# Journal Time!



## 4lini (Sep 14, 2022)

Per recommendations, it’s time to put pen to paper and start a log.

6’0 M
192
14.4% bf per machine

Goals: Get to 12% bf. Fix nutrition. Possibly tweak gym routine. I plan to do a test and deca cycle. Might change that plan. I’m definitely going to do test plus something for a bulking cycle. Feel free to roast that idea all you want but I’m doing it once I get bf low enough. 100% open to advise on everything else and ideas on dosages.

High volume philosophy. Nutrition is currently very low fat, high protein medium carbs and extremely low calorie. Always had an extremely slow metabolism, but I’ve been informed that that’s bs so time to fix it.

Didn’t try to change anything crazy today, just did my normal routine to start.

Nutrition:
1 Oikos yogurt, 10g bcaa
2 4oz swai fish
Chicken quesadilla with fat free cheese, low carb tortilla 
Quest protein bar
Chicken breast sandwich, 5g bcaa
W/O 5g bcaa
Oikos Yogurt
Same chicken quesadilla 

175 protein
102 Carbs
15 Fat
1,250 calories so far plus diet condiments 
Might have some ff cottage cheese before bed

W/O
Had some making up to do and sprained my foot playing softball…. Couldn’t do squats or go heavy too heavy on my feet
Did mostly reverse pyramids today, warmed up, went heavy first on most lifts then focused on pump

Cable crunches 4x20

Legs
Light Leg press 4x12-18
Quad ext 4x12-30
Dumbell RDLs 4x8-15
Hypertensions 4-x8-12
Hammy curls 4x12-25
Squeeze chick machine 3x25
Spread chick machine 3x25
Standing calf raises, super light 4x30

Shoulders 
Military press 4x 6-10
Lateral raises 4x12-15
Cable upright rows 4x12-15
Bent over raises 4x15-20
Dumbell cheat shrugs 4x15-25

Again, didn’t change anything crazy in my routine today but plan to slowly change moving forward. It was a lot on low calorie so I did less sets on shoulders but was still able to go high intensity the whole W/O. Pic from yesterday, no pump


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## Valdosta (Sep 14, 2022)

u sure ur not 5'10"ish?
good build
i definitely wouldnt call that high protein though


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## 4lini (Sep 14, 2022)

Valdosta said:


> u sure ur not 5'10"ish?
> good build
> i definitely wouldnt call that high protein though


5’11 3/4th to be exact. I have very wide hip bones. Not high protein on maintenance or a bulk. But relative to the number of calories, 55% was from protein. If I was bulking I would close to double that. I usually aim for more.


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## TODAY (Sep 14, 2022)

Oof, where to start...


Did you just forget to mention the fruits and vegetables?


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## 4lini (Sep 14, 2022)

TODAY said:


> Oof, where to start...
> 
> 
> Did you just forget to mention the fruits and vegetables?


Very much hate vegetables, passionately. Oatmeal, yams and sweet potatoes will also never enter my diet, idgaf how good they are for you.

Plus, Ronnie never ate em!!

Nah but I do take multivitamins twice throughout the day because of this. I’m aware that’s not a good consolation. Meats have a decent concentration of vitamins and minerals as well. 

I love fruit and usually get an apple or strawberries in. Just didn’t get around to it today and try to go easy on fruits while cutting. Only around my W/O.


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## Trendkill (Sep 14, 2022)

Plus Ronnie never ate em lol.


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## CJ (Sep 14, 2022)

4lini said:


> Not high protein on maintenance or a bulk. But relative to the number of calories, 55% was from protein. If I was bulking I would close to double that. I usually aim for more.


You have this backwards. You need more protein during a deficit, as your body will break down muscle tissue to get the aminos it needs for various processes. 

Don't be scared of protein, except for extremely rare cases, it will not end up as bodyfat. There are many studies showing this. 

So go ahead, eat some FF Cottage Cheese before bed. That's a staple in my diet.


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## 4lini (Sep 14, 2022)

CJ said:


> You have this backwards. You need more protein during a deficit, as your body will break down muscle tissue to get the aminos it needs for various processes.
> 
> Don't be scared of protein, except for extremely rare cases, it will not end up as bodyfat. There are many studies showing this.
> 
> So go ahead, eat some FF Cottage Cheese before bed. That's a staple in my diet.


