CJ Getting Bigger Version 2.0

[CJ275]

Legs feel much better, ready to get back to business.

Leg Day:

-Lying Decline Leg Curls, 3@r8/9+(6-10): 65 x 12,10,9+Partials+Iso Hold. Increased reps from pre injury
-Lying Back Leg Exts, 3@r8/9+(10-15): 125 x 20,18,14. Increased weight.
-Squats, 3@r8/9(6-10): 315 x 8,8,10. Up 40 lbs from pre injury, but different rep scheme.
-Vertical Leg Press, 3@r8/9(10-15): 280+2 Orange Bands x 12,9,7. Up 100 lbs since Sunday. Went really slow tempo on these, being extra cautious with the hamstrings and groin.
-A1) DB Standing Calf, 3@r8/9(10+): 110 x 20,18,18. Went up in weight from last week, but DB needed is too cumbersome to hold to make this effective. I have a belt/chain combo on it's way with a belt squat lever arm to attach to my rack.
-A2) DB Incline Hammer Curls, 3@r8/9+(10+): 22.5's x 15,13,14. Went up in weight from last week.

Notes:

-breathing continues to improve, so that's good.

-Legs felt strong, but still felt the injuries in the hammies and groin. Was extra diligent about firm and tempo, to mitigate the risk of aggravating the injuries.

[CJ275]

13 hour work day, then a back workout.

Pull Day:

-Lean Back Flat Wide OH Cable Pulldowns, 3@r8/9+: 125 x 15,13,15. Went up in weight from last week.
-Ntrl Grip Cable Pulldown, 5@r8+: 120 x 11,10,10,10,11+Partials. Added a set from last week.
-A1) Inc DB Curls, 3@r8/9+: 25's x 12,11,11. Went up in weight.
-A2) DB Rear Delt Flyes, 3@r8/9+: 25's x 14,14,16+Partials. Went up on weight.
-A3) Pausing KB Calf Raises, 3@r8/9+: 53 x 41,26,28. Paused at the top of every 10th rep for a full 5 second count. Added 11 reps from last week.

Notes:

-Hamstrings still not healed enough to perform barbell rows, therefore I did the leaning back pulldowns again, trying to hit the mid/upper back as best as I could. Not as good as a BB Row, but it felt pretty decent.

[Boogieman]

Way to put in the hard work CJ long days are hard, yet you still are kicking ass in the gym!

[Skullcrusher]

13 hour work day, then a back workout.

Pull Day:

-Lean Back Flat Wide OH Cable Pulldowns, 3@r8/9+: 125 x 15,13,15. Went up in weight from last week.
-Ntrl Grip Cable Pulldown, 5@r8+: 120 x 11,10,10,10,11+Partials. Added a set from last week.
-A1) Inc DB Curls, 3@r8/9+: 25's x 12,11,11. Went up in weight.
-A2) DB Rear Delt Flyes, 3@r8/9+: 25's x 14,14,16+Partials. Went up on weight.
-A3) Pausing KB Calf Raises, 3@r8/9+: 53 x 41,26,28. Paused at the top of every 10th rep for a full 5 second count. Added 11 reps from last week.

Notes:

-Hamstrings still not healed enough to perform barbell rows, therefore I did the leaning back pulldowns again, trying to hit the mid/upper back as best as I could. Not as good as a BB Row, but it felt pretty decent.

What about chest supported rows?

[CJ275]

What about chest supported rows?

I workout at home, so no dedicated machine for that. Tried chest support with bench, it was ok with DBs, but not enough ROM with a barbell. The Pulldowns felt like the best option.

The hammies won't be hurting forever, soon it'll be back to the barbell.

[CJ275]

Push Day:

-Low Inc DB Bench, 3@r8/9+(6-10): 65's x 12,10,7. Added weight from last week.
-Strict Press, 3@r8/9+(6-10): 110 x 12,10,8. Added weight from last week.
-BB Bench, 5@r8+(10-15): 145 x 14,11,9,9,8. Added a set from last week.
-A1) Cable Tricep Pressdowns, 3@r8/9+(10-15): 50 x 17,13,10+Partials. Went up in weight from last week.
-A2) DB Lateral, 3@r8/9+(10-15): 25's x 16,14,10+Partials. Went up in weight from last week.

Notes:

-Had no desire to work out today, 12 hour work day, tired and beat up. I almost skipped the workout. But I decided to punch the clock, get the work in, and put in a solid effort. It's not in the plan to take unscheduled days off right now.

-Breathing is much better, definitely on the down slope of that illness.

-My groin/adductor is still bothering me though. It hurts even when setting up on a bench. Not enough to alter my firm or setup, but painful nonetheless. Bothers me when sleeping too, so hopefully that gets better soon, especially since tomorrow is leg day.

[Jin]

A great example of knowledge, discipline and results.

Consistency is paramount. You don’t need to be motivated, you just need to get your workout done.

Always impressive CJ.

[CJ275]

There will be no leg training session today. The adductor is still really bothering me, and there's more to be gained by just taking the day off and getting to bed early than doing just leg extensions and calfs.

Recovery is important too.

[CJ275]

Weekly Update:

Up 0.8 lbs this week to an average weigh in of 203.7 lbs.

4537 Cals
474g C
304g P
161g F

Lower weight gain this week is probably a carry over from last week's lighter Cal week. I've found over the years that I have about a 1 week lag when I make adjustments before I notice the effect.

