It's time to get HUGE!

[Elvia1023]

 

[Bigboomer5150]

Nice what’s on top of that chicken looks amazing I just choked down some sautéed steak chunks w kale and rice w a garlic butter sauce smothered. food is king

 

[Elvia1023]

Nice what’s on top of that chicken looks amazing I just choked down some sautéed steak chunks w kale and rice w a garlic butter sauce smothered. food is king

For that one I just added a spoon of houmous on top of the chicken. That chicken is thinly sliced and oven roasted with cajun spices so it tastes amazing. It's what I have been eating quite a lot recently. I am also loving the salads recently. That one was with feta cheese, raspberries, balsamic vinegar and lemon juice etc. I just had another similar salad but with avocado and strawberries.

 

[Bigboomer5150]

For that one I just added a spoon of houmous on top of the chicken. That chicken is thinly sliced and oven roasted with cajun spices so it tastes amazing. It's what I have been eating quite a lot recently. I am also loving the salads recently. That one was with feta cheese, raspberries, balsamic vinegar and lemon juice etc. I just had another similar salad but with avocado and strawberries.

I see your buddy down there in the pic, my dog follows me religiously to the kitchen every time he knows what’s up, he eats well lol

 

[Nyoco]

I hope you get well soon Elvia, that food looks delicious, cajun and chicken is a great marriage.

I see Flex has finally launched his new range of "DuraFlex" tableware, looking classy!

 

[Elvia1023]

I have had a few days off the gym and been on antibiotics for those 3 days and I have improved a lot. The coughing is still bad but the amount of mucus is down significantly. I would have had another 3 days off the gym but I am visiting my parents for 2 days tomorrow and won't be training so I figured I would train tonight as I didn't want to go a whole week out of the gym especially as I am feeling ok now. I had a great workout and I am pleased with how I am progressing on my new diet even with all the covid and chest infection crap. I am loving my food now and will continue eating the same before restricting further (lower fats) and following multiple low days with an odd higher day and go from there.

Incline Bench Rear Delt Raises... 1 working set.
Incline Bench DB High Row supersetted with Kelso Shrug... 1 working set.
Unilateral High Cable Bench Lat Row... 1 working set for each side.
Barbell Row... 1 working set.
Barbell Shrug... 1 working set.
Rack Pulls... 2 working sets.
1 giant set for biceps.
Calf Presses... 3 working sets.
Stretches plus pso-rite.

My plan for bi-ceps was to do 2 giants sets of approx 5 exercises. Just like I done tri-ceps the other day. A simple way of hitting them hard in a short period. I am being careful with my bi-cep tendon so this time the weight was lighter. The gym was empty and I started but as I was moving around and feeling good I figured just go for it so I done 1 giant set of literally 10 movements. Everything from db curls, cable curls, reverse cable curls, preacher ez bar curls, reverse ez bar curls, rope curls, db spider curls, db hammer curls, barbell curls and preacher machine curls.

Chicken breast with a side salad of baby green leaf, baby red leaf, baby spinach, wild rocket, avocado, strawberries, cherry tomatoes, lemon juice and balsamic vinegar.
Whole egg and bacon sandwich on malted bread, blueberries and 2 squares of 85% dark chocolate.
TRAIN (EAA's, 50g of carb powder, 10g glutamine and 5g creatine).
Roasted chicken breast (cajun spice mix, pink salt and pepper), pineapple, red/yellow peppers and onions.
Steak, aubergine, courgette, red/yellow peppers and chopped onion.
Beef meatballs with a side salad of baby green leaf, baby red leaf, baby spinach, wild rocket, feta cheese, blueberries, cherry tomatoes, lemon juice and balsamic vinegar.

I have ran out of synthetine but getting more and I will restart at 5ml per day when I have it again. The next 2 days will be about rest and then I will come back better than ever.

 

[Bigboomer5150]

Man your eating good who prepares your food??? I eat well but the flavor part is lacking and these post piss me off lol the wife needs to step her fucking game up soon. But man congrats to the guys who are eating good and it actually tastes amazing… I’m choking down dry chicken breasts cream of rice naked and tuna out the damn foil and some bland ass vegies and the good old egg

 

[Matsuo Munefusa]

I hope your chest bounces back out of that infection quick man. Bleh, pissed for you that developed.

