Mahendra's log of GainzZz

[slowmotion]

Happy belated birthday!

You're doing a lot of work, so no wonder you have good days and some a-little-more-difficult days!

[Mahendra]

Happy belated birthday!

You're doing a lot of work, so no wonder you have good days and some a-little-more-difficult days!

Thanks Jan!

I know I shouldn't beat myself up that much. This mornings workout ended up being a lot better than I expected, and much better than yesterday. Bad days happen... it's OK I guess

__________________________________________________ _________

Good morning fellow lifters!

July 21st, 2017 - Friday

AMBW: 138.4lbs
Start: 6:47 A.M.
End: 8:40 A.M.
Time: 113 minutes

Front Squat (Unbelted)

185x4x5

2 Count Paused Deadlift (Unbelted)

275x4x3

SG RDLs

185x8x3

DB Bench (FU)

60lbs: 10, 8, 7

DB Incline Bench

50lbs: 8, 8

Bro Work

DB Seal Rows
Abmat crunches
Dumbbell Curls


Instagram

Notes

Good workout this morning! Much better than expected, and much better than yesterday. I woke up not wanting to lift, but as I progressed, things seemed to work out well. I dropped weight and bumped up reps a bit more to compensate, but overall it felt good.

Front Squats - Surprisingly 4's felt fine, which is weird given that 3-4 weeks ago, sets of 3's at 190lbs felt shitty.

Paused Deadlift - Similarly, sets of 4 felt fine.

SG RDL's - Managed to widen my grip a tad. Also focused on not letting the plates touch the ground as I felt I was utilizing a bounce.

Everything else - Good! I utilized my newly purchased "abmat" and crunches on them were good. I think a mix of these and dragon flags would be good going forward.

I think that's all for now. I do hope everyone has a wonderful day!

Cheers!

[MattimusMaximus]

Gotta have the bad days to know just how good the good days are right!? hehe. Grind days are tough mentally but consistency is what we're best at and that's the most important thing of all. Way to keep on Mahendra!

[Mahendra]

Gotta have the bad days to know just how good the good days are right!? hehe. Grind days are tough mentally but consistency is what we're best at and that's the most important thing of all. Way to keep on Mahendra!

That's very true Matt. Consistency is probably the most important factor in all of this.

__________________________________________________ _____________________________

Good morning fellow lifters!

July 22nd, 2017 - Saturday

AMBW: 138.6lbs
Waist: 29.75"
BF %: 13.9%

Cardio - Air Bike - 40 minutes

July 24th, 2017 - Monday

AMBW: 140.0lbs
Start: 6:33 A.M.
End: 8:11 A.M.
Time: 97 minutes

Comp Squat

275x1 @6.5
295x1 @8
245x4x6

e1RM ~ 320lbs

Comp Bench Press

195x1 @7
210x1 @8
175x4x5

e1RM ~228lbs

Bro Work

Dips / Chin Ups - Super set


Instagram

Notes

Good session this morning.

Squat - Stripped 5lbs off my top set to ensure it was an @8 single and not @8.5 or @9. It moved well, and I added 5lbs to my volume sets regardless, which all moved well.

Bench - Added 5lbs to my top set which moved well. And added 7.5lbs to my volume sets, which also moved well.

Dips / Chin Ups - Good stuff!

I didn't use my open barbell unit because the battery died and I've been to lazy to charge it. That being said, I think I'll forgo using the open barbell and strictly rely on my... gasp... feelings! (And video review). I think I'm relying on the bar speeds a bit too much to help me determine my RPE, rather than thinking about it more, and then using bar speed to help verify. I'll see how well this goes.

On another note, every week I struggle to figure out what I want out of training. Do I want to increase my total? Do I want to just look good? Do I want to focus on strength & conditioning? I get that some of these goals overlap, but I'm sure that to focus on one, something else may have to be sacrificed.

I really don't know what I want, but until I figure it out, I'll continue to train consistently and hard every time. I may consider moving my log over to the general section because I'm not sure when I'll be able to compete again... likely not for this year.

