DangerDan's Winter Cycle

[Dangerdan]

When I started the cycle my bench was around 300-305 (this was from about a month pre cycle), so I was pleased to get 315 up for two reps; it was my first time using 6 plates which was a goal I set about a year ago. I think the 12 week powerlifting program helped with my bench more than the cycle itself.

My previous deadlift max was 400 and I got 430 for two reps today without any problem. Again, I think the powerlifting program is primarly responsible for this jump.

At any rate, my new goals are:
Flat Bench: 350
Squat: 500
Dead: 500

[Dangerdan]

Left delt and arm are still pretty painfull, swolen, warm and pink from Monday's susta injection. I started an antibiotic last night just to be safe. Hopefully, I wont be injecting susta into delts again.

Last nights susta injection was left glute.

[Dangerdan]

Off day today. Left delt is getting a little better. Legs tomorrow.

[Dangerdan]

I hit legs on Saturday and Upper Body Yesterday.

Pretty good upper body workout. I got a very good pump. Strength seems to have stabillized a bit or at least I was not any stonger than last workout. Weight is at about 225 and I have shed a bit of bodyfat as well.

Flat Bench: 135x12 225x6 (warm-ups), 275x3 275x3 275x3 225x12. I probably could have gotta 4 or 5 reps with each set of 275 but I didn't have a spotter today. I got a good pump after dropping down to 225 for 12 reps.

Pullups: 6 reps w/bodyweight and two sets of 5 reps w/25lbs. This is the first time I have done weighted pullups and I think they worked pretty well. I will start incorporating weights for all my pullups. I also get a great pump in my bicepts when I do this. I keep the grip just a bit wider than shoulder width.

Dumbell Shoulder Press: 65x12 70x8 80x6
Seated Cable Row: 180x12, 220x8, 220x6
Push Press: 115x12 135x10 135x10. This was my first time using the push press. It feels a bit akward but I"m sure I'll get used to it.
Bodyweight dips: 3 sets of 12. I normally go heavy here but my tri's were pretty done so I kept it with just bodyweight and it gave me a pretty good pump.
EasyBar Bicept Curls: 65x12 70x10 70x10. I normally stay light on curls as they are pretty burned out by this point.
Crowd Pleasers: three sets high rep/partial rep

My arms were pretty dead by this point.

[Dangerdan]

I"ll try to get some pictures up next week.

[Hellmaskbanned]

Oh yeah, Push Presses are great.

Weight 225lbs, your catchin me!

Keep it up, looking forward to seeing pics.

[Dangerdan]

I did like the push presses. I'm trying to move to more compound movements and less isolation. I am still liking the upper body/lower body splits.

Deca injections yesterday, 1ml in each quad. My quads are finally getting use to injections, I might even hit em up with in a couple weeks or so.

Leg workout last night. I did a few warmup sets of squats going very deep ass to heels. Then a couple of working sets. I got a big pump in my back and had to move to leg presses (which I'm not a fan of). Then hit some leg curls, hack squats and calf raises. I cut the workout a bit short because of the back pump. I"m not sure why it was so bad. Could this be from the anabolics? I've experienced similar pumps on clen.

I just got a belt to so perhaps that will help with the back pumps. I have deadlifts on the agenda for today so I'll get to try out the new belt. I'm working out upper body with my workout partner this morning so the intensity should be very high. I'll update this afternoon.

[Dangerdan]

Mark it on your calander folks. DangerDan starts seeing results from sust at 3.5 weeks. Great workout this morning. I set a new personal best for bench at 340. I wasn't planning on maxing out today but I felt pretty strong and wanted to see where I was at. The most I had ever lifted before was 315 which was last week (although I got it twice). I cant wait for the deca to kick in too in a couple weeks.

Bench: 225x10, 285x5, 285x5, 295x3, 325x1, 340x1.
Deadlifts: 135x10, 250x8, 340x6, 390x4, 430x2
Pullups: bodyweightx8, 25lbsx6, 25lbsx6, 45lbsx5
Dumbell Shoulder Press: 45x12, 65x12, 75x10, 85x8
Shrugs: 85x12, 130x12, superset(140x12, 70x20, 50x40)
Bodyweight Dips: 3 sets 12
Barball Curl: 3 sets 12

While I'm planning on entering a bb competition next summer, I'm also training for strength as I would like to compete in a powerlifting meet at some point.

