Josh's Bodybuilding Journal

Members Area My Training Journal
1

Goals
Mass : LBM + 15Kg ( especially on the quads, hams, glutes, pecs, delts )
WorkCapacity : Increased maximal whole body work capacity for 5x 5min sets with 1min ISR
VO2max : ideally to maintain ml.kg-1.min-1 rate in light of recomposition changes, then to increase it. Increase vVO2max & TLimVO2max for swimming, hillsprints and sex.
FatLoss : 5Kg of fat especially from VAT
Stability : Increased strength and force generation over unorthodox articulations - ie sandbag dancing
Other : 30min of hip flexion

Qualitative goals & Inspirations
Aesthetics : Lee Priest (at about 6wk out from competition) [ Posing ; More Posing ]
Speed / Work Capacity / Tenacity : Sean Sherk [ Highlights ; Caveman Training ; A little cardio ditty ].
Attitude to working around injury : Dustin Carter [ Training clip ]
Work Capacity : Ross [ Video Articles ]

My current status
Compositional & girths : ( 115Kg 5’8" Neck 21" c14%BF; Upper arms 20" ; Lower arms 15.5" ; Chest 54" ; Waist 34.5" ; Quads 28" ; Calves 19" ) Christmas 2008. New measurements to follow shortly. I think I have changed a lot since then.
Loading & PBs : …
CVPS : …

Chronic Maladies and ills
Elbow : Connective tissue weakness in elbow, characterised by a sore elbow, and aggravated by reverse barbell curls.
A dodgy back : a squat / DL injury from form failure due to fatigue. Better now, but cautious.
General lethargy and fatigue : I have an intrinsic low recovery capacity, and this is a key aspect of my R&D

Training strategy & protocol

Gym workout - Aim for a 4day rotation of:

    * [b]Wkout1 [/b]- Pecs Delts Tris
    * [b]Wkout2 [/b]- Quads Hams Glutes Calf Hips Lowerback Grip
    * [b]Wkout3 [/b]- Lats Traps Bi (maybe a little Forearms if I am bored)
    * [b]Wkout4 [/b]- Abs, Obliques, Lowerback, Neck


Weights workout are generally followed by 30..90min of cardio - HR maintained at in a range of 140..160bpm
Weights are generally: 8..12rep.set-1 . 4sets.exercise-1 . 5exercise.bodypart-1
Tempo is generally explosive concentric, 1sec at apex, 4sec eccentric, and c0.5sec at nadir. Sometimes this does change.
Interset rests are generally kept to 1min, except for squats (c3min). If I feel tired when starting a workout I don't mind extending this.
I love dropsets, superseting and restpause modifiers. Good form has primacy, both in and out of the gym.
Sometimes I do a whole workout dedicated to a single exercise - eg( squats, deadlifts, dips )

Swimming training - Although my swimming is on hold at the moment, I generally aim for 30 to 120min of swimming a few times a week. Mix of strokes in sets of 12lengths with a 1, 2 or 3min rest between sets.

Hillsprints-Burpees - Also on hold during this cycle is my HIIT. I have been blessed with a long steep hill where I live, and it is great for doing hillsprints interspaced by burpees.

EMS / NMES - A very recent addition is Electro Muscle Stimulation (NeuroMuscular Electric Stimulation ) between workouts to increase total muscle stimulus without taxing my CNS, postworkout for active recovery, and to increase capilarisation of target muscle groups. Protocols are still being refined.

Other stuff

Weights vest - I have a weights vest which I wear as often as I can throughout the day, to generally increase energy demands and work capacity. I am very pleased with this, however after a bout of illness a few weeks back, I am building back up to using it all the time.

HR Logging - I use a suunto memory belt and watch to monitor HR, EPOC, training effect, etc during workouts. I am trying to use it thoughout the day and night ie 24/7 to obtain additional information eg( daily energy demands, presence of stress (from cardiac RR interval variability in the first 4hr of sleep), etc )

J

2

Saturday

Gym
CardioCocktail 2hr10min 2100kcal CardioCocktail involves xtrainer, UBE, rowing and treadmill, alternative between them when localised lactic acid failure occurs, to allows a slightly higher work capacity, and slightly better fat utilisation ( Higher pH / more alkalinity --> Better CPT-1 activity --> More fat used as a fuel source)
Failed to do Sodium Biacarb preworkout as I couldn’t find it.

