cmusicman92's Training Log - CLIENT OF DREW

Squats:
1x45x5
1x95x5
1x135x5
1x155x5
1x175x3
3x185x7 (had to move up 10 lbs because I couldn't find the 2.5 lbs plates.)

Hyperextensions:
2xBWx10

Single Legged Leg Press:
2x75x12

Standing Calf Raises:
2x95x10

Notes:

• Sorry this entry is so late, I have been extremely busy the past couple of days. I have had no time to workout, or time to make my daily log entries.

• I was able to record a video of my squats so that my form could get checked out and corrected. I think that I am not going low enough. I know that angle is not the best, but hopefully you can still see well enough.

• I'm starting to get more used to the single legged leg presses.

• I finally got a car from my parents (a 1987 Toyota Camry with 250,000 mile, no locks, no radio, loud as crap, and the right turn signal barely works bahahaha). This means that my workout times will be much more consistent and I will be able to actually set aside a specific time for my workouts.

• I was reading the article on timed carb dieting and I was thinking about giving it a try. My question is, how many calories should I be getting in this dieting, and would it be smart to replace the calories that would normally from carb sources with calories from fat or protein sources or leave those calories out all together?

• Just a reminder, I will not be here until Saturday. I will start my workouts again July 11.

Nice workout! It's okay, we all get busy from time to time. The important thing is that you get back into your routine as soon as possible. From the video the main problem I noticed with your squat form is that it looks like your breaking at the knees and then the hips. That's fine if you're trying to do olympic style squats, but I would recommend doing more of a powerlifting style squat. Widen your stance a little if possible (except on the close stance squats of course). Sit back with your butt first, then bend at the knees. You'll lean forward a little, but that's normal. You won't stay perfectly upright the entire time. Go down until your legs are parallel to the ground, so a little lower than in the video. They don't look too bad though, just work on your form next time and take another video if possible so we can make sure you're doing it right.

The timed carb diet would be a great diet for your goals. You need at least 40% of your calories from fat and the rest from protein. Except on workout days and carb-up days at first. I would subtract 200 calories from your maintenance calories on your non-carb up days and add 200 calories to maintenance on carb-up days. This will allow you to burn fat and build muscle at the same time.

I just got back from my vacation. I was gone a little longer than I thought I was going to be. I'm ready to get started again. While I was taking my time off, I was able to do some more research on dieting and stuff so I think that my diet is going to be much better going back into it. Also I have a couple of questions.

• I still need to come up with a set of reasonable yet challenging goals. I want to make goals for the next few months as well as goals that I want to hit within the next year. What numbers do you think I should be shooting for in terms of weights lifted (specifically bench, squat, and deadlift), as well as body weight/composition (I want to cut down first until I can see/almost see my abs, and then have a major bulk)? Having specific goals will be good for motivation levels.

• When again did you want me to write the testimony for your training services? You've been super helpful and I would definitely love to help you out however you need.

• I don't think you ever told me how long you'd be willing to train me? I definitely would love if you did it for the rest of this weight-lifting journey. But, that would take my lifetime as I am definitely planning to stick with it bahahaha. Anyway, I don't know if you had a specific time in mind. If you do, let me know.

My first day back in the gym will be next Tuesday once my car gets out of the shop. Whooooo!!!!!

Glad to see you back! Hope your vacation went well, and glad to see you put some thought into your diet while you were gone.

As far as lifting goals go, I think a 150 bench, 250 squat, and 350 deadlift would be good short term goals for you. I wouldn't set a goal weight, but I would shoot for about 10% bodyfat. Once you can start to see your abs then you should be around 10%.

You can write the testimonial any time, but about 3 months after you start training with me should be a good time, because you will probably be able to see some good results by then. Before and after pics would be great to add in the testimonial. The best way you can help right now is to just get the word out if you have any friends or know anyone on other lifting forums who would be interested. I am still taking new clients for free.

I plan on continuing this indefinitely At some point I will start charging for my services, but I will give you at least a few months notice before that happens. I don't see it happening anytime soon. I want to build up a good reputation before I start charging. Hope you're ready to hit it hard in the gym!

Sweet, I will post a copy of my tentative TCD diet for cutting, and heck yes I'm ready to kill it in the gym!!!

cmusicman92 wrote:Sweet, I will post a copy of my tentative TCD diet for cutting, and heck yes I'm ready to kill it in the gym!!!

Nice, post it up!

