CCS's body recompositioning journal

[CCS]

Ease up on the fat burners, they just mess with your metabolism, do it naturally, get protein with every meal, drink a good quality green tea, and plenty of water .. all these will help your meta' along with a proper diet ..

What fat burners am I using? The HMB? It is an amino acid biproduct, and natural. I only use it before I get on the bicycle.

 

[Harie]

So why did you buy Epistane in the 1st place if you're not even going to follow the damn directions? So you're "juicing" and even then you can't gain any weight. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to realize that something is wrong with your diet or training program.

I know that I love putting methylated products into my body without following the directions. A liver? sh*t, I don't need one of those...And PCT? That's for pussies. :roll:

Seems you have ADD when it comes to directions and/or advice.

 

[CCS]

Yes, I know I'm doing a lot wrong because:

1. My 60 year old father, who eats 1700 calories per day, is building muscle faster than me and now is stronger at very lift than I am. He is only 2 inches taller than me, and has many injuries, including old hurnias. So I have no excuse for being weaker than him when I'm 27.

2. My vegan brother used to be stronger than I ever was. He fell behind though.

3. I used to be a lot stronger, but I went down hill.

So genetics is not the issue here. I'm doing something wrong.

 

[CCS]

good workout last night. felt great. took my protein powder. But then I feel asleep instead of eating a meal

at least I got 9 hours of sleep.

 

[CCS]

I might not be going back to epistane for a while. I've been making much better gains just from reducing my workout volume, without taking any epistane. I'll just see how far I get. Right now it seems I may be in for some beginner gains, though I can't say too much till after my workout today, when I see if the trend continues.

 

[CCS]

I discovered today that after running, my hams and shins are worked enough that I don't have to isolate them. I also found a few other exercises that got some of the same muscle groups, so I put them on different days. Now I think I have 5 solid upper body and 5 solid lower body exercises that hit every muscle group only once. Now I should not be as worn out, and can do a 2 day cycle instead of a 3 day cycle. I can't wait till tomorrow when I see if I get the same bench gains after only 2 days as I did before with 3 day rests.

 

[CCS]

I used to have a problem with hypo glycemia during workouts. Now I just take a whey/maltodextrin/water bottle with me and sip it between sets. Bye bye hypo glycemia. I can workout out as hard as I want, as long as I want now. But i'm holding back because I know I'll get stronger much faster with just 3 sets per muscle group.

 

[CCS]

It has been about a week of steady small gains. I learned that my strength improves just as much in 2 days as in 3 days, so going every other day works. Every workout I my bench improve from 6,6,6 to 8,8,8 or add 5 pounds and go back to 6,6,6. I've only increased 10 pounds in strength, but it is a solid 10 pounds. I don't strain at all to lift the bar, and I touch my chest every rep.

all other areas are improving at least as fast, percent wise. my shoulders are going slower, but that is because I am lifting 1/10th as much as still have those 2.5 pound increments to deal with. I'm forced to do my first set with 12.5 pounds and then follow the second two with the 10 pounders, since I can't promote all 3 sets at the same time and still stay in the 6-10 rep range.

 

[mulder]

Why don't you strain during your reps...you should be straining somewhat by the end. Strain the muscle more, rest more and eat more and you'll grow faster.

 

[CCS]

the last three reps are slower and more difficult, but I push out another two if I really tried. I don't do this because my father said that when he does that, he is weaker the next time. I know it does not make sense, but maybe that straining causes more tearing that he can recover from in 2 days. I tried his method of easy reps, and got gains in my bench press. I strained a bit on my curls, and did 10, 10, 5, trying hard on that last set, and I just got weaker. Nice thing about having logs is I can see that. So I'm gaining on bench, and not on curls, so that tells me my dad's method may be good for me too.

besides, I like leaving the gym feeling high instead of worn out.

 

[CCS]

I'm now doing bar squats. There is a foam pad I put on the bar. It evens out the weight so my spine does not touch the bar. Works well, I did 3 sets of 6 reps of 95 pounds easily. No neck pain. So I'm going to start upping the weight. I'm being very careful with my form. My knees ached a little, but not too bad. I don't do anything that hurts them, but I think a few temporary aches may just be a part of life for now.

I also now know a pound of muscle is 600 calories. To add 1 pound that is 20% fat, you need 1200 calories plus workout and repair energy. Let's say that is 2000 calories per pound. To add 10 pounds in a month, that is 660 calories per day.

Most people's muscle fiber composition is 25% slow twitch, 50% intermediate, and 25% fast. You can train the intermediate ones to become more like the fast or the slow twitch fibers, over the years. Low reps build strength not only by stimulating the fast twitch, but by stimulating the intermediate to become like the fast twitch.

