**slfmade's 20 week lean bulk/cutting log**

[tbody66]

Thanks Tbody...I'll give that a shot.

Also...Last night with SLDL I made sure to go down as low as I can and TODAY I definetely feel it in the hams. So just that little tweak made all the difference...thanks!

Always a pleasure!

[-KJ-]

Good to see your going strong SLF!
Keep it up

[slfmade]

Last Night was routine #5. So 5 down 19 to Go. Good Workout. I'm now able to hit the higher end of my reps with the weight I started at, so starting Monday It'll be time to increase the weight. Everything is good for the most part, but I'm not really feeling like my triceps are getting hit hard enough with the skull crushers...could I switch those up with Tricep pushdowns Tbody? I mentioned why in your log.

Woke up this morning did a fasted 2 hr hike.

Diet is getting easier in terms of I no longer feel like I'm killing myself with the 3k calories on lift days so I'm happy about that.

PICTURE DAY MONDAY!!!!

[tbody66]

Looking forward to pics.

[slfmade]

Looking forward to pics.

Good Deal...What about my question on the triceps?

[slfmade]

Nevermind....Just saw you addressed this in your log.

[Standby]

maybe im not following this right but why is it you want to switch skull crushers if they are hitting it good?

[slfmade]

maybe im not following this right but why is it you want to switch skull crushers if they are hitting it good?

Yep, you were following it wrong. LOL I was saying that I'm not really feeling the muscle contractions with the skull crushers like I do with push downs. I'm going heavy but I feel it in my forearms more than I do in my triceps, plus it almost feels like it's pinching my ulnar nerve (funny bone) when I come down to my forehead. Kinda weird I know!

No worries though. Tbody said in his other post he believes skull crushers to be one of the best mass builders for triceps. So even though I'm not feeling it very much, I'm gonna stick with and see where it goes.

[-KJ-]

Do you bring the bar to your forehead or towards back of head??

[Papiriqui]

Yep, you were following it wrong. LOL I was saying that I'm not really feeling the muscle contractions with the skull crushers like I do with push downs. I'm going heavy but I feel it in my forearms more than I do in my triceps, plus it almost feels like it's pinching my ulnar nerve (funny bone) when I come down to my forehead. Kinda weird I know!

No worries though. Tbody said in his other post he believes skull crushers to be one of the best mass builders for triceps. So even though I'm not feeling it very much, I'm gonna stick with and see where it goes.

I am not by any means trying to say you are doing them wrong but perhaps you are bringing your elbows in, or moving the arms instead of concentrating it on the tricep? I mean i dont know, you are the one doing them so what do you think? Are you performing them the correct way so it concentrates on the tricep?

[Standby]

yep i think you should look into how your doing them. skull crushers kill my tris when i go back with the bar i cant see it. found it works best for me

[slfmade]

Standby....So you're suggesting I do them like this???http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_KZxkY_0cM

I've been doing them like this...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L5pU4Lyy7Tk

[Papiriqui]

Standby....So you're suggesting I do them like this???http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_KZxkY_0cM

I've been doing them like this...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L5pU4Lyy7Tk

I do them like video #2 but and apparently you too! That still doesnt mean you are doing them right. Like i said your elbows have to find their free form, when you push elbows in you are forcing them so they hurt and work another muscle aa well.

Im not saying thats what you do but is an example, you have to figure out if your form is correct and if it feels natural, if it does than TBody could guide you to the next level !

[-KJ-]

Just my input.... I do them like video two! not so far back though... Slow on the negative phase and quicker on positive! works for me

[tbody66]

If you are doing them like video 2 then try moving the weight closer to performing them like video one and see if you feel it more in the tricep. Lower the weight during experimentation. The two keys are to keep your elbows in tight, don't flay them out, pretend you have a shoestring tying them together with a bar in between so they can't go out further and they can't come in closer. Do like KJ says and lower the weight twice as slow as you extend it. The second key is to keep your upper arm stationary. What that means is...hold your arms straight out away from your body while lying on the bench. Let your arms fall slightly towards your head, now keep your biceps/triceps portion of the arm held there, break the elbows and lower the weight to your forehead/top of your head without moving the biceps/triceps part of the arm, straighten your forearms up to lockout - repeat. I'll try to get some vids up to help you out.

