Age: 26
Height: 6' 7''
Weight: 246 lbs

I've lifted weights off and on for years, but just got into it seriously in mid-December.

GOALS: In mid-December, my goal was to be 235lbs by June, but I beat that pretty quick, so new goal is 250 by April 15th, then I'll do my summer cut. I cut pretty easily, so I can wait till the last minute.

3/5 Chest & Shoulders

Bench:
135 x 12 (warmup)
160 x 10
185 x 10
225 x 6
135 x 20

Incline DB:
50's x 12
55's x 10
65's x 8
70's x 6

DB Lateral Raise:
I line up 25's, 15's, 10's and 8's. I do 8 reps with the 25's, then immediately pick up the 15's and do 8, then the 10's, etc. It's like a big superset, really get a great burn. Long story short, I did that twice.

Cable Front Delt Raise:
20 x 15
30 x 10

Decline Chest Press: (Hammer Strength)
4 plates x 15
4 plates x 10

Did some random Triceps stuff at the end too.

Here is my list of supplements, as a reference. (and up for critique)

Supps (March)

- EAS Phosphagen HP - 5.25g before and 5.25g after lifting
- Russian Bear - 2 tablets w/breakfast, another 2 at lunch (link below)
http://www.vitaminshoppe.com/store/en/brow....jsp?id=VP-1002
- Fish Oil Caps - 3 per day, at mealtimes
- ON Whey Protein - PWO and one in the afternoon
- Muscle Milk - Before Bed
- Vitamin E - 1 cap in the morning
- Z-Mass PM - 30 min before bed

My diet is OK, but not 100% disciplined. I have a shake and some oatmeal or cereal w/banana for breakfast, snack on mixed nuts, cottage cheese, etc, lunch varies (burritos, salads, sandwiches, etc) more snacking, then dinner varies as well. Once I move from NYC to CA (August) I'll be focusing more on cooking, since I'm assuming I'll have a better equipped kitchen than the one in my current shoebox of an apartment.

3/7 Back & Bi's

Lat Pulldown Wide Grip
115 x 15
160 x 12
190 x 8
205 x 4

Cable Row
130 x 12
160 x 12
190 x 8
205 x 6

Straight Bar Wide Grip Curl
55 x 15
75 x 12
90 x 8

Lat Pulldown Close Grip (palms in)
115 x 15
145 x 10
175 x 8

Hammer Strength Iso Lateral High Row
230 x 8
230 x 8

EZ Curl Close Grip
55 x 12
65 x 10
65 x 10

Felt pretty good this morning. Think maybe I did a couple too many excercises, could have maybe done less and gone heavier, but went pretty hard and felt strong.

Caught salmonella from some bad chicken wings, really put a damper on my bulking routine. Was puking, body pain, etc. Really bad times. I'm going to get back in the saddle tomorrow and I'll update the log then.

Hey man...good luck on the Journal. It has really helped me in achieving my goal on this bulk. Just stick with it and know that we ARE reading it

Thanks bro, I really appreciate it.

Didn't hit the gym this weekend, but did this little home routine on Sat to help beat back the guilt

150 Pushups
10 sets of 15

DB Alt Curls
30's x 15
30's x 15
30's x 15
30's x 15

DB Hammer Curls
30's x 12
30's x 12
30's x 12
30's x 12

(30's are all I have at home)

Back in the gym tonight for Legs & Traps, can't wait.

3/12 Legs & Traps

Squat
135 x 12 (warmup)
185 x 12
225 x 8
255 x 6
275 x 4

BB Shrug
135 x 15
185 x 12
225 x 8

Upright Row
75 x 15
95 x 12
115 x 8
135 x 5

Quad Extension
100 x 12
140 x 12
180 x 8

Shrug Supersets (set with DB, then immediately grab 4lb plates)
70 x 10
45 x 20
70 x 10
45 x 20
70 x 10
45 x 20

The 275 was a PB for squats. So was 225 for BB shrug and the 135 upright row.

The reason for that is b/c I've only just started doing squats and BB shrugs, so anything I do will be a PB.

Upright row is legit though, I've been doing that lift since I was a kid.

Starting out with doing squats was a hard process for me and my CNS. I was always scared to go heavy on the squats but threw that out and told myself I can't be afraid to go heavy anymore. As you add weights to the bar your body will get used to the load after every session. It's a fun processes, at least it has been for me.

Thanks bro, I really appreciate it. Couple things, what is CNS? Also, do you find loading the bar up on squats to be slightly intimidating, since it's not like bench where you've got a spotter to pick up where you leave off. Like last night, all I could think about is what would happen if I god-forbid couldn't get the weight up.

