The Testosterone Monologues

Dragan

Howdy,

For those who don't know me I have been a stalwart on the Fitness board for some time now, using scathing sarcasm and caustic wit to whip myself and others into shape!!.....wait….that doesn't sound like me…..let me try again.

I like to help people…….nope, still not it.

I like to lift heavy weights……NOW we're getting places. Each day in the gym I am trying to lift the same heavy weight more times, or a heavier weight. I run www.teamtestforum.com and keep a journal over there, but seeing as I love the Fitness Forum and boards.ie so much I will replicate my posts from there, over here. I was thinking about linking it up but that would surely mean a torrent of new posts calling me a pussy would fill up my other journal so instead I will simply do the old copy and paste over here.

The reason I am posting this journal here is because I give a lot of advice, and sometime I might come across as being a bit of hardass about things but it's nothing I don't expect of myself, so with my journal people can see that, and also see that I do have some sort of basis for offering the advice that I do. I have made some massive changes to my strenght, fitness and physique over the last 18 months ( my lifting history is a lot longer but I was sidelined due to injury for some time, so to speak ) and intend on making a lot more over the coming 12.

Up to Christmas I will be working on arm hypertrophy , push strenght, sorting my hips out and adipose reduction. Unlike a lot of people I firmly believe that all these things can be done at once. If you have any comments at all, then please feel free to leave them here, any question or advice is always more than welcome. Remember, the only way to advance is to learn, and the only way to learn is to communicate.

Here is a link to my journal to date, from today on I will double post over here as well!!!! Please leave any comments on this site if you reading it through this site!

http://teamtest.freeforumsite.com/teamtest-about161-180.html

That’s all from me for now, and remember, do what hurts!

Dragan

Thursday 31st Aug : Chest and Shoulders

Okay, so I decided to trial my new chest and shoulder routine, as it was the one part of my six week plan that I was unsure about.

Plate Loaded Flat Bench : 40(12)60(12)80(10)90(7)100(4)80(8)
Incline Barbell Press : 60(10)65(8)65(7)65(6)
Incline Flyes : 14kilos(12)18kilos(9)20kilos(6)
T-ha Cable Pulls : 5 plates, 10 to 12 reps, 2 sets both sides
Half and Half Cable Flyes : 15 reps, 2 second squeeze at point of contraction and half way down the negative, 6 plates a side, 3 splits.

At this point my chest felt rocking, so it was on to shoulders, and a quick change up in my six week plan. I honestly couldn't even clean up the dumbells I would normally start of with ( 30 kilo's ) so doing a "push" workout for shoulders was out, as such, I did my "raise" workout instead.

Cable Lateral Raises 3 sets, 10 to 12 reps a side.
Front Cable Raises 3 sets, 10 to 12 reps a side.
Rear Lateral Raises 3 sets, 10 to 12 reps a side.

These were done with **** all rest….the only rest either side got was while the other side was working, then a straight swap over. Took about 2 mins between raise groups, just to get the feeling back in my shoulders. As I said previously I want to keep this little shoulder workout very abbreviated, I had a massive pump and a very deep burn in my shoulders so was happy to call it a day.

I will keep this structure for my new six week plan, and do my Push Shoulder workout with arms. It's only a minor change, but one I think will be of major benefit. I just was not going to be able to press the type of weight my shoulders need to grow on, which is top range strenght testing weight, for 4 to 6 reps, straight after that type of chest routine.

I will also keep the chest routine pretty much as is, doing a big heavy movement first thing, then moving on from there. In Total Fitness Sandyford I believe they have a Hammer Strenght Chest Press, so I look forward to using that as I have heard it is excellent.

Anyway, glad I tested that out, will do a few workouts over the weekend and then take next week off, do some traveling around this fair Isle and then begin the new routine the following Monday, the 11th of September.

t-ha

Question: was it entirely neccessary to make me go searching the internet for the meaning of the word 'stalwart'?

j/k

daveirl

This post has been deleted.

t-ha

daveirl wrote:

This post has been deleted.

http://www.exrx.net

It's essentially like a one-armed cable fly from a low cable station (I use the third from the bottom station, but machines vary so...), except that the arm is bent and your hand goes well past your centre-line (where it has to stop in a normal cable fly) so that your pecs fully contract. I know that's a crappy explanation - I should make a short vid and host it somewhere...

Dragan

Emmmm…….ouch. First thing that came into my head when I woke up on Saturday morning. The second thing was "Oh ****, I'm training with Eamonn"

Lots of Jack Daniels and Coke and various shots of sambucha, jagermeister, butterballs and B-52's followed by 3 hours sleep, is, traditionally not the best way to prepare for a training session with one of the best bodybuilders in his weight class on the planet.

Oh well, at least we weren't doing legs. I have to confess that I thought about doing some compound dodging, because I know that Eamonn wanted to do chest, while I had done chest two days ago, so the thought of simply doing arms did walk into my head and say "Hi, I'm a ****ing smashing idea".

Instead I did deadlifts. Teach me to think like a pussy. All I did was dead's, then biceps with Eamonn.

Set 1 : 60 kilo's for about 15 reps. A mild flush about the cheek's builds up.
Set 2 : 80 kilo's for 12 reps. A slight beading at the forehead.
Set 3 : 100kilo's for 12 reps. A 37% proof sweat breaks out.
Set 4 : 140kilo's for 7 reps. I'm beigning to get drunk on my own fumes.
Set 5 : 180 kilo's for 1. "Hey beautiful…..oh…..sorry dude."
Set 6 : 180 kilo's for 1. "Man, I look vascular as **** standing here with 180kilo's in my hand or maybe it's just the diuretic effect of all the booze….."
Set 7 ( drop set) 140 for 6, 100 for 9 reps.

End - I was happy enough with that, considering the state I was in. When in perfect form the 180 will be a triple. And I have been set the target of 20 reps with 140 kilo's within 6 weeks. I'm winning this one, I don't care!!!!

Next it was on to biceps, and here did my education begin afresh. Eamonn basically completely overhauled the way I do my biceps curls. To give you an idea we only did 4 working sets for biceps. And quite simply that is all I could have taken. I don't mind saying that it was the toughest biceps workout I have ever done, and I look forward to doing that to myself each week and seeing what becomes of my biceps!!!!

I'm not too good as describing stuff, but I will happily show you all how to commit bicep murder in 4 sets or under the next time I train with any of you! We did two sets of standing alternate bicep curls, and two sets of one arm preacher curls, tapping on some forced reps and some negatives at the end. I have to say, I think the air around us must have turned a deep blue at one point, but I didn't give a ****….my bi's were frying and I had finally found the way I needed to train them.

I have said this before, and will say it again. To reach the level of development that Eamonn, and anyone who can legitimately stop on a stage is at, you need to live in that dark place that sits in the back of your head. You gotta fall in love with the absolute agony that kicks in around reps number 3 ( I used to think rep 6, but I know better now ) and then you need to force it out for as many more reps as you can stand. I, and others I have seen train have managed to get into that room upon occasion, and it is a fantastic thing. I gotta get myself to the point where I am in there from set on, and don't leave until the last rep.

Then, and only then, will I start to make the kind of gains I want to make!!! Once again, a big thanks to Eamonn for the bicep stimulation education, a total pleasure to train with you as always!

Remember, Do What Hurts.

Dragan

(( Was away for a week, will be back in the gym tonight, my comeback post - please note this is taken from my own site, so there are many references to it, and people there. ))



Okay so, i was supposed to start back in the gym yesterday, but due to the weather, and some other obligations and injuries i decided it would be best to take another days rest, drop my quads day from this week and just roll with it. Remember, the best laid plans never survive past the start of the battle!

First of all, lets do a run down of some injuries i seem to have picked up!

Lower Back : Is somewhat stiff. This is most likely from 1RM like a fool last Saturday with **** all sleep and more alcohol than amino acids in my blood. I think as well that until my hips get fully sorted that i should knock this heavy 1 RM **** on the head, at least for a bit. Instead i have been set the target of 140kilo's, for a set of 20 reps within six weeks. Challenge accepted.

Knee : Drunken mid-week shenanigans mean my knee is, well , ****ed by the looks of things. It was an impact injury as opposed to a hyperextension or twist so i am happy that what is wrong with it is just a result of some swelling and not any kind of ligament of tendon damage. Another weeks rest and it should be fine, as it has already improved a great deal from the time of initial injury.

Face : Still pretty as hell. Noice!

Now then, how's my head?

I'm pretty sure the week away from the gym was the best thing i could have done. I'm hungry.....very hungry. I want to lift some weight, i want to grow, i want to lose some adipose. I want to do things and lift weight that the Laws of Gravity clearer state i should not be able to do.

It's funny because i woke up this morning and felt like turd. I had no energy, i had no drive, i had no desire. I wanted to lay in bed and just let the world go by. Then the old Team Test attitude rose up inside me....and along with it what i like to consider the Team Test motto.

"**** that."

So i got out of bed, had my shower, ate my shake, wholegrain bread and eggs, made sure my gym bag was up to snuff and headed to work. I spent much of the morning reading the madness and gym efforts of my fellow Team Test members and it restored my faith in what it is that i do and what it is that we love!

I am now three meals and 3 litres of water into the day and i am feeling funky, like some kind of Jimi Hendrix/Barry White cross breed. I am all sorts of funked up.

Tonight is chest and shoulders ( raises workout ). First excercise for chest is gonna be flat plate loaded bench, working up and down. I'm gonna put my faith in Eamonn, with regard to his philosophy towards chest and keep it short and sweet and rib crunchingly fun!!!!

Anyway, it all starts here, the proof is in the pudding and all that jazz and we will see over the next 4 months whether i deserve to be called your Trusty Admin.

Roll on the gym, i just wanna ****ing lift!!!!

Dragan, Do What Hurts.

Dragan

Hey guys, sorry for the lack of updates! I have been lifting, things are just awkward with the knee and all ( have since had a mate **** it up good and proper during a game of soccer ), so don't expect to see any leg training in here anytime soon ( which sucks, as legs are my favouritist bodypart to pound on!!! ) Anyway, i will jump back in with yesterdays workout.


Chest :
Plate Loaded Flat Bench : { 40(12)60(10)80(8 ) warm up } 100(10) - PB DOUBLE DIGITS!!!! 112.5 for 4 (PB!!!!) straight drop to 100 for 3. Rest for 60 seconds then 80 for 8 rest for 60 seconds then 60 for 13 of the most painful reps of my life.

Incline Flyes : 18kilos(9,6)

Pec Dec : 50 pounds (12) 75(12) - need to up this more i think.

Shoulders :

Cable Lateral Raises : back and forths between in front of and behind the body for 2 of each for each side. Nice warm up.
Lateral Raises with dumbells : 30 pounds bells for 12 reps, strict and controlled then a drop to 25 for crucifx raises to failure, normally at 3rd or forth rep. (these hurt like a mother****er by the way) - did this three times.
Front Raises - triple drop sets, 20,15 and 10 kilo bars. Once again mix with sweat blood and tears and repeat. Done three times.

Thoughts :

1) Very happy with this workout.... i felt strong all the way through. Was very happy with the progress in my pressing as i finally got those double digits going. I think i need to vary it a bit though, so i will change to Incline Plate Loaded on alternate days training.

2) Flyes...this was fun, i was doing Flyes last night and with each rep my chest actually looked that little bit fuller....i am very happy with the way my chest is coming along....i really do see now that before i was over training it.

3) Pec Dec....i need to up the weight more on these....although that 75 for 12 was that hardest thing i have done in a while...that was a sweaty dirty battle to get those reps.

4) My shoulders have the potential to my best bodypart i think......i will let you know soon enough though.

5) Lifting rocks.

