Jericho's Journal

[Jericho]

2 min intro: Been lifting on and off for about 4-5 years. I will be the first admit that I over analyze things when I need to just dot it. During those first few years I got stronger but never put on much mass. I basically was a skinny-fat ecto (looked fine in clothes/tanks but wouldn't be caught dead on the beach/shirtless). That brings us to 2010.

I recently went through a lifting rut where it just wasn't very high on my list of priorities. For one reason or another, I feel rejuvenated and have a fire to get back in the gym and make progress.

Schedule: Work 8-530pm M-F and 4 of those days I have class directly after work until 9pm. Get home by 10pm. Just got engaged, so weekends are devoted to studying and wedding stuff. Not a lot of time to cook or devote to the gym.

Training: I'm slow twitch yet ALWAYS have done sets of 3-5 reps (probably explains why I got stronger and fatter with no mass to show for it) This time around I'm aiming to get stronger and gain some mass. Due to the schedule I am only hitting the gym twice a week so I choose to give a Hardgainer routine a shot.

Diet: 2009 was Anabolic Diet, which rocked but made me incredibly sick of red met. 2010 has been WD-like diet. LOVE the convenience, the freedom, the cost, the energy, and the results (with NO cardio) but I was just losing too much weight no matter how much I ate. I even extended it from 20/4 to 16/8 but kept losing weight. This time around I'm utilizing a standard massing diet, which is high protein, mod fat, enough carbs to gain but not get fat.

I have a tendency to get injured a lot, and my conditioning is in the toilet due to low reps and zero cardio. With that in mind I plan to start pretty slow.

Here we go...

[DOA]

Did you do low reps for every lift, like even your assitance as well?

[Jericho]

5/19/10

Deadlifts:
135 x 5
185 x 5
225 x 5
245 x 15

Cable rows:
120 x 3 x 10

Lat pulldown:
150 x 3 x 10

5/24 - Day 1 of HG routine
Starting weight 171 (down from 195 )

Pull-ups
2 x 8 x bw

Kroc Rows
70 x 2 x 10

EZ curls
60 x 2 x 10

Squats (nursing back)
135 x 2 x 10

5/26/10

Decline press
155 x 2 x 10

Flies
25 x 2 x 10

DB shoulder press
35 x 2 x 10

Tri pushdown
100 x 2 x 12

Abs

[Jericho]

Originally Posted by xfactor31

Did you do low reps for every lift, like even your assitance as well?

No, asst work like curls/skullcrushers/etc were 8-10 reps. The big compound movements were the ones that were ALWAYS 3-5.

My plan is to stick to the 8-10 range. Start at 8, work up to 10 and then add iron.

Also helps my "45" year old joints (actually I'm 26 lol).

I'll still do some low rep work and up the weight now and then but I'd like to give this a shot. Since I always did low rep work and got stronger but added nothing but fat, maybe its time to give something else a shot.

[KGM]

Good to see you back posting more frequently man!
Are you still at the same job?
Congrats on the engagement! When is the deed?
Nice deads. You recover ok from the recent workouts? Back happy?

[lardofthedance]

Hey bro just sub'd your thread. Gotta support the local IA's. (do you know if there are any more of us here in Broward County?!)

With so much going on in your life right now, it is soo important to have realistic expectations. The two day HG routine gave me some solid gains early on, and i think it is very modest of you acknowledge the limitations of schedule/prev. injuries.

As an observation, you are way advanced on your dl's compared to your other lifts. Ill bet you LOVE deadlift day!

[twitch]

I hope you get those #s back up and kick some ass.

[Jericho]

Deadlift has always been a strong point for me. The first few years of lifting were like everyone else...predominately upper body so my legs are certainly lagging in strength. Being 6'2" also helps with leverage for pulling

I know my recent workouts were pretty weak but don't worry they will shoot back up as my conditioning improves.

For the first time in probably 6 months I am actually psyched about getting back to the gym. I think a fresh start, with a new training style and more typical diet will definitely help. Look for me to make some solid gains during what I consider to be the most hectic time in my entire life!

[Jericho]

Originally Posted by KGM

Good to see you back posting more frequently man!
Are you still at the same job?
Congrats on the engagement! When is the deed?
Nice deads. You recover ok from the recent workouts? Back happy?

Thanks for stopping by.

1. Same job but started back at school...completely different career path. I'll pm it to you and you'll understand why I say its hectic.

2. We're looking to get married in early March 2011

3. Deads felt great but ran out of breath LONG before I ran out of strength. I probably had another 5-7 reps left.

4. Recovery is TBD. My entire body is still ridiculously sore but thats to be expected when shocking the body by adding a whole bunch of reps. The back seems to be good but squats still worry me a bit. I'll admit I'm still working on getting my form down so I can mentally focus on driving up instead of concentrating on keeping my back arched. Injuries not only keep one out of action but they also mess you up mentally after they are healed lol

[KGM]

1-Sounds good. Will pm back when I have a bit more time.
2-Cool. Lots of time to make some big plans.
3-I am sure the lungs will return pretty fast especially if you keep with higher reps.
4-Probably be a couple weeks before you have a good grasp of how you recover. Most I was wondering because I am brutal sore for a week from my first day back from a deload.

Not sure how the routine you are doing is set up but I sure hope it has some low reps now and again. For some reason I really like the 10 rep sets. I have yet to do any straight sets over 10. Can you link me to your routine?