one.
Do u intend to have 2 days off in a row or u just want to see how it goes?? don't u think U should have an off day on web work monday, tuesday --- friday, saturday???
Or like:
Monday on
Tuesday off
Wednesday on
Thursday on
Friday off
Saturday on
What do u think???
Looks like a solid split brother. Mass shakes ... yum!
Do u intend to have 2 days off in a row or u just want to see how it goes?? don't u think U should have an off day on web work monday, tuesday --- friday, saturday???
Or like:
Monday on
Tuesday off
Wednesday on
Thursday on
Friday off
Saturday on
What do u think???
I like having the two days off in a row. When I've done a split where I have only one day off at a time, I always ended up taking more time off because I've always taken it as needed. So with two days in a row, I can stick to a 5 day schedule easier.
Themostocles
05-08-11, 11:26 pm
All my shakes are mass shakes >>
Sent PM.
My shakes are usually RG but have replaced my night time shake with 1 scoop Ultra whey / 1 scoop Banana Real Gains. Just till I run out of UW.
G;ad you found that Blender!
zubda345
05-09-11, 2:50 am
I like having the two days off in a row. When I've done a split where I have only one day off at a time, I always ended up taking more time off because I've always taken it as needed. So with two days in a row, I can stick to a 5 day schedule easier.
I mostly hate to have 2 days off in a row...
Well, lets see how it goes for u
MRmichael.hooker
05-09-11, 5:18 am
Overall a good session I guess. It's been so long since I've been able to hit lats that I can't help but be disapointed with my performance. I felt so F***ING weak. It will come back slowly. I'm not going to push myself too hard and cause and injury though. I figure I'm going to drop it down to 20 or 30 lbs next week and just focus on form and mind/muscle connection. It'll come back to me. The rest of the session felt real good though. it was just lats that sucked.
Hamstring curls on Friday... went up to 30lbs! Trust me, it sucks getting over an injury, especially when your use to using heavier weights. Shit, i use to use the whole rack for sets of 8-10. Now, there are 65 yearold women using more weight than me! Doesn't matter, i'd rather get over the injury safe and effectively instead of letting my ego take over and re-tear it. Playing it smart is the best thing you can do bro, good job for leavin your ego out of the gym. Pretty sure I read about that in The Studies of a Bruised Hooker
All my shakes are mass shakes >>
HAHAHA. The difference between my PWO shake and my mass shake is that I add 3 eggs and 4 Tbsn of milled flax seed to my mass shake. I don't want that in my PWO because the fiber and fats slows down protein uptake. So I really look forard to my off day mass shake! I'm looking for a bigger blender to handle it all better. It's just about a 1/2 gallon when it's done right.
Themostocles
05-09-11, 6:46 am
Dear lord, that is some serious quantity... But then again, Im not a hardgainer
Sent PM.
My shakes are usually RG but have replaced my night time shake with 1 scoop Ultra whey / 1 scoop Banana Real Gains. Just till I run out of UW.
G;ad you found that Blender!
Thanks for the PM man. Good points.
I've been noticing something weird. When I have my shake at bedtime (8-9pm) I wake up at 4-5am starving! When I don't have my shake at bedtime, I'm fine and won't be hungry until 7-8am. WTF?! You ever notice this?
The other day after I trained chest for the first time in 3 1/2 years, I came in and couldn't find the blender. I was SOOOO PISSED!! I started stomping around the kitchen and screaming, "A weight bench but no blender?! What's the F***ING point?!" Now since finding the blender, that tantrum has become a joke in our house. Our 5 year old son (who has Autism) is non-verbal and only has a handful of words. But he still is now able to raise his arms over his head like a gorilla and yell "grrrr... no blernder... grrrrrr.. daddy angry... grrrrrrrr". I almost s*** myself when he did it. God I love that kid.