Marmel75's Blueprint log...

[marmel75]

You have some killer stats! How long have you been lifting?

Thanks bro, still got a long ways to go, but feel like I am making some progress...

I began really seriously lifting towards the end of my freshman year in college and basically continued through almost the end of senior year before partially tearing my achilles tendon and being out of the gym for about 6 or 7 months...after college I kept lifting for about a year or so and then got busy with work and other things and stopped for some reason...

At the end of August it will have been about 2 years now that I have been back into it, with the last year and a half being balls to the wall into it...

The program I have used for the most part is where I give the credit to...you only lift twice a week, but the amount of weight you are lifting when you do it is pretty heavy and causes some pretty quick changes both physique wise and strength wise...

I don't really nkow what it is about only lifting twice a week, but you literally feel unstoppable when you lift. I think the static holds have something to do with overloading the Central Nervous System(CNS) with the amount of weight that your body is able to super compensate on your other lifts.

It is hard to really explain, but if you try something you will understand what I am saying. A static hold is simply pressing and holding as much weight as possible in the strongest range of motion. So it would be like keeping the weight at almost arms length and then pressing it up 2-3 inches and holding it as long as possible. You will be able to do quite a bit more than you think at first, so I would start with about 120% of your normal 1RM weight. Try and hold it between 5-15 seconds. If you hold it more than 15 seconds, the weight is too light.

Now, to see what I am talking about, do as many dips or weighted dips as you can with either bodyweight or a certain added weight. Now take about a 1 minute rest and go over and do 2 static holds with as much weight as possible...try 120% of 1RM and then on the second one try 130-140% of your 1RM. Rest about 3 minutes or so in between them. Now immediately after doing the second static hold, go over and do as many dips as you can. You should find that those dips are like lifting a feather now and you can do a LOT more reps with the same weight.

I credit static holds as one of the best things I have ever done in the weight room to build size and strength quickly. Not to mention the looks you get from other people in the gym when you are holding and pressing 600+ lbs are priceless...

They literally will explode your upper body in size and thickness. They help build up strength in your joints and connective tissuel, which helps to increase the weight you lift as well. The added benefit of being able to lift more weight directly after doing them then you would be able to before is an added bonus of tricking the CNS by forcing it to drastically increase the neurological signals it is sending to the muscle fibers due to the heavy weight being lifted. It also causes a humongous release of growth hormone, in some cases 4,000% more than normal training alone...cannot recommend these highly enough for anyone looking to quickly gain size and/or strength...

 

[marmel75]

Feast workout #10 today...

Rack Pull Static Hold: 495 lbs x 10 secs/585 x 6 secs/585 x 7 secs <--PR!!!

Figured out that I can do a lot better when using a mixed grip with this....

EDT BLOCK I(2-3 reps/5 min rest between sets)
Squats: 245 x 3/275 x 3/275 x 2/315 x near disaster/
VSquat: 4 Plates x 3
Hamstring Curl: 150 x 3/185 x 3/190 x 2<---PR!!!/185 x 2

-the near disaster happened when I got down with 315 lbs and when going back up lost my balance lurched forward and had the weighted bar roll over the top of my neck, pushing it down and then over my head onto the guards in the power rack. Decided to forget the barbell squats and go back to vsquats. Yeah I might lose a little muscle activation, but I am not willing to risk long term injury for an extra inch on my legs...not worth it to me...

Sure my neck will be very stiff tomorrow...lucky for me that area of my body is extremely thick and muscular due to the rack pulls, deadlifts and the other static holds or else I could be in the hospital or worse...

Seated Calf Raises: 240 x 10 secs/290 x 7 secs

Deadlifts: 315 x 3/315 x 6
-attempted 405 again today and got stoned again. This time I got it about 1/4 way off the ground. I am going to have to look at proper explosion up off the ground as I think I am relying too much on my upper body to pull and not enough posterior chain activation. I should be able to get that up, my glutes and hamstrings are big and strong. Just didn't feel it today on these, not sure if that incident on the squats had anything to do with it, but 315 felt heavy today when I normally can rip those no problems for 10 reps+

EDT BLOCK II(2-3 reps superset/5 mins rest between sets)

HS Ab Crunch: 130 x 3/170 x 3/190 x 3/205 x 3<---PR!!
Hyperextension: BW+70 x 3<---PR!!/BW+90 x 3<---PR!!/BW+90 x 3/BW+135 x 3<---PR!!
"Frog" Planks: 25 sec plank hold, followed by 10 alternating knee to elbow touches, followed by 25 second plank hold x 4

-Maxed out the HS Ab machine, 190 lbs + 15 lb dial...have no where to go with that anymore except more reps...Set PR's in the Hyperextension multiple times this workout, as 45lbs was just way too easy. Used a 45 and 25 plate the first time, was too easy but hard to hold onto because of the size difference, then upped it to 2 45lb plates, which again was really easy, did 2 sets with those, then added a 3rd 45lb plate, and found that was pretty easy as well, although it was hard holding all of them without them falling.

