Rian's training and diet journal - Comments welcome!

[rianevans]

Alright guys, I decided to put of the journal until after my rest week, so I'll start lifting on the 12th. I will be posting my split, training info, diet, supplements etc. soon. Before I get things going I need to buy 8 more 10 pound plates for my DBs and get some lifting straps. I am also waiting for my new supplements to come in. They may get here after Monday, but that's okay, I still have about a weeks worth of supplements left.

[rianevans]

Current training split:

Monday- Legs
Tuesday- Arms (biceps, triceps, and forearms)
Wednesday- Shoulders (deltoids) and traps
Thursday- Back
Friday- Chest and abdominals

I follow AST's Max-OT (maximum overload) program. I have been using it for 10 weeks and I really love it. The gains have been great and I really enjoy the intensity. Here is Max-OT in a nutshell:

* Each workout should last approximately 30 to 40 minutes.
* Train each muscle group once every 5 to 7 days.
* Rest 2 to 3 minutes between sets.
* Use weight that allows at least 4 reps but no more than 6.

There is a lot more to it, of course, but I think these are the most important points. Each set should be done to "postive-failure". There are no supersets or other fatigue inducing techniques because the Max-OT belief is that fatigue does not build muscle, overload builds muscle.

I'll be doing cardio 2 to 3 times a week. I am going to give a try at high-intensity cardio, but I really hate it, so I will probably end up just doing moderate-intensity.

I'll get into more detail later on in the journal.

[rianevans]

Here are the supplents I'll be using:

AST GL3 Micronized L-Glutamine
AST Micronized Creatine
AST Multi-Pro 32X [multi-vitamin/mineral]
AST Ny-Tro PRO-40 [post-workout meal]
Labrada Pro-V 60 [protein blend for meals]
AST VP2 Whey Isolate [pre/post-workout protein]

I'll get into more detail later on.

[rianevans]

Alright, I've gotten my diet and schedule pretty much figured out. I haven't calculated ALL of the totals and whatnot, but just looking at it the diet appears sound at this point. My two meat meals a day will need to contain about 50g of protein each.

I haven't figured out just how I am going supplement my cardio training just yet, so I'll post that later on. Also, you'll see that I am using Creatine HSC, but I won't be for long as it is half way gone. After that is micronized creatine.

You'll see "dietary oil" all over the place on this. I'm talking about flax seed oil and a "Total EFA" oil. Sometimes I'm sure I'll skip the oil and have a little natural peanut butter, I just can't resist the stuff!

I eat my oatmeal uncooked because it lowers the GI even further. I know it sounds a little funny, but it is actually a pretty enjoyable meal.

WEEKDAYS
*7:15 AM*
All Bran
½ scoop Pro-V-60
8 oz. skim milk
1 tsp. dietary oil
1 Multi-Pro 32X tablet

*7:40 AM* PRE-WORKOUT
1 serving Creatine HSC
1 scoop VP2
5g glutamine

*7:45 AM*
Max-OT workout

*8:45* BEGIN ANABOLIC NUTRIENT TIMING FACTOR
1 serving Creatine HSC
1 scoop VP2
10g glutamine

*9:15 AM*
1 cup egg substitute
Small amount of lean meat
½ piece white bread
2 tbsp. salsa

*10:00 AM*
1 packet Ny-Tro PRO-40

*11:30 AM* END ANABOLIC NUTRIENT TIMING FACTOR
1 cup egg substitute
½ piece white bread
2 tbsp. salsa
24-36g hi GI carb solution
1 scoop VP2

*2:00 PM*
1/4 scoop Pro-V-60
4 oz. skim milk
½ cup uncooked oatmeal
1 tsp. dietary oil

*3:00 PM*
1 Multi-Pro 32X tablet

*4:30 PM*
1/4 scoop Pro-V-60
4 oz. skim milk
½ cup uncooked oatmeal
1 tsp. dietary oil

*7:00 PM*
Meat
Fruit/vegetables

*8:10 PM* PRE-CARDIO (planned to be on Tuesdays and Thursdays)
½ scoop VP2
18-20g high GI carb source
2.5g creatine
5g glutamine

*8:15 PM*
Cardio

*8:30-8:45 PM* POST-CARDIO
½ scoop VP2
18-20g high GI carb source
2.5g creatine
5g glutamine

*9:00 PM*
Meat
Fruit/vegetables

*11:30 PM*
½ scoop Pro-V-60
8 oz. skim milk
1 tsp. dietary oil
5g glutamine
1 Multi-Pro 32X tablet

*12:00 AM*
In bed by no later than this time.

