Finally! - An Update!

Sorry for the lack of updates guys, the semester started up again so I've been trying to get back into the swing of things. My bulk is going successful, my lifts are starting to improve, and muscle memory is starting to kick in. I've taken a few before pictures and once my minibulk is over, I'll snap a few after shots. Then its the start of my 2-3month cut, and by the end of it all, I'll hopefully be shredded (8-9% bodyfat) at 185lb. Hopefully, now that I've gotten my class schedule figured out, I can get daily updates on here again. On another note, it seems like I'm going through noob gains all over again. I'm definitely on the road to getting back into good shape!

Shredded by Summer - Day 2

Just a quick update while I'm waiting for my next class. I'm going to try doing 2-A-Day workouts for the next couple of days, kind of shock my body back into getting used to a high workload again. This should be good for me especially since I let myself go for the past couple of months. All my lifts are absolutely trash right now. I used to be able to hit 225x4 on bench, today, I barely even hit 1. Not good. That's what I get for slacking off I guess haha. But I'm determined now, more than ever, to get bigger and leaner than I ever was.

DAY 2
Weight: 187.4
Lifts: Terrible

Shredded by Summer Day 1

Well, today marks the beginning of my mini bulk. Basically the goal is to take in 3700 calories per day and gain some muscle back since I haven't worked out in months. Muscle memory will serve me well hopefully. I've definitely let myself go over the past couple of months so now it's time to get serious again. Once I get some size back, I'm going to start my 2-3 month cut and be shredded by July. The plan right now is to hit 200lb then cut down to 185 at 8-9% bodyfat.

Please comment with any tips you may have that might make my bulking/cutting easier. Thanks :D

Starting Stats
Weight: 184lbs
Bodyfat: 14% (Caliper measured)
Abs: Upper 2 abs show, but there's still a little bit of stubborn fat over my lower abs.

Those stats are from a few months ago, USF Gym doesn't have the right tools for me to effectively measure myself, however, I can definitely tell that I've let myself go. My upper abs come and go and my arms are barely over 15.5" when they used to be 17" cold. So I've basically gotten smaller and fatter. This is more than enough motivation to get myself back into the gym and come back bigger, stronger, and leaner.

Lifts
Bench: 225x4
Squat: 275x3 ATG
Deadlift: 355 apprx. (I hardly ever do normal deadlifts. I almost always do romanian/straight legged DL's)

Supplements
ON Protein
ON Opti-Men multivitamins

Greg Plitt's ARM WAR

Greg Plitt's ARM WAR Routine is absolutely insane. I tried working it in on the same day as chest so I could keep with the Layne Norton split... bad idea. My arms gave out way before my Chest did. I didn't get a good chest workout because of that reason. But that's both good and bad. The bad thing is I didn't get to hit my chest as hard as I could have. The good thing is that I now know what my Bi's/Tri's routine is going to be when I change up my split in a few months. This arms workout is nothing short of brutal. Everything is supersetted and I tried to keep the rest periods to 45 seconds between sets. I took some Optimum Nutrition Nitric Boost and my god... the pump was amazing. I'd definitely recommend this to anyone that is on a split that has a Bi's/Tri's day.



Superset 3-4 sets
Straight BB Curl
Scull Crushers
Close Grip Bench

Superset 3-4 sets
Rope Curls
Overhead Extentions

Superset 3-4 sets
Guillotine Curls
V-bar Extension

Superset 3-4 sets
Arm Blaster Curls
French Press
Front Press

Superset 3-4 sets
Dead Hang Curls
Reverse Grip Extensions

Superset 3-4 sets
Floor Curls
Pully Kickbacks

Superset 3-4 sets
One Arm Preacher Curls
Close Grip DB Press

Layne Norton's Power + Hypertrophy Split

I've been using a slightly modified version of Layne Norton's split and I've definitely been noticing some results. I've been eating pretty clean and I never go overboard with the cals. 3.5 months in and I've gone from 183lb to 188lb with a noticeable size gain. My upperbody and lowerbody power has shot up as well: 225x4 on bench to 225x8 or 9. 225x3 ATG squats to 275x5 going as low as I possibly can. The only difference between my current split and the normal split (that's posted below) is that on hypertrophy days, I usually do 4-5 sets per exercise since I prefer high volume.

Here's the normal split (taken from http://www.simplyshredded.com/layne-norton-2010-training-series-featuring-paul-revelia.html)

Sunday: Upper Power

    * 5×5 or 3×5 for all lifts(5×5 on bulk cause recovery is better, 3×5 on cut)
    * Barbell Bench Press
    * Barbell Rows
    * Military Press
    * Barbell Shrugs

Monday: Lower Power

    * 5×5 or 3×5 for all lifts(5×5 on bulk cause recovery is better, 3×5 on cut)
    * Back Squat
    * Stiff Leg Deadlift, Or Romanian DL
    * 6-8 sets of Standing Calf, little higher reps, i like to do 6-8 on heavy days

Tues: Off (I usually do some cardio)
Wednesday: Hypertrophy Chest/Arms

(For hypertrophy days I never go to failure, always stop about 2 reps before failure)

    * DB Incline Bech 3×8-12
    * Barbell Close Grip Bench 3×8-12
    * DB Flat Bench 2×8-12
    * Preacher Curls 3×8-12 super setted with
    * Standing French Press 3×8-12
    * Push Downs 3×8-12 super setted with
    * DB Hammer Curls
    * Cable Crossovers 3×8-12
    * Machine Curl 3×8-12 supersetted with
    * Machine Dips 3×8-12

Thursday: Hypertrophy Shoulders/Back/Traps

(For hypertrophy days I never go to failure, always stop about 2 reps before failure)

    * DB Shoulder Press 3×8-12 super setted with
    * DB Front Raise 3×8-12
    * DB One Arm Row 3×8-12 super setted with
    * DB Arnold Press 3×8-12
    * Lat Pull Down (Wide Grip) 2×8-12 super setted with
    * DB Shrugs 2×10-15
    * Lat Pull Down (Close grip, palms facing in) 2×8-12 super setted with
    * DB Upright Row 2×10-15
    * T-bar row 2×8-12 (Usually too tired/dead to do this last exercise, but some times i do it)

Friday: Hypertrophy Legs/Calves

(For hypertrophy days I never go to failure, always stop about 2 reps before failure)

    * Hack Squat 5×8-12 super setted with
    * Standing Calf 5×10-15
    * Leg Extensions 5×10-15 super setted with
    * Sitting Leg Curls 5×10-15 super setted with
    * Sitting Calf Raise 4×8-12

Saturday: Off (cardio if you want)