Aitrus' Very Generic Training Journal

[Aitrus]

So I figured I'd post a small update...

I have been doing the waterbury method for three weeks now, but was kinda easing myself into it as I had a paralyzing case of DOMS following squat days doing 3x10 with 80% of my 1rm and some of the lifts were very unfamiliar to me.

I also noticed that for the first week I felt really drained halfway through the workout... So I started drinking more protein shakes during the day, getting about 130g protein from shakes, and the same from my daily intake of things other than sand (so about 1.5gs for every pound of body mass, as I hear is copacetic) and started eating some carbs before my workouts, also having a shot of maltodextrin in with my PWO shake which makes me feel like a million dollars afterwards - no more sluggishness post workout, which is fantastic.

Since making those adjustments, I am FINALLY doing 10x3 what I was doing 5x5... but haven't really noticed a lot of muscle growth - have only been doing the scheduled workouts twice a week for the most part because DOMS/scheduling didn't allow for much more.

Took some measurements when I finished the stronglifts 5x5..
flexing measurements
forearm 11in
bicep 14
14.5 calves

not flexing...
43 chest
17 neck
35 waist (down from 36.5)
23 legs

I will update with something after I actually complete the waterbury method, which may not happen for a while because my school's gym is closing down for a month to relocate to some 100,000sqft megaplex they built *shrug*. Unless someone can tell me about local gyms that would offer me a cheap membership over the holidays?

[swanso5]

you need more carbs pre workout, not more protein shakes during the day as you're doing

[Aitrus]

Dunno if I mentioned it, but I am eating about 30gs of carbs beforehand... which is why I think I've had more energy to go through the routine. It's late which is why I think I may not have posted everything I meant to, lol

[Aitrus]

Another little update: I made my first order from biotest...
Got some superfood, a few bottles of their flameout and a half dozen metabolic drive - figured I'd go big... I'm definitely not disappointed, though.

Grow mixes like a charm and tastes a thousand times better than the crap I normally buy, the superfood is actually not bad - has a fruit tea kind of quality to it, and the flameout is the cheapest and most dense fish oil cap i've found yet.

On to exercise...
I finished the waterbury method this week...
My squat gained a lot during this, going from about 220 @ 5x5 (5500) to 250 @ 10x3 (7500)... Other lifts that have gone up are my barbell back row, and my press. My bench grew a lot too, but I think that is because I did a lot of dips (can actually complete 4x6 now)

My deadlift stagnated, I didn't make very impressive gains on that and if anything I feel as though my grip strength is still pretty awful (I still can't hold the bar doing straight leg deads at 225 for more than a few reps)

I didn't really like the fact that there was so much accessory work and I didn't really often do 10x3 for pullups - I'd generally add another squat day or do power cleans because I felt that my biceps/tri's and shoulders/back got a really heavy workout on the other days...

Not really sure where to go from here, as usual.. I want to have a six pack for the time summer comes around, to be honest, but I've never had one and don't know what it takes to lose the fat and preserve the muscle I just worked so hard to gain!

Also adding that I'm taking the grow! at night to stop my binging that has become a little more regular than in the past.

[swanso5]

you can't lift heavy all the time thus accesory work, you'll break down good and propewr doing that, over train etc...probably why your deadlift didn't increase

[Aitrus]

I guess I need an idea of how weight training works, as I understood that as a newbie, I should be able to lift heavy most of the time and make gains because the lifts aren't as taxing on the CNS as say, squatting 600lbs.

The waterbury method offers suggestion to go 80/82.5/85 of 1rm each successive week... if I can't lift heavy all the time, do I do the routine for one week - take a light week (deload 10-20%?) and return the following week to see if I can increase my lifts by 2.5%?

Thanks~

[swanso5]

the CNS true is somewhat true but it and your muscles are still working way harder then they ever have and need recovery time

you should be able to do all WM weeks as your not going to fauliure on any sets so you'll still have some reps left in the tank (keep them there)

the n%'s won;t be spot on either so don;t be too concerned with them...more so use an 8 rep wt for 6 reps, 6 rep wt for 4 reps etc

[Aitrus]

Ah, 80% of my 1rm would make me fail at the 7th or 8th set most of the time in the beginning, so it took some time to get underway and figure out what I could steadily lift for 10x3. But yeah, 8rep weight used for six sounds like solid advice instead of using %'s.