[-KJ-]

You could try using the cables also... You can adjust the angle of the bench for a variation. Constant tension through out the exercise.

[Standby]

i do them like vid 2 but move it back further about 3-4inchs for its behind my head a tad. pretty much what tbody said. i also go pretty slow with a good squeeze. sometimes after the set ill use the same bar and go straight into a close grip bench and hit my tris harder

[Sgt. Hartman]

Yep, you were following it wrong. LOL I was saying that I'm not really feeling the muscle contractions with the skull crushers like I do with push downs. I'm going heavy but I feel it in my forearms more than I do in my triceps, plus it almost feels like it's pinching my ulnar nerve (funny bone) when I come down to my forehead. Kinda weird I know!

No worries though. Tbody said in his other post he believes skull crushers to be one of the best mass builders for triceps. So even though I'm not feeling it very much, I'm gonna stick with and see where it goes.

My opinion, take it for what it's worth. The reason you're not feeling much for triceps is because you're only doing 1 exercise for them. They're not some tiny body part that can be exhausted in 1 exercise of straight sets. If we were talking about rest-pause training or some other form of HIT I could see the point, but three sets of one tricep exercise is not enough to stimulate growth IMO. And if you're performing the WO in the order that you have it posted on the first page, then your CNS is fried by the time you get to triceps and even though you're giving what you think is maximum effort, your mind-muscle connection and ability to contract the muscle to it's fullest extent is not possible.

Play around with your form though and see if that helps. If you're feeling it in your forearm, try doing it more like video 1, making sure the upper part of your arms are 90 degrees to the floor with your elbows as close together as possible. But I wouldn't recommend going as far down behind the head as that guy does, looks like tendonitis waiting to happen to me.

[slfmade]

Thanks for all of your comments on this. I guess I'm just gonna have to start by playing around with my form and see what can be done there. I've been doing them the way I've always been taught ever since my HS football days, and just like the video I posted the link to. That being said, I can imagine that I'm doing it incorrectly. Like SGT said I might just be so fatigued by the end of the routine that even though I feel like I'm pushing it hard...well you read what SGT said.

I'll more than likely finish the program out as it is since after tonight I'm already 2 weeks complete and only have 6 more to go. If I need to make changes the next go around I'll do so then.

Thanks again guys.....

[Standby]

think about using your palms when you do it just like the press down thing you want to do dont pull with your fingers push it back up with your palms if that helps any. play around like you said

[slfmade]

think about using your palms when you do it just like the press down thing you want to do dont pull with your fingers push it back up with your palms if that helps any. play around like you said

Will do...I leave for the gym in about an hour. I'll spend a little time with it and post the results later this evening.

[tbody66]

I will now give you a guaranteed way to feel it in the triceps.... lower the weight..... reverse the grip. Be very careful with this approach, could not end well if you don't keep your grip.

[slfmade]

I will now give you a guaranteed way to feel it in the triceps.... lower the weight..... reverse the grip. Be very careful with this approach, could not end well if you don't keep your grip.

I'll give that shot; however, I experimented with a few things tonight and found a winner. Before I was dropping the bar to the top of my forehead. Standby suggested to move the bar back a little further so I gave that a shot and it worked great. To better explain it, I brought the bar to about the center of my scalp (center of top of the head). I think by doing this it dropped by elbows (which I keep stationary) back a few inches as well, and this contracted my tri's much better. Does that make sense?

I'll definitely give the reverse grip a shot as well - Maybe wear wrist straps just incase LOL.

[slfmade]

Workout #6 done - 18 to go.

Went up 20lbs on squat tonight. I wasn't going to go up in weight until next week, but I wanted to see how it felt on the first set. It felt horrible in a really good way so I kept with it for sets 2 and 3.

