SP's on/off-season log

[snowpatrol123]

Weight 234

Friday-eve...second favourite day of the work week, at least

Early, fast-paced morning at work then a more relaxed afternoon which is a pretty good setup

Mowed down some high school kids who weren't looking where they were going as they exited a tim hortons in front of me...

I saw them coming but just didn't move and, well...I'm not as big as I have been but as it turns out I'm bigger than 16/17/18yr-olds

Got a workout in with another friend who doesn't gym that often, he came to powerhouse but ended up having to leave halfway through unfortunately

Mrs.SP came along and did some weights then cardio, I bumped into a few other people so it ended up being both a good workout and "nice" night at the gym

Home for some eggs, bit of cereal with icecream then a relatively early bedtime


Thu - chest/triceps/abs

warmup - incline treadmill

bent over DB raise - three sets, pyramiding weight up doing 20/15/12 reps

HSPL decline chest press - this bad boy actually comes with a seatbelt...I went up from 1 to 5 plates a side and felt fairly strong (due to the angle, probably)
20 reps x 1 plate (warmup)
15 reps x 2 plates (easy)
12 reps x 3 plates (work)
10 reps x 4 plates (had to rest/pause for the last two)
6 reps x 5 plates (seeing stars)

incline BB press - this was a little less awesome because I'd spent some energy on the chest press machine, but still got a few good sets in
15 x 135
12 x 225
7 x 315 (no spotter...pussed out)
6x315 + 8x225 + 10-12(?)x135 (dropset to finish)

pec dec - four sets, pyramiding weight up...every rep with a hard squeeze for 1-2sec at full contraction (except the last few on the final set where I couldn't)
+++
unsupported hanging leg raise - four sets of 20 (no pyramid)

CGBP - my usual training partner showed up with his girlfriend at this point and was doing arms so I joined him for three heavy sets of CGBP

HSPL seated tricep pushdown - another contraption with a seatbelt...went really heavy but was still able to manage 12-15 reps on three sets

rope tricep pushdown - three sets to finish off the triceps, 8-10 reps per so fairly heavy
+++
overhead tricep extension - went to failure on these after each set of pushdowns


cardio - 30mins+ of brisk-ish walk outside, weather brightened up in the afternoon so we took the opportunity to get away from our desks and ended up throwing a football around too

 

[snowpatrol123]

Weight 233

Friday was a pretty long/hard day, work should've been short but ended up taking literally all day

It was dark by the time I got home, ate with mrs.SP but she was exhausted and decided to stay home

My training partner's girlfriend crashed her car so I was flying solo at the gym

Had a coffee with a friend afterwards, then home for a late bedtime


Fri - back/abs

wide-grip pullup - four sets of 10, good ROM on these

unsupported hanging leg raise - four sets of 15
+++
superset rope crunch - 15 reps after each set of leg raises

one-arm DB row - four sets, pyramiding weight up at the expense of reps (12/10/8/6)

HSPL chest-supported row - did these two arms at a time (unusually) for three heavy sets of 8-10 reps

nautilus pullover machine - four sets of 8, heavy (needed the seatbelt)
+++
bent-over BB row - 8 reps after each set of pullovers


cardio - 20mins shorter walk during the day

 

[snowpatrol123]

Weight 233

Calories are up for the last five days, weight staying the same so I am going to do the obvious thing and stop moving

I'll probably ALSO add some more intraWO carbs and insulin to kick off the start of a new month...

Anyways it was a great day - got up and had coffee with the brother in law who's competing next weekend, he'll do well enough...discussed his 'peak week' protocol

He was accidentally bombing 1400mg test/wk until last week so I've got him on more AI than I'd like but there's not much else to do at this point

Brunch with mrs.SP then we visited our friends who opened a supplement store in a neighboring city

Home, dropped off mrs.SP then met my usual training partner at powerhouse for legs

Home again...dinner then coffee (ok, second dinner) with another friend

Cooking some extra lean ground beef for meal prep as I'm typing this...