I think that's all for now! I hope everyone has a wonderful day!

Cheers!

[MattimusMaximus]

I know the feelz when it comes to indecision about training goals. I think a lot of the time it ends up hindering our progress if we don't decide. Nothing is worse than split energy on what you're wanting because then you can't give your all to one specific thing.

On the one hand it feels great to have teh abzzz and feel less self conscious, and on the other hand it feels great to eat everything in sight and watch the GainzZz/numbers climb... but it's not fun being a fat ass, take it from me lol. If you focus more on improving your Wilks score and just eat roughly maintenance cals I'm sure you could have the best of both worlds, no?

P.S. come back to the dark side...of Intermediate Training Logs that is, lol.

[Mahendra]

I know the feelz when it comes to indecision about training goals. I think a lot of the time it ends up hindering our progress if we don't decide. Nothing is worse than split energy on what you're wanting because then you can't give your all to one specific thing.

On the one hand it feels great to have teh abzzz and feel less self conscious, and on the other hand it feels great to eat everything in sight and watch the GainzZz/numbers climb... but it's not fun being a fat ass, take it from me lol. If you focus more on improving your Wilks score and just eat roughly maintenance cals I'm sure you could have the best of both worlds, no?

P.S. come back to the dark side...of Intermediate Training Logs that is, lol.

Unfortunately I can be a very indecisive person. Luckily it isn't all the time, but it happens. I agree that I need to set goals and focus on something... and I always excel (to my standards) whenever I do. But, I'm probably over thinking things as I tend to do...

TBH, when I was bigger, I didn't feel self-conscious. Despite eating everything in sight, there was a time (before my diet) that gainzZz just started to slow down. Was I at my potential genetic muscle max? Could I have gotten stronger? Absolutely. But I probably needed to change my programming significantly.

I think that I'll probably just focus on improving my WILKS score as it stands and slowly watch my gainzZz climb. I'm confident I can make it happen, and yes, it would be the best of both worlds as you mentioned

I thought about making a new log, but I guess there's no need to at the moment. I competed twice this year, and I have plans to compete again (maybe in January or February?). I just didn't want to be "that guy" in the competitive logs (compared to the other strong mofos in here) who's bitching about goals.

But thanks for the words of encouragement, Matt. They're always appreciated.

__________________________________________________ ___________

Good morning fellow lifters!

July 25th, 2017 - Tuesday

AMBW: 138.8lbs

Comp Deadlift

365x1 @7.5
385x1 @8.5
315x4x4

e1RM ~ 410lbs

Instagram

TnG Bench Press

185x4x5

Dumbbell Rows

70lbs: 10, 8, 8, 8

Bro Work

Upright Rows
Side Raises
Rear Delt Raises
Dragon Flags
Abmat Crunches
Dumbbell Curls


July 26th, 2017 - Wednesday

Cardio - Jog - 5.5KM / 3.4 miles - 33:35 mins

July 27th, 2017 - Thursday

AMBW: 139.0lbs
Time: 87 minutes

HB Squat (Unbelted)

225x4
225x2
185x4x6

2 Count Paused Bench

170x4x4

Arnold Press

40lbs: 8, 6
30lbs: 8, 8

Bro Work

Chin Ups
Side Raises
Rear Delt Raises
Dumbbell Curls

Notes

I'm debating on taking HB squats out of Thursdays workout and replacing them with unbelted low bar squats (paused or normal). I think I'd rather use front squats only as a primary movement for my quads. Need to think about this.

Have a wonderful day all!

Cheers!

[Mahendra]

Good afternoon fellow lifters!

July 28th, 2017 - Friday

AMBW: 139lbs

Front Squat (Unbelted)

190x4x6

2 Count Paused Deadlift

280x4x3

RDLs

190x8x3

D. Bench (FU)

50lbs: 14, 11, 8

D. Incline Bench

40lbs: 11, 11

Bro Work

DB Seal Rows
Abmat crunches
Dumbbell Curls

Notes

Good workout. While doing paused deadlifts, it makes me wonder why I subject myself to this hell. At least they seem to help. C'est la vie.

