SociallyChallenged Workout Journal

[SociallyChallenged]

This thread began as a bulking thread. I did Max-OT, a bodybuilding program, which allowed me to gain significant mass. However, in the process, I injured myself and never fully recovered. Because of that, I yo-yo'ed on a few different programs, but settled on Starting Strength and got pretty strong. Now I'm doing CrossFit. Here are my PR's and my 2010 goals (in pounds).

Strength:
Deadlift - 390 (goal 400)
Back Squat - 335 (goal 350)
Front Squat - 245 (goal 265)
Weighted Pull Up - BW+133 (goal 150)
Shoulder Press - 160 (goal 160 - MET, new goal 165)
Bench Press - 2x200 (goal 200 - MET, new goal 225)

Power:
Power Clean - 177 (goal 200+)
Squat Clean - 185 (goal 200+)
Clean and Jerk - 185 (goal 200+)
Split Jerk - 215 (goal 200+ - MET, new goal 230)
Power Snatch - 145 (goal 165+)
Squat Snatch - 145 (goal 165+)
Thruster - 135x5 (goal 185x1)

Speed:
400m Run - 52s (goal 53-54s)
500m Row - 1:38 (goal 1:32)
1000m Row - 3:34.7 (goal 3:30)

Endurance:
Mile Run - 5:42 (goal sub 5:30)
2000m Row - ~8:30 (goal sub 8:00)

WODs:
Fight Gone Bad - 273 (goal 300+)
Murph - 42:04 (goal sub 35:00)
Barbara - 33:42 including rest, fastest round 3:32 (goal sub 30:00)
Nancy - 24:11 due to asthma (goal 15:00)
Chelsea - 30 rounds (goal 35-40 round Chelsea)
Nicole - 108 pullups, 5 rounds + 200m (goal 130 pullups, 7 rounds)
Annie - 7:27 (goal sub 8:00 - MET, new goal sub-7)
Michael - 24:22 (goal 22:00)
Fran - 6:05 (goal 5:30)
Helen - 10:26 (goal sub-10)
CFT - 885 (goal 900)

Exercise-Specific Endurance:
HSPU - 17 (goal 15 - MET, new goal 20)
Push-ups - 58 (goal 65)
Kipping Pull-ups - 32 (goal 40)
Dead-hand Pull-ups - 26 (goal 30)
Double Unders - 116 (goal 50 - MET, new goal 75 - MET, new goal 150)

 

[purbeast0]

nice man keep it up. i too was like you. i was 5'11 and like 140 in highschool. then in college i gained a little belly and was probably like 150 or so. so i started working out and after like 2 years i was still like 150 but i was just ripped to shreds, but i was tiny. so i tried to gain weight.

however since i was overtraining my gains weren't really that great. i did this for like 3 years and finally got to like 170-175lbs. after i graduated i started doing the a 4 day split doing each muscle once a week. i started to see more gains.

this past july after i leaned up i was around 180lbs and i decided screw this, i'm going to try and gain massive weight. i completely cut out cardio and just started eating and eating, and taking some creatine.

now i've gained a ton of strength and am up to about 212lbs.

you can do it man, just eat like a champ. i seriuosly eat whatever and whenever i want. sure i'm not lean like i used to be, but i'm not worried about that right now. ill worry about that when i lean up in the spring time.

i used to think i could never gain weight like i did but i ju8st had to eat more. so stick w/it and you will be aight.

 

[SociallyChallenged]

Originally posted by: purbeast0
nice man keep it up. i too was like you. i was 5'11 and like 140 in highschool. then in college i gained a little belly and was probably like 150 or so. so i started working out and after like 2 years i was still like 150 but i was just ripped to shreds, but i was tiny. so i tried to gain weight.

however since i was overtraining my gains weren't really that great. i did this for like 3 years and finally got to like 170-175lbs. after i graduated i started doing the a 4 day split doing each muscle once a week. i started to see more gains.

this past july after i leaned up i was around 180lbs and i decided screw this, i'm going to try and gain massive weight. i completely cut out cardio and just started eating and eating, and taking some creatine.

now i've gained a ton of strength and am up to about 212lbs.

you can do it man, just eat like a champ. i seriuosly eat whatever and whenever i want. sure i'm not lean like i used to be, but i'm not worried about that right now. ill worry about that when i lean up in the spring time.

i used to think i could never gain weight like i did but i ju8st had to eat more. so stick w/it and you will be aight.

