Tag Archive for: build mass fast

Cross Train Thursday—Squats and Back.


Yes, I mixed Legs and Back. I did chest yesterday, and I hadn’t done any legs except for calves in about a week, so there you go.

Squats. Since I don’t have a squat rack at home, I went with light weight, 12 rep squats. I highly recommend this when you don’t have a squat rack for safety. You don’t want to have to do a heavy military press after you’re burned out on squats. If it’s enough weight for your legs to max out at 6-8 reps, then for sure, it’s way too much weight for you to do a safe over the head (or military) shoulder press, especially after you’re exhausted. You’ll still do as many squats as you can, maxing out at a higher number, but when you’re done you will not have a problem lifting the bar over your head, onto your chest, then lowering it down slowly while keeping your back arched instead of rounding it. I did 4 sets of 12.

Followed it with Standing Calf Raises and immediately; Seated Calf Raises ’til my lower legs burned. 3 sets.

Then, on to the Pullup bar. Started with Horizontal Pullups, then regular Pullups. Then I used my Suspension System to do some Rows in order to hit more angles in my back. I started with very low handles, then raised them slightly after I maxed out and did some more. I also varied the grip from overhand to pistol grip to over-under twisties. Same thing for the pullups. Started with wide, then neutral grip, then chinups (underhand grip). It’s also good practice to hold at the top for some of the reps and do Knee Raises to Ab Curls while holding yourself up like I did!

That’s it; not many exercises, but many sets and I surely pushed it to where I was totally pooped. Nourished myself with a scoop and a half of Whey with 5g BCAA’s + another scoop of 5g BCAA’S with 5g Creatine in 10 ounces of 2% milk for a total of 47g protein.

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Shoulders, Biceps, Triceps!

Yesterday, was the first day of working out since I got what appeared to be another flu. Maybe it wasn’t the flu since I got over it in less than a week. Either way, I didn’t do much besides Deep Pushups and a few sets of pullups here and there. No visit to the gym since Friday (one week ago).

I went with my comfort food: Shoulders/Arms. Need inspiration, do ya? Let me know if this is enough of a workout, yes?

Shoulders:
shrugs/shoulder press
seated arnold press+standing DB press

Arms:
Barbell curls: wide, narrow, norm,
Rope curls
Tricep vbar pshdns
Standing Tricep extensions
Rope tricep pushdowns
Handle, overhead extensions
Skull Crushers (back of the head)
Incline bench hammer-twist curls
Seated noBackrest, hammer-twist curls

Most were back to back super sets or tri-sets. I like to do 2-3 sets of Biceps back to back, while lowering the weight to max-out 3 times. Then, immediately move on to Triceps and do the same; 2-3 sets back to back, before going back to the Shoulders Shrugs/Military Press Superset.

Hardly any rest except for walking to get a drink of water after around 4-5 sets. Again, sweating like a  ______! Who needs cardio?! (I’m open to suggestions on what to put in the blank since I say this so often) Go ahead and ask if any of the above exercises are not clear.

CHEERS AND GOOD LUCKS!

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Gain muscle in the arms: Blasting of the Arms!

Today was an intense hell of an arms workout. All arms. No shoulder. I did the 10 in 30 Shoulders/Arms on Friday, so 3 days later, I was ready for another arms blasting mofo workout! I’m really trying to gain mass in my arms and making them wider by doing the 3 types of barbell curls.

So, today was:

The Great Bicep, Tricep Massacre. A bunch of super sets of double biceps and double triceps with 30 seconds rest in between.

Barbell curls wide,
^super: rope curls
Tricep vbar pushdowns HVY
^super: overhead bb ext

Barbell curls normal, drop set
^super: rope curls
Tricep vbar pushdowns
top cable rope ext

Barbell curls narrow super drop set 4X! wide, normal
Ovrhd EZ bar extensions
top cable rope ext

seated DB hammer twist curls
DB reverse narrow to wide curls
Overhead single DB ext
bilat cable tricep pushdowns

standing DB hammer twist curls drop sets
DB reverse in2out curls DPST
Overhead single DB ext
bilat cable tricep pushdowns

go ahead and ask if you have any questions about what the heck any of that means. I was sweating a ton while only working the arms! I see most people work out so lethargically and are not sweating at all. My freaking workout was so intense it pretty much took care of cardio too! And my biceps looked like they’d burst out of their skin. Triceps were pretty swollen as well.

Tried to run afterward since it was such a beautiful day but I started getting a pain on my head/neck so I stopped early. No run today.

