**Marcus's HIT Dungeon**

[thunderthor70]

Good morning gentlemen. I truly feel God like today.

Glad to hear that Chad...stay positive brother!!

[Hazard]

I feel great today. I passed my state liscensing exam - I'm full and vascular, and I don't feel bloated!

Time to destroy back n tris :-)

[Igifuno]

I feel great today. I passed my state liscensing exam - I'm full and vascular, and I don't feel bloated! Time to destroy back n tris :-)

Get it brutha. Big congrats on passing the state exam. You're on a roll.

[RaginCajun]

I feel great today. I passed my state liscensing exam - I'm full and vascular, and I don't feel bloated! Time to destroy back n tris :-)

Congrats Haz!

[-KJ-]

Nice job KJ

Thanks Igi, I'm trying to cut but I want to train as intense as possible and maybe add a pond or two of LBM or even maintain.

Any input to workouts or exercises are appreciated.

[-KJ-]

I feel great today. I passed my state liscensing exam - I'm full and vascular, and I don't feel bloated! Time to destroy back n tris :-)

congrats haz

[thunderthor70]

I feel great today. I passed my state liscensing exam - I'm full and vascular, and I don't feel bloated!

Time to destroy back n tris :-)

Congratulations Haz!!!

[kelkel]

Definitely have to make that test harder!






Congrats Haz!

[Hazard]

Lmao thanks fellas


Had a great workout too..... Went way heavier on hammer strength pulls. My lats are fried

[almostgone]

I feel great today. I passed my state liscensing exam - I'm full and vascular, and I don't feel bloated!

Time to destroy back n tris :-)

Sounds like you kicked @se all the way around! That's great, Haz...I knew you had it whooped.

[almostgone]

Leg press
2 w/u
Work-4-rp-4-rp-2-drop-4-drop to failure. Added a smidge more weight. Saw spots @ failure. Think I might be able to bump it up a cooter hair more next time???
Hack squats
2 w/u
Work-6-rp-3-rp-3- drop-5 Getting a little knee pain with these, but nothing terrible.
Power thrust
2w/u
Work-7-rp-4-rp-4
Calves
2w/u...1 toes in, 1 toes out
Work 8-rp-4- drop-failure
Smith lunges...Been wanting to give these a spin since Kelkel mentioned them.
Was able to squeak out 7 of these. Only used bodyweight because my legs have turned to jelly.

Got a feeling I'll be grabbing the NSAIDS tomorrow.

[RipOwens]

Good morning gentlemen. I truly feel God like today.

That's better!

[RipOwens]

I feel great today. I passed my state liscensing exam - I'm full and vascular, and I don't feel bloated! Time to destroy back n tris :-)

Congrats Haz!!

[RipOwens]

Back still sore from yesterday's workout, so I destroyed something correctly lol.

[marcus300]

I'm still chipping away at my lifting, guys. I'm back on 7 days a week at work for the next few months, but I'm determined to get as many lifts in as possible. Worked 7-7 the last few days, but will post up my lift for tomorrow after I get it done.
I keep telling myself if I can get these lifts in now with the crazy schedule, then I really ought to show some growth when I'm able to rest more.

wooow that's a hard schedule. Do you sleep ok?

[marcus300]

Good morning gentlemen. I truly feel God like today.

That's great to hear, what have you changed from the other day when you was feeling off?

[marcus300]

I feel great today. I passed my state liscensing exam - I'm full and vascular, and I don't feel bloated!

Time to destroy back n tris :-)

Well done Haz

[marcus300]

Thanks Igi, I'm trying to cut but I want to train as intense as possible and maybe add a pond or two of LBM or even maintain.

Any input to workouts or exercises are appreciated.

Stimulating growth
Remember going to true positive failure like I've describe previously hits the toughest muscle fibers what grow the biggest these are the fast twitch type 2b fibers, you hit these fibers and you will have the biggest chance of increasing in size. What we are aiming for is progression overload so you keep hitting the muscles with an increased weight so they need to change and adapt to the overload its being put under. This kind of continuous stress will have a reaction on the body and it will have no other alternative but to grow. We keep within the right rep range what stimulates the biggest growth and we continuously try and increase the intensity by increasing the reps then once the reps increase you increase the weight to bring the reps down within the correct range again. I can't stress enough about taking your muscle to true positive failure, this takes a lot of mental preparation. Before any muscle contraction occurs it originates from the brain sending signals to the nerves, the stronger the signal the more forceful the muscle contraction, in other words control your mind set pre working set and you will be in the best position to take your body to failure and beyond. I've commented many times how I go about doing my mental preparation but you master the mental side and you will see huge leaps in achieving your goals.Release the aggression by talking to your inner self and you will take your body to places its never been before. Stimulate growth by overloading your body to a state were its screaming for you to stop and no matter what you couldn't do one more rep even if your life depended on it, if you don't train in this fashion your not training hard enough.