I'm always so apprehensive when it comes to posting photos of my body. I guess a lot of it is pure embarrassment of the horrible shape that I have allowed my body to get into. With that said, I read somewhere that the first step to recovery is accepting that you have a problem. I think that as I post these pictures right now, I am admitting to myself that I have a problem and therefore allowing myself to change it. With that said, here are my "starting" pictures (I have been here for a few weeks). Anyway the pictures were taken rather quickly so they may not look outstanding, but I think they show where I am at rather well.





I weigh 167 (nighttime weight) in these pictures.

Now for a couple of questions...

• Does it look like I have gyno or do I just have a lot of fat on my chest. I believe it's the latter (no lump under nipples), but I just wanted to make sure.

• Can you give me an estimate on my bodyfat percentage? It would be super helpful for reference purposes.

Don't worry about what you look like now, it's where you finish that matters, not where you start. In probably 2-3 months you should start seeing noticeable changes in your body composition. Just keep at it and you will get to where you want to be. I don't think you have gyno, it's most likely just fat. I can't really say for sure what your BF% is from looking, but if I had to guess I would say around 20%. Does your gym do bodyfat testing? If not you could get some calipers and get a good estimate.

Breakfast -
3 Eggs
3 Slices of America Cheese
1 Scoop of Peanut Butter
2 Cups of Skim Milk

Pre/During Workout -
1 Protein Shake

Post Workout -
1 Protein Shake
1/2 Cups of Quick Oats

Snack -
1 Serving of Dry Roasted Almonds

Lunch -
1 Can of Chunk Tuna
1 Slice of Cheese

Dinner -
8 oz of Boneless Skinless Chicken
Some Fat Source
Salad/Other Vegetable

Before Bed -
1 Cup of Skim Milk
Peanut Butter

Now this is just a very rough draft. I wanted to know if I have the general gist of how I'm supposed to be doing this and what I can do to make it better. I will include the macros and everything else in the final draft.

Looks good for the most part. Make sure to check your macros. The only thing I'm not sure about is the skim milk. I'm not sure how many carbs are in it. It may be fine though. Also, if you eat a salad make sure you use a dressing with no/low carbs. If you decided to have another vegetable make sure it's a green vegetable. You can have carbs in your post-workout shake AND in the next meal following it. That meal should be as soon as your hungry again after the shake.

Drew wrote:Looks good for the most part. Make sure to check your macros. The only thing I'm not sure about is the skim milk. I'm not sure how many carbs are in it. It may be fine though. Also, if you eat a salad make sure you use a dressing with no/low carbs. If you decided to have another vegetable make sure it's a green vegetable. You can have carbs in your post-workout shake AND in the next meal following it. That meal should be as soon as your hungry again after the shake.

Hmmmm..... the skim milk does have some carbs in it, but if I move it to the meal after the post workout shake, it seems like it should be fine. I'm trying to get that milk in there to up the protein in my diet, cause it's cheap. I'll give it a try and adjust as necessary. Thanks.

Barbell Row:
1x45x5
1x75x7
3x95x7

Flat Barbell Bench Press:
1x45x5
1x95x5
1x115x7
1x115x6
1x115x7

Smith Machine Shoulder Press:
1x85x8 (messed up the weight)

Lying Tricep Extension:
1x30x10 (lowered weight to focus much more on form)

Dumbbell Curl:
2x25x10 (form was bad on set 2)

Notes:

• Feels great to be back in the gym!!!! Although this workout wasn't the best one yet, it still felt pretty good. I have to get readjusted after being gone for a bit, but it shouldn't take to long before I'm killing it in the gym. I still gotta work on getting my head into the workout though. I have the tendency to go into the gym and simply laze my way through my workouts. I don't know why I do that, I just don't seem to work hard enough. I think that starting next workout, I'm really going to focus on focusing during the workout and not ending the exercise until I've given absolutely everything I can give. I've heard that visualization as well as certain types of music can be very helpful for during workout motivation. I'm definitely going to give it a try on Thursday.

• Although my bench press is still annoying me in that it won't go up, I think that a lot of the problem lies in the mental aspect of it. I think I sometimes have a tendency to bring myself down before I even start the exercise. For example, in today's bench, I got the first close grip set of 7. On the second set I was really struggling and racked the weight after the 6th rep because I didn't think I had another one in me. On the last set I felt more determined and told myself that I was going to crush the weight. That set almost felt like the easiest out of all 3. My question is does that mental aspect play a lot into lifting, and if so how do you achieve the state of mind required for the workouts? Just a thought.

• I think I'm going to try to record my entire workout for the next couple of weeks because I feel like the exercises don't feel right sometimes, and I want to see if it's a form problem.

• Do you think that my bench hasn't been improving a lot maybe because I started the weight a little too high? I don't know if lowering the weight and raising it back up may help.

