I added an extra warm-up set to deadlifts but not dips. I figured I should try to insert a heavier set in just before my working set since a 130 pound jump just seemed too much of a stretch. Still, I found 315 to be too heavy to do more than one rep without compromising the intensity of my working set. It’s a lot easier to just slap a 45-pound plate on each side for every set than to nickel-and-dime it up, but that’s probably what I should do. I’ll probably just continue with the extra warm-up set in the future though, since the deadlift is such a heavy exercise and I need to ensure that I’m properly warmed up.

I’m still making progress, having done twice as many reps in each exercise as I did in the previous workout, so I’ll continue with the same weights next time.

Workout 1

Deadlift (7-10) – 135×7
Deadlift (3) – 225×3
Deadlift (1-3) – 315×1
Deadlift (5-10) – 355×2

Dips (7-10) – BW×7
Dips (3) – 45×3
Dips (6-10) – 75×2 + 4 neg

I didn’t have the presence of mind to weigh myself this morning when I first woke up, but I did later on. As I’d suspected, I’m hovering around 210. Here are my readings:

207.4 pounds
25.6% fat

At my height, I don’t look fat, but I know for myself I am. The heaviest I’ve weighed was 220, but I didn’t stay at that weight for very long. I’ve been lingering at 25% bodyfat for the past few years. My goal is to stick to this routine at least until June and gradually introduce some form of aerobic activity. I loathe cardio, but since I’m only working out once a week or less, I think I can suffer the boredom. I’ll be conscious of my body composition as I integrate cardio with my overall routine and scale it back if I see it’s adversely affecting my lean body mass. I’ll probably work myself up to no more than 45 minutes of brisk walking, treadmill, or Nordic Track work three to five days a week. Some people will say that’s too much, but I’m going to experiment with it and see for myself. I want to do this as much for the health benefits as for fat burning. It will be low intensity, so I don’t think it should have much impact if any on my recuperation. I’d mentioned in a previous post that I intended to add cardio to my routine but haven’t yet, mostly because I simply don’t like doing it and it bores me. Now, I’ll probably just wait until the beginning of the new year to add it in, though I may start sooner.

I just bought a used Android phone off eBay (an unlocked T-Mobile G1) since my iPhone was stolen in Manila. I’d been using a program called gNotes to log my workouts as I trained, but that had stopped working for me before my phone was stolen. Anyway, I’m now using a program called GDocs, which synchronizes with Google Docs. It works with spreadsheet and word processing documents and will work when offline. I used it today, and it seems to work well enough for my purposes.

Now, to the workout…

I found a discrepancy in the consolidated program rep ranges for the deadlifts and squats between High Intensity Training the Mike Mentzer Way and The Wisdom of Mike Mentzer. While I know the latter was derived from the Underground Seminar, I figured I would merge the rep ranges to include the lowest and highest numbers. I know it doesn’t matter much as long as failure is achieved (what a phrase), but I wanted to include it for my own reference since I have a tendency to use heavier weights for lower reps.

Based on what I’ve done today, I’ll stick with these poundages next workout. I find it difficult to go to failure on squats since I’ve had back problems in the past (strained ligaments and a pinched nerve at my L5 vertebrae). After a number of visits to the chiropractor a couple years ago, my back feels great, but I am conscious of it. I don’t care who you are or how perfect your form is, your lower back will ache when you do squats. That’s just the nature of the beast, especially for people my height and taller. I also felt a lot of pressure building up in my lower abdomen today. I made a conscious effort to breathe and not hold my breath, but I figured better to be a little cautious and be able to workout next week than risk injury. Rather than terminate the set at two reps, I decided to add some partials until my quads burned. It’s hard for me to say if I came close to failure, but I suspect I could have gotten another partial or two. I actually lost count at some point, so eight reps is only an estimate. Next time, if I feel up to it, I think I’ll add the partials regardless of whether or not I have issues, then I’ll try to do one full rep at the end. I expect to be able to do the negative, but I doubt at that point I’ll be able to make it up to a standing position again. Then I will know I’ve hit failure. I need to rely more on the inherent safety of the Smith machine.

Overall, I felt strong today and lifted more weight than I can remember, both in the Smith squats and the narrow grip pulldowns, and I haven’t been able to find a record of me lifting more weight in either of these exercises in my logs.

Smith Squats (7-10) – Bodyweight x 10
Smith Squats (7) – 135 x 7
Smith Squats (3) – 225 x 3
Smith Squats (8-20) – 365 x 2+approx 8 partials [no failure]

NG Pulldowns (7-10) – 40 x 10
NG Pulldowns (7) – 80 x 7
NG Pulldowns (3) – 130 x 3
NG Pulldowns (6-10) – 230 x 3

Since I worked legs last week, I decided to do deadlifts and dips this week. Though I didn’t need to convert from kilos to pounds on the deadlifts, I did move from using the Smith machine and a lesser range of motion to free weights and a full range of motion. I lifted ten pounds more than last time but only managed a single. I suspect it was moving to a full range of motion more than moving from the machine to the barbell that made the difference. I would have expected to lift more otherwise.