PShake (P 50g ; CHO 50g ) + Oats 50g
Jacuzzi 30min

EMS
Concurrent Stimulus

  • Site: Tris ; Stimulus:BloodFlow ; Duration: 60min
  • Site: Pecs ; Stimulus:BloodFlow ; Duration: 60min
    Site: Abs ; Stimulus:Sculpt ; Duration: 15min
    Site: Abs ; Stimulus:BloodFlow ; Duration: 30min

I have been using my new electrodes and rash vest with great effect. I now have a capacity to get a lot more shocks with greater down time .

Diet
Gym cardio was performed in the fasted state (with the exception of BCAA).
Protein high, Carbs, medium, fat low
Supps as usual
BCAA @ 20g.hr-1 and no additional Leu (still cannot contemplate the taste)

Sleep
Volume: 8hr
Phase: +3hr
Quality: OK. Lots of dreaming with brief awakenings throughout.

Biometrics
Mood: Positive and calm
Quantitatives: nothing unusual to report
Fatigue: reducing. Lower back is still aching badly.

J

3

Hard to comment if your training is working if this is not filled out.

why one bodypart 1x per wk? I see it all the time in my gym - and only ever a select few grow with it (muscle) - you can get stronger, but most tend not to grow. 2-3 x per wk per body part is what Most tend to grow with.

Rest periods - Legs will be slow to respond with 3min recoverys. You need to fatigue the muscles, and 3min is letting them fully recover between sets, sure its hard, but damn, its supposed to be

also - If you want to add muscles, carbs perhaps need to be higher? Keeping them low will help keep you lean, will be hard to gain size though

4

Gym

I focused on pec isolation, form and building mind muscle connection. It was all centred around the cable crossover stacks. Rest was kept to a minimum, and reps were slower than usual to feel the load path through my body.

HighCableCrossover 8s 40Kg
LowCableCrossover 8s 25Kg
SwissBallFlies 8s 40Kg

Jacuzzi 30min

Pecs were pumped and aching by the end of it all.
Workout was kept short today because of lack of available time.

EMS
Concurrent Stimulus

  • Site: Lats ; Stimulus:BloodFlow ; Duration: 30min
  • Site: Traps ; Stimulus:BloodFlow ; Duration: 30min
    Concurrent Stimulus
  • Site: Lats ; Stimulus:Mass ; Duration: 15min
  • Site: Traps ; Stimulus:Mass ; Duration: 15min

Concurrent Stimulus

  • Site: Abs; Stimulus:BloodFlow ; Duration: 30min
  • Site: Tris ; Stimulus:BloodFlow ; Duration: 30min
    Site: Tris ; Stimulus:Mass ; Duration: 15min
    Site: Abs ; Stimulus:Sculpt ; Duration: 15min

I have started pushing the intensity up, and during the lats stim, I heard cracking and popping, and it was painful but in a nice way :confused1: It also feels as if my posture has improved since then.
Tris have never hurt as much as today. I thought at one point one tricep was going to tear. They have been aching hard all day since then.

Diet
Protein high, low carbs, med fat (should have been low fat but I went to a BBQ)
Supps: as before.

Went to a BBQ today where I seemed to consume the majority of the meat.

Sleep
Volume: 6hr Awoke early for no reason. Hopefully my needs are dropping.
Quality: Good but some bad nightmares again.
Phase: +1hr

J

5

My current status
Compositional & girths : …
Loading & PBs : …
CVPS : …

Totally agree. I was planning on adding this information in later when I work it all out. I was just a bit to keen to get this training journal up and running. I have added some old stats of mind (Composition & Grith) but they are from christmas. Other details and updates to come soon.

Thanks boldwarrior for you feedback - it is appreciated.

I do not train 1bp per week. The bodyparts trained on a day get repeated 96hr later.

I have found that I have made quite good gains on this, along with a push/pull/legs repeated twice a week. I am going to be reworking my program over the next few weeks though. Thanks.

I would love to bring down my rest times between squatting, but I find that I am quite light headed afterwards and need the time to get my breath back. I probably am not fit enough. I will work on bringing my rest times down on these though. Thanks.

I agree with you on the carbs. I am actually doing a carb cycling diet (and carbs particularly loaded around workouts) to try to keep my weight gain as lean as I can. I should have consumed more carbs postworkout yesterday after my cardio session to replenish glycogen.

6

Refreshing to see a BB journal on here! I’m interested in your utilisation of the EMS (I just bought Globus Elite 2)… How are you finding recovery/capillarisation modes? I’ll be cranking it up for the first time this evening…

7

How long have you been bodybuilding? Were you ever a sprinter in the past?

