# Willie's journal



## Willie (Feb 17, 2008)

I'm probably going to do my first jab tomorrow so thought i'd stick a journal up to keep track of how things are going. Hope it's better than the Pheraplex one I did on UGM last year where I was just posting to myself though.

*Cycle*

Tomorrow, barring not being able to jab through nerves, i'm going to do a 10 week cycle of Test E @ 500mg a week. Got Adex on hand for bloat and gyno with Nolva and Clomid for PCT. Haven't decided exactly how i'm going to do PCT yet but it'll likely be:

Days 1-30 100mg Clomid

Days 1-45 20mg Nolva

When I started training four years ago i weighed about 11 stone (at 6 foot 1) and today i weigh about 15. Was about 16 stone in May but did a mild cut over summer. Over the last few weeks i've gradually brought my carbs back up so am now back to proper bulking.

Aim is to get to about 17 stone in decent nick, if i can get higher than that great but don't want to have too much fat to lose afterwards.

*Diet*

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*It's alright I think but any suggestions welcome. Pretty much all the food I eat is home made. Don't stick to this as rigidly at the weekend (have the odd bit of dirt) but I make sure all meals have sufficient protein etc. My macros are all on a spreadsheet at work but from a rough calculation this works out to be 300g protein, 360g carbs and maybe about 120g fat totalling about 4000kcals.

7am - shake of 100g oats, 40g protein (1 part whey, 2 parts micellar casein), 15g walnut oil in water, 2g fish oil

10am - shake of 100g oats, 40g protein (1 part whey, 2 parts micellar casein), 15g walnut oil in water, 2g fish oil. 1 banana

1pm - Beef kebabs, 100g rice (dry weight) plus salad, 2g fish oil

4pm - Beef chilli - 200g featherblade steak, chopped tomatoes, onions, garlic, chilli, green peppers, kidney beans, mushrooms plus spices with 20g sour cream and chives and 100g rice (dry weight)

5pm - train

6.30pm - PWO shake - 40g whey, 60g malto in water

7.30pm - 200g chicken breast, 100g rice (dry weight) in a home-made tomato sauce

11pm - 250ml skimmed milk, 325g cottage cheese, 40g peanut butter, 2g fish oil

*Training*

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*

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*Monday - Chest and calves

Tuesday - Back

Wednesday - Shoulders

Thursday - Arms

Sunday - Legs

I do four exercises per bodypart generally, 3 sets per exercise with reps pyramiding from 10-12 down to 4-6. I do FST7 for the last set every second day, so i'm only doing it once a fortnight per bodypart. Thought doing it every workout as a natty would be overtraining but i think it works quite well.

I'll try and get some pics up soon but to give you an idea of size, at the moment my arms are 16.5", quads 28", waist 34" and calves 17".


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## [email protected]@-ter (Sep 5, 2008)

All sounds good pal!

Diet looks good, just out of interest, is there a reason for the first 2 meals being shakes?

Be interesting to see some pics for a before/after effect.

Dont worry, plenty of people will offer words of support/advice etc.

Good Luck

Dan


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## LittleChris (Jan 17, 2009)

Look solid and well planned out. You will do well on the cycle if you stick to the diet and train hard :thumb:


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## Willie (Feb 17, 2008)

Cheers for the comments.

DannyBwoy, first two meals are shakes for convenience really. Don't always have time to cook eggs or something for breakfast and I can only get away from my desk for 5-10 mins in the morning so i need something that can be eaten fairly quickly.


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## ParaManiac (Mar 20, 2007)

Looks decent,as said,should do well on that.

Possible improvements - lack of greens and omega 3 

Regarding the eggs - it's easy to scramble the night before and then blast in micro in the morning or boiled?

And i'd probably have the fruit at breakfast.


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## Willie (Feb 17, 2008)

Cheers Para - how much O3 should you shoot for? The walnut oil has 1.5g a tablespoon according to nutritiondata.com and i have a handfull of fish oil caps before bed usually.

Greens - i know this (and fruit and veg in general) is something i could improve on, but a lot of the time i feel too full to add bulky veg to meals. If my appetite improves once the test kicks in then it's certainly something i'll add in.


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## [email protected]@-ter (Sep 5, 2008)

All makes sense now

i know what you mean about eating at work, this last week has been a struggle for me to ensure i get my meals at the right time since changing roles slightly, so i know where you are coming from.


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## ParaManiac (Mar 20, 2007)

Willie said:


> Cheers Para - how much O3 should you shoot for? The walnut oil has 1.5g a tablespoon according to nutritiondata.com and i have a handfull of fish oil caps before bed usually.


Walnut oil is decent stuff,however,the Omega 3 is derived via ALA and is then converted,some reports suggest inefficently,to EPA/DHA,where as fish oils need no conversion and so,imo,are the superior option.

I normally try for 2g with each meal,pre/post workout being the exception.


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## Willie (Feb 17, 2008)

Well, just did my first jab. Seemed to go OK but forgot to aspirate amidst the excitement.

Took a shower, swabbed vial and leg, put needle on syringe, drew back 2ml, uncapped syringe then put it in vial, injected air, drew back the test, got rid of air bubbles and made sure had 2ml actual test in the syringe, swabbed leg again then put the needle in my quad. There was no pain when it went in (fnar) which was surprising. Took about 40 secs to inject the oil then took the needle out and held a swab over it. Just about to give it a good massage now. Training legs later which will hopefully help it to disperse more.

Was shaking quite a bit during injection so i'm expecting a bit of PIP tomorrow.