The same went for dips. I just couldn’t get more than one rep, so I pushed on for five negatives. I still have to weigh myself, but I’d say I’m probably hovering around 210 now at a height of six feet. That means I’m looking at 285 for my max in dips. I’ll follow up later when I get some batteries for my scale and weigh-in. In any case, I will certainly stick to the same weights for the next workout since my reps were so low on this one. I’ll also wait at least a full seven days before working out again regardless of how I feel. I want to ensure I’m fully recovered.

I may need to take a layoff soon. Next week, it’s Smith squats and pulldowns. I’ll probably do another cycle after that, then take a couple weeks off. I’ll have to see.

Workout 1

Deadlift (7-10) – 135×7
Deadlift (3) – 225×3
Deadlift (5-10) – 355×1

Dips (7-10) – BW×7
Dips (3) – 55×2
Dips (6-10) – 75×1 + 5 negatives

My knee felt a little strange during leg extensions, so I’m dropping that exercise from the next leg workout and doing smith squats. I may just switch over to the perfect consolidated routine altogether, but I’ll have to see. Right now, I don’t see any reason to do so. Considering my results today, I’ve decided to workout every seven days as opposed to every four.

I used all the same exercises I used in Manila for the sake of continuity. I did use an angled leg press using Olympic weights instead of the seated leg press with the stack, though. I have access to both machines here, but the angled leg press was right next to the leg extension machine, whereas the seated one was not. I think I prefer the feel of the angled one anyway.

Overall, not a bad workout. I went to failure on every exercise, and now I have a point of reference for my next leg workout.

Leg Press – 90×10
Leg Press – 180×7
Leg Press – 270×3
{Leg Ext (8-15) – 150×10
{Leg Press (8-15) – 360×5

Seated Leg Curl (8-15)- 140×4

Calf Press (8-15) – 400×7+2 static

1. After the second warm-up set of laterals, I didn’t feel it necessary to warm-up further. More than that, I felt that doing another warm-up set would be a hindrance to my work set since the intensity of the second set seemed higher than it should be. So, I dropped the third set and went right into the working set. That worked out fine. I did more weight than last time but came up shy on reps. I should have done the same with narrow grip pulldowns since I had the same problem. I struggled more than I think I should have on that set, so I added a couple rest/pause reps with more weight once I hit failure, increasing the weight by five kilos for each successive rep since I don’t know my max and had already hit failure. In general, I think three warm-up sets may actually be too much for me. I seem to be sufficiently warmed-up and ready after two.

2. Since this was my last workout in Manila, I’ll be recording my weights by the US Customary System once again, so the first couple workouts in New York will be a period of adjustment.

3. Finally, when it came time to work triceps, I was shot and couldn’t do justice to my pre-exhaust set. Consequently, I made no apparent progress on either exercise. I literally did exactly the same weight and reps as the previous workout. I’ll switch over from narrow grip bench presses to dips the next time I do this workout in New York and see how that goes, but I can see I may need to split these workouts further, drop exercises and/or warm-up sets as I see appropriate, add more rest days, or switch over completely to the consolidated program soon.

Overall, not a bad workout. I made progress on shoulders and biceps but not triceps. I may need to start adding more rest days between workouts though.

[Note: I haven't started adding any aerobic work on my off days yet.]

Laterals – 10×10
Laterals – 15×5
Laterals (6-10) – 25×4

Bent Laterals (6-10) – 25×7

NG Pulldowns – 15×10
NG Pulldowns – 30×7
NG Pulldowns – 60×3
NG Pulldowns (6-10) – 70×5 (rest/pause: 70×1, 75×1, 80×1)

NG Bench Press – bar (45)x10
NG Bench Press – 115×7
NG Bench Press – 185×3
{Pushdowns (6-10) – 40×4
{NG Bench Press – (6-10) – 185×1

Though I found myself nodding off several times at work during the night, I wasn’t the least bit sleepy when I got home. Though I hadn’t eaten since around 1 a.m., I was only starting to get hungry about the same time. I drank some water because I wanted to make sure I was sufficiently hydrated, and that quashed my hunger for the time being. The result: Overall, another good workout. Intensity was high, and I had trouble walking afterward. Leg Extensions were good. I went to failure, and my knee still feels great. By the time I got around to working calves, though, I was shot and really couldn’t do them justice. Maybe I should have waited a little longer before getting into them. I made no progress on that exercise, so I forced myself to do an extra couple static holds at the end.

Still making progress with five days between workouts, I could just continue working out once every six or seven days, but I’m on the fence about it. I will continue to workout every four days and see what happens. I haven’t weighed myself since before I came to Manila, but my muscles feel fuller and I look a bit more solid, though the food here has taken its toll on my waistline. I’m going to stick a 30 minute session of light to moderate aerobic exercise between each workout for now and adjust as necessary. Once I’ve returned to New York, it will be a lot easier to eat properly. It’ll also be nice to have a more appropriate selection of equipment to use.

Leg Press – 40kx10
Leg Press – 70kx7
Leg Press – 100kx3
{Leg Ext (8-15) – 60kx6
{Leg Press (8-15) – 130kx4

Seated Leg Curl (8-15)- 60kx5

Calf Press (8-15) – 150kx8+3 static

I realized I had a cable crossover station at my disposal, so instead of doing dumbbell flies as I’d done last time, I opted for cable crossovers. I knew the constant tension would ramp up the intensity, especially for obtaining maximum contraction of the pecs, but I found the machine awkward to use–not like the one I’m accustomed to using at home–and the amount of weight I was able to use on this exercise was considerably less than I’d used with dumbbell flies. Considering these factors, it’s hard to gauge my progress with chest from the previous workout. Since I was still only able to get one rep in the incline press, I would say intensity on crossovers was high. I certainly felt them in my pecs.