8

Thanks! I was a little concerned as many athletics / sport science people don’t seem to think too highly of BB, so I was a bit unsure how it would go down :smiley: Although I am a scientist, I also do not have the sport science background that most of you people seem to have here, so please excuse my ignorance whilst I try and catch up.

I am loving the EMS actually, although I have found that I have been shooting in the dark when it comes to designing a protocol for my needs. I have been using two main protocols - the globus mass program, which I apply 36hr after training that bodypart (which seems to be going ok), and I am going to start using it after weights on a bodypart trained (to try getting additional stimulus that would exceed my CNS capacity). I have also been using a warm up protocol in an attempt to increase blood flow and thus nutrient delivery to that muscle. This is run for the maximum time I can during the post workout recovery window and as much time as I can throughout the day. I have not noticed any success with this yet, but I do not suspect that I would notice any results for several months anyhow. The capilarisation program is on that I have dabbled with, but am unsure how to fit this in with the rest of my program tbh.

I have been shocked (excuse the pun) by the intensity of the stimulus on the mass program. I took the advice on these forums that you need to crank up the power on them, and have done so. The stimulus is very intense indeed.

If you have any suggestions or thoughts on intergrating EMS protocols into my training, I am very ignorant and I am all ears!

Thanks for your interest and feedback, it is appreciated!

J

9

How long have you been bodybuilding? Were you ever a sprinter in the past?

Thanks Ku2u#1 for your interest.

I have been doing bodybuilding for about 18 years now, although in the last few years my objectives have changed slightly from being pure bodybuilding to a mix of bodybuilding and work capacity and cardiovascular health. I had an experience where I had to go hill walking and struggled because my calfs were over-optimised for moving heavy weight for short distances. The whole experience was so embarrassing I decided that I wanted function to take a higher priority in my training.

I have never been a sprinter (although have done some in my training). My main sport (apart from bodybuilding ) was swimming - sprints in the pool and in distance in the sea.

J

10

Very few bodybuilders hit a muscle group two times per week, very few do three times per week. I would add, however, that with one timer per week, I would swap triceps with biceps. With that change, pecs, triceps, biceps, and back can be hit directly once, and indirectly a second time. I would do legs twice per week.

Rest periods - Legs will be slow to respond with 3min recoverys. You need to fatigue the muscles, and 3min is letting them fully recover between sets, sure its hard, but damn, its supposed to be
Three minutes is plenty if hypertrophy is the goal.

also - If you want to add muscles, carbs perhaps need to be higher? Keeping them low will help keep you lean, will be hard to gain size though
As long as total calories are positive, gains can/will be made. MCT’s and DAG oil are good sources of energy that actually result in leaner gains than a high carb diet.

11

Thanks Star61!

MCT’s and DAG oil are good sources of energy that actually result in leaner gains than a high carb diet.

One of the problems with this is the lack of endogenous insulin stimulated. Insulin is so anabolic.

J

12

Gym
Pullups 6s
BentOverBBRow 1s 70Kg ; 5s 110Kg Worked on stricter form.
1HandedLawnmowerPulls 6s 45Kg Each done at different angles.
HighCableDoubleBicepCurls 8s 40Kg
ReverseCableBicepCurls…NormalGripCableBiCurls 8s 45Kg When failure is reached on reverse grip, normal grip is adopted.
InclineDBCurls 4s 17.5Kg Worked on form.
PreacherCurls 5s 50Kg

PShake( 50g P ; 50g CHO )
Jacuzzi 10min

Ran out of time with the gym closing early for Bank Holiday.
Failed to do cardio.
I got a little distracted during the workout, and spent some time correcting the form of a new lad in the gym, so workout intensity was lower than planned.

EMS
Concurrent Stimulus

  • Site: Lats ; Stimulus:BloodFlow ; Duration: 20min
  • Site: Traps ; Stimulus:BloodFlow ; Duration: 20min
    Concurrent Stimulus
  • Site: Lats ; Stimulus:Mass ; Duration: 15min
  • Site: Traps ; Stimulus:Mass ; Duration: 15min

Diet
High protein, low carb, low fat
Supps as before

Sleep
Volume: 7hr
Quality: Fair
Phase: +3hr

J

13

Do you look for elevated insulin in general, or only post workout? I think carbs pre- and post-workout are critical, but elevated insulin throughout the day makes it difficult to control fat levels.

14

It depends on whether I am bulking, cutting or lean bulking ie how much additional bodyfat I am carrying compared to what I am willing to carry.

