Re: Young Gotti's Journal
Wednesday
HIIT cardio 15 minutes
Ab wheel 3 sets
LISS cardio 5 minutes
Roman Chair leg raise 3 sets
LISS cardio 3 minutes
Ab Lounge 2 sets
LISS Cardio 2 minutes
I switched up the routine a bit doing less HIIT time as my first cardio session in order to get in more ab and cardio cycles. I still did the same amount of sprints I normally would have done thought. I didn't stop moving the whole time as I was rushing back and fourth between the cardio area and the ab area. So usually after HIIT cardio when I'm doing my abs I stop sweating but yesterday as I rushed back and fourth I had a nice warmth and sweat going on the whole time. Since Wednesday is usually just cardio and abs, it's my short day in the gym but doing things this way allowed me to get extra ab work and 5 more minutes of cardio in than what I usually do within the same amount of time spent in the gym.
One thing I've noticed about Laxacrine last night and should of mentioned before was when I get home and shower at night. I could still feel a layer of the lotion on the skin. When water hits my chest and shoulder area it has layer of the gel to rinse off first. Hopefully the skin is fully absorbing all of the active ingredients.
I am starting to look even more full in the mirror. My chest last night looked really full and thicker than usual.
Re: Young Gotti's Journal
Thursday
Leg extension superset with lying leg curl superset with t bar row 3sets
Squat superset with pull ups 3 sets
Squat superset with rope cable high row 3sets
Stiff legged dead lift superset with rope pulldown 3 sets
DB Curl 3 sets
Seated DB hammer curl 3 sets
Rope cable curl 3 sets
I didn't want to go to the gym yesterday, one of those days with no motivation and I was still sore in my back and legs. But I took my preworkout and when I got in the gym and moving around I feel like I had a really good workout. I usually don't squat on my Thurs/Sat leg workouts unless it's front squat but I've been feeling like I was loosing depth on my squat and wanted to see what was going on. So I played with it a bit, I noticed my stance was pretty wide and when I got to a certain point my inner hip area would grab at a certain point and if I went further that it felt like it would tear or cause major pain. So I went and made my stance a bit more narrow and it allowed me to bypass that sticking point. It allowed me to get a lot lower. I must have gotten in a bad habit of using a wider stance than needed. Either way I did 6 sets at a lower weight but making sure I was getting super low each time, a few reps I felt my legs ready to push back up but I had to tell myself, no keep going lower. Makes me wonder what else I might be overlooking, maybe I've been paying attention to the weight I'm moving and the squeeze on the muscle and failed to realize the range of motion and form.
Nothing totally new to report in terms of gains. I'm hoping the off day treats me well.
I keep noticing the relaxed feeling I get after dosing the Laxacrine in the morning and night. It's almost like a boost of energy but very calm type of energy. 2 pumps at a time is def more messy than 1 pump at a time and it does take a bit longer to dry which could be expected.
Re: Young Gotti's Journal
Saturday
Weighted Dips 4 sets
Flat Press superset with standing shoulder press machine 3 sets
Incline press superset with side lateral raise 3 sets
1 arm underhand extension superset with facepull 3 sets
Overhead ez bar extension superset with cable lateral raise 3 sets
Peck deck 3 sets
Workout was kind of all over the place. Usually I have the place to myself on Saturday morning but not this time. I had to weave in and out of people. I went to the gym thinking I should do less work on my chest to help with my shoulder and because it looks full and round, thought I should pay attention to my tri's and shoulders. I somewhat accomplished this however I help a guy at the gym as he's overweight and deals with some problems. Anyway he started talking about the combine and the numbers. So he went on to challenge my bench. My argument was most of the guys have to bench with lower than body weight, they do 225lb at the combine. He wasn't going to let me slide with going under my bodyweight so we agreed on 185lbs. I did 24 reps and probably could of did more but I wasn't about to rest the bar on my chest just for some imaginary contest. Anyway my shoulder didn't feel great after that but it wasn't a terrible pain either which was nice.
Sunday was a rough day for my diet. I got a call bright and early from my father to help put in laminate floor at my house and he's a savage, 5 minutes later he was at my house to work. I didn't get to eat right or really at all. So all day I was starving, then my girl and I decided to go out to eat. I thought I was ordering some kind of Italian chicken/bacon/vegetable dish but it ended up being a tiny amount of chicken and a ton of penne. Didn't want that
As we start March I am lowering my carbs once again. This time my third meal is going from 5oz or rice to 3oz. I'm also adding coconut oil back in to my morning coffee.
In the mirror my stomach looks much improved from the bloat. I look leaner and my shoulders this morning looked more capped. 3rd week into the Laxacrine so I'm hoping it really hits stride this week and we see some impressive changes.