The lat pre-exhaust set was similar in that with the isolation exercise I was able to do a couple more reps than last time but I couldn’t do more on the compound movement. In fact, I did one rep less than last time on that one. As long as I’m able to make progress on the first exercise of the superset, I will assume I’m making progress. I think it may even be a better sign that intensity in the first exercise has increased.

I didn’t go to failure on the deadlifts in the first workout, and I didn’t this time either, but I lifted 30 pounds more and did twice as many reps. I also really felt it and couldn’t help but garner a few stares from other people in the gym when I growled as I lifted. I simply couldn’t help it. I do want to be careful with this one since I’m doing it in a Smith machine and it’s a little awkward. I placed one of those plastic step-up boards under the bar since the plates didn’t touch the floor due to the safety catches. I wasn’t sure if the board could handle the weight, but it did, and it helped my workout. I got four reps, but I was strong, so I may use the same weight next time or I may do more. The next time I do deadlifts I’ll be in New York, so I’ll probably do more weight since I’ll be using a free bar.

Until next time…

Workout 1 – Chest & Back

Incline Press (7-10) – 95×7
Incline Press (2-3) – 135×3
{Cable Crossovers (6-10) – 12.5k×10
{Incline Press (1-3 or 4-5 rest/pause) – 185×1

NG Pulldown (7-10) – 25kx7
NG Pulldown (2-3) – 55kx2
{Overhead Cable Pullover (6-10) – 35kx8
{NG Pulldown (6-10) – 70kx1

(On Smith machine)
Deadlift (10) – 135×7
Deadlift (3) – 225×3
Deadlift (5-8) – 345×4

I was anxious to see how the workout would go today since I didn’t experience any soreness from the previous leg workout. Now that I think of it, I’m wondering if all the treadmill running I’d done before I decided to switch back over to HIT had something to do with my lack of soreness. I doubt it since I hadn’t worked out in any way for two solid weeks before starting this program, but I suppose it is a possibility.

Anyway, today’s workout went well. For the most part, there were increases in weights, reps, or both on all exercises. I wasn’t too happy with the seated leg curl. I find the machine here awkward to use, and my hamstring workout suffered as a result. I also tried to do too much weight on that exercise today. I figured since I’d gotten ten reps the previous workout, I should do more today. I would have been better sticking with the same weight and getting more than 15 reps. Otherwise, I’m happy with my progress. My quads were on fire during leg extensions, and I tried to fight through the pain. Same goes with the leg press, though I didn’t feel the burn on the first rep as I’d expected.

Considering everything, volume and frequency are fine and will remain the same for now.

Here’s today’s workout:

Leg Press – 40kx10
Leg Press – 70kx7
Leg Press – 100kx3
{Leg Ext (8-15) – 50kx9
{Leg Press (8-15) – 130kx4

Seated Leg Curl (8-15)- 60kx4

Calf Press (8-15) – 150kx8+1 static

After the workout, I stretched my legs for about 20 seconds per muscle group. Aside from remaining limber, I’d read from a number of sources that stretching stretches the fascia, which is an encasement surrounding the muscle fibers and restricts growth. In theory, stretching the fascia will allow the muscle fibers room to grow. In any case, it can’t hurt, so I’m including for each muscle group at the end of each respective workout.

Once I finished up, I headed over to the Pancake House and had a Spanish omelet with toast and a mocha milk shake. Despite the sound of it, I don’t consider this gluttony. I was hungry and didn’t feel stuffed afterward, just pleasantly full.

First workout cycle complete.

The next issue was with the equipment I have at my disposal. No Nautilus equipment, but then most places don’t have that anyway, but no barbell or dipping station, either. There is a shoulder machine that looks like it can do laterals, but I had neither the patience nor the inclination to figure out how to use it, so I went with old-fashioned dumbbell laterals. As it turned out, dumbbell laterals worked well enough. I got a great pump, went to failure on all my working sets, and feel I really stimulated the muscles. The 4-2-4 cadence is a real killer on these.

Lacking access to a barbell–what gym doesn’t have a barbell?!?!–I opted for narrow-grip, palms-up pulldowns. I considered dumbbell curls but figured it would require too much coordination for the kind of intensity I wanted to generate. Since legs are worked every other workout, there shouldn’t be an issue repeating the same exercise from my back routine. The pulldowns were another good choice, but my grip began to fail before my biceps did. I did twice as many reps with the same weight as in the previous workout, but this exercise was the second half of a pre-exhaustion superset in the last workout, so I wouldn’t think I grew any stronger since then. Still, I can’t make an adequate comparison, so I just have to wait until my back workout to see if any progress was made.

Lacking parallel bars to dip from, I decided to do narrow-grip bench presses on a Smith machine. I could have just done pushdowns, but I figured the pecs should get some stimulation and I didn’t want to forego the pre-exhaustion superset.