A quick question...have you ever incorporated isometric holds into your training. I seem to remember you writing about it. If you’re using them ever, how long do you hold the iso? I’ve been using them for chest because of a shoulder injury (labrum tear) I can’t go heavy at ALL but I don’t get aggravated from an isometric hold with lightish weight. It actually does stimulate my chest!

In this case too I’m introducing them to lateral raises.

Do you think iso holds will help with hypertrophy or is it a waste of time?

 

[gungalunga]

Hey Elvia.....I'm pretty sure flex grabbed your phone or tablet and placed an order on Amazon for some dinner plates with wiener dogs on them. I always like it when you post pics of Flex. I was thinking about getting a Beagle in the not too distant future, but I may need to also get a Dachshund like Flex to keep the Beagle company.

 

[Elvia1023]

Man your eating good who prepares your food??? I eat well but the flavor part is lacking and these post piss me off lol the wife needs to step her fucking game up soon. But man congrats to the guys who are eating good and it actually tastes amazing… I’m choking down dry chicken breasts cream of rice naked and tuna out the damn foil and some bland ass vegies and the good old egg

I prepare all my food. I live alone now and when I had a gf I cooked everything. All my food is very simple. I have made a few nice looking plates recently but it's all very simple and fast and requires little-no effort.

I hope your chest bounces back out of that infection quick man. Bleh, pissed for you that developed.

A quick question...have you ever incorporated isometric holds into your training. I seem to remember you writing about it. If you’re using them ever, how long do you hold the iso? I’ve been using them for chest because of a shoulder injury (labrum tear) I can’t go heavy at ALL but I don’t get aggravated from an isometric hold with lightish weight. It actually does stimulate my chest!

In this case too I’m introducing them to lateral raises.

Do you think iso holds will help with hypertrophy or is it a waste of time?

I occasionally add in isometric holds. They have some benefits but they aren't anything remarkable but I like to mix up training. I often use them as intensity techniques and to extend working sets. In my last training session listed above I actually added some in during db curls. I held one arm whilst I performed reps with the other then reversed and finished with both arms together. So I would hold each arm for the entire duration of the set so approx 20-30 secs. They have been shown to increase tendon stiffness which can be a good and bad thing. I done them today during calf training as well. I finished leg extensions with an isometric hold as well. Like you I also enjoy doing them during barbell chest press. I go very heavy with plate loaded chest machines but with an actual flat barbell chest press I use limited weight (due to the risk of injury) and it's all about pump. So I will often hold/pause the bar at the bottom for approx 3-5 secs and press upwards whilst performing slow negatives as well.

I generally just add them in in the moment and they aren't planned. I don't think purposely adding them in will bring about loads of benefits but they can be useful. I think simply controlling the weight and being aware of the weight at all stages of the rep is more useful overall than purposely holding/pausing the weight. I mix things up and weight is always controlled but I generally do slow/controlled negatives and more explosive positives. I wouldn't say they would increase hypertrophy any more than doing a standard rep but one factor when it comes to progressive overload is time under tension so if you're constantly increasing isometric hold length and weight used it will only assist in results over time. In comparison standard reps will build more muscle but it's not like it's one or the other and you obviously do standard 90% of the time so all bases are covered if you want to do both.

I am all about following a consistent training plan over the long term and progressing in a variety of ways. The template may stay the same but I am also all about modifying things slightly and keeping things fun and interesting and if you enjoy doing them I say go for it because they aren't a waste of time. Anything that keeps training intense, hard, fun and rewarding is going to benefit you in the long run especially for guys like us who basically train daily for years.

 

[heavyhitter]

I hope your chest bounces back out of that infection quick man. Bleh, pissed for you that developed.

A quick question...have you ever incorporated isometric holds into your training. I seem to remember you writing about it. If you’re using them ever, how long do you hold the iso? I’ve been using them for chest because of a shoulder injury (labrum tear) I can’t go heavy at ALL but I don’t get aggravated from an isometric hold with lightish weight. It actually does stimulate my chest!

In this case too I’m introducing them to lateral raises.

Do you think iso holds will help with hypertrophy or is it a waste of time?