Yeah, milk will be fine with your PWO meal. You could even use it in your PWO shake instead of water if you wanted. You can also use it on your carb up days.

Workout looks good, you can't expect to hit PRs on everything when you come back from a break. Just focus on working the muscles your supposed to be working and pushing your muscles as hard as you can, that's all you can do. Just make sure you get the reps if possible. Personally I find that music distracts me, but if it helps you then by all means go for it. There could be several reasons you didn't get 7 reps on the second set. It could be that you weren't warmed up enough, but by the last set you were. Maybe you rested longer after the second set. If you aren't sure if you'll be able to complete the set get someone to spot you so that you can at least attempt that last rep. Don't rack it without trying, I often get more reps than I think I can. However, the mental aspect is important. Always go into a set KNOWING that you will easily get all of the reps. Obviously it won't always happen, but having that mindset helps. Filming your workout can only help, post it up next time and I'll let you know what I think. You could have started too high on the bench, but that's okay, just keep the weight the same and try again next week. If you still don't get 3 sets of 7 with 115 then we will make some adjustments. For the shoulder presses, it's fine that you upped the weight. You can leave it there until you get to 15 reps.

Squats[/size]:
1x45x8
1x95x5
1x115x4
1x135x2
1x155x2
1x165x2
1x185x4
1x185x2
1x185x3 (had to move up 10 lbs because I couldn't find the 2.5 lbs plates.)

Hyperextensions:
2xBWx10

Single Legged Leg Press:
2x75x12

Notes:

• That's it!!!! I'm freaking super frustrated now!!!! I don't understand what in the world is wrong with me. I mean I go to the gym, I try my very best to work as hard as I can, and I am not making any progress. In fact, I'm getting worse. What the heck is wrong with me? I come into the gym determined to not only complete my squat set but go out and demolish it, doing even more reps than I was supposed to do. I was going to clean my form up and go as low as possible and just do the best set of squats I've ever done. I get in the gym and start doing the squats and I can't even get my required reps!!! How the heck is this happening to me? I have to be doing something terribly wrong and I just don't know what it is, and I'm tired of it. Am I not working hard enough or digging deep enough or what? I'm know that my genetics can't be that bad, and you've been a really good coach/mentor. That means I just suck. I am by no means giving up, I/we still have goals and I'll die before I give up on them. I'm just freaking upset with myself.

• I was able to record another video of my squats. This was the first set and was a disaster. Not only do I want you to correct my form, but I would also like you to say if it looks like I had more reps in me and quit way before I should have or not. Please be honest cause I need to know what the heck is wrong with me.

• Anyway, needless to say this workout was complete crap and that I don't want another one like this to ever happen again. It sucks even more because I feel like with each bad workout, I'm wasting your time. You're trying to get me better and I'm getting worse. Sorry... Trust me it won't happen again.

Don't be so hard on yourself, you're doing fine. We all have bad workouts. Just look in my log, I only benched 260 x 1 the other day, and I've benched 290. It was your first lower body workout after some time off, and you're trying to fix your form, so both of those things will make it harder. Just try again next time and you should get more reps. Keep doing your active recovery stuff too. As far as form goes, try to push your hips and butt back more when you first squat down. I mean really exaggerate it. You should be sitting back with your hips long before your knees even start to move. Try to keep your knees from going over your toes. Sitting back like that will cause your upper body to lean forward a little, but that's good. It will feel awkward at first, but just trust me. Also, try putting the bar a little lower on your upper back instead of your shoulders. You may have to widen your grip a little to get it down that low. Once you get the bar set on your back bring your grip in as close as you can before you unrack the weight. Keep your upper back arched and tight. When I squat my stance is so wide that my feet touch the sides of the rack. You may not be flexible enough to squat that wide, but squatting wide with the bar low on my back really helps a lot. You will be able to squat a lot more weight this way. It may hurt your hips at first, but that will go away. Tomorrow when you do your active recovery stuff try to focus on your form when you're doing your bodyweight squats. Try to use the same form you would if you were doing BB squats. Squatting is one of the harder exercises to learn, but it is also probably the most effective exercise for building muscle mass, except for maybe the deadlift. Keep working hard, you'll do fine. Try to take another video next time. We'll get it worked out.