Overall, the workout went well. I was shot at the end…as I should be.

Laterals – 10×10
Laterals – 15×7
Laterals – 20×3
Laterals (6-10) – 20×6

Bent Laterals (6-10) – 20×6

NG Pulldowns – 15×10
NG Pulldowns- 30×7
NG Pulldowns- 60×3
NG Pulldowns(6-10) –  70×4

NG Bench Press – bar (45)x10
NG Bench Press – 115×7
NG Bench Press – 185×3
{Pushdowns (6-10) – 40×4
{NG Bench Press -(6-10) – 185×1

There’s also a HIT FAQ floating around the Internet. You can purchase HIT FAQ 5.0 by visiting http://www.hardtraining.com/hitfaq_products.html. There are also a number of free versions out there, such as this one: http://proflexgym.com/hit_faq.htm though I don’t know the version number of this one.

The workout went well, though since I haven’t done this particular workout in awhile, I misjudged how much weight I should lift for each movement. The fact that the weight stacks are in kilos didn’t help, either, but at least I was aware the measurement was in kilos. When I first started working out in Manila, it took me a little time to realize this. Consequently, I thought I’d somehow lost a tremendous amount of strength. In any case, I performed each exercise to failure and now have a basis of comparison for next time.

The leg press and leg extension machines could be located a little closer together, but I didn’t need to run across the gym to perform the second half of my pre-exhaustion set. The leg extensions went well. I tested the weight before my warm-up, so I had a pretty good idea how much to use. The leg press was a bit tricky. Since I knew my quadriceps would be burnt by the time I performed my working set of leg presses, I knew I couldn’t use as much weight as would be necessary to take it to failure fresh. I remembered this from my previous experiences with this routine and remembered only lifting about 200 pounds or so after leg extensions. Still, it seemed light during the warm-up, so I used 130 kilos. I performed one more warm-up set than I normally would because I wasn’t sure about the weight and wanted to perform a couple reps to judge, but I still overestimated. I simply couldn’t get a third rep during my working set.

I don’t like the leg press machine here, by the way, mostly because it doesn’t go down farther. My flexibility is good, and I always try to employ full range of motion unless I’m doing partials or burns at the end of a set. In any case, I made due.

Leg extensions went well. I hit the low end of my target reps and only felt the burning in my quads which I’m so familiar with. My knee felt great. I’m not crazy about this machine, either, but it didn’t stop me from getting a good workout. I’ll use the same weight for both exercises next time.

There’s no lying leg curl machine here, so I did leg curls on the seated leg curl machine. Again, not really happy with this one, either, but it still went well. My hamstrings were already warmed up from the peripheral stimulation they received during my superset, so no warm-up was necessary. The same was true for calves. I moved from one exercise to the next with only enough rest to catch my breath.

I performed calf presses on the leg press machine since there is no calf raise machine here. I figure I should have been able to lift more weight, but all I could get was 7 full reps for 150 k (330 pounds). I wanted to ensure my calves were burnt, so I added a static rep at the end, and I was done.

I know there are several variations of this workout. I don’t have the books with me, but if I remember correctly, the other versions which were in Heavy Duty II: Mind and Body and High Intensity Training the Mike Mentzer Way had ab work in this workout but no leg curls. As I mentioned in the outset, I’m following the routine as presented in the video and modifying it as I see fit. I thought of including ab work as well as leg curls, but my abs were stimulated from the pulldowns Monday, and I felt it would be too much unnecessary work to tack onto this workout.

And that was it. Here’s a breakdown of the workout:

Leg Press – 40kx10
Leg Press – 70kx7
Leg Press – 100kx3
Leg Press – 130kx3
{Leg Ext (8-15) – 45kx8
{Leg Press (8-15) – 130kx2

Seated Leg Curl (8-15)- 50kx10

Calf Press (8-15) – 150kx7+1static

I performed my deadlifts in a smith machine. The safety catches kept the 45 pound plates about 6 inches above the floor, so my deadlifts were more like partials. I may try to find a board to stand on next time, but stability is more important and the inconvenience is only temporary. Since the bar should only be moving straight up and down, the movement wasn’t as awkward as I thought it would be, but I’d still feel a lot more comfortable using an unencumbered bar.

Of course, there was no Nautilus Pullover machine and no Pec Deck, either. That meant doing straight-arm cable pullovers–an awkward exercise at best–and dumbbell flys. There is a cable crossover station, so I think I’ll make use of that next time instead because of the constant tension it provides.

The overall workout wasn’t bad. I went to complete failure on every exercise except the deadlifts. I felt I could have done more, but I didn’t have a lot of confidence doing them in the smith machine. Ironic, isn’t it? That machine is designed for safety, but it doesn’t feel very safe with such a movement.

Here’s a breakdown of the workout. The letter “k” designates kilos.

