The Beast's Training Journal!

[WalkingBeast]

Still stiff as fuck from my last back session. Got overzealous with the low cable rows and volume. Neck somewhat pulled out, but more in the ruptured discs. Compression it seems. Those are the types of strains I usually get. Into the nerves. My vehicle will be in the shop tommorrow, so its possible Ill train arms on sunday , if my strains feel decent, or ill just reset next week.

I may do some type of growth phase around the 8-10th of next month. Probably not all out in all areas, but atleast 1 more training day, making it 4 days a week training. Bringing legs back into the mix. Possibly bring back the feeder routine for arms daily. Eating will also be more consistant and increased if I do. If I do it, itll be enough to get results.

As far as pushing strength, I may save that more for my 50 plus rep sets and other high rep sets. Like the dumbbell incline press with 100s for 50 plus, etc. I may switch some things up to give my joints a break. It makes a difference.

KILL THAT SHIT

 

[WalkingBeast]

Started growth phase. So I should get back to where I was sooner and hopefully see some new growth in the next several weeks. Not sure if I will do feeder routine daily for biceps, but did it tonight. Main additions will be legs training and more consistant, heavier eating.


Feeder Routine (very brief rest pauses only for the 150 reps)

Strict Alternating Dumbbell Curls (no twist at top, palms facing forward)

15x50

Dumbbell Hammer curls

15x50

Alternating Dumbbell Curls with reverse curl negative

15x50

KILL THAT SHIT

 

[WalkingBeast]

Arms today. About to hit em. Had some chest tightness and pain since yesterday. Could be the muscles and rib cage , or maybe my heart will explode today. The low rest between sets , of arm day will be a good test.

Im thinking for the feeder routine I may do it every other day or only a few times a week. When I did it daily I was not noticing any extra results with arms. It may be overkill for the recovery. Just something to experiment with.

My only progressive movement today may be close grip bench press on smith machine, incline. Thats a new movement for me. See how my joints and hand feel. My right hand was giving alot of issues on barbell presses. Can double up a glove on my right hand and should be ok. Maybe hit some reps with 275 today. 225x20, 245x15 are some other possible targets, since this style is new. Im doign them with elbows tucked in as well. Its very different then pressing with elbow flare.

Maybe see what I can do with strict alternating db curls too. Palms facing entire time , no twisting. I was hitting 60x10 slow in this style before the break. These are also a new movement, so hitting PRs is easier at this stage.

Mostly just gonna move fast and pump the shit out of em

KILL THAT SHIT

 

[WalkingBeast]

Arms


Slight pop in left side of chest into delt during the 275x8 on close grip incline presses on smith machine. First time Ive felt that side pop, that I can remember.Right side popped twice but those were more severe. Never a full tear but it was bad enough to have some pain for some days afterward.

This time I felt the pop on the eighth rep but locked it out anyway, then re racked it. Could be because this is a strange angle with tucking elbows in. Also the barbell presses are the most high risk for my chest strains.

There was some slight soreness during tricep pressdowns , so I didnt push shit too hard. It shouldnt be too much of an issue but it may be time to switch to pure bodybuilding style for chest. I can probably still hit some records with shoulder pressing, atleast on machines, overloading those. Will see how shit feels.

May be time for a more growth focused phase. Over strength. The last two pops, I felt alot of tenderness immediately afterward and it lasted days. I dont really feel this one unless I put weight directly on it. I can grow my chest with light weight though and high reps, so I can adapt if need be.

I will likely not hit close grip pressing again anytime soon and maybe avoid smith machine presses of any type for a while. I did not feel pressure on my right hand today, so it may have strengthened. May also be because of the closer grip. Difficult to say.

Its double edged with getting both stronger and having compromised tendons after years of abuse. The trade off is that I have the capability to push much more weight, but one compromised tendon and joint can lead to tearing the muscle off the bone. Its always a high risk. Even with my lighter sets which are never that light. Comes with the territory.

