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colgate's training log - mouse to bulldog

colgate said:
So I've signed up for a personal trainer, and we just had our first session this morning. The personal trainer is mainly to keep me consistent (literally paying someone to make me do something I don't want to do lmfao), but also just to guide me while I'm doing my reps and do my programming. Also he's going to keep me accountable for my nutrition.

I've committed to 12 weeks of personal training, so we'll see where that leads me. In the meanwhile, I'll be updating this log again.
Click to expand...

Great step! A lot of people underestimate a good PT and think its a waste of money while it can actually get you into a good habit of working out/dieting and ALSO saving you lots of trial and erroring (basically rookie mistakes). Keep at it bro!
 
NotYourAverageNerd said:
but yeah, I'd still say over 15%, probably closer to 17%. Keep in mind people almost always under-estimate their bodyfat %
Click to expand...
You were right.

I did a body scan with my personal trainer on Wednesday. I'm 141.8 lbs at 18% body fat. So, long way to go.

Mainly just did a bunch of exercises addressing some of my imbalances between left and right, and some glute activation exercises.

Will be going to gym again on Sat, Mon, and Wed.
 
pancakemouse said:
I'm pretty sure research has shown that you only need a surplus of a couple hundred calories a day for optimal muscle gain.
The amount of muscle you can gain per unit of time is determined almost entirely by your genetics, which means that every extra calorie you're eating beyond your genetic limit is just going to go to fat stores. Why intentionally gain fat and then have to waste future time burning it off later?

I think I posted this before in someone else's log:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6PpOBfMTDTs

The genetics pill is a tough one to swallow. I remember the first few years of lifting, I was convinced that I was going to look like a god, and I would constantly compare myself to someone else. But the more I read about how much genetics are a factor, the more I've realized that I'm just a typical "hard gainer" with a lot of slow twitch muscle fibers (I was a cross country runner in high school). As a naturally skinny and lean guy, I'm guessing you have similar genetics to me. Obviously, don't let this dissuade you from training, but I think it's important to have realistic goals.
Click to expand...

Ditto. I remember in high school, I would work out so hard, eat so much protein etc. Some of my friends would barely touch a barbell and they were still stronger than me. I remember one friend in particular was genetically gifted, he was able to hit 420lbs on bench press. My peak was 280lbs, which is still respectable, but it took me twice as long to achieve. This is assuming none were juicing, I don't think they did.. but then again you can't know.
 
PT's a really good idea, accountability (and paying for every second with them 🙃) is a great way to make sure you keep up the work ethic

I'll say one thing for size/presence you were talking about is that it may end up being MUCH more of an EXternal thing than an INternal one, than you might expect.
I went from being guessed at 5'8" and 135lb by someone else when I was actually 5'10" and 165 (so, TINY presence even with an average body) to being the BIGGEST (muscle-wise, still only 5'10") guy in my social groups. ~185 and still fairly lean, with a huge presence. Just a couple weeks I got hired as a bouncer purely on being "big". (if you want some pictures for reference I just posted some comparisons in my log). I've been guessed at 6'1" and over 200lbs more recently.

That's a HUGE range of external change.

Thing is I don't feel ANY different inside.

It does buy a little "leeway", but it's REALLY not a big difference. I'm only about as dominant or sociable or "alpha" or whatever as when I was 20 or 30 pounds lighter, it's mainly down to mindset after the first 30 seconds. Used to know a guy who was even more of a beast than Master (probably 17" arms) BUT was a total "nice guy", could get out-alpha'd by a poodle. Took about 30 seconds to realize it once you met him. Other guy is 5'0" and absolutely dominates any interaction he's in. Also takes about 30 seconds to realize it. After that, their size has WAY less effect than you'd think
 
Since I'm doing PT now, this log will be used more for documenting the experience of having a personal trainer. I figured it should be useful for guys who are deciding whether they should get a personal trainer or just work out solo.

Had another training sesh with my PT on Saturday morning.

As I said in my last post here, he had pointed out imbalances with my left and right sides. Mainly that my right arm is absolutely inflexible, and correspondingly (didn't know this) my left leg is also inflexible.