Re: Young Gotti's Journal
Tuesday
Flat Bench 3 sets
Incline Bench 3 sets
Standing shoulder press 3 sets
Side lateral raise 3 sets
EZ bar skull crusher into close grip press 3 sets
Rope extensions 3 sets
Facepull 3 sets
Decline fly machine superset with DB behind the head press 3 sets
Dips 3 sets
I didn't want to do BB bench yesterday but the gym was actually busy. We really only have 1 good set of DB's in the gym that have the weight I need, the other set is more like a planet fitness db set, it only goes up to like 50lbs. Anyway the whole DB area was busy so I did some bench. Even though my shoulder hurt it didn't seem to hinder the weight I was pushing. The pain feels like a quarter size pain in my front delt and almost feels like it hurts when it's cold, how I would imagine arthritis feels. Anyway the presses were fine. Everything else was kind of run of the mill exercises except I watched a training video and the guy used a peck fly machine and sat at the end of the seat with his back angled towards the backboard and only put he head on the back while doing the movement, it targets the lower chest and I really liked it. It was a different type of movement but I was really able to feel the stretch and squeeze right from the start, might add this in more often.
I was tired when I was going to the gym but like clockwork, I took my preworkout and 15 minutes later as I'm changing in the locker room, I woke up. The pump was also really solid, as you see I'm not using super high volume in reps or sets but the pump comes on quickly with pump juice extreme.
Even with a bum shoulder and less food than the beginning of the year, Laxacrine is still allowing me to push heavy weight and seems to let me push more weight even late into my workout. Really like the muscle endurance. I haven't felt the same sense of well being from the doses lately. Tonight I plan on dry brushing my skin really good to see if I can do my part at improving the absorption of the Laxacrine
Re: Young Gotti's Journal
Tuesday
Squat 6 sets
Rope Lat pulldown 3 sets
Cable deadlifts 3 sets
Seated DB curl 3 sets
Incline DB Hammer curl 3 sets
Leg press superset with wide grip pulldown superset with preacher curl machine 3 sets
Roppe pullback superset with reverse grip curl 3 sets
Felt like an up and down workout. I really paid attention to depth of squatting. Narrowed my stance from what I'm used to which is still a bit odd but allows me to get deeper than I have been. Must have fallen into some bad habits at some point. However after that I wanted to do lat pulldowns but someone was on the pulldown machine so I had to use a normal cable machine. I also tried a cable deadlift that I saw someone in a video do but I didn't think much of it. I probably wasn't doing it right but I didn't notice much for the exercise. But my bicep work felt great.
I had a great pump in my legs after squatting and especially after the leg press. My leg felt full and shaky, just how a good leg workout should be. My biceps ballooned up as well. Starting to get the thick vein running over the middle of my bicep to be more visible and my forearms are showing more veins as well.
Last night in the mirror I noticed my lats look pretty wide compared to what they were. Maybe they still had a pump but I was impressed and happy. I need to get on a scale to find out whats been going on but it's been a busy week so far after the gym.
Didn't sleep much last night. Fell asleep fine but my neighbors have a car port right under my bedroom window and whenever its windy it causes howling and it was bad last night, a lot of wind and things banging my around kept waking me up. Swore I was going to wake up and see my grill across my yard.
Re: Young Gotti's Journal
Wednesday
HIIT Cardio 10 minutes
Ab wheel 3 sets
LISS cardio 5 minutes
Leg raises 3 sets
LISS cardio 5 minutes
Ab lounge 3 sets
LISS cardio 5 minutes
Sit ups 2 sets
Still doing an alternating cardio/ab workout. Shortened my HIIT cardio down to 10 minutes however I am still doing the same amount of sprints as I always do. I do six 20 second sprints so it equals about 2 minutes of sprinting. I usually do it on an elliptical and did the same yesterday but the foot pedal seems loose and like it was about to fall off. It might have got in my head that it would break off because I didn't feel like my sprints were all that effective. Either way the alternating of the cardio and abs has me moving around the gym and keeping my heart rate elevated which feels good.
Nothing really else to report. It's been a busy week after the gym so I didn't get to monitor myself in the mirror last night as I was doing stuff around the house and before I knew it, it was time for bed. Hopefully I get some downtime this weekend.
Re: Young Gotti's Journal
Thursday
Incline DB press superset with reverse peck deck 3 sets
Seated BB shoulder press superset with decline hammer strength 3 sets
Hammer strength shoulder press superset with peck deck 3 sets
Rear delt flies superset with side lateral raise 2 sets
Dip machine 4 sets
Straight bar underhand extension 3 sets
V bar extension 3 sets
Rope cable kickbacks 3 sets
Ever have a day in the gym where the weight just doesn't right? That was me yesterday, all day I couldn't wait to get to the gym, even as I drove to the gym I thought to myself, I feel good maybe I'll go heavy even though its my volume type day. Then I touch a weight and it's a struggle to move it. It seemed like any weight I touch was a bit difficult. Towards the middle of the workout I decided, ok if I can't lift a ton of weight, it's time to pay extra close attention to squeezing my muscle while doing a full range of motion. I did however attempt a PR on a dip machine. I've done the stack on the machine before and I've attached a 10lb plate but yesterday I tried a 35lb plate. First attempt the pin fell out and the plate went crashing to the ground. Second attempt it worked but it didn't feel right so after the set I took the plate off and just did the stack almost like a drop set.