*Middle of the night*
½ scoop Pro-V-60
8 oz. skim milk
1 tsp. dietary oil
5g glutamine

WEEKENDS
*7:15 AM*
All Bran
½ scoop Pro-V-60
8 oz. skim milk
1 tsp. dietary oil
1 Multi-Pro 32X tablet

*7:25 AM* PRE-CARDIO (planned to be on Saturdays)
½ scoop VP2
18-20g high GI carb source
2.5g creatine
5g glutamine

*7:30 AM*
Cardio

*7:45-8:00 AM* POST-CARDIO
½ scoop VP2
18-20g high GI carb source
2.5g creatine
5g glutamine

*10:30 AM*
½ scoop Pro-V-60
8 oz. skim milk
1 tsp. dietary oil

*12:00 PM*
1 cup egg substitute
Meat
8 oz. skim milk
2 tbsp. salsa
Fruit (maybe)
1 tsp. dietary oil

*2:00 PM*
1/4 scoop Pro-V-60
4 oz. skim milk
½ cup uncooked oatmeal
1 tsp. dietary oil

*3:00 PM*
1 Multi-Pro 32X tablet

*4:30 PM*
1/4 scoop Pro-V-60
4 oz. skim milk
½ cup uncooked oatmeal
1 tsp. dietary oil

*7:00 PM*
Meat
Fruit/vegetables

*9:00 PM*
Meat
Fruit/vegetables

*11:30 PM*
½ scoop Pro-V-60
8 oz. skim milk
1 tsp. dietary oil
5g glutamine
1 Multi-Pro 32X tablet

*Middle of the night*
½ scoop Pro-V-60
8 oz. skim milk
1 tsp. dietary oil
5g glutamine

[rianevans]

Week #1 August 12th, Monday- Legs

Oh man, not a good way to start things off at all folks. If I were to say that todays workout was horrible that would be an understatement. I had problems with almost every movement (read below) and I wasted too much time. I really didn't get enough sleep last night and that affected the workout. I need to focus more next week and be more efficient.

Let me tell you, I cannot wait until I get to school and have a squat rack and leg press machine to use. Using dumbbells really sucks.

Oh, and what's the deal with lifting straps? Maybe I'm using them wrong, but they really don't seem to be helping me hold these heavy weights at all.

Dumbbell squat 1 X 65 DBs @ 8 1 X 75 DBs @ 4 1 X 85 DBs @ 4
Dumbbell stiff-led deadlift 1 X 65 DBs @ 6 1 X 85 DBs @ 4
Standing one-legged calf raise 1 X 100 @ 5
Seated one-legged calf raise 1 X 100 @ 6

SQUAT
Squats felt good in the legs, however during the last two sets I stopped at least a few reps away from failure because the dumbbells felt like they were ripping my hands/arms off and I could feel a lot of tension in my upper back. In fact, when I "finished" a set I could feel it more in my back than anywhere else.

LUNGE
I really wanted to do these as they are the one leg exercise I can actually do well and would probably benefit the most from. Unfortunately, of course, I hurt my right big toe the other day while wrestling with my brother, I bent it forward under my foot, and attempting lunges was painful. This toe "injury" happens to me much too often. The pain should be gone by next week and hopefully I will be able to perform lunges pain-free.

STIFF-LEG DEADLIFT
I'd never done these before and had I hard time to get the hamstrings really involve. It seemed more like my lower back, though I did feel it in my hamstrings a bit during and afterwards. I stopped before failure on both sets simply because I didn't feel that was executing the movement properly.

STANDING ONE-LEGGED CALF RAISE
I can see that, besides for balancing, these will be a good exercise next time around. I will need to lower the weight a bit, though.

SEATED ONE-LEGGED CALF RAISE
I guess this exercise can say "bye bye" because there was very little difference between performing the movement without weight and with 100 pounds. I guess I'll be sticking to the standing calve raises from here on out.



I really didn't even feel like I deserved my post-workout shake today, but I drank it anyway. Maybe I will get something out of this sorry workout, so I guess it was good that I drank up, however I did not fully follow the Anabolic Nutrient Timing Factor today.

I'd really appreciate any advice anyone has on performing these exercises or any exercise selection suggestions. Keep in my mind that all I have at my disposal are DBs and a curl bar when it comes to weights.

OTHER STUFF
I can see that anything over 1 cup of egg substitute is just too much egg for me to handle, so I am going to have to make some diet changes. Really, I was trying to eat that 1 1/2 cups and it was just grossing me out. I guess I'll start having some meat or some other lean protein with them.

Well, that's it for today's entry. In conclusion, everything was mega crap. Thank God that tomorrow is arm day.

[Dave.]

For the dumbbell squats, if you can, clean them up to your shoulders and hold them like you would a bar. If they are to heavy, then you are kinda plum outa luck. Maybe you could use some lighter weights, but do super slow reps, and then do partials.

