Sunday 27th June
Hit 204lb's with a full stomach yesterday! Considering that I was 183lb's at the beginning of the month, I don't think this is too bad. I should point out that it is real easy to go off of certain foods if you eat them too much. It's all very well to say you're going to have a 1000cal porridge/peanut butter/whey shake, every morning for breakfast. But give it a few weeks. You know when you eat something (tuna is a good example), and you're chewing and chewing, but your body won't allow you to swallow it? This will happen. Variety is key. Justin Lascek over at www.70sbig.com talks about the battle he had with eating eggs for breakfast whilst gaining weight. Fortunately, I can still stomach these.
One final thing (and kind of the reason I posted the pic), is something I have a great passion for. Tattoos.
If you are considering getting a tattoo, the best piece of advice you will ever ever get is to do your research on the best artist for the job. Don't just go to your local shop because it's close. If there are 3 tattooists in your area, I guarantee that at least 2 of them suck. Sorry, but this is the absolute truth. This thing is gonna be on you for the rest of your life, so please, don't go to your mate because he charges half what an experienced artist would. If you have to travel, travel. I had my ribcage destroyed by a monkey with a tattoo gun. The man who fixed it for me was Kouri Montana of www.montana-tattoo.com You can see my ribcage piece on the main page. Bear in mind that this is a fix up job, and would look much better if Kouri had done it from scratch.
For some really JAW DROPPING tattoos, go to www.kamiltattoos.com
Friday 25th June 2010
Hit 82.50kg for a 1 rep max on the press today. Heels came up a little but no leg drive. Deadlift wasn't great. Got stuck on fully opening my hips at 210kg. I'm not surprised it hasn't gone up. I was struggling pulling 170kg at the start of the year.
I've heard a few people say that you don't need to be big to be strong. 'There's this 160lb guy/girl that can squat 3x bodyweight.' You always here about some little guy who is incredibly strong at a very low weight. But it's not common place. Mikko Salo has a greater work capacity than anyone Crossfit has ever seen. But why would you assume that you are made of the same stuff? Most crossfitters will either be good at metcon or good at strength work. When you mention to the skinny guy that he would do well to add a little size to his frame, he will then turn around and point out that Pat Barber is incredibly strong for his small frame. The same person will then turn around and fail under a 50kg press. My point is, that you are not Pat Barber/Spealler etc. If you're strength isn't going anywhere, then your metcon will only go so far. Try doubling your calorie intake and focus on incorporating a strength program into your crossfit regime. Have the guts to let go of your rippling ribcage (I meant six-pack), for a little while, and get really strong. Check out Coach Rutherfords Black Box for a decent combination of strength and metcon.
Monday 21st June 2010
Good day for pr's today. My last 1rm on back squat was 152.50kg. Today I managed to put up an easy 160kg, with some of the fitness first guys looking on! Sean is a great trainer, and may be taking over the box when we move.
Even though he wasn't feeling it, Ed hit a great pr on the overhead squat with an easy 90kg. Shame Ad wasn't around to witness it all, but the jammy git is currently lapping up the sun in Mexico!
If any of you guys out there are into mixed martial arts, Matt Palfrey is selling a decent protein powder, designed with the mma fighter in mind. Definitely worth heading over to www.mmanutritionuk.com to check out his stuff.
Food wise i've been taking everything on board. Still eating the good stuff but adding some less decent calories if I need to by the end of the day. I've been supplementing my meals with extra thick double cream. Real easy to get a ton of calories in that way. I don't do olive oil shots, I'd rather jump off the Empire State Building onto a bicycle with no seat.
Saturday 19th June 2010
Here is the link to Johnny Pains strength and size gains
http://startingstrength.com/resources/forum/showthread.php?t=12072&highlight=johnny+pain
Last couple of days have been pretty good, training wise. Sets of 3 power cleans at an easy 95kg. 3's on the press at 72.5kg, again pretty easy. I do like leaving a bit in the tank. Eating a ton of food definitely has a positive effect on lifting! I know I am progressing slower than I would on SS, but i'm not in any rush to get big, this time.