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## dmcc (Nov 25, 2007)

You're - presumably - still alive, but it is still safer to aspirate just to make sure. Enjoy the PIP


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## powerlifter8 (Jan 28, 2007)

From one scot to another, good luck mate, should be interesting!


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## Willie (Feb 17, 2008)

Cheers DMCC and Powerlifter8. I had planned to aspirate but it just went completely out my head. I'll definitely remember to do it next time as death is a fairly unwanted side effect.

The PIP seemed to peak last night and is a bit better this morning - I was expecting it to get worse today, DOMS-style.

Trained legs after jabbing yesterday, i'm doing deads on Tuesday so my workout was done with one eye on that and making sure my lower back wouldn't be too tender:

Front squats

SLDLs

Quad extentions

Seated leg curls

Lunges

Lifts were up a bit on the last workout which is to be expected as i'm back in a calorie surplus now. Nothing particularly good or bad to report otherwise though.

Just about to do my weekly cook now then go and train chest. Loving the bank holiday weekend.


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## Willie (Feb 17, 2008)

Did chest there: incline bench, decline bench, some crossovers from a loy pulley (never did this before and read about it on here so was included more for curiosity than anything else) and dips. For calves after I did standing and seated raises. Nothing particularly good or bad to report.


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## Willie (Feb 17, 2008)

Back today:

Deads 140x10, 150x7, 160x3

Low pulley rows with a medium width parallel grip bar

Lat pulldowns with the v-bar

T-bar rows

Quite good workout, strength is better again now i'm eating more carbs.

Diet: spot on, had a half a grapefruit for breakfast too. Ordered some more O3 caps as i'm starting to run low and am going to take them more regularly as per para's suggestion above.


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## powerlifter8 (Jan 28, 2007)

Nice deadlifting mate, best exercise ever for thickness all round IMO (erectors, traps especially.)


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## Willie (Feb 17, 2008)

Cheers. Yeah deads are an excellent exercise but pretty taxing so i only do them every second back workout as it's tough going heavy on both them and squats each week imo. The other week i do chins, bent over rows, pulldowns etc for a bit of variation.


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## Willie (Feb 17, 2008)

Shoulders tonight:

Behind the neck seated BB press - 13x65, 7x70, 6x70

DB press - 10x28 (each hand), 7x28, 7x28

Bent over lateral raise (3 sets)

Seated machine side raises FST-7

Good workout again, PIP is pretty much away now too.

Diet: spot on


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## Willie (Feb 17, 2008)

Didn't train on Thursday as there was a small do on after work, just went along and ate food which was alright. Diet as per above expect instead of my PWO meal i had various bits from the buffet.

Did arms yesterday:

Preacher curls

Hammer cable curls w/rope

Reverse grip curls

Cambered bar pushdowns

Standing skullcrushers

Single arm tricep pulldowns

Good workout, diet was spot on. Just going to the butchers to get my meat for the week then will play some golf probably as it's a nice day. Getting about London with your clubs and no car is a pain in the tits though.

Weighed myself this morning as well (post-turd, pre-breakfast) and was 15 stone 9. When i weighed myself last week i was up at my folks' house and i hadn't eaten properly for a couple of days so i think this is a better indication of my starting weight. Revised target weight is 17 stone now.


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## Willie (Feb 17, 2008)

Just did second jab - forgot to aspirate again which is annoying. Remembered just after starting to inject the test but thought if i attempted to aspirate at that point i'd just pull the gear back out. Will need to get a big sign for my wall or something.

Golf went OK yesterday, shot 102 which is crap compared to when i used to play but ball striking with my irons, short game and even putting were a lot better than last time - my driving was all over the shop though, lost at least 8 balls which accounts for quite a big chunk of my score. Reckon another 2-3 rounds and i should be shooting about 90.


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## Willie (Feb 17, 2008)

Not long in from my leg workout:

Squats:- 12x130kg, 9x140kg, 4x150kg, 1x170kg

SLDL:- 8x90kg, 3x90kg (lower back was too pumped, had to rest a bit longer and stretch), 6x100kg, 4x100kg

Quad extensions

Leg curls

Hack squats

Good workout, my squats seem to suffer most when cutting so it's nice to be going back the right way again. Haven't done a single in ages so went for the 170 more out of interest than anything else - went to parallel and got back up alright. I asked for a spot just in case and the guy said no! Outrageous. My PB is 177.5 so i think in a fortnight i'll go for 180kg.


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## powerlifter8 (Jan 28, 2007)

Willie said:


> Not long in from my leg workout:
> 
> Squats:- 12x130kg, 9x140kg, 4x150kg, 1x170kg
> 
> ...


Thats well wide lol! Fair old weight you're shifting on the squat mate, you always been a strong squatter?


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## Willie (Feb 17, 2008)

I thought it was an unwritten rule that you had to give a spot if someone asked.

Squatting has always been my favourite exercise so it's the one i put most effort in to. I got shown how to squat properly not long after i started training too which helped. My bench is pathetic though so it all balances out.


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## LittleChris (Jan 17, 2009)

:lol: I have never heard of somebody refusing to spot :lol:

Seems its all going to plan which is good. Keep it up sport


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## T.F. (Aug 28, 2008)

Alright mate, glad to hear things are going well, apart from the aspiration :lol:

Good lifts in there too, keep at it mate :thumbup1:


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## dmcc (Nov 25, 2007)

He said no? Smack him one. I've never said no, and I'd expect the same unless the person genuinely wasn't comfortable with the weight I would be shifting.


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## m14rky (Aug 11, 2008)

alright mate just caught up with ur journal.hows it going?cant believe a guy said no to spotting ya some people are unbelievable


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## Willie (Feb 17, 2008)

Alright Marky, everything's going fine so far. Still got the business end to come though.

