Nick's Journal

[newall01]

I wish I would have started this journal a few days ago as I just didn't seem to have much energy today.

Chest:
Flat bench
135 x 15
185 x 10
205 x 5
205 x 5
225 x 5

I couldn't seem to get much out of flat today. I was getting a good pump, but my numbers were low. 225 felt really heavy and I really struggled with it.

Decline bench
135 x 15
185 x 10
225 x 5
225 x 5
225 x 5

Incline dumbbell press
60 x 12
70 x 10
75 x 8
80 x 6
80 x 6

Dumbbell Flyes
35 x 10
45 x 10
55 x 8
60 x 6

These felt great today! I went a little heavier than normal for the last two sets, but my form was good, so I guess it was time.

Cable raises
20 x 12
25 x 10
30 x 10
35 x 8
40 x 8

Pullovers
60 x 12
70 x 10
80 x 8
90 x 8

Finished off with 20 minutes of HIIT, had my heart rate at 80-85%.

Meal One (morning):
Can of tuna with lemon juice
Tomato with salt and pepper
diet coke

Meal Two (midmorning):
Can of tuna with lemon juice
diet coke
Cauliflower

I probably should have waited till this evening to start this, but I was so excited to finally begin logging everything, I couldn't wait.

[newall01]

Bicep/Tricep day

Ok, so I cheated my diet a little today.

For breakfast, I had the usual turkey bacon and 3 egg white scrambled eggs. My job is so physically demanding that a few hours later, I just didn't have any energy. When we stopped at a gas station, I got a bag of canola oil chips and ate half of them. They weren't as bad as most of the food there and I didn't have anything on hand at the time, so... oh well.

Workout went well.

Preacher curls Supersetted with skullcrushers
90 x 15
SC- EZ curl with a 25 on each side - 12
115 x 10
SC- EZ curl with a 35 - 8
115 x 10
SC- EZ curl with a 35 - 8
125 x 6
SC-EZ curl with a 35+5 - 5
Drop-set Preacher curls 145, 135, 125, 115, 90, 45
SC- EZ curl with a 35+5 - 6

Cable Hammer curls Supersetted with dips (BW=bodyweight)
57.5 (I think that's what the plate was, maybe 52) - 15
D - 15
62 - 12
D - BW+20 - 12
67.5 - 10
D - BW+30 - 10
72 - 8
D - BW+30 - 10
72 - 8
D - BW+40 - 8

Seated behind the neck cable curls Supersetted with reverse grip bench
55 - 15
RGB - 135 - 12
70 - 12
RGB - 155 - 8
70 - 12
RGB - 165 - 6
75 - 10
RGB - 185 - 3 (forced 4th rep)
80 - 8
RGB - 185 - 3 (forced 4th rep)

Alternating seated DB curls supersetted with one arm extensions
30 - 12
OAE - 30 - 12
35 - 10
OAE - 35 - 8
40 - 8
OAE - 35 - 8
45 - 6
OAE - 35 - 8
45 - 6
OAE - 35 - 8

I'm thinking about some alterations to this workout as I seem to have leveled off in progress.

[Tim Wescott]

Good stuff so far Nick........what are your goals,your training split,and your stats?

[newall01]

A little about me...

My split is chest (I used to have back with it but I just can't handle it anymore) + forearms, bis and tris, back + forearms, shoulders + legs. I've been neglecting forearms lately because I've been so drained.

As far as goals, I'd like to compete one day. I'm not sure if that's realistic because of my build, but I'm going to give it 100% anyway. I'm 20 years old as of the end of August and would like to be on stage within 2 years. 2 years might be a little rushed, but if you don't set goals within a time frame, you'll never accomplish them.

stats:
5'11''
210-215 lbs (I'm fluctuating a lot lately)
15% bf (or thereabouts)

[mrky03]

Good to have you here Nick! If you are feeling drained all the time you are probably taking in too few calories and maybe letting yourself get too hungry in between meals. Also try increasing your EFA's. I like almonds or almond butter, flax or extra virgin olive oil is good also.

By the way, Nick and I are gym buddy's!