July 29th, 2017 - Saturday

AMBW: 138.8lbs
Waist: 29.5"
BF %(Navy): 13.3%

Cardio - Air Bike - 35 minutes
Movie: Bruce Almighty


__________________________________________________ ____________

Debating on tinkering with my programming, but admittedly I'm not sure where to go. Concurrent vs. block periodization. It's all very confusing.

I hope everyone has a wonderful day!

Cheers!

[Mahendra]

Good morning fellow lifters!

July 31st, 2017 - Monday

AMBW: 142.0lbs
Time: 99 minutes

Comp Squat

275x1 @7
300x1 @8
215x8 @7
215x8 @7
215x8 @7
215x8 @7.5

Comp Bench Press

150x8 @7
150x8 @7
150x8 @7
150x8 @7.5

Bro Work

Dips / Chin Ups - 5 Rounds

Instagram

Notes

Solid workout this morning. After reading through a few things and a nice discussion with Cody, I decided to change my programming. I've started with a volume block that I'll likely run for 4-6 weeks.

I don't think I'll change my current split that much, but it'll roughly look like the following:

Monday

Comp Squat - 4s x 8r
Comp Bench - 4s x 8r
Dips / Chin Ups

Tuesday

Comp Deadlift - 4s x 6r
TnG Bench - 4s x 8r
Dumbbell Rows
Side Raises / Rear delt Raises
Curls
Abs

** I might remove TnG Bench and replace it with Press, depending on how I feel tomorrow. Not sure if I can handle another 4 sets of 8 bench the day after! Maybe 3 sets of 8...

Thursday

Low Bar Squat (Unbelted) - 4s x 8r
2 count Bench - 4s x 8r
Arnold Press
Chin Ups / Side Raises / Rear Delt Raises

** I don't think 2 count bench for sets of 8 would make sense. Perhaps pin presses.

Friday

Front Squats (Unbelted) - 3s x 8r
Deadlift (Unbelted) - 4s x 6r
Dumbbell Bench - 2s x 12r
Dumbbell Incline Bench - 2s x 12r
Seal Rows
Curls
Abs

Notes

I plan to add 1 set to each "movement" per week. I.e., I'll squat 5 sets of 8 (comp squat) next week. However, I won't add another set to unbelted or front squats for the following week, but just bump up the weight by 5lbs.

Then in the following week, I'll keep comp squat at 5 sets of 8, and bump up unbelted squats to 5 sets of 8, and keep front squats at 3 sets of 8.

My thought process is that it's better to go from 11 total sets to 12 sets to 13 sets, etc., per week, rather than 11 --> 14 --> 17 --> 20 --> death. Err... maybe this makes more sense.

Thoughts?

I think that's all for now. I hope everyone has a wonderful day!

Cheers!

[slowmotion]

You'll figure it out. In the meanwhile, just keep lifting!

[Mahendra]

You'll figure it out. In the meanwhile, just keep lifting!

Indeed good sir. That, or I'll be crying in a corner. haha

_______________________________________________

Good morning fellow lifters!

August 1st, 2017 - Tuesday

AMBW: 141.4lbs
Time: 109 minutes

Comp Deadlift

275x7 @7
275x7 @7
275x7 @7
275x7 @7.5
275x7 @7

RDLs

185x8x3

TnG Bench Press

155x8 @7
155x8 @7
155x8 @7.5
155x8 @8

Dumbbell Rows

60lbs: 12, 12, 12, 12

Bro Work

Upright Rows
Dragon Flags
Abmat Crunches
Dumbbell Curls

Instagram

Notes

2nd day of the hypertrophy block. Cody was gracious enough to clear up some confusion I had on a few things. I hope I understood things correctly. Anyway, although this workout felt like death while doing it, after I finished, I felt accomplished.

Furthermore, the change in programming is definitely refreshing. I may need to drop some of that bro work from today's workout in the future for the sake of time, but we'll see.

I think that's all for now! I hope everyone has a fantastic day!

Cheers!