Rumpsteak's Thread

[Rumpsteak]

Thursday - Legs/Shoulders
----------------------------------

DB Shoulder Press
6x18,5
5x18,5
6x18,5

New weight. Felt ok. Aiming for 3x8 next time.


Standing Calf Raises
7x130kg
6x130kg
5x130kg
5x130kg

Felt a little better than last time. Hoping I'll get used to the new smith. Aiming for 3x10 next time.


SLDL
8x70kg
8x70kg
8x70kg

It seems I am improving grip already. Was a bit sore in hams from playing soccer with my friends. Upping weight next time.


Squats
8x85kg
8x85kg
6x90kg

Was slightly sore in quads as well. Failed free squat for the first time on 90kg after 6 reps. It worked pretty good on the rack with safety bars approx about 80cm up from the ground. I just had to go ATTG and bend the back slighlty to put the bar down. Also had a spotter behind me. Probably starting with 90kg next time.

PWO:
50g whey (40g of protein)
50g raisins (35g of simple carbs)
Banana

 

[Rumpsteak]

Saturday - Back/Biceps
-----------------------------

Pullups
4xbw@85-ish
4xbw
4xbw

Can't seem to progress on these.


DB Biceps Curl
8x16kg
6x16kg
6x16kg

Slow progression here.


DB Rows
8x26kg
6x26kg
7x26kg


DL
4x90kg
4x90kg
3x90kg
3x90kg

Felt really good in the back, however the bar keeps sliding out of my hands after a few reps.

PWO: Same as last time.


Returned to the ju-jutsu training last wednesday. I will train there 1.5hrs twice a week. I hope it will serve as enough cardio. Some weeks I will probably play soccer or floorball with my friends as well for an hour or so.

 

[Warboss Alex]

If you're stuck on pullups then change to heavy pulldowns, hits the same muscle and by the time you stagnate on these you'll probably be able to attempt and progress in pullups again. Hard to measure progress with pullups though, maybe try something like rack chins instead.

Biceps are generally a very difficult muscle group, my own bicep exercises barely last three weeks before I have to change them. I find it's preacher curls I can progress with for the longest though, maybe you should try these.

 

[Rumpsteak]

Thanks for the input Alex.

What do you suggest I do about the DL problem? Should I just wait for my grip to catch up or give in and use straps? I really feel I could do at least 3x8x90kg, possibly even heavier, if the bar would just stay in my hands. Is there any chance that the grip strength will improve faster than my deads? What is the problem with using straps?

 

[Warboss Alex]

I never said there was a problem using straps.. go ahead and use them, this is bodybuilding not grip-building. I'm confident that at this (relatively) low weight your grip should catch up fairly soon however.

And I dunno which will improve quicker, depends on you, your genetics, how you train.. I'd aim to improve my deadlift before my grip though.

 

[Rumpsteak]

Monday - Chest/Tris
-------------------------

Incline DB Bench
8x18.5kg
8x18.5kg
8x18.5kg
(5x21kg later as well (after dips))

Huge improvement here. The weights just flew up. Upping to 21kg next time. After the dips, I still felt there was something left in my chest so I did an additional 5x21kg.


Chest Dips
8xbw@~85kg
4xbw
6xbw

Slightly better than last time, but it feels like the progression here is a bit hard to measure, especially after doing DB Bench. Will probably try Decline BB Bench instead next time.


Skullcrushers
8x18.5kg
8x18.5kg
8x21kg

Big improvement here. Starting with 21kg next time.


Overall, great workout with big improvements since last time.

 

[silverwex]

hey man, nice lifts. how long you been working out for?

how many g's of protein you on daily and how often do you switch up your routine?

Cheers.

 

[Rumpsteak]

Hi silverwex!

I started training this summer for 5 weeks with a diet that wasn't optimal. I lived with some relatives during the summer so I was sharing some of their meals. They ate pretty lean food though (trying to lose weight), but not enough protein for me. I mostly used the summer to start playing around in the gym to learn the form on the important exercises etc. I made some gains however, at least strength-wise.

After the summer, I took 2 weeks off (I was crawling in my skin after just a couple of days but I didn't have access to a gym). Now I've started lifting again in the university gym for two weeks with a better diet including whey. I think I'm starting to see some strength results already. Mass is harder to judge since I'm not that lean, which leads me to another topic... cutting. I'm currently bulking fairly cleanly and have yet to decide when to start cutting. I'm not sure if I'll do it soon so I won't have that much muscle to lose or if I'll wait until I've bulked for a while to increase metabolism.

I'm not sure how many grams of protein I get per day. I try to eat lots of eggs, tuna, chicken, salmon, cottage cheese and also red meat. I eat 5-6 times a day. I haven't eaten candy/junk/soda at all since I started training, which feels really good (I don't crave it at all). My PWO for the latest week has included 40g of protein from whey.

 

[silverwex]

good stuff, thanks for the reply.

keep up the good work.

 

[Rumpsteak]

Thursday - Legs/Shoulders
----------------------------------

Standing Calf Raises
10x130kg
10x130kg
10x130kg

Felt much better than the last two times.