Sat - legs/calves

seated hamstring curl - two warmup sets then four working sets of 10 reps, slightly increasing weight on each (until I hit the full stack)
+++
superset adductor machine - one warmup then four sets of 15

banded cybex 'heavy' leg press - used the heaviest bands I had, felt pretty ingenious running a barbell behind the seat to hook them onto...
12 x 4 plates per side
...pyramided up, adding 1 plate per side each time
12 x 8 plates...so that was a total of five sets, probably count at least three if not four of them as "working"

highbar ATG squat - went a bit lighter on these but still challenged with the chains

8 x 135
8 x 225
8 x 315
8 x 315 + 1 chain per side
8 x 315 + 2 chains per side...called it here, was pretty winded and didn't want to gas out before finishing hams and calves

BB SLDL - three sets, pyramiding weight up using 25lbs plates...12/10/8 reps per set, respectively

standing calf raise - three sets of 12 with a flex/squeeze at the top of each, full stack plus more pinned on


cardio - nothing specific today

 

[snowpatrol123]

Weight 231

I had a really terrible, fairly sudden-onset stomach issue when I was training and it threw me off for most of the day

Got about 80% through the workout then all the sudden felt like my intestines were knotting up...really painful and debilitating

Anyways, after a few hours I felt good enough to go for a motorcycle ride and then mrs.SP and I went to my parents

My youngest brother and the older of the younger sisters' birthdays are fairly close together so we celebrated that

Good dinner, some homemade apple crisp for dessert which happily sat well and tided me over until eggs at bedtime


Sun - biceps/triceps (skipped abs/calves due to stomach...)

warmup - incline treadmill

standing supinated DB curl - both arms at the same time, five sets pyramding weight up (20/15/12/10/8 reps per set)
+++
superset one-arm overhead DB/tricep extension - used the same DB as I was using to curl on the previous set and did similar reps

preacher EZ-bar curl - four sets of 8-10 reps, absolute failure on these
+++
superset overhead seated two-arm DB/tricep extension - four sets of 12-15

CGBP - one warmup and four working sets...went heavy on these (10/10/8/6 reps on work sets)

v-bar pushdown - heavy on these too, four sets of 8-12 reps slightly increasing the weight (pinned more on to the full stack)
+++
superset rope hammer curl - four sets, pyramiding weight up...reps were in the 15->8 range

tricep rope pushdown - only got two sets done here, stomach started going crazy...
+++
superset overhead rope extension - to failure after the rope pushdowns
+++
superduperset HSPL preacher curl - one arm at a time, 10 reps per set (again only got two sets done unfortunately)


cardio - nothing specific either but it was a nice day and did a fair bit of walking to and from places

 

[snowpatrol123]

Weight 232

Back at it...work, that is. Long day so I went straight to the gym afterwards to meet my buddy for chest day

His girlfriend came along so I called mrs.SP and she came and joined for awhile as well

Once they left I finished with some shoulders and abs, then headed over to Good Life to help my brother in law with some final posing

There's actually a little more to men's bikini posing than I thought, I almost hate to admit

He's got quite the set of instructions to follow so all I could do was offer uneducated advice/opinion


Mon - chest/delts/abs

rear delt/reverse pec dec - three sets, pyramiding weight up

HSPL decline chest press - pyramided up also adding a plate per side until I finished with 8 x 5 plates per side

incline DB press - four sets, 8-15 rep range (went up then slightly down for the last set)
+++
superset HSPL chest flye-press machine - 8-12 reps immediately after each set of DB press

pec dec - four sets of 8-10 reps, no squeeze just pretty heavy
+++
superset wide pushup - bodyweight to failure after each set on the pec dec

HSPL shoulder press - three sets of 8-10 reps, really heavy on these (as heavy as I could with a good ROM)

seated lateral DB raise - three sets, pyramiding weight up with strict form...15/12/10 reps per set, respectively

unsupported hanging leg raise - three sets of 15 reps
+++
superset rope crunch - 15 reps after each set of leg raises


cardio - nice weather despite getting a little colder, went for a solid 30min walk outside before lunch

 

[snowpatrol123]

Weight 231

Well no squat video today because we decided to rig up a torture machine...barbell + heavy bands stretched tight onto the hack squat

I had several meetings and so I was wearing monkey clothes all day, felt good to hit the gym afterwards and rock a sweatsuit for a bit

...ok who am I kidding, leg day is short shorts day. Just like every other day...