Thanks a lot man. I've never really gotten a little belly, but I have definitely been in that position myself. It's definitely encouraging to hear about your gains. I may actually post my starting weights to show the progression of strength I can honestly say the eating part is the hardest. As a runner, you do a lot of carb loading and stuff, so you get a ton of easy calories; but when you need to eat 3000 clean calories, it gets pretty hard. Glad to hear I'm not the only one that has trouble with that Thanks again for the encouragement and GL in your endeavors.

 

[SociallyChallenged]

Alrighty, so today's workout consisted of back and biceps as follows:

Normal-grip Lat Pull Downs:
#1/7/170
#2/5/180

Close-grip Lat Pull Downs:
#1/5/175
#2/4/175

Barbell Rows:
#1/5/155
#2/6/155

Alternating Bicep Curls:
#1/7 left, 7 right/42.5's
#2/5 left, 5 right/45's

Curl-bar Curls:
#1/4/Curl Bar + 60 (our curl bars feel heavier than normal, so I just note the bar + the weight I add)
#2/3/Curl Bar + 60 (it was barely too heavy for 4)

Weight: 151.4

I felt pretty good during this workout. I remember when I started I was doing the normal-grip pull downs with 140-150ish. I also remember starting with 35's for the curls Progress is fun to watch, especially in yourself or in close friends. I also weighed in about a pound higher than I have been weighing, so that's good. I hope it's not just a fluctuation, which it shouldn't be because I had eaten less than normal. *Shrugs*

 

[TallBill]

Keep up the work and eating. I've put on a good 45 pounds in 14 months.

 

[SociallyChallenged]

Originally posted by: TallBill
Keep up the work and eating. I've put on a good 45 pounds in 14 months.

Jesus, that's a lot of weight. I guess it depends on your build a bit I'm 5'8, and at 150 I'm pretty big. 160 is the highest I would go, but congrats on your progress I think I've seen pictures of your skinny "before" self though.

 

[paulxcook]

TB has 10" more frame to put that weight onto. Plus he deadlifts rhinocerouses (rhinoceri?) for fun.

Good luck on your goals and thanks for posting a journal, I like reading how others are doing.

For your calories, cottage cheese, peanut butter, and olive oil have all been good for me. However, I honestly have no problem with eating. Hence the 235 lbs.

 

[crt1530]

Why are you doing lat pulls instead of pull-ups and chins?

 

[SociallyChallenged]

Originally posted by: paulxcook
TB has 10" more frame to put that weight onto. Plus he deadlifts rhinocerouses (rhinoceri?) for fun.

Good luck on your goals and thanks for posting a journal, I like reading how others are doing.

For your calories, cottage cheese, peanut butter, and olive oil have all been good for me. However, I honestly have no problem with eating. Hence the 235 lbs.

Yeah I thought he was a tall one. Thanks a lot, I thought it'd only be fair since I'm on here so much.

Yep, I pretty much eat all of those. Just sometimes I have trouble averaging the calories throughout the day, so I have to eat a ton in a short time frame. Thanks for the input

Originally posted by: crt1530
Why are you doing lat pulls instead of pull-ups and chins?

Currently, I'm doing them because I don't have one of those belts with the chains that allow you to strap weight to yourself. Also, I'm doing the Max-OT program, so that's what it suggests and I'm having good results from it. It has me do weighted pullups, but the problem with that is that I have to hold a freeweight with my legs, and it really busts up my shins.

