VMO Rehab - input appreciated

[snowpatrol123]

Wasn't feeling it when my alarm went off this morning but dragged my ass to the gym anyways. Coughed up a lung and a half worth of phlegm, sneezed out a wad of blood/snot the size of a tennis ball then good to go. Popped some ephedrine and took a 25mg anavar...halfway through my workout I regretted even that much 'var lol. Oh well.

Back day: deads superset with wide grip pullups. Didn't bother working on strapless today since I only felt about 75%, but strapped in and pulled 7x405 pretty easily - first exercise so I didn't want to burn out too much & moved on after that. I really want to start working on muscle-ups at some point, pullups have always been pretty easy for me but the transition to the dip movement is tricky. (for me, at least) Bent over barbell rows, superset with decline weighted (heavy) situps. T-bar rows (they have a machine for it, works 95% the same as a barbell jammed into a corner) superset lat pulldowns. DB pullovers superset with DB rows. I think that was about it.

Then on my way to work, I threw some garbage from my trunk in a Tim Horton's dumpster...and some assistant manager lady "caught" me and told me she would be notifying the police. I laughed and said do what you have to do lady.

 

[snowpatrol123]

OK! Felt pretty good besides the morning phlegm demon & general tiredness (seven hours of sleep just doesn't seem to cut it anymore)

Delt day: really liking shoulder day lately as I may have mentioned. External / internal rotations superset w/ seated DB press to warmup. Then behind the neck smith press, superset hanging leg raises. Hang clean & press by itself (went pretty heavy, compared to usual at least - 5x5 ending w/ 5x175) DB laterals superset w/ reverse pec dec, front barbell raises superset w/ cable 1-arm laterals, ended with arnold press (only got two sets in, pretty burnt / shoulder pumped by then)

Even took prami yesterday early evening @ 0.2mg - may have contributed to tired feeling this morning but no nausea etc.

 

[snowpatrol123]

Managed to turn off my alarm while still sleeping this morning, or my girlfriend did without telling me. Arms day anyways so I still hit the gym, just had to fit everything into an hour tops to make it to work.

Rope tricep pushdowns, superset chinups. Closegrip bench press, superset hammer crunch machine. Preacher ezbar curls, superset DB shrugs. Skullcrushers superset standing, alternating DB curls.

That's it - looking forward to catching up on sleep this weekend, trying to avoid planning much besides gym, sleeping and eating for once.

 

[snowpatrol123]

Weekend was much busier than planned. Bought another motorcycle, happened to be out of town and ended up visiting old friends three hours away so that put a big dent in my R&R plans.

Sat AM: Legs. Warmed up / went pretty hard on the machines rather than squatting to start. Leg ext/pronated ham curl... then front squats (4x10, up to 10x225 - trying to maintain a clean grip rather than crossed arms, god that hurts the wrists) superset with decline weighted situps. Then onto lowbar squats...already was feeling pretty burnt, and failed hard on my heavy set (should've been 10x315, would've been 0x315 except there were two girls about five feet away so I managed 5x315) I dropped creatine about three weeks ago, I'm attributing that mainly to my shitty heavy sets lately. Can't wait to reintroduce it. Was pretty discouraged and kind of rushed for time by that point, so I superset standing calf raises with stiff leg deads then bailed out of there to go look at motorcycles. badfeelman.jpg

Sun AM: Woke up at 5am to watch Canada win the men's hockey gold. Then a quick nap, and off the the gym for chestday. Switched up exercises a bit, still warm up with external/internal shoulder rotations, superset w/ hanging leg raises. Then started working with incline bench. Superset with squats to try & redeem myself from the day before. Hit 7x315, slightly better but still not 10...ugh. Felt ok being that it was only 24 hours later though. Moved on to flat DB press - haven't done them in awhile, worked my way up to 120s & got 9x120 on my last working set. Was a little shakey compared to how I remember before I started flat benching & omitting flat DB press. Did dropset flat-bench flyes, some cable flyes and finished with weighted chest dips. In a rush, as usual - went and picked up the bike I bought that afternoon & wasn't home til dinner.

Mon AM: Back. Whoooo...by far the most taxing day, and only six shitty hours of sleep for whatever reason. Grip failed on my first attempt at 405lb deads, went & got my straps then managed 5x425. Not my best day but wasn't the worst either. Superset deads with wide grip pullups too. Then onto bent over barbell rows, superset w/ decline weighted situps. Then heavy ass T-bar rows, with decent volume - ended @ 12x225, makes a nice sound when you're tough & go-ing. Ran out of time due to a doctor's appointment this morning, so if possible tonight I'll finish up with one-arm DB rows, inverted grip BB rows, lat pulldowns and possibly weighted chins.