Even with the weight not being what I wanted. I had an awesome pump. My delts had some nice veins running through them. I saw some nice details in my shoulders.
No rashes or irritation from the Laxacrine. Even with me dry brushing and shaving the area I apply the gel to I haven't noticed any negative reaction yet.
Re: Young Gotti's Journal
yep, it happens to me every now and then man. everything is all lined up and body feels great. then grab a pair of say 50s that you normally yep out like a champ and it feels like 120s. i personally think it can be a mind thing or even unseen stress on your nervous system. when i get to that type of feeling, i just go for max pump and call it a day. to easy to get set up to get hurt for me
Re: Young Gotti's Journal
Saturday
Leg extension superset with lying leg curl superset with t bar row 3 sets
Squat superset with pull up 3 sets
Squat superset with lat pulldown 3 sets
Incline DB curl 3 sets
BB curl 3 sets
Preacher curl machine 3 sets
Seated high cable rope row superset with reverse curl 3 sets
Not my favorite workout but I got some good information during the workout. I didn't plan on doing 6 sets of squats, I didn't really even think I would be squatting during this workout but I started doing squats and before I knew it, my buddy at the gym and I were going back and fourth squatting and watching each others form. The workout ended up taking a lot longer than my normal workout because of the time between sets. I usually go quickly between sets but watching form for someone else took up a lot of time. He gave me some good tips from what he saw, so it ended up being pretty productive.
My biceps blew up pretty good and by my reverse curl I felt like my range of motion was so short because my biceps were so full of blood.
I was super hungry on Friday, I don't know why but all day even after lunch and other meals I just wanted more and more food. I should of made it a big reefed day but instead I decided to eat some extra steak for an additional meal. I probably needed more calories but I look back now and think I've reduced my carbs a good deal maybe I should of did a refeed.
I'm down another lb on the scale so I'm moving in the right direction. My mother also mentioned last night that I looked bigger across the chest and shoulders. I was impressed because I had a tshirt and button down on so it wasn't like I just had a t shirt on and she noticed. Also because she said similar things when I was starting to increase calories but now that I'm reducing calories it was more impressive. I seem to gain thickness around my chest and shoulders quickly whenever I'm going to gain any size.
Re: Young Gotti's Journal
Monday
Squat 6 sets
Lat Pulldown 3 sets
Hammer Strength Low row 3 sets
Ez curl bar curl wide grip 3 sets
Ez curl bar curl close grip 3 sets
Stiff legged dead lift superset with rope pulldown 3 sets
So squatting didn't go as planned. I wanted to go heavy and did go pretty heavy all while paying close attention to depth. My last set I had to cheat on a few reps with my depth which I was disappointed with. I did however turn around and hit a nice PR on the hammer strength low row. I don't use the machine much because I'm short haha and the chest bad with my short arms make it hard to get the handles. So the set I did my PR I had someone push the handles towards me to start off but it did allow me to do extra weight which I was happy about. I also went pretty heavy on the lat pulldown, not sure if it was any kind of PR or anything but I was happy with the weight I pulled. I'm also really enjoying the new way I've been doing pull downs. I start with my back straight and bring the rope to my sides, then after about 6-8 reps I lean forward and pull down towards my upper quad, then I bend forward even more and your basically pulling down between your legs but by the end of the set your fried and it hits each part of your lats.
Last night in the mirror I looked full, I was really happy with the roundness of my shoulders. It's something I've struggled with over the last few years. I get wide around the shoulders but not that bowling ball look. But last night I felt like they were turning a corner. This morning however I looked flat. Of course I didn't have any food but my quads looked really thin. I'll have to evaluate tonight to see after food how I look.
Re: Young Gotti's Journal
Great detail brutha. Great log!
Re: Young Gotti's Journal
Tuesday
Flat DB bench 3 sets
Incline BB bench 3 sets
Shoulder press 3 sets
Side lateral raise 3 sets
Ez bar skull crusher into close grip press 3 sets
Reverse Underhand straight bar extension 3 sets
Wide grip high row superset with close grip press down 3 sets
Incline smith machine press 3 sets
Reverse peck deck superset with DB kickbacks 3 sets
Started off a bit slow, my shoulders were a bit sore, it's not the same pain I had but more of a my shoulder needs to crack type feeling. Either way I ended either matching or increasing a PR with DB's by a single rep. I then went on to go really heavy on incline bench. The fun continued with shoulder presses where I was really happy with the weight and reps I was pushing. As you can see I went back to incline presses. Read an article about going back to an exercise late in your workout and breaking a plateau. I don't have a plateau but figured it couldn't hurt when I was already fatigued. Ok no more ranting, I felt like I had a good workout. I really felt like I hit good strength numbers and hit all the exercises I wanted to.