Rep range
The ideal rep range for building size and stimulating hypertrophy is the 6 to 12 reps. Less than 6 reps will more or less increase strength and a degree of size, performing more than 12 reps will help build muscle endurance. Make sure that your reps fall within this range and your hitting true positive failure for the best chance of hypertrpohy. If your implementing one of the beyond failure methods such as forced & negs, rest pause or dropsetting you use a weight what is heavy enough to bring your positive failure at the low end of the rep range. An example for rest pause you use a weight what you will hit true positive failure at around the 4th rep then you would rest for around 10-15 seconds and do another couple of reps, then rest again for another 10-15 seconds and hit another 2 reps with the same weight. In total your doing 8 reps which is within range and your going to failure on each rest pause so you have a high chance of stimulating the right fibers to produce the best gains. As your rep range and strength increases towards a total of 12 reps you simple increase the weight being used so your constantly increasing intensity and overload, the two keys principles of any HIT programme. You use feeler sets to determine what weight you will be using on your working set, as you use different methods like dropsetting always makes sure you don't drop the weight to much so your not going over 12 reps in total. If you are you need to be using heavier weight on the drops so your rep range hits below the 12 reps in total. I always like to use around the 8 rep range in total and increase the reps upwards until I feel i can increase the weight so my rep range falls around the 8 rep range again. We are aiming for maximum muscle fiber recruitment hitting these rep ranges at failure will have the greatest potential for muscular growth. The above advice is for someone who is already advanced and is looking to build bigger thicker muscles, its not for someone who is building a base and foundation because these people can really benefit from using a lower rep range aswell as the above.


ARE YOU TRAINING HARD ENOUGH?
I've had a few PM's about training and cycles and one thing what shines through to me is that a lot are not training hard enough they dont fully understand how to train correctly. We spend so much time designing cycles and eliminating sides we think we have the perfect environment to grow into something what looks like it was carved out of stone but after 15 weeks of these super cycles most are pming me asking how can they stop the gains sliding away. We assume members are training hard enough and intense enough but in reality they aren't. I see alot of members just coasting through their training sessions and doing a set number of reps and sets and think the diet and AAS will transform them into a living god but all what happens is the gains slide away and they end up going back on gear to get some kind of size back.

I can't emphasize enough how important it is to find the right training protocol for your body to grow. You have to try many training routines and find which one you respond best to. We also need to get in the right mind set when we walk in that gym, you going there for one purpose and if you don't push your body beyond what its capable of doing your not going to grow bigger. You want to be leaving that gym feeling like you just done 10 rounds with Tyson in his hay day. You have to go through the pain, you have to push and pull the hardest you have ever done before, you have to push your body to places where its never been before and push past the pain every single time you go in the gym.

Overload your body to a state were its screaming for you to stop and no matter what, you couldn't do one more rep even if your life depended on it. If you don't train in this fashion your not training hard enough. Do you want to be bigger than anyone else, do you want to turn heads and do you want to have that monster size what no one else has got then if this is the case stop FUKING around in the gym and stop going through the motions and push past your limits and use methods what take you to hell and back.

I train that hard my eye balls shake and I find it hard to focus, I mentally prepare myself and think of things what make me angry and I push that last rep out no matter what. I kind of like the pain in certain bodyparts and I can push past it into a world of total hell, I feel like I am on fire and I swear I can feel the blood surging through my veins into the muscle what I am working. When I've done my last working set I know I cant perform another rep even if someone had a gun to my head and said you'll die if you don't do another rep, I know I've come to my limit and the sick thing about this is I actually enjoy it., I dream about it, I think about it and I cant wait to get back in the gym to do it again. Its like I'm self harming because the torture I go through is extremely painful but I know this is what I have to do to maintain what I've got and to build those extra few lbs of tissue. This is what seperates the normal guys who look like they go to the gym to the fuking monsters what walk this earth

Now are you training hard enough? ask yourself can you train harder because if the answer is yes your restricting your gains and wasting money and time. Why spend all that money on gear, gh and food when your not attacking your body like you should be. Think about it and make your next workout like your going to war with yourself.