Also, you may want to read this article when you get a chance: https://ironsport.forumotion.com/articles-f4/cleaning-up-your-squat-form-t6.htm

Drew wrote:Don't be so hard on yourself, you're doing fine. We all have bad workouts. Just look in my log, I only benched 260 x 1 the other day, and I've benched 290. It was your first lower body workout after some time off, and you're trying to fix your form, so both of those things will make it harder. Just try again next time and you should get more reps. Keep doing your active recovery stuff too. As far as form goes, try to push your hips and butt back more when you first squat down. I mean really exaggerate it. You should be sitting back with your hips long before your knees even start to move. Try to keep your knees from going over your toes. Sitting back like that will cause your upper body to lean forward a little, but that's good. It will feel awkward at first, but just trust me. Also, try putting the bar a little lower on your upper back instead of your shoulders. You may have to widen your grip a little to get it down that low. Once you get the bar set on your back bring your grip in as close as you can before you unrack the weight. Keep your upper back arched and tight. When I squat my stance is so wide that my feet touch the sides of the rack. You may not be flexible enough to squat that wide, but squatting wide with the bar low on my back really helps a lot. You will be able to squat a lot more weight this way. It may hurt your hips at first, but that will go away. Tomorrow when you do your active recovery stuff try to focus on your form when you're doing your bodyweight squats. Try to use the same form you would if you were doing BB squats. Squatting is one of the harder exercises to learn, but it is also probably the most effective exercise for building muscle mass, except for maybe the deadlift. Keep working hard, you'll do fine. Try to take another video next time. We'll get it worked out.

Also, you may want to read this article when you get a chance: https://ironsport.forumotion.com/articles-f4/cleaning-up-your-squat-form-t6.htm

Thanks I appreciate it. Would you recommend that I keep the same weight next time or drop it a bit lower, clean up my form and work my way back up? Also, I wanted to ask how you would describe working hard in the gym? I mean, how do you know that you worked as hard as you needed and to the best of your ability?

Maybe drop 10 pounds off next time and try to fix your form. If you're feeling good and you got it down after the first set or two you can go back to 185 if you want. You want to work hard in the gym, but not too hard every time. Just focus on using the muscles you're supposed to be using for that exercise and push as hard as you can. If you finish the required reps with that weight then you know you pushed hard enough. If you didn't finish them because you couldn't then you know you pushed hard enough. Just make sure you don't quit before you try another rep. Next time you do squats, don't start to go down halfway and come back up because you don't think you can. Set the pins in the rack where you can dump the bar at the bottom of the squat if you have to, and just squat. Don't worry about whether or not you think you can do the rep. Don't think about it, just go down and squat. Don't try to do more than the required reps though, you don't want to overtrain. If you think it was too easy don't worry, you'll add more weight next time.

Deadlifts:
1x115x4
1x135x5
1x155x6
3x185x7

Dips:
1xBWx8
1xBWx2
1xBWx7

Underhand Grip Pulldowns:
3x9platesx12

Notes:

• This was the best workout that I have had in a while. It felt so great, especially the deadlifts. Today when I went to the gym, I was absolutely determined to make up for that last disaster of a session. Needless to say, I think that I did. I did a couple of things that definitely helped in the focus department. First of all, I made a playlist of my favorite rock songs and just blasted them in my ears. The second thing was something kind of weird. I took my glasses off in order to not be able to see everyone else around me and only focus on me, I simply took my glasses off. The effect was great and I felt great. Whooooo!!!!!

• I recorded my first set of deadlifts, in order to check the form. I felt like the form was actually okay today (except for the fact that the bar keeps hitting my nuts). Plus, I was able to add 20lbs onto my weight from last workout. It felt great and I actually feel like I did work.

• I tried the dips today, and although I know I didn't go low enough, I feel great about trying it. I probably looked like an idiot but whatever.

• I kept the weight on the pulldowns the same to really work on feeling it in my lats. I actually felt like they were working today and that's good. I'll definitely move the weight up next week.

• Also, I read that cleaning up the squat article and I noticed a really good way to work on the form was box/bench squats. Maybe for my next lower body workout, I could try those, just to work on getting low enough and the whole sitting back with the hips thing?

Good job today! The deadlifts look good for the most part. The main thing I noticed is that your hips are rising too soon. You bring your hips up before you really start lifting the weight, which causes you to basically stiff-leg the weight up. Try to keep your back arched hard and drive through your hips and your glutes. Try leaning back slightly and pulling the bar up and back instead of just straight up. Other than that it looks great. I think you could have handled a lot more weight, that looked easy for you. But you're getting the form down, that's good. You can go up in weight next time. Good job on doing the dips today. For dips you don't want to go too low, no farther than where your upper arms are parallel to the floor. Any farther than that may cause shoulder problems. Just go as deep as you can comfortably go. Also, good job on focusing on form on the pulldowns. Box squats are fine, you can try it out next time. Just make sure the box is low enough. When your sitting on the box your legs should be at least parallel with the ground, maybe a little lower. If you don't have a box that low just do regular squats.

