Becoming the Iron Lion

[Montego]

My back is smoked lol. I haven't had DOMS in my upper back in I can't tell you how long but they're there.

Caught my weight before I started training regularly and I was 248, this morning I was 241 so, despite taking in way more food, the water is coming off and some fat is slipping away. Within another week I should see that start to rise as I get fuller and things get to clicking again.

If I'm able to keep this training frequency regular (it's been a challenge since the move for sure) I might restart a little blast to recover the size faster and then go back to my cruise again.

Tonight will be legs and I'm chomping at the bit.

 

[Montego]

2 solid days training.

Legs y'day.

High rep main sets, super set with some lower rep bodyweight stuff to get that last little bit out of the muscle.

Since being able to walk is my biggest "goal" after training legs due to the knees, this has been a decent way to get some more stimulus without having to increase loads as quickly and, still get that feeling of failure safely with some intensity.

Adductor and extensions 4 working warm up sets

Low close leg press with heel elevated bodyweight squats. 4 working sets

Hack 3 working sets (I'm so fucking weak in this movement......I used to hack 8 plates a side for working sets, now 2 plates is rough) split squats

Seated curls

That was it. Really all I can handle currently without crazy soreness.

Arms today -

Daisy chain extensions and cable v bar curls 4 sets

DB curls and close grip Smith 4 sets

Machine dips and straight bar curls 3 sets

Cross body extensions and single arm cable preacher 3 sets

DB extensions and seated incline curls 2 sets

That's it.

Started a new log book. Figured my days of training the way I used to are coming to an end so, I'll start finding a new way to get better each session.

 

[samgraves82]

2 solid days training.

Legs y'day.

High rep main sets, super set with some lower rep bodyweight stuff to get that last little bit out of the muscle.

Since being able to walk is my biggest "goal" after training legs due to the knees, this has been a decent way to get some more stimulus without having to increase loads as quickly and, still get that feeling of failure safely with some intensity.

Adductor and extensions 4 working warm up sets

Low close leg press with heel elevated bodyweight squats. 4 working sets

Hack 3 working sets (I'm so fucking weak in this movement......I used to hack 8 plates a side for working sets, now 2 plates is rough) split squats

Seated curls

That was it. Really all I can handle currently without crazy soreness.

Arms today -

Daisy chain extensions and cable v bar curls 4 sets

DB curls and close grip Smith 4 sets

Machine dips and straight bar curls 3 sets

Cross body extensions and single arm cable preacher 3 sets

DB extensions and seated incline curls 2 sets

That's it.

Started a new log book. Figured my days of training the way I used to are coming to an end so, I'll start finding a new way to get better each session.

Say what ya want, mega still big and full af

Sent from my motorola razr 2025 using Tapatalk

 

[Montego]

Say what ya want, mega still big and full af

Sent from my motorola razr 2025 using Tapatalk

Yeah, ya know, I look at pictures and I think "my legs still don't look that bad" but, then I go back and look at pics before my last show in 23 and, yeah, that left quad has atrophied a lot and, the adductors don't have the same thickness they did then.

I've still got better legs then 99% of the gym population where I'm at, but it doesn't really matter about others, I've seen the regression and I'm coming to terms with it.

The ability to walk every day these past 2 months has made that much easier to do.

 

[Montego]

Push and pull y'day and the day before.

Still taking it easy on push, there's still some lingering feeling of "off"

Sessions are making me sore though, so I'm doing SOMETHING

Pec deck 4 sets
Nautilus flat press 3 sets
Arsenal vertical press 3 sets
Life flat press 3 sets
Cable fly 3 sets

Laterals in there, few sets of triceps.

Pull was close to the old days. Strength isn't all the way back there but it will be next week.

Nautilus pull-down 3 sets
Nautilus row 3 sets
Arsenal multi grip row 3 sets
Seated cable row 3 sets
DB shrugs 3 sets

Bunch of added biceps. Dont want baby arms

 

[Montego]

Push today.

