Home gym chronicles, part 1; the great bulk

[Soldier]

Ok, new plan. Well, not new, just fully developed.

First, diet. I'm going to go back to carb backloading, consuming almost all of my daily carbs after training. Today I had eggs and cheese for breakfast, eggs, lunch meat and cheese for lunch, then 8 pieces of wheat bread and 12oz of ground beef for dinner, after training. I'm going to have some milk later which will give me 2500 cals for the day, which should be 4-500 under maintenance.

I've had good results with carb backoading, so it'll be fun to see where this takes me.

Ok, now the plan for my supps. I'm still currently on Sdrol. I've decided that I've done enough bulking. I need to gain strength, not mass. Yes, I want to be massive with huge muscles, but that's not going to work for me right now. I've decided that instead of cycling off, I'm going to bridge to a stack of pro-halo (Hdrol) and pro-tren (trenX). The tren will help me cut, and the Hdrol will give me a little kick to go along with it, since the pro-tren is nonmethylated.

Evidently, the pro-halo takes a little while to kick in, so as soon as it arrives (in the next few days) I'm going to start cutting out the Sdrol and bringing in the Hdrol. After I've changed over the Hdrol I'll kick in the pro-tren for a few weeks, then it's time for PCT. I'll go to maintenance calories for PCT to keep from losing strength, then after PCT I'll go back to cutting.

I'm going to monitor my strength levels, and adjust my calories accordingly. Right now, 275 on bench feels like 225 did a few months ago. I'm not trying to lose the strength I've gained, but I also need to cut some of this weight.

So there's the plan. Let's do this.

[Soldier]

Tonight I did an easy leg session, focussing on my quads. I took it easy on myself because I'm still feeling my session from a couple days ago.

I just did some light leg extensions, bodybuilding squats with just the bar, sissy squats, and single leg step-ups to a bench. My quads have a little pump, and hopefully this session will help my legs recover from all the heavy pulling and squatting I've been doing lately.

[BendtheBar]

How did you like the step ups? I've never tried them that high.

[Soldier]

Originally Posted by BendtheBar

How did you like the step ups? I've never tried them that high.

I LOVE step ups to a high bench. My bench is actually about 5 inches higher than most, so it's an extremely high step up. I put one foot on the bench, then lean into it to stretch the quad as far as it'll go, then slowly push myself up. I don't worry about standing all the way up if my balance is off, because the focus is on the stretch side.

I also push a little with my other foot, so when my quad is fully stretched its not actually taking my whole bodyweight. After a couple inches all the weight is on the stepping leg, but pushing a little with the other foot protects the stepping knee while it's in the fully stretched position.

[Soldier]

Maximal strength bench day today. It felt good to move some heavy weights today.

Bench press-
45x5
135x5
225x5
255x3
275x2
295x2
295x2
295x1

Mid grip bench, ring fingers on the rings-
225x3
225x5
225x8

Wide grip paused, explosive bench-
205x5
205x5
205x5

I need to get chalk. 295 is the official slipping point for my crappy bar, and I can't get a solid grip for more than 1 rep. There aren't many things worse than knowing you have more reps in you, but having to stop because your focus is on your grip and not on keeping your body tight like it should be.

I think I'm going to do more sessions like this, starting heavy, then getting into some variations and more explosive speed work. I need to train a lot, and hitting too much heavy work is keeping me from being able to do all the other training I need to do.

[Soldier]

[Soldier]

[EliteDreams]

Lookin good Soldier. So is your training.

[Soldier]

Thanks man.

[BendtheBar]

Originally Posted by Soldier

I LOVE step ups to a high bench. My bench is actually about 5 inches higher than most, so it's an extremely high step up. I put one foot on the bench, then lean into it to stretch the quad as far as it'll go, then slowly push myself up. I don't worry about standing all the way up if my balance is off, because the focus is on the stretch side.

I also push a little with my other foot, so when my quad is fully stretched its not actually taking my whole bodyweight. After a couple inches all the weight is on the stepping leg, but pushing a little with the other foot protects the stepping knee while it's in the fully stretched position.

I might give them a try this summer. I have low ceilings so indoors this would be impossible.