COLOSSUS' Iron Journal

[Colossus]

Bench, yesterday

Bench
135x15,15
225x8
275x8
315x14.5 ( Just missed the 15th rep. Next time.)

Incline bench
135x10
225x10
275x5
315x2 (had more in me here but the elbow was feeling like crap so I shut it down)

Average band pressdowns
5x15

DB french press
90x20
100x20
110x15

Tricep machine(s)
6 sets of 15-20 reps with light weight


Not a bad bench day but my left elbow has been feeling like a rust bucket lately so I didn't go max effort on anything. My weight has really been on the downturn lately as I weighed in at 240 lbs (!) this morning. What the hell....I think it was mostly dehydration from drinking last night then some killer sex, lol, so we'll see if it rebounds. I'm tapering off my cycle now so my main goal is to hold lower 240's until the next cycle.

 

[Fuglydude]

Down to 240!? Damn! You musta blown some crazy loads last night hahaha!

Gonna try and get lead and shredded next cycle? Let me know what you're running...

 

[Colossus]

Haha i know.. it's mainly from eating less and cleaner evening meals. On the plus side I look good!


Squats and Press, today

*treadmill 15 mins, stretching

Speed squats w/ average bands
barx5,5
145x5
235x5
245x3,3,3,3,3
removed bands
325x3
375x3
415x3

Overhead press
95x15
135x10
185x5
225x5
255x3
275x3

Machine shoulder press
3x20

Face pulls w/ average band
3x15

Decline abs
3x20

Also went for a 2 mile snow walk with the girl today and had a good hour-long 'exercise' session so I'm pretty beat, lol.

Weight 243

 

[Colossus]

Cardio + accessory, yesterday

25 mins fast incline walking

Neutral wide grip chins
BW x 10
+20 x 10
+40 x 10,10
+60 x 8

Shrugs
315x10
405x10
495x10
585x10,10

Done. Traps are actually sore today.

 

[Midnight_Oil]

Crazy numbers man. You're the kinda of guy that I fear will walk into my gym and crush my ego.

 

[Colossus]

Lol, thanks man.

Deadlift and squats, today

-treadmill, 12 mins

Deadlifts
135x10
225x8
315x5
405x3
455x3
add belt
500x1
550x1
585x1
550x3

Pulls felt real strong today. I didnt have time to grab my wrestling shoes so I had to pull in socks. Not ideal, but better than athletic shoes. To top it off we used a ****ty bent bar (thought it was straight, lol), so I'm pretty happy with today's work. This puts me in solid position for a 615-620.

Front squats
barx10,10
135x10,10
225x10,10

Whew! Sweating like a mofo after these.

Single leg curls
5 sets each leg, heavy

Machine bicep curls
5 sets 10

Medicine ball abs
4 sets

Post w.o. weight 243

 

[Colossus]

Bench, yest

-treadmill 12 min

Bench
135x15
225x8
275x5
315x3
365x2
395x1
415x0,0

Missed 415 TWICE, mainly due to form issues. The first one went down fine, then i lost my groove and the bar dipped so my spotter pulled it a bit it and i got it up...but still a miss. Second one went down strong again but the bar got over my face too soon and I lost it. I think I havent been handling weight over 400 enough so I just dont have the control necessary to motor it up. Will probably go to pin pressing for 2 weeks to build that lower end control.

Incline bench
135x20,20,20,20

Average band pressdowns
4x20

Wide-neutral grip chins
3x15

 

[Colossus]

Squats and press, monday

-treadmill 12 mins

Squats
145x10
235x10
325x5
375x5
add belt
415x3
435x3
455x1

Not a max single by any means but still heavy for me as I dont do much back squatting anymore. It felt a bit awkward and I couldnt quite find my groove. My hips felt like junk afterwards.

Strict press from the pins
95x15
135x10
185x10
225x5
255x3
275x1
285x1
135x20,20

Standing calf machine
5x12


Weight 244

 

[Colossus]

Cardio and accessory, yesterday

-treadmill, HIIT, 15 minutes (basically just alternated between 30 sec hard sprinting, then 2 min walking on an incline)

Wide-neutral grip chins
bw x 10
+20 x 10
+40 x 10
+60 x 8,6
bw x 8,5

Hammer curls
60s x 10
75s x 10
85s x 10
95s x 8,8
55s x 20

Avg band pressdowns
5 hard sets 12

Machine preacher curls
3 sets 12

Roman chairs w/ 45 lb plate on head
3 sets 8-10

Left elbow is still feeling junky, but overall my conditioning is better and in the am I have a pretty good ab outline. Id estimate im at 12% now.

