xxtotuxx's first try at the BLUEPRINT
Feel much better today. Felt weak on the morning, but this was due to some lack of sleep. Still, managed to work on my dad's shop. Took a nap and felt much better. Took a Black Cats serving and hit the gym. Very intense workout, managed to do it though. Legs were in pain and biceps hurt as well. Will post later more details on gym workout and today's diet.
Diet: Again, diet consisted of the same stuff: fruits, veggies, and a slice or two of bread.
Total: 1330 cals/24.3 fat/273.7 carbs/34 protein
Workout: Great workout, pushed myself alot on this one, especially at the end.
Squats: (I am doing this on the Smith, so bare w/ my on the weight)
Did some warmups w/o weights. After that:
1st set) 20 lbs each side squat (40lbs total) x15, followed by 70lbs on the Seated Cable Row x15. This was fairly easy to do, started w/ too little weight, so added more
2nd set) 20 lbs each side squat (40lbs total) x14, followed by 80lbs on the Seated Cable Row x15. This was, again, not that challenging.
3rd set) 25 lbs each side squat (50lbs total) x13, followed by 90lbs on the Seated Cable Row x14. This one was harder than the last too, started seeing some fatigue now. Pushed myself a decent amount here.
4th set) 25 lbs each side squat (50lbs total) x12, followed by 100lbs on the Seated Cable Row x13.Provided a challenge, but I pushed through it. My motto through this blueprint run is give it my best effort and not be afraid to fail, so I knew I could do better and decided to add more weight to my squats.
5th set) 35 lbs each side squat (70lbs total) x12, followed by 100lbs on the Seated Cable Row x12. Wow, I gave it my all in this set. I was so exhausted after finishing this... Felt great doing those squats.
Standing Bicep Curl 1x13 w/ 50lbs / Preacher Curl w/ 15lbs DB 1x15 (Really focused on the contraction when I got the DB up, painful pump) / Incline Curls 20lbs 1x14
I forgot I had to do 5 sets for biceps, and I had rested about 3 minutes, so I just did a set of EZ Bar Curl 30lbs 1x14, rested about 20 seconds, and did a set of Incline Curls 20 lbs for 11 clean reps.[/i]
Diet: Again, diet consisted of the same stuff: fruits, veggies, and a slice or two of bread.
Total: 1330 cals/24.3 fat/273.7 carbs/34 protein
Workout: Great workout, pushed myself alot on this one, especially at the end.
Squats: (I am doing this on the Smith, so bare w/ my on the weight)
Did some warmups w/o weights. After that:
1st set) 20 lbs each side squat (40lbs total) x15, followed by 70lbs on the Seated Cable Row x15. This was fairly easy to do, started w/ too little weight, so added more
2nd set) 20 lbs each side squat (40lbs total) x14, followed by 80lbs on the Seated Cable Row x15. This was, again, not that challenging.
3rd set) 25 lbs each side squat (50lbs total) x13, followed by 90lbs on the Seated Cable Row x14. This one was harder than the last too, started seeing some fatigue now. Pushed myself a decent amount here.
4th set) 25 lbs each side squat (50lbs total) x12, followed by 100lbs on the Seated Cable Row x13.Provided a challenge, but I pushed through it. My motto through this blueprint run is give it my best effort and not be afraid to fail, so I knew I could do better and decided to add more weight to my squats.
5th set) 35 lbs each side squat (70lbs total) x12, followed by 100lbs on the Seated Cable Row x12. Wow, I gave it my all in this set. I was so exhausted after finishing this... Felt great doing those squats.
