Subdash's Online Training Journal

[subdash]

Hi! I am new to this site and am starting a online journal so I can record my progress, and recieve suggestions=)

Background
Firstly, a little semiimportant background. I am a fulltime highschool student, and am currently 16. I did extensive wieght training when i was 14 and 15, but stoped around a year ago due to personal issues. I found this site about a month ago, and it sparked my interest. Since then, i have been reading up and i have been eating healthy for about a month (no pizza, nothing with added sugar, low saturated fat, low GI carbs, etc.). Now that i have 'settled' into school, i want to take the next step and start working out again. I was at the gym yesterday, just getting used to the equitment again, seeing how much i gains i lost, etc.

Current Diet
I am eating 6-7 times a day, with whole grain pitas and whole grain buns making up the majority of my carbohydrate intake. Tuna, cottage cheese, no fat yougurt, and whey contributes most of my protein. I always eat dinner with my family, and eat whatever they eat, which is usally relatively health (meat and potatoes). I will post what I eat when I start recording it.

Goals
- Record everything i eat,
- Post followups the day of, or the day after every workout.
- Drink at least 3L of water before 6pm
- Maintain a good diet, and eat foods with added fat or sugar only when unavoidable (eg: eating out with friends)
- Follow the 'Take Your Mass To a Whole New Level " Bulking Workout "'
- Work out 3 times a week, every week until January 1st
- Record what I lift
- Gain 15 pounds of muscle by January 1st, while gaining less then 10 pounds of fat.
- Start supplementing with Creatine, a vitamin supplement, a mineral supplement, flax seed oil and glutamine, as money permits;)

Current Status
Age: 16
Height: 6'2"
Weight: 175lbs
Bodyfat: Unknown

Any comments? Suggestions? I am a novice, and any input is greatly appreciated! =)

[getnbgr]

SD welcome aboard and you have a good start to your journal (nice intro). You should post your split and whether you are bulking or cutting.

[ QUOTE ]
I am eating 6-7 times a day, with whole grain pitas and whole grain buns making up the majority of my carbohydrate intake. Tuna, cottage cheese, no fat yougurt, and whey contributes most of my protein. I always eat dinner with my family, and eat whatever they eat, which is usally relatively health (meat and potatoes). I will post what I eat when I start recording it.

[/ QUOTE ]

It would be better to go with oats, sweet potatos, brown rice, and some veggies (fiberous carbs) for your carb intake. I realize your in HS but oats are inexpensive and one of the best sources you can have. Breads should be kept minimal. 100% whole wheat once a day is okay on a bulk.

[subdash]

[ QUOTE ]
SD welcome aboard and you have a good start to your journal (nice intro). You should post your split and whether you are bulking or cutting.

[/ QUOTE ]
Thanks =)
My split is as follows:
Sunday: Chest, Shoulders, Triceps
Tuesday: Quads, Hamstrings, Calves
Thursday: Back, Biceps, Forearm

I plan to bulk up first, til january, then start cutting down for the summer, hopefully finishing the cut before exams start (july), so i can go onto maintainance for studying.

[ QUOTE ]
It would be better to go with oats, sweet potatos, brown rice, and some veggies (fiberous carbs) for your carb intake. I realize your in HS but oats are inexpensive and one of the best sources you can have. Breads should be kept minimal. 100% whole wheat once a day is okay on a bulk.

[/ QUOTE ]

I will defintaly cut back on the breads. I have been avoiding it up until now because i am a bread fan=), but i am willing to make sacrifices. Thanks for the suggestions.

New Goal!
Every day, eat at least:
2 cups of oatmeal
2 cans of tuna (60g Protein)
375g cottage cheese (50g Protein)
1/2L skim milk (15g Protein)
2 turkey burgers (50g Protein)
375g yougurt (20g Protein)
+ 55g whey (40g Protein) on workout days

Wow... it sure is hard to get 1g protein/lb without the whey...