Workout 1 – Chest & Back

Incline Press (7-10) – 95×7
Incline Press (2-3) – 135×3
{Flies (6-10) – 40×9
{Incline Press (1-3 or 4-5 rest/pause) – 185×1 H

NG Pulldown (7-10) – 25kx7
NG Pulldown (2-3) – 55kx2
{Overhead Cable Pullover (6-10) – 35kx6 H
{NG Pulldown (6-10) – 70kx2 H

On smith machine
Deadlift (10) – 135×7
Deadlift (3) – 225×3
Deadlift (5-8) – 315×2

I believe there were several factors contributing to the development of this injury. First, my execution of the leg extension exercise itself was faulty. There’s a lot of torque involved with this movement, and I was using a lot of weight when I abandoned the routine–250 pounds for about 15 reps. Where I went wrong was in allowing the pads to return completely to their starting position. I have since learned that this places the knee joint in a vulnerable position open to injury. The best way to perform the exercise is so that the knee is never bent at an angle greater than 90 degrees until you’re finished executing the movement. This will also ensure that constant tension is maintained, so lactic acid buildup will probably be enhanced as well. It’s going to hurt…a lot.

Another mistake I made was working through the joint pain, which resulted in the injury worsening every workout. Fortunately, I was only doing leg extensions twice a month by this time, otherwise the injury could have been much more severe. There’s also the possibility that I was overtraining by training too frequently and thus not allowing the injury to heal, though I doubt this was the case since I continued to get stronger. Another possible contributing factor was my use of prohormones at that time.

In any case, my knee feels much better now, and I’ve been doing leg extensions with no knee pain. I was in physical therapy for about two months when I was first injured, and while that certainly helped, my knee still bothered me considerably until last year. I attribute the dramatic improvement of my knee to the use of Muscle-Link’s GH Stak. That’s actually quite a statement coming from me, since I’m not getting paid to advertise for them and would never endorse a product I didn’t believe in. I feel it really helped. I took three cycles over the past 18 months and can only name that supplement as the sole element that has changed in my routine.

Bottom line:
I’m starting Mentzer’s Ideal Routine tomorrow. I’m currently working in Manila and will be here for another month, so I have to make due with what I have available to me. I’ll see if I can find a scale to weigh myself on. I’m not in ideal shape, but I’m not obese, either.

Conditions:
I haven’t worked out in two weeks. I’ve decided not to do any aerobic work and will start the routine as outlined in Mentzer’s HIT video with necessary modifications based on what equipment I have available. I’ll initially perform my workouts every four days and adjust the frequency as necessary. If my knee should start to bother me again, I will simply drop leg extensions from the routine and just do smith squats or leg presses. I will stick with this routine and its variants as long as I continue to make progress. After that, I will take a layoff and switch over to the Perfect Consolidated Routine.

I’ll be monitoring my diet and keeping it clean with the goal of gradually becoming leaner and more muscular. I’ll only be taking GNC’s Mega Man multivitamin/mineral supplement and a natural sleep aid containing melatonin while I’m in Manila. When I return to New York, I will probably add creatine, omega-3 fatty acids, and a few other supplements.

I won’t be taking any steroids or other performance enhancing drugs. I took prohormones in the past because they were touted as being natural alternatives to steroids; otherwise, I never would have tried them.

So, my priorities have changed. I’ve decided to concentrate on getting in really good shape right now and getting as lean as possible. Once I’m less than 10% body fat, I’ll probably consider taking up this routine again, and that would probably be about a year from now. My Tanita scale currently says I’m over 28% fat. To me that is unacceptable. This week I’ll be adding cardio to my routine and being a bit more vigilant with my diet.

Thanks to everyone who encouraged me with this routine. I’m sorry if I disappointed anyone by abandoning the experiment at this time, but I think I’ve established that it actually does work. In the two months I’ve used this routine, I’ve added 50 pounds to my deadlift, 20 pounds to my dips, 40 pounds to my squat, and 60 pounds to my pulldowns. I’ve gone from a starting bodyweight of 200.8 pounds at 25.2% fat on July 27th to my current weight of 215.6 at 28.2% fat. I haven’t performed the calculations, but I would say I gained roughly just over a pound of muscle a week on this routine.

I had a nasty cold last weekend and spent the first half of this week recuperating from it. I did manage to do my monthly weigh-in, but considering my condition the readings may have been less than what they would have been otherwise:

Weight: 216
Body fat: 27.7%

I weighed myself earlier that week and was about 220 with 25% fat, so I believe being sick definitely had a negative effect on my body composition.

Anyway, I didn’t feel up to a high intensity workout all week and would prefer to workout on Sunday, anyway, so I decided to wait until today.

Deadlifts were awesome. Even with heavier warm-up sets, I managed to get three more reps than last time on my working set. I screamed so much on that set, I think I scared the shit out of the kid next to me doing lunges with 95 pounds. Dips were okay. Strength is still increasing, but I’m sure I could have done more weight if I weren’t already so wiped out from the deadlifts. I may end up splitting this routine further, so that I’m performing each exercise once a month, but I’ll have to see. Right now, I continue to make progress, and I can’t complain about that. Damn, I’m going to be sore tomorrow.

Deadlift – 135 x 10
Deadlift – 225 x 7
Deadlift – 275 x 3
Deadlift – 365 x 4

Bench Push-ups – bw x 10
Dips – bw x 7
Dips – 25 x 3
Dips – 70 x 4 + 2 negatives

Pulldowns were fine. I achieved positive failure and fought the incomplete rep for about 15 seconds before releasing it. Two reps less than last time with twenty pounds more. Not bad.