Yupp, I went ahead and had a cup and a half of FF cottage cheese before bed.🫡

Puts me at
211 P
120 C
15 F
1,460 calories yesterday


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## 1bigun11 (Sep 14, 2022)

I’ve never had french fried cottage cheese. I’ll have to try that!! Lol


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## 4lini (Sep 14, 2022)

1bigun11 said:


> I’ve never had french fried cottage cheese. I’ll have to try that!! Lol


Goes great with some garlic aioli!


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## Test_subject (Sep 14, 2022)

4lini said:


> I’m definitely going to do test plus something for a bulking cycle. Feel free to roast that idea all you want but I’m doing it once I get bf low enough. 100% open to advise on everything else and ideas on dosages.


Beware of getting into the “I’m doing it no matter what anyone says” mentality.

Reason takes a back seat when you start ignoring input because you’ve already convinced yourself.  You can’t ever learn anything when you begin with the conclusion.


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## 1bigun11 (Sep 14, 2022)

This is completely counterintuitive, and I do not expect you to do it, or understand it.  But you will get better results if you do half as many exercises and eat twice the amount of food.

You will gain more by doing that than you will on a steroid cycle.  Not bullshitting you man.


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## Test_subject (Sep 14, 2022)

1bigun11 said:


> This is completely counterintuitive, and I do not expect you to do it, or understand it.  But you will get better results if you do half as many exercises and eat twice the amount of food.
> 
> You will gain more by doing that than you will on a steroid cycle.  Not bullshitting you man.


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## CJ (Sep 14, 2022)

1bigun11 said:


> This is completely counterintuitive, and I do not expect you to do it, or understand it.  But you will get better results if you do half as many exercises and eat twice the amount of food.
> 
> You will gain more by doing that than you will on a steroid cycle.  Not bullshitting you man.


100% agree!!!!!!

And it makes absolutely perfect sense. More materials and fuel from the food to aid the building of new muscle tissue, and higher intensity of effort can be put into the exercise, because you're doing too much junk volume, thus making it more effective.


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## Kickback (Sep 14, 2022)

You guys sound like a bunch of pump haters


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## Test_subject (Sep 14, 2022)

CJ said:


> 100% agree!!!!!!
> 
> And it makes absolutely perfect sense. More materials and fuel from the food to aid the building of new muscle tissue, and higher intensity of effort can be put into the exercise, because you're doing too much junk volume, thus making it more effective.


To add to this, doing more exercises while eating less food is actually counterproductive because you’re increasing your energy expenditure which is, obviously, the opposite of what you want with a bulk.

Picking a couple exercises, hitting them until you want to die, eating lots of food and getting proper rest without AAS will be more effective than running a cycle, not eating enough and doing junk volume every single time.


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## DEADlifter (Sep 14, 2022)

Kickback said:


> You guys sound like a bunch of pump haters


Stop now while you're ahead.


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## Kickback (Sep 14, 2022)

DEADlifter said:


> Stop now while you're ahead.


No need to be so aggressive brother


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## DEADlifter (Sep 14, 2022)

Kickback said:


> No need to be so aggressive brother


It was really for my own benefit bro.  I don't want to watch these guys eviscerate another person about junk volume and that pumps have nothing to do with growth.  

Trust me, I am the mellow one in this crowd.  

But, hey homie, do you.

Welcome to the Underground. We all love the exercise that is your namesake. Great for growth.


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## Kickback (Sep 14, 2022)

DEADlifter said:


> It was really for my own benefit bro.  I don't want to watch these guys eviscerate another person about junk volume and that pumps have nothing to do with growth.
> 
> Trust me, I am the mellow one in this crowd.
> 
> ...


I don’t believe in junk volume.
Im a bodybuilder not a powerlifter.
I really think the guy should do more volume 20-30 sets per bodypart focusing on pump and squeeze and training what ever isn’t sore that day.
More volume equals more muscle damage equals more growth.
I love the kick back have you seen the emg studies


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## 4lini (Sep 14, 2022)

1bigun11 said:


> This is completely counterintuitive, and I do not expect you to do it, or understand it.  But you will get better results if you do half as many exercises and eat twice the amount of food.
> 
> You will gain more by doing that than you will on a steroid cycle.  Not bullshitting you man.


Alright, I hear what your saying. I’m skeptical on the food side of things. I just know that when I get to around 2,000 calories I start aggressively gaining weight, mostly in the form of fat. I could get to 230 in 3 weeks, +40 lbs, without even trying. (I actually did this so I could win 3k prize money in a weight loss competition about 1.5 years ago. Came in 2nd 🫤)

In term of the lifting. I have seen slightly larger increases in strength on a surplus doing a different kind of W/O, where I do lower rep ranges(6-10) and sets of around 4-5 doing 3-4 exercises per body part. That’s probably my 2nd favorite way to lift. The issue with that is that it doesn’t result in a lot of mass for me, my muscles just get a harder look. When I do the higher volumn stuff, that’s when I’ve seen the most benefit in terms of hypertrophy/fullness and I still get strength increases.