 

[snowpatrol123]

Delts this morning. Sleep was shit as usual, but made it to the gym anyways - weight was up 7 pounds since two mornings ago - good I guess?

Warmup: internal/external rotations, superset shoulder DB press. Volume overhead press superset hanging leg raises. Didn't go very heavy on the last OHP set today, was feeling some non-pump/exertion related pain in my right shoulder which normally doesn't bother me until my left shoulder is almost disintegrating. Smith behind-the-neck press superset DB shrugs. Dropset DB laterals - killer pump, vascularity on my frontal delts, neck, chest and traps has been insane lately - kind of fun to watch in the mirror. Finished with reverse pec dec, superset with one-arm cable lateral raises.

Don't know why but I decided Mar 1 would be creatine-added-back-in day...now I'm counting down, hope that pushes some of my max lifts back to my PR ranges.

Last tren pin today, last prop pin will be a few days after and PCT will start when I run out of HCG & anavar - around Mar 4/5 I'm guessing. #yolo

 

[snowpatrol123]

Arms day.

Rope pushdowns superset with chin ups (just bodyweight, wasn't feeling like strapping on the gross dipping belt this morning)
CGBP (seven or eight sets, up to 12x205 - quite a pump) superset w/ hammer crunch machine abs
Preacher curls w/ ez bar -> my outer forearms feel like something's going to snap, not in a good way - don't know why I do these sometimes.
DB shrugs
Skull crushers
Forearm (reverse-grip) barbell curls

Last tren pin was yesterday, three or four days of HCG left which I'll pin with prop til the weekend, then start PCT on Monday or Tuesday of next week. ALONG WITH CREATINE!!! haha.

 

[snowpatrol123]

Leg day. Was very tired and almost turned around before making it to the gym, but got started anyways (spoiler alert: didn't finish)

Started with front squats. Didn't go too heavy, wanted to match my old low bar PR - superset with decline weighted situps. Onto back squats - 10x135, 10x185, 10x225, 10x275 and got to 8x315. No belt and didn't want to fail, and better than last few times so I wasn't too dissapointed.

I WAS dissapointed however with my insane, crippling lower-back pump. Got 4x20 done on the standing calf raise, but after one set of SLDL I was done. No amount of stretching, laying, standing was helping so I decided at worst it was a decent, 50% volume leg day, but hopefully I"ll make it back tonight to finish up SLDL, leg press and some isolation machines.

Two, maximum three days of prop + HCG pins then a few to let everything clear & start PCT. AND CREATINE

 

[snowpatrol123]

Chest day. Slightly more, but not tons more energy. Popping ephedrine like candy & wash down with coffee.

Warmup with external/internal shoulder rotations, superset with incline DB press - 4x12 on that, last set was only 9.5x110 but since I don't normally go too heavy on DB press, incline especially I wasn't too dissapointed. Also did hanging leg raises, superset with flexing in the mirror and admiring my beard. Flat DB bench (bunch of kids tying up the barbell benches) 4x12, went a little heavier than incline DB but not much. Superset that with hammer-machine crunches. Lots of cable flyes at a few different angles, mainly because I could tell the annoying kids were waiting for the cable machine by that point lol. Finished up with flat DB flyes, superset with bodyweight chest dips.

I was half hoping I'd have enough energy to throw in some leg press machine or finish the SLDL's I couldn't yesterday, but since I didn't have abounding energy and tomorrow is back day anyways (lots of hamstring involvement for deads ofc) I left that out.

Might do one last 30mg test jab today, but ended pinning the final 600-800iu of HCG yesterday so I think I might not, and that way start PCT first thing Monday.

 

[snowpatrol123]

Saturday: Back day. Hit 9x405 deads, with straps and belt though. Almost passed out - I tend to forget to breathe during those sets. Superset with wide grip, bodyweight pullups. My buddy showed up at the gym so I upped the intensity at this point, to make up for some extra "rest" time chatting about his new girl, cycle, etc. Barbell rows, superset with decline situps. T-bar rows, superset with incline bench press since he was doing a fullbody day. Hammer plate-loaded high row machine, superset with DB shrugs. Finished with seated rows, superset with one-arm DB rows. Went tanning for the first time ever to see if that helps a bit with this persistent shoulder acne. Bacne hasn't been serious at all, but shoulders / upper arms have been moderately bad for a few months now.