Dragan

Workout:
Chins ( proper wide grip knuckles out chins ) 3 sets of 2 reps each ( @246 pounds I'm happy with that )
Pull Downs : 185 pounds for 10 reps by 3 sets.
Bent Over Barbell Rows : 60(12) 80(9) 110(4) 60(12)
Bent Over One Arm Row : 45kilos(8,6)
Rope Lat Pull Downs : 155 pounds (12,11)
Seated Row : Full stack (10 , 9)
Seat Plate Load Low Row : 80kilos( 110kilos(4)
Close Grip Lat Pull Down : 150 pounds explosive pull down with a 4 second return, till back busting failure.

Thoughts :

1) Ouch

2) My back responds really well to multiple excercises… by the time I walked ( see hobbled ) off the gym floor last night I had a fantastic pump in my back, the hardest of all pumps to achieve. I'm very sure that this is because I hit my back from many, many different angles and excercises. I have done this for my last two back workouts and the results have been the same both times.

3) I don't feel so bad about not being able to deadlift now, as I have never, ever had a feeling in my back like this. I can actually feel very distinctly the DOMS in the different muscles that make up the back, which is fantastic and feels lovely!

4) My weights are going up, despite balance issues or even just support issues on certain lifts due to not being able to put any force through my bad knee I was generally doing more weight or more reps than previously. Bent over one arm rows are the most obvious, with an extra rep added to each on with the 100 pounds. Happy with this. Took a good few seconds before I was right after doing these.

5) Stretch Marks - a good sign of growth is how your stretch marks are doing, and mine are acting up again. My favourtie one is actually red raw so I am using all sorts of stuff to keep it calm ( how metro of me!!! )

Miscellaneous Thoughts :

A) ( do you like the change in bullet point style from numbers to letters? ) Anacat is working a treat - I am now down to 246 and pretty much a comfortable other notch down in my old belt. That’s 4 notches in total since I started my last cut, and has continued steadily ( though somewhat slowly, which was to be expected ) since swtiching to the Anacat protocol. I'm now 17 stone and 8 pounds ( and that is after a full days eating and fully hydrated before my workout ) so I am now looking at 17 stone as being a target weight, but I will no doubt begin a cut or something before I reach that on Anacat. All in all though, it's going well, I'm growing where I should grow and shrinking where I should shrink.

I have been listening to Bullet for My Valentine ( given to me by a friend ) for a bit that last few days, and while I would put them in the same catogory as "Coheed and Cambria" ( loving Ten Speed actually Raisen ) as a band that will put out one or two things I like but that’s about it I have to say I am digging on "Tears Don't Fall" and "All these Things I hate" as workout songs.

Anyway, that’s all for now, Dragan out!

iregk

I started my new leg routine on saturday and I'm really only walking now!

A little less weight on the squats by 20reps, 18, 16 & 14 and my ass was like a very very painfull piece of iron when I went to bed on saturday night! Any by the way yes that was from the weight so don't be thinking anything else!!!

Dragan

Shoulders (Push) and Bi's and Tri's

Shoulders :
Dumbell Press : {warm up, 2 sets, light weight, 12 to 15 reps} 34kilo dumbells (4,3 - PB!) 28kilo dumbells (8,7)
Behind the Neck Barbell Press (smith) - 40kilos for 10,8,8 reps ( not counting the bar or course )
Plate Loaded Machine Press - 10kilos a side (14) 15 kilos a side (8)

Biceps :
[warm up, 2 sets, very light weight]
Alternate Dumbel Curls - 18kilos for 2 sets - these were killer
Plate Loaded Curls - 15kilos for 2 sets ( I didn't like these, found it hard to hit my bicep enough and felt I had more so did….)
Preacher Dumbell Curls - one set each arm 14kilos, to failure, 2 forced reps, then negatives till I dropped the dumbell. That did it.

Triceps :
Rope Pushdowns - 3 sets, done at 48,55 and 62 kilos for 13,11and 10 reps. Ouch.
Dips - Level 11 on the Grav for 3 sets of 8 reps. These were hard, but once again I moved up a level.
Decline Dumbell Skull Crushers - 14kilos 2 sets to failure.

1) It was a good workout. At first I thought my pressing sucked, but them I checked the Dumbells and realised I was using the 34's , not the 32 as I had meant to. My best to date has been 30 kilos so I am happy with that. It really killed my shoulders though as it was damn heavy but I'm still happy with the rest of my shoulder workout.

2) I don't know if it means my arms are coming along or not, but I was getting a few stares by the time I was done and had a good pump ( and during, if I'm honest ). I could have had spinach in my teeth or something though. Or maybe it was my pained expression doing negatives on preachers till my arms went numb? ( they guy with the best arms in Westwood told me last night that it was obvious I was putting the work in, which was nice! )

3) You know when you sitting in your swivel chair, and you kinda do a dip to sit up straight? When I do that today I cry a little inside. My triceps feel like big bundles of pain at the back of my arms. That’s odd because tri's was the one part of last night the I felt unhappy with…..until I woke up!!! I was very happy to get all my reps at Level11 on the Grav though. I'm runnin out of stack so it gonna have to be bodyweight dips soon I think.

4) Have started back on Animal Paks as my volume is about to go up and my energy needs to be top notch. I had a full 44 paks in my press so I might as well use them and give them a proper test.

5) Aside from my knee, which was non gym related I am pretty happy with how my body is feeling. Unlike poor T-ha I seem to be able to take a good beating and keep on trucking, so hopefully I have not condemned myself to some obscure injury for having written this!

Dragan

Workout : Chest and Shoulders (raises)

Flat Flyes : [2 warm up sets fo 12-15 reps] 22kilos (9,7)
Pec Dec - 4 second negative : 70(11) 90(9)
Cable Flyes (bent over) : 7 plates a side (9, 8 )
Incline Plate Loaded Press : 40kilos(12) 60(10) 80(8 - PB!) 80(7) 60(11)
Pec Dec - 4 second negative : 90(7, 5 breaths, 3reps, 5 breaths, 2reps)

Shoulders ( raises )

Dumbell Lateral Raises : [2 warm ups set] Double Drop sets, 18kilos to 14kilos(crucifix) (10,3) , (9,2)
Rear Raises : 12kilos (12,11,11)
One Arm Cable Lateral Raises ( side to side) : sets 3 on each side, back and forth to failure each time.

Thoughts :

1 ) I needed to do a pre-exhaust workout for my chest, as my Tri's were still really feeling my workout from Monday. I didn't want to be pressing from the get go, as whatever way you look at it you Tri's do assist a lot in the pressing, and I was doubting I would get my usual weight. The pre-exhaust worked a charm and I got an unreal pump from it. I might alternate between this workout and my presses first workout week to week. I already have crazy DOMS today.

2) Finding your groove on the Pec Dec is awesome, and when you do that introduce a 4 second negative to really test your metal. By rep number 6 it was feeling as if the pec was gonna come away from the bone, after that its really just a test as you can do more reps, but it does genuinely hurt the muscle A LOT so you soldier on or bitch out. As the saying goes though, "Pain is temporary" and 10 seconds after your done you can feel your chest again and it's fine. I love these. I would recommend them to anyone who has a decent Pec Dec available and a high pain threshold.

3) Pressing was fun, my chest was knackered and didn't want to do anything, but I got my work done non the less. Another PB on Pressing has me happy, plus, despite it being a pussy weight I have never seen anyone using 2 plates a side on this machine as it really does isolate your pecs very well and people find it hard to cheat! The funny thing was I was filling the machine when I sat into it, always a nice sign. I also had a little bit of an audience by the time I was done, as 3 girls had set up in the machines around me and I caught them all looking at various points, which was a nice ego boost.

4) My shoulders were still pretty tired from being worked on Monday, I might move my raises to a the same day as back…I don't know. Not being able to do legs means I am doing everybody part ever 5 to 6 days now….i need to have a think about my split and figure something out.

5) I have pulled Fridays back workout forward a day to tonight. A social engagement on Friday night would compromise my recovery somewhat, even though I will not be drinking…and I want to be fresh for Saturday to be honest.

Dragan

Back and Traps

Workout :

Lat Pull Downs : 40kilos(12) 50(12) 70(10) 85(8 )
Bent Over Barbell Rows : 60(12) 80(10) [ switch to underhand grip ] 100(6 - no wraps) 100(8 - with wraps, new PB!)
Unsupported Bent Over One Arm Rows : 45kilos (8,7,6 reps a side)
Hang Cleans : 60 kilos for 4 sets of 3 reps.
Hyperextensions for 3 sets of about 12 reps.
Dumbell Shrugs : 50 kilos dumbells for 8 reps for 2 sets ( the more I think about the more I think these were 55, not 50, but who cares? )
Machine Shrugs : 80kilos(12) 120(10) 160(8 ) 200(6) - deffo PB for me and shrugs.

Thoughts :

1) It was a great session, no doubt! I got to train with JayRocs sister who is a great training partner. Like our own G'em there is no messing around, get in and lift!! We were just finishing up back when who walks in only Mick!! He was due to do some back as well, so I figured I would hang around, do some shrugs and have a chat with him. Needless to say that chap is a back MONSTER and I now see what he means about dumbell pull overs doing a lot for his lats, and I plan on working in his method into my our back routine! If you think Mick has big lats in his Avatar you should see them under tension with a full pump!!

2) Very happy with the bent over barbell rows. A new PB is nice, and I was really giving it my all last night!!! It's also good to know that my form was spot on, cuz that’s really important for back and I don't like the thought of sacrificing form just to move weight anymore. I have SO matured!! Happy with the one armed rows as well, these were unsupported so you can knock maybe a rep or two off what you can do supported so all in all I'm chuffed with it now!

3) Mick is a back monster.

4) I'm very happy with how I am progressing physically, I like the fact that my weights and reps are going up even though I am being very concious of not chasing that type of gain. I am training for size and to grow….it's nice to have other things coming a long. Plus, when your doing your first set and completely lacking a pump and your training partner says "Yeah, some nice definition coming up, you've been putting in the work" it kinda makes you breath a sigh of relief to be honet. I'm very used to training with lots of people who will give me honest advice, and it think it's been about 5 weeks or so since I trained with someone….so knowing that I'm not kidding myself is a weight of my shoulders!!

5) The plan was to do one arm clean and press, but my leg was not up to the task, so I did hang cleans. Sure, I know legs are a major part of hang cleans….but they were tearing my back apart last night because all I could use was my back to move the weight. It was awesome. Also, at the end of the third set I did some presses with the weight ( 60 kilos) and to be honest it felt good and easy, so I am happy with that to!!

6) I'm changing up what I am doing tomorrow to just shoulder pressing, as I will be doing chest and biceps with Eamonn and G'em on Sunday ( or at least such is the plan ) so I might throw in some rack deads tomorrow or something….i don't know!!! Spoilt for choice really!!!

7) Shrugs were ridiculous. There is a a great "deadlift machine" up in TF that I used for shrugs, as the bars are in the perfect position for it. I just kept loading it up and ended up with 4 wheels a side. At that point I turned to Mick and said "will I go for five" and he just smiled and said "do it!!!" it came up easy as well, which was nice and I got my reps….and today my traps are in ribbons!! Ya got to love it!!!

8 ) All in all It was just a great session all round, thanks a million to S for a savage workout, and to Mick for a reason to stay on and do traps!!!!

Dragan

Okay then, here is the low down of what got moved over the weekend.

Saturday : Shoulders, a bit of back. ( a pretty random day to be honest )

Shoulders : [warm up]
Dumbell Press : 32 kilos dumbells for 8 reps, then 7 reps.
Standing Military Press : 60kilos for 3 reps.
Push Press : 70kilos for 4 reps, 75 for an easy 1 ( planned to do 80 but forgot!!! )
Slow Dumbell Press : 20 kilos for 12 very slow reps.
Bodyweight Dips : 5 reps ( first time ever getting proper bodyweight dips!! - PB plus i don't know to many people at 250 pounds who can do BW dips)
Bent Over Barbell Rows : 60kilos 12 (superset with a few cleans), 80 kilos for 8, 100kilos for 13 (PB).
Standing Dumbell Press : 20 kilo dumbells, about 12 reps or so.