First session since the pec issue weeks ago where I didn't feel anything "off".

Stayed cautious but I'll start to push a bit going forward.

Pec deck working warm up with 2 real working sets

Nautilus incline 3 working sets (seeing as how I'm moving pussy weights ATM, I can use the neutral handles here without any issue and man they feel great, forgot how his that grip hits the chest)

Arsenal seated vertical press 3 working sets (this machine is great until I start to hit heavier weights where the load just feels too much in the stretch, had always made me nervous, even more now)

Flat Smith 3 working sets (haven't pressed flat with a bar in ages, still don't like it but, variety is good currently)

Cable fly right below chest height to upper chest (these give me a crazy pump but that's it, not a great exercise for hypertrophy imo)

Mixed in a bunch of side laterals and 6 sets of triceps split between the daisy chain and EZ bar press down

Very smoll, very flat, lots if muscle to recover.

 

[Montego]

Good training continues.

I pushed up the weights for legs this week and tried out the Smith squat, hopefully that doesn't come back to bite me in the ass.

Adductors and extensions, I maxed out the adductor machine a long time ago for weight, now I'm at 25 for my first working set. No way to rig a pin on this machine so I'll try bands next time. Extensions I've went much heavier and they are actually fine, I feel MORE stable with heavier weights weirdly.

Low close leg press and body weight heel elevated squats. Increased a plate per side on the lp for total reps but I've had to pause and reset more to go past failure. The bodyweight squats are just there to add more stimulus since I can't go crazy in the weights.

Smith squat felt pretty good surprisingly. I can hardly get my hands to the bar with my shit shoulder mobility and that's why I dropped these a long time ago. Only 2 plates a side for 4 sets of 10. Not really close to failure but it'll be enough to hurt tomorrow.

Split squats, didn't use the free hand for stability. Felt good.

Abduction got heavy and felt fantastic. I'll be hammering these hard for the dad butt.

One set of seated hamstring curls with a 15lb increase from last time was enough to cramp so that's all I did.

And it's rest time. Really hope my knees are good tomorrow because this session felt great and seemed like it was heavy enough to make something happen.

The bpc and TB are doing their thing since I started them back a couple weeks ago. Also added orange tops back in at 3iu every day. Grind numbness in my hand at night so I'll keep it here and see how things go before I entertain going to 5iu.

Bodyweight itm jumped up quickly. Back to 254 and its all fullness even though I still look like I've got baby arms.

Getting in the groove, hopefully I don't run out of the ruts

 

[Montego]

Knees feel good. Pretty sore, lower back a bit iffy since I haven't had a bar on my back in ages.

I guess the last time I did was 2022? Hatfield squats. My back then was tore up but, 5 plates a side for sets of 10-12 was the reason, not irregular use lol.

Tomorrow I'll train, dunno if I'll slip in my arm day or rotate all the way to push, will depend on how much time I've got before work.

Happy with how I'm feeling after the harder leg day though!

 

[Montego]

Pull today.

Didn't feel anything in the pec in my pull-down stretch, great news. I guess it's back to normal.

Touched weights I was moving before everything went to hell and they moved really well. Still have some reps to recover but, I'm pretty much right there again.

I have decided GH is the most impactful PED on my physique these days. I pulled it for a while when training was irregular then non existent and watched my physique dwindle.

2 weeks back at regular dosing and things are coming to life. I was back up to 255 the other day at the gym. So probably 250 fasted. Just a ton of fullness.

Things are going pretty good lately, enjoying training, enjoying eating, enjoying the RV and the wife. Life's pretty good ATM.

 

[Montego]

Arm day...woooo..... Stupid boring shit.

Just normal stuff, 3 working sets of everything, super set between biceps and triceps, short rest.

Cable curl and rope extension for an active warm up

Close grip Smith and cable curl

Dip machine and cable preacher curl

EZ bar extension and DB curls

Daisy chain presses and close grip curls

Pretty good session considering.

Power company hit our main water line yesterday.... Fucking cunts. Got some dirt and sand in the lines so we had to go get some bottles to tide us over until it clears up.