Weight: 225 (up from 210)
Bench: 340 (up from 300-315ish)
Deadlift: 430x2 (up from 400 for one rep)
Squat: Uncertain at this point. I'm working a lot on going down deeper and keeping form throughout so I haven't gone heavy on squats in a while.

[Hellmaskbanned]

I did like the push presses. I'm trying to move to more compound movements and less isolation. I am still liking the upper body/lower body splits.

.

Good move, I base each workout primarly on a compound exercise.

One day, Hang Cleans/Push presses
other day, Squats
Other day, Bench Press

I love doing 6-10 sets on the exercises that work.
The only somewhat isolation movements I do are for arms, sometimes flys, and shrugs/lateral dumbell raises.

[Hellmaskbanned]

Weight: 225 (up from 210)
Bench: 340 (up from 300-315ish)
Deadlift: 430x2 (up from 400 for one rep)
Squat: Uncertain at this point. I'm working a lot on going down deeper and keeping form throughout so I haven't gone heavy on squats in a while.

Dam nice quick bench gain.

Keep it up!

[Dangerdan]

Thanks Hellmask, I think alot of the gain can be attributed to the power lifting workouts that I was on for a while. The dynamic bench press workouts trained me to explode from the bottom in a way that I never have before. Its hard to explain but the movement just feels different now.

Also, the 600mg weekly test and 400mg deca might have played a role.

[Dangerdan]

Pics after almost 4 weeks. What do you guys think? I realize these aren't the best pics, but anyone got any areas you think I need to work on. Obviously, BF is a major issue right. Other than that, I think my chest needs the most improvement.

[Hellmaskbanned]

Looking better.

All around you need to add more mass, just keep hitting the weights like your doing.

I think you need to work on , Legs, chest, & back thickness in that order.

[Dangerdan]

Thanks for the input Hellmask. Personally, I think my legs are a strong point, they measure 27 inches. Maybe its just the picture. I think they will really come out when I start cutting and shave. I think Chest is definately my weakest bodypart and I'm working diligently on bringing it up. I also have only been deadlifting for about two months but I think it is already starting to bring out the thickness in my back and I'll be continueing with the heavy deads.

Good upper body workout today.
Flat dumbell press: 50x12 70x12 90x12 110x12 130x8 (first time using the 130s)
Weighted Pullups 10@bodyweight, 6@25lbs, 6@25lbs, 5@45lbs
Push Press 135lbs 3x10
Low cable row 150x12, 190x10, 230x6
Tricept pushdowns 80x20, 100x20, 120x20, 140x20 (light weight due to tendonisis)
Close grip pullups 3x10 with bodyweight

[tek.]

forearms need work, nice gains tho.. keep it up, stay strong!

[Dangerdan]

Headed to the gym to work out lowebody. I've had to cut the last two lowerbody workouts short due to some pretty intense back pumps. I'm not sure what this is from. Anyone got ideas as to what causes this or what I can do to prevent it? I'm gonna try to lower weight and up the reps with legs today to see if that helps.

[Dangerdan]

Leg workout today

Squats: (Ass to ankles and lowered weight substantially focusing on keeping form strict and full range of motion) 135x12 225x10 225x10 225x10
Lunges: 30lbs dumbells 4 sets 10 per leg
Front Squats: (again focus on form and range of motion) 4 sets 10 with 30 seconds rest between sets
Standing Hamstring Curls: 3 sets 15
Standing calf raises: 2 sets 15
Seated calf raises: 2 sets 12

I stayed light but got a good pump in my legs so it was a good change of pace.

[Dangerdan]

Cardio, abs and calves this morning. Shot of Susta into right glute.

[Dangerdan]

Upper Body workout this morning and 1cc of deca into each quad. I haven't put on any weight in the past two weeks but I think my bf is slowely dropping. I may up the calories a bit; still waiting for the deca to kick in.

[Foskamink]

good luck! on cycle

[IBdmfkr]

Pics after almost 4 weeks. What do you guys think? I realize these aren't the best pics, but anyone got any areas you think I need to work on. Obviously, BF is a major issue right. Other than that, I think my chest needs the most improvement.

Things that stick out the most:

Upper chest development (possibly bad form on incline presses, over using front delts to lift weight)

Overall back development (specifically lower back, focus on heavy deadlifts/good mornings/SLDL)

Legs look pretty good compared to rest of your body as well as delts.
Arms are lacking a bit but will come with time as your bigger parts start to really develop more.

Focus your routines around compound movements and leave the isolation to a minimum until you can build your foundation IMO.