The mental training zone
Getting into the training zone mentally is hard work, I've been approached many times via pm on this subject and ive talked a lot about it within this thread but it is hard and probably has hard to learn as learning how to train how I've described throughout this thread. So lets talk about and see your thoughts and feeling on the subject but first let me try and get this across about the mental side of training. When you see Dorian speak or train you can see he is mentally as well as physically strong. Many of the top Pro's seem to have this ability to have this mental focus to train to the level what is required to stimulate those fibers what seem to grow the biggest. I really do think its something what can be learnt and by perseverance we can get this mental focus and use it to its fullest. I've always had the motivation to train and get big and nothing in my life would stop me but I did have to learn how to release those feelings to train to a level were i wanted to get to. Over time I got the mental edge to train to true positive failure I don't know why but its something over the years what came naturally to me and I've mentioned many times within this thread how I try and get into this zone. For me we all have our little things we do to prepare ourselves before one of those working sets what is going to test us mentally as well as physically, I feel this is an individual thing what you have to find what works for you.

For me I think about certain things what have happened to me in my past what ignites my adrenalin and releases an inner aggression what I can only state as unstoppable. I talk to my inner self and take away everything around me, I am alone and only can hear my inner voice speaking and I drift to a time and relive an event in my mind like I am there again, the feelings what I felt at the time I feel again, the atmosphere I feel around me exactly like it was, I relive the exact circumstances at that moment and how I felt after and this completely isolates me from the outside world and I am stuck in the past reliving an event. At a moments notice I can come straight out into this rage and channel these emotions into the working set with the adrenalin flowing and my inner voice shouting at me. I also use another method which works for me also, I can also concentrate and watch myself doing the working and yet again take myself out of the situation I am in and go through in my head what is about to happen and I can trigger the inner aggression. I know I want it so much, I know I have to take myself to places were my body has not been before, I know its going to hurt but I kind of like that knowing I am about to inflict pain onto myself, this again ignites all these feelings inside of me that make me feel unstoppable and no one could out lift or train with the same intensity as me. That's what I feel when I am in this zone I know no one can come close I truly believe this and with that positive thinking I can take myself to failure and beyond. That's the two ways what do it for me.

I know guys who listen to music and crank it up and get into the zone, I know guys who walk up and down thinking about the set and getting into the zone, I know guys who want to be slapped which I've done in the past which instantly releases the fighting instinct which allows you to lift more than you would if you weren't in the zone. The problem is with some guys is learning how to get into this zone, its all about mind control and taking yourself away from where you are and talking to your inner self and produce these feelings. Some people can't do this and it needs to be learnt over weeks/months just like training to true positive failure like we do with HIT. Ever watch Branch pre working set how he gets himself into the zone, you can actually see his eyes change and his whole demeanour into this animal what looks unstoppable, same with Dorian and many others they all have the ability to get into this zone and recruit those tough fibers what only get activated when your at failure and beyond.

I do watch Youtube videos many times before I go training because this for me motivates myself and helps me prepare for what I am about to do in the gym. I know some of you feed of this thread before working out because I can tell with what you say before and after you train, its all about motivation, dedication and having the mental focus to keep positive and have that inner drive. We all have been under a BB with some serious weight on thinking to yourself I am going to fail this, you even say to your partner watch me I think I am going to struggle with this one and guess what happens???? you struggle and the set is a waste of time. We all have been there and ive been there many times in the past thinking this way trying to break into new areas without having the positive mind set or approach what it takes do accomplish this.

Learn how to train your mind and you will develop further not only mentally but physically aswell. I've read a lot of mind control, self help books and I am trained in areas to help direct and open peoples minds. I really enjoy NLP which helped me when I was going through times of trouble in my mind and I couldn't focus on anything. You have to learn this behaviour if it doesn't come naturally, but simple steps and trying what works for you will point you in the right direction were you to can get into the zone what will help you develop further in your training.

[almostgone]

wooow that's a hard schedule. Do you sleep ok?

Yes sir, most days. I can actually sleep more than I care to. Guess my body is making up for my younger years when I could get by on 4 hours sleep.
Plan on sticking with the lifting though....It just makes.me feel better overall.

[marcus300]

Thanks Igi, I'm trying to cut but I want to train as intense as possible and maybe add a pond or two of LBM or even maintain.

Any input to workouts or exercises are appreciated.

There is also many workouts been posted in here just tag along on them and work with us. Find out what works for you and implement it and make sure you push to your limit and stimulate those hard fibers what will create the biggest size. What are your stats?

[marcus300]

Yes sir, most days. I can actually sleep more than I care to. Guess my body is making up for my younger years when I could get by on 4 hours sleep.
Plan on sticking with the lifting though....It just makes.me feel better overall.