I didn't end up pinning anything Friday, took one 25mg var on Saturday for some reason - no way that caused the back pumps on its own, but god they were severe after deads. Settled down mid workout though. Still taking taurine, didn't start creatine until Sunday though.

Sunday: Delts @ a nicer gym, brought the girlfriend along so she could do her thing on the cardio machines. Solid workout but ended up skipping my last two or three planned exercises due to shoulder pumps. Internal/external rotations (high reps, eight sets total) superset with hanging leg raises. Serious forearm and shoulder pump going on from that combo. Works abs too of course. Onto overhead press - wasn't looking to set a PR but tried matching my current, fell two reps short for some reason still. Oh well - moved on to DB shoulder press, superset with bent over / rear delt DB laterals. Then dropset DB side laterals by themselves. Shoulders on fire by now - veins popping out of front, medial delts, chest/neck/traps - looked nasty as fuck by the time my gf came over to tell me she was going to change lol. Finished with some rear delt cable crossover work, couldn't handle the lateral cable raises I wanted but still felt pretty good about the workout.

Started creatine again @ 5g/day - hopefully works as a nice PCT supp/"bridge" as usual.

Today was arms. Focused on actually hitting arms hard, from a few different angles. Rope tricep pushdowns, superset bodyweight chinups. CGBP, superset one-arm rope curls. Skull crushers, superset hammer-crunch ab machine. Hammer curl machine, superset with fixed-angle tricep pushdowns. Finished with rope tricep curls superset with flexing in the mirror.

And that's a wrap. Personal life note, last night I watched -last- week's walking dead, too tired to watch this weeks though. folded laundry. Fixed our dishwasher, then the girlfriend and I went to my parents' for dinner & a family friend who was visiting them decided it'd be appropriate to ask if I was on steroids at supper...sigh.

 

[snowpatrol123]

Leg day. Slept through my alarm but woke up only 15 minutes later than usual, interesting. Sleep is improving since I stopped tren, who would've guessed lol..

Front squats, superset w/ decline weighted situps. Low bar back squats, with belt - hit 10x315 again, felt pretty good but spinal erectors/lower back were very sore for the rest of the workout. SLDL, superset w/ standing calf raise. Finished with heavy 45 degree leg press, superset with leg press calf raises and limped back to my car in 30cm of snow...christ, I feel like we've had enough white fluffy stuff for the year, especially since it's March.

Worst part about PCT so far is the taste of the research chems - ewwwww, I've only used liquid nolva before w/ tab clomid....now having to swallow 4 mL total of this crap is disgusting, an XL coffee didn't even completely wipe the taste out of my throat.

 

[snowpatrol123]

Chest day...didn't eat enough for breakfast, had to break for a banana midway through my workout which is really unusual for chest day...could see it happening on leg or back day usually.

Started with internal/external shoulder rotations, superset with hanging leg raises. Onto extended set of lower-than-normal incline DB press, ~25 degrees or so on the adjustable bench. Did six sets, worked up to 9x120 again with flared elbows / deep ROM - gotta get that upper chest just a little bit bigger. Lol. Did a few sets of flat DB press, said fuck it and switched to flat barbell bench. Hit 6x255 (no spotter) and didn't want to risk reps seven or eight but I think they were there. Lots of cable flyes, pyramiding up in weight while decreasing reps, superset with hammer-machine crunches. Finished with bodyweight chest dips.

I know I need to take my PCT "chems" this morning but they were so gross yesterday that I haven't yet, lol.

 

[snowpatrol123]

Back day today. Completely forgot I was going to start taking pre-workout again, so I just had a few ephedrine & coffee with oatmeal then headed to the gym.

Deads superset with pullups. Grip failed today even using straps, in my defense the bar was not the one I'm used to...knurls were stuper worn down and it's like...30% bigger diametre than a normal olympic barbell. Figured with straps it wouldn't matter, but I ended up dropping my fifth rep of 445lbs midway up my thigh unfortunately. Still calling it 5x445 though, I might've even had six or seven in the tank tough to say. Oh well - onto bent over barbell rows, superset with decline weighted situps. Really wide grip on the rows, trying to...get my back wider. Seated cable/low rows by themselves. Superset inverted grip, bent over barbell rows with some cable crossovers (lat/delt pulldowns) - not really sure what these are called tbh. I like them though. Finished with a few medium grip lat pulldowns on the machine.

