Pete's Quest for Mass

[PrinceVegeta]

Awesome man! good job with the PB's and the weightgoal!!

 

[Rocky]

Great PR's and that is some damn good weight to incline with!

 

[PistolPete]

@ Vegeta and Rocky: Thanks a lot guys! All the support is going to push me that much more to getting my next goal of 205!

 

[Big_Guns_Lance]

Great workout there Pete. And I'm glad you have reached your goal this month, just repeat what you have been doing and if it's not working make the neccessary adjustments to push your body into the realms of muscular size.

 

[Samoan-Z]

Pete I have been away but read up, glad you survived unhurt in the car accident it wasn't luck you were too determined to get that PR, hit the gym and by golly you did it. You're on the road to mass you have a visualized goal you know it's in your reach hell it's already your you simply have to reach out and take it! cause it sure as hell isn't coming to you. and that what you did like a Lion in the brush you saw your mark and you conquered it and now you have met your goal. Looking good man lets keep it up.

 

[PistolPete]

@ Big Guns: Thanks bro, your totally right about the goals. If I happen to not meet it in the future, Im not going to get down, Im just going to make slight adjustments. Nothing crazy, just necessary adjustments.

@ Samoan: I appreciate the words man. You know exactly how to inspire and light the fire in me to keep going and hit my PR's. Please come by again, I have a feeling when my goals get harder to reach I'm going to keep needing those supporting words.

Monday was LEG Day!

1. Front Squats: 265: 6 275: 5 280: 5,5
These were good. Another PR. I could have gone up another 5 pounds, but I knew I shouldn't because my form was pretty solid on 280, and I could feel if I went the extra 5 pounds it would falter. I need the complete stimulation, not partial with heavier weight.

2. Leg Press: 360: 10 380: 8 390: 8 395: 8
PR. I kept my foot at the very bottom of the machine and my feet were about 4 inches apart. I don't LOVE this machine, but im able to use pretty heavy weight, and get a full range of motion. I can actually almost get down to parallel before the machine stops out.

3. seated Leg curl: 215: 10 230: 10
PR. I finally got this machine right. I couldn't get it set right for the longest time. Theres like 4 different switches to get you fit in, and i finally got it set to how i need it.

4. Glute ham raise: 3 sets to failure (usually from 12-20 reps).
These were MUCH better than last week. I almost got all the way to the ground without stopping myself. I'm destined to hit my goal of 3-5 reps on my own by the new year.

5. Stiff Leg deads: 235: 8, 8,8
Pr. These were good, nice long stretch and solid hold at the top. The block I stand on makes all the difference.

6. Lunges: 195: 8,8,8
PR. These were much harder this week I feel like. only 5 pounds more, but damn it was tough.

 

[PistolPete]

My bad, Monday wasn't leg day, it was Chest. Tuesday was Legs.

Wednesday was SHOULDER/TRAP Day.

I wasn't scheduled for this on Wednesday, but I knew I wouldn't be able to lift today (Thursday) because after work today we have an employee appreciation event. I still got a good lift, but I knew that all the pressing on Monday from Chest day was going to affect it.

1. Smith Military Press: 205: 5 210: 5 215: 3,3
PR. The 215 was so damn tough. I was hoping for more reps, like 4, but it just wasn't happening. 3 is still ok though. my jugular vein in my neck was going CRAZY. It was really bothering me. on my last two sets, as I was pushing the weight, the vein would pertrude from my neck like a python. I really hated it. Anyway still pretty alright.

2. Upright Row: 175: 8 185: 7, 8, 8
PR. These were good, except my wrist was clicking a little at the end, and that really bothered me mentally. As soon as I fixed my hand to more of a hooked position it went away. Now that I know the remedy for this not to happen, I'm fine with going heavier.

3. Reverse fly: 165: 10 172.5: 8,8 175: 8
PR. These were all fine. I got a good squeeze at the top of the movement, and a long controlled stretch on the negative.


4. Reverse Shrugs: 295: 10 305: 9 315: 8,8
PR. These were great. my traps felt enormous after this. I think all the deadlifting is making this easier for me.

 

[Lionheart]

Huge legsession bro.Shoulder/trap works looks good also.Strong MPs and congrats getting new PR

 

[Samoan-Z]

Nice presses man making it look easy, keep it up.

 

[PistolPete]

@ Lionheart & Samoan: Thanks guys, I'm going to keep fighting for those PR's!!

Saturday was BACK day!! If I haven't said it before, my back is my least impressive bodypart. It's pretty wide, but really lacks thickness, and just overall development. My back Lat spread is pretty good, but I feel like my back just kinda disappears when I do my back double bi. So i've been hitting back as hard as I can to bring it up to par.

1. Deadlifts: 415: 5 430: 4,5
PR. Felt awesome. the 415 felt so damn easy. It's my third week starting with that weight, and it just felt so easy. I remember a month or so ago when I struggled with that, no its cake. the 430 went real well. the first set of it wasn't great because as i lifted the weight i noticed my left hand was about 2 inches to close in, and it threw off my balance a bit. my last set was so smooth though.

2. Underhand BB rows: 230: 8 240: 7,7,7
PR. The 240 is definitely a good weight for me. I'm going to work it more next week to own it. I like to do a bunch of sets with the same weight so I know exactly what it feels like, be accustomed to it, and make it my bitch.

3. T bar rows: 145: 10 160: 10 170: 8,8
These felt much better this week. I bent over more, and really contracted my middle back well.