[davethewonderpony]

If you can get your hands on an exercise ball, you can put that behind your back on squats and lean back against it, letting it take some of the force off of your back.

It is tough to do what you are doing without a barbell, but it is possible. If I were you, I would stick to lunges instead of squats until you have the equipment to be able to do them properly.

As for seated calf raises, don't bother. Do the standing version and your calves will be okay. Seated puts more stress on the soleus and is mostly used for size anyway, the gastroc is the most important part.

[President Wilson]

In addition to the great advice already offered try pre-fatiguing the quads. So do some high rep one and a half rep sissy squats. Then youll get more bang out of your buck on the actual squats.

[rianevans]

Week #1 August 13th, Tuesday- Arms and cardio

Man, even though I consider yesterday's leg workout to be major crapola, I am as sore as heck today. It is a pain going up the stairs to my room.

I worked arms today and that went pretty well. The weight on curls went down and I think that it may have something to do with not paying enough attention to protein intake and keeping my muscles saturated with creatine during my week off. I also improved my execution of the movement. Today I decided to just do curl bar curls instead of using any DBs, but I don't plan on always doing that. I had to skip the last forearm set due to the time limit, so next time I will need to pay more attention to the clock.

Curl bar curl 1 X 79 @ 4 - 2 X 75 @ 5 - 1 X 75 @ 4
Lying tricep press 2 X 91 @ 5 - 2 X 91 @ 4
DB wrist curl (one hand) 1 X 50 @ 8 - 1 X 52 @ 6

CURL BAR CURL
Curls felt good, heck, they always do. However, last time I worked them I was able to use a few more pounds. Aside from the protein and creatine, I think the difference is due to my improvement in execution. I've been paying more attention to the negative portion of the exercise, making sure I take it slower then just letting it sort of drop, which is what I used to do.

LYING TRICEP PRESS
Again, another exercise that always feels great. I made sure to get a full stretch and contraction. My only problem with this exercise is that I got a nose bleed while getting ready to perform my first set! I plugged my nose up and continued as usual.

WRIST CURL
I performed these with a DB, using one hand at a time. Forearm exercise are always painful, but you just have to tough it out. Speaking of pain, my hands are sore. I bough some new dumbbell bars (or whatever) and they are tearing my hands up. Hopefully some more callouses develop soon.



I still have cardio to do today, so I'll be adding that to this post. I don't know if I will do high or moderate-intensity. I'll have to wait and see what state I am in mentally.

My new supplements still aren't here, so my diet really isn't at 100% yet. I expect my new stuff to get here no later then Wednesday. Oh, speaking of new stuff, I got some WWE shirts in the mail today. Hulkster and The Game, sweet.

CARDIO
Well, I didn't do it! I was actually pumped up to go for high-intensity cardio when I realized that not only did I not have an insulin spiking carb source (like dextrose) available to me, but that I was running low on protein and other supplements. I need to conserve until my new supps get here. I also need to get my hands on some carb source. Do you guys think Gatorade would work? Any suggestions other than dextrose (though I do plan on buying some)? Hopefully I will be ready to go on Thursday.

[rianevans]

Week #1 August 14th,Wednesday- Shoulders and traps

Sore!!! I tell ya, taking that week off from training seems to have re-sensitized my muscles (or something). I am sore all over, but hey, I like it.

My supplements arrived this afternoon so tomorrow I can start following my diet to a T.

Today I trained my deltoids and traps. Normally this is one of my less enjoyable workouts, but it was awesome today. Most of the exercises felt good and I made good time.

DB Shoulder Press 1 x 57's @ 6 1 x 61's @ 5 2 x 61's @ 4
Lateral raise 1 x 35's @ 4
Seated rear lateral raise 1 x 25's @ 6 1 x 25's @ 5
Upright row 1 x 113 @ 5 2 x 113 @ 4

DB SHOULDER PRESS
These went great today. I could really feel the overload on my delts.

LATERAL RAISE
I need to use a bit less weight on these next time. Otherwise, I'd say the set went pretty well.

SEATED REAR LATERAL RAISE
Felt pretty good, though I always wonder about overloading the deltoids properly. Raises aren't like other exercise where you just can't complete another rep, but instead you may just not be able to make it through the full range of motion.

UPRIGHT ROW
I set a new personal best on upright rows. 113 big ones! [img]/forum/images/icons/wink.gif[/img] They fell good and I gave them all I had. My traps looked freakishly huge afterwards!



You have probably noticed that my weights look a bit weird. It because I have 10, 5, and 3 pound plates. Also, my bar weighs about 13 pounds.

Well, that's all for today.