Work slowed down a bit the last couple days which is excellent and I've got plenty of sleep finally. Feeling good, ready to get a bit more serious and, I've got 4 vacation days coming up which I'm over the moon about lol.

 

[Montego]

Life update -

Things have been going really well.

We officially have the house listed. It took a bit longer then we expected but, it's ready to be sold. Pictures are being taken today and hopefully someone will offer above market tomorrow seriously though, I am expecting it to take a few months because there is a ton of new construction here and that's what we're competing with.

Life in the RV has been a pretty easy transition. Without the kids my wife and I have been acting like newly weds lol I'll let you all figure out what that means.

Work has finally slowed down a little this week so I've been able to sleep and rest and, with the house done, I haven't had any pressing matters to take care of.

Training going well. Recovering well. Eating a normal amount of food again for myself.

Now we just continue to execute the plan and hope the house sells quickly so we can start phase 2.

 

[Montego]

Leggies today.

Finally a great session. Been waiting on one like this.

Was one of those days where, in a crowded gym, felt like nobody was there. Just me and the weights, complete focus, lots of pain.

I dunno how to explain it, almost spiritual..... As corny as that sounds.

The knees felt good, the weights went up and I was limping by the end.

Adductors and extensions. I've actually worked up to 190lbs on extensions with no pain..... It's been years since I've gone over 150lbs on these because the knees couldn't take it.

Hip press weights went up, ground out every set to failure

V squat was good. These torch my glutes if I'm focused as the picture shows lol. Also a great stretch in the hamstrings. I can get into the "relaxed" leg position on these better as well since they're stable. Just thinking about hitting a front or rear relaxed every rep through the quads and glutes until I lock them out.

Split squats went up.

Seated curls didn't cramp me so I increased the weight and reps. I'll eventually do a real working set on hamstrings but, it takes a long time to condition them so I can weirdly enough.

Rest tomorrow!

 

[Montego]

Well, things were going to good I guess.

Cracked a rear molar today. Eating some trail mix stuff and "pop". Sonofabitch does it fucking hurt.

No chance I was going to go to one of these "Emergency Dentists" and get ass fucked so, I'll scramble around tomorrow and see if I can find one who will get me in and taken care of.

The same thing happened about 5 years ago on the other side with some almonds. Wasn't fun.

Sooooo, I'll have to deal with that on my last "vacation day"....yay.

Trained push last night and it was fine. Just really tired for some reason.

Went to see monster trucks with the wife. We haven't been out to do something in a long time. With the house stuff and trying to save every penny we just haven't went out. It was really fun. Went to the book store after and picked her up some reading martial.

Worked outside on the property all day today.

Filled up and planted a bunch of flower beds, transplanted some trees, planted some shrubs on the way up the drive that will hopefully take up some space and look nice, cut away more brush, moved ring cameras, dug up and pulled a big ass stump out of the ground. Was very busy but made great progress.

Probably won't train tomorrow if I can get into the dentist but, never know.

 

[Montego]

Tooth wasn't cracked all the way through. They went in and drilled out the crack then put a filling in. Hopefully it holds up.

Trained pull after the dentist. GD I've been sore. Crushed a good session there.

Today was legs. I'm gonna be hurting tomorrow. Left knee is already upset.

Legs are getting better but, still work to be done.

 

[GainTrain]

Tooth wasn't cracked all the way through. They went in and drilled out the crack then put a filling in. Hopefully it holds up.

Trained pull after the dentist. GD I've been sore. Crushed a good session there.

Today was legs. I'm gonna be hurting tomorrow. Left knee is already upset.

Legs are getting better but, still work to be done.

Glad it wasn’t anything too major. Nothing worse than tooth pain!

 

[GainTrain]

Push today.

First session since the pec issue weeks ago where I didn't feel anything "off".

Stayed cautious but I'll start to push a bit going forward.