[subdash]

Day 1:
Back, Biceps and Forearms
Meal 1 : 7:45
1/2 C Oatmeal
1 can of tuna
500mL H2O
Meal 2 : 9:00
1/4 C Oatmeal
1/2 C Cottage cheese
500mL H2O
10:30
1/2 of a crappy, white bread pizza pretzel (bad!)
12:30 to 1:30
1 can of tuna
1 wholewheat pita
4:10 Start Workout
5:00-5:30 Finish Workouk
55g whey, 55g malt extract
6:00 Dinner
Salmon with brown rice
1/2 cup of oatmeal

Workout:
Wide Grip Pullups (4, 3, 3)
5 slow negatives
Close Grip pullups (4, 2)
4 slow negatives
Seated Cable Rows (10x90lbs, 8x70lbs) =\ i wasnt confident i was performing it correctly, and it was hurting my forearms without stressing my back at all
Bent Over dumbbell Laterals (0) =\ i was not able to perform this propperly, in future i will do delt machine
Some Curls, really low #s due to training arms extensively on tues.
Concentration Curls, Standing Barbell, Hammer Curls, lying dumbbell curls

Behind The Back Wrist Curls ( 15x15lb => 15x12lb => 15x8lb, 15x12lb => 15x8lb)

Summary:
Fairly poor, I am thinking I should move to a less advanced workout =\ On the plus side, I have stuck to my diet and established my limits. My poor performance does not suprise me, as I have always had issues with back and bicep workouts ( I am spineless and have long arms /forum/images/graemlins/wink.gif )

[subdash]

Sorry for the lack of updates, school has been very intense. I went on sunday, monday, and today, tuesday.
Sunday - Chest
I had fun Sunday =) I like benchpresses and tricep exercises. Lots of military presses, and I got a really great feeling after doing the supersetted benchpress and flys.
Monday - Legs
Another great day, after the 3rd set of squats i could barely walk = ) My only mistake was I forgot to strech before doing leg curls and thus pulled a muscle. Unfortunatly, they are currently very sore. I plan to stretc h more and steam after future workouts to avoid this.
Tuesday - Back / Bis
Not so good. I still find the back exercises unsatisfying. I seem to tire my forearms out before my back becomes tired. I also do not get much feeling that my workout has done anything. I think I will try to use more machines for my back and try to beef up my forearms. Because of this, I have started heavily working my forearms on the end of my back day.
I did get 1 more wide grip pullup today, which is good.

Diet:
I started taking creatine on sunday, and goodam, i am sure getting a great placebo effect = ) . One spoon and i get all revved up /forum/images/graemlins/wink.gif
My diet has been... perfect =) Except that i am not gaining wieght=\ I guess I will have to eat more.

Changes:
I am planning to add abs to the legs day.
I have started doing deadlifts to start off my back day.
I have switched to a 5 day cycle.
I have cut yougurt out of my deit, and am now eating far more meat.

[subdash]

I am I begining to believe I am not advanced enough for the mass building workout, and so I am opting for more volume and several more machines. I am trying to concentrate more on the muscle and less on the exercise, and keep my form perfect. It is hard, but i keep reminding myself my goal is to build the muscle, not lift the wieght. I did more stretching today and more warmup, and am thus experiancing far less soreness. This is good as it means I can push myself harder without having to fear horrible pain the next day.

Yesterday was chest day. It was not as good as last chest day as I forgot to superset with flys. I did do some really good deltoid work, so much so that I had no time for triceps. I really need to work the timing out here.

Today was legs day, but I also did triceps and abs... For some reason...
3 sets of squats supersetted with sissy squats
- I am having trouble with the sissies, and think i will start using a machine for them, as I can barely do them after a squat. On a positive note, I did a good warmup and stretch and thus have very little stiffness. My form was slightly worse then I would have wanted on the second set.

1 set of lunges with dumbbells, then 2 sets of unweighted lunges
- I did far better on these then in my last workout, but there is still room for improvement. I seem to get out of breath doing lunges *!* and will have to make a note to do them slowwer

4 sets of seated leg curls
- I worked this one with varying weights and ranges of motion, to test my limits.

3 sets of calf raises
- Good=). Nice stretching and nice burn

3 sets of ezbar bar press
- Good=). I decided to try supersetting a close grip bench press on the second set, and found it too light.

4 sets of Close-grip cable press-downs
- Good =). Did these properly. Started light, worked up.

3 sets of Superset of cable kickbacks with One-arm dumbbell overhead extension
- Also good. I think i could use more form on the overhead extensions, but i really got good concentration on the muscle.

<insert Random and forgettable ab exercises>

I am going to write out my workout plan for tommorow in greater detail, and start reading some of the more mind based articles.
I am also ending my creatine loading phase.

Now for the bad news:
1 Week, no wieght. In fact, my 6ish pack seems to have become more pronounced. This is somewhat disapointing as I am eating a cup of oatmeal every 2 hours and would expect my weight to be increasing. On the other hand, my forearms seem to be larger, and certainly more vascular, but that may just be the creatine.