Sunday Session : Chest and Biceps
Chest
Hammer Strenght Chest Press : 40(12) 60(10) 80(6) 100(4) 120(3 - that was a fight let me tell ya!!!! PB) [100(5) 60(10) - "baby reps" as Eamonn was saying, basically operating with the middle 2 quarters of the motion to keep all the emphasis on the pec….they hurt )
Flyes : 17.5 to failure, 20kilo dumbells to failure….i can't remember reps, only that they hurt.
Odd Pec Dec Thing : a 6 second contraction and 6 second negative till failure, then some forced reps for 2 sets, last set with a drop set of normal reps. Ouch. Again.

Biceps :
Alternate Dumbell Curls : 12 to warm up, then 12 sets, one with 15, one with 17.5 both to horrible awesome failure.
Preacher Curls : 2 sets with 15 to failure, then a forced rep. Also did one very heavy set of negatives with 20 kilos, for about 3 or 4 reps.

Thoughts:

1) Everything hurts. Nice.

2) G'em looks hot as hell.

3) According to JayRoc my chest is coming along nicely, along with my arms and shoulders. Accordingly to Kwalsh my arms are really improved from last time he say me. According to Mick I am making good improvement. Excellent, exactly whay I needed to hear to be honest.

4) Standing in the changing room with Mick and Eamonn, both of them with their shirts off can be a) seriously depressing, b) seriously inspiring c) something else entirely if you a girl I would imagine. You really gotta just take your pick so I went for inspiring.

5) I think it completely justifies this site that everytime I meet up with other members they have changed physically for the better, or are lifting more, or have conquered an awkward form issue etc. Really nice to see, well done and thanks to everyone who trained with me over the weekend.

6) On Sunday G'em got to see my "business" face….it's called that because it's the face I am wearing when doing whatever horrible combo of stuff Eamonn has thought up of, and he always means business. However, that man has also been responsible for the change in my training that is bringing me bigger and better things, so thanks a million dude!

2) Just making sure I said that G'em is looking well? And by well I mean "yummy!".

7) Taking 12 seconds to do one reps hurts like a motherfumbler. There really is no other way to describe that feeling. As an aside, whenever Eamonn is happy with your work level he always says "that’s a set", implying well done, good set, stop killing yourself now. So I always try and do one more rep.

4) I did say that Mick and Eamonn are Huge, yeah? Their not just huge, you gotta capatilise that to really describe it. Bastards.

8 ) Hopefully over the coming weeks I can arrange to train with some more people in Micks gym, maybe train with JayRoc and his sis a bit up in Total and generally just turn it up even more!!! Should be fun. See you all by the big boy dumbells!!!

Dragan

Workout : Back and Triceps
Location : Total Fitness Sandyford
Trainee Status : Infected

Back :
Deads : 60kilos (12) 100(6) 140(6) 180(1) 200(fail) 190(fail)
Chins : assisted 7,6
Lat pull downs : 80kilos (8) inverted grip (9,6)
Unsupported Bent Over Rows : 45(7), 45(10 - PB! But beaten by) 45(11 ha ha ha!!!! PB)
Drunk Hang Cleans : 60(2,2,3,3)

Triceps :
Bodyweight Dips : 5,5
Skull Crushers, 4 second negative : 30kilos, 2 sets of 12 reps.
Close Grip Bench : 60 kilos, 2 sets of 7 reps, slow and steady.
Push Downs, 3 sets, 50%, 70%, 85% of the stack.

Thoughts :

1) Very happy with the deads. My back is strong to the point of just sticking an extra wheel a side for each set. I wanted to test the max, and the knee, during the movement so didn't freak out on the other sets. All in all, considering I haven't done deads in 5 weeks, can't put any force through my left leg and had a cold, I still managed to pull just 20 kilos under my personal best. I had to pull in more a hinge fashion than I like, as I could drive from a low ass position with my legs but it was a nice smooth clean pull and descent. The only reason I failed on the 200 is because I couldn't hinge lift it, if I had the drive from the legs it was mine. It's odd, cuz despite lifting pretty much entirely through my lower back it is not that sore today at all.

2) Bent Over rows. I was happy getting 10 a side, I was delighted actual, but on the last set I really pushed it out, if I can get 10, I can get 11. The main result was momentary blindness, and I believe is said "urrrrrrrgh" on the last rep?

3) Drunk Hang Cleans are what I have to do as I can't use my legs AT ALL, so I am legless doing them…..geddit?

4) Deads are great, but I just didn't have that back pump that I had the last two weeks…obviously it’s the combo of excercises that is doing it. Don’t get me wrong, deads are great, but I think I will do them every second week?

5) Today I feel awesome, good and strong… I imagine when I wake up tomorrow the cold will be completely gone. Something awful is getting done in the gym on Saturday.

6) Very happy with Triceps. When I was doing my second set of dips this enormous chap walked up to me and said "well done, you must be about 17 stone and your doing bodyweight dips. Wish I could do them"…..i just said I'd trade in the whole bodyweight dips thing for his physique!!! And he was wrong, it's 17.5!!! Ha ha ha

7) My Tricpes felt ( and looked ) great when I was done. I had a nice arm pump going, even in my biceps from helping with back and I felt really good.

Dragan

Workout : Shoulders
Location : Westwood

Dumbell Shoulder Press : [10 kilos(15) 14(15) 16(12) - warm up] 32 kilos (7 reps - PB!) 32kilos(8 reps - PB!!) 32kilos (7 reps) 36kilo's ( fail just shy of lock out!!!)
Lateral Dumbell Raises : 14(12) 16(12) 18(9)
One Arm Barbell Snatch ( from the floor) : 20(6) 25(4) 30(2) 35(1)
One Arm Dumbell Snatch ( from the floor) : 30(2) 32(2) 36(1)
Smith Miltary Press : I did three sets, but honestly cannot remember the weight or reps!!!
Back and Forth Cable Lateral Raises : 3 times on each side.
Lateral Raises : 3 sets with cables
Plate Loaded Shoulder Press : 2 sets with 10 kilos a side, to failure, 5 breaths, then failure again. Done twice.

Thoughts :

1) Yummy - after a week off due to illness I was expecting to come back pretty weak, instead I set new PB's. Nice. I am now very happy with my shoulders. My aim over the last few months had been to make them bigger and stronger and I feel like I did that.

2) 36 kilo dumbells are maw'****ing heavy, especially after 3 work sets of pressing before hand! I was so close to locking these out, and will be happy when I can. I was offered a spot but was not bothered….i want to know I can get them up on my own, then work from there.

3) The Snatches rocked….although I did these are a very fast rate and by the time I was doing my singles I was feeling light headed. I'm happy with the weight and might try 40kilos next time, but the singles really did kick my ass….so much so that I a) nearly fell over after them and b) honestly cannot remember the weight I was doing miltary pressing with. I said to Jay Roc on the phone after that I had done 70….and I normally count without the bar, but I don't think I could have done that weight, so I'm not worrying about it!!! All I know is my shoulders are now feeling Dom-tastic and that’s all that counts.

4) My triceps feel nice and fresh, which is good as I have been very carefully to ensure that my weights are being moved by the delts, in a range of motion that activates the delts, and not the triceps. I feel this has been a major factor of the growth of all three bicep heads.

5) Not even RAM has saved me from some serious DOMS today, oh the joys of a week off, you get newb DOMS again!!!!

6) All in all am very happy, it nice to be back. As you can also see I have combined pressing and raising again. I have gotten what I needed from that specialisation and it is time for…..other….endeavours. Stay tuned.

Dragan

Workout : Back and Biceps
Location : Total Fitness

Bent Over Barbell Rows : 60(12) 80(10) 100(8) 120(3 - PB right there)
Chins : 3 sets of 6 to 8 with 30 kilos on the Grav
Cable Pull Downs : 40(12) 50(10) 57.5(9)
One Arm Dumbell Rows ( unsupported ) : 50(8) 50(10) 55(8) - there all PB's, the last one being the new benchmark.

Biceps :
Dumbell Curls : two drop sets, 17.5 kilos to failure, then 12 kilos to failure.
Preacher Curl ( plated loaded ) : 1 drop set, 40 kilos to fail, 30 to fail, 20 to fail.
Ez Bar Curls : 1 set, 30 kilos to failure.

Shrugs : plated loaded machine 160(12) 200(9) 220(7 - PB!)

Thoughts :

1) I think this goes without saying but….."ouch", my back feels proper fried today in a way that only heavy maw'****ing rows can do. Am delighted with the new PBs that I set….i feel I am heading on the right path…because it's just that the weights are going up, but my wings are getting bigger and my back is becoming thicker as well.

2) One Arm Cable Pull Downs are brilliant for me. Lat pull downs with a straight bar are great, don't get me wrong….but I was getting a ridiculous stretch and contraction on these because the machine has bigger dimensions….so it suits me more. I swear the last three reps of each set felt like the lat was gonna come away from the bone! Awesome!

3) When I was doing arms last night the blew up real quick, but then I was finding it hard to feel them. This normally happens and I felt like it was a mediocre biceps workout until I woke up a 2am this morning because both my biceps were cramping up.

4) When I had 220 on the machine for shrugs last night there was three young lads in there who were watching me lifting, then two of them came over and asked me how long I had been lifting etc. Had a decent little chat with them about stuff and basically made them see they need to eat more food!!!! I've seen them in there a bit, and there eager but just need some direction is all. I like days when I get to help out someone with something in the gym.

5) Anyway, the it from me for now, tonight is chest and triceps….and I will be posting again later with my plans from now to Christmas so stayed tuned!!!!! So, till we speak again, same Dragan time, same Dragan Channel!

Dragan

Okay so, it's Phase 2 or Project : Monster for Dragan! I have spent the last 3 months bringing up what I thought were my weakest points, namely shoulders and chest…and to a degree, my arms! That mission has been acomplished and now it is time for the worst bit of any bodybuilders year ( whether you’re a wannabe like me, or a competitor like Eamonn! ) and that’s the diet.

Yes indeed, it's time for me to try my hand at this Get Shredded Diet Business. I have spent this week going over the details, working out my diet and calories and fats and proteins and all that jazz and now I am ready to roll. I fell good right now, and I cannot think of a better time to kick this off that off the back of 3 storming workouts ( 2 down, 1 to go!! Lol ).

Anyway, I won't go into major Detail, because that just ain't me, but here are the rough basics of what is going on.

I will be down to about 2500 calories a day….which when you’re a 250 pound guy is not a whole lot! The marconutrient splits looks like this,


Protein - 30% to 35%

Carbs - 10% to 15%

Fats - 55% to 60%

With my daily structure looking like this


Basic Daily Layout

7:30 Lipo Six x 2
08:00 Breakfast + Whey + Creatine(5 grams)
11:30 BCAAs + Creatine(5 grams)
13:00 Lipo 6 x1
14:30 Meal 2 + Multi Vit
17:00 BCAA + Explode
17:30 Lipo 6
19:00 Whey + BCAA + Creatine(5 grams)
20:15 Meal 3
23:00 Pre Bed Meal+ BCAA's

I'm not gonna go into major details here about the foods I will be eating, I will give you a dose of that on Monday! Rather I will talk about the major differences that I can see between doing this as a 160 pound G'em and a 250 pound Dragan!