Drew wrote:Good job today! The deadlifts look good for the most part. The main thing I noticed is that your hips are rising too soon. You bring your hips up before you really start lifting the weight, which causes you to basically stiff-leg the weight up. Try to keep your back arched hard and drive through your hips and your glutes. Try leaning back slightly and pulling the bar up and back instead of just straight up. Other than that it looks great. I think you could have handled a lot more weight, that looked easy for you. But you're getting the form down, that's good. You can go up in weight next time. Good job on doing the dips today. For dips you don't want to go too low, no farther than where your upper arms are parallel to the floor. Any farther than that may cause shoulder problems. Just go as deep as you can comfortably go. Also, good job on focusing on form on the pulldowns. Box squats are fine, you can try it out next time. Just make sure the box is low enough. When your sitting on the box your legs should be at least parallel with the ground, maybe a little lower. If you don't have a box that low just do regular squats.

Sweet!!! Will definitely increase the weight next time. Definitely didn't feel as easy by the 3rd set bahahaha!!! But I trust you and will pound out more weight next time as well as fix up the form!!! So, I'll pull the pull the bar back. That sounds good to remember. I will record again next time. And I'll definitely try the box squats. I think I saw a box that's definitely low enough. Anyway, thanks!!!

No problem!

Barbell Row:
1x45x10
1x55x7
1x95x7
3x105x7

Flat Barbell Bench Press:
1x45x5
1x95x5
3x115x7
1x135x1 (funny story, see notes)

Smith Machine Shoulder Press:
1x85x10

Lying Tricep Extension:
1x30x10
2x40x10

Dumbbell Curl:
1x20x10
1x25x10 (tried to focus on form, wasn't quite right)
1x25x5 (left arm could not finish the set arrrggghhhh!!!!)

Notes:

• I've noticed that the form on the barbell rows feel a little weird. First of all, I always seem to find my wrists curling forward. I think this has to do with grip strength and will remedy itself as I get stronger. The other problem I have is that I always seem to lurch my back up whenever I pull the weight towards me. It almost feels like I am doing a shrug. Is that a bad thing?

• On the bench, I was wondering if I am supposed to feel sore after my sets? If I don't does that mean I am not working the chest hard enough? Also, I have noticed that I feel the bench in my shoulder, is that bad?

• I FINALLY got my 3x7 for bench!!!!! Whoooooooo!!!!!!! That took way to long, but it feels good.

• Funny bench story of the day: After I finished my work sets of 115 on the bench I was feeling pretty good, and a little ambitious. So, I decided that I was going to try and see if I could put up 135. I put it up once (with a lot of effort) and even though I wasn't sure if I could get another one, I decided that I was going to push myself and go for another. It failed miserably and I couldn't get the weight off my chest. Some guy next to me came and helped me out to get it off. It was a little embarrassing, but at the same time cool to know that the other guys aren't there to laugh at you and be jerks. Some of them actually are cool with helping you out. I'm not trying to fail like that again though. bahahaha!!

• I've heard that lying tricep extenstions are supposed to give you a really good tricep pump. But even after I finished my set, and I thought the form was ok, I couldn't feel it very much. I probably just have to get the weight higher.

• These dumbbell curls are starting to get on my nerves. I can knock off an easy 10 reps with the 20lb dumbbells. But. when I move on to the 25lb dumbbells, the form gets all sloppy and the dumbbell keeps going all over the place in my hands. Once again this may have to do with bad grip strength but I don't know. Just going to keep at it though.

Soreness is not really a good indicator of whether a lift is working or not working, or whether you've had a good workout or not. I wouldn't worry about soreness at all. If you're already sore during the workout you may be doing too much. I'm never really sore until the next day. Nice job benching 135. I wouldn't try that too often, but it's okay to do occasionally. Also, great job getting 3 sets of 7, now you can up the weight next week. Also, don't worry about the pump for any movements. The pump does nothing for you. All it means is that there is increase blood flow in that area, it does nothing as far as building muscle is concerned. Just stick with the dumbbell curls. Jumping from a 5 pound jump per hand is a big jump when you were only doing 20 pounds, especially for curls. Smaller lifts like that will always progress slower. Your bench will also progress slower than your squats and deadlifts, that's just the way it is. Keep up the good work! Let me know about your BB row form and we'll figure it out.

Thanks. I'll try to record the barbell row form next time so you can see it for yourself.

cmusicman92 wrote:Thanks. I'll try to record the barbell row form next time so you can see it for yourself.

No problem! Sounds good, just post it up after next workout.