Pec deck working warm up with 2 real working sets

Nautilus incline 3 working sets (seeing as how I'm moving pussy weights ATM, I can use the neutral handles here without any issue and man they feel great, forgot how his that grip hits the chest)

Arsenal seated vertical press 3 working sets (this machine is great until I start to hit heavier weights where the load just feels too much in the stretch, had always made me nervous, even more now)

Flat Smith 3 working sets (haven't pressed flat with a bar in ages, still don't like it but, variety is good currently)

Cable fly right below chest height to upper chest (these give me a crazy pump but that's it, not a great exercise for hypertrophy imo)

Mixed in a bunch of side laterals and 6 sets of triceps split between the daisy chain and EZ bar press down

Very smoll, very flat, lots if muscle to recover.

Still a beast bro!!

 

[Montego]

Trained arms y'day. Operation retired shitty bodybuilder is going fine. Getting bigger and fuller which, does not translate to better overall performance lol.

My arms have started to fall asleep again. Any time my back is against something, like laying in bed or sitting in a reclining chair. Very annoying. I need you get my message gun out and have the wife go through the upper and mid back to hopefully get it loosened up or, just go see my massage therapist.

Knees feel better today. Legs are sore. Eating a ton. Just need time doing it over and over again.

 

[Montego]

Push today.

Pushed the weights, decided fk it.

On the Pec deck, i only went up to 205 just to be sure I wasn't going to aggravate anything later in the session and it felt just fine so, went with the original plan.

The nautilus flat press I had been working at 3 plates a side safely, went to 4 and hit 12, went to 5 on my second set and got 5 which if perfectly fine. Back off set at 3 for 13 which is too many. I'll adjust here next rotation.

The vertical press I went to 3 plates a side instead of 2. Beat the rep range but stayed at 3 for the second then 2 for the last. Adjusting next rotation.

Viking press - this is a new exercise for me that actually feels really good. The handlesv can rotate a full 360 degrees so I'm able to find a hand position that's really comfortable. One arm at a time helps as well with the wrist so I can get under the handle a bit easier. 2 plates a side here from 1 plate last week testing it. Didn't beat the rep range but, as little as I've pressed for shoulders in the past couple years, this will skyrocket. I've always been very strong with shoulder pressing, which is why I don't do it. No need but, the delts have taken a hit for some reason since the wrist so, press it is.

Cable flys, strong, finished with a rest pause.

There were heavy machine laterals, DB rear side laterals, seated laterals, rear delt raises. Overall a great session.

Pull tomorrow. Keep on riding the momentum!

Oh, weighed 259lbs at the gym. 11 more and I'll be shifting gears food wise to maintain the weight instead of pushing.

 

[Montego]

Been training.

Had some knee pain that was unexpected. Also must have tweaked the right leg at work the other night. Some instability and pain in the back/side of the the knee when it's straight or I pick my heel up. Thinking it's just a strain but lord only knows what I did.... Probably sneezed wrong at this point.

Weight at 260. Still not being crazy strict with the diet, I eat fruit between meals that isn't on the plan and I'll have a handful of almonds here and there. Strength is improving in all areas, the weight is going up slowly and I can still see my ab outline in the morning so, we continue. Going to continue push this opportunity where I'm not all dinged up, haven't been working 80+ hour weeks and the house situation is pretty well calm right now.

Push today was good. Increased weights but didn't break rep ranges so I'm getting a bit more dialed in.

Pec deck -increased and hit the range
Nautilus incline or -increased but hit the bottom of the range
Smith flat -increased but didn't beat the range
Seated vertical press -new movement
Nautilus shoulder press -increased but didn't beat the range

Laterals and stuff between the main movers. Progressing these movements as well which is encouraging.

Pull tomorrow morning unless work fucks up my plans.

 

[Battousai]

Looking great dude

 

[Montego]

Looking great dude

Thank ye. Wish I felt like I looked great

 

[ERock5]

Been training.

Had some knee pain that was unexpected. Also must have tweaked the right leg at work the other night. Some instability and pain in the back/side of the the knee when it's straight or I pick my heel up. Thinking it's just a strain but lord only knows what I did.... Probably sneezed wrong at this point.