Standing Bicep Curl 1x13 w/ 50lbs / Preacher Curl w/ 15lbs DB 1x15 (Really focused on the contraction when I got the DB up, painful pump) / Incline Curls 20lbs 1x14
I forgot I had to do 5 sets for biceps, and I had rested about 3 minutes, so I just did a set of EZ Bar Curl 30lbs 1x14, rested about 20 seconds, and did a set of Incline Curls 20 lbs for 11 clean reps.[/i]
During the weekend I ate both Saturday and Sunday about 3500 cals, trying to achieve a 40p/40c/40f macro breakdown, or something close to that. So I ate about 60 fat, 320c, and 250-270 protein both of those days. Ate pretty clean, as the diet consisted of eggs and oatmeal in the morning, followed by a small snack of some whole wheat crackers or a fruit, then some rice or mashed potatoes with some extra lean ground beef or chicken breast, and at dinners something similar again. Had some extra meals during the day, like some additional oatmeal in the afternoon (yeah, I love oatmeal) and before bed some Myofusion with some milk and a tablespoon of Peanut butter.
Day 3 Feast
Today, I ate for breakfast two eggs and 4 eggwhites, and 1.5 cup of oatmeal. This is my typical breakfast. Problem is, all of the sudden I got a really bad stomach pain, and haven't really been able to eat besides my whey protein and the carbs after the gym. Will try to eat some more today to reach the desired calories. Will post later at night today macro breakdown.
First workout of the Feast phase was a very intense one. Really hit it hard and it was a success. Strength is coming back. Felt great during both Bench Press and Squats. First time doing Deadlifts. Did some Romanian DLs, really liked them as they were really challenging. Later will post the whole workout for a more detailed outlook of my time of the gym.
Total time of workout: 1 hour
Detailed workout: (Note, this was on Monday, so gym was really empty, so I was supersetting and jumping from here to there no problems)
After warmups, which took me about 10-15 minutes, I was ready and did:
1x8 Bench Press w/135 (Usually when I have that weight, I do about 4-5 reps, really felt proud of this. Even though it's still not that much, I'm pretty happy. Those 2-3 minute rests between warmups are great!) / 1x8 Pullover w/40lbs DB (I really didn't feel comfortable doing these on a slight inclined bench. Felt like my shoulder was about to pop, and I'm really trying to not do movements like that w/ the shoulder as I tend to baby it doing these types of exercises, next workout will do on a normal bench)
Following this, I set up the squat and DLs. As I told you Rob, I've never really done many DLs, because I didn't thought of adding them to the routine and was afraid of doing them really. But after looking through youtube vids, I new the form of them and was pumped to do them. Wow are the ****ing great lol!
After warmups (10-15 mins. ) I did the following:
Squats w/65lbs each side, total of 130lbs, this for 8 reps, followed by Romanian DLs w/45lbs each side, total of 135lbs including bar, for 10 reps. Really stretched the muscle w/ this, they felt great doing them. I was sweating bullets this day, and after these 2 exercises, I was exhausted. I waited 5 minutes before going to the 1st EDT Block, which was the following:
EDT Block #1 Incline DB Press and One Arm DB Row
Set #1 -> 35lbs Incline DB press for 7 reps, followed by 45lbs One Arm DB Row for 8 reps.
Set #2 -> 35lbs Incline DB press for 7 reps, followed by 45lbs One Arm DB Row for 8 reps.
Set #3 -> 35lbs Incline DB press for 7 reps, followed by 45lbs One Arm DB Row for 8 reps.
Set #4 ->35lbs Incline DB press for 7 reps, followed by 45lbs One Arm DB Row for 8 reps.
Notes: I still had some confusion w/ this, so I went ahead and used those weights. Seeing as I didn't really fail on these, I asked Turboflex over at the nolinksplease.com forums and he helped me out on this, telling me how I should start w/ a weight that I fail at 10~ reps. I put this to use on the following workout.
EDT Block #2 Barbell Curl and Lying Tricep Extension
Set #1 -> Barbell Curl w/ 55lbs for 6 reps, followed by Lying Tricep Extension (did half sets lying down on the bench, and the others seated) w/ 20lbs each side on the EZ Bar, for 6 reps.
Set #2 -> Barbell Curl w/ 55lbs for 6 reps, followed by Lying Tricep Extension (did half sets lying down on the bench, and the others seated) w/ 20lbs each side on the EZ Bar, for 6 reps.
