Road to 400 Log

[I. Kay]

Cutting Day 8:
Cals 2382
Fats 73g
Carbs 216g
Protein 221g

[I. Kay]

Bench Press
4x3-195, 1x2-195

Seated Rows (neutral grip)
5x5-150

Dips
3xBW+50, 3xBW+60, 2xBW+60, 3x5-BW

Alternating DB Rows
3x5-55's

DB Shoulder Press
55x5, 55x4, 45x4

Aching arms today. I don't know if it's muscles or ligaments or what. Woke up that way, got worse during lifting... feels better now, but man oh man! Hah!

[Rev]

Keep pushing those lifts Rock! I was noticing as I was reading through Nick's and your log that our (yours, nick's, and my) strength levels are in extremely close proximity to each others. Lets get this trio to a 400lbs deadlift by the Fourth of July, how bout it?

[I. Kay]

Sounds good!

How about 250 bench, 400 deadlift by then?

p.s. Mike Mejia + Berardi's "Scrawny to Brawny" should be arriving in the mail any day now... it's a 12-week program... starting at the beginning of April... I should be completing right at July 4th, so perfect timing!

[Rev]

Originally posted by RockHard:
Sounds good!

How about 250 bench, 400 deadlift by then?

p.s. Mike Mejia + Berardi's "Scrawny to Brawny" should be arriving in the mail any day now... it's a 12-week program... starting at the beginning of April... I should be completing right at July 4th, so perfect timing!

Ok I see your bet and raise you a 350lbs squat!!!

[ninja]

You guys are on. You all may get there first; I'm going to cut for 4 weeks before the retreat, but after that, it's all go.

I think I'll apply the Waterbury 10x3 to my squats and deads.

Bring it on boys.

[I. Kay]

Well I'm 9 days into my own cut, ninja, so don't worry about me catapulting ahead too far right now. Though StoB may change all that!
250-350-400 it is!!!

[I. Kay]

Cutting Day 9:

Cals: 2638
Fats: 60g
Carbs: 320g
Protein: 220g

I'm going to have to go with 2300 for off-days and HIIT days, and 2600-2700 for lifting days. Otherwise I'll have zero energy left.

[I. Kay]

Deadlifts
135x3, 185x3, 225x3, 245x1, 265x1, 285x1, 305x1, 315x1, 335x1, 345x1

Stationary Bike
4x20second sprints
5 minutes steady HR of 135-142

I just got Scrawny to Brawny in the mail today. I will be doing the assessment tests this weekend.

I wanted to see where my deadlift is before starting. 345 is a PR (albeit a small one), so I think it's a good gauge of where I am. So now we'll see what Mr. Mejia and Mr. Berardi can do for me over the next 12 weeks!

[I. Kay]

Back from NY this morning!

Stationary Bike
4 sprints
5 minutes steady 140 HR

[Rev]

I've recently decided to SLITELY cut my caloric intake and raise the protein throught the roof and lower my volume as well. I need to drop some body fat, I'm going for the 165 class instead of the 181 class in june, think I'll have better luck there.

So now the "deadly" (get it, deadly, deadlifts, get it?) trio will ALL be cutting while we're pushing the PR's, does it get anymore awesome than that? I think not...I think not...

[I. Kay]

I'll be cutting for 2 more weeks, through the corrective phase of "Scrawny to Brawny". Then on to the first hypertrophy phase, eating big... I WILL see 400 by July 4!!!

[Rev]

Thats the spirit! We're all fifty pounds off, it's kind of weird how close our lifts are, except your squat blows mine to pieces by 20+ pounds and so does Nick's, damn you guys!

[I. Kay]

Yeah, I was doing well with squats for a while... but I haven't done a real max effort squat in over a month.

I'm hoping that this corrective phase will give me a boost in the bench and deadlift, because it's going to focus on external rotators and upper back strength.

*I should have said that the corrective phase may be 2-4 weeks, depending on how fast I progress.

[ninja]

I'm interested to see what exercises the book has you doing for corrections. I may end up getting it eventually after I lose this fat, so I can learn how to get bigger without much fat gain.

Yep, just one more week until the cut happens.

[I. Kay]

Originally posted by nbjjku:
I'm interested to see what exercises the book has you doing for corrections.

Well, here's what it looks like for my specific weaknesses (external rotators, upper back, adductors/abductors, oblique flexibility, ham/glute flexibility, situps range):

Week 1 A-B-A
Week 2 B-A-B

Workout A
Unilateral Deadlifts 3x8
Swiss Ball Leg Curls 2x8
Low Cable Abductions 2x10
Cable Rows (elbows out) 3x8
Bench Press w/ scapular retraction 2x10
Airplanes 2x10
Unanchored Situps 2x8

Workout B
Reverse Pushups 3x6
Unilateral Squats 2x8
Low Cable Adductions 2x10
Cuban Press 2x10
Split Squats 2x8
Swiss Ball Back Extensions 2x10
Planks 2x30secs

*This is mixed with a variety of pec, ham and rotator cuff stretches throughout the week.

[ninja]

Rotators would definitely be a weakness for me. I have no doubt my left one will be under the knife when I reach middle age.

Can you do anything else during this phase or are you restricted to the corrections?

[I. Kay]

Mejia says in the book that there is no reason to add or change anything from the routine. HIIT is allowed a couple times a week, but as far as the lifting, I'm sticking with what's in the book.

[I. Kay]

Stationary Bike
4x20second sprints
5 minutes steady at 140HR

Starting Scrawny to Brawny tomorrow!!!

[I. Kay]

Unilateral Deadlifts
3x8-bodyweight

Swiss Ball Curls
2x8 (each leg)

Low Cable Abductions
2x10-30

Cable Rows w/ elbows out
3x8-90

Bench Press w/ scapular retraction
2x10-135

Airplanes
2x10

Unanchored Situps
2x8

No spectacular numbers here, but that's hardly the goal right now.

The uni-deads were interestingly difficult. A lot of wobble on my right side!!!

The swiss ball curls are going to take some getting used to. Not that they're too strenuous, but mastering the form to actually hit my hams is more complicated than I would have thought.

Hitting all sorts of weird muscles... pretty cool.