Tue - legs/calves

warmup - spin bike

adductor machine - three sets of 20-25, moderate weight
+++
abductors - same machine, the pads just rotate...kept the same weight and reps

standing hamstring curl - three sets of 10-15 with moderately heavy weight, still more of a warmup than really hard working sets

banded hack squat - these were incredibly hard...I did one set with just the bands and it honestly felt like 2-3 plates per side on the machine minimum

10 reps x no plates
10 reps x 1 plate per side
10 reps x 2 plates
10 reps x 2 plates
8 reps x 2 plates + 4 reps x 1.5 plates (1 plate removed) + 5 reps x 1 plate per side....insane drop set, I couldn't walk when I disengaged myself from the machine

seated hamstring curl - four sets of 10, straight to the full stack on this machine so they were quite heavy

leg extension - four sets of 8-10 reps with a hard flex/squeeze at the top of every rep
+++
superset sissy squat - using the ankle-grabber, did these to failure after each set of leg extensions...approximately 6-8 reps each time

seated calf-machine "mountain climbers" (for hamstrings) - three sets of 10-12

seated calf machine - regular for calves here, four sets of 15 extremely heavy reps


cardio - 20mins walking outside, weather's going downhill so I didn't quite get the full half hour we normally do in

 

[snowpatrol123]

Weight 233

Good day at work, got all my meals in then went to see my friend's girlfriend for a haircut after work

Home for a quick bite to eat and visit with mrs.SP before meeting my friend at the gym for a back session

Quick coffee with another buddy afterwards then home to test out the new CPAP machine...


Wed - back/abs

wide grip pullup - three sets of 8, full ROM just bodyweight to warm up (nowhere near failure)

smith bent-over row - one feeler set then four working sets here...played around with 3 and 3.5 plates per set, reps were between 8-12

HSPL high-row machine - four sets, pyramiding weight up except for a lower weight/higher rep 'pump' for the fourth/final set

medium-grip pulldown - did these with forced negatives, four sets of 10 reps

HSLP chest-supported horizontal row - three sets of 8 per arm, heavy as possible with good form

nautilus pull-over machine - four sets of 8 reps, four big plates on the thing so these were nearly impossible by the 7th/8th reps

unsupported hanging leg raise - three sets of 15
+++
superset rope crunch - 15 reps after each set of leg raises


cardio - 30min walk outside, starting to get quite chilly so that might be the last of those at least until I buy a coat that fits

 

[snowpatrol123]

Weight 234

Busy day at work but managed to sneak in some naps, ate lunch with friends at powerhouse then trained arms with my usual (nationals) training partner


Thu - arms/abs/calves

warmup - incline treadmill

standing calf raise - three sets of 15, straight reps with the full stack

unsupported hanging leg raise - four sets of 15
+++
superset rope crunch - 15 reps after each set of leg raises

rope pushdown - four sets, pyramiding weight up to warmup but fairly heavy right from the start

HSPL preacher curl - did these one arm at a time, four sets of 8-10 reps per arm

CGBP - four sets also, weight wasn't crazy but I wasn't fatigued so I went heavier than usual

12 reps x 135lbs
12 x 225
8 x 275
6 x 315 (spotter helped on the sixth)
8 x 275 (spotter was helping on the 7th and 8th)

cross-body hammer DB curl - four sets of 12, fairly heavy on these
+++
superset reverse-grip EZ-bar curl - 12 reps here, basically to failure

skullcrusher - one feeder set with a 100lbs EZ bar then three sets with 155lbs for 8-10 (spotted) reps
+++
seated incline DB curl - three sets of 8 with heavy (for me) 50lbs DBs in each arm


cardio - nothing special, maybe 20mins of walking between work and the gym a couple of times during the day but nothing serious

 

[snowpatrol123]

Weight 236

Woke up and met my 'client' (brother in law) for espresso to make sure he was on track

Sat through the entire morning show, called the overall BB winner the second I saw him (grand master middleweight with a torn bicep)