 

[SociallyChallenged]

Today's workout was all legs:

Squats:
#1/6/225
#2/5/225
#3/5/225

45 Degree Leg Press:
#1/6/300

I took advice from crt1530 and realized my back was hurting so I subbed 2x20 hyperextensions for stiff leg deadlifts.

Leg Curls:
#1/8/115

Standing Calf Raise:
#1/7/265
#2/6/265

45 Degree Calf Raises
#1/10/390

Weight: 150.25

Weight is consistently over 150 now, so that's good. I was dipping into the 140's a bit before. Today felt kinda "eh," since I have trouble with squats due to a past hip dislocation. I get 'em down, but they are really freaking hard and they almost scare me. Everything else was by the book and fine. My music died before my second set of squats, so I even lost all the pump up I could get Ah well, some days are just like that.

 

[spamsk8r]

I wish I could squat 1.5x my weight for that many reps. Good work, you're getting really strong. Makes me look like a wimp

 

[paulxcook]

Good squats! I do about the same weight, but proportionally speaking you're much stronger.

 

[SociallyChallenged]

Thanks a lot guys. It's not phenomenal, but I'm trying. I have a similar squat goal to your's paulxcook. I hope to reach it a bit sooner than the end of the year though, although if I even hit a 300 1RM, I'll be happy.

For today's workout - triceps, forearms, abs (keep in mind, it's a bodybuilding program; don't rail on me for forearms ):

Tricep Cable Pressdowns (with rope):
#1/8/110
#2/6/120

Woo, getting stronger on those. I struggled with 100 a few weeks ago.

Skullcrushers:
#1/6/Bar + 55
#2/5/Bar + 55

Seated Overhead Press
#1/7/65

My left shoulder doesn't like these for some reason, so I try to keep them somewhat light.

Dumbbell Wrist Curls:
#1/8 each/42.5
#2/8 left, 9 right/42.5
#3/4 left (wrist hurt), 8 right/42.5

Leg Lifts
#1/12/10 pound on shins
#2/12/10

Weight Cable Crunches
#1/10/150
#2/10/150

I do these in a sort of "on-your-haunches" position. They're interesting, but they definitely hit the abs. They're not my favorite, but they get the job done.

Weight: 152.5

 

[paulxcook]

For body building goals, shouldn't you have a bit more volume than the two sets? I don't know that much about body building, I just thought the general idea was to lift lower weight with more sets and reps to fatigue the muscle more.

 

[SociallyChallenged]

Originally posted by: paulxcook
For body building goals, shouldn't you have a bit more volume than the two sets? I don't know that much about body building, I just thought the general idea was to lift lower weight with more sets and reps to fatigue the muscle more.

The goal of the Max-OT program is not only bodybuilding, but also symmetry and overall strength, it seems to me. So what the program is doing is it's balancing out the little muscles in all the different sets, but all the different sets work the same main muscle group. Like, tricep cable pulldowns are great because I have to keep the muscles in and around my traps and my pecs tight, but when I do skullcrushers, I have to keep the smaller muscles around my deltoids tight and controlled.

And just to let you know, there are a ton of bodybuilding programs, so you are right about some of them (ie the 10x10 workouts). The Max-OT program wants to force the body to hypertrophy through overload of the muscles because both lean mass AND strength are goals. The best way to do that is bursts of low rep, high weight sets. Also, what this program does is minimizes the whole lactic acid thing. I feel great during and after the workout, with minimal "burn," which is great because lactic acid can actually hinder regrowth and healing.

 

[SociallyChallenged]

Today's routine was for shoulders and traps:

DB Shoulder Press:
#1/8/55's
#2/4/60's

Military Press:
#1/4/125
#2/2/125 (My bad shoulder shifted forward and strained the other one a bit. I decided to be done with those)

DB Side Laterals:
#1/7/30's
#2/7/30's

Was supposed to do DL's for traps, but I'm still working on the hip flexibility for good form on them. I dislocated my right hip a while ago, but it still hinders my flexibility in squatting and "chair"-like stances. Instead of heavy DL's, I just worked on my form with 135 pounds. Went up to 185 and realized my hip were being screwy. It wasn't one fluid motion, but like 2 steps between back and legs - it was less than optimal.