This is just what I’ve experienced. I’m open to trying other ways again and am just posting where I am at now.


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## 4lini (Sep 14, 2022)

Some background on what I’ve tried:
Diet:
Atkins bs
Keto bs, feel like this is only good for very high bf
High cardio compensation, stupid
Intermittent fasting (this one kind of worked well for me but it sucked doing it)
Carb cycling (too difficult to adjust to this mentally, hungry af)

Lifting:
Simple bro split
Doggcrapp strength yes, hypertrophy big no
Different versions of HIT/blood &guts/mike mentzer stuff - not for me, no way is this enough volume, fat gain
Barbell focused (bad on joints, poor overall balance)
Olympic lifting- I suck at it, bad for joints
CrossFit- booo
Functional type athlete programs, feel good but poor growth
Orange theory, good if you want to cut aggressively without care for muscle
Used to do bb magazine stuff like 5 years ago, took bits and pieces that I’ve liked
Jeff nippard stuff- I liked doing this, opted for high volume


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## 4lini (Sep 15, 2022)

Day 2
Short on time so just did a quick chest. I’m sure I’ll get ripped for volume, but if there’s one thing I stand behind it’s honesty, even if I’m wrong. Also, just tracking my base for now. Whole W/O was about 50 mins. Tracked weights for this one. Everything to failure. I don’t do exact reps, I just go til failure or an incredibly hard rep. Focus on depth and contractions today. Lots of upper.

Incline barbell

Warmup 135

Feeders155,175

185x6

175x6

165x8

14512

135x13



Dumbell flat

75sx9

70sx11

65sx12

60sx16



Upper chest cable crosses

50sx10

40sx16

40sx13



Incline converging press, wide grip:

50sx21 (more reps than I wanted but I ran with it)

60sx16



Flat dumbell flys:

45x7

35sx11

30sx15



Pec fly machine:

220x9

180x11

160x15



Lower chest cable flys:

60sx12

50sx15

40sx18

Calories: 1,360
P 209 60%
C 85 24%
F 27 17%

8oz fish
Chicken quesadilla 
Quest bar
2 apple slices packets
Potato chips (family sized bag in break room broke me, 2 handfuls, pre workout at least)
Jack links original beef steak
6oz chicken breast 

Might have some ff cottage cheese before bed


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## PZT (Sep 15, 2022)

Sweet looking traps. Bring up the Delts and be a pretty legit yoked up mfker!


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## PZT (Sep 15, 2022)

Maybe some light weight high rep side laterals in place of one of those fly movements.


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## Valdosta (Sep 15, 2022)

4lini said:


> Day 2
> Short on time so just did a quick chest. I’m sure I’ll get ripped for volume, but if there’s one thing I stand behind it’s honesty, even if I’m wrong. Also, just tracking my base for now. Whole W/O was about 50 mins. Tracked weights for this one. Everything to failure. I don’t do exact reps, I just go til failure or an incredibly hard rep. Focus on depth and contractions today. Lots of upper.
> 
> Incline barbell
> ...


traps look like a manta ray or something. sick inserts


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## 4lini (Sep 15, 2022)

PZT said:


> Sweet looking traps. Bring up the Delts and be a pretty legit yoked up mfker!


Thanks man, definitely need whatever your doing for shoulder haha. Hoping once I add the juice eventually that might help with that look


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## 4lini (Sep 15, 2022)

Valdosta said:


> traps look like a manta ray or something. sick inserts


Thanks dude, been going extra heavy on em instead of the slow and controlled and it’s showing


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## PZT (Sep 15, 2022)

Is


4lini said:


> Thanks man, definitely need whatever your doing for shoulder haha. Hoping once I add the juice eventually that might help with that look


yeah tren usually brings them out too lol


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## 4lini (Sep 16, 2022)

Friggin binged like an idiot last night. Luckily it was almost all protein. Weighed in at 194 today…
P 300
C 128
F 36

2036 calories 

Also short on time again. Only got triceps in

Vbar cable push downs

Warmup, feeder

180x10

160x14

140x16

120x19



Dips

+25x11

+25x10

+25x9

bwx17



Overhead dumbbell ext, slow

75x11

75x9

70x13

60x16



Rope push downs 

80x13

80x10

60x17

50x23



+Some complex drop finisher

Arm looking fatty post W/O


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## PZT (Sep 16, 2022)

Your gym gotta a fat cable stack! Nice work


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## IronSoul (Sep 16, 2022)

Something is better than nothing. Good work man


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## 4lini (Sep 17, 2022)

Ate well until I had hibachi for dinner. Call it 1200 calories in 1 meal. Was at 800 before this 50% protein 38%carbs. Hibachi was chicken shrimp rice noodles and a shrimp tempura roll😋.

