Hypertrophy Phase - Day 1

Warmups: normal shit, was done in about 15 minutes

Squats... total failure.  Cannot Squat.

Barbell Hack Squats... Fell Over onto the Bar

120 Second Rests:

Deadlift
275x15
275x12
275x10

Leg Press
180x15
180x15
180x15
180x15

Calves on Leg Press

180x15
180x15
180x15
180x15

Steep Decline Abs
15; 12; 12

Notes
So my hip flexor is totally fucked.  I cannot squat.  Going down is fine, but the second I raise out of the hole I get shooting pain.  Frustrating as hell.  Apparently the 185 pound squats did something to it last week.  I guess I should have been more responsible and eased back into with 135. lol. Blah, this kind of puts a damper on my new routine.  Massive squat volume = massive growth.  Just kind of played it by ear and did high rep deadlifts because it was the only non-pussy thing I could think of.  The 120 second rest periods were crazy hard with the high reps deads. I had great pop on all reps, but it was insanely taxing on my aerobic system.

Diet is officially back 100%.  Actually 110% because I've never been this strict before.  I will be doing a modified backloading approach like before, except this time I'm making it more Paleo friendly.  I read Paleo Solution by Robb Wolf over the weekend and a lot of stuff he says makes sense.  As such, I'm completely cutting out: all wheat/gluten, artificial sweeteners, and dairy.  My carb-ups will be fruit and nice starches like sweet potatoes.  No more dirty carb-ups.

Anyways, I haven't been too far off this summer.  5-6 days out of the week I ate a low carb lunch. About half the time I ate a solid low carb dinner.  The other half I'd have a big burger and fries, etc.  Also I've drank a lot and gotten obliterated a number of times.  I've hovered between 235-238.  This morning after 3 days of low carb/gluten free I was 231.

Calories/Macros today:

Cals: 3462

Fat: 223 g

Carbs: 70 g

Fiber: 26 g

Protein:  272 g

Too many calories to lose weight.  About 800 of those calories are from oils: olive oil and coconut oil.  I need to be closer to 2600-2700 to cut and make the effort worth it.  So less almonds and less oil. And maybe a single shake during the day instead of a double.  Goal is 220, and then stay there to reset my set-point.

I'm looking at powerlifting meets in November/December. I need to start competing at 220.  Elite at 242 seems impossible for me naturally.

Pre-Routine Conditioning Day 4

So my warm-up essentially turned into my actual workout.  I got there and just decided to keep it very light.  Basically did one set of the following:

20 mins of foam rolling, followed by a few stretches
KB Getups (53, 70)
Windmills (53, 70)
Pushups
Chins
Swings (70, 3 sets)
Blast Strap Rows (5, 3 sets)
Klokav Press (bar x 20)
BB Curl (bar x 30)
BB Bench (bar x 40)
DB Rear delt (10 x 20)
Calves on Leg Press (Ultra high reps)

1.5 Mile Run home... pouring out.

Notes
Planned on doing Litnivov sprints, which are swings followed by sled sprints, but I just didn't feel like working myself into a high heartrate on a Saturday afternoon.  I'm starting pretty intense volume bodybuilding based routine on Monday.  I want to feel fresh.  Today was just enough to get my entire body loose and warm.  I feel good.

I really need to man up with the foam rolling.  Over the past 6 weeks I've consistently become a baby about it.  I always feel good when I spend considerably time rolling everything, and having the grit to work on shit that is really painful.

Another thing I've been thinking about lately is calves.  Earlier in the summer, I did a set of 315x15 squats.  I distinctly remember my calves shaking mid-set.  The next day they weren't super sore, but had that dead feeling.  Its been in the back of my mind all summer.  Its kind bizarre, when you think about it, that 95% of strength trainers neglect calves.  Its the first large muscle that actually supports you when you fucking squat or deadlift.  Calves allow you to STAND.  Also, there is horizontal movement below the knee during both squats and deadlifts.  Your calves, and tibialis anterior are certainly worked during a heavy leg set.

Any serious strength trainee essentially trains their entire body.  A powerlifter might overemphasize shit like triceps, low back, hamstrings, and everything else, but most guys still work other areas to maintain balance and have their entire body one solid piece.  Yes, the internet faggots backlashed against "curls," and then everyone realized how gay they are for hating on one of the most basic exercises that make your arms look awesome (and keeps your elbow healthy).

Why the fuck doesn't anyone work calves?  Its not an extremely taxing bodypart to exercise.  Throw some shit in at the end of leg day, and then make sure you progress.  Same as any other bodypart.

I'm working my fucking calves from now on.