DB Shrugs:
#1/10/70's
#2/10/70's
#3/8/80's
#4/9/80's

 

[SociallyChallenged]

Today's routine involved chest and abs:

BB Flat Bench
#1/6/170 (Might've had one more in me)
#2/4/175

DB Incline Bench
#1/4/65's
#2/3 left, 5 right/60's

Bah, my left shoulder has really been crappy out on the free weight stuff. I hate doing BB bench on days that I don't have a workout partner, but I had to make my decline bench BB because the shoulder couldn't take it.

BB Decline Bench
#1/8/155
#2/5/160

Weighted Incline Situps
#1/12/45
#2/10/45

Weighted Cable Crunches
#1/10/160
#2/10/160

It's really starting to frustrate me that my left shoulder can't keep up. It pops at a certain point in the lift every time. I've gone to the doctor about it and they say there's nothing wrong, even though I have a severely different muscle formation on my left shoulder than my right because different muscles are compensating for a probable injury. I'll have to drop by a physical therapy place at some point and see what they say. Until then, I guess I'll just have to do everything chest and maybe shoulders with the barbells.

Weight: 153.0

 

[SociallyChallenged]

Today: Back and Biceps

Cable Pull Downs
#1/6/185
#2/5/185

Close Grip Pull Downs
#1/5/180
#2/4/180

Bent Over Rows
#1/6/145 (For form)
#2/7/150
#3/5/150

At 155, I was feeling like my form wasn't that great, but my my form was good and I really felt it today. The weight was light, so back up to 155-160 it is.

Alternating DB Curls
#1/5 left, 6 right/47.5's
#2/4 left, 5 right/47.5's

Straight Bar Curls
#1/4/Bar + 60
#2/3/Bar + 60

So I finally asked around today and heard that the curl bar was supposedly ~25 pounds. It's weird 'cause I knew it wasn't the standard 18 pounds for a curl bar, but it seems off since I can DB curl much more. I think it may be due to the DB's giving me more freedom in my form and use of my shoulders. *Shrugs* Good to know.

Overall, I was pretty pleased with today. The inside of my arms were really sore today (the armpit part near the pecs) so I had to really stretch it out and push through some discomfort. My weights are continually going up, which is nice, but sometimes I really don't feel like I'm doing that well. I'm getting way bigger, I see that, but sometimes when I do back, I don't really FEEL it. I feel it the next day, but not while I do it... I keep double-checking my form because of it and my form is fine. Any suggestions about this?

Also, added some new pics for reference. The pose it ridiculous, but I had to keep it consistent. My lats, pecs, and arms are significantly bigger (I've always had big traps so I don't know if they're bigger or not ). Legs are about the same size, but getting stronger and more defined. I hate the leg workouts though, lol. I've got them tomorrow and I dread the day... Oh well, guess that's the way it is. Gotta fix my hip flexibility.

 

[spamsk8r]

Lol that pose is pretty funny lookin'. For having gained 13ish pounds, you don't look to have chubbed up too much (just in the face a little, but not in the midsection).

 

[SociallyChallenged]

Thanks. Yeah, not too chub-chub, thank God. That's where the good diet comes in as does the decision to NOT eat everything in my sight like most people do when bulking. I decided to not do a workout today since I got sick overnight I also have an organic chemistry midterm tomorrow that's gonna kill me, so I hope to do alright on that AND be ok to lift tomorrow. Ah well, wish me luck.

