COLOSSUS' Iron Journal

[Colossus]

Just a wee bit. I do feel lighter on my feet and less fat in general. I really just want to powerbuild and get big...but dont we all. Bodyfat has to come down a bit.

 

[Fuglydude]

Ya I know what you mean. I'd kill to be over 200 lbs w/ reasonable bodyfat, but stuff takes time. What's the basic diet structure? I'm assuming you've got 6-7 meals w/ 30-50 g protein and 500-700 calories per meal? Probably taking in lotsa good fats too?

Are you trying to make a certain weight class for your next meet?

 

[Colossus]

My macro targets for right now are 280 protein, 400 carbs, and 85 fats. This usually amounts to an average of 3800 cals a day. The fats were actually what was most out of control---I was eating up to 180g fat a day before dieting. Crazy...I never realized because I never kept a daily record. With carbs fairly high the idea is that I will burn much of it for training fuel and not have all that unnecessary heavy fat to deal with.

As far as making weight I will compete at whatever weight I happen to be---I really do comps for personal achievement and not so much records. At this point I just want to be strong enough to go to a meet and set some PRs!! A long-term goal is to total Raw Elite in a respectable federation.

 

[Fuglydude]

Must be nice to not have to worry about making weight. Those macros look pretty solid. Actually your protein/total cals are pretty close to mine. I'm not sure what my fat/carb distribution is like, but I suspect I'm taking in more fat/less carbs than you knowing my trainer's diet philosophies. That's a big drop in fats though!

I think you'll feel a lot better over time on this diet. What are your primary carb sources?

 

[Being_the_Don]

Reverse pulls ups
BW x 10,10,10,10,10,10,10,10,10,10=100 reps

Isn't this just another name for chin ups?

 

[Colossus]

No I guess a better term for those would be horizontal pull ups. Hanging supine from a bar, feet on a box.

 

[EFFORT]

a lot of respect for you guys dieting during the fall/winter months and holidays :rockon:

 

[Being_the_Don]

No I guess a better term for those would be horizontal pull ups. Hanging supine from a bar, feet on a box.

Thanks for clarifying the term, I'm going to add this exercise to my routine.

 

[Franky Four Fingers]

a lot of respect for you guys dieting during the fall/winter months and holidays :rockon:

Just a thought, if a person eats healthy all year for a few years or more they end up continuing to eat healthy during the fall/winter months and holidays and its no longer an effort to diet its just considered normal healthy eating to them.

 

[Colossus]

Squat, wed

Warm-up

Strict box squats for speed
235 x 8 sets 3

Regular squat to box, touch and go
325x5,5
375x3
415x3
435x1,1

Not super happy with this but given I am dieting and havent squatted heavy in over a month due to a quad strain I guess it par for the course. I was a bit slow from doing the speed stuff beforehand...no explosion.

Adductor machine
5 sets

Upper back extensions
4 sets

Seated leg curls
4 sets

Lying leg curls
4 sets

-------------------------
Bench, thurs

Took some singles today to gauge where I'm at.

Warm up

Barx20
135x10
225x8
275x5
315x2
350x1
375x1
275x10,8
225x15

About where I expected it to be. My bench is 50 lbs less than it was in early august. I primarily attribute this to weight loss, a month-long hiatus from heavy benching, and being 'off'. Bench is the first and most dramatically affected lift when it comes to body weight, followed by the squat.

JM press
worked up to 235 x 8,8

pec-dec
5 sets of 10-20

Lat pulls and DB extension superset
worked up to the 140 lb DB. 4 sets.


AM weights 234-235.

 

[Fuglydude]

Looks like that diet's really kicking in hey? Man you'd look like a total freak if you got around the 10% mark. Scary shiiite!

You'll notice the kinds of girls you get changes dramatically when you get leaner. You already have a crazy amount of muscle so if you got into the single digits you'd have HB8's and 9's lining up around the block to orally service you.

Still putting up great numbers considering your weight is dropping.

If you want something to really give you explosive power consider 20-40 mcg of clen pre-WO. I find that stuff really gives me a great neuromuscular spark. Feel strong and explosive on it! Its great for lifting heavy even when you're dropping weight.

 

[Colossus]

Thanks man.