Squats – 45(bar) x 10
Squats – 135 x 7
Squats – 225 x 3
Squats – 355 x 6 [no failure]

Pulldowns – 40 x 10
Pulldowns – 80 x 7
Pulldowns – 130 x 3
Pulldowns – 220 x 5

I made nice progress today with dips, especially considering that I’m heavier today than I was two weeks ago. I did two more complete reps than last time and did a couple negative reps at the end since the reps were still low. I’m not sure how that strength translates over to bench presses, but assuming they’re close, at a weight of 210 pounds that’s 275 for three reps. At some point, I’ll have to see what my bench is, but I’ll wait until this experiment is over.

I’m satisfied that I reached positive failure in both exercises today.

Deadlift – 65 x 10
Deadlift – 135 x 7
Deadlift – 225 x 3
Deadlift – 365 x 1

Bench Push-ups – bw x 10
Dips – bw x 7
Dips – 25 x 3
Dips – 65 x 3 + 2 negatives

Next week will be my eighth workout on this routine. According to Mentzer in the Underground Seminar, after eight weekly workouts on this program you should take two weeks off then resume training every nine days. While this recommendation is consistent with Mentzer’s views on recovery, it seems to contradict what he had mentioned elsewhere regarding the regulation of training frequency. He had said that you should take a layoff followed by additional days off between workouts if you reach a sticking point and don’t see increases in weight or reps or both. This is where I will deviate from what he mentioned in the seminar. I see no reason to take a layoff and/or extend my recouperation between workouts if I’m still making progress. I imagine Mentzer recommended the change in protocol based on what he had seen with the majority of his clients, but I think everyone needs to tailor the routine according to their own personal needs and capabilities. By that, I mean such things as frequency and exercise selection (substituting bench presses for dips or leg presses for smith squats, for example). I may find it necessary to follow his recommendation at the time he mentioned, but as long as I’m seeing progress I see no need to change my approach.

Squats – 45(bar) x 10
Squats – 135 x 7
Squats – 225 x 3
Squats – 335 x 8

Pulldowns – 40 x 10
Pulldowns – 80 x 7
Pulldowns – 130 x 3
Pulldowns – 200 x 7

I toyed with the idea of sticking with 315 for the squats, since that’s roughly 1.5 times my body weight and I read somewhere that Stuart McRobert–the author of Brawn and other weightlifting books–said if a man could perform 20 reps in the squat with 1.5 times his bodyweight, he would have an appreciable amount of muscle over his whole body; not just his legs. Considering the progress I’ve been making week to week, and the fact that I performed 9 reps with 315 last time, I figured there would be a good chance of hitting 20 reps this workout, or at least coming close. I opted to add 20 pounds to the bar instead and get as many as I could. Going to cardiovascular failure isn’t my goal here; sticking with the program and getting bigger and stronger is. Still, while McRobert is a noted authority on strength training, I’m pretty close to being able to perform that 20 reps and don’t feel I have that much muscle. Of course, I’m sure a lot of us who want to get big feel the same no matter what and are never really satisfied.

My insomnia wasn’t so bad this week. I want to thank everyone who gave me advice on how to get better sleep. I haven’t implemented all of it yet, but I am making adjustments and will post what I find works best for me when I’m sure.

Deadlifts were good. I was screaming. I’ll do more weight next time on this one as well, though I should probably try to get into the rep ranges Mentzer set to ensure the muscle fibers are being sufficiently stimulated. Still, if I’m getting stronger, and I obviously am, there is progress. I can always concern myself with doing higher reps later on, once I’ve gotten much stronger than I am now. Regardless, I am pleased with the results so far.

Deadlift – 65 x 10
Deadlift – 135 x 7
Deadlift – 225 x 3
Deadlift – 335 x 5

Bench Push-ups – bw x 10
Dips – bw x 7
Dips – 25 x 3
Dips – 65 x 1 + 4 negatives

Weight: 207 pounds
Bodyfat: 25.4% (Tanita scale)

My previous stats were:

Weight: 200.8 pounds
Bodyfat: 25.2% (Tanita scale)

My total weight gain is 6.2 pounds, and my bodyfat percent increased .2%. What this breaks down into in pounds is an increase in lean mass of 4.2236 pounds and a fat increase of 1.9764 pounds. That averages out to just over one pound of muscle a week. I just need to watch my diet better, but considering I haven’t been strict with my diet at all and the only aerobic exercise I’ve gotten has been walking during my daily travels, that’s not bad. If my gains remain consistent, I’m looking at more than 26 pounds of new muscle by the time this experiment is over.

I’ll post the results of my weekly workout later this afternoon.

http://highintensity.net/Forums/ViewTopic.asp?topic_id=3196

And completely off the subject:

I also have a radio appearance tonight at 9pm EST on http://www.beastradio.com for anyone who′s interested in horror fiction or the Salem witch hunts.

As you can see, my strength is improving nicely, more than doubling the number of reps in the squat and performing almost the same number of repetitions in the pulldowns with twenty more pounds on the rack. Not bad, considering the last time I did these exercises was two weeks ago.