 

[SociallyChallenged]

Oh man, first off, I'm gonna say I rocked today. I felt really, really good after warming up. I did a different, more gradual warmup and my hips loved it. Today is legs so I warmed up with squats. I did ~15 with the bar, ~10 with 95, ~8-10 with 135, ~6 with 185, ~4 with 215, and then went to do my workout. My knees and joints were warm, so the big jumps were too big of a deal. Onward to the stats:

Legs Day:

Squats:
#1/6/230
#2/6/235
#3/5/235

45 Degree Leg Press:
#1/320/8

Stiff Leg DL:
#1/275/6
#2/275/5

These were awesome, I feel like such a badass when I do these. My grip actually started to fail toward the end, even with an over-under grip. Hope it's alright when I up the weight

Leg Curls:
#1/6/125

Standing Calf Raises:
#1/8/265
#2/7/265

45 Degree Calf Raises:
#1/11/410
#2/10/420

I normally hate leg days but this was freaking awesome. I'm pretty stoked about it tbh. I feel that if I warm up like that every time, I'll be able to start deadlifting any time. Oh, also, at the very end, I wanted to see how many consecutive dead-hang pullups I could do (since I've been reading up on people's maxes). 17 apparently. That's not half bad considering the extra weight I've put on Overall, a very successful day.

 

[paulxcook]

Nice work, the squats and deads are really moving up. Good job on the pullups too, I'm not sure I can even do one yet

 

[SociallyChallenged]

Today was triceps, forearms, abs.

Tricep Cable Pulldowns (with rope):
#1/6/130
#2/6/130
#3/5/130

Subbed an extra set of these in instead an overhead DB tricep press 'cause that's awkward on the bad shoulder.

Skullcrushers:
#1/5/Bar + 60
#2/5/Bar + 60

Today I skipped forearms because 1) I did stiff leg / Romanian deadlifts on Friday, which worked my grip fine and 2) my left wrist keeps popping with the weight. I think the forearm exercises are near worthless for my grip at this point and are just for the aesthetics of the bodybuilding program.

Weighted Cable Crunches:
#1/12/165
#2/12/165

Weighted Crunch Machine:
#1/8/175
#2/8/170

I subbed these in for weighted incline crunches because the one bench was broken and the other one was being shared already. 175 was a bit harsh and I had a lot of trouble getting up to 8, so I decided to make it a tiny bit lighter the second set.

Overall, kind of a "meh" day. Wasn't really into it and there were a lot of people doing things they didn't know how to do. There was a guy bouncing 225 pounds off his chest for bench, another guy doing pullups that wouldn't count as that anywhere, and another guy dropping the f bomb as every other word trying to act like he was a tough guy. I hate days like these in the gym.

Weight: 153.0

I don't know if I like that my weight isn't moving. I was hydrated, fed, and have been eating 3k calories every day except one recently (since I was/am sick). Just gotta keep pushin.

 

[SociallyChallenged]

Today was shoulders and traps.

DB Shoulder Press:
#1/7/60's
#2/6/60's

Military Press:
#1/4/125
#2/3/125 (Ugh, I have to do this before DB Press next week)

Deadlifts:
#1/7/225
#2/4/275

Woooooot! Finally, my hips are flexible enough to get down for a deadlift. I can stiffleg DL 275x6 so I decided to go along with these and do these for "traps." My lower back was still sore from the other day so I decided to start at something I knew I could do. I'm pretty sure I can get this weight up to 300x5-6 in no time. This makes me really happy.

DB Laterals:
#1/8/30's
#2/7/30's

DB Shrugs:
#1/7/100's
#2/6/100's

Weight: 154.75

Sweet, weight is up, dunno if it's water weight or something. Overall, a pretty good day. It makes me happy now that I have a great compound movement to add to my arsenal. My quads will thank me later

 

[SociallyChallenged]

Today was chest and abs:

Flat Bench Press:
#1/6/175
#2/4/175
#3/3/175

Bah, last set got me

Decline Bench Press:
#1/8/160
#2/6/165

Incline Bench:
#1/4/145

My shoulder was the limiting factor here

Weighted Incline Crunches:
#1/15/40
#2/10/50

Weighted Cable Crunches:
#1/12/170
#2/9/170

Weight: 152.0 (What happened?)

Today was pretty nice. Saw a friend there that was doing chest today so he did the same workout as me - it was nice too since I didn't have to ask random people to spot me. My bench is still going up I can't really ask for more. Fair day.