"Bridge the Gap"

[craig]

Thanks for the tip! Gaining strength is my ultimate goal. I get nervous about going so hard all the time. I'm still in the beginner phase and need all the help I can get!

 

[bybon]

Thanks for the tip! Gaining strength is my ultimate goal. I get nervous about going so hard all the time. I'm still in the beginner phase and need all the help I can get!

Also, this may or may not help you-but I never went past 6 reps on deadlift sets. I did go up incrementally in weight in each set, usually ending with a single or double. For example:

Warmup to work-2x6-135, 1x6-225, 1x6-315, 1x4-355, 1x4-405, 1x3-455, 1x2-4-455, 1x1-505

Do only what works for you though; everybody is different.

 

[craig]

I like the idea of not going above 6 reps. When I'm working hard anything more than a few really gets me out of breath and kills me! I have back day today and plan on taking your advice and hopefully putting up some big numbers.

This past week has been great! Every day I increased my weights on my primary compound evercise and on my supporting lifts. Exactly the motivation I needed!

After only a month of seriously keep my training and diet in check I have a base that I feel confident I can build from.

 

[craig]

I didn't give myself an off day between splits this week. Yesterday I did shoulders with my friend who is considerably stronger than I am. He seemed to blast through my workout with ease but at the end he told me how sore he was and how he hadn't worked out that hard in a long time. It felt good and gave me a little bit of validation. Today I did legs before work. My motivation wasn't all there and I had a lack luster performance. I did less weight and volumn than normal probably due to dreading coming into work over night. Tomorrow is Sunday and I think a mid split day off is just what the doctor ordered. I'll take it easy and see how I feel on Monday.

I've been working in cardio before and after my workouts. It feels good.

 

[craig]

Bodybuilding.com - Full-Spectrum Strong: How The Army's Elite Training Manual Can Help You

The above article is a good ready. I'd love to hear from some military guys on this and see what they think.

I'd love to be able to squat and deadlift 582.5lbs. Will I get there some day? Yes. Will it be this year or next? Probably not. Lofty goals for an unfit Army.

 

[craig]

Yesterday I had a great shoulders day. I hit a new PR with a workout weight of 155lbs on the seated BB press. After that I was less than willing to pop up 70lbs DBs for DB shoulder press so I dropped it down to 60s.

Today I will be squatting and will work my way up to more than 275lbs on my workout weight. I have been pretty stale in squats for some time now. I will be taking my SL DLs and good mornings more serious as my hamstrings continue to lack and I feel myself falling into disproportioned hammys to quads.

Tomorrow is bench press and I can't wait. My workout as a whole is going well and I find myself making improvements and setting new PRs constantly. Setting a new PR is a such a high for me.

 

[craig]

My squat day two days ago went well enough. Between 3 sets I knocked out 15 reps of 285lbs which is a new PR for me. I felt weak though and it really showed yesterday. I did chest yesterday with my partner. We warmed up, I felt weak. We started on our working sets, no better. I think my CNS is a little worn out from not taking days off and lifting close to my 100% on my oly lifts. Either which way, several off days are headed my way. Today, tomorrow, and Sunday will be completely weight free days. Sunday I usually get the itch to go to the gym so I'll probably do some cardio. Some added sleep, eating, and rest are just what the doctor ordered.

 

[craig]

Yesterday I hit a new milestone by breaking my PR in deadlift. Pulled 350lbs for 1. I know it's not a lot to a lot of guys (maybe even some girls) on here but it was a big personal accomplishment for me. Working hard for a little over a month has really paid off. This past month I've put over 75lbs on my 1RM! Prior to pulling 350, I did 315 for 4 and failed on the 5th rep. I feel my big lifts going up all the time. It's a great feeling.

Today is shoulders. My workout partner should be back for todays workout. He has had some neck/head problems that are lifting related so he has been taking it easy. Hopefully today goes well. I'm out of pre workout and am going to go at it cold which is something I haven't done in a long time.

I won the IronMagLabs contest and have their Halo Extreme coming my way. Can't wait to try it out and give them a review.

 

[craig]

Another week down.

I took 2 days off this last week in order to recoup my bod. I feel a lot better this week. My first couple days this week I was preworkout free which led to a lack of intensity. My reasoning for not taking it was sort of stupid now that I think of it. Trying to limit my supplement intake. My workout partner reasoned me into rethinking my stance and yesterday (back day) I took some of his NOexplode. Worked very well for me! 2 scoops made my skin feel like it was going to rip. It was a great feeling. I ordered PitbullNS Unleashed 2.0 from one of the board sponsors and I will try it. If it doesn't work as well as NO, I will shelf it till a later day.

Leg day was light this last week. My workout partner is back and we did lighter squats than normal. We did 225x8 for many sets. Not sure exactly. He started harassing me about my form so we kept blasting away and had a good workout.

Chest day was disaapointing. I've been at the same weight on my 5x5 for 2 weeks now. I am going to give it one more chance to get the weight I'm at for the given reps before I adjust. Chest day for me is always dissapointing so this is nothing new...

Back day was alright. Pulled 315 for 2 reps for 2 sets. The workout before I was able to lockout 4 reps before failing on my fifth.

My 5x5 weight for shoulder press has been the same for the last couple weeks but I am satisfied with the progress I have been making. My workout partner has been behind me for a long time on shoulders and I dont want to completely leave him in the dust. Today is shoulder and I'm going to throw some micro plates on to see if I've made any progress.

All in all going real well minus chest. I am blessed with inferior man boobs with no red stuff behind them. It's coming though. I feel it.

 

[craig]

Yesterday I was able to crush out the weight I have been working on for the past 3 chest days. Felt really good to finally knock it out of the park. Now 5lbs more...

 

[craig]

Today was a good back day. Pulled 300lbs for 4 reps which comes out to be a pretty good day. A couple back sessions ago I was able to lift 315lbs for 4 reps which I've been trying to get back to since. We got our lat pull down machine back and my lats have never felt more isolated. Back is feeling great. Be kind with the pictures. Just starting out still

 

[bybon]

Definitely got thick rhomboids; work on lats. Looking good brother.