No training today due to a person under a train at Stratford which meant it was really problematic to get to the gym before it got mega-busy. I hate training when it's rammed so just going to go tomorrow night and start the week from there.


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## m14rky (Aug 11, 2008)

yea central line was bad today im a cabbie so i noticed i need to get myself down to muscleworks when i move i will have to leave my gym then im gonna join


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## Willie (Feb 17, 2008)

Chest today:

Incline BB: 13x80, 8x85, 4x90

Decline BB: 9x80, 6x85, 4x85

Cable crossovers from low pulley

Dips

Seated calf raises

Donkey raises

Good workout, strength seems to be coming on quite well but think at this stage it's probably just eating more carbs and a mental boost.

Diet was fine, everything outlined in the first post.


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## powerlifter8 (Jan 28, 2007)

Solid pressing, do you not find though that you can press far more on decline? I do anyway, ROM is so much decreased, it's like doing a board press!


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## Willie (Feb 17, 2008)

Oh aye, didn't add the bar in for declines. Yeah i can press a bit more on declines but doing them after inclines i'm a bit bushed. Might try them first next week actually. Do you do much powerlifting specific training like board press?


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## Willie (Feb 17, 2008)

Back today:

Chins (narrow, parallel grip bar): 8, 6, 4.5, 3

BB rows: 12x90, 7x100, 10x80

Pulldowns with a rope

Underhand medium grip pulldowns FST7 style

Then some weighted stretching to finish.

Have never done 8 chins before so pleased with that. If i could knock out 3 sets of ten chins but the end of this i'll be pretty happy. Form felt rubbish on the second set of rows so i dropped the weight for the last set which is well beta but it's one of these exercises it's better to feel the back pulling properly imo.


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## Willie (Feb 17, 2008)

A rare back pic:


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## powerlifter8 (Jan 28, 2007)

very good taper mate, whats the chest-waist measurement?


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## Willie (Feb 17, 2008)

I'll tell you in a minute - when you measure chest do you basically do a lat spread or is it a relaxed measurement?


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## powerlifter8 (Jan 28, 2007)

inhale, lat spread, tense pecs, the full monty mate...i need every inch I can get LOL!


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## Willie (Feb 17, 2008)

Waist is 35" and chest is 48" - that was squeezing everything as hard as possible, haha. Not the easiest measurement to do yourself. Hopefully get that ratio up a bit in the next couple of months.

Is that a recent avi pic? Arms are looking solid.


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## powerlifter8 (Jan 28, 2007)

Thats a big ass chest! Impressive 13" difference  A 50" chest and 32-33" waist would look amazing! Nah mate, thats from my 10 stone 13" arms days LMAO :lol: , trying to keep myself reminded that I can cut up when need be!


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## Willie (Feb 17, 2008)

There's not much chest in it, it's all back :lol: Yeah, i tell myself i can get lean when needed too - a couple of years ago i did a pretty disasterous cut, didn't eat anywhere near enough calories but by the end of it my waist was under 32" so it can be done, it's just a lot of effort!


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## Willie (Feb 17, 2008)

Shoulders tonight:

Seated military BB press: 10x65, 6, 70, 3.5x70

DB press: 11x28, 6x32.5, 5.5x32.5

Side raise (used plates instead of DBs)

Bent over raise

Shrugs

Quite pleased with it, shrugs felt a lot better than last time. Would like to get my delts lookings better during this cycle so cut back slightly on volume but going to make sure they get blasted.


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## Willie (Feb 17, 2008)

Arms today:

Rope pushdowns 3 sets

Sort of tate press cable machine 3 sets

Cambered bar pushdowns FST7 style

EZ curls 3 sets

Hammer curls 3 sets

Incline DB curls FST7 style

Not going to put weight as when there's bars of unknown weight and machines it's a bit irrelevant.

Not sure if the stuff is kicking in yet but i've got a couple of spots starting on my shoulders, and catching a glimpse of the lads mags in the supermarket has been bringing on sembos the last couple of days.


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## ares1 (Apr 27, 2008)

just noticed you have a journal here - yes im slow lol

first thing i noticed was increased sex drive - and it only gets worse lol :lol: just be careful when you go for a pi$$  ...


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## Willie (Feb 17, 2008)

My journal is quite discreet so it's easy to miss.

How long did you find it was before the urge to hump everything started? I don't have a very high sex drive usually so can see this being pretty frustrating. Had to walk about the supermarket with the basket strategically positioned covering my shorts for a while too :lol:


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## dmcc (Nov 25, 2007)

Higher sex drive kicked in in about 2 weeks for me and peaked at 4 I think. It was awful, in a good way though :thumb:


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## iopener (Jan 1, 2007)

Willie said:


> How long did you find it was before the urge to hump everything started? I don't have a very high sex drive usually so can see this being pretty frustrating. Had to walk about the supermarket with the basket strategically positioned covering my shorts for a while too :lol:


2 weeks in. It was maddening and drove me downright insane. I found myself leering at some 40+ soccer mom in unflattering leggings and a baggy top thinking "yeah she would get it".


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## Willie (Feb 17, 2008)

I'll need to try and put myself about a bit then. Two more weeks of it wouldn't be too difficult to deal with but it could lead to asymmetric forearm development.