Hit the gym between shows and got a picture with shawn rhoden which was cool

Evening show was busier and my guy placed second in his class which was unexpectedly good

Went out for post-show dinner and despite a late bedtime had a good sleep


Sat - chest/abs

rear delt/reverse pec dec - three sets, pyramiding weight up - 15/12/10 reps per set

HSPL decline hammer press - added one plate per side, per set...finished with five plates for 8 reps

incline DB press - one warmup and three sets of 8-10, fairly heavy on these (with a spotter)

pec dec - four sets of 10, as heavy as possible (failing on the 10th rep)
+++
superset wide-grip pushup - bodyweight to failure after each set on the pec dec

unsupported hanging leg raise - three sets of 15 reps
+++
superset rope crunch - 15 reps after each set of leg raises

 

[snowpatrol123]

Weight 235

Helped a good friend load up his tools and other heavy items, as he's moving out east

One of my sisters came down to my end of town and trained arms with me at powerhouse

Afterwards, mrs.SP, myself and the one sister actually went for pedicures...was surprisingly fun


Sun - arms/delts/abs/calves

warmup - incline treadmill

rope tricep pushdown - four sets of 15, pyramiding weight slightly
+++
superset reverse pec dec - four sets, 20/16/12/8 reps adding weight each time

(warmup) side lateral DB raise - three sets of 15, adding weight each set
+++
superset front DB raise - 15 sets after each set of side laterals with slightly lighter DBs

unsupported hanging leg raise - four sets of 15
+++
superset rope crunch - 15 reps after each set of leg raises

HSPL preacher machine - four sets, one arm at a time
+++
superset HSPL tricep pushdown machine - four sets of 15+ reps per set

standing calf raise - three sets of 15 with a hard flex/pause at the top of each rep

side lateral DB raise - four sets of 15/12/10/8 reps, pyramiding weight each time
+++
superset front DB raise - 10 reps after each set of side laterals with 25lbs DBs...these were killer

 

[snowpatrol123]

Weight 235

Turkey day! Nice to have an actual holiday that doesn't cost vacation days.

I had a ham-off with one of my brothers and ended up eating in the neighborhood of 25-30z of ham if I had to guess

Which is probably a week's worth of sodium and the reason my ring is stuck on my finger...

Trained back with a friend who competes in figure and mrs.SP joined for most of the workout, too


Mon - back

wide-grip pullup - four sets of 10 reps, just using bodyweight and good ROM
+++
superset straight-arm pulldown - just using moderate weight, about 10 reps after pullups to really activate the lats

one-arm DB row - four sets, pyramiding weight up...12 reps on the first two sets then 10 / 8 on the final two sets

rack pull - five sets but the first two were fairly easy, then a heavy set of 8 and two more even heavier sets of 5-6 reps each

HSPL high-row machine - four sets of 10, went to complete failure on these (4+ plates each arm)

seated cable row - went a bit heavier than usual and used some lower back/body english but still kept form relatively good for three sets of 10-12 reps

 

[snowpatrol123]

Weight 235

Not a lot to report on tuesday, it was busy but I managed to get a good workout in with my usual training partnert


Tue - legs/calves

warmup - incline treadmill

adductor machine - three sets of 20-30 reps
+++
superset abductor machine - same weight/reps after each set of adductors

standing hamstring curl - three sets of 12 reps

hack squat - five sets, added two plates (one per side) on each until a super heavy 5x fifth set..this machine is a bit steeper than the HS ones so that was insanely tough for me, at least

prone hamstring curl - four sets, pyramided reps up with the full stack doing 10/12/14/16 per set, respectively

seated quad extension - four sets of 10
+++
superset sissy squat - using the ankle grabber, did 8 reps after each set of quad extensions

standing calf raise - three sets of 15 with the full stack

 

[snowpatrol123]

Weight 236

Left work a little early to train with a friend then had to go back to finish things up before meeting Mrs.SP at home for dinner and meal prep

Relatively early to bed since my cold was starting to kick in full force...


