Here is the file: Blank Workout Log

Fill it in, test it out, enjoy!

One thing I have noticed is a big change in peoples perception of muscle state, I remember a few years ago you were either Bulking (calorie surplus), cutting (calorie deficit), or maintaining (calories stay at maintenance levels). Most people would say they are looking to burn fat and build mass, back then you were always told you can do 1 or the other but not both effectively. Now I constantly see workout programs for ‘recomp’ which is increasing mass and burning fat at the same time. So what is with this sudden change of mind? I am not really sure but I have a few ideas. It seems more and more people are branching out from the ‘tried-and-true’ methods of lifting, and even eating. Recently Intermittent Fasting has proven very successful for many people. I had been following IF for a few months with out even realizing it had a name. It feels like more people are willing to try new things and the majority of people are seeing decent results. There has also been a huge wave of new workout routines and programs to help beginners, intermediate and even expert lifters.

Another thing that I have noticed is a lot of people have (finally) gotten off of the supplement band wagon and are beginning to perfect their diet and training while using only basic proven supplements (ie protein, creatine, bcaa, multivitamins, fish oil) instead of taking everything they possible can. The last 4 weeks were spent hitting a 3 day straight full body routine, which definitely helped me to get my strength and size up, now I have switched my routine back to a 3 day split. The main idea behind my new routine is that it is built around the core muscle building exercises (bench, deadlift, squat). Three of my favorite exercises. The split looks something like this:

• Workout A focus on Biceps/Chest

1. Bench press (flat, incline or decline)
2. Dumbbell curls
3. Dips
4. Preacher Curls
5. Dumbbell Flyes
6. Hammer Curls
7. Cable Flyes
8. Concentration Curls
9. Dumbbell Press
10. Sidebends (some core work)

• Workout B focus on Back/Triceps

1. Lat Pulldown (overhand or underhand, wide or neutral)
2. Tricep Pushdowns
3. Deadlift
4. Tricep Overhead Extension
5. Seated Row
6. Kickbacks
7. Bentover Barbell Row
8. Skull Crushers
9. Shrugs
10. Rope Pushdowns

• Workout C focus on Legs/Shoulders

1. Squat (ATG always, front, hack, etc)
2. Front Raise
3. Leg Press
4. Lateral Raise
5. Leg Extension
6. Dumbbell Shoulder Press
7. Leg Curl
8. Arnold Press
9. Calf Raises (with squats and leg press)
10. Barbell Shoulder Press

Now this list contains a lot of different exercises and we do not do them all each day. Generally we do the core lift for the day (bench, deadlift, squat) then 2 more exercises for that body part, so Workout A might look like this:

• Bench 3×10 or 4×8 or 5×5 (chest 1)
• Dumbbell Curls 3×10 (biceps 1)
• Dips 3xfailure (chest 2)
• Preacher Curls 3×10  (biceps 2)
• Dumbbell Flyes 3×10 (chest 3)
• Concentration Curls 3×10 (biceps 3)
• Sidebends 3×10 (core)

The nice thing about this routine is that it doesn’t get boring because we can swap exercises around depending on how we feel. The volume for these workouts is generally pretty high and should provide good results. Yesterday I started week 2 of this which will probably remain unchanged for 4-6 weeks.

I am trying to find a new routine that branches away from common thinking and still gets results, so far this has been successful. With the new diet and routines I am starting to see some promising results the best part is there is a constant motivation to constantly hit the gym. I am always pumped for the gym and the workouts just increase this pump. Check back for updated information or changes to the routine and diet as I plan on using the site as a sort of log for this new routine. Hopefully the results will continue to show improvement.

Stay motivated and enjoy!

The workout I did was considered my heavy day. There were 4 exercises in the plan I dropped 1 and added 3 more. Within the short 40 or so minutes I had I was able to finish these exercises:

• Cable Standing Mid Pulley Row – Max weight total of 25 reps over 2 sets (needed more weight!)
• Dips – Body Weight total of 25 reps over 2 sets 15/10
• Decline Bench Press – Varying weight total of 25 reps over 5 sets (this is how the other exercises should be)
• Barbell Shrugs – Varying weight 3 or 4 sets of 8-12
• Weighted Side-bends – 45lb plate 3 sets of 10 per side
• Bench Press – Varying weight 25 reps over 3 sets as fast as possible

The workout ended up including a lot of unplanned exercises and I did drop my leg workout (for a good reason) so despite the short time I worked through 6 exercises with 45seconds of rest between sets and was able to get a full, intense workout in.

Right after the workout I had an incredible pump and it lasted for a good hour after the gym. I think the Build XS is also starting to kick in, my lifts felt much more explosive. When I was getting to my last few reps instead of sticking I was able to focus and throw the bar back up and I went beyond my previous ‘limits’. I was able to do more dips than just a week ago and dips don’t seem to hurt my chest anymore. The decline bench was fairly impressive since I was doing more weight then before but also not hitting failure to soon. All in all this is exactly how all workouts from Huge in a Hurry are meant to be done. I now know why. My body isn’t sore but it definitely took a beating yesterday.