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LOVE YOURSELF, DAMNIT! (Chest Day + Abs)

Today, Monday, January 3 was Chest Day. I am doing the 10 in 30 plan again with slight modifications as necessary. Hey, I know what I’m doing, ok?? Anyway, it was a great workout and I am definitely seeing major improvement in the mirror! Even when my core is relaxed, I can see a good deal of abs, and my shoulder/rear delts are looking awesome from doing the Rotator Cuff exercises. Not to mention my Lats. They really stick out from my waist. Yes I look at myself a lot. That gym mirror is good to me. But that’s the only way to judge how you’re doing, right? Plus—don’t you love yourself? You should. Seriously. You are your best friend. So LOVE YOURSELF, DAMNIT! You’ll get more respect from others, anyway, if you really love yourself.

My workout:
Incline Press on Bench
Straight Bench Press
Crossovers (high to face level for upper pec development)
Incline DB Flies (only 20#, 12 reps)
Incline DB Press
Bent Over Rev Flies (standing, sitting)
Side Rotators
Top Rotators

ABS:
Hanging leg raises
Leg Raises on Vertical Leg Raise Bench, knee raises

The reason I said this was “modified” is because I am working on lowering my fat percentage as well. I am doing ab work after most workouts on top of doing HIIT in the morning on an empty stomach. Remember, I already did the 10 in 30 and gained 10 lbs, then I did only circuits for a while with lots of cardio, so I went down on fat a little. Unfortunately, I also lost some muscle from that plus getting sick with the flu, so that’s why I’m back in the 10 in 30 plan. The morning HIIT cardio is really paying off as far as leaning me the hell out. I also plan on running (HIIT of course) after my workout for 2 days of the week on top of the morning HIIT.

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Get motivated, do a lot, work that body!

pushups

Great week (again)! Monday, the 29th, I had dropped to just under 170 (169), so I decided to eat more calories and do some of the 10 in 30 workouts again. In case you hadn’t read the previous posts, I had already reached my 10 pounds goal, so I am in my fat cutting mode for a while.

Therefore, I did the straight Back workout from the 10 in 30 manual. Fricken great! Felt amazing afterward. You know you get really great workouts with these, and you can feel them. I had been doing a circuit mix for the purpose of fat cutting so I never felt like my muscle were being pushed to the max and were gaining size. Perhaps maintaining, but not necessarily growing. With this Back workout, I clearly felt my back muscles completely worked out. I also saw my biceps trying to burst out of my arms the following days! Kick, ass.

Tuesday, I did Legs again from the 10 in 30 plan. Equally fantastic. Felt awesome going up the stairs at work.

Wednesday, was my mother’s birthday, and I was kind of underslept, so I rested with no workout.

pushups

She's going real high, real deep!

Thursday, I did 100 deep pushups at the gym using two high steps with my feet on a bench. In between sets I did the full NEW Ab workout. I really love PLANK MADNESS. I know it might look funny thrusting your hips up and down, especially during the straight planks but just try them! Do this after all of the other crunches as you should be doing them in order, and tell me how that feels!

Friday is the greatest day of the week; Shoulder Day! Again, straight from the improved 10 in 30 plan. As I write this, it’s actually Saturday and yesterday was Shoulder Day. Today, I can feel my triceps bulging out and my Bi’s are looking fricken great even when I’m not flexing! Not to mention, my forearm muscles are getting quite cut as well. This is mostly do to a new device I created for training the forearms. I did them a few times during the week while driving home. I feel like I’m strumming a guitar with my outer forearms muscles!

Saturday, (today) I did a light Circuit of Smith squats, standing calves, and leg raises on the pullup bar using the ab sleeves. 3 sets. I followed this by a run with 3 hardcore, leave it all behind, take no prisoners, “fuck! my heart’s about to burst” sprints. Sprints were in addition to around 10 minutes of regular running including downhill running on the balls of my feet (not the feet of my balls). I only sprint on an uphill to maximize the intensity, so I have to return by going downhill, right? See how that works? So, since there is little “resistance” going downhill, I resort to kicking my feet straight up like goose-step-running with only the balls of my feet hitting the ground. This strengthens my calves big-time despite looking ridiculous. I also lean back (toward the top of the slight hill) and rotate my upper body left and right in an exaggerated pump motion. This works out my core and yours too. In between sprints, I either jogged lightly or had to walk briskly but began running as soon as I could.

When you sprint while doing HIIT, be sure to USE YOUR ENTIRE BODY. “But how?” asks Biff, the perpetual questionéer.