Overall not too thrilled with this workout, especially the squats and deads failing. I should be able to pull more weight than I am based on the size of my muscles in these areas. I have huge quads(29"), thick hamstrings and a pure muscle butt. These should relate to a hell of a lot better poundages than what I am doing on both squats and deads...going to look into this further nd see what I find...

 

[marmel75]

Did some HIIT cardio Thursday night and then rested Friday and Saturday as I have been doing the past 2 weeks...

Feast Workout #11 was today. Last two workouts in this stage are today and Wednesday---both are shorter workouts designed to set new 1 rep maxes in lifts.

Decline Bench Static Hold: 485 lbs x 10 secs/575 lbs x 5 secs

1 Arm DB /Barbell Row:

60 DB x 10
80 DB x 8
115 BB x 6
135 BB x 4
155 BB x 3
175 BB x 1 <---PR!!
195 BB x 1 <---PR!!

Set back to back PR's again and likely could have gotten at least 215 lbs up but I ran out of time because I had to be somewhere with the fam and had to leave the gym at that time(I was already about 5 mins late)...Absolutely cranked 195 lbs up with no issues, but damn is my back feling it now...can tell there will be hellified DOMs the next day or two...

Wednesday will be doing squats and trying to set a new 1 RM in that, then will be transitioning into the "cruise" phase of the program for 2-3 weeks where I tone down the weights a little bit and let my body take a well deserved breather...

 

[marmel75]

Feast Workout #12

Started following a paleo/warrior diet configuration the last two days for a few reasons:

its just easier for me to do it and not bring in 6 to 7 containers of food a day to work, it doesn't bother me at all hunger wise, and allows me to burn fat for long stretches of the day...however, my body responded to this by dropping 5 pounds in those 2 days, putting me back at 188 lbs now...definitely not happy about that, although I think a couple of those pounds are fat as I am definitely seeing ab definition starting to come out, especially ni the top 2 sets of abs...

Sad to see this feast over with after today...have really cranked up the bar on my stength a lot and am really looking forward to doing it all over again in about 3 weeks or so...

Today was squat day, and my attempt at a new 1 RM...

Barbell Squats:
75 lbs x 10
155 lbs x 8
195 lbs x 6
225 lbs x 4
245 lbs x 3
265 lbs x 1
295 lbs x 1 <---PR!!!
300 lbs x 1 <---PR!!!

-Had my buddy who is director of personal training at the gym watching me to make sure I didn't have a relapse of last week's almost neck breaking incident...he is actually the one who told me to go for 300 lbs after I hit my goal of 295 because I got it so easy...300 was just a touch harder but he never touched me at all, I got way down depth wise and even paused at the bottom before coming back up under control. I honestly think I could have nailed 315 this week, but I'll take the 300 and move on to chasing 400 lbs for my next run...

Rack Pulls: 495 lbs x 10 seconds/605 lbs x 2 seconds <---PR!!!

Barely got 605 up, but got it and held it for a few seconds...tried to get it up again and couldn't...I'll take it...

That was it for the workout today...got cardio tomorrow and then Friday/Saturday off in anticiptaion of starting my cruise phase of the program where I drop the weight down and let my body take a breather for a few weeks...

 

[Krueg]

Nice job on the PR Squat! Im sure that was a scary moment, but you gotta roll with the punches.

 

[marmel75]

Nice job on the PR Squat! Im sure that was a scary moment, but you gotta roll with the punches.

Thanks bro! Yeah, it was pretty scary to have 315 pounds come crashing down on the back of your neck unexpectedly...luckily those static holds and deadlifts have me pretty thick up in that area, so no damage other than some sorenes for a few days...

 

[marmel75]

OK, today I decided to mix it up a little bit and do one of my favorite lifting/MRT routines, which I call "Death by Deadlifts". Basically, you do 5 sets of 12 reps in under 15 minutes. If you have never tried this, you gotta try it...your heart feels like it is going to beat out of your chest...