4. Pulldowns: 230: 8 240: 8 245: 8,8
PR. These went well. I controlled the weight well, and got a good contraction.

5. Rack chins: 20: 8,7 12: 7
I put a DB on my torso, about at the waist. i didn't get a great contraction on this. I'm going to lower the weight a little bit next week.

 

[PrinceVegeta]

Damn nice session man! awesome strength!

 

[Big_Guns_Lance]

Awesome session there Pete. The deadlifts and BB rows are very impressive. Great strength you have there.

 

[PistolPete]

@Vegeta and Big Guns Lance: Thanks guys, I train for strength so that is awesome to hear from both of you! Especially coming from a guy that does pulldowns with 170 kg!!! I still can'tget over that, that's just nuts.

Monday was ARMS! (bi/tri/forearm)

1. Tri Push Press: 225: 5,5,5 230: 4.5
PR. This is like a shoulder press, just a bit shorter of a movement. The 225 was good this week, I got two more reps in total out of them. and I managed to get 230 for 4 solid reps, couldn't finish the 5th one, but i tried my damn hardest.

2. Cable Pushdowns: 190: 8, 8 192.5: 8,7
All in good form here. The 192.5 still feels pretty hard, but i managed to get two sets out of it.


3. EZ bar curl: 110 (not including bar): 8,6,6 That's 20 reps in total. I need one more rep (21 reps) to move up another 5 pounds. I know I can do it next workout!

4. DB alternating curl: 60s: 8,8,7 I got 23 reps, so techniquely I can move up in weights to 65's, but I feel like I used a bit of momentum on the second and third set to get an extra re or two. Next week, Im going to use the same weight, and keep my form close to perfect.


5. Reverse Cable curl: 127.5: 8 130: 4 127.5: 8
I'm not sure what happened that second set, so i went down to 127.5 again.


Very successful workout. My weights are going up, and my form has stayed on point. I don't feel like i need to increase my calories just yet because my strength hasn't stalled out at all. the extra rest days I've put in are really helping.

I probably haven't stated this yet, but I only lift 4 days a week. It's been working well for me so far. It's enough time to be completely recovered so that by my next workout there are no secondary muscle groups are fatigued enough to affect my lifts with the primary muscle group im working on.

 

[PrinceVegeta]

Awesome strength man! post some pics of u in teh offseason!

 

[PistolPete]

I was thinking of doing that actually. I'm going to have to borrow my friends camera, but I think some before and after pics would be a good idea.

 

[Bulkboy]

awesome arm workout bro, strong curls, and strong tri pressing. and ye, i concur with vegetas, would be awesome seeing some offseason pics of u man

 

[Big_Guns_Lance]

Awesome workout there Pete

Great wegiht on the tri push, thats serious weight there for your tri's and really heavy cable pushdowns aswell bro. Solid bicep work there aswell. You'll get that extra rep so you can increase your poundage on the ez curls. I agree with vegeta and Bulkboy...get those pics up big man.

P.S. Thanks for the comliment regarding my hammer pulldowns

 

[Samoan-Z]

Very nice Pete, getting stronger always feels good.

 

[Rocky]

Great sessions and if you think your back lacks thickness then it won'ty do for long deading that sort of weight! Impressive lifts indeed.

 

[PistolPete]

@ Big Guns: I figured you would understand the importance of the progression of just one rep. And your welcome!

@ Samoan: I couldn't agree with you more if I tried.

@Rocky: You read me like a book. I really hate my back thickness, and I'm doing everything I can to change it. The deadlifts are my number one answer. Thank you for the kind words and reassurance. It always feels good to hear what your doing is right.

Yesterday was LEG day!

I've made some minor changes in my leg day. I lowered the volume a bit. the rep ranges, and exercises are the same. But Im doing a few less sets. I'm sore for wayy to long after my leg workouts. And I feel like its un needed for growth. As long as I make sure every single rep I do is near perfect form, and is stimulating the primary muscle I feel there is no reason to just keep hammering away at the same weight. Stimulate don't annihilate!! Big Guns Lance definitly has influenced my workouts. I'll be sure to keep you all posted if this method is working for me.

1. Front Squats: 270: 5 280: 5,5,5
280 felt pretty damn tough last week. This week it was much better. I kept my chest up the whole time, and I really felt my quads doing the work.

2. Narrow stance leg press: 390: 8 395: 8,8
These were tough, but I got through them with perfect form. I did one less set than last week and believe me, I still felt worked, and stimulated a ton.

3. Seated Leg curl: 230: 8 235: 7
only two sets, but definitely stimulated and pleanty fatigued.

4. Glute ham raise: 2 sets done to failure
One less set, and definitely worked hard.

5. Stiff leg Deads: 245: 8,8
one less set, but still felt a great stretch on every rep. I made every single rep work for me.

6. Lunges: 200: 8,8
One less set, and damn was I happy to know I was done for the leg workout!!


After my leg workout I was still pleanty tired, believe me, it still isn't easy in the slightest. I feel like I will be able to move up in weights more steadily by lowering the volume a bit. One thing I've noticed is I'm not nearly as sore this afternoon as I usually am the day after. I think this is a good thing, because I still stimulated the muscle entirely ( I had a huge leg pump yesterday and still today) but my legs are definitly not filled with lactic acid as they usually are. I feel like this is a good amount of volume. Most HIT trainers would say that 4 heavy sets of squats might be a bit too much, but im going to keep it for now. I might lower it to 3 sets, but I feel like squats are such a necessary exercise I should do 4 sets. It's still up in the air though, I may lower it to 3 in the future.