  • Pump your arms forcefully up in front of you and lift your elbow high all the way back behind you
  • Tighten the hell out of your abs which you’ll have to do anyway if you’re running uphill as you should
  • Lift your knees up high in front of you to engage your lower abs
  • Land with your heel and rock to the ball of your foot which will launch you with great force (calves, baby)
  • Lift your leg high behind you (hamstrings and buttocks muscles)

Got it, Biff? You’re doing well. (pats Biff on the head)

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Changes, Changes!

I have updated the workouts for gaining 10 pounds in 30 days. Don’t worry, not much has changed. I’ve replaced only a few exercises but I did enhance the hell out of Shoulder Day. That happens to be my favorite day because I see the most gains and results.

Monday is Back day which also includes tricep and bicep work. It has 2 tricep exercises and 2 bicep exercises. By the time you get to Friday, it will have been four days since you concentrated on those muscles. Sure, you worked out the triceps on chest day, but only with two exercises, Bench Press and Incline Bench Press. In both of those, your triceps are doing the least of the work. Your pecs and delts take up most of the work unless you use a close grip which we are not using.

Shoulder day previously had some bicep work but no triceps. Now, I added a bunch of triceps exercises in 3 sets of Quadruple Supersets. This way, you really take both muscle groups to their max many times. I did this because of the massive pump I got when I really max out both biceps and triceps during the same workout. Add that to the massive shoulder workout, and your arms will be set for maximum gains. You’ll have that horse shoe shape in your triceps in no time and your shoulders will be able to shine faster when the biceps and triceps are also pulling in opposite directions.

I also reworked Ab day to add better exercises and I removed the ball pass. It was a good follower to crunches but I felt that hanging leg raises were an absolute must as well as what I call “Plank Madness”. Planks are great for working out your obliques, while the leg lifts will blast your bottom ab muscles. You can still do it in about 10 minutes; I just did it last night and when I was done, I could clearly see my individual abs poking through. I did 2 sets.

The last thing I changed was the running on Leg day. It used to be a 20 minutes jog on the incline setting but now, I shortened it to a 10 minute HIIT session. I don’t want to spend another 20 minutes after nearly an hour in the gym. 10 I can handle.

Let me know if you have any questions or if you’ve try this new ab workout or the shoulder day, let me know how you felt!

Cheers!

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Friday, Nov 19. 10 in30 Shoulders/Mc Donalds, more food

Fantastic workout right from the 10 in 30 workouts! Friday is Shoulder and Arms day and that’s what I did. Here it is with slight changes:

• Standing Military Press
• Upright Rows ^superset

The rest were more of a circuit with hardly any rest in between. Alternating between shoulders and curls, then triceps.

• Seated Arnold Press
• Dumbbell curls
• Hammer DB curls^super
• Heavy Bent-arm Lat Raises
• Dumbbell curls/Pronated DB curls super
• Lateral Raise 666
• Cable Tricep Press
• Rope Tricep Press ^super

Major pump going on when you do both biceps and triceps back to back with no rest. Add shoulders to that and you’ll see major definition in the upper arms by the time you’re done! That’s why I combine shoulders with arms, to really work out and define the upper arm muscles. Biceps look better when the triceps are also pulling, and they both look better when the delts are all puffy and what not, haha.

That was during my lunch hour as usual. Right after, I had a grilled chicken caesar salad from Mc Donalds with a Coke Zero/Cherry Coke Zero mix from their awesome machine. I only drink those and sometimes add some Diet Dr Pepper—no sugar drinks!
Joy Machine. Gain muscle, lose fat fast!

When I got to work, I heated up a Tyson chicken breast to add to my salad since the chicken they provide is not enough.
Tyson Chicken Breastesses.

I finished my lunch with a half cup of unsalted mixed nuts from Target  and some raw goji berries. JOYYY.
NUTS! Gain muscle fast.

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Double workout.

Yesterday, I was feeling a little tired during my mid-day workout. But at night, around 7pm, I felt great, so I went with an additional workout! It was a circuit combo of arms and chest. Since I did 5 sets of bench press during the day, this time, all I did was deep chair pushups with elevated feet for chest.

Here’s my entire 2nd workout:

70# military press: 3x, 10 reps

Pullups: 3x: wide pronated grip, narrow supinated grip, narrow parallel grip

Using Bicep Blaster:
70# EZ
Tricep bar hammer curls
Supinated Dumbbells

Tricep pushdowns V-bar
Overhead tricep ext with tricep bar: only 1x (i think i forgot these after the first set)
Deep Chair Pushups – 3x

I had virtually no rest until I was done. I even did a few burpies and high jumps, but I was too dead, so it wasn’t enough to count. You know what’s cool? My daughter saw me last night as I was preparing for my workout with no shirt on, and she says, “Wow, dad, you’re looking ripped.” <– JOY. ha, the simple things that encourage us, eh?

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