When I first tried doing GOMAD (gallon of milk a day), I was under the impression that in 6 weeks, I would be HUGE! One of the first ever crossfitters had apparently put on 2 stone of muscle in 6 weeks, with no fat accumulation, by just adding 8 pints of milk a day to his allocated 'zone' blocks. Hell, maybe he did. But can you imagine maintaining sub 8% bodyfat with a carb dense caloric surplus of roughly 3000 calories? In fact, without anabolics, who can really claim to have put on 2 stone (28 pounds!!) of lean muscle mass in a month and a half? I don't mean to put the guy down, but what he did was misleading, especially after claiming it was done without 'supplementation'. Gains like this are actually the norm when doing starting strength and GOMAD, but they are not 100% lean gains. To create an anabolic environment, we need a surplus of calories, which means a little fat gain.
At the moment, I probably consume 4 pints of milk per day on top of a ton of other calories. I will hit the 200 pound mark tomorrow. Have I gained any fat? I'm sure I have, but honestly I suspect I am more bloated from the large amount of calories/carbs that I've taken on board. When I attempted the weight gain program last year, for 3 months, I got to 211 pounds. My mistake was going back to eating small quantities of food. You can't expect to maintain mass for a 240 pound guy whilst eating as though you weigh 170 pounds. Don't waste your gains, don't 'cut'. Tighten up instead.
Wednesday 16th June 2010
Everyone loves Adam. This guys numbers make me feel good about the weight i'm lifting. I'm only messing around of course. Ad is my training partner and a badass crossfitter as well. The first time he saw Mikko Salo he turned around to me and Ollie and said 'I reckon I can take him'. And he actually nearly did.
I think it's important to have someone shouting in your ear when you're trying to hit a pr. If you have to train by yourself, then make sure you have an ipod and some heavy music. Personally I like to listen to As I Lay Dying, All That Remains or some early Fear Factory.
Food wise, I'm back on track. I'm trying to eat as much as possible and still have a carb curfew. Once I get to a decent weight, I'll cycle the carb intake a little better, but for now I just need to put on some size. I'l update the home page in a couple weeks with a new picture, weight, and lift increases.
Tuesday 15th June 2010
Tom Hardy put on a ton of weight for this role. Ice cream, fish and chips and creatine!
Angelo - one of the monsters who comes to train most weekday afternoons. And evenings. Mornings as well I guess. This guy trains alot!!!
Bench felt solid at 95kg for 3 reps. I've benched 5 at 105kg in the past, but am trying to keep my ass on the bench. Gotta work on my sub par form.
After not much sleep and not much food all day, I managed to get about 2500 cals into my evening meal. I personally don't think you have to eat 15-20 small meals a day. 3 meals at 2k makes an easy to consume 6000 cals, and saves you a lot of time and preparation.
Monday 14th June 2010
BACK SQUAT MONDAY!!
This is my first set of 3 at 145kg. The next couple of sets had less travel forward. These felt pretty comfy though.
Saturday 12th June 2010
Weekends are rest days (as they should be), so nothing to report other than having eaten so much that the tattoo on my rib cage and stomach looks to be struggling to maintain it's integrity. And yes, it suits me..
Check out the 'Articles' page for my take on the 'ZONE DIET'.
Friday 11th June 2010
Pressing for sets of 5 at 70kg. It's really easy to get into the habit of using your legs on a strict press, if you're not being watched. I made this mistake a while ago, and am now trying to be really conscious of keeping tight form. These went pretty well considering that my lower back is shot from deadlifting yesterday.
Busy again, so shovelling food down really fast. Breakfast was 6 eggs scrambled with a block of cheese. Large bowl of porridge with goji etc. Nut butter, milk and coffee. 2 Twister shakes whilst training (www.discountsupplements.co.uk) Sci mentor do awesome protein shakes at great prices. No aspartame or anything artificial. Lunch was 2 pints of milk and a large cajun chicken salad. Ditto 2 hours later. 2 tins of tuna with a ton of mayo and sweetcorn shortly after, protein bar. Have yet to decide what to have when I get in. Yesterday I mentioned that a pizza would not be a problem if it came up, so what was waiting for me when I got home? Thanks Em!
If you need to know what 5000 cals looks like, then head over to www.calorieking.com It's a free resource, and very handy. A HUGE discovery was clotted cream. In a small tub you can find around 1100 cals! And no sugar! Of course, you can't eat it on it's own. I recommend Ben & Jerry's.....