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## ares1 (Apr 27, 2008)

fpmsl - yeah it ONLY gets worse :lol: :lol: :lol: unfortunately theres nothing you can really do about it (except switch hands to make sure you're getting equal development :whistling: ) even the old "margret thatcher naked on a cold day" trick makes it worse.

get you're self a missus and some KY asap :thumb:


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## Willie (Feb 17, 2008)

Golf went alright yesterday, still not hitting it that consistently but starting to get there. Went to watch the football with my brother after and had a few beers but managed to get away before things went awry but prepping my food for the week today is seeming like a bigger chore than usual. Haven't been properly pished since my birthday and want to keep it that way, don't like drinking now but sometimes social convention coerces you in to it.

Bought some dope on the way home and one of the guys asked if i was a bodybuilder - while i wouldn't regard myself as one yet, i think that's the first time anyone's used that word which was quite cool.


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## Willie (Feb 17, 2008)

Just did third jab - went fine - remebered to aspirate this time as well. It was a bit of an anticlimax though :lol:


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## m14rky (Aug 11, 2008)

ah dope aint had any for ages i normally reach for the junk food when i get the munchies so try stay away


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## Willie (Feb 17, 2008)

Bit of a sweaty workout due to beers yesterday:

Front squats 10x100, 8x100, 5x100

SLDL

Leg extensions

Leg curls

Lunges

Lunges have got a rep as being a bit of a girlie exercise but fcuk me, they don't have get the heart rate up.


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## iopener (Jan 1, 2007)

You tried split lunges with a barbell? Those are mentally hard.


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## powerlifter8 (Jan 28, 2007)

Nice front squats mate...


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## Willie (Feb 17, 2008)

Weigh 16 stone dead this morning, so +4lbs in ten days or so. I'm on day 15 of the cycle now but i didn't weigh myself properly till a few days in.

Woke up really early this morning (about 4 or 5 am) and couldn't get back to sleep. Had a bit of a hot/cold thing going on. My flatmate said he had something similar on Friday so it could just be that but whatever it is I hope it passes quickly. Don't feel too tired or sensitive to temperature now so will see how it goes over the rest of the day.


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## Willie (Feb 17, 2008)

Found out it was 4am i woke up as my flatmate heard me cutting about. Was so tired in work, tried to grab a couple of minutes stealth-sleep at my desk and was almost dozing off on the way to the gym but was OK once i got there.

I usually train alone but i worked in with someone on the first two exercises so was able to go to proper failure:

Incline BB: 13x85, 7x90 (plus one assisted rep), 3x100 (plus three assisted reps)

Decline BB: 9x80, 5x85 (plus three assisted reps) 5x80 (plus two assisted reps)

Dips: first set BW+10kg, second and third were bodyweight +15kg

Pec deck FST7 then some weight stretching

Standing calf raise

Seated raise

Was majorly impressed with incline bench today. Added 5kg to the bar for the first set but did the same number of reps as last week, almost did the same in the second set and the guy i was training with sort of egged me on to try 100 in the last set. Never tried that on incline so was pretty apprehensive but thought it'd be worth a shot, especially considering i had a spotter. Pretty pleased with three reps myself on that, especially as bench is one of my weakest exercises.

Think i'm going to train back on Wednesday cos I need to go to the driving range tomorrow night and iron my swing out a bit before playing on Thursday, and i don't want to mess about with it the night before playing.


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## Willie (Feb 17, 2008)

Nipples felt a bit weird in work this morning, the whole areola would go quite hard and felt a bit tingly but some rubbing and they went back to normal. When i did a Pheraplex cycle last year i got some gyno symptoms off that and waited too long to see if it was gyno before starting nolva and i've got a couple of small lumps from that so didn't want to take any chances. Being the paranoid chap i am i had some AIs and SERMs in my bag in case of something liek this, so popped three tabs of Nolva and .5mg of adex. With hindsight i might have jumped the gun a bit but they still feel slightly sensitive now so will keep up the nolva till the adex has a chance to kick in.

Trained back today seeing as i don't really have the time or the money to go to the range:

Rack deads (from mid-shin):11x150, 6x160, 2x170

Seated cable rows

Pulldowns with a narrow parallel grip bar

Hammer strength pulldowns

Strength is up quite a bit on all exercises but most significantly on deads. Lower back was pumped to fcuk. Good workout, enjoyed it. Hopefully the doms won't be too bad on Thursday or 36 holes will be a struggle.


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## powerlifter8 (Jan 28, 2007)

Nice incline benching mate and congrats on the weight gain so far. RE The gyno thing, is it perhaps possible that a lot of it is psychological and your mind doing overtime? I know if I'm paranoid about something my mind does its best to convince me of the worst lol!


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## Willie (Feb 17, 2008)

Cheers. Yeah there's a major mental element to it. The more you think about it the more you imagine they itch so the more you touch them and the more sensitive they get making you think the symptoms are real. Tried not to do that this time and left a good half hour between 'evaluations' this morning and they were going back to feeling hard so thought it best to be cautious. I definitely waited too long to start last though as i thought i was just being paranoid which no doubt made me reach for the meds more quickly.


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## Willie (Feb 17, 2008)

Didn't train on Wednesday so i didn't have DOMS for golf. Golf was a good day out yesterday, game was pretty patchy but we came second in the team competition and I won longest drive by about 30 yards so lots to build on.

Shoulders today:

Seated behind neck BB press (it's a 6ft bar and i don't know how much it weights so won't post weights)

DB press: 8x32.5, 7x32.5, 6x32.5 (plus one forced rep)

Bent over raises

Side raises FST7 style

Some ab work

Good workout, had a fair sweat on by the end of it. Still got minor gyno symptoms but they're getting better. Going to weigh myself tomorrow then try and do it every Saturday morning.


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## powerlifter8 (Jan 28, 2007)

nice shoulder pressing mate, which do you prefer btw out of DB and BB? I always feel like I've worked harder on BB...very strange.