Weight at 260. Still not being crazy strict with the diet, I eat fruit between meals that isn't on the plan and I'll have a handful of almonds here and there. Strength is improving in all areas, the weight is going up slowly and I can still see my ab outline in the morning so, we continue. Going to continue push this opportunity where I'm not all dinged up, haven't been working 80+ hour weeks and the house situation is pretty well calm right now.

Push today was good. Increased weights but didn't break rep ranges so I'm getting a bit more dialed in.

Pec deck -increased and hit the range
Nautilus incline or -increased but hit the bottom of the range
Smith flat -increased but didn't beat the range
Seated vertical press -new movement
Nautilus shoulder press -increased but didn't beat the range

Laterals and stuff between the main movers. Progressing these movements as well which is encouraging.

Pull tomorrow morning unless work fucks up my plans.

Just when I start catching up to you in weight you have to go and start actually working out again and stop working 80 hours a week

 

[MindlessWork]

Thank ye. Wish I felt like I looked great

Lol don't put yourself down so hard...you look great at your age!

 

[Montego]

Pull -

Very very good. Some new exercises to save the lower back and get a different pulldown angle.

Progressed the arsenal pull-down and the arsenal mid row. The pull-down I've been playing with for a while, I can feel it really well in a couple hand positions but, I can't load it effectively. Pulled me out of the seat or felt like my shoulder would dislocate. Used A neutral grip with with my legs staggered and it felt great.

Subbed the t bar for a seated close grip cable. Kind of an in between width handle so it's not so close that I can't get a full contraction. Felt good, will run the rack quickly so I'll milk it while I can.

A plate loaded machine pulldown. Just a regular grip but I can get directly under the handles so it's a great isolation for the lats with no upper back.

DB rows on an incline bench. Progressed, another good one that I feel and can decently load to finish.

Getting spicy with everything so I need to reload on some things if I'm able. Throwing a little dbol in starting tomorrow to keep things moving since I've been able to stick to everything without incident.

 

[Montego]

Legs y'day. Touched heavier weights again and the knees aren't happy again. Gonna have to back it up a step. Not debilitating but, not fun so I won't keep pushing it.

My hamstrings look great.... About the get genetic gift I got.

Push today. Back to normal weights on everything. Feeling great in this aspect. Went to five plates a side on the nautilus press and 3.5 on the arsenal vertical press. Pretty happy there.

Weight was 261.

 

[Montego]

Woops, forgot to update.

Push and pull were good.

Heavier and heavier we go on upper. I've maxed out the two nautilus back pieces at the gym sadly because I feel those the most. Not really a way to rig a band up either.....I might look into the weight horn sleeves but I ain't spending hundreds of dollars.

Legs today..... The damn knees just wouldn't warm up. Single leg elliptical resistance reps, tiger balm ULTRA (yeah we go big around here ), knee sleeves, tons of warm up sets, they just wanted to hurt.

Did some 1.5s on the adductor since 30 rep sets with the stack isn't going to get me bigger adductors. No way to add a pin on the machine (the only machine)

Lots of extensions with the adductors but they just hurt even with light weights so, went to the leg press.

Backed the weights off, 5 count eccentrics, 2 count pauses, 20 rep sets. 4 here

Heel elevated bodyweight squats. If I'm leaning way forward these were tolerated between the leg press sets.

Pendulum - nope, not a single rep. About a third of the way down with 1 plate and it wasn't gonna happen.

Belt squat - 2 sets here with only 1 plate a side. Same thing, just not happy

I got frustrated and left after this.

Take aways -
the time between leg sessions was shorter.

The last leg session was the heaviest I've gone in a while.

I'm a fucking hard headed idiot who doesn't fucking learn his lesson apparently. Less weight, higher reps, perfect form, make em harder HAS to be the approach. Stop being a cunt and wasting 2 sessions to have one good one.