Wed - arms/delts/calves

rear delt/reverse pec dec - four sets, pyramiding weight up, approximately 20/16/12/10 reps per set
+++
superset rope pushdown - four sets of 12 reps but increasing weight on each set

supinated DB curl - four sets, pyramiding weight up, approximately 15/12/10/8 reps per set respectively

decline skullcrusher - four sets also, same weight and between 10-12 reps per set
+++
superset incline DB curl - both arms at the same time, heavy / approximately 8 reps per set

seated side lateral DB raise - three sets of 15/12/10 reps with increasing weight on each set

unsupported hanging leg raise - three or four sets of 15
+++
superset rope crunch - 15 reps after each set of leg raises

standing calf raise - three sets of 15 with the full stack


cardio - 30mins walk outside to get a coffee, pretty 'brisk' because it was chilly af

 

[snowpatrol123]

Weight 237

Thursday was a much-needed rest day...what I didn't need was to stay out late with coworkers getting myself in trouble

But that's another story. Friday was alright despite a bit of a headache, I made it to the gym in the evening to train both chest & back with my usual training partner


Fri - chest/back

warmup - incline treadmill

flat DB press - did three sets of 15 reps here with increasing weight, on the third set I could barely get 15 reps

HSPL incline press - four sets, pyramding weight up...20/15/10/8 reps using 1/2/3/4 plates per side, respectively

wide-grip pulldown - three sets of 10, just bodyweight with good form

HSPL chest-supported row - four sets here but with steady weight (four plates) doing 8 reps per arm, one at a time

seated calf raise - four sets of 12-15 reps, very heavy with a hard squeeze at the top and stretch at the bottom

regular/floor crunches - four sets of 25, nothing fancy just short ROM to really exhaust the abdominals


cardio - none on Friday since the weather was particularly crappy but we did get our regular 30min walk in Thursday afternoon

 

[snowpatrol123]

Weight 237

Cold had hit me in full force by Saturday, so I drank a bunch of water and took a couple of dristan

Then my fatal mistake was taking a robaxacet a little later for my sore neck...by the time I go to the gym I was barely awake

I told my buddy there was no way I could train but he needed to run about 90 mins of errands so I napped, and when he came back we got a decent leg workout in


Sat - legs/calves

groin warmup - three sets of 20-25 reps each on the adductor and abductor machines

standing one-legged hamstring curl - 12 reps per leg, three sets

highbar ATG squat - I wasn't feeling particularly strong but I still managed to grind out a 6 + 2 (RP) top set of four plates per side

prone hamstring curl - three sets of 12 reps

standing calf raise - three sets of 12-15 reps, heavy with a 1-2 sec hold/squeeze at the top of every rep

seated hamstring curl - two sets of 15 reps

seated quad extension - three sets of 10 reps, very heavy here
+++
superset sissy squat - bodyweight to failure after each set of quad extensions

 

[snowpatrol123]

Weight 233

This was a short, solo workout before heading to family dinner so I tried to hit everything relatively hard and fast


Sun - delts/arms/abs

unsupported hanging leg raise - three sets of 15 reps per set
+++
superset rope crunch - 15 reps after each set of leg raises

reverse pec dec - four sets of 15
+++
superset rope pushdown - four sets of 12, slightly increasing weight on each set
+++
supersuperset overhead rope tricep extension - to failure after each set of rope pushdowns, approximately 10-12 each time

side lateral DB raise - three sets, pyramiding weight up and dropping reps slightly 15/12/10 per set
+++
superset front DB raise - same number of reps with the same DBs after each set of side laterals

cross-body hammer DB curl - four sets, pyramiding weight up....20/16/12/8 reps per set (pretty heavy on the last set)

HSPL shoulder press - three sets here, all heavy (for me, at least) meaning I lost one rep per set....10/9/8 respectively


no cardio lately because it's been so shitty outside and I'm trying to push the scale here...