1) I'm a dude, sounds obvious but think about it. I obviously don't need to worry about the girly hormonal issues that will plague any female trying to do this….but I do need to worry about Test. Dropping test levels will cripple any guys efforts to get lean…but the high fats diet, and a healthy dose of ZMA every night should keep that in check for me.

2) I don't train during the day. G'em would train early enough during the day, she would then suffer a crash in work….at least I should be at home when most of my crashes kick in, meaning I can lie on my couch and feel like turd and hate everyone and not have to work through it. Advantage me.

3) BCAA's and Creatine….at 200+ pounds the benchmark is to get in more BCAA's and Creatine each day….for the 8 weeks that I hope to do this cut for I need to take in 10 grams of BCAAs and 5 grams of Creatine…..4 times a day!!! The BCAAs will go a long way towards sparing muscle mass, while the Creatine will help with this as well, but will also allow me to get a pump during training ( no carbs plus heavy weights makes Dragan a flat boy! ). Anyway, I expect this to really suck! But I'm pretty sure that 5 grams of BCAAs and 2.5 grams of creatine a day was no picnic either!

4) It's coming up to Christmas….this will the hardest part for me….i'm pretty lucky in that the first feed up day co-incides with my brothers birthday, and the second falls over the weekend we go to see Raisen-dude…however, I will not be able to drink on either occasion. It will also cross Christmas day…and I will need to be very honest with myself and see if I can afford to have that final feedup a little bit early, or late, or what.

5) I am further off the mark than G'em was when she started…that is to say, proportionately I am holding more bodyfat that she was….as such, I am a little bit away from the realm I should be in to start this diet. However, I am doing it anyway. Why? Because I am an idiot, that’s why. I have no doubt that there is little pyshiological reason ( sure, adopise affects hormonal levels and such ) but I am reasonably certain the reason Berardi would want people at a lower weight is that it means they can handle there bodies and nutrition and have a better chance of surviving the diet. I'm more than happy with my will power and knowledge and if I break I break, simple as.

6) I'm not expecting to get shredded!!! Based off the point above, because I am further out, I am not expecting to be sporting a deadly six pack by the end of this 8 week experience. I do hope to be a very solid, no longer embarassed to take my shirt of Dragan though…which will be nice. I'm sure if I stretched it out to the 12 week max I might be approached "cut" by the end of it….but what I really want to do is just do it for the 8 weeks, see what I'm like at the end of it and then know what I need to do for the new year. There are too many advantages to me doing this, and I am too much of a right place to do it to NOT do it….if you know what I mean.

My Expectations :

It's gonna be tough, no doubt about it. I have no doubt that the world is full of really good lifters and bodybuilders who don’t ever make the stage because they cannot hack the diet. This is the test for me, I know I can lift. I know I go to the gym sick, and with a ****ed up leg, and I squat till I collapse and shrug until the wraps cut into my wrists and make me bleed….but I have never given myself the ultimate test of a diet this severe! When I was lean before it was done over the course of about 2 years….**** that. It's time to test myself and see if I'm all I'm cracked up to be!!! So, while the diet will be tough I am betting on the fact that I'm tougher.

As I said, I don't expect to be shredded, I really don't…but I do expect to be leaner and happier and general looking that little bit more impressive as the waist shrinks and my v-taper expands and various bits and bobs tighten up and all that jazz. I think unlike G'em I see this very much as the 1st Stage in a 2 Stage Process to becoming ripped. Don't get me wrong, I could be standing before you all in the new year, with a six pack to make Hollywood film stars cry and shoulders like boulders if true some weird twist of the cosmos the diet goes against everything I think should happen and work twice as fast just for me!!!! But I won't…..but I will be standing before you lighter, leaner and happier. That’s all I want.

Could I ask a favour?

I know you guys will be supportive as hell during this, so cheers in advance. What I would ask is for a few sessions in Micks the odd Saturday to keep the spirits up and to throw some normality and fun and a bit of a social life into it….so if you guys wouldn't mind training with me now and then that would rock.

I plan to be there every Saturday I am not at home, or in Leeds so we will sort it out as we go I suppose!!! Anyway, Saturyday will be my last hurrah for a while, and I look forward to spending it with my fellow Team Testers!!!!

Anyway, will speak to you all tomorrow!!!

Dragan , Do What Hurts.

Dragan

Friday : Chest and Triceps

Flat Dumbell Pressing : 20(12) 25(12) 30(10) 35(5) 35(5)
Hammer Strenght Mid Ranges : 60(12) 80(10) 100(5) - ouch!
Incline Flyes triple drop : 20, 15.5, 15kilos , 2 sets to failure
Cable flyes, 2 sets, 4 second negative to failure.

Triceps
Dips, one set of 4 terrible dips ( tired tri's = crappy dips!!!! )
Skull Crusher/Close grip supersets - EZ bar + 20 kilos, 4 second drop on the crushers, to failure for both, 3 sets.
Cable Pushdowns, 5 step drop, started out with the full stack, then dropped 2 plates 5 times, failure each time.
Behind the head Extensions, 20 kilos, 2 sets.

I also did a few rows ( 60kilos for reps) and a deadlift, because there was 180kilos on the bar ( that was cold with no warm up, DON’T do that at home, remember, I am an idiot). Very quickly my triceps were pretty mashed which is why my dips sucked so bad ( I hope! ) I will know more when I train arms tomorrow. Chest strenght is something I want to work on…I have brought it up in size recently, but right now it’s all about the Shred.

Now then, first off thanks to everyone who came on Saturday to celebrate G'em's success and my initiation into Shred School. It was a great night, I spent WAY too much money ( as I think did everyone lol ) and a lot of fun was had I feel!!! Now then, here are my initial thoughts in on the Shred.

1) It messes with your head. As I was saying for the last few days I have been thinking I looked like ****. To get such nice compliments off people as I did on Saturday was truly unexpected because I thought I look awful. It's funny because on Tuesday when I was working out I thought I felt great….its just that as G'em was saying, when you accept the Shred you accept that you are not what you want to be….and you want to be that as quickly as possible!!! It's a very complicated few days that I imagine you will all go through if and when you give this a shot!

2) I haven't really had time to get hungry yet…and I will be a day or two away from having the worst effects begin to kick in I feel, so right now the worst thing is creatine!!! It's five grams 4 times daily…and as I will only be having a whey shake 1 of those times I need to take mono in water, which is just chalky and garbage and makes your belly feel odd for fives mins afterwards!!! I imagine in two weeks I will look back at this line and think "you thought creatine was bad, now luck at you ya big mess!!!"

3) I did a better job with the big BCAA tablets than I thought I would and had no major problems. This is a major blessing, as they get eaten four times a day as well, and difficulty with them would be a BAD thing!

4) That’s it, it's too early to have anything ground breaking for you guys I fear.

Dragan

Monday the 6th November :

Call me odd if you like, but I have a very specific rule about food. With the execption of ice cream and yoghurt I firmly believe you should only eat food you can chew….if you can't your not eating it. I hate when people say things like "I ate soup for lunch"….really? No you didn't, you drank it you plank! Now then, what brought about this little tangent into the joys of food consistency? Cottage cheese. I had never eaten it, but knew by the funny looks it has given me in the past that I wouldn't like it and sure enough….it's horrible. Last night was a battle as I gagged down and almost puked up 6 horrible spoonfuls of that foul gunk but I won in the end. It took me 20 minutes to do and each spoonful had to eaten over the sink in case it came back to say hello. I think it's experimentation time and whey, peanut butter and avocado will all be trialed as a way to make it taste better. But anyway, down to business….

Workout : Shoulders

Dumbell Pressing : [ 20pounds and 40 pounds for 12 reps - warm up] 30(4?) 32(6) 32(6)
Superset :
Standing Miltary Press (40kilos) with Standing Dumbell Press(15kilos) : [10,5] , [8,4] , [8,3]
Bent Over Rear Raises cables - one armed : 3 sets to failure for each side ( 2 plates)
Lateral Cable Raises Back and Forths : 3 sets each side to failure with two plates
Dumbell Lateral Raises : 15,12,10kilo dropset.
Front Raises : 2 drop sets, barbell front raises, 15kilos, 10 kilos to failure on both with a 4 second negative
One Arm Dumbell Snatches : 28(4) 32(2) 36(1)
Plate Loaded Shoulder Press : 10 kilos a side to failure, 5 breaths, to failure again.

Cardio : 30 mins treadmill

Thoughts :

1) Well that’s day one over, and the meal breakdown of yumminess goes like this Breakfast ( turkey bacon, cheese, eggs, olive oil ) is Yummy. Meal 1 ( broc, cauliflower, lettuce, walnuts, chicken, olive oil ) is Not Yummy. Meal 3 (broc, tuna, carrots and an egg) is Yummy. Meal 4 ( cottage cheese, whey, flax ) is Not Yummy. These have been measured on the Dragan Gastranomical Scale of Yumminess.

2) Yesterday was a killer day in work and by the time I left I was strung out and wrecked tired….when I failed at 4 on 30 kilos on pressing it ignited a rage in me for the rest of the workout. I got a killer pump and was very , very happy with the days work! The supersets were killers! As were the snatches….a young dude asked me to show him the snatches last night and he was all excited about them. Bless him!

3) It looks like a very high volume, but I got all the above done in 40 mins….i was tearing the place up and it felt great.

4) Lots and lots and lots of tablets….i actually take so many tablets during the day it is scary!!! Fortunately the main ones I was worried about, thebig BCAA tablets are not much of problem to get down, so it’s all good!!!

daveirl

This post has been deleted.

Dragan

Cheers Dave, I'm using Prolab, both the full amino profile ones and the ones with just the three essentials ( easier to swallow after a workout!!! )


Workout : Biceps and Triceps

Triceps :
Dips ( bodyweight) 4,4,3 - this was nice as there was a chap there who was working in with me, and while he was getting 12 or 13 reps he was impressed that I could do them at my bodyweight. He was also checking the dept for me and said I was fine, getting to just below para, which was nice.
Skullcrusher/Close grip bench superset : 20kilo+ezbar to failure on both, then two sets with 30 kilo plus that bar to failure on both, skullcrushers done with a 4 second negative.
Pushdowns with the bar : full stack to failure for two sets
Rope Pushdows : 5 step drop set, to failure each time. Started at 64 kilos and worked down a plate each time.

Biceps :
Alernate Dumbell Curls/Hammer Curls Superset : 18kilos/12kilos respectively, to failure each time. 2 sets
Preacher Curls : 14kilos to failure, then 2 slow negatives. 2 sets.
Back and Forths one armed cable curls : 4 plates, back and forth twice to failure. Ouch.

Cardio : 15 mins on Treadmill at 6.5 3degree incline.
15 mins on ArcTrainer ( switched to this as cardio is boring and there was one Arc left, with a hot chick to either side )

Thoughts :

1) Happy with energy levels…had a slightly less hectic day in work yesterday so was less tired walking in there. Got a fabulous pump, as you always do when you train bi's and tri's together! Every second session I will alternate whether it is bi's or triceps that go first.

2) I need to get a little note book to record reps as they happen, because unless it is a big and obvious lift I find it hard to remember.

3) Food yesterday was a more enjoyable expereince, I cut down on the Olive Oil with meal two and took some Flax Caps with it. Today I have opted for Sesame Oil upon G'ems advice and have made "fake mash" with broc and cauliflower!! Last night upon G'em and Raisens advice I blended the cottage cheese into a whey shake and it was much more manageable!! I might be crazy but it still bloated my belly up something shocking!!!!

4) Hoodia ( an appetite suppresant ) seems to work wonders. The only thing I ever really found that stopped me waking up hungry at night on a good training day was Muscle Milk in my night time shake with L-glutamine, L-Leucine and Nutriplex….i took Hoodia on Monday night and woke up at 2 to go to the bathroom but was not hungry. Last night I did not take hoodia and woke up at about 3 to go to the bathroom and I was hungry. I will experiment more in the future.

