Posts written by Michael J. Mahony

As I went into Mission 2, just a mere 14 days ago, I decided that water was going to be the only drink (besides my protein shakes) that I would have during this mission.  In the past I would drink milk or a small amount of juice as a way of getting a little bit of carbs in my diet.  This time I decided to eliminate all of that to avoid the sugar.  So far it is working quite well.  I am extremely well hydrated and I seem to be shaping up much faster than before.  This all got me thinking last night about nutrition and its role in a transformation.

I truly believe that 80% of our results come from our nutrtion, 10% come from training and 10% come from the amount of rest we get.  Food is the fuel our bodies use to change and morph into something better.  Training is how we shape the body of our dreams.  Rest is when our bodies do the changing.  Together those things work to get the transformation process to happen.

I've really been focusing on keeping my eating clean and only having a cheat meal once every 12 days during this mission.  It has been a tough road, but my boring menu has enabled me to hit the numbers I am looking to hit each day.  The simplicity of it all has outweighed the boredom of the menu itself.  I'm pretty simple when it comes to food anyway, so this works very well for me.

I am excited to see my results this coming week (tomorrow is stats day).  As Tom Venuto stated in his response to my post on the Burn the Fat Inner Circle, if I am still gaining weight and body fat this week, I will need to cut my calories back.  My current plan is to continue cycling the carbs and doing refeed days, but at a 5% reduction to the previous weeks if I have continued to gain in both weight and body fat percentage.  These small, but decisive adjustments, are necessary to keep the transformation moving ahead.

Accountability Log:

Nutrition Log:

Workout Log:

I will be modifying my lifting schedule starting this next week.  I will lift on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday.  I've made this adjustment so that weekends are not lifting days at all.  I like the new schedule better.  Shortly I will discuss a new technique that I've learned from the New Rules of Lifting book and will be utilizing during the start of my bulking phase.

Until tomorrow…GET BACK TO LIFTING!

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Here they are.  My ever popular “posing photos” for progress reporting.  Seems to me the lifting is working!

Until tomorrow…GET BACK TO LIFTING!

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Just a few reasons to stop using the Smith Machine:

1. The Smith Machine offers less transfer to the real-world than free weight exercises.
2. Depending on the movement, the shearing forces on the knees and lumbar spine are increased by the fixed line of motion.
3. The lifter conforms to the machine, and not vice versa. Human motion is dependent on subtle adjustments to joint angle positioning; the body will always want to compensate in the most advantageous position possible. Fix the feet and fix the bar, and the only ways to get this compensation are inappropriate knee tracking and, more dangerously, loss of the neutral spine position.

If you are using the Smith Machine in your workout, I strongly suggest you change your workout plan.

Now…GET BACK TO LIFTING!

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Today was my 4th lifting day of the week and the first time in a long time that I've lifted for more than 3 days in a week and I am here to tell you that it was daunting at first.  It felt odd to be back at the iron for a 4th day.  I relied heavily on visualization and the results showed.  I managed to hit a personal best in my squat, hitting 265 pounds for 6 sets of 4 repetitions.  Let me explain to you exactly what I felt like as I approached this workout.

As I rolled into the gym I felt out of place because I knew I wouldn't be doing cardio, but would be doing my lifting yet again.  I was focused on the fact that it was the 4th day this week for me, something that hasn't happened in close to a year (I used to lift 5 days a week in the past). 

The very first scheduled exercise was the squat.  The squat rack is all the way in the back corner of my gym, so I strolled back that direction.  I stopped at the water fountain to fill up my 24 ounce bottle with water.  I started reviewing my workout log and considered what weight I should attempt today.  I noticed that I'd done 250 pounds on a previous (similar) workout format, so I immediately thought of doing 255 pounds today.

I got to the squat rack and loaded the bar with my warm up weight of 135 pounds.  I attached my Manta Ray to the bar and did my warm ups.  I got nice and deep and it felt wonderful.  When my warm ups were done I began to load up 255 pounds.  At the last minute I thought “Push yourself harder, you can do more” and so I added more weight to total 265 pounds. 

I stepped under the bar and positioned the weight on my traps.  I stood up and my first thought was “Damn, this is heavy!”  I descended into my squat and was able to get all the way down and pushed hard to drive back to the top of the movement.  1 rep was completed.  I found myself on the way down again and then back up.  2 reps completed.  This was followed by 3 reps and then 4 reps.  I re-racked the bar. I had just beaten my previous personal best by 15 pounds!

I finished 5 more sets just like this.  It was a total rush to push that weight.  I actually feel now like I could have done more and next time I work that exercise I'm aiming for 280 pounds.  The next time you see me do a 6 sets of 4 reps workout with squats, look for that 280 pound number or higher because I'm conquering that 300 pound barrier very soon!

