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Becoming the Iron Lion

Back in the gym.

I was gonna go back yday but I didn't want to. Needed to prep food, put stuff up and take care of things around the house plus, all of my client work from during the week. Plus I didn't want to lol.

Push went well. I lost 11 lbs during the trip so strength was down, didn't expect anything less.

Only hit 5 on my top set of Smith Incline at 365, previous session was 7. I also tweaked my left Pec during the set, not great. Don't think I did any real damage but it had pain the rest of the session when I tired to load it. Sucks. Adapted.

Did a machine press to the collar bone which didn't aggravate it, lots of laterals and rear delts, Triceps extension with the prime attachments and some overhead shoulder flies.

Had a good pump and good motivation. Hopefully I'll be back proper in the next day or 2 after eating on plan.
 
Pull yday.

Good session, strength was good, being back on plan picked the weight back up fast.

Was sweating like a whore in church during training which is a good sign, plenty of food and water going in.

Pulling back peds starting this week. Dropping mast, cutting test in half.

Gh will stay where it's at for now. Just happy to be pinning less.

Started Bpc157 for the knee back up Sunday. 500mcg every day. It's been feeling good, I'll train legs tomorrow and see how things go.
 
Legs went very well.

Since I haven't touched them in 2 weeks it didn't take much to get them to wake up.

Adductors and hamstring curls to start. I only went to about 60% of the load I left off at. After my Pec twinge I thought a little more time to ease in was best.

4 sets of 12-15 on those.

Then moved to a feet low leg press and the glutanator. Same plan, pause reps and just complete focus on getting the left quad firing.

Then a few sets of leg press with the feet high. I feel these very well in the rectus femoris and the top of the sweep.

Finished with split squats and lying hamstring curls.

Was a good day. Knee was fine at work and felt good today as well.
 
Push today -

Easy does it on the Pec. Still a bit tender today, better, but not .

Cable fly and single arm extension for an active warm. Took these to just about failure since I knew pressing would be limited.

Nautilus chest press and DB laterals. Moved the seat down a bit more on the chest press which helped the Pec. Only worked up to the stack+25 for 9 and 8 which is down 25lbs from last time but, a more challenging angle and, being cautious. Last set of laterals went directly into heavy partials with 2 drop sets.

Decline (I rarely do this) and bent over cable laterals. Decline felt ok.... I really have to focus on this or it just turns into a delt and triceps movement.

Finished out with some DB shoulder press and bent over cable flys.

The time off has done my body wonders. I have had those crazy pumps each session since I've been back. I dropped 11lbs during the trip but, I'm back where I was before hand. A bit watery but, I'm just full as fuck all day, get a pump just moving around. Was full blown after the session today.
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Good training.

Pull day was Monday. Strength was there, hit some prs on a few things. Still trending with awesome pumps.

Legs today. Felt good, a little heavier this week, knee held up good during training, no pain. Some tightness after so I'll see how I feel tomorrow. First session in a while I've had the left quad working the entire time. Hopefully I've found a good balance for now.

Glute machine and some knee extension to start, just making sure there's no issues.

Leg press - it'll be a regular movement since I get no pain. 2 sets of 12, one rep or 2 short of failure, 1 set of 12 1 rep short of failure, 2 drops to failure.

Belt squat - 5 plates for 12, 10, 10

Super set with

Tru squat - 4 counter balanced for 10, 9, 8

Single leg curl - 60 *12, 12, 11
Super set
Knee extension - 75*12, 10, 11

That was all. Just enough to feel the cramps.
 
Push today.

Had my first consistent dip in strength this week. Over the last 4 months strength has steadily increased on all the lifts I track in my book without and steps backwards other then the odd off day.

Last push session with Smith Incline I dipped from 365*7 to 365*5 (when I had the Pec strain) . This session I only managed 4. My backoff set was 315*7 which was down from 10 2 sessions ago.

Soooo, I'm going to step away from the Smith for a bit I believe. I'll be moving to a matrix Incline press with neutral grip handles that feels good. I haven't used this machine in a long time so I'll be able to progress strength here for a good bit hopefully, even with drugs going down to trt levels. I threw this in at the end of the session today to feel it out and got 4pps for 6 and a rest pause at 3pps for 8/3/1.

Everything else felt good. Still feel strong, pumps are good. Drive is good, just getting enough sleep is hard as usual.

Drugs adjusted - 500mg sust per week, 300mg mast per week, the will be cut in half next week. Lantus removed. Gh at 6iu on training days before training. Bpc157 500mcg every day into the knee.

Check in Pic from yday morning out of bed. Sitting between 253-255 steadily this week. Body fat is in a good spot, especially at this weight.
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Been a great week.

Peds coming down has not really effected me yet, still holding weight at the same body comp. Pumps aren't as good with the Lantus pulled out but they're still decent.

Sweat is at level 11. Was soaked after push yesterday, just dripping all over the place. If you needed to find me, I left a pretty noticeable trail.

Strength was up on most things. Might have gotten a bit fast on my big pressing movement but it felt the same and I had a 2 rep increase on the top set. Same with my rear delt work and, decline. Cable presses to finish out the day just to burn it up.