228 lbs after possible meal earlier, ate very little yesterday


Close Grip Smith Machine Incline Press (Shoulder width and elbows tucked)

Bar x40 warm
135x35 warm
225x25 (PR due to this being a new movement)
275x8 (Slight pop in left side of chest into delt. PR by default, being a new movement. I usually pay for trying new movements at this stage.)

See video of 275 set

Curved Bar Pressdowns (Limited myself to 255 lbs since there was some pain in chest during these. Didnt push failure completely)

No rest til line

KILOGRAMS unless noted

35x50
65x30
95x10 (210 lb stack)
-----------------

No rest til line

95x30
72x20
57x15
35x20 Slow Strict Alternating Dumbbell Curls , Palms facing entire time, no twist, some holds
----------------

No rest til line

95x20
72x20
57x10
35x20 Strict Alt DB curls again, same style
------------------

No rest til line

255 lbs x20 (some pain in left chest strain. Minor but didnt push it)
95x15
72x10
57x20
35x20 Strict Alt DB curls, same style
-----------------

V bar pressdowns (Didnt write these down right away, memory hazy)

no rest til line

65x20-30
95x??
------------

No rest til line

95x20-30 (these may all be off for v bars)
72x??
65x??
35x20 Alt db curls, same style
--------

Strict Alternating Dumbbell Curls (palms facing entire time again, slow with some holds)

no rest til line

60x4
40x4
35x5
------------

No rest again

35x15-20
35x10 Incline db curls
--------

Alt db curls with reverse curl negative (zottman curl)

no rest til line

50x8
40x5
------------

Tried some cable curls seated but felt some strain in left side of chest right away. Decided against pushing farther today

KILL THAT SHIT

Video below

 

[WalkingBeast]

 

[WalkingBeast]

Largest arm up to 19 1/4 flexed cold (right arm). Left arm at 18 6/8 inches flexed cold. Only 1/4 inch away now from where i was (19 1/2). So most of the size is back.

Chest still hovering around 55 inches flexed cold. Down from 56. Should come back soon though. Legs still have not been trained but are staying at 27 1/2 flexed cold. That should add some body weight, most likely next week when i start hitting them again

since im starting a growth phase now , i think ill focus on more bodybuilding overall, as much as it bores the fuck out of me. I mostly train for the rush of moving as much weight as possible , reps, etc. That progression is really what drives me in the gym. Bodybuilding will just be more painful training as ill take it to extremes with the no rest sets, some lasting over 10 minutes straight. Itll be effective for size though.

Ill try to get in some strength shit with the shoulder pressing. Shouldnt fuck with my chest too bad. Close grip press strength came up very quick on the smith incline press. Unfortunately the left side of chest popped a little. Thats enough for me to avoid them for a long time. I went from 245x10 to 275x8 in a week. Niether was to failure but it felt much smoother and easier, and thats how i strengthen. I would have been hitting 315x8-10 by next week and continued to progress like that for a while, but i cant ignore structural issues. When tendons are damaged i have to switch shit up, even if the muscle can lift much more.

Hopefully see some new size if i can keep this growth phase going for 3 months. The key is to balance shit more now and not grind the fuck out of myself. Im still doing this with a lax attitude and doing other shit. Not my pure focus anymore. Its been working well.

Kill that shit

 

[WalkingBeast]

Ill see about filming some of the size focused training. its not as interesting to watch, I dont think, and its a fuckin nussance to film sometimes. Its more about pain endurance and seeing how much pain I can take, without ripping tendons.

So the sets can last over 10 minutes. The annoyance with filming is when Im jumping into multiple machines or movements at different areas of the gym.

I can set up filming easily enough in some areas though. I bring dumbbells to the tricep pressdown area for curls, so that is one way to show some of it.

Ive filmed some of those long sets in my 500 plus videos that I have online. There is not much progression to be seen and the sets are very long to watch. Ill film some of them though to give some life to the journal and for my own refferance.

