Ben2285's never ending quest of self-improvement

[Ben2285]

It's a ghost town in this thread hah.. I'll try to get in more for updates now that my first semester of grad school is over and i am on break. Still no break from work though hah so I'll do the best I can.

In other news.... I just want to share a recent paper I have finished entitled:

Skeletal Muscle Hypertrophy An analysis of the major regulatory pathways including training and nutrient suggestions to maximize this adaptation.

It took me a few months to complete and I think it would be a good read for anyone interested in "why" and "how" of muscle hypertrophy.

I hope you guys enjoy!

It can be found here:

http://www.abcbodybuilding.com/SkeletalMuscle.pdf

[rootb33r]

Looks like an awesome paper, man... right down my alley! I love the scientific side of this stuff, but most papers are so "specific" in their experiments that it doesn't benefit an "average joe" to read them. This is an overall description of a major process within the muscle, which is applicable to every single human being who has ever picked up a weight... I look forward to reading it (about 10 times because I know I won't understand it the first time lol).
Congrats, man.

[Commander]

I look foward to reading it as well.

Is this December JHR?

[Ben2285]

Originally Posted by rootb33r

Looks like an awesome paper, man... right down my alley! I love the scientific side of this stuff, but most papers are so "specific" in their experiments that it doesn't benefit an "average joe" to read them. This is an overall description of a major process within the muscle, which is applicable to every single human being who has ever picked up a weight... I look forward to reading it (about 10 times because I know I won't understand it the first time lol).
Congrats, man.

Trust me man there is def. some thick science in there, don't think for a second this stuff just came to me hah. It definitely takes some time to really break everything down, then piece it together in the grand scheme of physiology.

Just as you said it really is so widely applicable and if you put the time and effort into understanding it it truly is not spend in vain. I know there is some complex stuff but I really tried to make it so just about anyone can get something from it and I hope leads you to better gains and better understanding of why/how those gains are happening!

Originally Posted by Commander

I look foward to reading it as well.

Is this December JHR?

Hope you like it! I'm not sure actually. You may have to ask Gabe that one
I am seriously ecstatic that it is so well received. I plan on doing a part 2 with some additional pathways as well as describing how anabolics dramatically increase hypertrophy and some extra little goodies.

[Venom]

FYI we really don't have month issues of JHR at the moment. Just whenever someone submits a manuscript, we'll publish it.

Like I have said before, Jake and I are in the trenches, so monthly stuff is on hold until we accomplish some goals here. But guys like Ben and Jer are holding down the fort until then!

[Ben2285]

Originally Posted by Venom

FYI we really don't have month issues of JHR at the moment. Just whenever someone submits a manuscript, we'll publish it.

Like I have said before, Jake and I are in the trenches, so monthly stuff is on hold until we accomplish some goals here. But guys like Ben and Jer are holding down the fort until then!

Thank you for clearing that up Gabe

[Ben2285]

Okay... So I have a little free time now as I am on break from grad school. I am going to try to use some of this time to get loggin on here again best I can. I also just got a droid (LOVE IT) and I may be able to do logs from it on my down time at work. I'm not making any promises once classes start back up but I hate being in the shadows from everyone as I have been lately...

Briefly, this is my current situation:

I am training for my 2nd powerlifting meet which is in 10 weeks. It is the USAPL New Jersey States in Princeton. I will be lifting geared at this meet just to give it a go, although I feel I should make it clear that I am for many reasons a much bigger proponent of raw lifting. Unfortunately, the more I learn about powerlifting the more I see that there is just way more competition in gear as well as more events. Regardless we'll see how it all goes. My geared goals for this meet will be:
Squat: 600+
Bench: 375+
Dead: 700

Right now I am weighing about 210-213 in the morn and I will most likely be doing the 220 class.

At the moment my plans for after this meet are to get back onto a nice high volume/high freq. bodybuilding split for a while and prep for a pro qual. natural show. I feel I have made a lot of improvements to my weak points with powerlfiting and I am very excited to diet down and really see the detail I have added.

I will give more details of everything tm and I will try to get some pics up soon !

[Ben2285]

I'll just give the highlights of the past few days I have missed since my last post. My past few squat days I have been training with the gear and knee wraps, straps down. On Christmas day i did 435 for 5 but it basically felt raw. Geared lifting is definitely an art. New years day I hit 505 for an easy single after altering some things (mostly form/stance) to get more out of the suit. It felt nice to have over 500 lbs on my back and it honestly didn't feel as heavy as I thought it would.. 600 is definitely in the cross hairs for April (next meet)

Here was today:

01/03/2010

Bench- 225 x 2 6 sets, 245x1, 255x1, 265x1, 275x1

Resistance Tube Speed Pushdown- 125 reps explosive

Reverse Band Bench- 255x5, 265x5

Tricep pushdown w/ pause at top- 100, 110, 120, 130 x12

Lat Pulldown- 175, 185, 195, 215, 235, 255 x 6

Seated Arnold Presses- 35, 40, 45, 50 x14

DB Curls- 35, 40, 45, 50 x 12

Finished with some crunches on various inclines

----

I am about mid way through a modified russian volume routine for bench. It is basically the same frequency as the one I have done in the past but with adjusted volume and some other tweaks (and additional assistance work). My goal for the end of the 6th week is 300 raw. Only being half way through I am already getting excellent results. I hit 275 easy for my last set today and felt I most likely could have hit 295. It would be nice to overshoot my projected max by the end of the cycle! I would love to hit a 315 raw paused bench before I even touch the gear. I can honestly say I have been feeling like a machine lately... I am doing a lot of volume and typically end up being in the gym for close to 3 hours on training days .. The funny part is I feel like I can still handle more! I am probably getting the best gains of my life right now and I am doing what many would consider "overtraining". The longer I train the more I realize how unfortunate it is how much people hold themselves back for fear of overtraining and how many count out high volume programs just because they may look intimidating on paper. I'm not saying I don't believe in the possibility of being overtrained but I just believe the majority of people shut good things down by underestimating the adaptive capacity of the human body.

[Ben2285]

Tuesday- 1/5/10

High bar Olympic squats- after warm ups 165x8, 205x8, 225x8, 255x8, 275x8, 295x8, 315x8

Deadlifts - 12 speed sets with 405x1. Put on the suit, did 465 for an easy single, 495, 545, and 585. Last set of 585 was a bit rough, fought for it the whole way.

Had RV bench scheduled today for 240 for 5 sets of 5 but I dropped it to 3 sets as I was pretty fatigued after the squats and deads. Got 2 sets for 5, last one for 4. Felt really good though. If it was a bench only day no doubt I would have hit everything.

Finished with 4 sets of bb curls with 95 for 10 s.

Ended up being in the gym for almost 4 hours ... loving it! Trying to keep up with jer for brutality : )

[President Wilson]

Ben,

you are in the zone man. 4 hour workouts. Holy smoke! Keep up the great work. By the way, your paper on abc about hypertrophy was SICK!