That's amazing I struggle sleeping when I have a hard schedule at work, to many things on my mind etc. If you still can motivate yourself to go to the gym at the end of a long days work you have a great positive mind set which is vital to growth. I would go if the gym was open but its normally shut when I finish which is a fuker!!!!

Great to hear

[almostgone]

That's amazing I struggle sleeping when I have a hard schedule at work, to many things on my mind etc. If you still can motivate yourself to go to the gym at the end of a long days work you have a great positive mind set which is vital to growth. I would go if the gym was open but its normally shut when I finish which is a fuker!!!!

Great to hear

Thanks, Marcus, but I owe it to you and the rest of the guys in this thread. I see and read how much everyone is growing and it keeps me going. I'm trying to improve as much as possible prior to going on TRT or otherwise supplementing. It's just taking longer than it used to.

[-KJ-]

There is also many workouts been posted in here just tag along on them and work with us. Find out what works for you and implement it and make sure you push to your limit and stimulate those hard fibers what will create the biggest size. What are your stats?

Marcus thanks for the detailed post above, yeah I have been pre exhausting with shoulders doing laterals first before presses and can really feel it lately.

Stats are: 57" 185-187lbs and ~ 20% which has come down from about 25%. 23years young

[marcus300]

Thanks, Marcus, but I owe it to you and the rest of the guys in this thread. I see and read how much everyone is growing and it keeps me going. I'm trying to improve as much as possible prior to going on TRT or otherwise supplementing. It's just taking longer than it used to.

That's amazing to hear that this thread has made a difference to your life and your whole well being. The mind set and motivation you have to have to make a big difference is very hard to obtain. I've had this thing in the back of my head with bodybuilding all my life what just makes me push and focus on building tissue, with our every day lifestyles its hard because things get in the way and it takes us off the road to building size and cutting bf but if you have the right mind set it can really make you a better man and give you a tremendous feeling of well being.

I adore training so much it makes me feel so good, the pump and hardness when I train is like the best drug you could ever take and the high from people looking at you and asking you questions cant be found anywhere. I wish I had the knowledge what the guys now have when I was younger because I know I would be a walking monster without a doubt lol.

It's a part of me, its who I am

[marcus300]

Marcus thanks for the detailed post above, yeah I have been pre exhausting with shoulders doing laterals first before presses and can really feel it lately.

Stats are: 57" 185-187lbs and ~ 20% which has come down from about 25%. 23years young

I really like pre exhaust HIT training, its been working really well for me especially on shoulders and chest. Try pre exhausting them do laterals first, then rears or even front raises then do the pressing last. The poundage will come down but the stimulation will go up and over time you will become stronger on the pressing and when you go back to compound firsts you will be extremely stronger in the lift. Its also a good idea to swap movements around from time to time even though I am a guy who sticks with what works I do swap things around like pre exhaust, rep ranges etc.

Just listen to your body and flow with it,

ever time you walk in that gym make it count!!!

[almostgone]

That's amazing to hear that this thread has made a difference to your life and your whole well being. The mind set and motivation you have to have to make a big difference is very hard to obtain. I've had this thing in the back of my head with bodybuilding all my life what just makes me push and focus on building tissue, with our every day lifestyles its hard because things get in the way and it takes us off the road to building size and cutting bf but if you have the right mind set it can really make you a better man and give you a tremendous feeling of well being.y

I adore training so much it makes me feel so good, the pump and hardness when I train is like the best drug you could ever take and the high from people looking at you and asking you questions cant be found anywhere. I wish I had the knowledge what the guys now have when I was younger because I know I would be a walking monster without a doubt lol.

It's a part of me, its who I am

You're a monster as it is..
Lifting really does give me a more positive outlook. I feel better, I look forward to seeing progress on my part, and if I have a rough project or a bad day, I put it into my lifts.
My wife has even commented that I seem happier now that I'm back lifting and researching on the forum.

[marcus300]

You're a monster as it is..
Lifting really does give me a more positive outlook. I feel better, I look forward to seeing progress on my part, and if I have a rough project or a bad day, I put it into my lifts.
My wife has even commented that I seem happier now that I'm back lifting and researching on the forum.

Well done you seem to have the ideal mind set and focus and if the wife notices something its got to be a good thing right!!!

[marcus300]

Had 2 days off and going back in in 5mins to train arms. Going to rip these fukers to bits and make sure I struggle driving home

[almostgone]

Hope you have great lift, Marcus....you know the kind that makes it a challenge to even lift the hands up to grasp the steering wheel!