So, as for the fat loss.. what should I be doing do speed this up? I mean, I did make some good gains on WM and definitely some hypertrophy - got more lats and shoulders and a bit more in the chest... But my BF% doesnt seem to be changing

I've pretty much not done any cardio or intervals in a while... am wondering how to integrate these into a program or if I can just lift differently to facilitate fat reduction (change of tempo/reps/etc?)

I've been considering the V-diet for a while now - which is what my primary impetus was to order from biotest and get a feel for the supps. I'm also wanting to conserve muscle and not backpedal because I've worked hard for what I've gained.

[swanso5]

as long as you lift wts you'll preseve muscle...i'm going to write up a fat loss progression article right now...

[Aitrus]

Link it once you've finished? (If you didnt say that in jest, of course)

[swanso5]

it's in fat loss section...

[Aitrus]

I figured I'd post a little update since it has been a while... I'm currently doing an EDT program swanso designed in another thread, but between this and WM I went back to stronglifts 5x5 beginner to check my strength levels...

My squat ended at 220 5x5 when I'd finished the stronglifts 5x5 program initially, I restarted it at 185 after WM and continued straight through to 265@ 5x5 without stalling, my deadlift is a solid 225 /w none of the aforementioned grip issues I was having.

Conversely, since I'd noticed my bench hadn't moved up a notch between WM for 3months and a months worth of 5x5 again I decided that swanso's EDT program looked good with a decent amount of chest work with the possibility for adding a 3x5 @ 90% day every other week (one day of heavy squats OR deads and one day of heavy bench or shoulder press or bent rows per week)...

I am really struggling with bench and am hoping that I'm going to be focusing enough on it that I make some good gains over the next month or two. I am hoping to press my body weight by the time summer is over, but I honestly think I should be doing that already.

I've also continued intervals using tabata squats, thrusters, sprints or jump rope... essentially if I lift 3x a week and have some really heavy days I'll do a day of intervals, on lighter weeks where i lift 2x, I do 2-3 sets of intervals and I'm noticing the bodily changes more heavily now than ever before... abs are starting to come in and I just look good (for the most part)

This brings me to my current trouble, I'm noticing that certain parts of my physique aren't comparable and I'm wondering if I'm developing imbalances that should be corrected... My mid back isn't really standing out at all despite doing plenty more than I bench on bent rows, but all of the pullups and shoulder presses have given my upper back a nice quality to it that is lacking elsewhere. I'm also noticing that my chest looks really deflated in comparison to the rest of my features, so I hope that I get some hypertrophy from the EDT program I'm currently on.

So this is where I take a gracious step back and hope someone with vast stores of knowledge will step in and give me the clarity I seek !

To synthesize, I would really like some size on my chest and upper-trapezius, mid-back and spinal erector dev't. My chest is weak, I need to fix that but I need to know how. My deadlift is still lagging behind my squat, which doesn't really make sense because almost everyone I know says the DL should be 2x BW by the time your squat is 1.5x...

If videos are needed I'm willing to give in and post them as long as someone will give me a critique of my technique so I know whether or not it is a problem with my form.

[swanso5]

- might need to bump chest up to 2/week with a max effort and rep method day..that would also require you to probably focus on maintaining squats/deads probably training 1 every 2 weeks for ech of them
- mid back is plenty of rows yes but perfect techniques needs to be used for them, not just stack the wt on and lift it 5 inches or anything...elboes right back behind you, squeeze shoulders doen and back together and DECREASE THE WT!!!
- bench thing might be a technique problem so a video would be nice
- squats and deads should be about the same really but depends how your built...my deads were more but haven't deadlifted properl;y for ages now and have squatted a lot more so they're about even now (130 - 140kg-ish)