The WICKED truth about my training

[thewickedtruth]

Wicked is a brutally strong dude that's for sure, i just looked at your logs and just realized something, i think the reason your size may not be keeping up is that you do pretty low volume and only do one or two movements per muscle group.

What do you mean? On smaller muscle groups yes but the larger ones? I do 3-4 sets or sometimes more of a handful of exercises to make sure I've hit the muscles from as many angles as possible as hard as possible. As often as I train you don't think upping the volume would lead to over training? My days I fail out on the last exercise and that's why I stop. I just can't go any harder. I could drop the weights and move up the reps though. I feel like keeping the reps between 8-15 on the high end with a single few rep set for each would be a good way to maximize my efforts for both strength AND size. I am open for suggestions though man that's why this is here.

[The Squadfather]

What do you mean? On smaller muscle groups yes but the larger ones? I do 3-4 sets or sometimes more of a handful of exercises to make sure I've hit the muscles from as many angles as possible as hard as possible. As often as I train you don't think upping the volume would lead to over training? My days I fail out on the last exercise and that's why I stop. I just can't go any harder. I could drop the weights and move up the reps though. I feel like keeping the reps between 8-15 on the high end with a single few rep set for each would be a good way to maximize my efforts for both strength AND size. I am open for suggestions though man that's why this is here.

now that you mention it i'm wrong actually, i just went back over it and it does look like you do a decent amount, my bad.

[thewickedtruth]

now that you mention it i'm wrong actually, i just went back over it and it does look like you do a decent amount, my bad.

I work to the point that I start to feel the effect of overtraining adn oncoming injury and adjust for it so I still get alot of work but not enough to blow me away. Make sense?  You're right about your previous statement though when it coems to smaller muscle groups. I don't work them too hard because of all the heavier compound work I do.

[thewickedtruth]

SQUATS! which is all I did today...for a few reasons..


135x15x1
315x10x1
405x10x1
465x6x1
365x15x1
315x20x1

and then my bicep started KILLING me out of no where...not sure why. I sat down for a good 10 minutes and it wouldn't go away so I packed my shit and left. I've iced it down and it feels fine now. I wonder what made it start hurting? Either way. Next week the bi's get zero work. I knwo they're getting bombed on my back day HARD lately. Also, I dind't eat anything but breakfast and half a sandwich at lunch because today was so fucking busy. I got really woozy at the 6th rep of 465 and got rid of it. I wanted to keep squatting..so much for another shitty leg day.

[The Squadfather]

SQUATS! which is all I did today...for a few reasons..


135x15x1
315x10x1
405x10x1
465x6x1
365x15x1
315x20x1

and then my bicep started KILLING me out of no where...not sure why. I sat down for a good 10 minutes and it wouldn't go away so I packed my shit and left. I've iced it down and it feels fine now. I wonder what made it start hurting? Either way. Next week the bi's get zero work. I knwo they're getting bombed on my back day HARD lately. Also, I dind't eat anything but breakfast and half a sandwich at lunch because today was so fucking busy. I got really woozy at the 6th rep of 465 and got rid of it. I wanted to keep squatting..so much for another shitty leg day.

dude i hear you on the bicep pain when squatting also my fuccking wrists kill me when i squat, my right knee was absolutely killing me from my first warm up set with 135 today on squats so i just sucked it up and took a little more rest between sets and did almost as much as i always do, usually i go to 5 plates for 6-7 but cut it at 455 for 6 today, it's those damn hacks i've been doing lately, i'm gonna have to drop them again and i don't want to.

[thewickedtruth]

dude i hear you on the bicep pain when squatting also my fuccking wrists kill me when i squat, my right knee was absolutely killing me from my first warm up set with 135 today on squats so i just sucked it up and took a little more rest between sets and did almost as much as i always do, usually i go to 5 plates for 6-7 but cut it at 455 for 6 today, it's those damn hacks i've been doing lately, i'm gonna have to drop them again and i don't want to.