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## Willie (Feb 17, 2008)

Probably BB to be honest, just feels like you can put more in to it, especially if you're standing. DB feels a bit restricted by comparison. Standing BB was my main shoulder exercise when i first started, it's still a good'un.


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## m14rky (Aug 11, 2008)

where do u play golf mate?


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## Willie (Feb 17, 2008)

I'm not a member anywhere yet but i'm using Fairlop Waters quite a bit just now cos there's a decent practice area and it's easy to get to. Was up there yesterday for a few hours actually.

Jab four this morning, went OK. Remembered to aspirate etc but didn't do the z-track thing as usual. Find there's normally a bit more blood afterwards when you don't do that. Off to do legs now.


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## m14rky (Aug 11, 2008)

yea its alright over there thats round the corner to where i live i train in the sports centre by the station


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## Willie (Feb 17, 2008)

That's probably one of the hardest/best workouts i've had. Was pishing with sweat the whole way through.

Squats: 15x130, 12x140, 6x150 (plus one rep where i needed a bit of assistance)

Leg extensions

Glute ham raises (lower back was too pumped to do SLDL)

Seated curls

Lunges (still surprised at how hard these are)

Very pleased with that, strength is continuing to go up nicely on the squats. Will try for 180 in a fortnight i think.

Weighed myself this morning and I was 16 stone - same as Monday. While i think i look a bit sharper, i might add in some more food as while i don't want to add a great deal more fat, the aim of this is to add some mass. Think i'll add some more carbs in to my 1pm meal for a bit more pre-workout fuel and up fats slightly.


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## neildo (Oct 9, 2008)

Alright dude.....just read through this all looks sweet and interested to see your progress. Your squatting looks impressive, 180 would be a f*cker to get up, i'm still stuck on 140 for 1.


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## LittleChris (Jan 17, 2009)

Get the extra grub in. You will most likely look watery from the extra carbs, but think of the bigger picture.

Not to mention fat is easier to strip off than muscle is to build :thumb:

No unpleasant sides then?


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## Willie (Feb 17, 2008)

Pretty poor day today. Feels like i've been shot in the leg. No swelling or redness yet so think it was just poor injection technique but i'll be keeping an eye on it. The needle moved about a fair bit while in my leg so think it'll be a bit of internal bruising or whatever goes on inside your muscles. There's a slight bruise where the needle went in as well so think it was just a dodgy jab.

Workout wasn't much better either, was riding the crest of a wave after last week's chest workout but today paled in comparison. Had the ignominy of failing on my first set of incline bench so had to lower the bar on to my stomach then stand up with the bar. Lacked motivation throughout as well. Think it might be down to yesterday's exertions and getting a bit less sleep, plus i actually put in a decent shift in work today.

Incline BB bench: 8x90 (failed on the 9th), 6x90, 5x90

Incline DB bench: 8x36, 6x36, 5x36

Dips

Hammer strength press



neildo said:


> Alright dude.....just read through this all looks sweet and interested to see your progress. Your squatting looks impressive, 180 would be a f*cker to get up, i'm still stuck on 140 for 1.


Cheers for stopping by, not so sure about 180 after today's workout but i'll go for it next squats day probably. Are you going for singles all the time or are you doing some volume work as well? How was your holiday? You starting back at uni this week?



LittleChris said:


> Get the extra grub in. You will most likely look watery from the extra carbs, but think of the bigger picture.
> 
> Not to mention fat is easier to strip off than muscle is to build :thumb:
> 
> No unpleasant sides then?


Yeah i'm going to add in 60-75 carbs and 15-20g fat for now and take it from there. Was expecting a fair bit of bloat by now but think having a clean diet helps. No sides to speak of really, bit of gyno but started the adex and nolva so that's looking like it's under control. Sure there's worse to come though.


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## neildo (Oct 9, 2008)

mostly volume mate only ever tried a 1 rep max of 130 followed by 140, normally do 70-100 for higher reps and now about 125 for 5 or so....legs next will be interested to see how they are after 3 weeks of bevvying. back at uni today mate was dreadful and the holiday was immense, weather was fantastic and got a quality tan  lots of incredibly hot spanish birds also!!


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## Willie (Feb 17, 2008)

Sounds pretty good mate, i've not had a proper holiday since before first year at uni but hoping to get away early next year for 10 days or so. Just keep at the squats, you know what you're doing now so the progress will come.

Back today:

Chins: 7,6,5

BB rows: 13x90 10x90 8x90

Underhand medium grip seated cable rows

FST7 pulldowns

Good workout, a lot better than yesterday. Going to take tomorrow off as that'll be four days in a row including legs and back which are the most taxing. Think i'll move to a three on two off routine now to increase recovery a bit plus it won't mess with my outside-of-gym routine.

Quad feels a lot better, had an early night last night and took some ibuprofen before bed and it isn't half as bad as it was yesterday. It's good to be able to walk about the office without a pronounced limp.


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## powerlifter8 (Jan 28, 2007)

Nice rowing mate, I see you're also a fan of high(er) reps for hypertrophy?


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## Willie (Feb 17, 2008)

Kinda yeah, my first set i shoot for about 10 generally but a lot of the time this ends up being about 12. I don't like going much higher than that though, you get a nice pump but how much it does in terms of hypertrophy i'm not sure.

Normally i'd probably have added a bit of weight after getting 13 reps but the last couple of times i've gone up to 100 on rows my form has gone and i've not felt a good contraction, and if i can't feel the muscle working then it feels kind of pointless doing the exercise.

Do you do higher reps when going for growth?


