so i have a few things i want to talk about in this post. for starters, i have developed a mild case of tendonitis in my left bicep, which is pretty common for someone who’s been training as long as i have been (10 plus years). unfortunately, only in hindsight do i realize that i could have prevented this from happening. i felt the pain sometime during my bulk, and thought it was just intense soreness. i worked through it, when i could have just laid back and let it heal and wouldn’t have to deal with it now.

one of the things i am doing, is i have completely removed biceps training from my routine. i may have to remove back training all together also, as it brings my biceps into work when i train it. hopefully if i can do this, i can get recovered enough to get back to training biceps sometime in my near future.

besides that though, i have made some improvements in the gym. i am bench press 65 lb dbs, for 6 reps. did 200 lbs on triceps push downs for 4 reps, squatted 145 lbs ATG, for 6 reps and did smith machine close grip bench press at 110 lbs for 10 reps.

i am making improvements and my plan is to bring up all the other parts of my body that i need working on. my back is solid and my biceps are on point. so i guess laying off of it, wouldn’t be so bad. i will be putting my efforts into blowing up my triceps, as it seems they have been neglected because as i didn’t do biceps this week, i felt strong and on point on triceps workouts.

another area of focus, is my legs. i have been attempting coming down to half way through my bulking, to get my legs up before cutting comes around august. so there’s another area i will put my efforts in. i should come out pretty good when i am done bulking

calories: 2941

carbs: 351 g
protein: 195 g
fats: 84 g

as a way to also help with recovery, i will be taking at least a complete week off from training. despite the tendonitis needing it, my whole body needs it, muscles and joints.

so today i did my 25 minutes of cardio. 5 minutes warm up, 15 minutes HIIT at the 30/30 interval and the 5 minute cool down. i really had a good pace going for 12 sets, very fast in the Go phase and resting nicely in the rest phase. it’s the fastest i have gone, while in the GO phase, so i feel really good about it. at the last 2 sets, i kinda felt nauseous but i was pushing myself to keep going, so a very good workout nevertheless.

calories was really nice, didn’t take in anything that wasn’t considered alright for my dieting.

calories: 2344

carbs: 336 g
protein: 164 g
fats: 45 g

i did also 10 minutes of yoga and plan to keep doing this as much as possible. it’s really helping with the pinched nerve i have in my neck and shoulder area. so, it’s a must do, for my overall routine.

so as you can see, i have been hella busy. too busy to even focus on dieting and exercising and even updating this blog. my finals have come, so i have been focused on studying. but, despite that, i have actually gotten to the gym on friday and today (sunday). i did an upper body workout on friday, minus shoulders and then legs and shoulders today.

despite not being able to get cardio in, or the gym as much time as i want, today was a good session. i introduced sumo ATG squats into my routine and did 135 lbs for 10 reps! i am really proud of myself because now i am doing the ATG squats, regular back squats, at 135 lbs for 10 reps, with ease. so i plan to increase that weight by at least 5 lbs, next time i go the gym.

anyways, i have started back counting my calories and drinking my shakes. so i have some caloric intake numbers on here….

calories: 2879

carbs: 426 g
protein: 169 g
fats: 57 g

i think my calories today were a bit over exaggerated, but i guess it could be possible. i did about 45 minutes of LISS today. tomorrow is the same thing, hopefully and then a crunch time of supersetted workouts, for upper body, on wednesday.

calories: 2997

carbs: 434 g
protein: 159 g
fats: 66 g

supposedly, my saturated fat intake was way above the maximum recommended amount. i find it funny that my total fat intake was low, but that was high. so this must mean most of my fat content for today, was saturated? most came from the two slices of marble cake that i had today. i should have stuck to one, but i couldn’t help myself lol. that’s it for me for the rest of the week. it was fun to eat, but not as gratifying. i will be saddened if marble cake is the next treat, that i start not wanting, like the classic magnum chocolate ice cream bar, that i used to love so much but don’t care to eat it, even if there is some in the fridge. the only thing that seems to be something i indulge it, every now and then i stay satisfied by it, is chocolate ice cream. but it’s homemade, so that’s probably why i love it so much!