 

[Montego]

I went to one of those golf simulator places last night.

I haven't played in literally over twenty years and the guys at work have been bugging me for months to go so, I went.

I actually hit quiet a few really good shots during our round. I warmed up for like ten minutes then we played a round at Pebble Beach.

The chipping, putting and short approach shots were awkward and I never really got my touch back there. Shots were decently online, just hard to gauge distance.

Also, bodybuilding does NOT translate to length on the golf course lol. I couldn't get a great shoulder turn and transferring weight felt awkward. I know a lot of that is just not playing but, I could feel my size was hurting me.

I really cranked a few drives and I think my longest was only 275. I know it translates different on the course (usually longer they said) but even my iron yardages were lower then the past. An 9 iron used to be dead on 150 for me, now I was reaching for a 7 iron with an 80% swing.

Anyways, it was fun. I shot a 91 which sucks, but, not as bad as I expected. I won't be running out and buying clubs anytime soon though I don't think. My right wrist was pretty upset with me after.

I also aggravated the left pec..... Yeah I think trying to rotate stretched out? Whatever lol.

So push today wasn't much, just tried to not make that side regress in whatever point of injury it's still got somehow.

 

[ERock5]

I went to one of those golf simulator places last night.

I haven't played in literally over twenty years and the guys at work have been bugging me for months to go so, I went.

I actually hit quiet a few really good shots during our round. I warmed up for like ten minutes then we played a round at Pebble Beach.

The chipping, putting and short approach shots were awkward and I never really got my touch back there. Shots were decently online, just hard to gauge distance.

Also, bodybuilding does NOT translate to length on the golf course lol. I couldn't get a great shoulder turn and transferring weight felt awkward. I know a lot of that is just not playing but, I could feel my size was hurting me.

I really cranked a few drives and I think my longest was only 275. I know it translates different on the course (usually longer they said) but even my iron yardages were lower then the past. An 9 iron used to be dead on 150 for me, now I was reaching for a 7 iron with an 80% swing.

Anyways, it was fun. I shot a 91 which sucks, but, not as bad as I expected. I won't be running out and buying clubs anytime soon though I don't think. My right wrist was pretty upset with me after.

I also aggravated the left pec..... Yeah I think trying to rotate stretched out? Whatever lol.

So push today wasn't much, just tried to not make that side regress in whatever point of injury it's still got somehow.

Dude I used to golf religiously and got to a point I was pretty good at it. I went to top golf recently and could not swing a club for shit. My whole body felt awkward trying to swing. I also hit chest the day before and felt like I was going to tear a pec. I told my wife that golfing is out of the picture for now. Save that for my retirement years. You’re right. Bodybuilding and golf does not mix

 

[Montego]

Dude I used to golf religiously and got to a point I was pretty good at it. I went to top golf recently and could not swing a club for shit. My whole body felt awkward trying to swing. I also hit chest the day before and felt like I was going to tear a pec. I told my wife that golfing is out of the picture for now. Save that for my retirement years. You’re right. Bodybuilding and golf does not mix

Yeah it was sooooo weird.

My swing is REALLY fast from the top now too. It's the only way I could generate any power since I can't turn.

 

[Montego]

Been slammed with work. Had to move around some training sessions and pull back some intensity.

Work being crazy like this absolutely wrecks me physically with the complete lack of sleep and LOTS of hours outside in the heat and humiditysweating my balls off.

Went and trained legs today after my 14 hour shift, it wasn't great, but still painful.

The hip press wasn't hurting my knees so I did most of my work on there. I can't have the knees mad at me when I'm working this much it I'm pretty well incapacitated.

3 half ass working sets on the extension, wasn't feeling good so had to squeeze the shit out of every rep with less weight.

5 sets of hip press with feet moving in on platform each set. This helps the knees get a bit more acclimated before I get narrow with my heels out.

2 sets of v squat with feet close

Worked in sets of heel elevated squats, split squats, goblet squats and DB SLDL between. Had a crazy pump and I can still walk so, it's good enough!