Dude it sucks. It started hurting on my heaviest set so I started to drop the weight and on the final set it started singing and that's when I called it a day. Why have hacks been kicking your ass?

[The Squadfather]

Dude it sucks. It started hurting on my heaviest set so I started to drop the weight and on the final set it started singing and that's when I called it a day. Why have hacks been kicking your ass?

must be something about the foot placement or positioning that fucks with me right knee but every single time i try to add them back in my right knee hurts like a motherfuccker, i can do squats and leg presses all day and i don't get any pain so i'm gonna stick with those, it sucks because i love hacks but i want to keep doing this shit for a long time, oh well i ain't 22 anymore that's for sure.

[thewickedtruth]

must be something about the foot placement or positioning that fucks with me right knee but every single time i try to add them back in my right knee hurts like a motherfuccker, i can do squats and leg presses all day and i don't get any pain so i'm gonna stick with those, it sucks because i love hacks but i want to keep doing this shit for a long time, oh well i ain't 22 anymore that's for sure.

You've got longer legs workin on that tiny ass platform don't you. That sounds like MY hack bitch. Feels like my quad is going to tear itself out of my knee cap at the bottom and feels pulled a day or so after! sucks a but I'm damn sure not going to use that vertical hack squat thing. Looks like the only thing it works is your "imma sit down and take a shit" muscles.

[The Squadfather]

You've got longer legs workin on that tiny ass platform don't you. That sounds like MY hack bitch. Feels like my quad is going to tear itself out of my knee cap at the bottom and feels pulled a day or so after! sucks a but I'm damn sure not going to use that vertical hack squat thing. Looks like the only thing it works is your "imma sit down and take a shit" muscles.

hahahahaha, the weird thing is my sweep is pretty good along with my teardrop and my legs are actually normal length for a guy 5'11"-6'0" but we've got one of those Flex hacks with the small platform and you've gotta put your feet all the way at the top of the damn thing with your toes practically coming off the thing.

[pumpster]

hahahahaha, the weird thing is my sweep is pretty good along with my teardrop and my legs are actually normal length for a guy 5'11"-6'0" but we've got one of those Flex hacks with the small platform and you've gotta put your feet all the way at the top of the damn thing with your toes practically coming off the thing.

Good example of poor design; anyone actually familiar with the exercise would know to make the platform much bigger to allow different angles of knee flexion. Some machines also allow the angle the rails are on to be adjusted.

Best squat alternative is box or bench squats. Better for size IMO, less harsh on the knees and safer, can sit back down if failure's reached, until someone helps.

Best knee warmup: 3-5 minutes with moderate resistance on a stationary bike, stairmaster or elliptical, then light sets.

[pumpster]

As far as volume it looks like you're doing about two sets per exercise after warmup, using a couple of similar exercises to up the total volume. Effective if you're using serious intensity.

If you want to try something else with more volume, up it to 3-4 hard sets per exercise with or without cutting back the number of exercises. If you keep the same number of exercises and do that you'd have to reduce the intensity on some of the sets by going only to positive failure on some and farther on others. The advantage with more sets is getting the blood in there for a longer period of time and just a longer period of working the muscle. Not saying it's better, just something else to try, then compare the effect. The muscles feel slightly different after when doing shorter workouts vs. a little longer with more sets.

Or try volume training, either 8 x 8 for just one exercise per muscle, or 6 x 6. Try a minute rest between sets, then later try 45 or 30. The first few sets you'll stop before failure, then in later sets won't be able to get the full number of reps.

[thewickedtruth]

hahahahaha, the weird thing is my sweep is pretty good along with my teardrop and my legs are actually normal length for a guy 5'11"-6'0" but we've got one of those Flex hacks with the small platform and you've gotta put your feet all the way at the top of the damn thing with your toes practically coming off the thing.

That's what we have. I've got this weird tear drop thing going on when i sit down, looks like i've got two knees HAHA! it gets looks. We have the flex fitness one as well. I'm sticking to mainly free weights now and get away from machine assisted anything to try and get some good overall thickness.