Set #3 -> Barbell Curl w/ 55lbs for 6 reps, followed by Lying Tricep Extension (did half sets lying down on the bench, and the others seated) w/ 20lbs each side on the EZ Bar, for 6 reps.
Set #4 -> Barbell Curl w/ 55lbs for 6 reps, followed by Lying Tricep Extension (did half sets lying down on the bench, and the others seated) w/ 20lbs each side on the EZ Bar, for 6 reps.
Set #5 -> Barbell Curl w/ 55lbs for 5 reps, followed by Lying Tricep Extension (did half sets lying down on the bench, and the others seated) w/ 20lbs each side on the EZ Bar, for 6 reps.
These EDT Blocks were pure fail since I didn't select a weight in which I failed at 10. For my next EDTs I'll try to make the best selection of a weight that I fail at 10, but this will probably take me some tries until I finally found out the perfect weight for each exercise.
Today, I ate for breakfast two eggs and 4 eggwhites, and 1.5 cup of oatmeal. This is my typical breakfast. Problem is, all of the sudden I got a really bad stomach pain, and haven't really been able to eat besides my whey protein and the carbs after the gym. Will try to eat some more today to reach the desired calories. Will post later at night today macro breakdown.
First workout of the Feast phase was a very intense one. Really hit it hard and it was a success. Strength is coming back. Felt great during both Bench Press and Squats. First time doing Deadlifts. Did some Romanian DLs, really liked them as they were really challenging. Later will post the whole workout for a more detailed outlook of my time of the gym.
Total time of workout: 1 hour
Detailed workout: (Note, this was on Monday, so gym was really empty, so I was supersetting and jumping from here to there no problems)
After warmups, which took me about 10-15 minutes, I was ready and did:
1x8 Bench Press w/135 (Usually when I have that weight, I do about 4-5 reps, really felt proud of this. Even though it's still not that much, I'm pretty happy. Those 2-3 minute rests between warmups are great!) / 1x8 Pullover w/40lbs DB (I really didn't feel comfortable doing these on a slight inclined bench. Felt like my shoulder was about to pop, and I'm really trying to not do movements like that w/ the shoulder as I tend to baby it doing these types of exercises, next workout will do on a normal bench)
Following this, I set up the squat and DLs. As I told you Rob, I've never really done many DLs, because I didn't thought of adding them to the routine and was afraid of doing them really. But after looking through youtube vids, I new the form of them and was pumped to do them. Wow are the ****ing great lol!
After warmups (10-15 mins. ) I did the following:
Squats w/65lbs each side, total of 130lbs, this for 8 reps, followed by Romanian DLs w/45lbs each side, total of 135lbs including bar, for 10 reps. Really stretched the muscle w/ this, they felt great doing them. I was sweating bullets this day, and after these 2 exercises, I was exhausted. I waited 5 minutes before going to the 1st EDT Block, which was the following:
EDT Block #1 Incline DB Press and One Arm DB Row
Set #1 -> 35lbs Incline DB press for 7 reps, followed by 45lbs One Arm DB Row for 8 reps.
Set #2 -> 35lbs Incline DB press for 7 reps, followed by 45lbs One Arm DB Row for 8 reps.
Set #3 -> 35lbs Incline DB press for 7 reps, followed by 45lbs One Arm DB Row for 8 reps.
Set #4 ->35lbs Incline DB press for 7 reps, followed by 45lbs One Arm DB Row for 8 reps.
Notes: I still had some confusion w/ this, so I went ahead and used those weights. Seeing as I didn't really fail on these, I asked Turboflex over at the nolinksplease.com forums and he helped me out on this, telling me how I should start w/ a weight that I fail at 10~ reps. I put this to use on the following workout.
EDT Block #2 Barbell Curl and Lying Tricep Extension
Set #1 -> Barbell Curl w/ 55lbs for 6 reps, followed by Lying Tricep Extension (did half sets lying down on the bench, and the others seated) w/ 20lbs each side on the EZ Bar, for 6 reps.
