Bison's Beef Building Blog

[Bison]

OK I'll start with a bit of background so you know where I'm coming from. I've been into weight lifting for 15 years now on and off but I suffered a bad injury a few years ago in both elbows that kept me from training for a long, long time. Made my comeback in July last year and I'm pleased with my gains so far, I'm 6ft tall and now weigh around 15st 3lb compared to a skinny 13st 6lb in July!

I've been using a routine that I've changed over time but basically it was the same, consisting of mainly heavy compound exercises and performing in the 8-12 rep range. I feel it's time for a change...

This is a new routine for me and it also requires me to find out my 15RM, 10RM and 5RM. So I'm going to devote a whole week to finding these and then I can follow this plan.

Weeks 1 & 2: 1-2 sets of 15 reps
Weeks 3 & 4: 1-2 sets of 10 reps
Weeks 5 & 6: 1-2 sets of 5 reps
Weeks 7 & 8: 1-2 sets of 5 reps
Week 9: Strategic Deconditioning

This is the routine I've got in mind: I'll be doing this workout 3 times per week, Mon - Wed - Fri

Squat - 1 WU, 1 set
Leg Curl - 2 sets
Bench Press (slight incline) - 2 sets
Decline Press - 1 set might change for weighted dips?
Chins - - 2 sets I can't do 15 reps!! may change to pulldowns until I can drop reps to 10 in 2 weeks time
BB Bent Over Rows - 2 sets
BB Shoulder Press - 1 set
Upright Row - 1 set
Rear Raises - 1 set
Shrugs - 1 set
BB Curls - 2 sets
Skull Crushers - 2 sets
Calf Raises - 2 sets
Weighted Crunches - 1 set

It's very tempting to play with this routine, it's basically the recommended one (I've tinkered a little!)so I'm thinking maybe just keep it simple and stick to it for my first run...

I'm gutted I can't really include deadlifts but this exercise isn't included in the recommended list and it also says to only include 1-2 heavy compound exercises. Bench, Squats, Chins are already there!

I'm also going to sort my diet out a bit better so I can improve my bodyfat % So far I've just been making sure I ate every 3 hours with a high protein meal but I wasn't strict with calories, but I wasn't careless either. I've eaten pretty cleanly but since I quit smoking a year ago I drink like fish

Supplements I'm using:
WPC 80,
Oats,
Flax & Fish oils,
Creatine
Green Tea Extract
ADAM multi vit & min
Esther C complex

As a Pre Workout boost I'll be using:
Taurine,
Creatine CEE,
Sida Cordifolia - includes guarana
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
********************** UPDATE **********************************

As this journal has gone on for so long, it's turned into a bit of a bloated monster and hard to follow so I'm going to update this original post with some pointers. Also sometimes I need to go back and look for stuff which is a nightmare so I'll be logging page numbers here:

Page 1: HST cycle 1 (Only 15's, ends prematurely due to work)
Page 13: HST cycle 2 (Only 15 - 10 - again ends prematurely)
Page 28: HST cycle 3
Page 46: HST cycle 4
Page 66: HST cycle 5
Page 86: HST cycle 6
Page 111: HST cycle 7
Page 133: Chad Waterbury 10x3 Fatloss Program
Page 147: 3-Day Split (Legs & Delts / Chest & Biceps / Back & Triceps Split)
Page 151: 4-Day Split (Chest & Biceps / Legs / Back & Rear delts / Shoulders & Triceps)
Page 174: Starting again after 6 month lay-off
Page 183: Lyle MacDonalds Generic Bulking Routine
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Supplements Update

These are the supplements I currently use: (updated April 2009)

Whey Protein Concentrate,
Milk Protein Concentrate,
Fish Oils,
Coconut Oil,
Psylium Husks,
Mega Greens - organic,
Rhodiola Rosea / Siberian Ginseng - (both are adaptogens, I cycle between the two)
Creapure Creatine,
Leucine,
Taurine,
Zinc & Magnesium.