I will never try clen because it has been shown to cause both trabecular bone loss and myocyte necrosis in rats. There are also a number of case studies detailing serious arrhythmias requiring cardioversion and even death from clen usage. Reason enough for me to steer clear.

I will say though its nice to see some detail in my abs again. Tracking my foods has been like turning over a new leaf.

----------------------

Deadlift, today

Decided to follow suit and take some singles in the dead today. Been a good 5 weeks since any pulling whatsoever.

Cycling, stretching, and rolling

Standard DL
135x10
225x5
315x5
405x3
455x3
added belt
495x2
550x1
585xmiss

All weights felt fairly easy and glided up without a hitch. I got an awkward start and rolled my shoulders forward during the 585 and dropped it at my shins. this has been a problem for me above 550 and needs to be addressed. All in all my new approach to deadlifting has worked well----I basically do no actual deadlifting and focus only on squatting and GM variations with a pull day as I feel appropriate. My big deficit is in keeping my upper back from rounding.

Power Squat GMs
200x10
400x10,10,10,10
200x20

Shrugs
315x5x20

Close grip pulldowns
5 heavy sets


Am weight 235-236

 

[j0n24]

Have you ever taken a cycle before....of anything? I know that lots of power lifters when they are starting out take a cycle to raise their numbers fast then let nature take its course so it doesnt come up when you take the test.

I also have never heard about that with clen...are we talking about clenbutrol or something else?

An eca stack might also help you lower bf fast...or a t3 cycle.

 

[Fuglydude]

Didn't know about the bone issues and myocyte necrosis... I'm guessing its probably dose-dependent though. At least I hope so. The arrhythmia stuff, there's lotsa stuff that is potentially pro-arrhythmic as I'm sure you know. Many stimulants have the potential to mess w/ the cardiac conduction machinery. I'd have to look at the studies before I can make any type of informed statement.

I wonder if albuterol is any different...

 

[Colossus]

The studies I looked at used clenbuterol but I imagine other beta-2 agonists could have similar effects.....although im sure there is a reason clen isnt FDA approved.

Jon, I have not considered using any of the things you mentioned...although I may consider an eca supp. I have done cycles but I dont do tested meets so I'm not concerned about timing so much.

 

[Colossus]

DE upper, mon

Speed bench from the pins. No bands.
135x10
185x5
195x3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3....30 sec rests

Seated smith machine presses.
135x10
225x8
275x2,2
225x8,8,8
135x20

Havent done these in ages and I remember why. Shoulders felt beat to hell afterwards. Machine presses suck.

Power Squat calf raises
6 sets 10

Bent over lateral raises
4 sets with 20-35 lbs


AM weight--235. Holidays are here so this week will likely see some weigh gain. Plan on lifting 1-2x and hitting up some disc golf.

 

[Colossus]

ME lower, wed

Pause deadlifts w/ minibands (3 sec pause at knees)
bar + bands x 10
135x8
225x5
315x3
365x3,3

The volume was low here, but these are way more taxing than they seem!

Standing narrow-stance GMs
185x10,10,10

Narrow-stance leg press
200x20
400x20
600x10
800x10,10,10,10,10

Lying Leg curls
3 x max reps

AM weights: 237

Back on the test express, excited to start realizing some gains again and take advantage of the extra protein synthesis.

 

[Colossus]

Squats, sun

3 sec pause reps
bar x a few
145x10
235x5
325x5
365x5

Standard reps, no pause
415x3
465xmiss (didnt break at the hips properly and lost it in the hole)
465x1
415x4.5 (lost the 5th rep because the bar hit the safety pins....hate when that happens.)

5 sec pause reps
235x5,5,5

DB rows
75x20
100x10
120x10,10,10

Power squat calf raises
worked up to 3 sets w/ 600


Overall a good day squatting today. I feel my squat strength is coming back nicely, and will definitely continue with the pause squats. Squats have never been my best lift, but I'm confident I can get comfortably into the 500's with pause reps and focusing more on reps of 8-10. I seem to respond better to that rep range.

Am weights: 238-239

 

[AAAgent]

any suggestions for good ab workouts. advanced?

 

[Colossus]

I do hanging leg raises, heavy standing crunches with the lat tower, and weighted roman chairs. Heavy side bends with a dumbbell are good as well....but all of these are geared for strength.