[newall01]

Thanks for the advice, Joel. I think you're absolutely right. I've cut my fat down pretty significantly. I'll definitely take your advice and see what kind of results I get over the next few weeks. Right now, I'm doing something that isn't necessarily advised, but its helping me. I'm logging all my caloric intake; carbs are around 100 grams on low days. Total calories are around 2200-2300, probably not enough right now. Anyway, shoulders were great today.

Behind the neck military Supersetted with lateral raises:
95 x 15
LR 20 x 15
115 x 12
LR 25 x 12
115 x 12
LR 25 x 12
135 x 8
LR 25 x 12
135 x 9
LR 25 x 12

DB press
60 x 12
70 x 10
75 x 8
75 x 8
80 x 4 (Couldn't handle this weight for some reason today)

Smith machine Behind the neck Supersetted with Bent over raises
115 x 15
20 x 12
135 x 12
20 x 12
155 x 10
20 x 12
165 x 6
20 x 12
Drop set:
165 x 5, 155 x 5, 135 x 4, 115 x 6
25 x 6, 20 x 5, 15 x 5

Upright rows
95 x 15
115 x 12
115 x 12
135 x 6

Cable lateral raises
10 x 15
15 x 10
15 x 10
20 x 6
20 x 6

Diet was good today, for the most part. I've got to increase my calories, its so tough to get quality calories though! EFA's and carbs are going to have to come up a little.

Weighed myself today; I'm looking noticeably better (to me anyway), but I've lost 5 lbs in a week. I'm hoping its mostly water (a side effect of my exercised-induced asthma medication).

[mrky03]

OK, some friendly advices! lol and I mean this with the best of intentions but......
Man that looks like way too much volume! For me anyway, I would suggest cutting back to one pressing movement, one lateral raise for the side, and one for the rear delts. Mix and match nothing cut in stone but that just looks like way too much just for delts!

I try to keep my total volume relatively low, 8-9 working sets is definitely a maximum for me. Everyone's tolerance for exercise is different, some can just tolerate and benefit from more work than others.

[newall01]

I appreciate the advice. I'm still a beginner to the sport; this isn't my workout, truly, but a variation of the Arnold Advanced Level II from his Encyclopedia of Bodybuilding. Shoulders and legs are supposed to be together, but I didn't have it in me yesterday and thought I was going to vomit through the last half of my shoulder workout, anyway.

Work tore me up today. I felt like I had absolutely no energy, made exponentially worse with the manual labor (I pound fence posts into the ground most of the day). what a terrible day to hit legs, but I had to...

Legs:
Squats
I couldn't get any power in these today!
135 x 12
185 x 10
225 x 8
225 x 3
Not sure what was going on, but couldn't get it together today...

Leg press:
(I'm assuming the black plates are 100)
200 x 15
290 x 15
380 x 12
470 x 8
520 x 4

Straight leg deadlift
135 x 12
155 x 12
185 x 10
225 x 6
225 x 6

Leg extensions
No clue what the weight was, but they felt great. I should have written it down.
1 warmup and 4 working sets.

Single leg curls

15 x 15
20 x 12
25 x 10
25 x 10
30 x 8

Seated calf raises
90 x 15
135 x 15
180 x 15
180 x 15

Standing calf raises
Half stack x 15
Half stack x 15
Stack x 10
Stack x 10

[RUBICON19]

mrky03 said:

OK, some friendly advices! lol and I mean this with the best of intentions but......
Man that looks like way too much volume! For me anyway, I would suggest cutting back to one pressing movement, one lateral raise for the side, and one for the rear delts. Mix and match nothing cut in stone but that just looks like way too much just for delts!

I try to keep my total volume relatively low, 8-9 working sets is definitely a maximum for me. Everyone's tolerance for exercise is different, some can just tolerate and benefit from more work than others.

Great advice Joel.

Nice journal Nick. I am sure that if you "want" to compete, you "WILL"..

[mrky03]

Thanks Randy, but yeah Nick I don't want to pretend to be an expert on training or a know it all by anymeans, but if I attempted to do the workload that you are doing I wouldn't have any energy either!