Daughter walked for graduation last night. So happy for her. She busted her tail to graduate a year early and I'm pretty sure she is going to join the military when she turns 18. We were going to pay for her school so she didn't have any student debt but, she wanted to join to serve her country so, we will see what she decides in 6 months. Hopefully air force......

Grind continues!
 
Pull yday.

Sad day. I haven't pulled in a few weeks. Between giving the knee rest, vac and stuff I just haven't picked the bar up off the floor.

Decided to do some deads yday and it just sucked. High school kid on the power lifting team went over and got in deadlift platform I had started setting up. (had the bar on the jack with a plate on each side as I unloaded the machine I had been on between sets) I came over to put more plates in the area and he did the old "my bad man I'll go over here" but I told him to just stay and we could rotate.

Kid is strong. Might weight 170-180? Not huge but, before the deads he had max effort squatted 425. Very respectable for a 17 year old imo. We talked a bit, he went to school with 3 if my kids, very respectful nice kid.

Worked up to his working set of 405 for I think 5 or 6. He was going to stop at 4 it looked like but I kept encouraging him. I did a double at 405 (felt fine) then moved to 495. Only managed 3 compared to 8 a few weeks back. Very dissapointed. I dunno if the fact I'm not juiced to the gills atm was the issue, being worn out and sweating 5lbs off was the issue or just not pulling in so long. But it sucked. Did 2 sets of partials sheet at 315 for 12 and 10.

Gotta get back into the pulling. I was making very good progress and enjoying the lift before I stopped them so, I need to go again.

Body feels good. Got a big increase in calories this week, around 3k throughout the week, since weight dipped after being back to regular training and work. Just time to start the boring cruise period and hold onto the muscle I've added in my back and get the legs to puff back up hopefully.
 
A 17yr old squatting 2.5X bodyweight is beyond respectable in my book! I love seeing the kiddos get after it at an early age. Gives hope. That’s cool you worked in with him, I’m sure he was stoked to be pulling alongside a monster.

Oil volume coming down is always a mindfuck for strength, at least for me after a good old blast.
 
At some point you’ll have to give in to getting weaker with age, eventually everyone gets there no matter how much drugs you try to compensate with. It’s a mind fuck
 
Legs went well a couple days ago. Knee is still holding up well. The bpc and smartness seems to be paying off.

Today was push. New "big" pressing movement added in for Smith Incline. It's a converging incline press with a neutral grip. 4 plates a side for 8 then 7. Backoff of 3 plates for 7,drop to failure 2 more times.

Body master chest press numbers increased. Stack+30 (+10) for 11 then 8. Backoff with the stack and 2 drops.

Mixed in DB lateral partials, rear laterals, machine laterals, DB front raises and a few sets of tricep press down with the prime grip attachments.

Very good session, pull tomorrow as long as I wake up In time.
 
Rest day.

Fucking heat is killing me at work.

Was going to go see the chiro today but just couldn't get out of bed.

I'll go tomorrow before legs just to get straighted up.

Weights holding, feeling good. Gotta keep on keeping on.
 
Oh were still pushing.

Training has been going really well, just need to keep up the rest and hydration from the heat.

Legs today was good.

Hip machine glute extension - 120*12, 11, 10

Adductor - stack*15, stack plus green elite fts band (90lbs?)19, 15, 13

Glutenator - 140*12, 11, 11

Leg press - 6pps*19, 7pps*14, 12, 11

Squat pro pin squats - 4pps* 12, 10

Knee felt good. I haven't done a pin squat in ages but, they work perfectly for my needs atm. Very slow controlled eccentric with a slight pause and a great contraction into the top. Just enough knee flexion to stretch the quad and not enough to put too much pressure on the joint


The bpc is definitely working, I've still got 8 full bottles to keep running as well so, I think we're on track.
 
Push yday was very good. So good I woke up sore and stiff all over. Been a while since I've had that after a push day.

The Incline press progressed a rep on each set, 4 plates for 8 then 7. Backoff was 3 for 9 then 2 drops.

Went to the body master chest press after but used the neutral grip. It makes this machine much heavier this way so I only used 260 of the stack for 2 sets. Felt really good, taking some leverage away can do wonders.

Matrix Side laterals, went back to facing the seat here. I feel the rear delts here as well as the medial so it makes sense. I follow each set there with a set of heavy db partials to make sure they're getting a good beating.

Bent over cable for rear delts with some spider crawls using a red micro band. Forgot all about those spider crawls... Fucking brutal.

Did some triceps stuff, just plain extensions.

My right wrist has been giving me some pain for a couple weeks now. Not really sure if it's from push day or pull day but, it hasn't gotten better as I expected. Also, not really sure how to help it since I dunno what's making it hurt lol.... It'll get better eventually...... Right left knee?
 
Pull yday.

Pretty good day. Strength is still holding on.

I swapped a few exercises these last 2 weeks to keep progressing strength during my sessions. It's a new stimulus so, it should keep things at least holding on during the time where peds are pulled back. It also keeps things fresh for a bit longer.

I felt like I had been run over by a truck before the session from push the day before so, recovery is definitely down a touch.