I figured I write this as a quick update to my workout/Build XS review. I still love Build XS. It tastes delicious and feels like your drinking pure energy. The focus and explosiveness of my workouts is quite intense and I always leave my workout with a wicked pump. That is all for now I guess. Enjoy!

p.s. what is your favorite music genre/artist/song to listen to during a good lift? let me know in the comments! I

I love Hatebreed for my heavy lifts, 3 Doors Down – Kryptonite seems to work too.

So the last 3 weeks or so I have been hitting the gym ~3 nights a week doing my old routine of Chest/Tris, Bis/Back, Shoulder/Abs/Legs. I think a change is in order but I haven’t decided if I want to follow the Huge in a Hurry full body workout every workout, or a Chest/Bi, Back/Tri, Shoulder/Leg/Abs. The nice thing about doing the full body work outs is that you hit so many more support muscles since most of the exercises are compound exercises that allow you to work multiple muscles in 1 exercise. If I am not mistaken I still have my old Huge in a Hurry routine saved in GymBuddy on my iPhone.

This sudden interest in fitness has proved to be a huge stress reliever. I am slowly starting to sleep better too but I need to fix the diet. I am constantly eating 1 meal a day and thats pretty much it, maybe 400-800 calories a day. Obviously this is a horrid diet for building mass but so far it has worked incredibly well for slimming down. The funny thing is the thinner I get, the more I weigh. I was stuck at 170lbs. for a long time now I am thinner then ever and at ~182lbs. Go figure.

I think a good diet change will take place once I get down to a proper BF%. I have a feeling I will be using the 6 meal a day diet with a lot of meats and protein. As far as supplements go, I am not taking anything and feel like I am making gains way faster than when I was on protein, creatine, NO, T-Boosters, etc. I have a feeling that after a few weeks the results will slow and may be time to invest in some creatine/protein just for mass and keep out of the T-Boosters for a bit.

Well this is my first fitness post in a long long time, actually I think the last was about Huge in a Hurry which I still have and definitely highly recommend. If you have stopped working out or never tried it, definitely do. The feeling you get after a good lift is incredible and the side effects are almost all positive (minus injury). As far as my back injury goes it still exists but I have been taking it easy on my lower back this time around. I had an  X-ray of spine and found out that there is cartilage missing in my lower back and apparently I fractured part of my spine at some point. I guess that would explain the flare ups so long after the original injury.

I guess that is all I have for now so get out to the gym and enjoy!

Oh and here is a sweet diagram of just about every major muscle.

This chart helps show what I meant when I was talking about traps and delts. Since the traps are the muscles on the sides of your neck when they get big your neck naturally  gets bigger. I think you can get a good idea about how it wouldlook to have bigger delts than pecs.

Get Ready

So the first routine we have to follow is the Get Ready routine. Which is meant to get us adjusted to the way we will be working out. There are three workouts, Workout A, B, C all following the upper body pull, push, legs template. The problem I had initially was that I didn’t read the whole book and just jumped to the workout, wrote it down, went to the gym and finished in 20 minutes. I felt betrayed, and worst of all I felt like I had done something wrong. So I went back and read the rest of the book realizing that I needed to begin every workout with 5-10 minutes of mobility exercises, then my workout with warm up sets for each exercise, then stretching. Workout B was phenomenal. I want there, did my mobility exercises which really got the blood pumping, then did my warm up sets to figure out what weight I needed to use for my Medium weight workout. Once I got settled I began the workouts the way I was supposed to. I started with my underhand lat pull down, found my weight, and did 6 reps at full speed, on the 6th set I slowed down so I stopped and rested for 60 seconds. My first set (sets don’t matter) was 6 reps, I needed to hit 35 reps before I was done. So I continued my next set with another 5 reps. The book says to stop after a rep that is slower than the others or is causes you to use bad form. After I hit my 35 reps (my last set was only 2 reps) I went on to my next workout. Standing Dumbbell Shoulder Press, this is a workout I have never tried before and felt great, your core and legs are helping to keep you stable while you hold the weights above your head. This was an awesome workout which really helped me feel the full body workout effect. My final exercise was the Deadlift, a workout I have missed and have not done in many years. This was one of my very workouts back in the day, the only problem was when I finished my last set I think I pulled something in my back, which has been tight and locked up ever since.

Tomorrow I will be doing my third workout (Workout C) before work, and will update on how well it works. Workout B was by far the best, probably because I did this workout correctly. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone looking to get into great shape, the book can be found to the right in the side bar. This book gives an interesting mix of science and braun and is actually quite a good read.