Seriously get with me at the gym after my contest training is over and we'll get you going on something that will get you heading towards your goal of competing!

Like Randy said, if you have the burning desire to compete you will. Part of that will be seeking out reliable advice on training and diet that will save you years of spinning your wheels in frustration.

With your mindset I don't think you can fail!

[newall01]

I really appreciate that, Joel. I'll definitely get with you after your contest. Like I said, I'm still really a beginner in the sport and would love any advice you have.

My diet and workout today were just off. That's all I can say about it. Today was supposed to be back, but I can't work legs and back consecutively anymore. I hit chest today and will hit back hard tomorrow.

I usually don't eat right before my workout, but today I had a grilled chicken salad 30 minutes before I lifted. Again, no energy today, and my workout really suffered.

Flat bench:
135 x 15
185 x 12
205 x 8
Here, I jumped to 225 and literally almost couldn't get it. I racked it and jumped back down.
205 x 8

Incline DB press:
60 x 12
70 x 10
80 x 6
90 x 4 (I've never even attempted 90's before!)
90 x 4

DB flyes:
40 x 12
50 x 8
55 x 8
60 x 8
60 x 8

I called it a day after these because I felt so terrible. I'm going to try to get a lot more calories tomorrow and get a little more explosiveness and power back into my workout.

[newall01]

Well, I decided it was going to be a carb up day as my energy has been so low lately. I added oven fries (thanks Joel) to my post workout meal. I'm feeling a lot better than I have in a while. I also backed down the volume of my back workout, taking out all the redundant exercises.

Deadlift:
225 x 15
275 x 10
315 x 6
335 x 6
365 x 2
365 x 2

Widegrip Behind the neck pulldowns:
120 x 15
140 x 12
160 x 10
170 x 6
170 x 6

Bent over rows:
135 x 12
155 x 10
165 x 6
165 x 6
175 x 4

Seated Rows:
120 x 15
140 x 12
160 x 10
160 x 10
170 x 6

That was it for today. I think Arnold's workout was just a little too much for me. I was drained every day. However, I never saw size and strength come as quickly as when I was on that routine. I'll be sad to see it go...

[newall01]

I think I'm focusing too much on the workout/routine section of this, so I'll post in here again when I change it up a little. Joel was right, this is entirely too much volume and I think I might be overtraining. Especially since I'm getting around 2500 calories a day... Until then, everyone can enjoy a picture of me from 2 years ago.

[mrky03]

Cool pic! I think you will make a lot better gains on a routine similar to the last one you posted. Check out most of the training routines on this board and you won't find many people training like Arnold did! He used to burn out training partners all the time!

I think a young guy such as yourself should spend a lot of time on getting as strong as possible on the heavy basics.

With the combined knowledge on this board, with your desire to succeed you with be successful!

[newall01]

Joel, you always have something insightful and inspirational to say. I'm going to check out some of the more strength-oriented, rather than hypertrophy specific routines. I don't think my strength is in check with my size which has been bugging me a lot lately. Besides that, I've never been one in the school of thought that you can only gain size or strength, and hopefully I can put on a little mass or at least maintain while getting my numbers up.

[mrky03]

Well thank you Nick! At your age you are developing your foundation that will be your base for reaching you potential.

Just always remember, you never know what your ultimate potential is until you get there! If you looked at old pics of me when I was younger I didn't look like I had much potential at all!
In fact I still don't concider myself genetically gifted by any means. There is a lot to be said for being stuborn and never giving up on your dream. I just concider myself as this skinny guy who won't quit!

You said earlier in this thread that you want to compete in two years. I think that is totally within your grasp. Just stick to a solid workout and eating plan and you will reach your goal. Maybe sooner than you think!

Like I said before, you can save yourself years of frustration and wasted time by following advice from some very knowlegeable people on this board, not nessasarilly me! I can tell you whats worked well for me but that doesn't make me a good coach. You can pick up some idea's from me but I concider guys like Tim, MC, Mo, Randy, the list goes on to have some very solid training advice that you should pay attention to!

I wish I could be 20 again! lol It can be very gratifying doing the foundation work that lies ahead for you!