KILL THAT SHIT

 

[WalkingBeast]

Full legs minus calves


First leg session in months. Maybe over 3 months since I had a real leg session, but atleast 2. There was the 6 week training break and having some issues with knees, where I cut out leg training for some weeks. Im only starting leg training again now to add some overall body mass and give myself an extra training day , for the vent, since my upperbody can use recovery days.

Light low volume. Didnt push anything to failure. Just sending a signal so that the legs adapt to being trained again. I was 228 before meals, so now with leg training, weight should start to move back up into the 240s within the next few weeks.


228 lbs before meals



NOTHING TO FAILURE


Seated Leg Curl Nautilus (This machine felt very unstable and awkward, so I moved on after a few sets)

100x20
100x20
100x20
100x20

Lying Leg Curl (This was better but hamstrings very tight, and untrained for months)

no rest til line

95x15
140x10
---------

No rest til line

170x5
125x5
95x5
------------

Nautilus Nitro Leg Extention

Brief rest pauses mostly. No lengthy rests, even between sets. I would stop briefly when the muscle fatigued but not when I switched to the next weight.

110x100
150x100
215x15 (Irritating knee joints, but knees felt good overall. Just want to be able to train legs for atleast 3 months without interruptions.)
185x40
150x100
150x100
----------------

Seated Leg Press

(Had to be careful with left side of chest that I popped the day before yesterday. Both sides had mild cramping. Normally I contract my chest and lats as hard as possible during leg presses, for extra power and to stimulate those areas isometrically. I kept my chest relaxed today. Still I felt some light cramping so I didnt go too heavy or high rep)

300x50
500x50
800x25
700x41
700x40
---------------

Hip Adduction

no rest til line

100x50
145x5
--------

Same

145x15
115x15
100x10
-------------

Same

???x25
85x15
-------------

Hip Abduction

no rest til line

70x50
115x10
145x10
-----------

No rest til line

190x10
160x10
145x10
115x20
-------

Low intensity and volume but enough to re introduce training again for legs

KILL THAT SHIT

 

[WalkingBeast]

Just a heads up to the lurkers of this journal. Walmart is selling the Big100 Met RX protein bars that I stocked up on, on amazon. They sell them in 4 packs. It comes out to around 1.50-1.75 a bar. Single bars often sell for 2.50 a bar or more, and even online they are high priced.

I like these bars due to the high calorie count. 400 plus calories. The usual amount of protein 30-32 grams. I usually take them post workout while driving back from the gym. This basically allows me to get in a free meal and by the time I get home I can easily eat again. They work very well for me when I am in a growth focused phase. Any extra calories push size gain in the right direction during those phases.

Two a day was ideal for me, as they easily fit between meals and with all the extra milk I consume daily, and other between meal feedings, which are consistant.

At that price it may be worth stocking up on them. Definately a better deal then what Ive been finding online recently.

Amazon.com: MET-Rx Big 100 Colossal Super Cookie Crunch, 100 gram, 9 count: Health & Personal Care

Around 2.50 a bar here, though maybe more with shipping included.

KILL THAT SHIT

 

[WalkingBeast]

About to train chest and delts. I dont have a solid plan yet, due to the left side chest strain a few days ago. As mentioned, there was not much pain at all afterward and I cant really feel it at all right now. Still, Id rather not tear my chest by getting overzealous.

I may try starting with incline dumbbell presses, with extra warm up sets. Maybe aim for the 100's for 50 reps. I hit 48 before the break. I do not really know yet where my strength is at overall. Im assuming its not fully back yet, but I may be on the higher end. Will see, but not push shit too far with chest.

Chest training is not going to be as progressive, I dont think, for now. Just want to tear it up and grow the shit for now. The shoulder pressing portion I think I can hit hard. So Ill see about going heavy on the plate loaded machines. Above 540 lbs maybe on the nautilus overhead. Dont know about 630 lbs. My neck just recovered from being very stiff, so Ill feel shit out. Im more size focused during this growth phase.

I can also start with shoulder pressing work and end with chest. The pre exhaustion may be good for growth. I havent decided yet but it should be a good growth session regardless

KILL THAT SHIT