alright so i have been having severe stiff neck problems, for the past few days. at first i thought it would just go away from doing some neck exercises, but that didn’t work. so i have started using cold-hot packs and massaging it with a dr. scholl’s massager, to see if it can help relieve the symptoms. i am also taking some anti-inflammatory meds, along with those other treatment options. i am hoping by wednesday, when i head back to the gym, that it will have subsided significantly.

i have also been thinking of splitting my shoulder day, into two days, where i can have my leg day on it’s own. i really need to get my legs up, so until i can figure out the intensity of the workouts to produce that kind of gains, i have to have it on it’s own day. so i was suggested in having it on my chest day, and i think i’d have it on my back/triceps day also. maybe split it into hitting certain heads, on one day and another, on another day, but we will see. or maybe just rest significantly between my leg routine and shoulder routine, to recover enough to workout properly.

anyways, here’s what i did on friday:

back:

- t-bar row: 45 x 15, 55 x 12, 65 x 12, 90 x 10
- low pulley rows (rope): 50 x 10, 60 x 15, 70 x 12, 80 x 10, 90 x 10
- smith bent over rows: 70 x 20, 90 x 15, 110 x 12, 120 x 10
- pull ups: bw x 14, 10
- one arm bent over rows: 45′s x 12, 50′s x 10, 60′s x 10
- lat pull downs: 75 x 10, 10 and 87.5 x 10, 100 x 8

triceps:

- one arm db tricep extensions: 15′s x 20, 25′s x 12, 12
- triceps extensions z-bar: 140 x 10, 160 x 10, 180 x 10
- close grip smith bench press: 70 x 20, 90 x 12, 110 x 10, 120 x 8
- high cable machine triceps extensions: 20 x 20, 30 x 10, 40 x 10

today i didn’t do anything because of the neck problem.

my diet was on point also, despite eating kfc.

calories: 2773

carbs: 327 g
protein: 185 g
fats: 80 g

alright so, there’s a lot to talk about today. last time i posted was on monday, and it was in reference to me doing my HIIT session. tuesday was a day i didn’t have my afternoon class, so i took advantage of that and did a leg session, that was focused on only that muscle group. i didn’t split the training day with any other body part, so i was allowed 2 hours to workout only my legs.

my upper body is one that has grown and progressed nicely and it’s from high volume training. i have learned this from years of training, so i figured the same has to be true for my legs. it is just how my body responds and grows. low volume training doesn’t seem to work for me and it is ridiculous that i thought that such a routine would ever do anything for my legs. so i scrapped that type of training for leg day and have decided high volume was the only way to go. so tuesday was a day i got a chance to focus on it, and see how i responded. below is my routine for that day.

legs:

- leg extensions: 45 x 30, 30 and 55 x 20, 20 and 70 x 20, 20 and 90 x 12, 12 and 110 x 10
- ATG squats: 95 x 12, 12 and 105 x 10, 10 and 115 x 10, 10, 10
- leg press: 270 x 15, 360 x 12 and 450 x 12, 10, 12
- alternate leg curls: 25 x 15, 12, 12 and 30 x 10, 10 and 35 x 8
- seated leg curls: 60 x 12, 75 x 7
- lying leg curls: 37.5 x 10, 50 x 8
- seated calf raises: 45 x 20, 50 x 12, 55 x 12, 65 x 10

after training ATG squats on saturday, i was able to get into the groove of things on tuesday and add one some more weight. because despite not doing such low squats before, i was repping 195 lbs for some good reps, slightly above parallel (the height of the weight bench i used, for squatting was that height). as you can see, i am 20 lbs away from 135 lbs and this weekend i want to introduce 135 lbs, after the warm up sets, maybe do 1 set for 95, 1 for 105 and 1 for 115 and the training 5 sets (for a total of 8), for how much reps i can.

you can also see that i got pretty exhausted, that my leg curls and calf workouts, weren’t as impressive. i mean doing so much sets, after heavy leg extensions, had me pretty burned out when i reached leg press, and the other leg exercises.

now, as proud of that training session as i was, i still had a schedule chest and biceps workout, that was done yesterday. i have heard people talk about working a leg routine and then coming back to the gym the next day, to workout and having a pretty bad training session. normally, a nice rest day to recuperate and then coming back to the gym is suggested. now, i thought as i felt like i was ready to go again, that i didn’t need this break. so i went to the gym yesterday and did my chest and biceps, but definitely was burned out again, half way through. i worked hard on the chest and pushed myself a lot, so by the time i reached to biceps, low volume was the way i went as i didn’t have anymore energy to do anything else. so i plan to introduce some biceps training on saturday, to make up for that. i was thinking of focusing on different grips on the barbell biceps curls, and then doing some isolated training with concentration curls and some z-bar curls and calling it a day. but we will see.