[The Squadfather]

Good example of poor design; anyone actually familiar with the exercise would know to make the platform much bigger to allow different angles of knee flexion. Some machines also allow the angle the rails are on to be adjusted.

Best squat alternative is box or bench squats. Better for size IMO, less harsh on the knees and safer, can sit back down if failure's reached, until someone helps.

Best knee warmup: 3-5 minutes with moderate resistance on a stationary bike, stairmaster or elliptical, then light sets.

all very good suggestions as usual Pump.

[thewickedtruth]

SHOULDERS!

barbell military press: (think you're a badass? do a military press off the smiht machine. I'm usually in the mid to high 200's!! lol ya'll will love this...)

135x12x1
185x5x1
165x10x1
135x12x1

my shoulders were CRYING. I found a new exercise. Fuck the smith.

upright rows:

135x12x1
185x10x1
165x12x1
175x12x1
 
by now my delts were done..

rear delt flyes: unilaterally...

160x10x1 super slow
160x10x1 fast
160x10 super slow
160x10x1 fast
235x4x1

TRAPS!

my traps and I had a little come to jesus meeting today in the gym!!!

barbell shrugs:

135x15x1 super slow
315x10x1
500x15x1
600x12x1 HOLY FUCK!
500x15x1
500x15x1

dumbbell speed shrugs: both sets as fast as possible.

125lbsx50x1
125lbsx60x1

[The Squadfather]

hahahaha, exactly Wicked, still that's pretty good weight, barbell militaries is the only way to go, i've got shoulders tomorrow you've got me fired up.

[thewickedtruth]

hahahaha, exactly Wicked, still that's pretty good weight, barbell militaries is the only way to go, i've got shoulders tomorrow you've got me fired up.

Dude why lie about hte numbers..you're only kidding yourself LMAO! I was laughing my ass off at the end of the 185lb set! HAHAHA! Muscle memory is a good thing though. I think I can play catch up in this exercise fairly quickly. Pissed me off though that I can upright row more than I can fucking press. Sad huh? I have thick LOWER side and front delts but they dont' have that full all around cannonball look.

NOW I KNOW WHY!

[The Squadfather]

Dude why lie about hte numbers..you're only kidding yourself LMAO! I was laughing my ass off at the end of the 185lb set! HAHAHA! Muscle memory is a good thing though. I think I can play catch up in this exercise fairly quickly. Pissed me off though that I can upright row more than I can fucking press. Sad huh? I have thick LOWER side and front delts but they dont' have that full all around cannonball look.

NOW I KNOW WHY!

i've never understood why guys lie about the weights they handle, i've been training for literally years and i'm currently barbell military pressing 225 for 5 absolutely nothing for as long as i've been training but hey what can you do? the weight you use on uprights would kill me as i never do those, my current shoulder training is barbell militaries, db side laterals and barbell shrugs, you are one strong motherfuccker on everything you do, stronger than me that's for sure.

[Honour]

SHOULDERS!

barbell military press: (think you're a badass? do a military press off the smiht machine. I'm usually in the mid to high 200's!! lol ya'll will love this...)

135x12x1
185x5x1
165x10x1
135x12x1

my shoulders were CRYING. I found a new exercise. Fuck the smith.

LOL yeah you will be killing it in no time mate . Stabilisers probably need to kick in to keep it all steady

[Cap]

Great lifts man.  I can't wait to be hitting those someday.  Great log on here.

[The Squadfather]

Great lifts man.  I can't wait to be hitting those someday.  Great log on here.

Wicked is a monster that's for sure.

[thewickedtruth]

Wicked is a monster that's for sure.

I give the chemicals the credit atm. We'll see if they're close to this once I come off.