 

[Fuglydude]

Wow! Are you cutting down?? Great chin ups! Man, those are some freakish hammer curls... you'd make everyone in my gym piss their pants collectively if you did that here!!

 

[Colossus]

Yeah I sort of unintentionally started cutting down. I basically eat three times a day and keep my evening meal clean, plus more cardio. I like it man, I look way better and my BP is down. A little definition goes a long way!

My lats are coming up too bc of the chins. I'm basically off now so I want to keep the "pump" volume up on my assistance and still hit heavy singles weekly. HCG is wonderful, lol.

 

[Fuglydude]

Good to see... ya I have a tough time mentally going above 12% as I just feel fat and gross. Wide grip chins like the ones you're doing are great for adding width. My trainer says the smith wide grip upright row is another great width builder.

Man if you keep this up you're gonna get sexually harassed by all the girls at the hospital once you start your clinicals! What're you running for PCT other than the hCG?

 

[Colossus]

Well at the moment just hCG, 500 IUs EOD. I'm actually still doing about 100mg Test E once per week. Not really sure why, I might be a little afraid to come off completely. Once I do I will just do my typical 25mg Clomid daily x 1 week then EOD x 1 week. The dose seems low but there is some good literature that supports this dose in restoring the HPTA. Overall I have found that tapering off has been easier for me than just ending a cycle cold.

Yesterday's lift:

Deads and hamstrings

Rack pulls from a few inches below the knee
135x10
225x10
315x5
405x3
495x3
550x3
585x1
615x1
From the top of the knee
655x1
685x1
705x1 (PR)

I did all these with a double overhand grip and straps up until the 655 when my straps broke. I tried this because Ive been having some elbow pain related to pulling movements. I was actually weaker with this grip, and surprisingly when I switched to my usual alternate grip I felt and looked much stronger. I guess if it aint broke, dont fix it!

Single leg curls
worked up to 2 heavy sets of 5

Average band leg curls
5 sets 15

Average band bicep curls
3 sets 15


Done. Weight is around 240.

 

[j0n24]

So Test-E was your first cycyle?

Some pretty hardcore numbers you started with before you went with a cycle.

How did you get the gear since you live in the states? Online or someone you know if I may ask.

My stats are too low to start gear but I want to buy some clen to lean out.

 

[Colossus]

I cant answer you specifically but I get it through an acquaintance. I have done about 3 cycles, test and nandrolone only. My first cycle was a test blend. I use fairly low doses and mainly do it for some extra momentum in the strength department and the physique benefits. It helps with recovery and your look more than anything.

Today's lift: Bench and accessory

Smith machine incline
135x10
225x10,5
275x5
315x3
345x3
365x2

I NEVER do these, but I was without a partner today so I decided to do some different lifts that dont require spotting. Felt strong on these, just not my favorite. Free weight is king.

DB bench
100x10
120x10
130x8
140x6
150x5
70x15,15

Never really do these either, so I was surprised I got the 150's for a few reps. They were awkward at first but once I found my groove I could motor it up pretty well. I may add them in more often as I could see them helping my regular bench.

Hammer Strength dips
3 plates/side x 4 sets 15

Average band face pulls
5 sets 15

Standing calf machine
5 sets 10-15, medium weight


Weight about 242.

Funny story today---some dude asked me to spot him on bench. The kid was probably about 22, maybe 210 lbs. He had 335 on the bar and let me tell you from my years of lifting he did NOT look like he could handle that weight. Anyways, I gave him a hand-off and the weight literally DROPPED to his chest like an anchor. Luckily I had a good grip and kept it from smashing him. Once it hit his chest he struggled mightily to get it up, but I basically had to do an awkward deadlift to rack the weight. I didnt say much to him but that kid MAYBE has a 250 max bench....and he could have easily gotten stapled if he had an incompetent spotter. SO of course he made some BS excuse about how that's how it was supposed to go and took the same weight AGAIN...and not surprisingly struggled even more. This time I didnt let go and just did a stiff-leg to pull the weight off of him. Ah, young lifters...