Squats – 45(bar) x 10
Squats – 135 x 7
Squats – 225 x 3
Squats – 315 x 9 + 3 partials

Pulldowns – 40 x 10
Pulldowns – 80 x 7
Pulldowns – 130 x 3
Pulldowns – 180 x 6

I did the partials at the end of my working set of squats because I felt if I went all the way down I wouldn’t make it up again and I wanted to ensure that I had reached positive failure. Even in a Smith machine, the idea of not being able to get up out of a deep squat doesn’t appeal to me. (Of course, that’s an understatement.) I should know it’s reasonably safe, especially since it happened in the previous workout, but psychologically, I wasn’t prepared for it, and I had a good sense I was on the brink of positive failure. When it happened during the previous leg workout, I wasn’t prepared for it, either; but then I was already at the bottom of the squat. I had no idea when I attempted that last rep that it would be the last. What Mentzer said about the last rep being the safest makes a lot of sense. It might just take awhile to sink in, especially when it comes to a huge exercise like squats.

Deadlift – 65 x 10
Deadlift – 135 x 7
Deadlift – 225 x 3
Deadlift – 315 x 6

Bench Push-ups – bw x 10
Dips – bw x 7
Dips – 25 x 3
Dips – 55 x 4 + 2 negatives

Considering I doubled the number of reps I performed in the deadlift, I will be adding weight next workout on this exercise. I have no doubt if I stick with 315 I’ll do more than 9 reps, and I’d rather just do more weight.

Seeing the progress I made in the deadlift and feeling strong, I decided to keep using 25 pounds for my third warm-up set, and it didn’t feel so heavy today. I was going to just do 50 pounds for my work set, but I couldn’t find a 50 pound dumbbell to hang on my dipping belt, so I grabbed a 55 instead. Same number of regular reps as last time with five more pounds and two negatives. At the bottom of each eccentric rep I did try to do a positive, but it wasn’t happening. I definitely reached positive failure.

I should mention that I haven’t been getting anywhere close to eight hours sleep at all since the last workout, and probably not since I began this routine, even when taking a 6 mg dose of melatonin at night. I also used Advil PM a couple times, but eight hours still eluded me, and I ended up waking up groggy and dehydrated as a result. I don’t want to take anything stronger than that, so I’ll stick with the melatonin for now.

I’ve also added a couple new supplements to my regimen: GH Stak and Cort-Bloc by Muscle-Link. I’ve used these supplements before and believe they were responsible for helping heal the tendinitis in my right knee, which had been plaguing me for several years. It’s still not 100%, but it’s a lot better than it was, and if I’m right, it will be completely healed by the end of this eight-week cycle. I didn’t notice much in the way of muscle gain or fat loss when I used these supplements before, so I wouldn’t expect them to have much impact on either this time around.

My diet still needs improvement, but I am eating less outright crap like chips, cookies, and candy, and the only fast food I’ve eaten has been pizza and panini sandwiches. I haven’t restricted intake at all.

Squats – 45(bar) x 10
Squats – 135 x 7
Squats – 225 x 3
Squats – 315 x 4

Pulldowns – 40 x 10
Pulldowns – 80 x 7
Pulldowns – 120 x 3
Pulldowns – 160 x 8

I had done more than 315 for squats before, but going over my workout log, I saw the heaviest I’d gone recently was 295 x 10 on June 21st. Those were free squats, and they felt heavy. I hadn’t done much since then, so I figured I’d just do 315. I couldn’t believe I could only get 4 reps, but when I went down for the fifth I couldn’t get up. I probably went down a little too deep. It’s a good thing I set the safety catch. I’m still not sleeping well, so I’m sure that was a factor, but we’ll see how I do next squat day. I’m glad I hit failure earlier rather than later, though. Anymore than 15 reps with 315 would be really rough.

I felt pretty strong in the pulldowns for the weight I used, but I weigh 200, so I should be able to do 200. I look forward to some strength increases. By the time I was finished the workout, I was shaking a little. My CNS probably needs a rest.

I tried to remain conscious of the rep cadence and avoiding momentum, but I caught myself going a little too fast during some of the warm up sets. It’s a good thing, though, because I was more conscious of it during the working sets.

When I was younger, I rarely warmed up and always worked hard. Fortunately, I haven’t had too many injuries, and the ones I did have don’t plague me now. Still, I’ve always found it difficult to hold back during a workout. I always wanted to get to the heavy stuff that would yield the greatest results and felt warming up was just a waste of time. The wisdom of age and experience has taught me otherwise, but when I was younger the only reason I ever heard for warming up was to avoid injuries. It was never explained how warming up helped prevent them. I’m the kind of guy who wants to know why in order to be sufficiently motivated to do. I should have looked into this deeper at the time, but I wanted to just get into it.

To enumerate, here’s what I’ve learned so far with regard to warming-up:

1. To prevent injuries [Obviously. You knew that was coming, right?] by (paraphrasing Mentzer here) building up viscosity in the joints, warming the muscles with blood and giving them more elasticity.

2. A proper warm up can improve performance, enabling you to lift more than if you warm up improperly or not at all. [Max-OT has an interesting piece on this: http://www.ast-ss.com/max-ot/max-ot.asp?week=2&page=5]

3. A progressive warm up prepares you psychologically as well as physically for intense exercise, as it prevents you from shocking your system too severely.

4. Getting injured because you didn’t warm up properly will set you back a lot longer than the few extra minutes it would take to prepare your body for a high intensity workout.