Set #2 -> Barbell Curl w/ 55lbs for 6 reps, followed by Lying Tricep Extension (did half sets lying down on the bench, and the others seated) w/ 20lbs each side on the EZ Bar, for 6 reps.
Set #3 -> Barbell Curl w/ 55lbs for 6 reps, followed by Lying Tricep Extension (did half sets lying down on the bench, and the others seated) w/ 20lbs each side on the EZ Bar, for 6 reps.
Set #4 -> Barbell Curl w/ 55lbs for 6 reps, followed by Lying Tricep Extension (did half sets lying down on the bench, and the others seated) w/ 20lbs each side on the EZ Bar, for 6 reps.
Set #5 -> Barbell Curl w/ 55lbs for 5 reps, followed by Lying Tricep Extension (did half sets lying down on the bench, and the others seated) w/ 20lbs each side on the EZ Bar, for 6 reps.
These EDT Blocks were pure fail since I didn't select a weight in which I failed at 10. For my next EDTs I'll try to make the best selection of a weight that I fail at 10, but this will probably take me some tries until I finally found out the perfect weight for each exercise.
Anyone could help me with the EDT? I got some confusion. Am I supposed to do the same two EDT Blocks (Incline DB press + Tbar Row)(Romanian DLs and Leg Press) every workout? Or could I just have 1 workout I do some upper body EDT and the next some lower body EDT? That way I have 3 workouts w/ EDT targeting the upper body muscles and another the lowe body ones.
Thanks
Thanks
lol I love it!Day 4 Feast (Tuesday)
Holy ****! I've never felt this kind of soreness on my hamstrings! It's amazing, but in a good way, because I know I actually hit them hard. I didn't hit the gym this day, wanted to take a break and lay down on bed and chill. Did work w/ the old man in the hardware shop, so I did some work.
Total Nutritional numbers: 3200~ calories/ 49.4 fat/355 carbs/250 protein
Holy ****! I've never felt this kind of soreness on my hamstrings! It's amazing, but in a good way, because I know I actually hit them hard. I didn't hit the gym this day, wanted to take a break and lay down on bed and chill. Did work w/ the old man in the hardware shop, so I did some work.
Total Nutritional numbers: 3200~ calories/ 49.4 fat/355 carbs/250 protein
Day 5 Feast
Workout #2 Total Time: 1:25
I started by doing the Bench Press followed by Pullovers. After some warmups (these are taking me sometime, but they are worth the time you spend waiting
) I did the following:
-Bench Press w/57.5 each side, total of 160, for 4 clean reps, followed by Pullovers with 50s for 6 reps. I was really impressed w/ myself, since I have never lifted this heavy. Felt proud of this. Strength is incredible for me at this point.
Following this, I hit up the squats and the RDLs. I'm really liking this part of my training. Again, after some warmups, I ended w/ the following weight, even though I could have gotten more.
-Squats w/ 75 lbs each side on the smith, for 6 reps. This was followed by the Romanian DLs w/ 55lbs each side, total of 155 for 5 reps. I kinda was dissapointed on these DLs because while I stretched the hamstring, I also was doing the pulling action with the lower back. Will fix this next workout.
Now, to the EDT Blocks.
EDT Block #1: Incline DB Press and Seated Cable Row
Start of EDT Block: 3:50
Set #1 -> 45lbs Incline DB press for 6 reps, followed by 120lbs Seated Cable Row for 6 reps.
Set #2 -> 45lbs Incline DB press for 6 reps, followed by 120lbs Seated Cable Row for 6 reps.
Set #3 -> 45lbs Incline DB press for 6 reps, followed by 120lbs Seated Cable Row for 6 reps.
Set #4 ->45lbs Incline DB press for 6 reps, followed by 120lbs Seated Cable Row for 6 reps.
Set #5 ->45lbs Incline DB press for 6 reps, followed by 120lbs Seated Cable Row for 6 reps.