[finlee]

good luck! looks very very interesting this one, obviously not for the beginners out there!

[MartinM]

Good work Bison. Will be interesting to see how you get on. Are you going to do the routine to the letter? i.e with the VERY light 15s etc. working your way up to the 2nd week at your 15RM. I could never get my head round this (egotistically) which put me off but I have heard it is a very good routine.

Not sure if you want anyone sticking their nose in and I know you have taken the routine 'as it is' but personally, if I was ever to do it I would drop the 'rear raises' and possibly upright row. Simply for time I guess as well as the fact that rear delts get a workout with a lot of other back/shoulder work. I would also do 2 sets of flat bench and 1 of incline but again just ideas.

When you get into it, let us know how long a session is generally taking.

Definately subsitute the chins for lat pulls, close and wide grip, otherwise it simply wont work

Good luck mate

[James Copping]

You dont do max effort every workout, thats is how i am reading ur plan however.

[MartinM]

..........i browsed over this without thinking, as Meat says and as can probably be detected from my post, the 2 weeks are supposed to work up to a 15RM i believe........from your post it says

2 weeks of all out effor tat your 15RM...

[Bison]

Quote

Good work Bison. Will be interesting to see how you get on. Are you going to do the routine to the letter? i.e with the VERY light 15s etc. working your way up to the 2nd week at your 15RM. I could never get my head round this (egotistically) which put me off but I have heard it is a very good routine.

Yes I will be doing this, infact it's one of the attractions to me. My injury taught me a valuable lesson, one I intend not to forget and that's to look after the whole body, especially the joints, tendons, etc.
The lactic-acid brought on by high rep training will not only give mine a break from week, in week out heavy loads but it's supposed to actually enhance the tendons healing...

Quote

Not sure if you want anyone sticking their nose in and I know you have taken the routine 'as it is' but personally, if I was ever to do it I would drop the 'rear raises' and possibly upright row. Simply for time I guess as well as the fact that rear delts get a workout with a lot of other back/shoulder work. I would also do 2 sets of flat bench and 1 of incline but again just ideas.

When you get into it, let us know how long a session is generally taking.

Definately subsitute the chins for lat pulls, close and wide grip, otherwise it simply wont work

Good luck mate

I hope I always welcome input from others... I'm always trying to learn It's also the reason I posted this journal up so early, hopefully you guys can give me some idea's to improve it before I start.

The upright row I've thrown in myself (it's not on the recommended list but I like them for hitting the side delts) and is just an idea at the moment, I still haven't 100% decided my workout.

I agree with you on the chest workout, I'm very unsure myself at the moment. The bench press is supposed to be on a slight incline and not flat. I've added the decline press myself as they suggest dips but in my experience my triceps fatigue waaay before my chest so I don't really count it as a chest exercise.
Two other idea's for chest -
1 set incline, 1 set flat, 1 set decline in each workout, or
2x incline, 1x dip MON, 2x flat, 1x dip WED, 2x decline, 1x incline FRI

Quote

You dont do max effort every workout, thats is how i am reading ur plan however.

You're correct, I can see were my original post is confusing by saying all out effort, I just mean I'll be putting more effort in than usual as there's only 1-2 sets. Slow, deliberate, controlled reps. The weights used are always below my maximum until the final workout at the end of each 2 week cycle. So example: 15 rep max on squat is 100kg

Week 1: Mon - 75kgx15 , Wed - 80kgx15 , Fri - 85kgx15
Week 2: Mon - 90kgx15 , Wed - 95kgx15 , Fri - 100kgx15

I can imagine the last workout of each cycle being an absolute beast

Cheers for the input and encouragement fella's, it's much appreciated

[Bison]

Ok, time to get this show on the road!

Managed to get back to training on Monday after an enforced 2 week break, thanks to my gym being shut down! Anyway all 'seems' to be sorted again and I've managed to train Monday & Wednesday.
A real bummer as my training was going really well but these 2 weeks off my diet just went right off the rails

Also, I've lost that week were I could have worked out my 15, 10 and 5RM's so it's been a bit of educated guess work really. After the break any workout was going to be tough, this was suprisingly hard work!! Anyway enough waffle...