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## rich-k (Jul 17, 2009)

This has been a good read


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## powerlifter8 (Jan 28, 2007)

TBH mate ive had my best results doing one very heavy set on 15-20 reps for legs, on bench heavy sets at 10-12...just seems so much more effective.


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## Willie (Feb 17, 2008)

Almost in a sort of HIT style? That's something i'd like to try as a lot of big guys have had a lot of success with it. I think i'd only really be able to do one all out set if i had a reliable spotter as you'd need to go a bit past failure to feel sufficiently stimulated.


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## powerlifter8 (Jan 28, 2007)

Yeah mate, thats exactly the principle, KISS


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## Willie (Feb 17, 2008)

Training shoulders before work this morning cos i agreed to go to some thing at the theatre tonight. Feels obscene being up at this time. At least the gym should be quiet.


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## Willie (Feb 17, 2008)

Fairly quiet few days, was really tired so couldn't be bothered updating this. Shoulder workout was good then went for some food and to a show after work which was alright. Friday trained arms which was again good, yesterday played golf then just chilled out. Went to bed about 12 wanting a lie in but woke up about 8 and couldn't get back to sleep.

Just did jab five there - went much better than last week. A lot steadier. Didn't do the z-track thing so there was a bit of blood after, just hope there wasn't too much gear leakage.

Weight is still 16 stone which is annoying - have been eating more food over the last week so hopefully things will start progressing again. As well as adding in more proper carbs and a bit of fat i've been drinking a fair bit of Coke to get the cals up, which isn't ideal but i feel almost maxed out in terms of solid carbs.


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## iopener (Jan 1, 2007)

A dribble of blood leaks a insignificant amount of gear. I know it may look a lot, but its at worst case 1-2mg.

Want some help on the food front, i know a fair few ways of getting in the food without making you sick from volume.


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## Willie (Feb 17, 2008)

Cool, cheers - it does tend to look a lot more blood than probably is there. Any tips on the food front would be appreciated.


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## iopener (Jan 1, 2007)

Could you give me a sample of what it is you eat, its just so that i can get an idea of volume of food as well as things you like to eat.


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## LittleChris (Jan 17, 2009)

Have a spoonful of EV oil with each meal.

Don't forget as this is your first cycle, you may be losing fat and gaining muscle, hence the scales aren't always the best indication.

If strength is going up each session and you are eating well, you will be adding muscle.


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## Willie (Feb 17, 2008)

iopener said:


> Could you give me a sample of what it is you eat, its just so that i can get an idea of volume of food as well as things you like to eat.


7am - shake of 100g oats, 40g protein (1 part whey, 2 parts micellar casein), 22g walnut oil in water, 2g fish oil. Half a pink grapefruit

10am - shake of 100g oats, 40g protein (1 part whey, 2 parts micellar casein), 22g walnut oil in water, 2g fish oil. One banana

1pm - Beef kebabs, 100g rice (dry weight) plus salad, 2g fish oil

4pm - Beef chilli - 200g featherblade steak, chopped tomatoes, onions, garlic, chilli, green peppers, kidney beans, mushrooms plus spices with 20g sour cream and chives and 100g rice (dry weight)

5.15pm - train

6.30pm - PWO shake - 40g whey, 90g malto in water

7.30pm - 200g chicken breast, 100g rice (dry weight) in a home-made tomato sauce

9pm-ish - 330ml tomato juice, three stalks celery, tobasco and Worcester sauce blended (to keep the ticker healthy)

11pm - 250ml skimmed milk, 325g cottage cheese, 40g peanut butter, 2g fish oil



LittleChris said:


> Have a spoonful of EV oil with each meal.
> 
> Don't forget as this is your first cycle, you may be losing fat and gaining muscle, hence the scales aren't always the best indication.
> 
> If strength is going up each session and you are eating well, you will be adding muscle.


Yeah, that's the thing - i did some quick measurements this morning and my arms, chest and quads are all up and i appear to be a bit leaner so from that it looks like i'm adding muscle. Strength is going up too. It's just a mental thing wanting the scales to keep showing gains but, as is said, they aren't a reliable indicator). This is the start of the fifth week now so within the next fortnight things should pick up. I'm having 1.5 tablespoons of walnut oil with a couple of meals at the moment but will see if i can fit more in elsewhere, cheers.


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## Willie (Feb 17, 2008)

Oh yeah, just trained legs:

Front squats: 13x100, 6x110, 6x110 (not sure why a modest increase in weight caused the reps to go down so much)

SLDLs

Leg extensions

Lying curls

Lunges

Very taxing workout again, was sitting on the floor in a heap between sets by the end of it.


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## iopener (Jan 1, 2007)

OK if you like rice dishes a lot then try this.

Mushroom risotto. 100g or more of risotto rice with a can of cream of mushroom soup added and slowly cooked till it absorbs the soup. Its near enough an easy 600 kcals and dont look like much on a plate.

That and homemade flapjacks or anything else that doesnt need much water works well. A good protein bar recipe i have is 150g of grapenuts, 50g peanut butter, 50g chocolate whey and a little water to bind. Put it in the freezer and eat it once it sets a little.

When youre thirsty as well, drink milk instead of water or coke. its a complete meal in a bottle and shouldnt affect your appetite as much.

Seeing as youre in the East End too, pop down Brick lane and get a loaf of Rye bread, that with roast beef is a good way of packing in the kcals which also is very tasty.

Pancakes made this way

150g wholemeal flour

1 scoop of whey

2 whole eggs

200ml Blue top milk

Top with banana or maple syrup or whatever you fancy.