Set #6 ->45lbs Incline DB press for 6 reps, followed by 120lbs Seated Cable Row for 6 reps.
Total time: 16 mins.
I haven't gotten the hang of knowing with what weight I will fail at 10 reps. Before each EDT I will do a set of the exercise with a weight I think is the ideal and if not, I'll raise this. This way I will know exactly what weight to use before each EDT.
EDT Block #2: Leg Press and Leg Extension
I switched the normal Blueprint routine a little and Rob gave me the green light w/ this.
Start of EDT Block: 4:08
Set #1 -> 230 Leg Press for 7 reps, followed by 155lbs Leg Extension for 6 reps.
Set #2 -> 230lbs Leg Press for 6 reps, followed by 155 Leg Extension for 6 reps.
Set #3 -> 230 Leg Press for 6 reps, followed by 155lbs Leg Extension for 5 reps.
Set #4 -> 230lbs Leg Press for 6 reps, followed by 155 Leg Extension for 4 reps.
Set #5 -> 230 Leg Press for 6 reps, followed by 155lbs Leg Extension for 4 reps.
Set #6 -> 230lbs Leg Press for 6 reps, followed by 155 Leg Extension for 4 reps.
Holy crap, my legs were DONE after this. Amazing workout let me say.
Nutrition: I'm still eating pretty clean. I don't want to mess up my diet in the Blueprint and have dedicated my self completely to this, and that includes the diet as well. Total macros: 3148 cals./59.7 fat/379.5 carbs/270.4 protein
Workout #2 Total Time: 1:25
I started by doing the Bench Press followed by Pullovers. After some warmups (these are taking me sometime, but they are worth the time you spend waiting
) I did the following:-Bench Press w/57.5 each side, total of 160, for 4 clean reps, followed by Pullovers with 50s for 6 reps. I was really impressed w/ myself, since I have never lifted this heavy. Felt proud of this. Strength is incredible for me at this point.
Following this, I hit up the squats and the RDLs. I'm really liking this part of my training. Again, after some warmups, I ended w/ the following weight, even though I could have gotten more.
-Squats w/ 75 lbs each side on the smith, for 6 reps. This was followed by the Romanian DLs w/ 55lbs each side, total of 155 for 5 reps. I kinda was dissapointed on these DLs because while I stretched the hamstring, I also was doing the pulling action with the lower back. Will fix this next workout.
Now, to the EDT Blocks.
EDT Block #1: Incline DB Press and Seated Cable Row
Start of EDT Block: 3:50
Set #1 -> 45lbs Incline DB press for 6 reps, followed by 120lbs Seated Cable Row for 6 reps.
Set #2 -> 45lbs Incline DB press for 6 reps, followed by 120lbs Seated Cable Row for 6 reps.
Set #3 -> 45lbs Incline DB press for 6 reps, followed by 120lbs Seated Cable Row for 6 reps.
Set #4 ->45lbs Incline DB press for 6 reps, followed by 120lbs Seated Cable Row for 6 reps.
Set #5 ->45lbs Incline DB press for 6 reps, followed by 120lbs Seated Cable Row for 6 reps.
Set #6 ->45lbs Incline DB press for 6 reps, followed by 120lbs Seated Cable Row for 6 reps.
Total time: 16 mins.
I haven't gotten the hang of knowing with what weight I will fail at 10 reps. Before each EDT I will do a set of the exercise with a weight I think is the ideal and if not, I'll raise this. This way I will know exactly what weight to use before each EDT.
EDT Block #2: Leg Press and Leg Extension
I switched the normal Blueprint routine a little and Rob gave me the green light w/ this.
Start of EDT Block: 4:08
Set #1 -> 230 Leg Press for 7 reps, followed by 155lbs Leg Extension for 6 reps.
Set #2 -> 230lbs Leg Press for 6 reps, followed by 155 Leg Extension for 6 reps.
Set #3 -> 230 Leg Press for 6 reps, followed by 155lbs Leg Extension for 5 reps.
Set #4 -> 230lbs Leg Press for 6 reps, followed by 155 Leg Extension for 4 reps.