You mentioned in a PM that you plan on gaining 10more lbs in the next 2months, I think that'd be a bad idea because remember all the excess crap weight you put on must come off when you diet for a contest. So you have to weigh the good vs. bad, by putting on 10lbs of fat/water/muscle will you actually lose more muscle while trying to diet it off come contest time? You might be setting yourself up for failure, 2steps forwards/1step back.

Keep the diet clean, even on a clean bulk my weight barely fluctuates. As I gain muscle I lose a tad bit of fat, it's a very slow process that takes years to perfect, I still have a lot to learn and experimentation to do myself.

[Dangerdan]

Thanks for the input I**mfkr. I have traditionally overutilized my front delts in most pressing movements and have recently been working on keeping the shoulders back and focusing on the contraction in my chest. My workouts are based on heavy compound movements, squats, deads, bench press, pullups and rows.

I will add straight leg deadlifts and goodmornings into my routine using as I have only been doing deads and hypers for lower back development.

I think that I have been too concerned with weight with too little concern focusing on quality weight/muscle. I'll try to keep off the scales a bit. Cardio consists of 20minutes 3x weekly walking on incline treadmill. Would you recommend upping cardio now to try to lose some of the excess fat I'm holding or should I try to limit the cardio until I really start cutting at say 3-4 months out?

Also, should I be working out abs at all right now or let them get work from squats, deads, etc., and wait until I start cutting to isolate them?

[IBdmfkr]

DD: Depends on the cardio, if you can dial in your diet and your workouts are intense enough then you can get away with doing little or no cardio. Each person is different, you'll have to see what works for you.

Ab work isn't necessary IMO if you're doing the appropriate movements that you listed, I also don't use a belt so my core is forced to support the weight and grow stronger as I press more weight. If you've always used a belt then start light and work your way up with the use of a belt as your core might be the weak link, so try and avoid injury.

[Dangerdan]

I haven't updated in a while and here's why: I've been sick with strep throat for a week, temp of about 102 for five days. I tried to get in as many calories as possible through shakes, etc. but I have lost 10lbs in a little over a week. Hopefully some of this is water weight and I will be able to put it back on fast. I'm obviously pretty bummed out about this but hopefully I'll be back to the gym tomorrow. My doc originally throught it was mono which would have keep me out of the gym for 6 weeks so I guess I should be thankfull.

[sonar1234]

10 pounds in a week for sure a lot of it is water weight, thanks for the good log, i wanna start a cycle if my back gets better around march, looking into something pertty much like yours.

[Dangerdan]

I have been hitting it pretty hard the past week; trying to play catch-up after losing 10lbs with strep throat. While I dont feel that I have put on much muscle since the last pics, I feel that my bodyfat is getting better. I'm trying to keep the calories up in hopes of putting on a couple more lbs of muscle over the final five weeks of the cycle.

[Dangerdan]

I havent updated in a while but am continuing with my cycle. My weight is still at around 215. As evidenced by the pictures I posted a couple of weeks ago, I have dropped a pretty good amount of bodyfat over the first 8 weeks.

With four weeks left, I am focusing on adding a few more clean lbs. I am pleased with the results of this cycle so far. I haven't added as much muscle as I would have liked but I think the weight I have added is quality. I am continuing to focus on heavy compound movements.

My current workouts look as follows:

Day 1 - Back/Bi's
Deadlift (5 sets)
Weighted Pull-ups (5 sets)
Cable or T-Bar Row (4 sets)
Standing Barbell Curls (4 sets)
Standing or seated alternating dumbell curls (3 sets)
Crowd Pleasers (3-4 sets; last set as drop set)

Day 2 - Chest/Shoulders/Tris
Flat Bench (5 sets)
Incline Dumbell Press (4 sets)
Hammer Strength Chest Press (3 sets)
Cable Flys/Cable Crossover (3 sets; last set as drop set)
Push Press (5 sets)
Seated Dumbell Press (3 sets)
Front/Side/Rear delt raises (10, 10, 10 for 3 sets)
Weighted Dips or Close Grip Bench (4 sets)
Cable Pressdowns (3 sets; last set as drop set)

Day 3 - Legs
Squats (5 sets)
Leg Press (4 sets; high rep 20-30 range)
Dumbell Lunges (3 sets)
Standing Leg Curls (3-4 sets)

Day 4 - Rest

Day 5 - Repeat Day 1. . .

