A Young Buck's Training Journal

[OneBreath]

Listen to dj, you've got the right routine for muscle, abs are made in the kitchen. If you are really worried about that bodyfat, lets come up with a plan. A plan will make you feel more secure and keep your focus where it needs to be. When does school start? End of August?

So you've got something like 18 weeks right? Post up the date you start and we'll come up with a good muscle building phase followed by a muscle retention/bodyfat loss phase.

 

[Hellawulf]

Yah, it should be the end of august, lets say August 25, thats exactly 4 months from now...

 

[Hellawulf]

Today started pretty rough, my ex set me in a bad mood to go into the gym with so I struggled with the squats, I got in every rep, but it was harder than it should have been, and I feel like my form got a little sloppy on the 3 rep set, but I got my act together and did pretty well on the rest of the workout. Felt good afterwards.

Squat
5 x 105
5 x 135
5 x 155
5 x 185
3 x 215
8 x 155

Bench
5 x 90
5 x 115
5 x 135
5 x 155
3 x 185
8 x 135

Row
5 x 75
5 x 95
5 x 115
5 x 135
3 x 155
8 x 115

Dips
3 sets 5 reps

Barbell Curls
8 x 65
8 x 65
8 x 65

Diet (so far and projected):
Breakfast: 7:30 AM Protein Shake and Bannana
Snack: 10:00 AM fiber bar
Lunch: 12:00 PM 2 Peanut Butter and Bannana Sandwhiches, Yogurt, Clementine
Snack: 2:30 PM Apple, 1 Peanut Butter and Bannana Sandwhich
Post Workout: 6:00 PM Protein Shake
Dinner: 6:30 PM 3 grilled chicken strips, collar greens, green beans, corn
Snack: 8:30 PM cashews
Pre-Bed: 10:30 PM Protein Shake (don't normally go to bed this early on a friday night, but I've got to work tomorrow early, then I've got Prom tomorrow night and nothing really of importance going on tonight)

 

[Hellawulf]

Also, I've got Prom tomorrow, so I prob won't do the cardio, I'll be dancing for like 5 hours, I'm sure thats plenty of cardio within itself.

And, I've got another question, my gloves have like built in wrist wraps that I always use, they give me pretty good wrist support, and I havent gotten to weights yet that I need straps for, but will wrist wraps hinder forearm growth. I don't think they will because the weight will sill be felt by the forearms and folcrumed but for some reason in the back of my head I though of this and figured I'd ask.
So, pretty much, Do wrist wraps slow forearm growth?

 

[djeclipse]

Also, I've got Prom tomorrow, so I prob won't do the cardio, I'll be dancing for like 5 hours, I'm sure thats plenty of cardio within itself.

And, I've got another question, my gloves have like built in wrist wraps that I always use, they give me pretty good wrist support, and I havent gotten to weights yet that I need straps for, but will wrist wraps hinder forearm growth. I don't think they will because the weight will sill be felt by the forearms and folcrumed but for some reason in the back of my head I though of this and figured I'd ask.
So, pretty much, Do wrist wraps slow forearm growth?

Gloves? What???

Loose the gloves, loose the wrist straps. Be a man, lift raw, get caloses, when regular grip gives out on deadlift get some chalk (it's very cheap) and use reverse grip.

Gloves have no place in any gym, same goes for wrist straps unless you are doing shrugs at your deadlift one rep max for sets where you can't use reverse grip.

 

[Hellawulf]

I need to go to a more hardcore gym, my gym is the most pussy gym in the world (Pivotal Fitness), its got a lot of high tech stuff, and some big guys go there but its mostly overweight 40+ women and men, and I would feel so out of place if I used chalk, everyone uses gloves, but I can get some chalk, I don't really care what they think, but my question is whether or not they affect muslce growth in any way?

 

[Hellawulf]

Prom was great, I broke diet and had dessert at dinner, and ate some pizza and candy at after prom, among other things, my shoulder kinda hurts from falling weird off the mechanical bull, but I should be straight by Monday.

 

[ExtraMile]

I need to go to a more hardcore gym, my gym is the most pussy gym in the world (Pivotal Fitness), its got a lot of high tech stuff, and some big guys go there but its mostly overweight 40+ women and men, and I would feel so out of place if I used chalk, everyone uses gloves, but I can get some chalk, I don't really care what they think, but my question is whether or not they affect muslce growth in any way?

If your worried abotu forearm growth then drop the gloves and straps.

 

[djeclipse]

I need to go to a more hardcore gym, my gym is the most pussy gym in the world (Pivotal Fitness), its got a lot of high tech stuff, and some big guys go there but its mostly overweight 40+ women and men, and I would feel so out of place if I used chalk, everyone uses gloves, but I can get some chalk, I don't really care what they think, but my question is whether or not they affect muslce growth in any way?

That was what I was getting at.

The straps are a crutch, they allow you to hold the weight without really holding on to it.

The best way to develop grip and forearm strength is heavy deadlift (without gloves). Use regular grip for as long as you can, and when you feel the weight is so heavy that it starts to slip, or your fingers start to open switch to reverse grip (one hand forward, one hand backward). Reverse grip stops the bar form rolling out of your fingers, you can lift at least 100 more pounds with reverse grip. Use chalk to prevent your hands form being sweaty, causing the bar to slip. With chalk and reverse grip you should be able to hold as much as you can dealift. And you're not neglecting your forearms.

Don't ask anyone at the gym if you can use chalk, just bring it in and use it. Keep it in a container and open it when you need it. Try not to make too big of a mess and you should be fine.

As for the gloves... they are just GAY!

Who cares about the rest of the people in your gym, soon you'll be lifting more than they are. As long as the gym has a squat rack, olympic bar and a place to bench press, do dips and pull ups, you have everything you need. It is better that you don't have any real lifters there, you won't have to wait for people to use the squat rack etc.

 

[OneBreath]

Ok, here is a tentative plan. It involves a muscle building phase followed by a diet/body fat loss phase.

The goal of the building phase is to progress each week on your 5x5 routine by 10 lbs on each of the core lifts. This is an aggressive but attainable schedule. Your success will depend on how well you eat and how much rest you get. Keep the moderate intensity cardio going on your off days and eat right at or slightly above your calorie maintenance. Don't worry about bodyfat during this time. Now if you start getting a massive gut for some reason let me know. I seriously doubt this will happen unless you start pounding chocolate cake and icecream every night before bed.

Depending up your bodyfat we might start the diet phase sooner or later. We'll evalate after senior week. The goal of this phase is to maintain the muscle and strength you have gained during the building phase while using some intense cardio and moderate dieting to get rid of any bodyfat before leaving for school.

As you can see by the numbers your body could possibly look very different by aug.

Weekly Squat/Dead/Bench 5 rep goal

4/26 - 215/185/265
5/3 - 225/195/275
5/10 - 235/205/285
5/17 - 245/215/295
5/24 - 255/225/305
5/31 - 265/235/315 (big 3 plate deadlift before break)

6/7 - Senior Week (relax and eat)

6/14 - 265/235/315 (repeat previous week)
6/21 - 275/245/325
6/28 - 285/255/335
7/5 - 295/265/345

7/12 - Maintenance lifting / Tabatas / Calorie deficit
7/19 - Maintenance lifting / Tabatas / Calorie deficit
7/26 - Maintenance lifting / Tabatas / Calorie deficit
8/2 - Maintenance lifting / Tabatas / Calorie deficit
8/9 - Maintenance lifting / Tabatas / Calorie deficit
8/16 - Maintenance lifting / Tabatas / Calorie deficit

School Starts