Barbell DL:
225 lbs x 12(1 min rest)
275 lbs x 12(1 min rest)
295 lbs x 12(1 min rest)
315 lbs x 12(1.5 min rest)
325 lbs x 6/285 lbs x 6

Completely ran out of gas on the last set after 6...even after a 15 or 20 second pause that bar wasn't budging again...decided to drop some weight so I could get the reps done...

Not bad considering I am following a paleo/warrior diet set up right now where I have some eggs and spinach leaves in the morning, then don't eat again until after I get out of the gym at night and pile down about 1600 cals...still only getting around 2,000 cals for the day, which is well below maintenance and likely explains why my weight is back into the 180s again...

That being said, I continue to get stronger even as I get lighter, which is definitely a good sign, but the program is basically designed to act as a built in recomp over the 6 weeks, while actually getting you bigger and stronger as well, and it does what it is supposed to do...

 

[marmel75]

OK, rested up Friday and Saturday like normal, was planning on lifting Sunday but had a few things happening which prevented that from happening:

1) Went out til 4am Saturday night
2) Got in fight with wife about my friend sending me a text while I was in the shower asking me "if my ass was still sore from all the girls grabbing it while we were out the night before", and she read it because I thought it was her brother texting me again regarding Fantasy Football draft(we had been texting a few times before I got in the shower), so I told her to go see what he said. Then she burst in and hysterically started going off on me about his text...talk about bad timing...she was crying and crying and crying about it...that I don't love her anymore, that I don't want to be married anymore, that all I want is to f**k these younger girls because they are always flirting with me and hitting on me, etc, etc...played it pretty cool...showed little emotion, let her talk, then only apologized for hurting her feelings and told I was not apologizing for what happened, that she was blowing it out of proportion and that she needed to stop being so insecure. She got over it after about 2 or 3 hours of me leaving her alone. Says she doesn't want me going out anymore to the clubs, I said whatever, I am a grown man and I'll do what I want basically...
3) Had parents over for dinner to celebrate Mom's birthday.

Between these 3 things going on, I was pretty much exhausted and in no shape to do any sort of exercising...

So, fast forward to today...

Got up at 6:45am and hit the gym for an HIIT cardio session...5 min warmup, 15 min HIIT at level 12 incline/10 resistence on elliptical machine. 1 min high, 30 secs to 1 min low(depended on where heartbeat was...a few times had to rest the full minute as I don't like my heartrate going above a certain level at my age)

Got home from work and hit the gym again to start Day 1 of the "Cruise" part of the program, basically convincing my body to relax and that everything is normal...maintenance calories, maintenance weights, nothing drastic.

Bench Press Warmup: 45lbs x 10/95 lbs x 8/135lbs x 6/155lbs x 4/175lbs x 2

Bench Press: 185lbs x 5 x 5 x 5/190lbs x 5/195lbs x 5

Military Press(Smith Machine): 85lbs x 5/105lbs x 5/125lbs x 5 x 5/130lbs x 5

Close Grip Static Hold: 445lbs x 12 seconds/535lbs x 7 seconds

Nothing really drastic here, everything was pretty easy..even the static hold wasn't overly exerting, although I was pretty surprised at the ease at which got 535 lbs up after doing the workout, especially since I am following the Warriro Diet where I eat a small meal in the morning and then don't eat again until after I lift. Usually statics are done before the workout begins...

Tomorrow is some HIIT followed by lower body workout on Wednesday

 

[marmel75]

Lower body cruise workout #2 today...
Cannot keep weight on, as I am down to 187.2 lbs this morning, within 3 lbs of my lowest weight when I was actively attempting to cut...getting frustrating and crazy, although bodyfat seems to be coming down nicely...following modified paleo diet, cutting all grains, legumes, corn, rice and dairy out, but eating lots of potatoes(carbs gotta come from somewhere and trying to eat that many apples and bananas every day is not happening). Weight just seems to be falling off, no matter how much I eat, am thinking it might have been potential inflammation from the grains due to their "phytic acid" levels...grains and other things high in phytic acid are actually "anti-nutrients" that steal more nutrients from the body than they give you....diets high in these(most people's) have been linked to increase in diseases, esepcially chronic adult diseases...on a side note, my zinc challenge that was low to very low 3 weeks ago(tests bodily zinc levels), is now good after following the paleo diet for 2 weeks...not sure if they are related as I also have been pulling heavy metals as well which block zinc receptor sites, but I would have to bet the low phytic acid content of the food I am eating is helping...

