The Journey of a pHD bodybuilder - Train, Eat, and Think like a Pro!

[Venom]

Thanks a lot, Fahsy! That means a ton to me, and is very motivating.

I am pissed I could not work out with you today! But lab duty called. [img]/forum/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img] I still got a great workout in. How was yours?

This week I have been including some heavy workouts in. I really liked the variation - I have not done traditional heavy workouts in a while.

For bis I did 6-8 reps, 3 sets per exercise:

Alternating dumbbell curls - 60 pounders
Barbell curls - plate aside on easy curl bar
Preacher barbell curls - 35 aside

Then for forearms

4 sets reverse barbell curls w/ farmers walk
5 sets of http://www.abcbodybuilding.com/exerc...htropepull.htm

At night for legs

3 sets leg extensions
3 sets back squats - 335. I am working my way back up on here. Upping the weight a little bit each week...hopefully.
3 sets leg extensions
3 sets seated hamstring curls
3 sets barbell lunges - 185
4 sets seated calve raises w/ donkey calve raise machine
4 sets reverse calve raises, while sitting down on the lying hamstring curl machine. Similar to old school reverse calve raises, but on the hamstring curl instead of leg extesion; gives a better stretch
3 sets each of abductor / adductor machine

Then closed it out with 10 minutes of sprinting on the recumbant, 15:45 second work to rest ratio. And finally, some stretching.

I am traing and dieting really hard. But there is still another level I can take my program too. I can make a few slight modifications to improve my program. But I'm pleased right now.

Bahir,

I definitely plan on doing that. I think I want to get a little more cut here, and then hopefully before I leave back to cali I can take a few pics.

[Venom]

Good workouts today. Did full upper body in the morning, except back, bis, and abs, which I did at night.

Back workout was:

3 sets dumbbell dead lifts - 150 pounders 2 sets, 120 burnout
Cliff hanger back edge workout, on pull-ups with lat pull downs. This is perhaps my favorite shock ever. You got to failure on pull-ups, then hold it statically as long as you can, then do close grip pull-ups, 10 reps, however you get them (i.e. negative reps). Then you do a double drop on wide grip lat pull-downs w/ close grip lat pull-downs, and rest pause during the strip.
Strip set on Venom rows - 150 dumbbells down to 50's. This is probably my favorite exercise for middle back thickness!
100 rep method on seated alternating dumbbell curls w/ high rep set on barbell preacher curls w/ high rep set on barbell curls
3 sets cable crunches w/ hanging leg raises, strip on the last set.

Awesome workout. My back is responding amazingly to my increased training frequency and volume. Its getting "back" to its peak.

Guess what? Day off tomorrow!! I earned it!

[Dzoni]

Looking great, Venom.

[sucramdw]

Hey Gabe, tell me what you think about this quote from my biomechanics prof. who is a physical therapist:

"Seated leg extensions create patello-femoral compressive forces greatest when the knee is near full extension (last 10 - 15 degrees of the extension motion), because this is when the external torque is greatest...this is also the position of patello femoral contact with least congruence. Hence, it is advised to perform seated knee extensions from a range of motion of flexion to a point of 15 degrees shy of full extension.

This is based on earlier studies in the 1990's - I am not sure if much has been done since..."

Have you heard this before??

[richnewton]

would make sense to me and would explain why leg extensions hurt my knees when i go heavy

[Venom]

Yes, that will increase pateller torsion. When my knees were inflammed, I used to have to be very careful on doing leg extensions; some machine seemed to particularly aggrevate my patella. But after taking proflex a couple years ago, my knees have been fine. If you are having knee problems, you can try that variation, or you can cut them out, or use them less frequently and with lighter weight.

[Venom]

Got a good workout today, inspired by a post in the training section by maverick on classic meat and potato type workouts. Did back, staggard sets with calves. That has worked very well for me. I ended up doing seated calve raises, and reverse seated calve raises between most of my sets. It really increases the workout effeciency. I can recover my back, and still be working during my rest periods.

4 sets dead lifts - 4 plates aside (6*2) 3 plates (12*2)
5 sets bent over rows - 275 4, 225 (2*8) 135 (2 high rep sets). My back was extremely fatigued after deads, and my performance was way down on rows here.
One arm dumbbell rows - 100 pounders 2 sets, 70 pounders 2 sets
Weighted Hyper extensions with decline sit ups (did twists, crunches, straight sit ups)

Then stretched.

So last night, I got 3 hours sleep preparing for an exam. I was really tired today, so I had to use some interventions to get in the gym.

One thing I find works well is verbal persuasion. I told myself that I am looking incredible, that my results are phenominal, and my strength is exploding, and said it with conviction. It seems simple, but studies show verbal rewards are extremely beneficial. It worked. I felt really good and got an awesome workout in.

[Venom]

I hit the wall today during my night workout. My cals are getting pretty low, so I am going to add in one more carb day into my routine. Right back at my classical 2 day a week carb up! I am looking forward too it. I think it will strengthen my adherence even more. I can easily handle dieting hard-core 3 straight days, compared to 6 like I have been doing! Don't get me wrong - I will be going very clean on my carb ups. But its still enjoyable having that extra oatmeal in my diet!

[Dzoni]

Are you serious? I can't wait to get the oat meal out of my daily routine (for breakfast). Hah, I do not enjoy oat meal at all. I rather rice/potato or pasta.

Have you tried a couple of pieces of fruit for breakfast in your off season, Venom? I have had great results in my last off season with fruit. I will be doing the same this time around. Only this time, I may be substituting half a cup of oatmeal for a 2 fruit smoothie.

Which means less oatmeal for Dzoni. Yay!

[Venom]

I love my oatmeal!!!! Maybe you just need to eat it venom style!

Nah, I have not had fruits in my diet in a long time cause of their propensity to be stored as liver glycogen and be converted to triglycerides. But I might change that in the future if I find some more research supporting it. Something I would like to investigate a little more.