Pre-Routine Conditioning Day 3

Warm-up: Foam Rolling, tons of hip circles, mountain climbers, goblet squats, windmills, more hip circles, box squats, facepulls, more box squats. (More on this below)

Chins supersetted w/ Dips
BWx5; 53x4; 53x3
BWx8; BWx8; BWx8

Pushups supersetted w/ Close Grip Cable Row
20; 20; 20
100x20; 100x20; 100x20

Notes
This is going to be my mid-week upper body training session.  Volume will be signicantly higher, but essentially this is a bodyweight oriented, high rep recovery day.  Eventually I would like to work up to 200-300 total reps, split evenly between push/pull on this day.  Chins will be bodyweight for a while, I just wanted to see where my strength was at on these.  I've been much better.

So, apprently squatting 185 pound yesterday fucked up my hip.  I could barely come out of a squat position in warmups without falling over in pain.  It doesn't hurt going down, but when I go up, I have pretty intense pain in my left hip flexor (or whatever is around there).  This is extremely disheartening to say the least.  After almost 6 weeks off, I come back, do a ridiculously light, responsible session, and today I'm in pain.  Hopefully its not going to be a big deal. But seriously, fuck this shit.  If its not better by Monday I'm just going to leg press and deadlift a shitload.  Fuck it.

Tonight I bought The Paleo Solution by Robb Wolf.  I didn't like it at first, but I'm about 100 pages in and I've already got several solid take-a-ways.  I think I'll do a write up sometime this weekend when I'm finished.

Pre-routine Conditioning Day 2

Warmup: foam rolling, hip circles, mountain climbers, goblet squats, windmills.

Squat
185x10
185x10

RDL
185x10
185x10

Seated Calves
45x15; 45x15; 45x15

Decline Situps
12; 12; 12

Notes
First time squatting in 5-6 weeks.  I felt a little rusty, but overall I was pleased with mobility.  The point of this workout was simply to start working back into  a groove.  I kept everything incredibly light because there is not a single fucking reason in the world to do anything but that on your first day back into lifting.  That little session above is still going to give me a some soreness.  Not crippling soreness, but that would be stupid anyways.

I'm still tossing around how I'm going to approach the new routine on Monday. For the most part I'll be training for size in this next phase.  I just need to hammer out the details.

Pre-Routine Conditioning - Day 1

Medium-Close Grip Bench
185x12; 185x12; 155x12

Hammer Strength Iso Row
90x15; 140x15; 140x15

Seated DB Press
40x12; 40x12; 40x12

Seated DB Curl
30x12; 30x12; 30x12

Notes
My journal will probably be filled with light weights over the next few weeks.  Sessions are going to be in legit bodybuilding rep ranges and for strict times in between sets.  30-60 seconds depending on where I am in the program.

I'm going to do spend the next 3-4 sessions "prepping" for the true higher volume stuff, which will be considerably more volume than I have here.  I haven't thought a ton about exercise selection yet.  First  movement of the day will always be something big, but I'm not gonna be doing sessions with 3 heavy barbell lifts for now.  I plan on lifting 6x a week.

Feel Good Routine - Day 14

Conditioning

Double 70lb KB clean and Press supersetted w/ Push-ups
10 x 23
8 x 22
6 x 20

Low Sled Runs
98lbs x 70 yards
98lbs x 70 yards
70lbs x 70 yards
70lbs x 70 yards

Notes
Not  a bad little session.  Doesn't look like a ton, but a normal conditioning or training session goes like this:  walk fast 1.2 miles  in 90-100 degree heat to gym; change; do warmup which includes foam rolling, chins, windmills, goblet squats, dips, and other random mobility stuff; perform conditioning downstars; carry kettlebells up 5 flights of stairs; setup sleds from storage; perform sled runs; put sleds away; carry kettlebells back down 5 flight of stairs; grab bag; usually walk slowly home about 1.1 miles.

Point being from the time I leave work, until I get home, I'm constantly moving at a quick pace for about 90 minutes.  This ends up being a great way to sweat a ton and burn calories.  People might scoff at this, but whatever.  I start sweating when I leave work because its mid 90s, and I don't stop sweating until I'm home.  Seems to be leaning me out.  And I drink beer every night.

Feel Good Routine Day 13

Bench
185x8
185x8
185x8

Deadlift Dropset
300x20.  .  . 250x10

DB Row
100x8
100x8

Notes
Gym was ridiculously crowded tonight.  They did a group-on type special for one month at $19 bucks or something like that.  I like seeing the gym get a lot of business because its a great gym, but  it made it pretty hard to move around.  People had the barbells on the ground literally everywhere doing random shit.  So I had to do random shit as well.

Zero clue why I decided to do a high rep deadlift drop set.  Obviously light weight, but it just felt good to rip the bar off the ground, regardless of weight.  Bench I just wanted to get some light reps in.

This week has been totally fucked.  I need to be out of my place by Saturday, and literally every single apartment is falling through.  I can only do a sublet since I'm only in D.C. until December.  It is making it exceedingly difficult to find a decent place that is under $2000 a month.  This is such an expensive city.  Anyways, work-outs might be screwed for the next week.  I hope  to get on a plan by next Monday.  My plan is some pretty ridiculous volume to build some size.