[thewickedtruth]

CHEST!

cable flyes:

45lbs per sidex50x1 to really stretch and flush blood into my chest and warm up my shoulders.

flat bench:

135x15x1
225x10x1
315x12x1
405x2x1
315x13x1

okay I was bitching about not being able to hit 315 for more reps or 405 for more reps and when I was done I realized that I had thrown in a set of 225 ridiculously slow reps before my heavier sets. My first two sets were 5 seconds up, long pause at the bottom, 5 seconds to the top. I was doing this to help my lower end drive and get a great stretch at the bottom to prevent tears. I get so into my sets and into the zone that I forgot all about this shit til I just got home.

DUMBBELL FLAT BENCH FLYES: oh how I missed THESE!

60lbsx12x1
60lbsx12x1
80lbsx9x1
80lbsx8x1 

Incline dumbbell incline bench and fly super combo:

50lbsx20x1 incline bench supersetted with 50lbsx20x1 incline flyes.  The way I did it was I'd press the weight up, do a fly, and bring it back up and start all over for one rep. THIS WAS BRUTAL! My chest looked fucking BEAUTIFUL in the mirror.

TRICEPS!!!

underhanded tricep pressdowns:
140lbsx15x1

supersetted with...

overhanded tricep press downs:
140lbsx15x1

hammer grip tricep pressdowns: unilaterally...

70lbsx10x1
70lbsx10x1 SUPER SLOW!

nautilus seated nitro pressdowns:  DADDY LIKES! This is a new machine in the gym and wanted to try it. I HAVE NEVER FELT MY TRICEPS SO WELL DURING ANY EXERCISE! THIS IS A MUST HAVE! Just like any other new piece of equipment, I slowly pyramid up to see how much weight I can handle on it instead of diving in and risking injury.

140lbsx15x1
200lbsx15x1
255lbsx15x1 FINALLY it got hard. I LIKE THIS THING!



I've recently acquired the mentality that unless it's hurting, you're not building muscle. When you start to want to quit, it's time to kick it into gear and really push it hard. I did that today in all my exercises and am feeling GREAT!!! AND on a side note, when doing the flyes I wanted to see if I can curl the dumbbells. I did a set of 3 with 80lbs just for kicks and got it easily. Which brings me to a new questions.


SHOULD I WORK SHOULDERS ON MY CHEST DAY AND TRAPS ON MY BAKC DAYS AND HAVE A DAY SOLELY FOR ARMS? If my arms aren't tired from the back or chest work, they can get hit HARDER on their own days and can get supersetted with together to really blow them up. I'm thinking after this week, it'll be something to try.

[The Squadfather]

i do chest by itself because i'm trying to improve my bench and chest in general, i do chest by itself on Tuesday and do shoulders and triceps on Friday, i do traps with shoulders, awesome strength BTW Wicked, i love flat db flyes as well.

[Honour]

nautilus seated nitro pressdowns:  DADDY LIKES! This is a new machine in the gym and wanted to try it. I HAVE NEVER FELT MY TRICEPS SO WELL DURING ANY EXERCISE! THIS IS A MUST HAVE! Just like any other new piece of equipment, I slowly pyramid up to see how much weight I can handle on it instead of diving in and risking injury.

140lbsx15x1
200lbsx15x1
255lbsx15x1 FINALLY it got hard. I LIKE THIS THING!

Dude what does it look like, I'm trying to picture it but not sure where to start. Aint it great when ya find a new peice that you like though, its like ya don't want to get off it .

[thewickedtruth]

i do chest by itself because i'm trying to improve my bench and chest in general, i do chest by itself on Tuesday and do shoulders and triceps on Friday, i do traps with shoulders, awesome strength BTW Wicked, i love flat db flyes as well.

DUDE machine flyes hurt my shoulders and cable flyes just don't feel like they do much. Dumbbell flyes is where it's at and MAN they feel great. Won't be long til I'm back up to the 100lb dumbbells again for my heaviest sets. I'm doing more and more free weight movements to really give me that HARD look.  So you do chest alone? and triceps with shoulders? THAT could be a good idea too!