Accountability Log:

Nutrition Log:

Workout Log:

I am still working on my good mornings and my Bulgarian split squats, but I managed to move up the weight by 20 pounds today and still maintain excellent form.

I also did my Flatten Your Abs Level 1 workout today.

Until tomorrow…GET BACK TO LIFTING!

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While at the gym today I saw a guy that I haven't seen in months.  He walked up to me and said “Dude, you are starting to get bulked up” so I asked him what he meant.  He says “Your shoulders are bigger and so are your arms, nice work!”  It made me feel validated.

I get alot of grief online and elsewhere because I follow the New Rules of Lifting training program.  People get on my case because they say that a full body split routine like that can't possibly put on mass, etc.  Well, last week I began thinking about changing my routine to a 3 day a week split that would have me training my body parts one time per week.  The proposed plan:

Sunday
Back/Biceps/Forearms

Deadlifts 3 sets
Lat pull downs 2 sets
V bar pull downs 2 sets
DB rows (1 arm) 2 sets
BB bicep curls 3 sets
Alt DB curls 3 sets
BB wrist curls 1 set
DB wrist curls 1 set

Tuesday
Chest/Shoulders/Triceps

BB Bench Press 3 sets
Decline DB bench press 3 sets
BB Military press 3 sets
DB side laterals 2 sets
Alt DB Front raises 2 sets
BB upright rows 2 sets
Close grip bench press 2 sets
Triceps push down 2 sets

Thursday
Legs/Calves

Squats 3 sets
Stiff leg deadlifts 2 sets
Standing calf raise 3 sets
Seated calf raise 3 sets

I wanted some advice so I posted this routine for a critique to one of my favorite body building sites.  The response I got back (from a respected member) really got me thinking.  I mentioned that this program was based off the Max-OT system of training.  This gentleman said:

“I'm not a huge fan of Max-OT training.. From what I've seen it usually goes one of two ways…. slight mass gains, usually from beginners or injury.. usually some type of shoulder due to the constant going to failure.

Regarding the routine… I'm not sure how well your muscular development is, but keep in mind, frequency is key with mass.. I don't think any given rep range followed for any period of time is going to induce a good hypertrophy effect. The muscle has to be continuously stimulated and damaged and when only using a particular rep range it's far too easy to stall on lifts and not continue with a solid progressive load.. Beginners respond well to maxot simply because they respond well to almost any program..

IMO.. Frequency, Progressive load, TUT and of course diet are 4 of the most important thing with any routine regarding hypertrophy.. leave on out and your progress may not stagnate but certainly will slow..

Again, without knowing your current muscular development makes it unclear as to how much the added isolations are going to help.. I certainly don't think anyone needs to work the calfs with more than one exercises.. and regarding delts.. unless you already have incredible delt development, a simple over head pressing lift will work them fine.. Same with pecs… the back is a little different simply due to the size and variety of muscles in the back.

My advice would be to train your body 3-4 times weekly, using a fullbody or upper/lower split with various rep ranges every two to three weeks. You're wanting to achieve muscle adaption. After about 48 hours the muscles start to un-adapt before being trained again.. In a nut shell, you're when muscles are trained once every week, their spending 5 or those seven days in a semi-anti-catabolic state.. “recovery”.. which is not at all necessary.. “

This got me to thinking about my past experience with lifting.  I would lift 5 days a week, working a different body part each day.  Invariably, something would get injured.  I'd tweak my neck or I'd pull something in my legs and that would slow my ability to lift.  This was something that I accepted as just part of lifting weights.  I never considered that the method I was using might be causing it. 

When I went to the New Rules of Lifting workouts all of this went away.  In addition, I managed to make better gains and I think alot of that was due to the ability to be consistent with my workouts due to a lack of injuries.  This is what kept me at it for so long.

So after considering all the facts, I decided what I needed to do was up the frequency of my training (as mentioned in the response I got above).  It simply makes sense to me to stick with the program that has been giving me good results.  At the same time, the routine that has been giving me results fits all the criteria for a great plan–continual changes to reps and sets to avoid adaptation and compound movements for maximum development of muscle. 

If I've learned nothing else during the past 112 days it is that doing what works for you is the best course of action that can be followed.  This is especially true of a lifting routine that is well-designed.  I've also learned that the way to build more muscle is to just continue working hard in the gym, but eating when not in the gym.  Eating enough is the key to growing larger.

Accountability Log:

Nutrition Log:

Workout Log:

I pushed extremely hard during my workout today because I always want to improve upon my last workout.  Today was no exception.

Anything worth doing is worth doing right, so when you hit the gym, give it your all.  Push yourself to the limit.  You will see results faster than you think possible.

Until tomorrow…GET BACK TO LIFTING!

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