Goals:
-Be less creative
-Eat more! Get fat!
-Sleep more! (Dont type journal out at 1:29am)
-Concerntrate on the mucsle, not the wieght
-Read up on the mental aspects
-Keep up the stretching
-Write up customised workout plan for back day, tommorow

[subdash]

Back day today. Even worse then last back day. Don't even want to talk about it. My new goal is simply to follow the plan exactly. Also, to buy some more maltodextrin and dextrose for PWO shakes.
The only positive for today: I did 3 sets of 8 deadlifts with 225lb and my back felt better then before i had done them! =) My plan is to keep doing deadlifts, because they are a good way to measure my progress, and stop me from feeling like i need to cheat to compete with the other cheaters;) I will follow the mass building workout _exactly_ apart from that.

[Dachopstix]

Looks like a good start, Subdash. Don't feel discouraged just because you're not lifting what you expect to lift. Good form is always important, but the main thing is mentality. Never give up and you'll see amazing gains as time progresses. Keep up the good work...

BTW, Creativity is a gift, don't turn your back on it, cherish and embrace it...

[subdash]

Thanks for the encouragement!
I am back on track, with another good chest day!
Went slightly too high on the dumbell bench, and so only got 4 reps in, then 7. Also failed on negative reps with standing rows. But my shoulders are still sore so i must have been doing something;)

chest

flat dumbbell bench presses
55lb x4 rest pause 2
50lb x5
45lb x7
35lb x9 rest pause 3 drop to 25 x6 rest pause 2 rest pause 1

incline dumbbell bench
35lb x 8
30lb x 7
25lb x 9

incline bench flys supersetted with flat bench dumbell flys
20lb x 4 drop to 15lb x 8 ss to 15lb x 7
15lb x 6 drop to 12lb x 12

shoulders:

6 sets of close grip barbell upright rows 6-12 reps, from ~70lb down to 30lb
i did some negatives, but i couldnt take the pain=\
I will try harder...

Triceps

2 sets, then i lost my bench. ( My gym has only two benchs. two. (excluding the one under the bench press). Really rather sad as there are 2 leg curl machines=/ and an ungodly number of elipticals)

So I did tricep pressdowns ? 4 sets of decreasing wieght.
Then, I did ab exercises and ran home...

On the whole: Success! I need to increase my pain tolerance thought, so i can push through those negatives. I also need more sleep ( I seem to be getting 6 hours a night =\ =\ =\), and a better ab routine.

[subdash]

Had my first good back workout on friday!
I am still not totally happy, and i definately need to improve my form, but it was pretty good.
Some light deadlifts, barbell bent over rows, chest supported rows, behind the neck pulldowns etc. I got a really nice forarm pum from all that (couldnt touch my shoulder). I then did biceps (more fun!) but did a poor job of forearms as i did something unpleasent to a muscle halfway through. On the whole a lot better thou!

Legs was yesterday. It went pretty good aswell. I broke through the pain zone on calves with a massive gaint set (i ran out of time and only had 5 minutes, so i made them count). Unfortunatly, I ate rather poorly yesterday, due to work and going out (4 hours between meals!). I also noticed how bad eating sugary cereal made me feel=\ (It was right at the point before it goes stale, so i had to eat it, I also needed the energy for work, but not the horrible crash i got). Shows how much better my insulin sensitivity is, as i used to eat 2 bowls every morning. (it isn't that bad, it is vector, not fruit loops or something)

I am now between 3 and 4 pounds heavier, and i think it is all muscle /forum/images/graemlins/wink.gif
Exactly how much i want to gain to reach my goal of 200lb.
It looks like 1lb of it has gone into my neck though =\ Not exactly what i was going for but i'll take what i can get.

[subdash]

Had my first good back workout on friday!
I am still not totally happy, and i definately need to improve my form, but it was pretty good.
Some light deadlifts, barbell bent over rows, chest supported rows, behind the neck pulldowns etc. I got a really nice forarm pum from all that (couldnt touch my shoulder). I then did biceps (more fun!) but did a poor job of forearms as i did something unpleasent to a muscle halfway through. On the whole a lot better thou!