He then told me about the psoas muscle connecting the femur to the back and had me do a bunch of stretches to really feel it, in addition to a bunch of glute activation exercises.

I'll post them in this log later. But I mention all this because one reason I was initially skipping leg day when I made this log is because I always thought my squat form was atrocious. I could never get to depth without having a massive butt wink, despite deloading and reloading several times over the years. I would essentially get to a certain weight, deload about 40%, manage to correct my form, and then the problem would arise again. It was so frustrating and I couldn't figure out what the problem was despite watching many YouTube videos and asking some friends that I gave up.

My PT highlighted that my squat was butt winking because:
1. I wasn't properly activating my glutes throughout the squat
2. My left leg is horribly inflexible. This was highlighted when he had me do lunges, and the left lunge was noticeably worse.

After some exercises and stretches, I had noticed the butt wink had reduced a little bit. Not completely, but it was getting better, especially when I really paid attention to keeping my glutes activated throughout the squat.

My initial goal with PT was mainly accountability and consistency, and that will definitely happen, but it seems like I'm straight up getting so many questions and concerns that I wasn't even aware of answered. And many of these concerns were reasons why I couldn't stay consistent in the gym, I could never figure out what I was doing wrong.
 
1v1mekid unless the kid benching 400 pounds was 300 pounds or near it he was probably juicing because that is a lot and I mean a lot of weight.

pancakemouse the dude in the video has some good advice but he's juicing pretty hard so take it will a grain of salt.

The butt wink really is a big sticking point for a lot of people. And sometimes it happens right at the end of your squat so some people miss it. How often you seeing the PT?
 
Jacobpalmer123 said:
How often you seeing the PT?
Click to expand...
I think it'll be 3x a week. We'll see how it unfolds over the coming weeks.
 
Training
Did more stretches on Monday and Wednesday morning with my left and right legs, mainly to fix my absolutely inflexible and useless left leg.

I'll post them here later when I bother to ask what they're called exactly because I don't want to write a long description of them right now.

So my left and right lunges look mostly the same now, whereas they didn't earlier.

Butt wink on my squat has basically gone away for the most part with light weight. Actually activating my glutes and not letting the weight come forward helped with that, and I also did some sumo stance squats to take off all the load from the quads.

Also did a bunch of light strength exercises for legs on Monday and a pull/posterior chain and core set today, but I forgot what the workout was exactly. I think I'm still in the testing stages though so I'm not sure what the workouts will look like in a few weeks. Might consider asking the PT about it on Friday.

I'll be doing some group training on Friday, and I think it's a chest/push day.

Diet
Finally got around to coming up with a meal plan and going to the freaking store, buying ingredients, and prepping some meals for 4 days.

Goal of the plan was to come up with the lowest effort diet possible that's also easy to eat quickly. Here's what I ended up on:


Now just gotta keep consistent with it (easier said than done).
 
Haven't updated this in a hot minute, I'll probably be doing more sporadic updates.

Training
Trainer is on vacation from Thurs-Tues, but we had 3 sessions this last week
Monday: Legs
Tuesday: Lots of stretches
Wednesday: Chest/Shoulders

I'll try to be more detailed next week. Mainly just posting here for accountability.

Diet
I've been doing a pretty good job following my diet actually. I swapped out the eggs+oatmeal for another meal prep container of rice and ground meat, because it's easy to take it out of the fridge and chuck it in the microwave when I need to eat. Here's what I've been able to eat everyday since my last log:


I might throw in some cooked spinach next meal prep round for some micronutrients, but I think this is alright for now. Let me know if I can do anything better. Trying to keep it simple and optimize for calories+adequate protein.
 
Back into this since trainer returned from vacation.

Training
Wednesday 3/9:
Circuit 1 x3:
Med Ball Mountain Climbers - 20sec + Planks - 40/50/60sec
DB Sumo Laterals
Power Laterals

Circuit 2 x2:
DB RDL
Bench Pistol Squats
Squats + Broad Jumps

Circuit 3 x3:
Goblet Squats with heel elevation
Side Planks - 15

Diet
Just ran out of meal prep on Sunday. I think the ground meat + rice combo is working out really well, because it's so convenient and easy to eat.

