The_buffer's BP #1

the_buffer · Post by **the_buffer** » Thu Oct 14, 2010 11:03 am

Today was my final workout for week 3. It started with my “de-load” HIT workout. Just like the last time I did 6 reps, I didn’t really feel like I had worked hard enough, but I knew I couldn’t do any more complete reps, so I then did a set of dumbbell presses to complete and nutter failure, which made me feel a lot better about today’s chest work.

I was pretty happy when I wound up doing 4 reps more squats than I had planned, but then I realized I had miscounted my weights and it was under by about 20 pounds. Since it was a de-load day I was not too worried since I took it to failure anyway with the added reps.

In the Mentzer spirit I have up to this point been keeping my workouts very brief and simple, but today I decided to add in an EDT block. I really wanted to target my back and biceps, so I started out with cable rows super-setted with dumbbell curls. It wasn’t long until I realized that this wasn’t a very good combination, so I switched to straight arm pulldowns to isolate my lats and the rest of the block went much better.

I have to say that I’m impressed by how metabolic the EDT is… so much so that when I’m doing it 2-3 times per week I may not need to add in any cardio.

the_buffer · Post by **the_buffer** » Sun Oct 17, 2010 8:16 am

Day 22: I did a weigh-in this morning and I am up another 3 pounds. My fat percentage went down slightly, so certainly the majority of the weight I gained was lean.

Yesterday was a bad day as far as my diet. I got stuck at work on a double shift without any extra food. By the end I was so hungry I was in pain! It was even worse than when I was on the famine, possibly because my body was used to having a regular supply of food. It also really messed with my sleep.

Tomorrow is my last workout before getting into German Loading.

RobRegish · Post by **RobRegish** » Sun Oct 17, 2010 9:08 pm

Awesome work Buffer!

And yes, EDT is in fact "metabolic" in its effects. Not sure if that's the right work but you get the rest periods/weight right and presto....recomp with no additional cardio or change in diet.

AMAZING stuff. Take care man...

the_buffer · Post by **the_buffer** » Mon Oct 18, 2010 11:40 am

Today was workout #5. I started out with bench press. I have been struggling a bit to raise my 1RM on bench press, then today I got it up to 228 (up 24lbs up from the beginning). I attributed that in large part due to that extra set of dumbbell presses I did after my last workout, so I did that again.

My squats got up to 375 (up 63lbs from the start). Since I finally broke through that bench press plateau I decided to follow a similar pattern and added some leg sleds after doing the SLDL.

I also did an EDT block. I’ve been really trying to figure out what is the best way to hit all the muscle groups throughout the week, while still have a good EDT pairing. For today I decided to keep it simple by doing biceps and triceps. I only did 15 minutes because I was wasted at that point.

the_buffer · Post by **the_buffer** » Thu Oct 21, 2010 11:27 am

Day 26: I did my first GLP workout today. I actually really liked it a lot. The only problem was I messed up calculating my warmup sets so I was a little fatigued by the time I got to the last couple work sets and didn’t make all the reps, but it was a great workout all the same.

I also did an EDT block which was mainly focusing on my shoulders and traps. I was sweating bullets by the end. I’m very keen to utilize EDT in my next cut, either in place of or as well as circuit training.

the_buffer · Post by **the_buffer** » Sat Oct 23, 2010 5:23 pm

I did a weigh-in this morning. After the first two feast weeks I was steadily gaining about 3lbs per week. This week it slowed down quite a bit and I was only up about a pound. Since this past week I did workout #5 and GLP #1 it makes it difficult to figure out why, but it is likely because of one of two things:

1. My body has already adapted to the one-set to failure workouts, meaning the timing of this was almost bang on, or…

2. My body doesn’t respond as well to the higher volume workouts.

Since this coming week will be entirely GLP I should find out by the end of the week which of those it was.

I did my first Squat GLP today and followed it up with lats/tricep EDT.

RobRegish · Post by **RobRegish** » Sat Oct 23, 2010 8:39 pm

Great observation. We shall see..

Do ensure you're hitting all of your caloric targets etc.. Some people do respond quite differently to the training template - as you pointed out. Time will tell but strength is what to focus on now.

You will likely observe another weight rebound at some point. Either later in Feast or in Cruise..

the_buffer · Post by **the_buffer** » Mon Oct 25, 2010 2:09 pm

Today was my second GLP chest workout. I did as much as I could at the time, but I still didn’t feel at the end like I’d done enough work to trigger growth, I guess we’ll have to wait and see.

I messed up my EDT pairing somewhat and wound up working my forearms a bit too much, which made it harder and harder as I went on, but that will be an easy fix.

I also felt extremely nauseous after my post WO shake. The same thing happened after my last workout, so I think my body is really resisting the longer duration workouts.

the_buffer · Post by **the_buffer** » Mon Oct 25, 2010 2:12 pm

RobRegish wrote:Great observation. We shall see..

Do ensure you're hitting all of your caloric targets etc.. Some people do respond quite differently to the training template - as you pointed out. Time will tell but strength is what to focus on now.

You will likely observe another weight rebound at some point. Either later in Feast or in Cruise..

I'll definitely keep a close watch on my calories this week.

Worst case scenario, if my gains aren't optimal on GLP, would you suggest staying on the 1 rep to failure for a longer amount of time on my second run?

RyannayR · Post by **RyannayR** » Mon Oct 25, 2010 2:31 pm

Some gain strength first then they gain size. I guess the body has to play catch up.

the_buffer · Post by **the_buffer** » Mon Oct 25, 2010 3:00 pm

Ya, I'd be okay with some strength gains, which would make sense that the size gains may come during cruise.

I'm actually going to slightly hike my calories. I can't believe this didn't strike me before, but the workouts are longer and more frequent, so adding some excess calories will probably help a lot this week.

RobRegish · Post by **RobRegish** » Mon Oct 25, 2010 7:54 pm

You may benefit from more HIT work, yes. Fully support what works for YOU!

The BP isn't meant to be "you MUST do this". No way. If it works for you.. use it!

Here to support whatever works for you. Hell if jumping jacks to failure work, use them.

And yes, I have recommended those to a few wingbats in local gyms..

the_buffer · Post by **the_buffer** » Wed Oct 27, 2010 12:01 pm

I did my last squat GLP. The weights got pretty high, but I noticed my form was lacking, so for the last set I dropped the weight and went nice and low.

No EDT today… I was wiped out from working a midnight shift.

the_buffer · Post by **the_buffer** » Wed Oct 27, 2010 3:58 pm

So I'll be heading into cruise soon... I'm considering running it almost like a mini-cut because I want to get in shape for the holidays. Any thoughts on that?