Legs was yesterday. It went pretty good aswell. I broke through the pain zone on calves with a massive gaint set (i ran out of time and only had 5 minutes, so i made them count). Unfortunatly, I ate rather poorly yesterday, due to work and going out (4 hours between meals!). I also noticed how bad eating sugary cereal made me feel=\ (It was right at the point before it goes stale, so i had to eat it, I also needed the energy for work, but not the horrible crash i got). Shows how much better my insulin sensitivity is, as i used to eat 2 bowls every morning. (it isn't that bad, it is vector, not fruit loops or something)

I am now between 3 and 4 pounds heavier, and i think it is all muscle /forum/images/graemlins/wink.gif
Exactly how much i want to gain to reach my goal of 200lb.
It looks like 1lb of it has gone into my neck though =\ Not exactly what i was going for but i'll take what i can get.

Goals:
Follow this:
Meal 1: carbs / protein 7;30
Meal 2: protein / fat 9:30
Meal 3: protein / fat 11:30
Meal 4: protein / fat 1:30
Meal 5: carbs / protein 3:30
Workout
PWO Shake: carbs / protein 5:30
Meal 6: Whatever is on the table;) 6:00
Meal 7: carbs / protein 8:00
Meal 8: carbs / protein 9:30
Meal 9: cottage cheese;) 10:00

As amusing as it may seem, I will also probably snack on some tuna between meals=\
I may miss meals, but hopefully not /forum/images/graemlins/smile.gif Meal really only applies to meals 1 and 6, the rest are usally just a cup of uncooked oatmeal or some uncooked brown rice, and a can or two of tuna, and some sort of vegtable...


Increase protein ( 1 container of cottage cheese a day (half in morning, half at night), 3 cans of tuna at school, and as much cod/steak as i can handle after school.)

^based mainly off of http://www.johnberardi.com/articles/nutrition/masseating_rl_2.htm

Also looking into getting some glutamine online, it is so dam expensive tho... at my local place it is $20 for 100g =\ online it is $60 for 1kg
But do i really want a kilo?

[subdash]

Had a good chest workout. Far less creative.
flat dumbbell bench presses
55lb x 7 (too fast=\), 45lb x 10 (too fast =\), 40lb x 10 strip to 30lb x8

incline dumbbell bench - harsher incline this time
40lb x 5, 30lb x 5 (i should have gotten more)

dumbell flies 20lbx12?, 15x10?
fly machine (120lb?)

close grip upright barbell rows 6 sets, 90lb => 50lb, done poorly, but done. even the negatives.

lying tricep extensions 5 sets (55lb? => 35lb then to failure with bar)

partial close grip cable pressdowns (2 sets on a full stack) Lots of fun and a good finish;)

I did half my shake 1/3rd through, and got a nice energy boast. Will definatly do that in future = )

Bought more whey and 300g of glutamine for $20 canadian at costco. =)

I am still not happy with my back, so i am going to do legs tommorow and back the day after. And i _will_ go easy on the deadlifts on the next back day, and easy on the squats tommorow.

I did a morning workout today and it was great. Will definatly consider doing it again.

Goals:
Start with 2.5g glutamine in mornings, 2.5g at night, and 5g pwo. (i want to make this last;)
Do a kickass;) leg workout tommorow.
Continue with my p/c and p/f plan.

[subdash]

Had a decent leg workout the day before yesterday.
Didn't push my quads as hard as i would like due to my back, but i turned up the pain on my calves and got a nice hamstring stretch.

And yesterday, *drumroll* the concert workout.
Legs: Jumping 2 feet in the air. 2 hours straight
Delts: Lifting people up to crowdsurf. 8 x 120lb
Pecs: Pushing people in moshpit
Back: throwing people in mosh pit
Arms: thrash pit

Today I am headed for the most brutal upper body pull workout i have ever done... I WILL PREVAIL!!!

[getnbgr]

Journal seems to be coming around nicely.

[ QUOTE ]
I did half my shake 1/3rd through, and got a nice energy boast. Will definatly do that in future = )


[/ QUOTE ]

You would be better off eating a good well balanced meal an hour to an hour and a half before you work out. Make sure it has a good protein source, a starchy carb and a fiberous carb. The only thing you should have during you workout is water. PWO Whey/Malto/Dextro/Sodium which you mentioned so I'm assumming your familiar with this.

[subdash]

I should have known = /
Ah well. It was fun while it lasted /forum/images/graemlins/wink.gif
Thanks for the advice, I really am looking for maximum gains =)

A roller coaster of a week...

Major setback #1: Stomache flu.
Not good while on a bulk. Didn't eat, and barely drank for three days. Also drank tons of juice and ate little protein. It is over now.