Forgot what I ate Monday for breakfast, had a gyro wrap for dinner

Ate out yesterday (taco bell for lunch, and then dumplings with my 2nd instadate), but bought ingredients to prep.

Adding cooked spinach so I have at least some micros lol (yes I like cooked spinach before certain Greek guys with nose rings think I'm trolling)
 
Okay, haven't updated this in yet another hot minute again.

california personal training stint
I was doing personal training 3x a week since I last posted, up until I went to Chicago/Iowa last week.

I also prepped meals according to the plan above and ate that for a while. But then I was about to leave California so I ate out everyday for a while.

Here are some progress pics (unflexed)

View attachment 1

I was 141 lbs in February I think.

Here's the last time I posted pics: https://killyourinnerloser.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=26121#p26121

nashville plans
As I've said in my main log, I'm moving to Nashville this week. Troy has offered to basically train me for free for like a whole year which is fucking awesome. I guess that's what happens when you go ballistic and do ~2500 approaches in 8 months.

Will be continuing a similar diet plan and will post the workout I'm doing when I start again.

Also MakingAComeback and I will be posting monthly progress pics on the 21st of the month for accountability.
 
FUCK YEAH

You're looking good!

MOUSE TO BULLDOG

I am telling you, when you are jacked, your life is going to be a fucking epic one

MAC
 
I took a pic on April 21 and showed MakingAComeback, but I forgot to post it here:

View attachment 3
View attachment 4
144.2 lbs -> 147.8 lbs

I haven't seen the scale dip below 146 for a few weeks now so that's a good sign. Hopefully by the next pic it won't dip below 147.

I also started a 250mg per week testosterone cycle. Apparently the behavioral effects won't be noticeable until around a month or two from now and the body changes should be 3-6 months away.


Here's an overview of my calories per day between Apr 2-21. Except for 3 fuckups, I was at around 2300-2800 per day.
View attachment 2


Here are two representative days of what I've been eating:
View attachment 1



I've also been taking boxing lessons twice a week. One lesson is private and the other is with a group. I've always been insecure about not being able to do anything in a fight, so I committed to 6 months of membership at the local boxing gym. I go boxing on days I don't lift weights. This should also generally keep me in shape cardio-wise.

Finally, here's a batch log of my workouts in that time frame:
w = warmup. 5/3/2/1 + 3 min rest
f = to failure. 10 sec hold/10 mini-reps/3 hail mary reps
90 sec rest in between sets. 3 min rest in between workouts

4/3 - back (12)
--------
sm upright rows - w/95x16/95x13/115x7f
db upright rows - 40x14/40x12/40x10f
db back flys - 7.5x11/7.5x16/12.5x9f
mc curl - 40x13/40x8/25x15f

4/4 - shoulders (12)
--------
mc shoulder press - w/90x18/110x9/90x9f
db shoulder press - 30x12/30x10/25x11f
db side lateral raises - 7.5x13/5x20/7.5x14f
db trap press - 12.5x13 (do all failure 3x)

4/6 - legs (12)
--------
sm squat - w/165x12/115x13/115x12f
sm hip thrust - 95x13/95x14/115x11f
mc ham curl - 80x13/90x12/90x12f
sm calf raise - 115x20f/135x20f/135x17f

4/8 - chest (12)
--------
mc chest press - w/130x14/130x12/130x10f
Inc db bench press - 40x13/40x12/40x8f/30x9f
inc db chest flies - 12.5x14/12.5x12/12.5x12f
reverse dips - 12/12/12f

4/10 - legs (12)
---------
sm squat - w/165x12/165x12/135x9f - don't lock
sm hip thrust - 115x12/95x12/95x12f - check form - knees bent feet flat
mc ham curl - 100x12/100x12/90x13f
sm calf raise - 155x15f/155x19f/155x13f

4/11 - back (12)
--------
sm upright rows - w/105x15/105x13/105x12f
db upright rows - 45x12/40x12/40x11f
db back flys - 10x12/7.5x12/7.5x11f
mc curl - 45x12/30x13/30x12f