Thursday 10 June 2010
5rm Deadlift today. Ad was doing 3rm. Both got confused, and I unintentionally pulled 3 reps of a 5rm at 182.5kg. And then promptly finished the remaining 2 reps. I think eating low carb for so long forced my brain to start feeding on itself. That, or i'm just a dumb ass.
One of the best transformations i've ever witnessed was by Johnny Pain, over at Greyskull Barbell. You can see his progress on Rippetoes q&a forum. His gym looks like a seriously good place to train. Here's a vid of what goes on over there. Compilation 4/10 Part 2 from john sheaffer on Vimeo.
Wednesday 09 June 2010
Pictured above is Jim Wendler (far right). The author of 5/3/1, the program I am following. Lots of great articles can be found over at www.elitefts.com . These guys look brutally strong!! This might give you an idea of what i'm training toward. I am certainly not trying to be a 'bodybuilder'.
I officially started training on monday. After a good weekend of eating, my weight came in at 192lb's yesterday. Not bad, had a good bloat on.
Mondays squat session - 5 reps at 140kg. This is due to being on holiday for two weeks in Egypt and losing 7lb's due to getting a bad stomach. Typical.
Tuesdays bench session I started light, getting a solid set of 5 at 90kg, followed by 3 sets of 5 chins with a 24kg kettlebell.
It takes me a while to find my stride with eating large amounts of food, and has so far been pretty clean. My off day has gone like this - 6 scrambled eggs with a block of melted cheese, a large bowl of porridge (remember i'm not eating for optimal health) with goji's, blueberries, milk and some cashew butter. Plus some real strong coffee. I recommend the Guatemala Elephant beans from Whittards. Coffee beans on steroids. Lunch was 2 large salmon fillets, Broccolli and more milk. As this is my rest day, it's a little easier to keep clean. If I get stuck for calories tomorrow, a large pizza will not be a problem!! I aim to stay at 4000 cals until the weight slows and then take it up. The first 20 pounds are easy, I know. Then you really have to start working.....
The long hard road..
The main purpose of this blogspot is to document the efforts necessary to increase raw strength and size. This is NOT a bodybuilding blog. I have nothing against bodybuilding, however, I don't believe in training to look strong without actually being so. If you're one of those people who usually skips 'leg day' in the gym, in favour of polishing your 'guns', this is not the place for you but it could be...
Take a moment to think about how long you've been training. Now think about the progress you've made in the past years. We all know you work out with weights to get bigger. But are you? Sure, if you could afford 4 tubs of maximuscle cyclone, pretty soon you'd look like the guy advertising the stuff. If you were a bit more consistent with your sessions, then overnight, you would most likely begin to morph into the guy at your gym you so badly want to look like. But you haven't. And you won't.
This is not entirely your fault. Personal trainers and the media feed you lies on a daily basis. Magazines such as 'Mens Health' only serve to make us weaker by telling us that these genetically gifted cover models became so by doing alternating presses on a gym ball and taking copious amounts of whichever popoular 'fat burner' is taking up a two page spread in the magazine you paid your hard earned money for. I'l bet that anyone would make a good looking cover model with the right lighting and appropriate photo-shopping.
So what to do? You want to be bigger, you want to be stronger. Anybody can do it, and without supplements, and without anabolics. I don't have a problem with steroids, especially if someone has COMPLETELY exhausted their linear progression, but we won't get into that, yet.
First you need a decent training program. 'Starting Strength' by Mark Rippetoe or 5 3 1 by Jim Wendler are a good place to start. You need inspiration. Try 70sbig.com or look at the transformation of Johnny Pain on the Rippetoe q&a at strengthmill.net. Check out Greyskullelite.blogspot.com. Become familiar with EliteFts or Westside Barbell.
And one more thing. EAT. This may be hard to hear, but you need to let go of your (almost) sixpack. If you can see your rib cage, you don't have a six pack. You're emaciated. It's time to do something about it. You need 5000 calories per day. You need to have 2g of protein per lb of bodyweight. Do what it takes to get this done. You will gain a little fat, and you will strip it later on. EAT, EAT, EAT. If you are not gaining on a weekly basis, you are not eating enough.