5) Reading back over G'ems journal I could see on Day 3 she felt a little bit "ploopy" I believe the word was. I feel similar…just a tiny bit tired and a little bit unsure of things. The body dysmorphia is still there, sitting on my shoulder telling me I look crap and this cut will do nothing but that’s just natural doubt I suppose. As JayRoc said "if you stick to the plan there is no way nothing can change" and as I said, I am not expecting to be ripped at the end of this, but a bit leaner would be nice!!! Ha ha ha I definitely see it as a two step process to get where I want to be….having a flat belly and no love handles or moobs at the end of all this would be nice though! Oh the joys of being a lardie!!

6) I was asked in work why all my meals are different, why I am taking lots of tablets and why I'm eating less….rather than explain what I am doing I simply said I was on a very specific diet due to allergies. That went down a treat and no one is asking anymore questions. Everyone is always very supportive of my gym efforts but they just see this big guy, they don't really understand the desire to be really lean.

Well that’s it for now!! Catch you later guys!

Dragan

Thursday 9th November :

Ah well, we are four days into to this little journey. If I am honest with you, I am currently very surprised by how hungry I have not been? I know it sounds crazy, but the Lipo 6 right now is really working, in fact it almost works too well. But it's also one of the most necessary supplements I am taking…not just to keep the hunger at bay, but to deal with the tiredness. Because that’s the thing that gets you….the tiredness begins to seep in. Right now I'm not Ketogenic, my body hasn't undergone some magical change from needing starchy carbs to make my brain work to generating ketones to do it…..i'm just carb starved and tired.

Waking up in the morning I am hungry and my brain is fuzzy. As per the plan I down two Lipo 6 and have my shower. The Lipo 6 give a pretty good energy boost and are great for stamping on the appetite! But then I need to eat breakfast. Your no longer hungry but you eat it anyway, because it's a quarter of your daily calories and you want them…and if you don't eat them by 11 o clock you'll really know about it!!! After that it's pretty smooth sailing to be honest….well, for the last 3 days it has been.

Yesterday there were some definite moments of "jesus, I'm sleepy" going on…..and tonight is Back, and we all know how that is with me, so I am expecting my first really bad crash to occur sometime after doing tonights workout. The good thing? I will be at home when it does and can just lie on my couch and think about donuts and such!

An interesting note is I have yet to crave spuds, or rice, or pasta or anything like that. Oh no….what I have been craving is my dearest of sparkling friends, Pepsi Max!!! I find it a little scary that I can effectively cut out a macronutrient group and for the first 3 days my body goes "meh" but cut out Pepsi and I'm jonesing from the get go!!!! I guess that is the joy of having some muscle mass packed with glycogen stores!!!

Anyway, last night was just cardio, did an hour walk and that was it. Am starting to feel a more obvious tiredness today and will let you know how things go.

Dragan

Workout : Back
Location : TF Sandyford

Deadlifts : 60 [12], 100[10], 140[6], 190[1 - WOOT!], 200[ so damn close, but just couldn't lock it out]
Cable Pull Downs : 40[8] 50[6] 60[8] 72.5[8]
One Arm Dumbell Rows : 60[8 - PB! Beaten by…] 60[9 - WOOT!] 55[6 - slow negatives]
Drunk Hang Cleans : 60[6 - PB!] 60[5,5]
Power Cleans : 60 just did 3 quick reps to check the movement and my knee.

Cardio : 30 mins on the Threadmill 3degree incline at 6.00 - these seems to be perfect for not annoying my knee and keeping my heartrate in the right place.

Thoughts :

1) Deadlifts : I walked in wanting to get 190 and I got it. It came up very easily and I was delighted with the lift. If I am honest the deads have bothered me, the bad knee is stopping me powering through them and I wanted to get back up to 200 despite this. I feel that if I had of progressed straight to 200 I would have nailed it but hindsight is 20/20 as they say. Next time I hope!! When I did my first set at 60 I got a wave of the shakes afterwards and felt pretty rough. I had been tired all day and doubting myself a little but I figured the next 8 weeks are going to be full of those moments, and the difference between failure and success is knowing you could have done no more, regardless of the results so I just knuckled down and did my workout.

2) Another PB on the one arms rows, which I am happy with, as by the time I got to them I was really feeling it and was very happy to get the reps that I got. I might leave these a long for a while, and look at doing something else, as I feel it is important to change up my workouts now and keep myself interested and challenged.

3) The Power Cleans flew up, I was literally feeling like I could have THROWN the weight over my head so I might see what kind of level I can take these two once they don't start to aggrevate my knee.

4) This morning I feel very tired….i was talking to G'em on the phone at about 10:00 last night and predicted 45mins grace to a crash, so I got my meals cooked for today and lay on the couch and watched the Soprano's on E4+1….sure enough the crash kicked in.

5) It was impossible to get a pump last night. Or else I had one and was too ****ing tired to notice or feel it, I don't know. Will pay close attention to my chest this Saturday and see what happens.

6) Mick was in there and I was spotting him on the bench. He seemed a bit miffed that he is only benching 120 for 8 reps. Yeah….i'd be pissed off too.

7) Well done to S, who has become my regular back training partner. She finally nailed a 100kilo dead and it was a good strong movement. Don't let what our G'em does in the gym colour you vision. A 100kilo deadlift is a very, very good lift for a girl ( G'em , myself and S coined the term "mutant strenght" when we were talking about your deads last night - hows that for a compliment? ) and is only the tip of the iceberg I feel. She is also coming along strong on rows and pull downs as well and I can't wait to see what weight she's moving in six months time!!

8 ) I didn't go to bed till about 12 last night, because while my body crashed my mind was still working fine. It was the first time I had taken the 4th Lipo 6 of the day, at 4…and I wonder if that had anything to do with it? Even though tonight is just cardio I will do so again and see how it affects me tonight, as I can have a bit of a lie-in in the morning.

Anyway, that’s it for now, looking forward to meeting all you cats for our session tomorrow!!!

Vegeta

My God I am weak.

Looking at this page and G'ems makes me realise how hard things are going to be for me.

I only started dead lifting about a month ago. I weigh just under 80kg and can only dead lift 100kg. I could probably do a 1 rep max of 110 or 115.

I am just not naturally strong, I see people who are clearly smaller than me bench more and guys around my size bench 20kgs more.

I am determined to increase my strength.


Good luck with the cut D. I am sure a person with an Iron will like yours will definitely make big improvements

Dragan

Vegeta wrote:

I only started dead lifting about a month ago. I weigh just under 80kg and can only dead lift 100kg. I could probably do a 1 rep max of 110 or 115.

January last year my one rep max was 120. Just to give you an idea as to what you can do in short enough time frame.

Cheers mate, and you'll be grand, just stay lifting.

Vegeta

Dragan wrote:

January last year my one rep max was 120. Just to give you an idea as to what you can do in short enough time frame.

Cheers mate, and you'll be grand, just stay lifting.

That's the kinda insight i need. If I know I can make gains regularly my motivation will remain high. Thanks man

Dragan

Day 5

Ah yes, so it's coming up on the end of Day 5 and how am I doing? I'm pretty tired to be honest, and I am very much looking forward to a weekend where I don't need to think a lot. I just feel a little run down already I suppose. I think a large part of that has to do with getting to bed late last night, so it's definitely a lie in for me in the morning. I think it is also down to this having been one of the busiest weeks in work since I started here….if I was fully fed up I would be feeling pretty tired right now, so I am not particularly worried about it.

Now then, I have done some hard thinking about how I will express my cravings and wants for various things over the course of the cut. G'em as we all know is a demon for emoticons, that just ain't me though. Instead, I have invented the patented scale that is "The Dragan Scale of How Much I want Jessica Alba." That’s right…. I will use the goddess that is Jessica to convey how badly I want things.

So lets have a look see at the benchmark........


Not only is Jessica incredible hot, she also has a great sense of humour.

This has come about from a conversation between myself and JayRoc last night….when I was describing how much I wanted to get that 190 deadlift I believe I said "I wanted it as bad as I want Jessica Alba". So, mathematically….a 190 kilo Deadlift = Jessica Alba on this scale. Now, don't get me wrong, obviously there is a large degree of circumstantial influence in this, the main one being I have had a 190kilo Dead before….i know what it feels like….sadly…I have never had Jessica Alba.

Anyway, the overall gist is that at any given time you can place Jessica Alba as being the thing I want most in the world, then take my other circumstances and compare how much I want something to that….make sense?

So, right now I wouldn't mind some fruit. This I believe is similar to a craving that G'em got around this time. Now then, do I want this fruit as much as I want Jessica Alba? Nope. So all is good.

The below is still more attractive to me than food....everythings coming up Milhouse!!!


But she's also incredibly hot.

The day that I want something MORE than I want Jessica Alba is the day I feel I need to stop this cut, as my Test levels have dropped so low that I am no longer a man….but I will be in a position to rival G'em as strongest Lady on the board ( Ellmo is currently second I believe??? ).

And so that’s it for today. I am five days in, it's the weekend and I came up with a reason to search Google Images for pictures of Jessica Alba. And just one more reminder, so that you know how serious I am being when I say "I really wanted………".


It was decided to stop the sea's rising by boiling them with our Hot Jessica

Catch you all tomorrow!!

Dragan Out!!!!

Dragan

Before I kick into the madness I will run through my workout from Saturday.

Chest :
Flat Dumbell Press : 20(12) 25(12) 30(8) 35(5)
Peck Deck : 6 second negatives to failure, 2 sets.
Incline Barbell Press : 60(8) 70(5) 80(2 - 1 on my own PB!, 1 assisted) - 85(fail)
Incline Dumbell Flyes : 20 kilos, 2 sets to failure.

Random Stuff:
Power Cleans : 80kilos for 2, 90kilos fail.
Snatches : lots of low weight high reps, some barbell one handers, some 35kilo dumbells and a few barbell double handed.
Pull Ups : 2 sets of 3.

Thoughts and Stuff :

I am pretty happy with the workout and cheers to everyone for a great sessions. I think we all had fun and as usual the post lifting chin wag in K3 was a great laugh!!! I have to say I was zoning in and out a little bit but was happy with how long I lasted. At times it actually felt like I was a little drunk…but hey, I have been drunk before and can work with that!!!

When I got home I went up to the shop and got myself some eggs, tuna and mature red cheddar cheese. While I was up there I passed all sort of goodies like cakes, biscuits, crips and bread and it didn't bother me. Only when I got to the counter did I see something that really drove home the fact that I am denying myself some of the tastier things in life.

A Mars bar.

Never before I have stared at the shiny red writing with such desire. It was an emtionally complex situation as I tried to do the mental maths and deal with the results based on my "scale of how much I want Jessica Alba" ( Jessica, if you reading this, that wasn't me in the bushes outside your house, I swear……I really liked the t-shirt/pant combo you we wearing though ). Anyway, in an effort to convey, once again by the power of pixels, my brain patterns….here is the simplistic equation and result that occurred last night.

=

Now then, as you can see above, the Mars Bar was equal to Jessica Alba in attraction at 20:07 last night, with it being windy and rainy and me being tired and sore and a little weary. Circumstances were not on my side, which gave the Mars bar some added leverage. That bastard. Anyway, the end result of this was that I felt a little bit….well, here's another pic.



You see, I have always had a soft spot for Mars bars. When I was younger I knew by the age of 5 that the Easter Bunny's existence was somewhat questionable, that my parents were very unlikely to allow a fully grown woman with a fondness for childs teeth into my room when I was sleeping and that a Jolly Fat Man, regardless of his reported deadlifting strength, or the cycles that his pet reindeer were running would be able to haul 50 million sets of presents around the world in one night. However, until the age of about 15 I firmly believed that "A Mars a day, helps you work, rest and play". It turns out that a Mars a day really just makes you fat. Who knew. Anyway, despite my jiggling teenage body and resultant self disgust and dare I say, down right betrayel that my beautiful and tasty friend the Mars bar had turned me into a Tub I still loved them.