I've got fasted cardio in the morning and then Sunday I'll get a much needed Break. Pics and measurements will be updated on Monday.

P.S. Tonight at the gym I saw a PT having a girl do something like a SLDL meets squat. She had 135lbs on her shoulders like she was going to do squat, legs straight, and then bent over with the bar on her shoulders like she was doing a SLDL. I'm no personal trainer, but this seemed like a VERY bad idea to me. I don't know wtf kinda exercise this was.

[Standby]

I'll give that shot; however, I experimented with a few things tonight and found a winner. Before I was dropping the bar to the top of my forehead. Standby suggested to move the bar back a little further so I gave that a shot and it worked great. To better explain it, I brought the bar to about the center of my scalp (center of top of the head). I think by doing this it dropped by elbows (which I keep stationary) back a few inches as well, and this contracted my tri's much better. Does that make sense?

I'll definitely give the reverse grip a shot as well - Maybe wear wrist straps just incase LOL.

good to hear. i gave up on skulls once cause i didnt feel them either. then i found what worked for me. now im loving them

[slfmade]

2 weeks down - 18 to Go (6 weeks left on Bulk)

Start Weight - 179.5
***Current Weight - 184***

Bodyfat - Same (although from the pics - it almost seems like I've lost a bit)

Measurements:

Neck: Was -12 3/8
***Now -15 1/2*** (shocking - I'm thinking I must have measured wrong the first time)

Chest: Was - 41
***Now - 41 1/2***

Arm: Was - 15
***Now - 15 1/4***

Waist: Was - 34
***Now - 33 1/2***

Legs: Was - 22 1/2
***Now - 23***

Calf: Was -16
***Now - 16 1/8


Progress Pics by slfmade, on Flickr

[Standby]

i think you look like you lost some fat. good job keep it up

[slfmade]

i think you look like you lost some fat. good job keep it up

Thanks...I think so too. The widest part of my waist dropped 1/2 an inch. The biggest difference I see is in my chest; specifically my upper chest. It also seems like my arms have a tiny bit more definition. I wish I could see more mass gains and it's tempting to wanta jump on my first cycle, but I know I have so much more room to improve first so I'm gonna stick with it. I guess 5 lbs in 2 weeks with a small drop in bodyfat isn't so bad.

You can definitely see a difference in my legs...this is where I carry the most mass. However, my legs are bigfoot hairy and I don't want to shave them more than once so I'm saving those pics for the end of this log.

[auslifta]

My opinion, take it for what it's worth. The reason you're not feeling much for triceps is because you're only doing 1 exercise for them. They're not some tiny body part that can be exhausted in 1 exercise of straight sets. If we were talking about rest-pause training or some other form of HIT I could see the point, but three sets of one tricep exercise is not enough to stimulate growth IMO. And if you're performing the WO in the order that you have it posted on the first page, then your CNS is fried by the time you get to triceps and even though you're giving what you think is maximum effort, your mind-muscle connection and ability to contract the muscle to it's fullest extent is not possible.

Play around with your form though and see if that helps. If you're feeling it in your forearm, try doing it more like video 1, making sure the upper part of your arms are 90 degrees to the floor with your elbows as close together as possible. But I wouldn't recommend going as far down behind the head as that guy does, looks like tendonitis waiting to happen to me.

Good post

[slfmade]

Workout 7/24 complete - 17 more to go!

Good workout tonight...I added weight to most every exercise. I took 2 caffeine pills before I went to give me a little extra push because I was feeling a little tired today. Now I can't sleep and I've got fasted cardio in about 8 hours, so hopefully I'll start getting sleepy soon.

I've started looking into a workout routine for when I start the cutting portion of the diet. I know it's still 5 1/2 weeks out, but I'm the kinda guy that has to plan everything out far in advance. I'm looking into HIT training right now and trying to do as much research as possible all while trying to more info on "IF" dieting. So hopefully you experts can help me with that.