Major setback #2: Benchmonster.
Not good while suffering from a diminished ego;)
I never knew it was possible to ask someone how much they benched four times, in one conversation. Not really fun, as they benched a hell of a lot more, especailly considering they are half a foot shorter then me. Basic result: Crappy workout, waste of time. It didnt help that I hadnt eaten solid foods that day... I did start it off with 4 dumbell bench press reps at 60lb, a personal best (probably not that much better then the 8 at 55lb i had done a week ago, but i didnt lose too much...)

Revelation about Crisis #2
I realized there were two possible explenations:
1. He is on steroids. He sells drugs, so him using wouldn't suprise me. Therefore i do not need to compare myself to him
2. He has worked hard and reaped the rewards. Therefore if i do the same, i will become a bench monster and i can look down on people /forum/images/graemlins/wink.gif

This 'revelation' happened just before workout #2, which i just finished.

Workout two:
GREAT WORKOUT
I did shoulders, back, biceps, and forearms. While i did not do shoulders, biceps or forearms as intensely as i have done in the past, I attacked the back workouts like an animal. Especailly the deadlift. I did 4 @ 270, a personal best /forum/images/graemlins/smile.gif I am going to wait 2 weeks and test again, probably at 300.
I got some nice delt work, and some pretty good forearm work, although it was a bit rushed ( not as much grip as i would have liked, although i got that throughout ).
Biceps are annoying. I cant feel any real stress... They just seem to get really weak really quickly. I have always been terrible at curls=\

Questions:
My hands are pretty torn up from the deadlift. Should I use chalk, or wraps, or gloves, or what?
Is there some horrible for your back but easy method of deadlifts i could be doing by mistake, or am i normal for a long armed person ( or scrum experaince paying off;)?)?
Does walmart sell zinc or magnesium? [ if i have no money for zma, can i just take some magnesium ribbon from tech and eat that/forum/images/graemlins/grin.gif?]

Thanks =)

[subdash]

(i would have sworn i had already posted this)
Way to much ego in my last post.
Had a decent leg workout yesterday, but no squats.

I am ~182 at the moment, and have gained some fat. I have also gained noticable muscle on my forearms, upper back, and biceps. Will post pics on 1st hopefully, and then do monthly updates.

Goals:
Drink less milk - take 500mg calcium every morning to compensate, along with a multivitamin and vitamin c (not really nessessary with the greens i eat, but still)
Eat more meat - make some chili
Eat less bread/carbs - eat chili insted of carb meals
Do not drink on halloween - the only Canadian teenager
Look into ZMA - if it is cheap i will buy it

[subdash]

I had a fairly good chest day, a semidecent back day, and a pretty good legs day. I think my body is getting accustomed to the strains i put on it, as i am far less sore then i was originally. My one problem is my lowwer back. I seem to work it on both back day ( with bent over rows ) and leg day (with squats). Not quite sure how to fix this, but i may try putting lowwer back and legs on the same day, with abs? This also means i can work on my deadlifts on leg day, and gives me some more time for my biceps and forearms(which i want to improve).
I have picked up the pace on my bulk. So far today: 160g protein, 400g carbs, ~30g fat (darn ground beef). And it's 4:30pm =) Tonight i am going to eat some salmon and some nice pea soup, and start another 5 pound container of cottage cheese /forum/images/graemlins/wink.gif

[subdash]

[ QUOTE ]

flat dumbbell bench presses
55lb x4 rest pause 2
50lb x5
45lb x7
35lb x9 rest pause 3 drop to 25 x6 rest pause 2 rest pause 1

incline dumbbell bench
35lb x 8
30lb x 7
25lb x 9


[/ QUOTE ]
Currently pushing 4 sets of 6 @ 40lb on Incline DB BP, 5 sets of 5 @65lb on flat bp, 5 sets of 5 deads at 280lb on deadlift, and dips and chins with 35lb plates /forum/images/graemlins/laugh.gif
I am somewhere between 186lb and 194lb... (in other words, my scale fluctuates drastically). I am going to bulk til i hit a waterloged 200, then cut like mad for 13 weeks. After that, I will probably drop to 2x a week workouts so i can study for teh exams= \ Or maby keep where i am to relieve stress. Just to show i hadn't died! and leave some benchmarks for myself=)

I am so happy I started working out, not just for muscle, but for self confidence. I now feel like I could hit on any girl or fight with any guy, and have a reasonable chance;)
But I have the discipline not to. I have the discipline to eat right, to train right, and to say no (well not to girls;)). Life has really improved. Probably 20 more days of bulking, then time to get ripped!