Rodgers row - 6pps*7, 6

This is maxed out so when I hit my rep ceiling I'll have to make it harder in some way... Quite a bit harder.

Machine iso Pulldown - 4pps* 9, 8, 3*9/7

Bb row with prime attachment - 4plates *10, 8

Pullovers - 60*12, 11, 11

Was pretty shot after. Volume was pulled back a touch this session since I was feeling beat up and intensifiers were removed aside from the Pulldown.

Bicep work was done as well.... Just boring straight bar curls and some DB Curls. The straight bar has become a staple lately. It might be why my wrist hurts though now that I think about it.....

Onwards! Legs today.
 
Well, the good streak for legs finally came to an end.

Dunno why but I woke up with knee pain and it didn't get any better through my warm ups.

No clue why but, the tendinitis just flared up.

Did mostly Glute, adductor and hamstring work along with some tibialis raises (more rehab).

Tried the hack, no Bueno.

So, for quads I went to the belt squat.

I put the chain at the farthest back setting on the arm so the weight was pulling me back. I stood as far forward on the platform as I could. Pushed the weight down and back right to the point before I felt pain and then pushed everything, quads/glutes back forward. Got a great pump in the glutes and surprisingly a good bit in the hamstring. Quads got a lot of full contraction loading but not a lot of knee flexion obviously.

Today I wake up with zero pain. I'm assuming something caused a bit of inflammation the day before legs but, nothing in my diet was different, work was the same as usual and I didn't tweak the knee during my shift. 7 hours of sleep.

Regardless, there's something there causing it so I gotta find it.
 
Tresto said:
Hell of an off season look man! ??
Click to expand...
Leanest I've stayed during a growing phase for sure.

This is the first time I've ever had the issue of not being able to keep the weight inching up despite huge increases in food.

On top of my normal diet, I'm having 3 free meals per week, never did that before.

Not sure what's changed either. Old man metabolism?
 
Leggies today for father's day.

Felt good. Think I touched what will be my current cap for weights used on the hack for a bit.

It didn't kill my knees (yet) but they were definitely not happy after training.

Gym got another huge fan installed. Didn't get completely drenched in sweat, just mostly. Probably knocked 5 degrees out of the air I guess. Enough to be noticeable.

Hip thrust - 5pps*12, 11, MR 4*22
Adductor - stack+45+green band *13, 12, MR *22
Hack - 4pps*10, 10, 10/2*9
Belt squat - 4pps*11, 10, close stance*8
Glutenator - 90*15, 13, 11
Extension (1 leg) - 50*11, 10
Seated hamstring curl - 140*12, 11, 11

A lot of work compared to recent sessions.

As mentioned, knee is a bit tender but, not destroyed. I had to get to this point one way or another (slight discomfort) and I felt good going in so, today was the day. If I'm fucked tomorrow, I'll pull back. If I feel fine I'll stick here a bit longer and try anther increase in a couple weeks time as things, hopefully, continue to improve.

Also, I was bottoming out in the hack which I haven't done in ages. This is how I'll gauge the knee. If I can get full flexion and not cry, it's getting better.

Happy father's day!
 
Montego said:
Pull day.

Exploring options today. Everything I did today is not currently in my pull rotation so I could see where I can make changes for things that have stalled.

The hammer row is the same machine I've been using but I used a vertical grip instead of pronated today. I used to train this grip but I moved to the other to target more of the mid upper back instead of the lat. Very strong there and I feel the movement well but this is maxed out on the machine with perfect form.... Not sure it's more beneficial then the cybex machine and I have a lot of weight to play with on the cybex.

The hammer pull-down was a no go. This was done standing and it's a great stretch but hardly any activation.

The cable row was meh, nothing great and I feel single arm work here much better and don't miss any of the loading.

The DB rows for upper back, I tossed these in my last pull day and I really like them so I'll plug them somewhere and hammer them into the ground for a while.

This free motion cable pull-down was also a great option. Perfect for what I'm trying to do with overhead pulling movements and, there is no set up.

I plan on doing the same with push when it comes up. Legs I might adjust a bit as well before prep officially begins.

I did clean up the diet the last 10 days or so and I dropped about 7lbs of water instantly. The only thing I did was pull out the extra snack stuff I was having between meals like rice cakes, dry oats and some trail mix. I also have been more conscious of the amount of chick fil a sauce I've been using lol. Around half of what I had been. Pretty drastic and, it was actually planned.

In the off season I am a bit liberal with sauces and snacks when I need them (snacks are still clean food) ON TOP of my planned meals. I don't miss meals because I had a bag of trail mix or a sleeve of rice cakes, I just plug them in when I feel I can eat more. Not only is that helping my calories going in since it can get tough to eat 5000-6000 calories a day but when I do decide to diet, it's very easy to pull those things out at the beginning and have a rather large calorie reduction without feeling it.

I'm a big believer in slow steady reductions, and increases but, the beginning of a prep (the first week) a larger reduction is a very good strategy. You'll see progress the first week instead of just staying the same, which is common the first week of prep since calories should be well above maintenance and small reductions won't do much.
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Ah chick fila sauce good idea bro
 

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