CRAP... I just posted a long ass reply and it errored out on the post. Here it goes again...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_nervous_system

It's pretty much the brain and the spinal cord. You break that down to much and you'll be lifting like a 90 year old grandma. Like lifting max effort style on the deadlift twice or even once a week consistantly will eventually break it down to where you'll never add more weight or even go down in weight.

I also believe it is the CNS that restricts you from lifting a lot more weight then you might actually be able to do. Your CNS says damn that weight is fucking heavy and there is no way you can handle it so it shuts down from trying so the CNS thinks that it is protecting you. Like last week I did 405 for one on a high box squat for the first time ever and my body felt like it was being crushed by an elephant. But my CNS got to feel the weight and get used to it. This week the blasted through 405 and made it up to 455 and 475 before my body felt the exact same way. Now, I know my muscles could do more but I felt like I could feel my CNS shutting down so I stopped and left 500 for next week.

I find it very much intimidating but realize again it is a visual thing that my brain, part of the CNS, is trying to protect me. I never used to do more than two plates on each side for the squat as I would get scared looking at the weight. I finally told myself that I was a pansy and got past it. Then I got to three plates and thought that it was scary and now the same thing with four plates. It's something that the body and you have to get used to and then it's nothing until you get to the next hurdle.

If all you have is a squat rack with out adjustable pins then make sure you have a spotter that knows how to spot the squat.

http://www.hksi.org.hk/scn/tg_safety.htm
shows on the bottom left picture a person spotting the squat. Even better would be two more guys on the sides to grab the bar also.

If you have adjustable pins or bars like in a power rack then put them to just under where you end up in the bottom possition on the squat or even GM. That way all you have to do when you miss is bring it back down a few more inches. That's what I end up doing on my max effort days when I work up to a miss. I ment to take a picture of the gyms "power rack" as it's a peice of crap but at least it gives me something to bring the bar to when in trouble.

I can't stress enough also how important I feel that doing a lot of abs, side bends, glute ham raises, and hyper extensions have helped me out now.

Thanks for the advice bro. I'm familiar with the CNS, just never heard it abbreviated that way.

As for the squatting, I'm doing it with a bar on my back, and no spotter, so 1RM and so forth are kinda out of the question at the moment. Can you post a picture or a link to this "pin" device you speak of?

Actually in that link showing the spotter the person is in a power rack and has the pins set pretty low. Just raise that up so it is just below the point where the bar bottoms out so all you have to do is go lower or do a GM like move only a few inches more. With that setup I have no fear of going for a one rep max.

Here is my ideal power racks in regards to pin holes and construction

http://www.flexcart.com/members/elitefts/d...cid=167&pid=681
http://www.flexcart.com/members/elitefts/d...cid=167&pid=921

Ohhh, OK, I'm familiar with those.

Unfortunately, my gym doesn't have one, so I'm gonna have to stay away from my 1RM on squat, enough to remain safe w/o a spotter. That, or I can use the smith machine to go heavy.

Stay far away from the smith machine. IMO, it keeps you from doing what your body needs to do naturally to protect itself and should never be used especially for going heavy. I wonder if you have something like what I have at my gym that can still work. I'll look on the internet to see if I can find it or I'll take a picture of it on Thursday on my next workout.

Okay here it is except the gym I go to has it in white. It doesn't have the best adjustments for the catch bar or what ever it is called but it's all I've got there to help assure me that I'm not going to go down and hit the floor. I think there's somewhere between 3 and 4 inch difference between the different levels.

Attached Image

That's what my gym has. I don't see how that is comforting in any way though. The catch is like 3 feet from the floor. I'm 6' 7'' so by the time I'd be down that low, I'd already be fucked, yknow.

I modified the picture up above. Those catches can be unhooked and moved up and down. If you don't seem them already hooked in then look around for them because someone probably took them off and laid them down on the floor. They will go high enough for them to be a few inches below the bar when you at the bottom of your squat.

Dude, thanks for bearing with me. Hopefully that mental edge of having those there will help my squat poundage increase as my body gets familiar with the lift. Gotta get way more than 275 up, weighing in at 250 these days. I'm hoping it'll progress week by week with practice.

Yeah, no problem. Adjust it and test it out first with just the bar and practice what a miss will be like and having to resort to landing the bar on the catch bar. It will help out a lot but the visual look of the weight will still seem like a lot until you actually do it several times. You'll get there no problem, I'm 100% sure. It's not about what I or anyone else can do it's what you can do and hitting those PRs.


EDIT: I can't stress enough again one more time how much the GHR, Hypers, abs, and side bends have helped me.