Coconut milk is also a good way of bumping up kcals, very useful in shakes and 100ml is 180 odd kcals, better than necking spoons of oil too.


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## Willie (Feb 17, 2008)

Cheers Eddie. I eat a lot of rice cos it's easy to batch-cook and it keeps well in the fridge. I like the idea of les rosbifs, i'll speak to my butcher this weekend and find out what he'd recommend for it. Been drinking a lot of gold top milk recently, seem to remember somewhere that the fat in it isn't homogenised like normal milk.

Chest today:

Flat BB: 11x90, 6x95, 4x100 (plus two assisted reps)

Incline DB: 7x36, 8x36, 7x36

Dips: bodyweight +15kg

Cable crossovers FST7 style

Done and dusted in half an hour, good workout. Rarely do flat BB bench so weight is still on the low side but strength is up again so can't complain. Did calves afterwards as well. Objective for tonight is to be in bed by 11pm.

Got a bruise near the injection site but i don't think it's at the site itself. Shat myself last night when i found it but there's no swelling, it's dark rather than red and it isn't hot to touch so fingers crossed its nothing worry about. This jabbing lark can be quite stressful.


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## Willie (Feb 17, 2008)

Back tonight:

Rack deads: 8x160, 5x170, 3x180

Pulldowns with the v-handle

Seated pulley rows with a medium, parallel grip bar

Hammer strength pulldowns

With a bit of weighted stretching for dessert. Good workout, pleased with that all in all. Starting to notice a few subtle changes now so hopefully things will start moving forward.

PIP is barely noticeable today so not sure where the bruise came from - suppose it could just be irritation from the alcohol swab or summat.


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## T.F. (Aug 28, 2008)

Alright mate, how's the form? Hard going updating these journals all the time isn't it.

I haven't been tracking my weight since i started my cycle and i'm kinda worrying that i'm not eating enough cals also, have definitely got a big bigger and leaner though so it's heading in the right direction but like you, i want more, quicker, bigger 

Going to buy bathroom scales now so i can keep a better eye on things.

Also, is it just me, or do you feel smaller as you get bigger? Sometimes i feel like i'm a decent size and other times i feel skinny as hell! The joys eh! And i'm 2 stone lighter than you, you beast!


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## Willie (Feb 17, 2008)

Everything's good, Tim, cheers. I added in about another 500-600 cals last week cos while you don't want to go wild and end up putting on 10lbs of fat over the course of the cycle, you also want to make sure you put on a decent amount of muscle. I'll need to weigh myself dry in the morning but i'm hoping there'll be an increase for the first time in a three weeks but there's been some recomping in that time for sure. Scales are handy to have, i got a decent set last year for about 15 quid off eBay.

There might have been an element of unrealistic expectations from my first cycle but we're still only at the halfway stage.

The size thing is weird yeah, i tend to go through stages of feeling like i've put on some size then once i get used to it i start to feel like i'm back to square one. Some game this, eh?


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## Willie (Feb 17, 2008)

16 stone 3 lbs this morning - looks like those additional cals are doing the business. Haven't been sleeping too well the last week or so - is this a normal side effect?


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## T.F. (Aug 28, 2008)

Don't know about the sleep, i've been sleeping fairly well, good going with the weight gain though


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## Willie (Feb 17, 2008)

Shoulders tonight:

Behind the neck press: 13x65, 5.5x70, 5x70

DB press: 8x32.5, 7x32.5, 6.5x32.5

Rear DB raise

Side raise FST7

10 mins of abs

Awesome workout. Not so much for the weights but was feeling swole and looking pretty decent as well (subjectively anyway). Was falling asleep on the DLR going to the gym though, was shattered again this afternoon. I'm starting to feel like Christian Bale in the Machinist. Don't usually smoke during the week but might get on the pipes to try and force myself to sleep tonight.


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## Willie (Feb 17, 2008)




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## Willie (Feb 17, 2008)

Another brutal leg workout. Did legs today as i might not make it on Sunday due to the Old Firm game. The walk home from the gym was a struggle. Lower back was totally fried after doing squats, standing up was getting difficult. Once i did leg extensions and could brace myself in a seat for a while it eased up though.

Squats: 15x140, 9x150x 5x140 (plus three assisted reps)

Glute-ham raises

Leg extensions

Seated leg curls

Hack squats

Toast. Think there'll be a fair bit of snoozing on the couch tonight.


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## Willie (Feb 17, 2008)

This is the end of week five so essentially the halfway stage.

At start Now

Weight 15 stone 10 16 stone 3

Arms 16.5" 16.9"

Chest 48" 48.5"

Quads 28" 29.5"

Calves 17" 17.7"

Waist 34" 34.75"

Quite pleased with that. Can't wear a couple of pairs of jeans now cos they're too tight round the thigh but wasn't expecting quads to go up that much. Increase in waist size is negligible. Thought chest might have increased a bit more as it certainly seems to have visually. All measurements taken round the widest part except waist which was round the belly button.


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## m14rky (Aug 11, 2008)

good improvements there mate


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## Willie (Feb 17, 2008)

Jab six - went fine. Did the z-track thing, apirated, smooth injection, good massage after. My brother has cancelled on my for the football so dunno what to do now...it's a big match to watch it online but at the same time i'm pretty skint so could do without going to the pub. Hmmm.

Last Sunday i had a bruise about the size of a ten pence piece on my quad. It went down over the course of the week but there's a slight lump or swelling where the bruise was that's only really apparent when the muscle is tensed. Not sure if it's related to last week's injection or maybe if it's a very slight tear, but it isn't sore.