 

[snowpatrol123]

Weight 235

I was feeling a little dispondent and my training partner was late so I decided to just pick a bodypart and go hard


Mon - back/abs/calves

wide-grip lat pulldown - six sets, pyramiding weight up...8 reps on each set, the first two were slow and controlled, then increasingly more body english required

bent-over BB row - I don't do these particularly often but decided to see how much I could do without a belt or straps...managed 8x315 then I grabbed equipment and repeated the same with four plates instead

lying DB pullover - the usual meadows 'constant tension' style with these, four sets with a fairly heavy weight that I was still able to get 12 clean/stretchy reps with
+++
superset supinated/chinup - bodyweight, just 8 with the easier 'palms in' grip in between sets of pullovers

low/seated cable row - four sets, super heavy on these...form probably looked pretty rough but I could give a shit

hyperextension machine - three sets of 10 with the full stack
+++
superset ab-crunch machine - three sets of 10 with the full stack as well

 

[snowpatrol123]

Weight 234

I'm not going to say what my macros are right now because I don't think my weight reflects what they would actually do to most people

Probably including myself, under less stressful circumstances

What I will say is that I never doubted stress (cortisol, etc) played a role in body composition but certainly never gave it this much credit


Tue - legs/calves

groin warmup - usual three sets of 20-25 reps on both the adductor and adductor machines (actually one machine with pads that flip around)

standing hamstring curl - three sets of 12 per leg

highbar ATG squat - didn't do a lot of volume but went pretty heavy, pretty quickly...

8 x 135
5 x 225
5 x 315
5 x 405
5 x 455...spotter was there but swears he didn't touch me so I felt pretty good about that one

lying hamstring DB curl - we tried these for two sets but it just didn't work very well with the old school metal DBs so moved over to the seated machine

seated hamstring curl - four sets of 10, super heavy (full stack) leaning forward to try and keep all the tension on the hams rather than lower back
+++
superset adductor machine - since it's right beside this one I decided to do a few more sets, three sets of 15 with the full stack

hack squat - higher reps here, just three plates a side but did 16/18/20 reps per set respectively...the last set was absolutely brutal

calf machine "mountain climbers" - three sets of 10-12 reps
+++
superset seated toe press - six sets of 20 with a hard flex/squeeze and pause at the top...kept doing these during the next exercise to get all six

seated quad extension - three sets of 10 with a hard flex/3 second hold at the top of every rep...on the third set I forewent the pause and shot for 15 reps, at which point on the 14th or 15th the pin flew out of the stack of weights, unloading the machine and my knees screamed in pain. Happily they seem ok today but it's lucky there wasn't anything light enough for me to pick up and throw or breakable enough that I thought I could kick it without damaging my foot....


cardio - weather has been shit but we did end up going for about a 20min walk outside just to get some fresh air at lunchtime

 

[Milton]

Thanks for sharing as always

 

[snowpatrol123]

Weight 236

Took wednesday off and spent some time with mrs.SP, then played original gears of war with a friend in perparation for the new one...

Finally the scale seems to be tracking with all the food I'm putting down...400+ grams of protein per day and growth hormone are expensive!


Thu - chest/delts/abs/calves

rear delt/reverse pec dec - four sets, pyramiding weight up
+++
superset chest dip - three sets of 12-15 reps to get stretched and warmed up

incline DB press - did quite a few sets here but the first three or so were warmups, all 12 reps....went all the way to 140lbs but failed on the 10th rep there, probably 7-8 total sets

HSPL incline press - four sets, first three were ten reps with 10 partials (3 plates per side) then a fourth, heavier set of 6 straight reps

pec dec - three sets of 10, slightly increasing weight each set and holding each contraction for 1-2 sec

side lateral DB raise - went heavy on these, 12x40, 10x50 and managed to grunt out 7.5 reps with the 60s

HSPL shoulder press - did these facing backwards, three sets pyramiding weight up (20/12/8 reps approx)
+++
superset anterior delt plate raise - just grabbed a plate and did 8-10 reps (failure) after each set on the hammer strength machine

unsupported hanging leg raise - 15 reps per set
+++
superset rope crunch - 15 reps after each set of leg raises

standing calf raise - three sets of 15 with the full stack, nothing fancy


cardio - weather took a turn for the better so both wednesday and thursday had some nice 25-30min walks

Offseason Oct21/2016 ~ 240lbs - Album on Imgur