4/12 - shoulders (12)
---------
mc shoulder press - w/110x14/110x12/110x10f
db shoulder press - 35x13/35x12/25x12f
db side lateral raises - 10x12/10x12/10x12f
db trap press - 30x13/30x11/25x12f

4/16 - chest (12)
---------
mc chest press - w/135x16/145x12/135x11f
inc db chest press - 45x13/45x11/40x12f
inch db chest flys - 15x15/15x12/15x12f
reverse dips - 20/15/13f

4/17 - legs (12)
---------
sm squat - w/165x12/165x12/135x12f
sm hip thrust - 115x14/115x12/115x12f
mc ham curl - 115x13/115x12/100x12f
sm calf raise - 175x12f/175x13f/175x12f

4/21 - back (12)
--------
sm upright rows - w/115x15/115x12/95x12 - find different exercise (lat pulldown?)
db upright rows - 45x13/45x12/45x10f - check form
db back flys - 10x10/7.5x10/7.5x10f
mc curl - 45x13/35x12/35x11f
 
colgate said:
sm upright rows - w/115x15/115x12/95x12 - find different exercise (lat pulldown?)
db upright rows - 45x13/45x12/45x10f - check form
Click to expand...
No point working the same movement twice in a workout unless you want to become a world record holder in that movement. I'm not a big fan of your split, but for back here's what I'd do:

1) Lat pulldown (either neutral or wide grip, find something you feel targeting your lats and not your bi's)
2) Dumbbell row (one hand at a time) or machine cable row
3) Straight arm pulldown (use straight bar or ropes, again see what works better for you)
4) Optional trap work
5) Biceps (I'd cheat on the last set and try to go beyond failure)

I'd play around with the order of 1 and 2. Meaning, I'd start a workour with rows instead of pulldowns and see how I feel.

colgate said:
mc shoulder press - w/110x14/110x12/110x10f
db shoulder press - 35x13/35x12/25x12f
Click to expand...

Same as above. I'd remove one of them and add rear delt flyes. I guess this is the "db back flys" you do on back days?

Finally, careful with your strength gains now that you're on test. Your muscles recover fast but not your tendons. Consistently adding more and more weight, might cause pain or even injuries. If you notice huge boosts in strength on a particular day, I'd deliberately go lighter next time. So if you go from 135 to 150 on your mc chest press in a single workout, next time you do mc chest press go super light.
 
Leaving this world behind and going on test. Congrats on taking that first step.

I would say drop upright rows personally. You can do them but they are a shoulder exercise not so much a back exerscise. But I think for shoulders lateral and rear lateral are the muscles to hit. Your front delts get enough work from bench press and shoulder press. I think Greg Doucette said untrained individuals and weight lifters had similar sized rear delts.

I like doing deadlifts on back days but that's just me. Overall I think take out doing an exercise twice. Aim for 10-20 sets per body part per week. Looks good though. If your worried about hairloss finasteride and RU are possibles to use.

How long do you plan on being on cycle?
 
MOUSE TO BULLDOGGGGGGGGGG

COLGATE THE KING ON A GRAM A TEST A WEEK

Has to be done, these Asian dimepeices ain't gonna slay themselves!!!!!!!!

I'm lean bulking for a bit rn dude pics incoming on 21st as agreed

Are you on big Troy's routine or what? You boys training together?

MAC
 
Pics taken on May 21 and updated MakingAComeback.
View attachment 1
View attachment 2
147.8 lbs -> 153.6 lbs

Been pinning 270mg/ml of testosterone enanthate 3x a week now. Last month it was more like once a week. This 6 lb gain in a month is pretty obviously from the roids.

I did experience "test flu", probably due to my body not being used to the testosterone being injected in me. Happened once in April and once in May. Basically just had a fever and a cold.

Also I had a night where I went out and I took around 7-8 rejections. Somehow I got really pissed off and deliberately shoulder checked like 5 people. Realizing this wasn't conducive to anything, I decided to walk back home and channel this rage into working out. On my way home, I passed two guys and while I was muttering in my anger, one guy was like "bro don't come up on us like that". I instantly snapped back with "mind your fucking business" and kept storming off. Ended up doing a leg workout where I put 30 more lbs on the barbell than I usually did and screaming at 2:00 am in the gym. Mentioning this because I think this level of "anger" was directly from the roids.