To respond to perrymk’s comment on yesterday’s post:

Thanks. I’m glad you like the blog, and I enjoy writing it. I read Heavy Duty Nutrition. It’s a good little booklet, but then I’ve liked all of Mentzer’s writings. The excerpts you quoted make good points. Supplementation nowadays seems necessary even for people who aren’t involved in intense activity when you consider the nutritional value of the natural whole foods we get from depleted soil, etc. I doubt I could ever completely wean myself from man-made refined food, but it’s more an ideal I would strive for than a zealous commitment to perfection. Still, can anyone really argue with the common sense that natural, whole foods have more nutritional value and are more healthful than anything man-made?

I didn’t sleep well at all this week, getting only about four hours sleep Wednesday and Thursday when my insomnia was at its worst. My diet this week also hasn’t been good, skipping some meals and gorging on junk food at others. At least, I didn’t eat at McDonald’s. I’ve sworn off that joint. The last few experiences I had there really sucked and turned me off. Eating out for lunch in general is not a good idea. You always pay more for less–less quality, less food, poor service, especially at McD’s where the employees have little motivation to serve you well and might even spit in your food if they don’t like the way you look. I will say I never suffered from food poisoning at McD’s, although I can’t exactly say I’ve ever bounded out of there feeling better than when I went in.

I’m going to clean up my diet this week and monitor my food intake, since working out once a week doesn’t burn a lot of calories, and I need to keep that in check. I know Mentzer’s stance on diet, and I can’t say I agree with him completely on this. A calorie is a calorie, but how that calorie is metabolized is a different story. If you take a piece of rock candy and compare it to its caloric equivalent in broccoli, there is an enormous difference in what’s going on once it’s consumed. Nutrients in the candy are virtually zero–just empty carbs–whereas the broccoli has anti-carcinogens and phytonutrients we haven’t even identified yet. Not to mention, you will need to eat a lot more broccoli to consume the same number of calories in that piece of candy, so you’ll stay satisfied longer. I don’t doubt that you can get ripped consuming all your carbs in the form of junk food as long as the macronutrient ratios are the correct amount, but is it healthy?

Tomorrow: Squats and pulldowns. I hope the Smith machine has been repaired, otherwise, I have to do squats in the gym’s crappy excuse for a power rack.

Deadlift – 65 x 10
Deadlift – 135 x 7
Deadlift – 225 x 3
Deadlift – 315 x 3

Bench Push-ups – bw x 10
Dips – bw x 7
Dips – 25 x 3
Dips – 50 x 4

General Impressions:

Keep in mind, the first three sets are progressive warm-up sets.

The weights I estimated were close to optimal choices, though a little on the heavy side; but better heavy than light.

The push-ups were performed by placing my hands on a weight bench and doing regular push-ups off it, as opposed to doing floor push-ups, which I think might be a little too much for a first set for me. Still, I feel 25 pounds was a little too much for the 7-rep warm-up set and may have detracted from my performance on the work set which followed.

Post workout, I feel the deadlifts more, but overall I think it was a good workout. With the exception of the third warm-up set for dips–which will be lighter next time–I will use the same weights next workout.

Here are my stats:

Height: 6’0″
Weight: 200.8 pounds
Bodyfat: 25.2% (Tanita scale)

I weighed myself twice first thing in this morning on an empty stomach and received the same exact numbers. Whether or not the body fat calculation is accurate, at least I’m getting consistent readings and have a point of reference by which I can monitor my progress.

I had originally thought of doing bench presses instead of dips, but I will follow the program to the letter as outlined in Mentzer’s Underground Seminar video. As I progress, I will integrate some of the high intensity techniques he advocates, such as negatives, static holds, omni contraction, etc.

The workouts will be conducted once every seven days, starting today. If, for some reason, I can’t perform the workout on the seventh day, I will do it the next possible day. Here are the workouts, each to be performed every other week:

Workout 1
Squats – 1×8-15
Narrow Grip Underhand Pulldowns – 1×6-10

Workout 2
Deadlifts – 1×5-8
Dips – 1×6-10

I will do three progressive warm-up sets before each working set, which must be taken to failure. Failure will be defined as the point during the set where one more full rep in good form cannot be executed. At that point, where the weight is stuck and won’t budge, I will fight to complete the rep for a period of 15 seconds then rack the weight. Each rep will be performed with a cadence of 4-2-4.

The last workout I performed was a light full body workout on July 21, 2008. Prior to that, the frequency of my workouts was sporadic at best and the intensity moderate.

Here’s a list of the supplements I’m currently taking:

Multi-vitamin/mineral
Vitamin E
Vitamin C
Alpha Lipoic Acid
Omega-3
Glucosamine/Condroitin
Garlic
Melatonin (only when I have trouble sleeping)
Whey protein
Beta Alanine
Creatine
Glutamine
Met-rx meal replacement drink
Kelp
Super greens

I know Mentzer said the whole protein supplement thing is a racket and that it’s unnecessary to consume so much protein, but I will be consuming a 20 gram whey protein drink pre-workout and a meal replacement drink post-workout, anyway. Other than that, I will drink them when I’m pressed for time.

The gym opens in 45 minutes. I will post the results of my first workout when I’m finished.