I train abs and calves at least once a week at the end of one of the above workouts. I'm still seeing good improvement in my leg development. Back is coming along. Chest and arms have seem to have stalled somewhat. I haven't really been doing any cardio, I warm up for ten minutes before each training session on a treadmill with an incline. I would really like to put on a few 3-5 more lbs of muscle over the next month.

Edit: Any comments/suggestions are appreciated.

[tcarn01]

great info. i am on the same exact thing. sus a ton 375 and deca 200. this has really been insightfull. I have been on for 2 weeks. How long before you noticed the sus? i was reading and you either inject in your delt or leg. why not in the buttocks? anyway, let me know. as i am following your lead. keep it up., thanks.

[tcarn01]

also , why don't you save the left over sus in a new syringe?

[Dangerdan]

Tcarn,

I'm just finishing up my cycle. Already done with the deca and have a week and a half left on sust. I went back over my log to make sure, and upon confirming, it looks like I started seeing results about midway through week three. Bench press shot up quite a bit at that time.

I didn't want to save the leftover sust in the syringe because bacically, I didnt' want to risk any contamination/infection. I'm sure keeping the extra in a clean syringe with a covered pin is perfectly safe, but I just didn't want to risk it and I didn't care to pay for a few extra vials.

I'll throw up more pictures after the last sust injection.

[Dangerdan]

Here are a couple more pics; quality is very poor as they were taken from camera phone. I'll get the final pics up in a couple weeks.

[Hellmaskbanned]

Are you done with your cycle now?

Now for the honest critique.

Your lats and shoulders seem bigger, hard to tell because your first pics are in the light and your last ones are dark and you appear to have a tan now. Your waste line seems to slimmed up some too.

Overall It seems you didn't improve as much as I would have thought. Looks like that could have happened naturally.

Maybe it's the pics, get some new ones up in a lighted area.

But overall you look like you have a athletic looking physique , rather than a bber look. Which I think is better unless your wanting to be a bber.....

What was your total weight gain?

[Hellmaskbanned]

Also, POST SOME LEG PICS!

[tcarn01]

alright stupid ?. i am such an idiot formulating ml's into cc's. i am on same. i am taking 2.25 cc's of deca 200. and 1.5 cc's of sus 375. is this right or should i up my dosage? i am doing this every monday and thursday. is this ok?

[Dangerdan]

1cc=1ml.

I finished up my cycle last week. I'll try to get some decent pics up as soon as I can get ahold of a decent digital camera. My camera phone is pretty worthless.

Overall, I did not experience the gains that I had hoped from this cycle, but I am satisfied with the results. Of the twelve weeks on cycle, I was sick for approximately three. I started this cycle at about 210 and probably around 14%bf. I was hoping to get up to about 225 with 10% bodyfat. This didn't happen. I currently weigh in at around 220 with probably 11%bf, which is still a good improvement from before the cycle.

One cold and two bouts of strep throat. With the strep I ran a temperature of about 102 for five days straight both times and my diet suffered greatly. My weight and strength was going up well before getting sick and ultimately I think the two bouts of strep throat probably kept me from obtaining the gains that I anticipated.

While I feel like I have a wealth of textbook-type knowledge about training and bodybuilding and I have been lifting for 10 years, I have learned that I really need to focus more on what works for me individually. I think I am making improvements in this area.

I am still planning on entering a small local show in August so I will try to keep putting on muscle for a few more months. I would like to put on another 5lbs of muscle or so before I start my contest diet. Thanks to everyone who followed and provided input.

[Dangerdan]

Here is a preliminary before/after comparision. I will update once I get better pics.

[Hellmaskbanned]

Those new pics show your improvement!

Post leg pics damnit!

[Dangerdan]

As soon as I get ahold of that camera, I can post some leg pics if anyone would be interested in them I guess.

[IBdmfkr]

Good improvements for just one cycle DDan. I'm impressed, now to see if you can keep gaining when you come off

You have a good base, it's just going to take time to bring everything up to par and really put that dense looking muscle on your frame. You have potential to easily hold 240-250 IMO, dial in that diet a bit more and shed a bit of that bodyfat to really see where you need work (make sure you don't make sudden changes to your diet until your PCT is over and you've had BWork done telling you everything is back to normal).

[Dangerdan]

Here are some final pics. I still can't get ahold of a decent camera so I apologize in advance for the quality. Chest/Front Double Bi comparision is above.

Back

First two are from before cycle and the last two are from within the past week or so.