Needless to say, my goal of shocking my legs with a new workout did the trick. It is now Tuesday. My leg workout was Saturday. I am still walking funny and have a hard time getting up from a seated position without wincing a bit and holding my breath.
WHAT did I do? I worked a complete compound movement called the Leg Press pushing high rep for 20 sets with only 45 seconds of rest between sets. I did a pyramid in weight warming up slowly being very careful to watch my form all the way through and NOT locking my knees when I pushed out as to avoid injuring my joint. As the weight increased each set, maintaining good form is key and not shorting myself by using momentum, but my muscle rather, to do the movement from start to finish. At the end I completed 3 warm-down sets to slowly allow my muscles to ease back down in blood volume and reduce the lactic acid build up.
Here is a video highlight of my leg workout! I PASS OUT after one of the sets! It's crazy, but thankfully the rack had already been secured!
My energy for the leg workout was good as I had increased my carb intake by 100 grams on Friday (475 total) and the morning of, knowing full well what I was about to do. This type of workout using your largest muscle group puts you into an anaerobic state and consumes a great deal of calories. In all of my workouts I maintain the 45 second rest between sets to keep the intensity high but also to keep my workouts short as I don’t want to spend hours in the gym. Yes, there are others that prefer to rest several minutes between sets, but this is working for me quite well and it’s keeping my heart in good condition.
The critical part of every workout I do, every set, is I take my reps to absolute failure. I say this a lot, but it has been the important element to seeing positive growth in size and strength. While maintaining proper form, I do the movement until I cannot complete another positive rep. No positive push at all. I will attempt a ½ rep in the end just to make sure I have taken my muscle to that failure point. It is this stimuli that triggers your body to say, “OH! He can’t do more unless we build more!” and thus, the body while resting, adds more muscle tissue to handle the load next time.
Typically my workouts consist of a warm-up of 2 to 3 sets then 4 working sets per movement pushing 8 to 10 reps per set. But again, to failure. The goal on Saturday was merely to prepare my body for a change. Doing this type of shock & awe for a muscle group ever 6 to 8 weeks alleviates a plateau in performance in strength and/or size. Some people do the 100 Rep workout while others might do a crossfit day … either way … changing it all up is the point.
I did change my pre-workout mix a bit. I had been taking 40grams of whey protein (ISOFLEX by Allmax) along with my Athletic Edge Nutrition Pre-Surge AND Creatine RN, but I have since removed the protein. I have noticed a quicker absorbtion and I don’t feel as bloated. BUT … critical in my post-workout is 50grams of ISOFlex, 10gr of BCAA’s and 6gr of L-Glutamine along with a cup of either white potatoes or rice for the simple carb reload. I consume this IMMEDIATELY after my workout. I hadn’t been including the carb source, but since, I have noticed a better feeling physically within the hour after a workout, and my performance next session is much better. I feel I am able to dig deep through each rep.
People have been asking what supplements I am taking, so I thought I would take a photo of everything and let you see. I will begin breaking down each one to explain why I am taking it as the weeks progress. However, to give you a simple breakdown:
Protein: ISOFLEX Whey
BCAA’s: BSN AminoX (recovery)
ON AminoEnergy (energy, instead of coffee)
Creatine: CTD Kre-Alkalyn (buffered creatine)
Vitamin: CTD Multi-Elite (whole food multi-vitamin – better than synthetic)
Fats: CTD Omegathins (fatty acids for joint & heart health)
L-Glutamine: Allmax 6gr per serving (muscle recovery)
Digestion: Super Enzymes (increase food digestion / absorbtion)
Metabolism: Phenorex (thermogenic fat burner as opposed to a Cortisol blocker)
Pre-Workout: Athletic Edge Nutrition Pre-Surge, Creatine RN blend
Recovery: Athletic Edge Nutrition IntraXCell
It might seem like a lot of different supplements to take in one day, but I don’t take all of these everyday. They are time specific and taken on workout / non-workout days. Each one has a specific purpose, but bottom line these are supplements, to help supplement what I may not be getting enough of from regular foods. My diet is the key source for nutrients, protein, BCAA’s etc. to help my body recover and build during this strenuous workout program.
All in all, I feel great. My joints do not hurt like they have in times past, I feel much stronger and like my body is working with me instead of against me overall. This is a milestone in and of itself.
Do you pass out during every workout? Why would that happen?
ReplyDeleteHow many protein shakes do you do in a day? I do a shake in the morning, one after lunch and usually one before bed. Sometimes if time keeps me from eating a snack, Ill take a shake then to. What is your advice! Thanks man! Keep up the blog man! I diggin' it!
ReplyDeleteNo, I do not pass out during every workout. It was a rare thing, but due to the enormous pressure I was exerting during that heavy set, I wasn't breathing enough thus causing a lack of oxygen to my brain.
ReplyDeleteI do a recovery shake immediately after my workout that contains my protein, BCAA's and L-Glutamine. I sometimes take a shake before bed. Outside of that, your body needs hard protein to build dense lean mass. Getting 75 to 100gr of your protein a day from a shake puts you on a liquid diet and that isn't sustaining. You need proteins that fill you up and keep you satisfied as well. Plus, proetin from lean turkey and red meat offer a greater source of natural amino acids critical to building lean mass. Keep your shakes to a minimum. They are to supplement your diet NOT be your primary source of protein & other nutrients.
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