No winking or smiling today, gameface at the gym then battle the snow & get to work.

 

[snowpatrol123]

Delts this morning.

Started with external/internal rotations as usual, superset with hanging leg raises. Went straight to overhead pressing, 7x10 sets, at least four were heavy/working - ended with 4x175 , not quite PR but still felt pretty decent about it. Smith behind-the-neck press, plus some seated calf raises for a superset. Did rear delt cable-cross pull-aparts, and partially superset with DB lateral raises. Kept going on DB lateral raises, lots of painful dropsets, but actual lactic acid pain not shoulder pumps which is a nice change.

Ended up leaving a little early because I was fucking starving, so if I can I'll do some more rear delt work at the little gym in our condo tonight...just bent over laterals, possibly a few more angled raises and some arnold presses.

 

[snowpatrol123]

Saturday: Slept in til noon - probably could've slept til dinner. Bought a million dollars of meat from Costco then headed to the gym for arms day. Rope tricep pushdowns, superset with bodyweight chinups to failure...I feel like I should mention, strict form because I see so many 0 rep pull-up or chinup-swing-things happening lately. Close-grip bench press, superset with one arm cable curls. Hammer strength curl machine (used two arms, unusually) superset with hammer crunch machine. Smith behind-the-back shrugs, then finished with barbell skull crushers and forearm barbell curls.

Sunday: Leg day. Went for chinese breakfast (first time ever) then hit the gym just before noon...well just afternoon due to daylight savings time. Heavy front squats, superset with decline weighted situps. Low bar squats, only four sets with lots of rest in between, but hit 10x315 again, feeling pretty solid with that weight again. Stiff leg deadlifts, superset with standing calf raises. Finished with heavy-ass leg press, superset with leg press calf raises.

Monday: International chest day, it just so happens to line up lol. Was tired this morning! But had a pretty solid workout. Internal/external rotations to warm up, superset with hanging leg raises. Lots of incline dumbbell pressing, lower angle now - as someone suggested, working at about 25-30 degree incline rather than the 45ish degree the incline bench forces you into. Got 12x110 up no problem, wanted to leave a little gas in the tank for flat bench too. Definitely feeling it more in the chest/pecs than front delts. Over to flat bench press, superset with hammer machine crunches. Maxed at 5x255 without a spotter this morning, nowhere near a PR but I'm focusing on flaring elbows with a medium grip (which used to be a no-no with my shoulder issues) to maximize chest involvement, rather than tucked elbows powerlifter style for more pressing power from the tricep/delt/pec arched back style. Bodyweight, flared elbow chest dips - superset with dropset flyes - wow talk about burnout sets. Finished with some cable flyes anyways since the machine is near the water fountain, was thirsty and I look like a beast in that mirror haha.

 

[snowpatrol123]

Woke up without too much trouble for my gym alarm this morning, but I think the combination of being in/on PCT rather than completely natural, and obviously since I'm no longer on 1.x gram of anabolics per week, my recovery time is back to regular-human level or even slightly lower. Meaning my hamstrings and adductors, primarily, are still very sore from my leg workout Sunday afternoon...insane. Haven't experienced this since pre-cycle lol, forgot about DOMs pretty much. Even my chest is a little sore from chestday yesterday, literally unheard of two weeks ago no matter how hard I went.

Long story/whine short, I decided against back day this morning and caught two extra hours of sleep. Subbed my big bowl of oatmeal/berries/flax/greek yogurt for a pan of eggs and black coffee - gonna try to tighten up my diet, at the very least on days where I end up skipping the gym.

 

[snowpatrol123]

Actual back day today. Got up, ate some carbs and had a scoop & a half of pre-workout on my way to the gym, also picked up coffee and a muffin for post-workout.

Started with deads, superset wide grip pullups. Pyramided up to 8x425, double overhand w/ straps & belt - not bad. Tore some skin off my shin though Followed with wide grip bent-over rows, superset with decline weighted situps. Was very nice not having a terrible lingering back pump from deads, no complaints there. Next was seated cable rows, then heavy T-bar rows. Finished with higher-rep lat pulldowns, superset with dumbbell shrugs.

 

[snowpatrol123]

Delt day. I've been trying to bring my workouts in under 75 minutes rather than letting them stretch past 90 as I was on cycle; so if you've been following along you'll notice I'm skipping one or two auxillary exercises per workout compared to earlier.