The picture below shows why, as I have highlighted the hidden layer of orgasmic joy that you find only when your bold enough to bite into one of these bad boys.



Oh yes. Anyway, yesterday myself and the Mars bar went to war….and Dragan won. I took my healthy food and left the shop with my calorie defecit intact. I went home and watch Warrior King and Mission Impossible 3 ( well, 15 mins of Mission Impossible 3 as I did fall asleep on the couch ) and I ate my food. Which was very tasty.

So thats Dragan 1, Cravings 0.

Dragan

I'm gonna cut right to the chase and say that yesterday was a bad day. I was lagging in work all day, and by the time I had walked to the gym I was feeling beat. The second I set foot on the weight room floor I started to shake. I grabbed a bench and sat down and just focused on breathing and stopping shaking. I was pale, my hands and legs were shaking and I looked like death warmed up. I have never, ever felt so weak and tired and helpless in the gym before. I must have just been sitting there for 2 minutes when a guy walked over to me, a look of concern on his face and asked me if I wanted a hand getting downstairs. I asked him did I really look that bad? He replied that, no offence, I looked ****ing terrible and should just leave it for today.

I think that, more than anything, made it all worse. Suddenly I wasn't just feeling it, I was looking it. I'm not used to looking weak in the gym, or in need of help. I'm used to being looked at for the weights I'm moving, or for the intensity I'm working out with. This was the worst 5 minutes I have ever had in a gym as I just sat there and wanted to quit. I have often felt beat down and terrible after a brutal workout, but never before one! I wanted to get up and walk away, go down to the Blue Bar in Westwood and eat and drink whatever I wanted. One number kept running through my head. 48. "You have 48 days of this left." I know for a fact the G'em got this during her cut, and it's only now that I really understand what it's like. Your too tired and weak to put on a smile, your too tired to fight the voices that tell you it's not worth it, but once your not walking away you are winning. So you tell yourself you'll do the warm up and see how it goes. Much to the disbelief of the randomer who was kind enough to be concerned you grab the dumbells and start pressing….

Workout :
Dumbell Press : 14kilos (12 by 2) , 32kilos (7) 34kilos(3) 26kilos(9)
Seated Straight Arm Dumbell Laterals Drops sets : 10kilos,8kilos(failure on both) 3 times - do these, they are not fun but man do they hit the lateral head.
Tri- Set : Seated Military Presses (50 kilos) , into alternate Dumbel Front Raises(8kilos) into Barbell Front Raises with a 4 second negative(10 kilos). 3 times, to failure on everything.
Seated Plate Loaded Shoulder Press : 15 kilos a side to failure, 5 breaths, to failure, 5 breaths to failure.
Cable Laterals Back and Forths : 3 times each side to failure.

Cardio : 10 mins on the Arc Trainer, 35 minute fast walk home.

Whenever I did not have a weight in my hand during that workout I was shaking. That’s why I did the drop and big big trisets….my thinking was cut down on the rest times and I would be shaking less. That right there is called Dragan Logic, and while it makes no sense it does wonders for making you feel better at the time. When I got home and ate my after training meal I felt a lot better. I stopped shaking and started feeling human again. I was very happy I had stayed and gutted out my workout. I was very happy that I had moved the weights that I had moved. I honestly felt like I could never feel worse than that, but then when talking to G'em the voice of experienced informed me there is a very good chance that I will. Crap.

It was a victory for me, but as G'em says, every victory has to be paid for….and no doubt working through that crash will result in another crash. I guess how bad you feel at any given moment is all a matter of perspective. Now don't misunderstand, G'em was not saying I will feel worse to diminish my win, she was saying it because she KNOWS, she has felt everything I am feeling right now and she is doing an excellent job of trying to help me figure out what could be coming next. I said it yesterday but I will say it again, the most valuable tool I have available to me during this cut is G'em's still fresh experience from hers. If she hadn’t been there to point out that I will most likely crash again, and possibly worse, then when it did happen I would be completely unprepared for it. Now I know it might happen I can keep an eye out for it and deal with it when it does.

So thanks again my dear, you truly are a guiding light through this.

Now then, on to other things. I weighed myself last Sunday, just before I started the cut at 250. I weighed myself yesterday on the same scales at 240. Obviously 98% of that is Glycogen and the resultant water weight but man is that ever freaky. 10 pounds gone, no glycogen in my muscles. It also gives me a good benchmark as to what I can expect to put back on when I do the "Get Un Shredded" Part and slowly introduce some carbs in the New Year. From now on I am taking any dropped pounds as fat lose, and in conjunction with my trusty mirror will keep a close eye on what is happening to my body. I am pretty happy with the flow of amino's into my body and am confident that my muscle lose over this will be minimal.

All in all I feel great today. I got about 9 hours sleep last night and woke up feeling very good. I have had some tests and some victories and while there are more to come I am confident that I can get through them. Tonight is arms, and I am looking forward to the workout!

Dragan

Workout : Biceps and Triceps.

Biceps :
Ez Bar Curls to warm up - one set with 5 kilos on either side of the ez bar, one with 10. Finished up with 15 kilos on either side for 10 reps.
Alternate Dumbell Curls (20kilos) into Hammer Curl Superset (12kilos) : 2 total sets to failure on each
Concentration Curls : 2 sets 12kilos to failure.

Tricpes :
Bodyweight Dips : 3 sets of 5 reps.
Skull Crusher/CloseGrip Bench superset : 2 sets to failure on each ( 30kilos plus the bar )
Bar Cable Pushdowns : full stack, 3 sets of 12 reps.

Finally preacher machine/tricep extension machine supersets, back and forth twice.

Cardio : 15mins on the Treadmill at incline 3, 6kph. 35 minute walk home.

Thoughts and Madness :

1) Am happy with the dips, obviously as I get light these will become easier, but 10 pounds down does not really equate to an extra rep when you have been doing a lift with 250 pounds up to now, so I am taking it as about 70% the weight dropping, and 30% me getting a little stronger on the movement.

2) Managed to keep my shoulder forward without thinking about it too much on the concentration curls last night, which is nice as I normally need to focus on that, but last night I could just focus entirely on the biceps itselfs.

3) 48 hour should doms have kicked in nicely, and my arms are a bit sore from yesterday. It's amazing how you only really know how good a supplement is when you use it and then go off it….and while I know I am not taking in any carbs I am definitely missing the RAM to help with my DOMS!!! Looking forward to Saturday when I can have some of it's lovely tastiness again!!!! I might have 2 shakes just for the fun of it!!! Ha ha ha

4) I felt very good yesterday and I feel very good today. I have been getting plenty of sleep which really does seem to be the difference maker. Today is a rest day, just core work so I should, hopefully, make it through to the weekend okay. Although Thursday is back and I will be deadlifting again so that could really take it out of me!!!

That’s about it for now, never really a lot of thoughts after an arm day, as it is a pretty basic day!!!!

Frank Bullitt

has dragan died from the cut?

tribulus

nah he's just hibernating like the bear that he is!!

I'm sure he's still on it

Dragan

Gintonious wrote:

has dragan died from the cut?

SOrry guys, just been a little busy is all, i will do up a summary post of the last little bit later and put it up! The cut is going well though!

brianthebard

Hopefully with more pictures of jessica alba to convey the message:D

Dragan

Okay so,

The last time I posted here was about 2 to 3 weeks ago!!! I have been keeping a journal over on Team Test, but I just never seem to have the time , or remember, to update it over here!!! Anyway, I will get back to doing so on Monday properly and my apologies. However, if you do want a day by day breakout then just check it out on Team Test.

Now then, this is in bullet point the last few weeks.

1) My strength is still going up, which is nice. I have also been told I have added some arm and shoulder mass as well, which is once again nice. Now I hear you say, how the crap can you do that on 66% of your maintenance calories and less than 50grams of carbs a day on average. The answer is I am not entirely sure yet. I am taking some BCAA's ( well, a lot of BCAA's ) on a daily basis which really has to have something to do with it. I am also taking one or two other things, so don't want to make assumptions just yet. I will break everything down in more detail when I finish the cut!

2) My energy levels are all over the place. One minute your up, the next minute your down. For anyone who wants to do something like this….think carefully. Be at a place in your life where you can run through on automatic. It's hard to work, it's hard to remember stuff, it's hard to think. This will test you in every way.

3) I went to Leeds for the weekend with G'em and T-ha and that was a MAJOR test! I passed though, and according to my traveling companions my mood was good the whole time. Don't get me wrong it was torture to sit there and watch others eat but hey, I decided to do this so I gotta deal with that stuff when it happens.

4) I damn near broke at one point. It was a Thrusday ( I think ) and I was just run down to hell. I was tired, hungry, cold and just miserable as hell. I was looking through the freezer for my chicken fillets to cook some dinner and found a bag of oven chips. Oh you can bet your ass the Jessica Alba scale kicked in!!! For more than a little while those little buggers were the rough equivalent of….


Just for you Brian!

Fortunately Dragan stayed strong and did not break!

5) When your on a heavy cut you get run down, your tired and your emotional. Me, I'm normally a pretty steady kind of guy and while this cut has made it's dents and I have had some depressed/angry/upset moments that would normally just role off me I am now starting to get a really good idea as to where the whole "roid rage" garbage comes from. Now don’t get me wrong, if you up your test you become more Alpha orientated, no doubt, but if you doing that while cutting your calories to a large degree and all the stuff that that entails then your going to be running a fine line and might just end up snapping and people you don't normally snap at. I haven't….but that’s because it's just not me. Just something to watch out for if you thinking about something like this and have a bit of a temper?

Well that’s about it, I will be back to regular journal keeping and odd picture posting on Monday.

Dragan

Saturday : TBT
Location : Micks
Status : Funky

Dips 6 , Chins 3, Bicep Curls 12, Lat Pull Downs 8, Dumbell Press 12 ( just for a warm up, t'was cold in Micks!!! )
Dumbell Press : 20(12) 25(12) 30(10)
Lat Pull Downs : full stack for (11,10,10)
Seated Rows : 80(12) 120(12) 140(
Dumbell Shrugs 45kilos(8,8,
EZ bar curls/standing french press superset : 3 sets
Standing Military Press : 60(6,9 - PB!)

Sunday : TBT
Location : Total Fitness
Status : Slightly Less Funky

Hammer Strenght Chest Press : 40(12) , 80(10) , 100(7) 120(3) 80(7)
Power Cleans (singles) 60,60,60,70,70, 80(miss) 80(miss) 60,60.
Hammer Strenght Shoulder Press : 40(12) 80(10) 100(5 - PB!) 80(7)
EZ Bar Bicep Curls 50kilos (6,6,5 - PB's!)
Tricep Bar Pushdowns : 65kilos (12,12,12)
Standing Dumbell Presses : 25(8,
Reverse Preacher/Normall Preacher Superset with negatives - can't remember, tiny weight but a big hurt.

1) Two fairly okay sessions, although today I am all funked out. My brain doesn't work, I have no energy and I am finding it impossible to care about….well…..anything? I have ONE thing in my head that I am thinking about and that’s it. This is affecting my work but in the run up to X-mas no one will notice I imagine.

2) Three weeks left. Man, that seems like a pretty long time let me tell you!!! I'm pretty damn happy with my progress so far and feel I am setting myself up nicely to achieve that ultimate goal by next summer. Single digit bodyfat!!! Oh yes!