DB Shoulder Press
8x18.5kg
8x18.5kg
7x18.5kg

New record. Was pretty angry that I couldn't get that last rep up. Will probably up to 21kg next time anyway.


SLDL
8x80kg
8x80kg
8x80kg

New record. Grip seems to be improving. I am a bit worried about the form though, since I felt more in the back than in my hamstrings, even though I could feel them stretch to their max at the bottom. Will work on form next time. If I find something that I need to change I will probably lower the weight and try it, or maybe I find tomorrow that my hams are sore and had to work enough anyway, just that my back took a bit of spanking as well. In that case, I'll up to 85 or 90 since my straps will hopefully have arrived by then


Squats
8x90kg
8x90kg
8x90kg

New record. Felt really good.


PWO: Had 60g of protein from whey this time since it's leg day, just to try it. Some more raisins than usual and a banana.

PPWO: Probably 2x125g home-made hamburgers from 100% minced meat (Cattle - Not sure about fat cont.) and some slow carb source. Probably some milk, tea and veggies as well.

 

[Rumpsteak]

Saturday - Back/Biceps
-----------------------------

DB Biceps Curl
8x16kg
8x16kg
8x16kg

Felt good. Altered form slightly (no longer completely tretching/contracting) and it feels a lot better. This exercise used to hurt rather than ache but feels better now. Upping to 18.5kg next time.


Pulldowns
8x50kg
6x60kg
6x60kg
6x60kg

Hadn't tried these before so I was mostly trying out form and feeling the weights.


Deadlift
8x90kg
8x90kg
4x90kg

Tried with leather straps for the first time and it really allowed me to take more weight. I was trying them out first so I was already a bit tired once I got to the working sets. It's the first time that I failed because of my back rather than the grip. I must have done something wrong though, since today my knees are not feeling good at all. I'm a bit worried by this... It would really suck to get a long-lasting knee injury.

 

[Rumpsteak]

Time to update the journal.

I started cutting as of 10/10-05. Goal is to lose 5kg in 10 weeks while maintaining as much muscle as possible. I'm looking for some comments on my strategy.

My morning weight readings since then are:

84,5 kg (10/10-05) (2500kcal from here)
84
84,3
83,6
83,7
83,5
83,5
83,6 (2350kcal from here)
83,2
82,9
82,5
81,8 (2350kcal + an extra 130grams of carbs this day to perform well on a math exam)
83,2 (Which seems to have affected this reading a lot)

I started out by making a drop to 2500 kcal/day for the first week with the plan of cutting 150 kcal/week or adjust calorie intake depending on weight progress. Since I didn't count calories at all before i started cutting I've no idea how much I was consuming, but the drop to 2500 was significant. I was probably around 3200-4000 and staying pretty much the same weight.

I've been hitting around 50%/30%/20% Pro/Carb/Fat during this time (except for day 12). This has meant 270-330g of protein, 160-220g of carbs and 40-70g of fat. I stayed between these numbers the first week and hit between 2400-2600 kcal. Ratios have been pretty much the same after the first 150 kcal decrease as well.

A typical day might look something like:

8.00
-----
200g milk 1.5% (in tea)
350g yoghurt
30g oats
50g whey
P/C/F: 60g/45g/10g


10.00
-------
50g whey
10g rape oil
P/C/F: 40g/0g/11g

12.30
-------
300g chicken breast (fried in some rape oil)
100g potato
200g milk (in tea)
P/C/F: 60g/30g/12g

15.30
-------
Some fruit
50g whey
P/C/F: 40g/15g/1g


18.00
-------
240g tuna
80g bread
5g margarine
200g milk (in tea)
P/C/F: 65g/35g/8g


20.00
-------
120g tuna
200g milk (in tea)
150g carrot
P/C/F: 35g/25g/4g


TOTAL: P/C/F: 300g/150g/46g
(This adds up to about 2200kcal so I would have included something more as well, probably some fat source)


I hit the gym three times a week and have 1.5hrs of ju-jutsu twice a week. I also take some sporadic walks of 20-90mins to clear the head and burn some cals approximately 2-4 times per week. Occasionaly before breakfast or after a very small meal of some tea, 200g milk and some fruit, with the real breakfast after the walk.

This is most of what there is to my cutting strategy. I'd really like some critique.

 

[Rumpsteak]

The gains in the gym have naturally slowed because of energy shortage. However, so far no exercise has been worse than the week before except that leg development has been bad due to knee problems.

Latest records:

Squat 3x8x90kg (Haven't improved for some time due to knees)

DL 3x8x110kg (This one is going up fast with straps)

SLDL 3x8x85kg

Standing calf raises 3x8x130kg (Haven't done this one much due to knees)

BB Bench 3x8x60kg (Just recently started including these on chest/tris day, still trying to get a good form for hitting pecs)

Incline DB Bench 3x8x23,5

Skullcrushers 3x8x23,5

DB Biceps Curl 3x8x21kg (5,6,5x23,5kg)

BB Row 3x8x40kg (Just recently started with this one, still trying out form)