Started with my usual external and internal rotations, superset with standing dumbbell press. Slow and moderately heavy with all three exercises. Next, behind the neck seated press on the smith machine, superset hanging leg raises. Heavy also, since I put this before OHP today. Just a 3x8 OHP set, superset with rear delt cable pull-aparts. Did behind-the-back smith shrugs by themselves to give my shoulders a quick rest, then did some burnout dropset DB laterals. Finished off with rear delt reverse pec dec, since it's next to the water fountain & I ran out of coffee.

That's it! Stressful day at work ahead of me; was good to start things off with a solid workout.

 

[snowpatrol123]

Arms day. Focusing on less rest between sets, shorter workouts overall. Sticking to 4 sets for earlier, bigger exercises and 3 sets for the last half mostly.

Tricep rope pushdowns, superset with bodyweight chinups. Did heavy CGBP, superset one-arm cable curls. Hammer crunch machine for abs, super heavy today. Forearm EZ bar curls, superset with barbell skull crushers. Finished with standing EZ bar curls (regular) superset with cable tricep extensions, using rope again.

 

[snowpatrol123]

I have a new training program, the first one that's ever been somewhat tailored to me by someone besides myself. I am fucking stoked to have a professional in my corner, and very appreciative of the opportunity.

So I'm easing into it during PCT, and getting a handle on having a legit, laid-out diet with trackable macros etc. One of the main things with the training, for the first phase of my program (PCT / pct recovery) is focusing on Intensity over volume. My volume wasn't unmanageably high (in my opinion) but it's now been adjusted to about 50-65% of before, with focus on going beyond failure for every single set - the 110% or more that people talk about getting.

Saturday: Legs.
Warmup (before leg exercises) was 10mins on the treadmill, 8 degree incl / 3.5mph moderate walk - didn't want to tire out the wheels lol.
Gym was busy so the order got jacked up, but I did three, occasionally four sets aiming for 10-15 reps:
Back squat
Seated calf raise
SLDL
Leg press
Quad extension

Was supposed to include, but ran out of time: bicep curls, abs

Sunday: Technically a rest day, but I wanted to hit at least the exercises I missed Saturday (moderate bis/ abs)
20mins brisk walk warmup on the track, walking & talking with my gf
Abs - 4 sets per exercise, 15-30 reps depending on weight:
Weighted,supported, hanging leg raises (15lbs DB between feet)
Rope crunches
Roman twists sitting on a stupid balance ball

Bis:
Standing, alternating dumbbell curls (2 dropsets)
Lat pulldowns (ok only 35% bicep involvement I know)

Other:
Rear delts on the pec dec
Behind-the-back shrugs on the smith machine
Push press
Good mornings (was demoing push press and good mornings, ended up doing a few working sets)

Note to self: should add some forearm stuff especially on rest/ do whatever days.

Monday (this morning) Chest day:
Warmup with external/ internal rotations, superset with hanging leg raises
Incline dumbbell press
Flat bench - strenght was suffering vs what I'm used to pressing, so I made sure to dropset to really burn out - this was tough after going hard on the incl. DB press.
Weighted dips - these are very tough after flat bench. Wish they were earlier in the workout, but this isn't supposed to be easy - I'm not going to fuck with the program.
Flat bench DB flyes - dropset these too, with 20 and 10lbs weights.
Finished with more abs on the hammer-strength crunch machine - pyramiding up the weight, going to / past failure.

 

[snowpatrol123]

Tuesday: Back was up next, and legs were still quite sore from the leg workout Saturday - so took a rest day.

Wednesday: Back day. Started with 10 mins of fairly intense cardio on the bike, I think I need to ease back into cardio which is tough sometimes rather than jumping all the way in.
All back sets were supposed to be 3 heavy, working sets - I did a warmups on a few but not all.
Deads: 10x275, 10x325, 10x365
Bent over rows: Lots of dropsets, starting with 12x185 and decreasing weight with about 10 sec rest to strip the weights off
Seated rows: 16x120, then three dropsets starting from each of 12x140, 12x160 and 8x160
Wide grip pulldowns: 16x100, then two dropsets from 12x160 and 10x180
Abs: didn't have time for a full 20 minutes, but did 4x25 decline situps w/ 45lb plate on chest

For some reason my calves seized up again walking up the stairs from the changerooms; almost fucking bit it on the concrete lol. My friend saw it and thought I put my back out or something. Guessing they were still reeling from the relatively intense cardio session on the stationary bike. Weird, though.