Adone's Journal

[Warboss Alex]

March 21st:
Bench Press: 121lbs x 7; 130lbs x 6; 134lbs x 5; 134lbs x 4; 130lbs x 5; 130lbs x 5;

March 27th:
Bench Press: 121lbs x 10; 130lbs x 9; 134lbs x 6; 130lbs x 5;

One extra rep isn't much progress. In fact I'd say you're going backwards. Do 2x6 or 2x5 and try to add weight every workout or every other workout. You do a lot of work but you don't need that much..

 

[manuva]

March 21st:
Bench Press: 121lbs x 7; 130lbs x 6; 134lbs x 5; 134lbs x 4; 130lbs x 5; 130lbs x 5;

March 27th:
Bench Press: 121lbs x 10; 130lbs x 9; 134lbs x 6; 130lbs x 5;

One extra rep isn't much progress. In fact I'd say you're going backwards. Do 2x6 or 2x5 and try to add weight every workout or every other workout. You do a lot of work but you don't need that much..

He simply needs more recovery time. If you look back he's doing some pretty stupid stuff - training shoulders on consecutive days etc. I tried telling him but it's a waste of time. I wish I was young enough to know it all lol.

 

[Adone]

March 21st:
Bench Press: 121lbs x 7; 130lbs x 6; 134lbs x 5; 134lbs x 4; 130lbs x 5; 130lbs x 5;

March 27th:
Bench Press: 121lbs x 10; 130lbs x 9; 134lbs x 6; 130lbs x 5;

One extra rep isn't much progress. In fact I'd say you're going backwards. Do 2x6 or 2x5 and try to add weight every workout or every other workout. You do a lot of work but you don't need that much..

Thanks for your advice, both Alex and Manuva. I know I'm not working out properly and I'm sure you guys know a lot more than I do, but I sometimes feel like I should workout everyday. I mean, sometimes I workout on, say, Monday and the next day I feel great and I have a great urge to workout again. I don't know why, but it is this way. Usually, people are pretty tired for a couple of days after their workout, but often I'm not. And the strange thing is that I go to failure in almost every set I do.


To Warboss Alex: when you say that I should do 2x6, do you mean 2 sets of 6 reps each OR 6 sets of 2 reps each? Isn't only 2 sets too few?

Thanks to both of you guys for the help!

 

[Warboss Alex]

Thanks for your advice, both Alex and Manuva. I know I'm not working out properly and I'm sure you guys know a lot more than I do, but I sometimes feel like I should workout everyday. I mean, sometimes I workout on, say, Monday and the next day I feel great and I have a great urge to workout again. I don't know why, but it is this way. Usually, people are pretty tired for a couple of days after their workout, but often I'm not. And the strange thing is that I go to failure in almost every set I do.


To Warboss Alex: when you say that I should do 2x6, do you mean 2 sets of 6 reps each OR 6 sets of 2 reps each? Isn't only 2 sets too few?

Thanks to both of you guys for the help!

Working out releases feel-good endorphins, that's why you feel great.It's a good thing! - but it doesn't mean your body is ready for more exercise.

2 x 6 is far from too few. I'd say it's bordering on too much. Remember you (should be) pushing your max weight here, how many sets can you do with your 6rm with good form? Not many - and there's no point in extra doing sets with lighter weights, they don't achieve anything except increasing your recovery time (by breaking down even more an already broken down muscle)

I can't recall whether you train at home or not so I'm not sure what exercises you have available to you, but you should do a few more of the core movements. Where are the deadlifts?

 

[Adone]

Working out releases feel-good endorphins, that's why you feel great.It's a good thing! - but it doesn't mean your body is ready for more exercise.

2 x 6 is far from too few. I'd say it's bordering on too much. Remember you (should be) pushing your max weight here, how many sets can you do with your 6rm with good form? Not many - and there's no point in extra doing sets with lighter weights, they don't achieve anything except increasing your recovery time (by breaking down even more an already broken down muscle)

I can't recall whether you train at home or not so I'm not sure what exercises you have available to you, but you should do a few more of the core movements. Where are the deadlifts?

Ok, I'll stick with the 2 x 6. Should I do that with every exercise, or just the Bench?

I train at home and I have a declinable/inclinable bench, a straight barbell, an EZ barbell and a set of dumbells. I've been doing squats recently, but I forgot to take notes of the weights lifted so I didn't post them. I'll try to deadlift with good form, but it seems really difficult to get it.

Another couple of questions for you:

1. Do you think I would benefit from adding decline/incline bench or, since my lifts are pretty low yet, I should stick to the basic flat bench press?