90-100 seconds rest between each set on Legs, Chest & Back
60-70 seconds rest between each set on Shoulders, Arms, Abs and Hams

Monday 27th Feb

Squats -
15x70, 15x70
Leg Curls -
15x10, 15x12
Bench (slight incline) - too close to my 15RM I think, back off
15x60, 15x60
Dips - again too close to 15RM
15
Pulldowns (shoulder width, palms in grip)-
15x50, 15x50
BB Bent Over Rows -
15x30, 15x30
Front Press -
15x20, 15x20
Upright Row -
15x20
Rear Raises -
15x10, 15x10
Shrugs -
15x30, 15x30
EZ-Bar Curls -
15x14, 15x14
French Press -
15x14, 15x14
Calf Raises -
15x100, 15x100
Weighted Crunch -
15x10, 15x10

Total Workout Time = 75mins (not including warmup!) need to get this down, always slow first time on a workout.

I was cooked after this, absolutely shattered. A bit hit and miss with the weights, some too light and a few too heavy I think. It's going to be real hard to add any decent weights every workout to some of them without pushing myself too hard.

Dips will have to go unfortunately. No proper dip bars at my gym, I have to improvise on 2 machines that are next to each other and they shake making them very difficult. Adding weight and 15 reps is a no go, risking injury so change for decline bench.

What's really suprised me is just how difficult 15reps are! I'm hitting 10 without even feeling anything but soon as I go over 12 and into new territory that lactic acid burns! The Bench Press especially shocked me, really have to drop down next workout.

[Bison]

Tuesday 28th Feb
Football - 30 mins cardio than 90 mins game
Hard work, sore from training day before!

Wednesday
10 min warmup

Squat - gasping by end of 2nd set, legs sore from Tuesday
15x75, 15x75
Leg Curl - quite tough
15x12.5, 15x12.5
Bench (slight incline) - Very slow and deliberate, good feel.
15x45, 15x45
Decline Bench - Haven't done these for years, good.
15x45
Pulldowns (shoulder width, palms in grip) - Good, did I add enough weight?
15x55, 15x55
BB Bent Over Rows (wide grip)- Held at top, good squeeze.
15x35, 15x35
Front Press - Too easy?
15x22.5, 15x22.5
Upright Row - Good weight, good feel.
15x24
Rear Raises - Wow! Shoulders blown up like balloons!
15x12.5, 15x12.5
Shrugs - Nice and slow, good feel, too light?
15x35, 15x35
EZ-Bar Curls - Nice weight
15x16, 15x16
French Press - Too light?
15x16, 15x16
Calf Raises - Nice weight, calves blew up after these, rock hard.
15x105, 15x105
Weighted Crunch - Ok
15x12.5, 15x12.5

Total Workout Time = 60 minutes (not including warmup)

Hmm, leg work was ok regarding weight as I've hit them 3 days in a row really as the cardio and football hits them pretty hard... but upper body maybe needed a bit more.

Hard to say how I'll be coping next week though, 25 sets of 15 reps in one workout is pretty gruelling!!

[Bison]

Double posted so I'll use this for a few thoughts on so far. After my initial 1st day back from small layoff were I struggled a bit, the 2nd workout felt a bit too easy but I was still burning from the lactic acid. I really did feel pumped up, haven't had a pump like that in years.

I must say I'm liking this workout. It's been a long time since I did 15rep's with light weights but now I'm glad I've tried this. I can do each rep very slowly and deliberatly and really concentrate on the muscle working and get a good feel of what's going on in my muscles Really concentrate on 100% perfect form, I like it.

It's just so tempting to go sticking more weight on though

Was weird bench pressing 45kg!!

[MartinM]

Hey mate, shame about the gym being closed. Good idea to start light though, 15s are a killer! 10reps is such a psychological barrier!

How long did you workouts take then?