 

[runner83]

Funny story today---some dude asked me to spot him on bench. The kid was probably about 22, maybe 210 lbs. He had 335 on the bar and let me tell you from my years of lifting he did NOT look like he could handle that weight. Anyways, I gave him a hand-off and the weight literally DROPPED to his chest like an anchor. Luckily I had a good grip and kept it from smashing him. Once it hit his chest he struggled mightily to get it up, but I basically had to do an awkward deadlift to rack the weight. I didnt say much to him but that kid MAYBE has a 250 max bench....and he could have easily gotten stapled if he had an incompetent spotter. SO of course he made some BS excuse about how that's how it was supposed to go and took the same weight AGAIN...and not surprisingly struggled even more. This time I didnt let go and just did a stiff-leg to pull the weight off of him. Ah, young lifters...

I wouldn't call that funny at all. I wonder if he usually does it with a spotter?

Does remind me of once when I was at the gym. A mate was doing preacher curls and he had some weight on. He struggled through a set (I can't remember how much weight).

Then he goes and put another 20kg (45lb?) plate on each side and asks me and another mate to spot for him. We looked at each other and were like "wtf, he's not gunna be able to lift that."

We were each on one end of the barbell basically doing a bent over row to lift the weight and he was screaming at us to "lift the weight...lift the weight!" on every rep.

We were trying not to p!ss ourselves laughing. My understanding is that the spotter is there just in case you suddenly lose the lift, or to help just finish off the last rep, not to lift 2/3 of the weight for you!

 

[Colossus]

Light day, yest.

Cardio, steady state- 15 mins

Squats, short rest
bar x a bunch
145x10
235x10,5
325x5,5,5

Not much to report. I planned on doing 30 min cardio because I had to help the gf move, but instead I just cut it in half and did some fast squatting focusing on depth and form. Once again squatting was thoroughly unenjoyable and even the 325 felt heavy. I really wish I had a safety squat bar and/or a belt squat machine. Those were probably the only times I truly felt comfortable squatting and actually enjoyed the lift.

 

[Colossus]

Press and swole day

-treadmill 10 min

Strict overhead press
95x15
135x10
185x5
225x5
235x5
245x5
255x1
225x5

I kept these as strict as I could, but I did have a slight knee bend on the 245 set. Oh well, sue me.

One-arm barbell press
115x3x10-12

This is done with a barbell anchored to a pivot joint on the floor that allows you to do unilateral stuff, t-bar rows, etc. Great exercise for stability.

Average band face pulls
3x15

DB curls
50x20
70x15
80x15
85x10

Concentration curls
40 x reps, 4 back to back sets

Machine preacher curls
4 sets of reps

Standing calf machine
4 sets of 15

Weighted roman chairs
worked up to a 45 lb plate on my head for 3 sets


Good lift today. It was my designated "bro" day---shoulders, arms, and abs, lol.

Weight ~240.

 

[Colossus]

Pulls and accessory, today

Speed pulls from the floor w/ monster minis
315x8x1, short rest

DB rows
80x20
100x20
120x20
150x10

Chins, wide grip
bw x 10
+20 x 10
+40 x 8
+60 x 7
drop sets
Started with three 20 lb chains and dropped one at a time as I fatigued. Did two sets of these---they gas you out quick!

Single leg curls
worked up to 140x3x10

Straight bar pressdowns
4 medium sets

Weight 237!!! Couldnt believe it, but hey I'm pretty happy with my physique.

 

[Colossus]

Squats and press, yest.

-Treadmill, 10 mins

Front squats
135x10
185x10
235x5
275x5
310x5

Started 5/3/1 on my front squats today. I will probably run this until I break 405. It's simple and it works.

Power squats
200x10
400x10
600x10,10,10

Average band leg curls
4x15

Overhead press, long bar
145x10,10
195x5
215x5
235x5
145x12,12,12

Still sticking with the strict pressing, although there is a knee bend here and there. Pressing after squatting is tough!

Shrugs
405x15
495x15
585x10,10
405x20

Done. Spent.

Evening weight was 241.