2. How many times a week should I bench, squat and pressing when doing the 2 x 6 approach? Don't tell me to listen to my body, because it would mean to workout 2 days in a row

 

[Warboss Alex]

You actually have a decent setup for the core exercises. Do you have a squat rack though? Given what you have available: (if you were training at a gym I'd give you a different routine but this will do for now)

DAY 1: BACK/BICEPS
deadlifts 2 x 5-6 or 1 x 10
rows 2 x 8-10 (for lat width, either db or bb)
whichever bi exercise you like 1-2 x 8-15 (preferably 10+ reps here)
forearms 1 x 10-15

DAY 3: CHEST/TRICEPS/SHOULDERS
(two bench variations, one bb and one db, I'd start with incline db and decline bb) 2 x 6
skullcrushers 1-2 x 10-15
shoulder exercise of your choice (no laterals please) 1 x 10-12

DAY 5: LEGS/SHOULDERS
squats 1-2 x 4-6
squats 1 x 20+ (to failure, should be around the 20 rep mark - if you can make it to 50 go to 50 and up the weight next time!)
abs however you like
okay, only three exercises.. this can be your 'easy' day

Cardio on your offdays (and training days if necessary).

Let's have a looksie at your eats now.

 

[Adone]

You actually have a decent setup for the core exercises. Do you have a squat rack though? Given what you have available: (if you were training at a gym I'd give you a different routine but this will do for now)

DAY 1: BACK/BICEPS
deadlifts 2 x 5-6 or 1 x 10
rows 2 x 8-10 (for lat width, either db or bb)
whichever bi exercise you like 1-2 x 8-15 (preferably 10+ reps here)
forearms 1 x 10-15

DAY 3: CHEST/TRICEPS/SHOULDERS
(two bench variations, one bb and one db, I'd start with incline db and decline bb) 2 x 6
skullcrushers 1-2 x 10-15
shoulder exercise of your choice (no laterals please) 1 x 10-12

DAY 5: LEGS/SHOULDERS
squats 1-2 x 4-6
squats 1 x 20+ (to failure, should be around the 20 rep mark - if you can make it to 50 go to 50 and up the weight next time!)
abs however you like
okay, only three exercises.. this can be your 'easy' day

Cardio on your offdays (and training days if necessary).

Let's have a looksie at your eats now.

Thank you very much, Alex!
Just a couple of things:

1. Since my arms are already pretty big compared to the rest of my body, I'd ditch them for now. Would that be good or do you feel that I should work them out nevertheless?

2. Would it be good to do pullovers instead of skullcrashers, in order to hit my lats, since apart from rows, they are the only exercise I can do for them?

3. Is it ok to do millies as a shoulder exercise?

4. Am I supposed to reach failure every set or just on my final set?



For what concerns my diet, I don't have a meal plan set up, so I'll let you know what I eat today:


7:30 - a cup of milk with chocolate
9:00 - tuna sandwich
11:30 - tuna sandwich
13:30 - mcdonald's hamburger
14:30 - pasta with some meat
15:30 - a glass of milk
17:00 - a chicken leg
18:00 - milk with protein powder
19:00 - milk with protein powder
20:00 - whatever my mother cooks
21:30 - no-fat yogurt
22:30 - no-fat yogurt and a glass of milk

What does this look like?

 

[newbie81]

1.You don't need to train arms. Just do rows/chinups/pullups for biceps, bench/mil press for triceps.

2. do chinups/pullups & all kind of rows for your lats, you don't need pullovers.

3. Yes military press is good, try different sorts of overhead presses: 1 arm, behind neck, push press,....

4. No you do not need failure, never. You need progress (reps/weight/...)


-peace;

 

[Warboss Alex]

1. You must be the first guy (besides myself actually) I know who doesn't wanna train arms, lol. If you're happy with your arm development just do one set, but I still think you should do it. If your arms are a strong bodypart, make them even stronger, you know?

2. Skullcrushers are a tricep exercise on tricep day, not interchangeable with lat pullovers (db tricep pullovers are another matter). For lats you have rows, which will give you more growth than pullovers. You have three variations of rows: bb rows, db rows and 2-handed db rows .. that should keep you going for a long time. Take each exercise to its max then mess with the sets/reps.

3. Sure thing. To ear level only for safety purposes.

4. Just aim for however many reps you need. If you need 6 on the bench and fail at 5 or know you won't get 6 and give up at 5, fine, get 6 next time. If you hit failure you hit failure. If you don't, you don't. Just make sure it's not easy and you're progressing all the time. If you have a spotter some exercises you can force-rep yourself to the reps (i.e. bench variations), that's fine by me as long as you're getting at least half the reps yourself.