3) Happy with the PB's I got….the only reason I curled 50kilos is because the bar was in my way, and as I was moving it I thought "**** it, I can curl that" so I did. It was nice. Standing Military Presses I was very happy with as well!!! Power Cleans pissed me off….i had no ooomph and they just were not happening!

4) Very happy with the feedback from Trib, JSB and JayRoc over the weekend!!! Well done to those three for their respective sessions, some nice weight was moved by all!!!

5) All in all Dragan is happy, but tired.

Dragan

Workout : Back and Chest
Location : Westwood

( Let me start this post by saying Eamonn is a bad man for giving me the idea for superset number one )

Warm up : power cleans, single and trips with 60kilos, deads with 100 kilos for 12 reps.

Superset 1:
Power Cleans(60kilo) / Deads(150kilos) : 6/3 , 6/3 , 6/2 , 6/2 ( deads were raw, forgot my wraps )

Super Set 2 :
Cable Cross Overs (26kilos) / Explosive Push Ups : 10/9 , 11/9 , 10/11

Incline Plate Loaded Press : 40(15) 80(9) 100(6 - PB!) 100(4) 80(10)

One Arm Dumbell Rows ( 4 second negative ) : 45kilos (10, 10 , 10)
Barbell Rows : 70kilos (12,12,12)

Thoughts:

1) Grip strenght. You gotta love it. 4 months ago I could not hold the 45kilo dumbells raw for 1 rep, and my raw deadlift was 140 for 1. You gotta love the Captains of Crush!

2) That first superset was great. And by great I mean torture! It the power cleans really knocked lumps out of my deadlift, but man did I ever feel each and ever one of those reps!! It was great, not something to be done if you have a twingy back, or are prone to one. I wanted to use 70 for the cleans and 170 for the deads and I did for one set, but the 70 was too much and the 170 just would not move afterwards!! ( who knew!!!! )

3) Very happy with the incline plate loaded as well….i felt it all in my pecs and got some funky looks when moving it as well!

4) My supplement budget is about to go through the roof due to the uber hot Polish chick who works in the supplement store in Westwood now. Dammit.

5) Yesterday you may have noticed I was absent from the board. The reason? I was sick. I woke up the last three days and felt awful, and yesterday was the final straw so I took myself off to the doctor. You may recall that just the week before I started the cut I was getting over a chest infection….well it's back!! Hurray!

Frank Bullitt

how is the cut going,is it finished now?

Dragan

Hey dude,

Yeah I finished up the cut a week early due to illness, which sucked! But by then I was down to a depleted 232! Right now I am a full 238, which I am very happy with as I started at 255! I also managed to add some size to my shoulders, chest and arms, which is just plain silly really!

brianthebard

Have you measured body fat levels, I'm assuming you were aiming to get close to 10%?

Dragan

brianthebard wrote:

Have you measured body fat levels, I'm assuming you were aiming to get close to 10%?

To be honest, i don't really worry about bodyfat % too much. It just seems way too subjective to me. Lets say i weight 200 pounds. Whats my lean muscle %? organ weight, hydration, bone density....they all vary from person to person so it gets hard to figure out how much lean mass you actually have.

BF, for me, if a purely visual thing. If i can perform as i need to, lift what i want to, be healthy and do that all with a 6 pack does it matter if by BF level is 8% or 12%?

Besides, i find the whole skin fold measurement to be a total pack of lies and unless i could do x-ray or underwater measurements than i wouldn't worry about it too much! All in all, i would say i lost about 6% bodyfat over the course of it, if i had to guess. I would say right now i am about 14%??

Frank Bullitt

thats pretty cool man,fair play,its unfortunate that you had to finish up a week early but there is no shame in quitting,im going on the same diet on monday,have been working it out all week,its not unusual as well for some people to gain size in some areas as i have read on other forums and on here..

just one question...how terribly crucifying is it?

Dragan

Gintonious wrote:

thats pretty cool man,fair play,its unfortunate that you had to finish up a week early but there is no shame in quitting,im going on the same diet on monday,have been working it out all week,its not unusual as well for some people to gain size in some areas as i have read on other forums and on here..

just one question...how terribly crucifying is it?

I'm not gonna bull**** you. It's pretty harsh man. As I said earlier you never feel "normal" you always feel a little off, a little weak, a little slow….and that’s on the good days. When then crashes come you will honestly and truly just want to quit. That word will be like a big shiny beacon in the sky at times!!! Another MAJOR thing is that little voice in the back of your head and says "go on, eat that donut, no one will know." That’s a little bastard and will need to be overcome.

Personally, I think it helps if your semi-masochistic. To be honest, if you go to the gym and work hard then you’re a good bit of the way there. I've never worked out with you, so I don't know what your like but I think anyone who know's us would describe myself and G'em as , well, not quite right in the head so to speak. If it's a challenge that’s broken other people then we're up for it!

If you have that streak in you then your golden, because you'll view the suffering in the best possible light, as proof positive that what you are doing is worthwhile!

In short, it sucks, it really , truly , honestly sucks so much balls you cannot believe it…..but it's SO worth it man!

Anyway, best of luck with it, if you have ANY questions just give me a shout! By the way, will you be keeping a journal about it?

Frank Bullitt

yeah ill be starting one tomorrow or the next day outlining my plans,aims and hopeful results,ill ask a few questions in the thread.

thanks for the help,i recon ill need all i can get!!!

g'em

Dragan wrote:

I think anyone who know's us would describe myself and G'em as , well, not quite right in the head so to speak. If it's a challenge that’s broken other people then we're up for it!

I really can't argue with you over this coz you're so right... ah well. There's worst ways of being described than "not quite right in the head". I'm not entirely sure what they are though...

Dragan

Workout : Shoulders/Arms
Location : Westwood
Status : Super Funkified

Shoulders :
Dumbbell Press : [18kilos by 12 for 2] 32kilos by 8 , 28kilos by 10, 24kilos by 10
Cable Lateral Raises : 3 sets, 2 plates to failure.
Standing Barbell Presses : 40kilos 12,11,10
Dumbbell Front Raises : 2 sets
Lateral Dumbbell Raises : 2 sets
Rear Raises : 2 sets

Arms:
Tate Press : 10kilos(10)12.5kilos(9) 12.5kilos(8)
Alternate Dumbell Curls(20 kilos)/Hammer Curl Superset(12.5kilos) : 5/10 , 5,11 , 6/9
Overhead Dumbell Extension : 32(10) 34(9) 36(7 - PB)
Concentration Curls : 17.5 kilos (10,10)
Decline French Press/Close Grip Bench Superset(38kilos) : 5/6 , 5/6
Bar Push Downs : 2 sets, full stack plus a plate
Cable Bicep Curls : Half stack to failure at about 15 reps.

Thoughts :

1) It's been a while since I have done a really high volume workout, and last night I had some extra time as I was getting a lift home so I said "**** it, give it socks bujha!" By the time I was done my arms and shoulders were literally pumped up beyond belief. The top I was wearing with the sleeves rolled up was literally cutting into my arms when I walked off the floor. It was deadly, everything felt like a rock!

2) Hot girls in the weights area are a major boost to workout intensity I have to say. I'm actually surprised that Trinity is not the new Hercs, given the presence of our G'em in there. Obviously those student lifters are not the best at harnessing environmental variables to aid workouts! There was this cracking girl in the weights area last night, and while her strength would be nothing special she was putting in some major effort, and I'm sure her strenght will increase over time! Anyway, we got chatting a little bit about form for arms and she seemed very enthusiastic about lifting, which was nice.

3) The anabolic kick back after coming out of the cut is RIDICULOUS!!! I mean seriously scary! My mojo stayed good the whole length of the cut, due to the high fats etc but man, upping the calories post cut seems to have driven my test through the rough. I actually found myself watching "Into the Blue" the other night, purely for Jessica Alba and at the risk of losing all credibility I watched 30 seconds of Mean Girls while channel flicking last night. Now I know what your thinking, your thinking "Dammit D, why!!!!!".


When she's not being too skinny she's being pretty damn hot.

I think that covers me? Besides, it was just one scene where she was running in a low cut top, I really couldn't help it! Like I said, the test kick back is really quite ridiculous!

4) While it was nice to venture back to high volume after a few weeks of more low volume TBT style workouts I will be sticking with the TBT. Don't get me wrong, the pump was brilliant, and I felt fantastic, I just feel that TBT can offer me more than a bodypart split can right now.

5) Can anyone here tell me why you would wear a weightlifting belt and simply round your back? There was this guy and his bird in last night. The fella has trained for a while now, and thinks he hardcore as **** even though he's really just fat and weak and recently he has started bringing his bird along. So last night they were doing back and were both wearing belts, but they were both COMPLETELY rounding out there back on just about everything. And I wouldn't mind only the weights were really LIGHT! They could easily have maintained proper form. Grrrrrrrrr! Now you guys know I try and see the good in everyones gym efforts, but these two take the cake!!!

6) Very, very excited about Micks new gym. I imagine that he just wants to get it done and stop having to worry about it but for me it's like someone is purpose building a playground for us!!! Lets face it, if you can have a corporate gym, or a gym that has been planned out by an actual lifter then your gonna go for option B!!!!! Bring it on I say!!! Especially that Titan Gripper!!!! Getting a 200 kilo deadlift with no wraps or chalk or nothing was sweet but 220 is calling my name so I gotta up my grip strenght again!

Dragan Out!

Dragan

My weekend was split between collecting for the Irish Guide Dogs for the Blind and helping Mick, so overall I feel like I am now two steps further from Hell than I was on Friday! Friday night was plenty of fun, putting the first machine together seemed to take forever, but then we got on a roll with the second one, and when we came back from having some food we got two of them built in 2 hours! After that it was home and sleepy time after a few epidsodes of family guy! I like to take some "awake but relaxing" time on Friday night, regardless of what time I get home from where I might be.

Saturday was spent collectiong cash, the same early Sunday and then it was into Mick's again for about 1ish to try and help some more. After throwing some bits and bobs together myself and Mick headed off to collect the Hummer and then out to pick up plates, bars and dumbells! Loading up was fun, but sitting in the Hummer with a tonne and a half of weight in the back was nice! The scariest thing was the engine didn't even notice the added weight, but the inertia you would build up was mental! At one point Mick turned to me and said…."Ah, the brakes don't really work with all the added weight." Now in any other vehicle you would worry, but not in a Hummer. I mean, any bad that could possibly happen is not going to happen to YOU, and that’s the important thing. I'm not a big fan of people in general, so if we ended up crushing a few of them it wasn't really going to bother me. It might have bothered Mick, but only because it would have meant having to wash the Hummer.

After we got back and everyone pitched in and unloaded it was workout time!

Quick Complex to warm up then,
Bent Over Dumbell Rows : 30 by 2 for 12 reps ( warm up ) 57.5 for 6,6,6
Flat Bench : 70kilos (10,10,10)
Shoulder Dumbell Press : 30 (8,8,7)
EZ Bar Curls : 35kilos(9,9,
Standing French Press : 35kilos(10,10,9)
Shrugs : 60(10) 100( 140(6) 180(3) 220( couldn't lift the bastard! )
Did some other random things that I can't really remember.

Today I am tired and sore but I feel great! It's just a shame that it is Monday! I will have a workout tonight and then take a rest day tomorrow. I am planning on going down to Limerick this weekend so want to be able to train at least 3 time this week before Friday!

Dragan Out.

Dragan

Workout :
Flat Dumbell Press(32kilos)/Push Up Supersets : 10/10 , 8/9 , 7/9
Chins/Lat Pull Downs Superset(120 pounds): 3/12 , 2/12 , 2/12
Standing Dumbell Press(18kilos)/Lateral Raise Superset(10kilos)
Hip Adduction/Abduction : 3 sets for each, 15 reps, long squeeze.
Tate Press : 10kilos(10) 12.5(10) 15(7)
Dumbell Concentration Curl Drop Set : 20kilos/12.5kilos , 2 sets to failure.