Dante recommends a version of this for chest and it definitely creates hypertrophy. You want a weight you could do maybe 20 reps with till failure. You’re gonna lower the bar to two inches above your chest, hold for a count of three, touch the chest and back up. You’ll be lucky to get 8-12 reps like this

 

[Elvia1023]

Dante recommends a version of this for chest and it definitely creates hypertrophy. You want a weight you could do maybe 20 reps with till failure. You’re gonna lower the bar to two inches above your chest, hold for a count of three, touch the chest and back up. You’ll be lucky to get 8-12 reps like this

I do very similar to this. Even just a lighter weight and super slow negatives (over 5 secs) would be great. I get the most intense pump from that. I add it in every few weeks just to finish off chest. I only do it because I would never flat bench very heavy weight so intensity/difficulty needs to be increased in a different manner. I think for guys who struggle to get a mind muscle connection with their chest this sort of technique will give them more results than their standard lift as heavy as possible (usually with little control/connection) benching. Incline bench I still go as heavy as I can get but with a weight that I can get at least 8 reps with. For most plate loaded machines pretty much anything goes and I push the weight more with those as I feel safe doing so.

 

[Elvia1023]

I stayed in my parents for 2 days and stayed on plan but my diet was slightly different. I started each day with 4 whole eggs, 3 pieces of back bacon, 1 piece of toast and some blueberries for afterwards. The first day I was there my mum made me lamb stew which contained potatoes, lentils, barley, cabbage, carrot and beetroot etc. I had that for 2 meals. On the way there I bought some packs of ready to eat chicken breast and salad ingredients so I made a few salads. The rest of my meals were just chicken breast with literally mint sauce or houmous. I had 1 steak meal with broccoli, cauliflower, carrots and cabbage. I added some 90% dark chocolate in as well. Before bed I had chicken breast, almond butter and berries.

Today I trained legs so decided to have a higher carb day. Everything felt great and I pushed things hard...

Seated Calf Raises... 2 working sets (the last being a drop set).
Calf Presses... 2 working sets (loading and drop off).
Standing Leg Curls... 1 working set for each side.
Seated Leg Curls... 2 working sets (1 loading and 1 drop off).
Unilateral Lying Leg Curls... rotated R/L/R/L/R/L all sets to failure with no rest in between.
Hip Adductors... 1 working set.
Leg Press... 3 working sets (1 ham and glute focused and 2 quad focused).
DB Split Squats... 1 working set for each side.
Leg Extensions... 2 working sets (1 loading and 1 drop off).
Stretches.

Chicken breast with a side salad of baby green leaf, baby red leaf, baby spinach, wild rocket, blueberries, passion fruit, lemon juice and balsamic vinegar.
Whole egg and bacon sandwich on malted bread, raspberries and 2 squares of 85% dark chocolate.
5ml synthetine, 2.5mg cialis and 1 3/4 scoops of Yeti Juice preworkout.
TRAIN (50g carb drink).
100mcg IGF-1 LR3 (50mcg in each quad)
Chicken breast (cajun spices), rice and pineapple.
Coco Pops, banana, synthepure and lactose free milk.
Steak with a side salad of baby green leaf, baby red leaf, baby spinach, wild rocket, feta cheese, raspberries, lemon juice and balsamic vinegar.
Beef Meatballs, almond butter and blueberries.

For the next few days it will be lower carbs and mainly just meat and vegetables for most meals. I have some nice eggs for my breakfast. It will be push tomorrow and I will go crazy. I received some new synthetine so added that back in and will use 5ml tomorrow with lr3 (100mcg) and cialis (2.5mg). My health supps are very simple now as I stopped most of them. Just some fish oil, q10, vitamin c and synthergine. All is good I just need to keep dropping body fat and I will be very lean soon.

 

[Elvia1023]

Hey Elvia.....I'm pretty sure flex grabbed your phone or tablet and placed an order on Amazon for some dinner plates with wiener dogs on them. I always like it when you post pics of Flex. I was thinking about getting a Beagle in the not too distant future, but I may need to also get a Dachshund like Flex to keep the Beagle company.

Here are 2 pics of him from my parents house the last few days...

 

[Elvia1023]

2 typical side salads I have after steak or chicken...

 

[MonsterGGG]

Learning a lot from this log man , thanks for sharing

 

[heavyhitter]

I do very similar to this. Even just a lighter weight and super slow negatives (over 5 secs) would be great. I get the most intense pump from that. I add it in every few weeks just to finish off chest. I only do it because I would never flat bench very heavy weight so intensity/difficulty needs to be increased in a different manner. I think for guys who struggle to get a mind muscle connection with their chest this sort of technique will give them more results than their standard lift as heavy as possible (usually with little control/connection) benching. Incline bench I still go as heavy as I can get but with a weight that I can get at least 8 reps with. For most plate loaded machines pretty much anything goes and I push the weight more with those as I feel safe doing so.

