Quote (exonerated @ Nov 18 2013 12:55am)
Hey Raynor, it's been a while! Big post, brace yourself!
First off, wanted to say thanks a ton for the 5x5 plan you recommended me a while back. Me and a friend used it all summer and saw phenomenal gains. We cut for a cruise in the summer, got fat on 9 day cruise, slacked for two weeks, and went into the 5x5 plan heavily after that. Followed it exactly to a T. My bench has always been bitch weight and I was stuck for a LONG time repping 185 - occasionally 205 for reps when I was feeling good. I could NOT HIT 225 for a rep, EVER! My friend was stuck at 225 for reps and could never get past 245 one rep max. We started the plan and after a little over 3 months I was able to do 245 for 4x reps and he put up 275 for 3x reps on our last day at the gym before returning to school. That plan helped us do more than shatter plateaus that we had been stuck on for a while. Of course all of our exercises increased in weight, but I won't go into much detail and turn this into a novel. Squats was another bitch exercise for me. When I left for the cruise I was squatting 185-205 depending on how my knees felt that day. I now squat 275 for reps (when my knees arent bothering me). Lots of that increase came from form adjustments which stemmed from starting with lower weight on the 5x5 plan and allowing me to perfect the form with lighter weight. Deadlift shot through the roof as well. I was deadlifting 225 when I got back from my cruise. Last week I deadlifted 315 for the first time ever. Felt great to put up 3 plates! But you get the picture! So I can't say thanks enough for both me and my friend (who mind you was very skeptical of the plan!). The only downfall of the summer was me going for a 275 one rep max at the end of summer. My friend thought I completed the rep, but I got stuck at like 90% through the rep. He was not paying attention, my left arm bent back just a tiny bit, and my shoulder/bicep felt TERRIBLE. It is much better now, but still hurts a tiny bit sometime. Again, my friend and I want to extend a HUGE thanks. You have helped me a lot on several different occasions!
tl;dr I used your 5x5 plan and saw HUGE gains this summer.
Right now I am dirty bulking and eating like shit, not gunna lie. I am hoping to put up 275 before the end of the year now that my left arm seems to be almost fully healed (been about 6 weeks). I am going to Vegas next summer and want to be as shredded as possible. My plan is to enjoy food until the end of the year and start dieting ASAP in 2014 to cut down. I wanted a reccomendation from you on what I should do. I have cut for the past two summers and I usually do keto. This year I did keto + ec stack. The past two summers I have not been able to get my abs to pop. I must have abs this coming summer for Vegas. When should I start dieting to ensure this happens by the second week of June (my trip date)? I think the biggest downfall of my cuts is that I don't do cardio. I hate cardio. VERY RARELY I would do a mile or two of hiit after a workout. Im also assuming you're going to recommend your hypertrophy routine. Please giive me the brutal, honest, full plan to get abs by June! I am ready!
tl;dr2 Please tell me what I need to do to get abs to pop by June 2014.
Edit: I also made a 5x5 calculator in google docs that is public. It automatically calculates rep weights based on user input so you can easily adjust weight as you increase. I would be more than glad to post a link if you wanted to add it for people you recommend the plan to. I have several exercises listed. The user inputs their one rep max weight and it automatically calculates the weight for all 5 sets of each exercise. I used it all summer to simply update the one rep max and have updated figures for each set at the gym. Plus, it can auto sync to any phone via google drive for easy access at the gym.
Hey there.
I'm very happy to hear about the success you and your friend had with the 5x5 plan. Keep up the good work!
As far as the cutting cycle goes, the traditional Keto + EC Stack is a very good plan. However, there are a few considerations you should make:
1. Aggressive Cardio, including fasting HIIT cardio and PWO Cardio.
2. Exercising 6 days a week, with cardio ONLY on the 7th day
3. Increased caloric depletion, with particularly lower cals on the non-workout day.
4. Weight all foods to ensure correct caloric loadout.
5. Check your Ketosis status as needed with keto strips.
In addition to the above, you are going to want to consider that Intermittent Fasting can assist Ketosis diets further. If you want to attempt a 16/8 intermittent fasting schedule (16-fast, 8-feed) in conjunction with keto, you are going to see larger returns on the fat loss. Furthermore, moving the carb day from 7 days to 10 (or even 14) days would be preferable.
In terms of the workout routine, you are going to want to stick to a routine in which you are not training for very heavy weight and low reps. The reason for this is the depleted glycogen will automatically make you weaker in terms of muscular endurance. Furthermore, your body's ability to recover is greatly decreased on a cut.
The solution for a proper routine for you would be in the area of 15/12/10/8 reps, with VERY little rest between sets (10-12 seconds max). You are going to want to do splits such as:
Back/Bis/Traps
Chest/Tris/Shoulders
Quads/Calves/Hams
(Repeated 2x per week)
Workouts should last approximately 1.5 hours, with another 30-40 minutes of HIIT cardio afterwards. You should be doing approximately 5 exercises per muscle group for a total of 15 exercises and around 60 total sets. This seems brutal, and it is, but the results are worth it. As far as exercises go, I think you have been doing this long enough to know what exercises work well for you and what exercises do not. If you need more guidance here, let me know.
You also are going to want to get really aggressive with abs in advance, prior to cutting, in order to build a proper abdominal muscular platform. Remember, there is no way to spot reduce fat, but there is a way to spot gain muscle. Increasing your muscle mass around your abs will greatly improve fat loss later, and also the overall appearance of the abs as a whole.
http://forums.d2jsp.org/topic.php?t=21269614&f=60&p=330745031Abs Workout Routine
When cutting, make sure to train abs at least 3x per week. Prior to cutting, you can ALSO train abs 3x per week (independently of the other workouts).
You also will want to give yourself enough time in advance for the cut. Remember, you need to keep your calories around 500 below requirements, and carbs need to be below 20g / day on keto.