Here's my diet report. I didn't log some of the days, but I have noticed my appetite has been increasing a bit.


Finally, workout logs
4/23 - shoulders (12)
--------
mc shoulder press - w/120x14/120x11/100x10f
db shoulder press - 40x9/35x10/20x14f/20x10
db side lateral raises - 12.5x13/12.5x9/7.5x10f
sm trap shrug - 135x15/135x14f/135x12f

4/27 - chest (12)
--------
mc chest press - w/150x12/140x12/130x9f/90x12f
inc db chest press - 50x11/40x12/35x10f/35x5f
inc db chest flys - 17.5x13/17.5x12/15x11f
reverse dips - 15x13/15x13/15x11f

5/1 - back (12)
--------
mc lat pulldown - w/100x13/100x10/85x9/55x12f (wrong form)
db upright rows - 45x12/40x11/25x10f
db back flys - 7.5x11/5x11/2.5x13f
mc curl - 50x14/40x12/30x12f

5/2 - shoulders (12)
--------
mc shoulder press - w/130x11/110x9/70x12f
db shoulder press - 40x8/25x15/25x12f
db side lateral raises - 12.5x12/
sm trap shrug - 135x12
db trap shrug - 55x12/55x12f

5/3 - chest (12)
--------
mc chest press - w/155x14/145x14/130x10f
inc db chest press - 50x11/40x12/30x13f
inc db chest flys - 20x14/20x11/15x14f
reverse dips - 20x15/30x12/30x12f

5/5 - legs (12)
---------
sm squat - w/170x12/155x12/135x12f
sm hip thrust - 120x13/120x12/120x12f -> long break after
mc ham curl - 140x12/120x12/100x6f
sm calf raise - x

5/6 - back (12)
--------
mc lat pulldown - w/77.5x12/70x12/47.5x12f
db upright rows - 45x12/40x12/30x12f
db back flys - 7.5x12/5x10/2.5x12f
mc curl - 55x12/40x12/30x11f

5/9 - shoulders (12)
--------
mc shoulder press - w/130x12/90x12/60x12f
db shoulder press - 35x13/30x12/20x12f
db side lateral raises - 15x11/10x12/7.5x12f
db trap shrug - 60x12/55x12/50x12f

5/11 - chest (12)
--------
mc chest press - w/160x14/150x13/135x10f
inc db chest press - 50x14/40x15/35x12f
inc db chest flys - 25x9/15x12/12.5x12f
reverse dips - x

5/13 - legs (12)
--------
sm squat - w/175x12/205x12/185x12f
sm hip thrust - 120x12/120x12/120x12f long rest
mc ham curl - x
sm calf raise - x

5/14 - back (12)
--------
mc lat pulldown - w/85/70/55f/47.5f x12 - stop at chin to feel lats
db upright rows - 50x12/45x12/35x12f
db back flys - 7.5x12/5x12/2.5x12f
mc curl - 60x10/40x12/25x14f

5/17 - shoulders (12)
--------
mc shoulder press - w/135x8/90x14/60x14f
db shoulder press - 40x12/30x13/25x11f
db side lateral raises - 15x12/10x12/7.5x12f
db trap shrug - 65x13/60x12/60x12

5/18 - legs (12)
--------
sm squat - w/205x12/185x13/135x12f
sm hip thrust - 125x12/125x12/125x12f
mc ham curl - 145x12/120x12/
sm calf raise - x

5/19 - chest (12)
--------
mc chest press - w/165x13/155x13/130x12f
inc db chest press - 55x12/45x13/40x12f
db chest flys - 25x10/15x14/12.5x13f
reverse dips - 45x12/45x12/45x12f

5/20 - back (9)
--------
mc lat pulldown - w/100x10/85x9/77.5x9/62.5x9f
db upright rows - 60x9/50x9/45x9/35x9f
db back flys - 12.5x6,10x2/7.5x9/5x9/2.5x9f
mc curl - 65x9/50x9/35x9/20x10f
 
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