1) Man was it ever busy last night! The newbs are out in force. It would also seem that the excerise that’s cool to do wrong is the lateral raise. I'm not even going to go into what I saw people doing last night, needless to say it was all hilarious!

2) The above might not read like much on the screen, but at a nice steady pace it takes it out of you. I like having the occassional super set workout as it keeps the intensity up and the energy levels high.

3) I weighed myself last night and came in at 237lbs. Last week I was 238lbs. So what does that tell us? That I am still undereating slightly, which is good. Remember that my metabolism is still a bit slow after the GSD, and I still need to watch what I eat quite carefully. It's fine to pop into Eddie's over the weekend after a session but that is not something I would want to be doing everyday! For example, today is a non lifting day, so it's a CAT day, and the diet looks like this.

08:00 6 egg white omellete with peppers and tomatoes, 2 slices McCambridges brown bread ( remember to get your carbs in for breakfast even on Cat days )
10:00 BCAA tabs
11:30 Broccolli, Carrots, tuna and sesame seed oil.
13:30 Whey shake
16:00 Broccolli, Carrots, tuna and sesame seed oil.
18:00 BCAA tabs
20:00 Chicken Breast with Veg Stir Fried in Walnut Oil.
21:00 BCAA tabs
23:00 Whey and Cottage Cheese Shake.

As you can see, I have pretty much adopted the GSD style diet as my cat day. I mean, if I can do it for 49 days then doing it a few times a week should not be an issue. A steady flow of amino acids in all days means I don't need to worry about things and I will be experimenting over the coming weeks with how low you can drop your calories on a Cat day.

4) I pretty much have my next 8 week plan worked out. It's an odd one, and may or may not raise some eyebrows. I hope to get it written up tonight and posted tomorrow for your viewing pleasure. It's a nice one and I am hoping that it will lead to some good results!

5) Last night when I got home from the gym I just ate my dinner and then fell asleep on the couch! I was asleep by about half 8 and did not wake up until half 12! This is a shame, as I slept through True Romance which was on sky movies and I wanted to watch it!

6) Why did I never do push ups regularly before? I swear since I started them I love the things! It's nice to walk into the gym and bang out 2 sets of 25 of them for a warm up, then run through my stretching complex all the while having the newbs looking at me. I know what they are thinking. They're thinking "who is this fat man who fights gravity so easily?"

7) Because I am in the mood, and for the foreseeable future and inspired by Tribs journal I will be doing a "Song for the Day" section. Today's comes with a history lesson. A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away there was a band called "Jimmy Eat World". It was around this time, and because of this band that the term "Emo" was coined. At the time, it simply implied "emotionally driven rock." before it became twisted by stupid music journo's looking for a name to apply to the new genre of band who wears their sisters make up and is pissed at their Dad. Anyway, back before Emo meant eye liner and you could still put on a decent live show that didn't involve lasers and fireworks there was Jimmy Eat World. I am including two tracks, because there are both sweet.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YY18Yr0yY7c - Bleed American

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Rlg93E7Ivw&mode=related&search= - The Middle

Anyway, that’s it for today. As mentioned today is a non training day, so this evening is spent writing up my plan and playing Pro Evo 6!

Dragan Out!

Dragan

You know, it occurs to me as I write this that sometimes it's best to just keep your mouth quiet, hope for the best and pray that no one notices whats happening. Then, afterwards, should things turn out to be a success you can be good and loud and say how great you are. Below I will go into detail about my new routine and my reasoning and thinking behind it. I hope no one is expecting rocket science here, but you might get something along the lines of a clever interpretation of kinesology.

The Plan :

Okay, for a clue yesterday I gave "undulating rep schemes, alternating set numbers and cyclical recovery" or something along those lines. That’s not so much a clue as the basis for the whole program but hey, what can you do!

So here is the plan.



Now then, at first look it seems like simple A,B,C TBT workout plan. But I have included some different techniques and a kind of shifting rep scheme. As came up in a thread earlier today I think we all know the importance of deloading, having different days of different intensities etc when it comes to building power and strenght. But what about size? What can we alter on a daily, TBT program to help us to grow? The rep scheme of course!

Now I have mentioned before ( and it recently came up in CP's last article on T-Nation ) that it is quite obvious that oly/powerlifting rep ranges and loads induce hypertrophy. However, for me , the king of Hypertrophy falls within the 8 to 12 rep range. I myself have had good results operating in this rep range. So this is where I would plant my flag and hope that flag would grow!

As you can, the reps vary for each bodypart from day to day. Why? Well, the whole point of TBT is that you are training each bodypart 3+ times a week, with a far less workload than a split bodypart routine. As such, what do you think would happen if you walked into the gym and attacked your whole body with good heavy weights, for 8 reps over 3 to 4 working sets each and every day? In my mind anyway, you would not make it very far, you would be takeing the whole point of a TBT program and ignoring it. As such, I have applied a rolling rep scheme to my workouts, each day having a different bodypart that is on it's "Heavy Day" so to speak, following that with an effective "active recovery day" and then third day being almost a warm up into the heavy lifting day.

Basically it's a Heavy (5-8 reps) , Recovery (15 reps) , Lead In ( 12 reps) days for each bodypart, but when one body part is on a heavy day, one will be on it's active recovery and the other will be on a Lead In day. This way, you do not have the whole body needing the same degree of recovery, nor do you have the over excessive strain on recovery caused by a split routine. I have adopted supersets as the way I will really target the bodypart that is having it's heavy workload day, as I find them to be a fantastic way to really fry a bodypart over a TBT routine.

Now then, I did have other considerations when I was planning this program. First of all it had to have a main goal, you can't really make a "Maintain your mass" program so I opted to try and emphasis muscle growth, I mean, why not? As such, GP 1 stands for "Growth Program 1" as I change and refine it the version number will change. It just makes life easier. The second was that I wanted to work in a progressive loading increase for my high rep range benching. So the recovery day suits me fine as I pick my weight for 15 reps, and each week add 2.5 to 5 pounds to that. I deliberately picked the 15 range for recovery days for two reasons.

A) I don't think that an active recovery day should inflict a large amount of fibre tears. It just makes no sense to me. Your looking to flood the muscles with blood and nutrients, not cause more micro tears.

I would like to work on my muscular endurance, so the 15 rep range is suitable for that while also falling in line with other goals.

Another important consideration was my legs. I will be slowly working them back into action, as my knee is still a little dodge and I want to be very, very careful. So my program would be upper body dominant. Perfect. You may notice that I have not really applied the rolling rep scheme to arms and this is because I feel they respond best to a steady battering. The great thing about doing a program for yourself is you can choose the exercise that you KNOW work for you and apply the rep schemes that you KNOW work for you. As far as I am concerned, if you have been lifting for more than 2 years with any degree of seriousness and you don't know what works for what bodypart then your not paying attention to your body.

As I said I's really quite simple and basic and was inspired by various articles from various people, so there is nothing I can really claim as my own. I'm just giving it all a structure that suis me, so maybe that is the biggest lesson people can take from it? Sure, it's great when CT or Dave Tate says "do a,b and c to achieve d" but sometimes you just gotta apply your own knowledge of your own self and hope for the best.

Anyway, program starts on Monday coming. I am looking forward to it!!!

Dragan Out!

Dragan

Workout :
Deadlifts : 60(10) 100(6) 140(3) 180(1) 200(1) 205(miss) 180(1) 180(1) 180(1) ** funny story?
Flat Plate Loaded Bench Pree : 40(12) 80(8) 120(5 - PB!) 80(11) 40(15)
Seated Barbell Shoulder Press : 40(12) 60(8) 60(6) 70(2 - PB!)
EZ Bar Curls(38) : 9,8
Cable Curls (55) : 12
V-bar Tricep PushDowns : fullstack(12 reps) fullstack+2 plates(10reps) fullstack+4plates(10-PB) fullstack+6plates(10-PB) fullstack+7plates(10-PB)

Thoughts :

1) It's funny how close people come to great personal misfortune and terrible agony without realising it. Last night, as I was warming up for 205 ( my target lift) and JUST as I was about to pull 180 ( I mean literally just, I was actually standing up and beginning the pull ) I was tapped on the shoulder. That’s right. Someone actually tapped me on the ****ing shoulder at the start of the movement. Needless to say it completely threw me and I stopped the lift and turned around. There was these two French guys standing there. The conversation went something like this?

Me : "What the hell are you doing?"
French Guy 1 : "I was just wondering what that lift is you were doing."
Me : "You ****ing what? You actually interrupt me mid lift for that? I could have blown my back out you moron."
French Guy 2 : "Hey man, there is no need for anger we were just curious…."
Me : "There is everyneed for anger you ****ing tard, now get the **** out of my face."
** At this point I am boiling, and the only thing keeping these two alive is witnesses
French Guy 1 : "Hey man, I don't like you attitude, the gym is for to relax and have fun."
Me : "No mate, the gym is for me to move big heavy weight and be left alone…….."
** at this point a guy I know walked over and told the two boys to leave, that it would be for the best. One of them said "why, what will happen should we stay" and he simply replied "listen, this guy will get to a point where he really won't care that we're in a public place and he really will hurt you." so off they went. In fairness to my mate he then went down to the front desk to make a complaint that he had seen the two guys physically interrupt me mid lift.

I have to say, in all the gyms I have been in, over all the years I have lifted no one has EVER been stupid enough to do that. Im quite sure I was very close to murder. Stupid cheese eating surrender monkeys. But anyway, I was so pissed off that I never put the 2.5 plates on either side with the 10's when I moved up the weight and it was the easiest 200 pull I have ever done. Rage is a great supplement. So by the time I went for 205 my CNS was a little taxed and I missed it ( barely) so it was 180's for singles then on to other things.


It's a Cheese Eating Surrender Monkey......geddit?

2) Very happy with the PB's on both my chest and shoulder pressing, it was well tasty!

3) I know people bang on about Dave Tate a lot, but it would seem he really, really does know his stuff. I have only been doing the Tate Press for 4 weeks but already I can feel my tricep strength is on the up. I mean just look at what I was pushing today? By the time I was done on Push Downs the stack just looked ridiculous with all those plates sitting on it! It would seem that slow burning rage stayed with me the whole night and pushed my number ups. Gutted I didn't put those plates on for the deads but hey, what can you do?

4) Really looking forward to starting my plan. As I said to G'em on the phone last night this is really the first time I have ever done a plan with the anticipation of growing. In the past I really just grew as an after effect of what I did in the gym. Hopefully some clever progression will see my weights on the major lifts go up as well as I will be rocking it Milo style.

5) I was gutted last night after finishing my workout and going down to the shop to find they had no chocolate Pro Flap Jack Bars. "hot Polish Girl" did promise they would have more in tonight though, and also promised to keep an eye on them and hide them under the desk should the levels drop again.

6) Song for the Day time, and todays comes from Tool. Tool are one of my favourite bands on the planet. Formed in 1990 they instantly blew the top off the metal scene with the EP "Opiate" and quickly followed up with first album "Undertow". They have been labeled more times than I can think off, with more names and descriptions than any other band but the reality is that they are just Tool. Some of the greatest music ever written, one of the most distinctive and talented singers in the metal scene and of course the videos. Fronted by Maynard James Keenan , his voice and lyrics are just unbelievable. The entire band is like some kind of collection of intelligent wasters, and their newsletter reads like something from a "metaphysical meets the philosophical" conference. They have some odd views of the world, and wrap them up in odder songs and even odder lyrics. I actually found it impossible to just go with one song, so instead I went with three.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=94i5PxWftfE - Aenima

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DpckgQMtrUY&mode=related&search= - Schism

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ljC2ODA9JaY - Prison Sex