The pump was ridiculous and lasted into the night, my chest last night after my shoulder looked wider, like it filled out the front of my body a lot more than usual. My triceps were filled that when I did my LISS cardio I really felt like I had to struggle to stretch them behind my head.
I had noticed I've been a lot hungrier the last few days. Half way between meals the hunger hits me. I haven't given in as I'm staying within my macros and want to leave enough food available throughout the day but it's been tough.
Re: Young Gotti's Journal
Wednesday
10 minute HIIT
ab wheel 3 sets
5 minutes LISS
leg raise 3 sets
5 minute LISS
Ab lounge 3 sets
5 minute LISS
Hanging crunches 1 set
So I got blamed yesterday for breaking the elliptical haha. I go to hard on it and must have cracked something. So I had to do my HIIT cardio sprinting on a treadmill. I'm not a huge fan of the impact but "ya gotta do what ya gotta do". I really like doing my cardio/ab day like this. Not because I'm seeing that its working that much better, more so because your constantly moving and going quickly from one thing to the next. I feel like I sweat more just from going back and fourth so many times than just doing cardio first and then abs. So I'll stick with this.
I'm really loving the Pump Juice pick up I get. Work has been exhausting and I drink the PJE and I'm good at the gym. Awake, alert, and focused to do what I need to do.
I did notice last night my stomach felt a big bigger again. I didn't feel bloated but like my stomach is sticking out again. In the mirror it looked a little defined, kinda weird. I may add a 5th pump of the Laxacrine to close out the bottle to see if I can again get a boost in it's effectiveness before I run out.
Re: Young Gotti's Journal
Thursday
Leg extension superset with lying leg curl superset with hammer strength low row 3 sets
Leg press superset with close grip cable row 3 sets
Front squat superset with pull ups 3 sets
BB curl 3 sets
Incline DB curl 3 sets
Preacher machine curl 3 sets
Standing calve raise superset with t bar row 3 sets (20 reps)
Really happy with the overall workout. I wanted to change some things up, for example I usually do t bar rows after the leg extension and curl because the stations are in close proximity but decided to go with something different. Went really heavy on leg extension with ended up hurting the right side of my right leg, I don't know if the bad was sitting weird or I wasn't level on the seat but once I messed with my foot it felt better. Set another PR on low row sort of, I went up a lot of weight, got someone to push the handle forward for me and got 4 reps, to me they felt like partials but it might have been in my head. During leg press I felt worn out and didn't think I would squat but I quickly caught a second wind and was able to front squat and pull ups. The guys were discussing crossfit so I tried a set of kippings (sp?) and I have no idea how to do them but it was fun just messing around a bit. This workout I finished with some 20 rep t bar rows to really just drive extra blood into my back.
Eliptical is still broke so I had to do sprints on a treadmill and after a leg workout I thought I was going to die. After 2 sprints I felt like it wasn't too bad and got cocky, the last 4 sprints felt like death.
Last night in the mirror the sweep in my quads looked awesome if I do say so myself. I'm seeing some extra leaning out this week which I'm happy about and hope it continues. Haven't noticed any muscle loss at this time.
I've also felt a bit of well being after dosing the Laxacrine again, I'm running low on it. I'm guessing sometime next week I'll run out. We'll see.
Re: Young Gotti's Journal
Saturday
Dips 4 sets
Incline DB fly superset with reverse incline fly 3 sets
Underhand DB incline press superset with side lateral raise 3 sets
Chest press machine superset with shoulder press machine superset with dip machine 3 sets
Rope extension superset with leaning side lateral raise 3 sets
Straight bar underhand extension 3 sets
I didn't push the most weight during this workout but I had a nice sweat going fairly quickly into the workout and it lasted the whole workout. I did the underhand db press which I've never done. I've done barbell flat presses this way but not with dumbbells or inclines. It was ok but the weight felt awkward in my hands and I couldn't go really heavy. Another great thing about the workout was an old lady kept stealing my stuff (sarcasm) haha.
So this weekend I wanted to try and get rid of this stomach issue so I left the gym and went to the local hippie store and got some kombucha. I decided to fast yesterday when I woke up as well. Maybe it's a gut bacteria issue, I don't think it would be but you never know.
Other than that I feel like my shoulders are improving in roundness. I've been working on it for awhile and last night when I was looking in the mirror I noticed some nice roundness, now it's time to get more detail.