[almostgone]

Man, I sure am glad the restrooms here at work are handicap accessible. In no manner am I making fun of anyone who may be handicapped, but those handrails came in REAL handy a little while ago. ...my legs are totally fried from yesterday's lift.

[-KJ-]

Had 2 days off and going back in in 5mins to train arms. Going to rip these fukers to bits and make sure I struggle driving home

Rip em apart pal.. Post up the workout if you get a chance.

[marcus300]

man, i sure am glad the restrooms here at work are handicap accessible. In no manner am i making fun of anyone who may be handicapped, but those handrails came in real handy a little while ago. ...my legs are totally fried from yesterday's lift.

lmfao lol lol

[marcus300]

Rip em apart pal.. Post up the workout if you get a chance.

Biceps, triceps and forearms



Triceps
Close grip bench press on smith machine
3 warm up sets - high reps and got the mind muscle connection going with a intense pump
1 working set to failure + 2 rest pause and one drop set at the end



Lying DB extension on a slight incline bench
2 feel sets
1 working set to failure + 2 rest pause and 1 drop set at the end



Straight bar pushdowns
2 feel sets
1 working set to failure + 2 drop sets


Biceps

EZ curls
2 feel sets
1 working set + 2 drop sets


Incline db curls
2 feel sets
1 working set + 2 drop sets all to failure


Forearms
Hammer curls
2 feel sets
1 working set + 2 drops to failure


db wrist curls
3 sets to failure high reps


Excellent workout and got a great pump and shifted some weight felt very productive and motivated to the job in hand. Did a lot of squeezing and concentrated on the contraction and got some serious fiber pain in my bicep. Triceps felt hard and pumped. Couldn't touch the back of my head afterwards which is always a good sign.

My back is in bits and been like this all week, just an old injury coming to the surface again so wont be doing legs this week which is really pissing me off because ive been hitting the hacks with some good solid weight and focusing on my sweep again but its one of those things what comes and goes. Not going to the doctor he only tells me to stop lifting and rest lol as if.

[Igifuno]

Nice session Marcus. Way to make it hurt. Back injuries always seem to come back eventually. I'm sure you'll give it the rest it needs to get back in full swing soon enough.

Today is my first day of pct. I'm excited about the upcoming weeks. Curious to see how much LBM I will keep. Caloric intake will remain high, training will remain intense, so I expect to keep a lot.

Also excited about blood work after pct. Curious to see what the future holds there.

[-KJ-]

Serious workout Markus...
I tend to do dips instead of close grip bench but I may start doing them, dips are just and exercise I enjoy doing.

[Cuz]

That's great to hear, what have you changed from the other day when you was feeling off?

Tad bit of bloat still. Adex back up to .5eod. Took out a mass shake from diet and replaced with actuall food. Cals were low yesterday bit all clean. I managed over 2lbs chixken and 20 egg whites. Carbs around 300g. I was actually eating a few more but I've backed it down. It really wasn't helping that much. Thanks for asking Marcus

[marcus300]

Nice session Marcus. Way to make it hurt. Back injuries always seem to come back eventually. I'm sure you'll give it the rest it needs to get back in full swing soon enough.

Today is my first day of pct. I'm excited about the upcoming weeks. Curious to see how much LBM I will keep. Caloric intake will remain high, training will remain intense, so I expect to keep a lot.

Also excited about blood work after pct. Curious to see what the future holds there.

It will be interesting to see what happens during pct and after, keep us informed

[marcus300]

Tad bit of bloat still. Adex back up to .5eod. Took out a mass shake from diet and replaced with actuall food. Cals were low yesterday bit all clean. I managed over 2lbs chixken and 20 egg whites. Carbs around 300g. I was actually eating a few more but I've backed it down. It really wasn't helping that much. Thanks for asking Marcus

It sounds like you may be a bit carb sensitive and because of the increase numbers of calories its made you hold water weight and also the androgens what you have started its caused you to hold water. It can happen to many who prime and go straight into a bulking cycle some guys hold a lot of water others don't but at least you know and can adjust things for next time. In my experience if your carb sensitive it may be of advantage for the first 2 weeks of the cycle slowly increase the carbs each day and don't just go straight into them. Sounds like you have adjusted things and its helping

[marcus300]

Serious workout Markus...
I tend to do dips instead of close grip bench but I may start doing them, dips are just and exercise I enjoy doing.

I like them both but with close grip bench press on the smith I can isolate the tri's more.

[Igifuno]

Clomid/nolv cocktail downed. Tasty. About to head out for legs.