What I don't know is whether slow twich muscles can access muscle glycogen, and whether fast twitch muscles can burn fatty acids. I've heard conflicting reports.

The more lean you are, the more of your energy will come from muscle instead of fat when you diet. Testosterone and exercise can help the ratio in your favor, but eventually it becomes very hard to have a high muscle to fat ratio in your body. That is why dropping below 9% is hard for many people. Anyone can drop from 30 down to 15%, unless their hormones are really out of wack. If you want to lose weight, make sure your testosterone levels are in the normal range first, or you may just burn muscle.

 

[GlasgowCelt]

You seem to be taking quite an intensive workout. Have you got before after pictures of your abs/arms/shoulders/general-above-hip? What is your current body fat?

 

[CCS]

You seem to be taking quite an intensive workout. Have you got before after pictures of your abs/arms/shoulders/general-above-hip? What is your current body fat?

It used to be intensive, which tore my muscles down faster than they could rebuild. Now my workout is much easier, and my bench press 6,6,6 rep weight has gone up 20 pounds in the last 12 days. I only do 3 sets per muscle group, a total of 5x3 sets per day.

My body fat is somewhere around 12-15%, and my arms are about 12.5 inches. My goal is to get them to 15 inches, have a developed chest and back, and my body fat down to 9%.

 

[CCS]

I squated 135 pounds today. 6, 6, 4. I know that sounds weak, but I'm proud I can go all the way down till my calves touch my hams, and I don't get knee pain or neck pain. Keeping my heals on the ground and using that bar pad solved those.

 

[CCS]

when I was doing those squats, I kept my back straight so I'd not hurt it. But I think my lower back was worked pretty hard anyway. I think maybe I should avoid other exercises that work my lower back directly, since the squat seems to take care of that.

 

[hair today gone tomorrow]

I squated 135 pounds today. 6, 6, 4. I know that sounds weak, but I'm proud I can go all the way down till my calves touch my hams, and I don't get knee pain or neck pain. Keeping my heals on the ground and using that bar pad solved those.

good job ccs... i wish i could see ur form to let you know if your doing it right. sounds like u go everything right....when u start pick a something in font of you that is about eye level and focus on that during the entire set...this well help keep ur back naturally arched. and you are right to keep your heels on the ground....this takes the pressure of your knees and places it on ur hamstrings, lower back and hamstrings.

 

[CCS]

..when u start pick a something in font of you that is about eye level and focus on that during the entire set...this well help keep ur back naturally arched. .

Thanks, I'll do that. Yeah, I wish I had someone watching me. I'd ask other guys at the gym, but I don't know if I can trust them. I just go by how my joints feel, and try to keep my back as straight and upright as possible.

 

[CCS]

Is decline bench press as good as flat bench?

I heard you can bench more in the declined position because all the weight is on your chest, and not your shoulders, which are weaker. I also read that the higher the total load on your body, the more growth hormone is made.

Total load is determined by total weight, but also by how many muscle groups are carrying that weight. So while I can use more total weight with the declined bench, I can use more muscle groups with the flat bench. Are my facts right?

If I only do one of them, what would be the pro's and cons of switching to decline bench press? I already lift dumbbells to my sides parallel to the ground to work my shoulders.

 

[mulder]

Is decline bench press as good as flat bench?

I heard you can bench more in the declined position because all the weight is on your chest, and not your shoulders, which are weaker. I also read that the higher the total load on your body, the more growth hormone is made.

Total load is determined by total weight, but also by how many muscle groups are carrying that weight. So while I can use more total weight with the declined bench, I can use more muscle groups with the flat bench. Are my facts right?

If I only do one of them, what would be the pro's and cons of switching to decline bench press? I already lift dumbbells to my sides parallel to the ground to work my shoulders.

You can generally do more with a decline. I personally like doing decline and incline bench and don't do flat bench as often. Decline does work your lower pecs more, I suggest rotating between starting with decline and incline.

 

[Harie]

Is decline bench press as good as flat bench?

I heard you can bench more in the declined position because all the weight is on your chest, and not your shoulders, which are weaker. I also read that the higher the total load on your body, the more growth hormone is made.

Total load is determined by total weight, but also by how many muscle groups are carrying that weight. So while I can use more total weight with the declined bench, I can use more muscle groups with the flat bench. Are my facts right?

If I only do one of them, what would be the pro's and cons of switching to decline bench press? I already lift dumbbells to my sides parallel to the ground to work my shoulders.

Most people's lower pecs are super strong compared to their upper pecs. I'd suggest sticking with flat bench and throwing in some incline too. Flat bench recruits way more muscle fibers in the pectorals than decline bench does.