That was a public service announcement, now onto the log...

Warmup Squats:
45lbs x 10
95lbs x 5
135lbs x 4
205lbs x 3
225lbs x 2

Squats:
245 x 5 x 5 x 5 x 5 x 5
-pretty easy, likely could have gone up 10 or 15 lbs...was getting super deep on these squats...happy with progress I am making on these as I am able to drive off my heels much better now which makes getting up out of the hole a lot easier...

Leg Press Static Hold: 710lbs x 10 secs/1070lbs x 10 secs/1430lbs x 10 secs /1700lbs x 10 secs
-could have probably kept going as the last one was still pretty easy, but needed to keep the workout moving as time was becoming a factor...

Seated Cable Row:180lbs x 5/200lbs x 5 x 5 x 5/220lbs x 5
-really easy, even at 220 lbs, and it only goes to 260 lbs...back has gotten exceptionally strong the past few months...

Machine Curl Static Hold: 165lbs x 10 secs/210lbs x 9 secs
-maxed machine out, no more weight to use and it was still pretty easy...

Seated Calf Raise Static Hold: 220lbs x 10 secs/290lbs x 5 secs

Leg "L" Ab Static Hold: BW+45lbs x 10 secs/BW+70lbs x 5 secs
-used dip belt and went to apparatus you can do leg raises on, and held my legs directly out in front of me as long as possible in the form of an "L"...holy crap was that rough on the abs, especially with the added weight...

 

[marmel75]

Was planning to do this workout last night, but got a last minute invite for a fantasy football league and draft was last night. So that moved it to this morning. I may not be the sharpest tool in the shed, but even I could tell you running "Death By Deadlifts" is not fun at 7am on a Friday morning.

Deadlifts, 5 sets of 12 with 1 min between sets

225 lbs x 12
285 lbs x 12
305 lbs x 12
325 lbs x 12
335 lbs x 5/3/4

Pretty done in right now...

 

[marmel75]

Day off today, traps are still blazing and extremely sore from deads yesterday...forgot to mention on last Rep of each set was holding a trap shrug as long as I could before putting down...

 

[marmel75]

OK, workout #3 of cruise, upper body day.

Bench Press Warmup:
45lbs x 10
95lbs x 5
135lbs x 4
155lbs x 3
175lbs x 2

Bench Press:
195lbs x 5 x 5 x 5
200lbs x 5
205lbs x 5

Military Press:
95lbs x 5
115lbs x 5
135lbs x 5
135lbs x 5
140lbs x 5

Close Grip Bench Static Hold: 465lbs x 15 secs/555lbs x 5 secs

Nothing really hard, slight struggle on last rep at 205 on bench, but got it up...maintenance work

 

[marmel75]

Last cruise workout today(#4) before taking a week off and doing the whole dang thing again....pretty good workout today, another maintenance workout

Squats(Warmup):
45lbs x 10
95lbs x 5
135lbs x 4
205lbs x 3
225lbs x 2

Squats:
245lbs x 5
250lbs x 5
255lbs x 5
260lbs x 5
265lbs x 5

-squats are feeling really good...really getting a good feel of how to get deep in the hole and then power my way back off from driving my hels through the floor. Likely could hit 315lbs+ right now, as I am manhandling these 5 x 5's.

Leg Press Static Hold: 1160lbs x 10 secs/1610lbs x 15 secs/1800lbs x 12 secs

-could have kept going, but I literally was running out of plates as the gym was busy. 1800 lbs was 38 plates plus a 10lb plate for good measure...not a PR tho, have hit over 1900 lbs before, but that was when I was 25+ lbs heavier than now too...

Seated Cable Row:
200lbs x 5
220lbs x 5
220lbs x 5
240lbs x 5
260lbs x 5<----PR!!

-kinda crazy this is a maintenance workout and I pulled the entire stack like it was nothing. 100% clean reps, no movement at all with my hips back and forth, pure back. My back is ridiculously strong right now.

Machine Curl Static Hold: 210lbs x 10 secs
-this is the whole stack, not sure what else I can do other than hold it longer.

Seated Calf Raise Static Hold: 240lbs x 7 secs/300lbs x 4 secs<---PR!!

Ab Lift Static Hold:
BW+45lbs x 8 secs then 15 BW leg lifts
BW+70lbs x 6 secs then 8 knee raises with 70lbs then 10 knee raises with BW

Tomorrow got "Death by Deadlifts", which is the final workout for about 10 days or so...