Will probably put in my order for clen /t3/keto this next week, and I'm also looking into MT2 to get me a little darker. I need a tan and Browngirl is paranoid that if I go to the tanning beds I'm going to get skin cancer and the spray tanning looks fake. So I'm researching that as well.

[-KJ-]

Workout 7/24 complete - 17 more to go!

Good workout tonight...I added weight to most every exercise. I took 2 caffeine pills before I went to give me a little extra push because I was feeling a little tired today. Now I can't sleep and I've got fasted cardio in about 8 hours, so hopefully I'll start getting sleepy soon.

I've started looking into a workout routine for when I start the cutting portion of the diet. I know it's still 5 1/2 weeks out, but I'm the kinda guy that has to plan everything out far in advance. I'm looking into HIT training right now and trying to do as much research as possible all while trying to more info on "IF" dieting. So hopefully you experts can help me with that.

Will probably put in my order for clen/t3/keto this next week, and I'm also looking into MT2 to get me a little darker. I need a tan and Browngirl is paranoid that if I go to the tanning beds I'm going to get skin cancer and the spray tanning looks fake. So I'm researching that as well.

Check out dorian yates Blood and Guts trainer. Its a 6 episode series on you tube.
Also A week in the dungeon with mark dugdale and dorian yates.
Very good for HIT style lifting.

Base has great knowledge on this if you hit him up he be happy to help.

[RaginCajun]

looks to me like you definitely leaned up some in your arms and other places. nice work in only two weeks!

[-KJ-]

nice job so far bro... just caught your pics there!

[tbody66]

I'll give that shot; however, I experimented with a few things tonight and found a winner. Before I was dropping the bar to the top of my forehead. Standby suggested to move the bar back a little further so I gave that a shot and it worked great. To better explain it, I brought the bar to about the center of my scalp (center of top of the head). I think by doing this it dropped by elbows (which I keep stationary) back a few inches as well, and this contracted my tri's much better. Does that make sense?

I'll definitely give the reverse grip a shot as well - Maybe wear wrist straps just incase LOL.

Makes perfect sense, glad you found your groove.

Workout #6 done - 18 to go.

Went up 20lbs on squat tonight. I wasn't going to go up in weight until next week, but I wanted to see how it felt on the first set. It felt horrible in a really good way so I kept with it for sets 2 and 3.

I've got fasted cardio in the morning and then Sunday I'll get a much needed Break. Pics and measurements will be updated on Monday.

P.S. Tonight at the gym I saw a PT having a girl do something like a SLDL meets squat. She had 135lbs on her shoulders like she was going to do squat, legs straight, and then bent over with the bar on her shoulders like she was doing a SLDL. I'm no personal trainer, but this seemed like a VERY bad idea to me. I don't know wtf kinda exercise this was.

Good job on the workout, the exercise the PT had the girl doing are called "good mornings", they are a very effective exercise as well for the hamstrings but require very strict form and absolutely keeping the abs tight and the core stable, sounds like a lot of weight for anyone to be doing them with, was the girl massive?

Thanks...I think so too. The widest part of my waist dropped 1/2 an inch. The biggest difference I see is in my chest; specifically my upper chest. It also seems like my arms have a tiny bit more definition. I wish I could see more mass gains and it's tempting to wanta jump on my first cycle, but I know I have so much more room to improve first so I'm gonna stick with it. I guess 5 lbs in 2 weeks with a small drop in bodyfat isn't so bad.

You can definitely see a difference in my legs...this is where I carry the most mass. However, my legs are bigfoot hairy and I don't want to shave them more than once so I'm saving those pics for the end of this log.

Heavier with obviously lower bodyfat, win-win! Great job.

[Sgt. Hartman]

2 weeks down - 18 to Go (6 weeks left on Bulk)

Start Weight - 179.5
***Current Weight - 184***

Bodyfat - Same (although from the pics - it almost seems like I've lost a bit)

Measurements:

Neck: Was -12 3/8
***Now -15 1/2*** (shocking - I'm thinking I must have measured wrong the first time)

Chest: Was - 41
***Now - 41 1/2***

Arm: Was - 15
***Now - 15 1/4***

Waist: Was - 34
***Now - 33 1/2***

Legs: Was - 22 1/2
***Now - 23***

Calf: Was -16
***Now - 16 1/8

Nice job man, pretty significant difference in only 2 weeks. Looks like a good bit of fat loss from your side love handle area and tri's and pecs are showing improvement.