Only got back in. Emphasis on back thickness today. Got a two a day lined up tomorrow so I’ll make up for it.

Back

Wide lat pulldowns, slow

Warmup

175x9

175x9

160x12

145x14



Barbell row (slight cheat)

225x9

205x8

185x13

155x16



Machine lat pulldowns (didn’t even wanna do these but all the pull machines were taken. I guess everyone decided to hit back today. Just keeping the lats pumped)

160x15

160x13



Wide bar elbows out upper back rows

130x9

100x11

85x16

85x13

70x13 (Ultra wide)



Idk what to call it. Vbar rows but with individual handles. Lower traps focus

130x16

130x14

130x12 drop 85x8



Individual handles underhand rows

85x12

85x15?

85x12 drop 55x a lot


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## 4lini (Sep 18, 2022)

8/17



Had some making up to do and probably over did it.

1,470 calories

53% P

31% C

16% F



I was told I need to work on shoulders and was recommended laterals. Let’s just say I took a big scoop of pre:



AM W/O Shoulders:

Side laterals:

25x13

20x17 some cheat reps

20x14

15x16 some cheats

15x21 lots of cheats



Dumbbell shoulder press, extra deep, slower, exaggerated negative, side delts focus:

55x8 (yikes that’s bad)

45x13

40x12 drop 25x9 drop 10s seated side laterals 13 🥵



Front felt focus: machine palms in converging press. Superset seated incline alternating underhand front raises:

100x8,15x10

90x8, 15x9

70x12, 15x8

60x16,15x8



Rear delt cable splits:

25x15

25x10 drop 10x12

15x16



Pec deck, rear delts, parallel grip:

80x18

60x21 drop 40x7



Smith barbell shrugs

315x21

275x24

275x22

225x32 drop 135x20



Split cable laterals

20x13

15x16

10x a lot





PM W/O Bis Forearms Abs

Didn’t track weights, it was like 11pm



Cable crunches

3x20-25



Single arm preacher machine:

5x6-18



Machine crunch triple drop set 50ish reps



Alternating dumbbell curl (slower half twist emphasis):

3x8-13



Machine outer curls (peak and outside focus):

3x10-15



Rope curls for bracciallis:

3x10-12



Barbell wrist curls on bench superset with reverse wrist dumbell curls:

4x15-25, 4x15-20


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## 4lini (Sep 24, 2022)

Just an update for y’all. MRi came back and my foot is broken in 3 places. Taking some time off. In a boot and prescribed rest. Needed some rest anyway. Trying to keep protein high and calories below 2000. Not super tracking right now, just making sure protein is over 200 and calories are under 2k. Plan on coming back strong in a week or so, need the break to set and obviously no legs for a month or so.


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## eazy (Sep 24, 2022)

4lini said:


> obviously no legs for a month or so



*DB SLDL*


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## CJ (Sep 24, 2022)

4lini said:


> Just an update for y’all. MRi came back and my foot is broken in 3 places. Taking some time off. In a boot and prescribed rest. Needed some rest anyway. Trying to keep protein high and calories below 2000. Not super tracking right now, just making sure protein is over 200 and calories are under 2k. Plan on coming back strong in a week or so, need the break to set and obviously no legs for a month or so.


Leg Extensions and Leg Curls? 

There's absolutely no weight on the foot with those. 

Do them. Don't be ghey.


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## 4lini (Sep 24, 2022)

CJ said:


> Leg Extensions and Leg Curls?
> 
> There's absolutely no weight on the foot with those.
> 
> Do them. Don't be ghey.


Yeah that’s what I was doing before I got the MRI. Ask the Doc, recommended against it. His argument was straining could extend recovery time. Said it’s better to take time off and get it right.

Honestly planned on doing exactly what you said after a few weeks, but I want to let it kind of set first. I’m gonna feel it out, at least 2 weeks off from legs.


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## lifter6973 (Sep 24, 2022)

CJ said:


> Leg Extensions and Leg Curls?
> 
> There's absolutely no weight on the foot with those.
> 
> Do them. Don't be ghey.


Reported!


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