Ya there’s no way you’re not feeling your chest working with slow negative, a pause, and an explosive press. I don’t flat bench period anymore unless I’m doing it reverse banded. Not worth the risk

 

[heavyhitter]

Also, solid log man. You’re one of the most detailed posters on here

 

[Elvia1023]

Being 6ft 2 with long limbs I always notice a fast difference when I start dieting and become flatter due to lower carbs/calories. My body comes back to life when I get a pump in the gym but I definitely feel the difference for the rest of the day. I am at that stage were I still have fat to lose and I am flatter than usual but it's all part of the process and I just need to keep grinding away. For anyone who wants to get lean you can't be afraid of going flat because that is when you will be burning the most fat. I just do this for fun so nothing needs to be extreme (suffer) but I want to get relatively lean. All the details are coming through so I am on a good path and in about 2 weeks I should be in a good place.

Carbs were higher yesterday for legs but today I restricted things much more but included a variety of healthy foods so my diet is nutrient dense. Whenever I lower carbs I always make sure most/all of them are nutrient dense. In the offseason I will add in loads of jasmine rice (and fruit) but veg is used in much lower amounts as when you add loads of high volume low calorie foods (vegetables, greens etc) with those added fats and carbs (rice) it just leads to digestive/bloating issues as it's too much food volume to process. The key for offseason should be picking foods you process quickly that are macronutrient dense so you can reach your daily calories without any issues. My stomach is very sensitive but it's been good recently on this diet. Well I had an almond coffee today and bloated up badly but it didn't last too long.

My training and diet for today...

Standing DB Lateral Raises... 2 working sets.
Incline Bench DB Lateral Raises... 1 working set.
High Incline Barbell Press... 2 working sets (1 loading and 1 drop off).
Pec Deck... 1 working set.
Machine Chest Press... 1 working set drop set with 2 drops in weight.
DB Chest Flyes... 1 working set.
Flat Bench Press... 1 working set with just 1pps but 3 sec negatives and 5 sec pauses for high reps.
Tri-set of Rope Pushdowns, EZ Bar Overhead Tri-cep Extensions and Cable V Bar Pushdowns... 1 working set.
Tri-set of Machine Tri-cep Extensions, Machine Dips and Cable Straight Bar Pushdowns... 1 working set.
Abs and Stretches.

As we were discussing isometric holds I decided to add in a few today as well. I do them fairly regularly but don't mention it as it's usually only things like pausing at the bottom of a db flye for 3 secs, pausing at the bottom of a bench press for 3 secs and pausing at the top of a leg extension for as long as possible to finish my final set. Today I done a 3 secs hold for pec deck, 3-5 secs for db flye, 5 secs for chest press and 2 secs for overhead tri-cep extensions.

Whole egg and bacon sandwich on malted bread, blueberries and almond milk coffee.
Chicken breast with a side salad of lettuce (apollo, lollo rosso), cherry tomatoes, beetroot, cabbage, red/yellow peppers and carrot.
Beef Meatballs, carrots, mung bean sprouts, broccoli, red and yellow peppers, red onion, babycorn and water chestnuts.
5ml synthetine, 2.5mg cialis and preworkout.
TRAIN
Chicken breast (cajun spice mix, paprika and pepper) with a side salad of baby green leaf, baby red leaf, baby spinach, wild rocket, strawberries, blackberries, lemon juice and balsamic vinegar.
Beef Meatballs, chargrilled aubergine, courgette, red and yellow peppers.

I was late doing my last shot but I will be carrying on with EOD injs. Currently I am up to 180mg mast e and 150mg test e EOD. Tomorrow I will increase the mast to 200mg and stay at that dose. I still haven't added avar but I will soon and start it at 20mg preworkout and increase to 40mg after a short time. I plan to run the avar for about 4 weeks. I will finish off my UKpeptides vial of LR3 soon but I haven't been impressed. Insulin I will add in a little on my higher carb days. As I mentioned yesterday my health supps are minimal now but I am going to order some curcumin and add that in at 1000mg per day. I should note I am also using 80mg telmisartan (swopped from valsartan) and plan to stay at that dose for the foreseeable future.

 

[brocksamson]

Hey Elvia,

You you have any before and after comparison shots of when you first started your log until now?