chest:

- butterflies machine: 60 x 15, 75 x 12, 90 x 12, 105 x 10, 120 x 8 (went up 15 lbs!!!)
- flat bb bench press: 95 x 25, 115 x 12, 125 x 12, 135 x 10
- high cable cross overs: 30 x 20, 40 x 10, 10 and 60 x 10
- db flat bench press: 40 x 18, 45 x 12, 55 x 10, 60′s x 8
- db incline bench press: 35′s x 15, 40′s x 10, 45′s x 10, and 50′s x 8

as you can see, i put all my strength into the chest workout. i went up 15 lbs in my butterflies for 8 full, strong reps. i stayed the same with db bench press, but that was fine. i was exhausted by the time i got to that, after the flat bb bench press. next time i will start with it, to see if i can get my 10 reps out and then move to 65′s the next week. i really want to hit 70 lbs sometime throughout this bulk session, but we will see. i am not going to go up, unless my body is ready.

biceps:

- seated db bicep alternate curls: 20′s x 14, 25′s x 12, 30′s x 12, 35′s x 10
- standing alternate db bicep curls: 35′s x 10, 40′s x 8, 8
- hammer curls: 30′s x 14, 40′s x 10, 10
- preacher curls db: 25′s x 12, 12, and 30′s x 8

i did do some machine preacher curls, also, and that was just to get some serious contractions in but yet again, will do more biceps training on saturday.

today is just a completely relaxed day. normally i do 2 days of cardio, but seeing as i am doing basically 4 days of training, i am not going to do 6 days overall. so 1 day of cardio, and 4 days of training for my regular 5 days of training. i am too exhausted today to do cardio, even if i wanted to. i need complete rest and recovery. my body is asking for it. my focus today is just on eating and getting as much protein and calories in for today. i might just do some stretching routines, if i can find some on you tube but that’s about it.

but as for nutrition, calories were high, protein high, carbohydrates high and fats, moderate

calories: 2663

carbs: 358 g
protein: 162 g
fats: 65 g

so, i did my 15 minutes of HIIT today, it was awesome. with my regular 5 minute warm up and cool down. this new app i have for my ipad, has made it so easy to just track the full 25 minutes of cardio, instead of just having an app specifically for HIIT.

anyways, besides that, diet was kinda all over the place. but it was high to compensate for the HIIT session.

calories: 2822

carbs: 314 g
protein: 196 g
fats: 87 g

despite it being all over the place, my macros weren’t too bad. cardio is definitely a must, to keep the fat build up to a minimum. tomorrow i am hoping to get to go to the gym because i have no afternoon class. i am thinking of doing a full leg workout, and incorporating my new found interest, ATG squats, which have my legs hurting like hell right now. the DOMS are ridiculous!

alright, so today i decided to get back to doing my cardio, specifically HIIT. so i did my 5 minute warm up, 15 minutes of the 30/30 interval HIIT session and a 5 minute cool down. it was pretty awesome. i am going to try to be consistent with it because i think it’s really helping to keep my fat gains, to a huge minimum.

despite doing cardio today, i am still going to my scheduled HIIT session tomorrow. i am trying my best to get to the gym on tuesday because i don’t have any afternoon classes, as normal, at least for this week coming. so i will try to do a full leg routine, as i am trying my best to get my legs up this bulk session. my upper body is impressive, at least that’s what i am hearing , but my lower body needs some work. so i have moved again, to doing ATG squats instead of regular squats. i am removing hack squats from my routine, as it killed my knees yesterday and i don’t want any future damage to prevent me from training legs. so my leg routine will include; ATG squats, leg press, leg extensions, leg curls and calf raises/workouts.

now i am going to try and do squats at least twice for the week but being that squats is a very intense workout, i may do it at the end of my training, so that i don’t neglect my training for that day. i thought i could do the leg extensions, and focus on the quads specifically, and then do the squats on my leg day on saturday but i was advised, doing the squat twice for the week, would help blow my legs up. also that doing ATG, is the best squat form i could possibly do, to really gain great size on my legs, despite having to drop my numbers back down.