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## m14rky (Aug 11, 2008)

who u supporting mate


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## Willie (Feb 17, 2008)

Celtic, according to the rumour mill we've had a few players pick up injuries over the last couple of days so will be hard to judge till the teams are announced


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## m14rky (Aug 11, 2008)

i reckon it will be a draw good luck tho


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## Willie (Feb 17, 2008)

Haven't been on in a while, just didn't have the time really.

Training last week was fine, weights up etc, weight was up to 16 stone 6lbs which is good. Didn't sleep well on Saturday night then yesterday i just couldn't get motivated to do heavy front squats - ended up doing a warmup then a few isolations exercises just to get a bit of a pump and heading home.

Feel pretty fücking dodgy today, sore head, quite lethergic so didn't bother training. Going to get to bed early tonight and try to sleep whatever it is off. Watched A Week in the Dungeon when i got home from work to try and instill a bit of drive, want to get back in the gym tomorrow but if i still feel honkin there's no point.


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## Willie (Feb 17, 2008)

Felt well enough to train today:

Incline BB: 10x90 (got that racked by a bawhair), 5x95 (plus two assisted reps), 4x95 (plus three assisted reps)

Incline DB: 8x36, 7x36, 5x40

Dips

Pec deck FST7

Then some calves

Good workout considering, was looking relatively swole by the end of it. Not looking forward to coming off but i'm not sure i want to pull a DC55 and just stay on, especially considering i'm taking adex for gyno and that doesn't seem to be the best in terms of lipids etc. Wonder if i'd still need it on .5m a week...


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## Willie (Feb 17, 2008)

Back today:

Deads 10x160, 5 or 6x170, 3.5x180

V-bar pulldowns

Seated underhand medium grip pulley rows

Hammer strength pulldowns

Felt knackered on the way to the gym and after deads i was totally beat. Strength was down a bit on the exercises after deads so don't think i'm totally over whatever it was i had.

Going to switch to one on/one off now to see if that helps things. While i think it's unlikely i'm overtraining, given that i'm training heavier and more intensely the extra recovery time could help things along.


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## iopener (Jan 1, 2007)

Out of curiosity how is your cardio fitness? I find this has a very marked impact on my recovery ability.


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## Willie (Feb 17, 2008)

I only really do cardio when cutting and i don't do a great deal outside of training and playing golf, but i keep my rest periods down and train relatively quick. The issue with tiredness/fatigue has only started in the last couple of weeks so i'd suppose it would have to be related to being on cycle and training heavier.


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## iopener (Jan 1, 2007)

Putting on more muscle and not having a heart as fit as it should be caused major lethargy for me. A side effect of being on cycle like you say. Thats why second time round cardio wal included, i dunno about you but i really don't like feeling like an out of shape lump, even though i may have looked in shape.


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## Willie (Feb 17, 2008)

Not a great deal to report, shoulders on Friday which was good, arms yesterday which was good again - big strength increase in tris which was nice. Played golf after but didn't get there till late cos of the central line being part suspended. Front nine was pretty medicore but i had it going on on the back nine. Was on track to break 90 which is my short term goal but ended up having to stop after the 15th cos it was too dark. Still well pleased though.


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## BigAndyJ (Mar 26, 2009)

Nice quads mate - what do you do for them?


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## Willie (Feb 17, 2008)

Cheers - squats are my bread and butter but usually three exercises per leg workout, usually something like squats, leg extensions then hack squat or lunges. I've always like training legs for some reason and did them from the day i started training which helps.

Seriously considering extending the cycle now, maybe dropping down to to 1ml a week till after Christmas. Think if i do that i'll end up running 1ml a week through to spring though and then doing a cutting cycle, and i don't want to end up being on for six months on my first cycle. Think i'm probably best just coming off as planned. It is tempting though...


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## Willie (Feb 17, 2008)

Legs today - alright workout, back pumps got prohibitive on my last set of squats though and got too bad to do lunges. Also on first set of squats my left knee felt like it had to click which was distracting so my form was a bit off - hence lowering the weight. Just wanted to focus on good form.

Squats - 15x140, 12x140, 10x120

Hammer strength seated curls

Quad extensions

SLDLs

One set of lunges which had to abandoned due to back pumps

Quad extensions - two sets of 15 reps, squeezing each one.


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## Willie (Feb 17, 2008)

Sort of dropped off the face of the earth towards the end of this: work got really mental and I basically ended up working, sleeping, eating and training. Finished at 16 stone 10 and in reasonable nick.

After the cycle and PCT finished it was almost Christmas and I was back home for the holidays and barely trained. When I got back to London I lost a lot of motivation and trained maybe three or four times a month. Come summer I got quite in to running and did a half marathon so ended up losing a fair amount of size but also a decent amount of body fat. Since then I've started playing tennis and have had more of a social life so my weight has come down more, but I feel a lot healthier at a lower weight.

In my mind i'm getting skinny though - sitting at 14 stone 5 but don't feel it. I'm not one for new year's resolutions but I'm going to try and put some size back on over the next few months but maintain condition as much as possible. Gonna post in here from time to time for a bit of motivation but it won't be particularly exciting.


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## Willie (Feb 17, 2008)

From today, my schedule is:

Monday: gym

Tuesday: tennis, 2 hours

Wed: gym

Thurs: 4-6 mile run

Fri: gym

Sat/Sun: tennis, 2 hours one day, one day off

Training will be three sessions a week, one body part a session so training whole body over ten days. Think this should be about right given tennis and running.

Diet I'm still in the process of working out. I'm eating good amounts of protein just now with moderate carbs and fat. Going to have to increase carbs and protein a bit and throw in some extra fat.


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