Elevated insulin post workout is desired, and when generally bulking I try to elevated it quite a lot throughout the day too. Putting on additional bodyfat is not particularly a problem as long as my diet is kept very clean ie high protein and medium carbs throughout the day. When cutting, I try to minimise insulin levels most of the day (except for after the workout). When cutting (reducing bodyfat) I generally utilise cardio at c50% Max HR for 45min to 2hr in duration, whilst in the fasted state (avoiding elevated insulin before and during cardio) and consume both caffeine and sodium bicarb pre workout to assist in fat burning.

J

15

Tell me about it! I tried the mass setting last night :eek:. The globus mass setting is closest to what CF recommends… I used the pause button to get the rest periods to 50s. The intensity was excruciating… the highest I got was on the feet and glutes at 50mA+… but I’ve heard that you get used to it after a week or so. My hammies and upper abs were pussies! But it seems the more 2b and motor units in a muscle the less impulse is needed for a powerful contraction. I had a problem with cramping and will drink tonic water (quinine) before my next session. Love the idea of EMS though… an extra workout with no CNS drain, fantastic!

Think you made a great decision to come on this site - there are many super intelligent individuals on here interested in all aspects of training.

16

Seems sound. When cutting and minimizing insulin, do you restrict carbs? If so, do you use MCT’s/DAG during these times? Have you had much experience with MCT’s/DAG, and if so, what is your opinion about them?

17

Just saw this comment, sorry. Are you doing a TKD, CKD, or a combination? Could you discuss your carb intake, in terms of grams, throughout the week, as well as the energy levels compared to a straight diet? Thanks.

18

I am already happy that I came here :slight_smile: A lot of my training has been based on trial and error over the years, but I have been very impressed by some bodybuilders & powerlifters who have used periodisation to great effect. I have tended to push reps, load, intensity, etc until I feel that I am overtraining, and then ease off a little. It has been quite successful but I am sure that there are better ways. My knowledge of supplements is ok - the bodybuilding world is filled with them, and playing with aminos is one of my main experiments in this area.

I used the pause button to get the rest periods to 50s.

So after the intense single contraction and the ramp down, you pause during the little pulses - is that correct?

I have found that I get use to some of the currents on my back and quads quite quickly - even within a single session. I have been a little concerned as to whether I will outgrow the current range before too long.

Have you used the mass program on abs, or the abs sculpt program (IIRC program 53)?

But it seems the more 2b and motor units in a muscle the less impulse is needed for a powerful contraction.

Do you use a current that is sufficient to stimulate a powerful contraction, or do you use the maximum tolerable current?

I had a problem with cramping and will drink tonic water (quinine) before my next session.

I have recently overcome a very nasty period of cramping. I increased my dietary electrolyte intake (I go through a lot of water during training) and dietary taurine intake - these would normally have been sufficient for me. It took an Epsom bath to totally fix the problem though, so I assume that my Mg levels were too low.

Love the idea of EMS though…n extra workout with no CNS drain, fantastic!

Totally agree! I have been working hard at warding off different types of overtraining - I fixed my elevated incidence of Upper Respiratory Tract Infections (URTIs) a few months ago, and reducing CNS loading was the next one. Happy days!

J

19

Seems sound. When cutting and minimizing insulin, do you restrict carbs? If so, do you use MCT’s/DAG during these times? Have you had much experience with MCT’s/DAG, and if so, what is your opinion about them?

During “dirty bulks” (where bodyfat gains are higher than normal), macronutrients are high protein, high carbs, low fat.

Lean bulks ( phases of muscle gain, where bodyfat is kept in check throughout ) comprise of a CKD where carb intake thoughout the day is targeted before during and after training if the training is weights only, or trageted after training if training is weights & cardio, or cardio only.

Cutting is usually TKD and sometimes PSMF (protein sparing modified fast) style diets. I find PSMF for a week or so, followed by a quick refeeds, quite well for me. PSMF is basically about 400-500g of protein, fish oil and a little lecithin.

With regard to carb intakes in grams, I tend to do it by instinct, but it probably works out something like: low (minimise intake - 50-100g), medium (c400g using low GI CHO except post workout) or high carb (c1000g using a mix of high and low GI carbs).

I have not ran MCTs although was planning on doing so for my next cutting cycle. A friend of mine has used them to great effect on a keto style diet.

One of the improvements that I want to make to my program is to move to 24/7 Heart Rate logging using my suunto memory belt to more accurately predict my energy demands throughout the day, so as to better match my food intake to demands.

J

20

Thanks for the detailed replies. I think your thread, as well as your knowledge base (hypertrophy, strength, nutrition) will be a great addition to this forum. Welcome aboard.