I fully expect next week that I'll pass my old high point in good weight of 205.4 lbs, not counting when I was a chubby fukker. And I'll still have 12 weeks to go on this run.

This week will be a planned lighter workout week. Then it'll be 3 weeks of ramping up the volume via set increase until the week of Xmas, which will be another planned lighter week.

Then it's the final 8 week push. The first 4 of those weeks will be trying to push the weight, to increase it every workout even if reps drop somewhat. The final 4 weeks I'll incorporate Rest-Pause sets to crush myself down the home stretch. 50mg of Anavar will be added the last 7 weeks.

The road to 220 lbs.

[Metalhead1]

There will be no leg training session today. The adductor is still really bothering me, and there's more to be gained by just taking the day off and getting to bed early than doing just leg extensions and calfs.

Recovery is important too.

Hate to see you having trouble bro. Rest, and recovery are paramount at this point. Ice, and rest were my go to's for the groin before i got stupid, and tore it. Little time now prevents a long time later. Good luck

[Bro Bundy]

Seems like a lot of us are injured . Always remember there is no rush make sure u heal correctly

[PZT]

Seems like a lot of us are injured . Always remember there is no rush make sure u heal correctly

getting old fkin sucks

[Skullcrusher]

Hey CJ, was wondering if you could recommend a good warmup lift/exercise for my back and biceps day. Can be plyometrics, crossfit, etc.

Right now I am just planning broomstick twist using 15 lb standard barbell but don't feel like that's really going to get my blood pumping.

[CJ275]

Hey CJ, was wondering if you could recommend a good warmup lift/exercise for my back and biceps day. Can be plyometrics, crossfit, etc.

Right now I am just planning broomstick twist using 15 lb standard barbell but don't feel like that's really going to get my blood pumping.

I usually stretch a little, then activate.

My go to for back warmup is I alternate between the child's pose and cobra yoga poses. This takes my spine through flexion and extension.

Then I do the stretch where you're sitting on the ground, you put one leg over the other, the turn your back into the direction of that leg. I know I'm explaining it poorly, but I don't know the name of the stretch.

Then I stand up, bend down and touch my toes, allowing my back to go into full flexion(banana back). Then I'll rise slowly, extending my spine vertebrae by vertebrae starting from the bottom, until I'm standing upright with my back in full flexion(arch).

From there, I'll go to the cable pulldown, and perform a bunch of activation reps where I keep my arms straight the entire , but I use the lat muscles to pull the weight up and down, getting a good stretch at the top. Then the same with a light barbell doing bentover rows, arms stay straight and I use the rhomboids/mid back to retract and protract the shoulder blades.

[CJ275]

Light Week, Total Body Day:

A1) Low Inc Bench: 165 x 8,8,8
A2) Ntrl Pullups: BW x 8,8,8
B1) DB Shldr Press: 45's x 8,8,8
B2) Wide Cable Pulldowns: 110 x 10,10,10
C1) Decline Leg Curls: 65 x 8,8,8
C2) Lean Back Leg Exts: 125 x 10,10,10
KB Standing Calf Raises: 53 x 20,20,20

[Skullcrusher]

How do you work in a total body day, just curious?

[CJ275]

How do you work in a total body day, just curious?

I don't normally, it's a light week for me this week, and I'm limited on what I can do for legs with an injured groin.

Today was very far from failure on everything, just getting the movements in.

If one were to do full body days though, I'd go with MWF or EOD, with an exercise each for lower body, upper push and upper pull, sprinkle in accessory lifts. Maybe Squats, Pullups, Presses, EZ Bar Curls on Monday. Leg Press, Rows, Bench, Lateral Raises on Wednesday. Deadlifts, Cable Pulldowns, Inc DB Bench, and Skullcrushers on Friday.

I would personally only do that if I was on maintenance volume, and didn't want to be sore because I had other stuff going on.

5x5 program is basically a full body program as well.

[CJ275]

Light Week, Upper Body Day:

-Leaning Back Wide Pulldowns: 3x10@125
-Low Inc DB Bench: 3x8@60's
-Ntrl Grip Cable Pulldowns: 3x8@105
-Strict Press: 3x8@95

Just getting some movement in. I don't like my deload weeks to be complete weeks off from lifting. I stay far from failure, no fatigue gets build up, but I get practice in on the movement patterns.

[CJ275]

Weekly Update:

Up 0.8 lbs to an average weight of 204.5 lbs this week.

4169 Cals
411g C
277g P
153g F

Those numbers are NOT including Thanksgiving. Didn't track that day, it'd be a very rough guess at best, so why bother.

Light/deload week is over, back to working hard. Finally don't feel sick anymore, it was 4 weeks of feeling off. Adductor is still bothering me, so I'll have to work around that as best as I can.

Switching to a rotating Pull/Push/Legs split with A+B days going forward. I was trying to cram too much in on my Upper Body day, better to split it up, in my opinion.

[CJ275]

Pull Day A:

-Ntrl Grip Landmine Rows, 3x6+: 135 x 6,6,11.
-Wide Grip Pulldowns, 3@r8+(8-12): 100 x 17,15,15.
-Ntrl Grip Pulldowns, 3@r8+(10-15): 100 x 13,12,13.
-A1) EZ Bar Curls, 3@r8+(6-10): 60 x 14,11,12.
-A2) DB Rear Flyes, 3@r8+(8-12): 25's x 14,15,14+Partials
-A3) Low Cable Belt Calf Raises, 3@r8+(15-20): 100 x 27,24,22+Partials