7:30 - a cup of milk with chocolate
9:00 - tuna sandwich
11:30 - tuna sandwich
13:30 - mcdonald's hamburger
14:30 - pasta with some meat
15:30 - a glass of milk
17:00 - a chicken leg
18:00 - milk with protein powder
19:00 - milk with protein powder
20:00 - whatever my mother cooks
21:30 - no-fat yogurt
22:30 - no-fat yogurt and a glass of milk

What does this look like?

My breakfast.

 

[Warboss Alex]

2. do chinups/pullups & all kind of rows for your lats, you don't need pullovers.
-peace;

he trains at home, he only has rows available. but they're fine.

as for the failure thing, well, everyone has their opinion.

 

[newbie81]

he trains at home, he only has rows available. but they're fine.

as for the failure thing, well, everyone has their opinion.

So? I also train at home.

rows are fine idd:
-pendlay row
-bb row
-yates row
-1 hand db rows
-2 hand db rows
...

variations are endless, but one needs chinups/pullups to (vertical + horizontal plane).

-peace.

 

[Warboss Alex]

So? I also train at home.

rows are fine idd:
-pendlay row
-bb row
-yates row
-1 hand db rows
-2 hand db rows
...

variations are endless, but one needs chinups/pullups to (vertical + horizontal plane).

-peace.

what I meant is that he doesn't have a pullup bar. if he has a rack then rack chins would be a good choice.

what's idd ? some geeky techspeak I don't know about?

 

[Adone]

My breakfast.

Ok and you also have to take into consideration that I've just cycled up the hills for almost 2 hours HARD and yesterday I played a soccer match. Should I double my intake?

 

[Warboss Alex]

Ok and you also have to take into consideration that I've just cycled up the hills for almost 2 hours HARD and yesterday I played a soccer match. Should I double my intake?

you should quadruple it. seriously.

you're currently eating below maintainance.

for someone like yourself, a 40/40/20 diet would be good.. lotsa carbs for energy to get through your sports. you may have to add lots of fat for calories to gain weight though.

what's your height and weight right now?

 

[Adone]

you should quadruple it. seriously.

you're currently eating below maintainance.

for someone like yourself, a 40/40/20 diet would be good.. lotsa carbs for energy to get through your sports. you may have to add lots of fat for calories to gain weight though.

what's your height and weight right now?

I'm 5'9 and my weights oscillates between 150 and 155 lbs. Am I really eating below maintance? People say that I eat too much! Would it be ok if I drank a lot of milk during the day and add some tuna? Is there any point in drinking milk and eating tuna right before going to bed?

 

[Adone]

March 29th Workout

Deadlifts: 99lbs x 6; 99lbs x 6;
Barbell Bent-Over Rows: 99lbs x 10; 99lbs x 10;
Barbell Curls: 55lbs x 10; 55lbs x 10;

I felt the deadlifts mostly in my legs and hips, I hope they won't make my waist grow bigger.
My biceps are burning because of the curls, Alex It was around a year ago I did them the last time!

 

[Warboss Alex]

your row is as much as your deadlift? get that dead moving man

150lbs means you need to go on a see food diet. get in 300-350g of protein every day (aim for 50g per meal for 6 meals a day) and then eat whatever you like til you're full. seriously. just make sure it's a lot.

you can also pound burgers, pizza etc post-workout and occasionally during the day.

make sure it's whole milk and aim to get in a gallon every day. see if that don't make you grow!

you need to do some serious eating bro.

(cue many people on this board starting crying now about fast food, whole milk etc.. they're gonna tell you to stick with tuna, brown rice and egg whites to keep your abs and all that.)

 

[Warboss Alex]

squats and deads will not make your waist grow fatter, although the size of your abs, hips and spinal erectors etc can increase your waist size.

plenty of powerlifters diet down to compete in bodybuilder shows and have perfectly small waists.

don't be a fitness model now. otherwise you'll reach 160 in five years time.

 

[Adone]

squats and deads will not make your waist grow fatter, although the size of your abs, hips and spinal erectors etc can increase your waist size.

That's the problem... My waist has gotten 5" bigger since I started training and I think that fat constitutes no more than 1" of that. The problem is that I'm starting to look somewhat stocky since I'm pretty short and if my waist keeps growing, I'll end up looking even worse.

 

[Adone]

To give you an idea, this is the kind of body I'm looking forward to reach (not that much definition is needed, obviously):

http://www.hunkmania.com/louis.htm




I think my genetics are pretty good since, when my bodyfat gets below 10%, my upper body looks like this (take into consideration that my legs sùck, so he's probably a good 15-20 lbs heavier than me)

http://www.hunkmania.com/sebastian.htm



I know, I know, those guys are male strippers, but who can have a better-looking body than someone who earns his wage by looking good?