Good bit of info to know that you can eat 3k cal and over 300g of carbs and still lose BF. Seems I remember someone telling you not to be scared of the carbs......LOL

Nice going and keep at it.

[gonnagethuge]

Good job. Clearly lost a bit of bodyfat in the process which is quite a good achievement on a bulk.

I wouldnt get too concerned about piling on mass. Youreonly 2 weeks in. Slow and steady will win the race. I dont believe large volumes of quality mass (lean) on such short timeframes are possible anyway without the help of aas or pro genetics.

Excellent work in 2 weeks.

[slfmade]

Check out dorian yates Blood and Guts trainer. Its a 6 episode series on you tube.
Also A week in the dungeon with mark dugdale and dorian yates.
Very good for HIT style lifting.

Base has great knowledge on this if you hit him up he be happy to help.

I watched a little bit of "A week in the dungeon" - I'll watch all of these over the next few week. It looked brutal and I'm already dreading it.

I'm not like a lot of you guys. I don't really enjoy working out balls to the wall, but I'm a very results driven person so if the end justifies the means I'm all up for it. I own a retail business....I DON'T LIKE IT, but I like my bank account at the end of the month so it's worth it.

Don't get me wrong I love to workout, but I'm looking forward to the day that I get where I wanta be and I can just focus on Maintaining. (I've still got a solid 2 years before I get there though) I'm just not a fan of killing myself in the gym like we all have to do to make gains.

All of that being said; I willing to do whatever and whenever to get to where I wanta be.

[tbody66]

Most people don't understand that it isn't the time in the gym that you should enjoy or look forward to it's the results from the time in the gym. I have grown to love it in a twisted sort of way, but not enjoy it in and of itself, basically developed a fondness/fetish for the pain. If someone is laughing it up in the gym they probably aren't getting much out of it.

[slfmade]

Makes perfect sense, glad you found your groove.

Me too!

Good job on the workout, the exercise the PT had the girl doing are called "good mornings", they are a very effective exercise as well for the hamstrings but require very strict form and absolutely keeping the abs tight and the core stable, sounds like a lot of weight for anyone to be doing them with, was the girl massive?

She wasn't that big at all...maybe 5'3 110 lbs at the most. I looked at "Good Mornings" on youtube and it was similar to this, but her legs were more in mid squat position. It looked like a squat with the worst form ever! Like she was squatting half way with her legs and then the "Good Morning". Either way, I doubt you'll ever see me doing these....It seems like an injury just waiting to happen!


Heavier with obviously lower bodyfat, win-win! Great job.

Thank You...this makes me feel better. I felt like my gains should've been more for some reason and I was a little bummed out about it. I am getting happier about the way I look though. Based off of what I can see now...My ideal outcome would be to Add enough muscle that I look just a little bigger than I am now and keep that size while reducing BF by 5% or more during my cut.

What scares me is that I feel like even if I put on more weight over the next 6 weeks that by the time I get to say 10% bodyfat during my cut...I'm going to look tiny. Take my pecs for instance...they're looking better, but what happens when I drop more fat???

I guess we'll see..

^^^See Bolds

[slfmade]

Most people don't understand that it isn't the time in the gym that you should enjoy or look forward to it's the results from the time in the gym. I have grown to love it in a twisted sort of way, but not enjoy it in and of itself, basically developed a fondness/fetish for the pain. If someone is laughing it up in the gym they probably aren't getting much out of it.

Yeah, I love the feeling of accomplishment after I leave cause I know I've just pushed myself to its' limits, but the workout in and of itself doesn't put a smile on my face. I mean....it hurts, leaves me exhausted, and gasping for air. I'm not a masochist!