anyways, so diet was kinda of crazy today. my family was invited to a luncheon, at a chinese restaurant. so, i had fried calamari and fried rice. then afterward, i have 1 scoop of ice cream on a cone. i over exaggerated on some of the calories, when calculating for the sake over estimating, so that i don’t be way under and think i haven’t hit my calories. it’s to compensate for the fact it wasn’t the best meal choice today lol

calories: 2818

carbs: 310 g
protein: 170 g
fats: 101 g

with the overshooting of the calories, obviously my fats are going to be ridiculous. i honestly think i may have consumed like 2600 calories, but my fat wouldn’t be so high. i will be cleaning up my calories even more though this week, and doing my cardio to keep shit like this in check.

i guess that’s all i can think of to talk about today.

as you can see, my life is becoming a tad bit more busy that normal. i was able to update this thread daily, to keep things on a day to day track but because of my busy schedule, i tend to choose sleep over updating. but, ill-regardless, i am still training. so it’s picking time to train, then come home and do assignments and then straight to be to recuperate from studies and working out. so from now on, what i will do, is combine days, if i miss updating. so as you can see, it’s about 2 days missed, so it’s 2 days combined into one post, so bear with me.

for the past couple of days, i have just been eating and haven’t really counted calories. i have a fair idea, how much i need to eat or what to do, to hit my macros.

back:

- lat pulldown: 87.5 x 10, 100 x 10, 112.5 x 10
- machine row: 75 x 10, 87.5 x 10, 112.5 x 10
- t-bar row: 65 x 10, 10 and 70 x 10, 90 x 8
- two arm db bent over rows: 70 x 12, 80 x 10, 90 x 10, 100 x 10
- smith bent over rows: 70 x 20, 90 x 12, 100 x 10
- weighted lat pull downs: 90 x 10, 10, 10
- low pulley rows: 80 x 10, 90 x 10, 100 x 8
- neck pulls: 80 x 30, 20, 15

triceps:

- triceps extensions: 80 x 20, 100 x 20, 160 x 12, 180 x 10
- one arm tricep behind head extensions: 20 x 15, 30 x 10, 25 x 18
- close grip smith bench press: 70 x 20, 90 x 12, 110 x 10
- supersetted with concentration curls: 15 x 12, 20 x 12, 25 x 10, 30 x 8
- bb triceps extensions: 40 x 12, 50 x 10, 60 x 8
- supersetted with alternate not supinated db curls: 20 x 16, and 25 x 10, 10
- triceps kickback: 20 x 15, 12, and 25 x 10
- reverse bb biceps curls: 30 x 20, 40 x 10, 50 x 4
- dips: bw x 25, bw + 20 lbs x 12, 10
- z-bar preacher curls: 10 x 10, 20 x 10, 30 x 5
- skull crushers: 30 x 10, 40 x 12, 50 x 12
- high cable triceps extensions: 20 x 12, 30 x 12, 40 x 10
- supetsetted with high cable bicep curls: 20 x 20, 10 and 30 x 10

legs:

- alternate leg curls: 25 x 15, 15, 15, 12, 10
- leg extensions: 45 x 30, 30, 30 and 70 x 20, 80 x 14, 100 x 10, 10
- ATG squats: 90 x 14, 14, 14, 14, and 100 x 12, 10, 10
- hack squat: 90 x 10, 10, 6 and 50 x 12, 12

shoulders:

- db OHP: 35′s x 14, 40′s x 15, 45′s x 8, 10 and 50′s x 10
- side lateral raises: 15′s x 15, 12 and 20′s x 10, 10 and 25′s x 10
- bb OHP: 40 x 14, 50 x 12, 60 x 10 and 70 x 10
- reverse butterflies: 45 x 20, 60 x 14, 75 x 10, 90 x 10
- db front raises: 15 x 20, 20, 20

if you read triceps properly, you will see i supersetted it with biceps. so that’s the volume you’re seeing there. i have really benefited from training biceps, twice a week. so have to always find a way to add it to my routine, without going over time.

i am glad despite being busy, that i am at least getting my training in. i just need to keep on the diet part, and make sure i get in enough calories. i am eating and eating properly, but it’s if i am eating enough calories to grow!