Set #5 -> 230 Leg Press for 6 reps, followed by 155lbs Leg Extension for 4 reps.
Set #6 -> 230lbs Leg Press for 6 reps, followed by 155 Leg Extension for 4 reps.
Holy crap, my legs were DONE after this. Amazing workout let me say.
Nutrition: I'm still eating pretty clean. I don't want to mess up my diet in the Blueprint and have dedicated my self completely to this, and that includes the diet as well. Total macros: 3148 cals./59.7 fat/379.5 carbs/270.4 protein
Wow, that's a GREAT example of taking some initiative and putting it into action.
You made an EXCELLENT workout out of this. Nice work!
Very grateful to hear about your strength levels too. To catch traction this early bodes well (very well) for the future of your run.
Now, understandably some feeling out on some of these exercises/edt blocks but it's part of the process. The important part is that YOU NOW HAVE YOUR BASELINE. I'll say again you now have your baseline and know what you need to do NEXT workout to improve.
And there it is... for everyone hesitant about getting things going - this should be a reference point.
"It's not important to get it perfect out of the gate, it IS important to get it started"
You made an EXCELLENT workout out of this. Nice work!
Very grateful to hear about your strength levels too. To catch traction this early bodes well (very well) for the future of your run.
Now, understandably some feeling out on some of these exercises/edt blocks but it's part of the process. The important part is that YOU NOW HAVE YOUR BASELINE. I'll say again you now have your baseline and know what you need to do NEXT workout to improve.
And there it is... for everyone hesitant about getting things going - this should be a reference point.
"It's not important to get it perfect out of the gate, it IS important to get it started"
Day 6 Feast
Today was supposed to be a rest day, but decided to go to the gym and hit up some shoulder and trap day, since I felt these haven't been hit as hard yet. I also added abs and about 20 minutes cardio.
I was so impressed with myself today. I did DB Shoulder Press. After warmups, I headed to do 50s, which is where is usually max, maybe at 55 if I'm having a good day. Well, 50s were easy as hell, then did 55s, which were easy too. So I thought to myself I could do 60s for about 4 reps, so I did that, no spotter. Ended up doing 6 reps for it. Well, I was done right? NO. I decided to go for an even bigger PR and hit up the 65s. I was zoned about this one. I asked someone to help me lift up the dumbells so I could have more strength for the actual exercise. At the end, I did 6 reps w/ the 65s! I was really proud of this, as I have never even come close to this. Next try, I will see how the 65s go and if I can, will try to hit 70 for 2-3 reps.
Nutrition: Again, diet has been really clean. Egg, egg whites, oatmeal, milk, chicken breast, protein powders, yam, rice, peanut butter, etc. I plan on keeping it like this for the whole Blueprint program. I like it
Totals: 3180 cals/~49F/370C/250P
Today was supposed to be a rest day, but decided to go to the gym and hit up some shoulder and trap day, since I felt these haven't been hit as hard yet. I also added abs and about 20 minutes cardio.
I was so impressed with myself today. I did DB Shoulder Press. After warmups, I headed to do 50s, which is where is usually max, maybe at 55 if I'm having a good day. Well, 50s were easy as hell, then did 55s, which were easy too. So I thought to myself I could do 60s for about 4 reps, so I did that, no spotter. Ended up doing 6 reps for it. Well, I was done right? NO. I decided to go for an even bigger PR and hit up the 65s. I was zoned about this one. I asked someone to help me lift up the dumbells so I could have more strength for the actual exercise. At the end, I did 6 reps w/ the 65s! I was really proud of this, as I have never even come close to this. Next try, I will see how the 65s go and if I can, will try to hit 70 for 2-3 reps.
Nutrition: Again, diet has been really clean. Egg, egg whites, oatmeal, milk, chicken breast, protein powders, yam, rice, peanut butter, etc. I plan on keeping it like this for the whole Blueprint program. I like it
Totals: 3180 cals/~49F/370C/250P