Ruckin's first cycle log: test cyp only [IV gear]

[Docd187123]

It's a weird dull soreness/pain on the outside of my lower leg, from about from half way between my knee and ankle, to just above the ankle. It's not the calf. It feels just like shin splints, but it's on the outside of the leg, towards the back a little. I'll see if I can snap a pic later of the spot if that description wasn't good.

Try some compression with voodoo floss or a bicycle tire tube

 

[ruckin]

Try some compression with voodoo floss or a bicycle tire tube

I've heard of voodoo floss before but don't know much about it. I'll have to look into it. Do you use it yourself?

 

[Docd187123]

I've heard of voodoo floss before but don't know much about it. I'll have to look into it. Do you use it yourself?

Yes I do....religiously. I use it 4x/wk on my elbow and forearm, on my knee when the tendinitis flares up, and used it on my wrist and shoulder. Here's a link for the thicker one, the red one. The black one is thinner and provides less compression but is also a few bucks cheaper. I have the red. Also you can just get the bicycle tire tube I mentioned and use that as it's cheaper but the stuff isn't as grippy so it tends to slide around a lot when putting it on.

http://www.roguefitness.com/voodoo-...dblUDVS-mGaXWj04ykciibXNLBLP7bX_4IaAv748P8HAQ

 

[ruckin]

Power cleans: 195x1x5
Strict paused Press: 170x8x4
Squat: 275x8x2
Deadlift: 465x1x10 in 8 min
Paused incline press: 205x10x2
Chins: 267x5x4
Weighted planks: -
Curls: 40sx12x4

Another solid workout to report. Deadlifts went great, I added 10 pounds to the weight from last time I did them and also got 1 more rep than last time. You'll notice that I went super easy on my squats though. I sadly made the difficult, but necessary decision to start going light on my squats every other time I do them (so every other workout). I'm doing this strictly in hopes that it'll allow more recovery time for my leg to heal. It sucks but I'd rather have my potential end of cycle max squat be a few lbs less than not be able to play this season cause I fucked up my leg too much over the summer. I'm estimating that I'll still make around 1/2 to 2/3 of the squat progress I could make if everything was normal though so it could be worse. I desperately need this plan to work though. I haven't had a chance to look into that floss stuff doc recommended yet so I need to get on that asap as well.

Enough of the negative stuff. Everything else is going great! Strength still exploding, fitness is nearing an all-time high for me, especially at such a high body weight, and did I mention my strength is still exploding? I'm starting feel like I'll be able to reach a max bench of almost 400 by the end of this. I only have 3 or 4 weeks left though so I'm headed for the home stretch. Gotta squeeze as much as I can out of this!

 

[ruckin]

So I think it's time to lower the reps in my training again. I'm not exactly sure what I want to do yet. I originally planned to do 5x5 for my last 5 weeks but I don't think the intensity will be high enough with that. I'm thinking maybe 5 sets of 3 or 4 on all the main lifts. Or maybe 4 sets of 5 with a couple heavy singles after to get that little extra neural adaptation I'm looking for here. The goal for these last 4 weeks is to maximize absolute strength while still building a respectable amount of lean mass. And I'll also be putting more focus on fitness/conditioning this last month too so that I need to consider that when deciding what I want my workload in the gym to look like. Everything needs to be well balanced here.

Any and all advice is welcome here.

Edit: maybe I'll even keep the volume higher on my upper body stuff and just lower it for my squat, since my upper body isn't affecting my conditioning work, and vice versa, as squats.

 

[ruckin]

I did conditioning tonight, bike sprints this time. 20 sprints total, increased the sprint time to 17 seconds each and lowered rest time to 43 seconds each. Shit was brutal. I finished over an hour ago and my legs are still burning a little bit.

Now it's dinner time.

 

[Seven]

So I think it's time to lower the reps in my training again. I'm not exactly sure what I want to do yet. I originally planned to do 5x5 for my last 5 weeks but I don't think the intensity will be high enough with that. I'm thinking maybe 5 sets of 3 or 4 on all the main lifts. Or maybe 4 sets of 5 with a couple heavy singles after to get that little extra neural adaptation I'm looking for here. The goal for these last 4 weeks is to maximize absolute strength while still building a respectable amount of lean mass. And I'll also be putting more focus on fitness/conditioning this last month too so that I need to consider that when deciding what I want my workload in the gym to look like. Everything needs to be well balanced here.

Any and all advice is welcome here.

Edit: maybe I'll even keep the volume higher on my upper body stuff and just lower it for my squat, since my upper body isn't affecting my conditioning work, and vice versa, as squats.

What did you decide to do as far as sets and reps?? And how's the leg??

 

[ruckin]

What did you decide to do as far as sets and reps?? And how's the leg??

I'm going with 5 sets of 4 on the main lifts now. And the leg isn't doing good brother

I have a few workouts I did that I need to log to get caught up here, but I'm at work right now and I'm crazy busy all day. Hopefully I'll be able to get caught up tomorrow.

 

[Docd187123]

I'm going with 5 sets of 4 on the main lifts now. And the leg isn't doing good brother

I have a few workouts I did that I need to log to get caught up here, but I'm at work right now and I'm crazy busy all day. Hopefully I'll be able to get caught up tomorrow.

Tried the RICE method? Maybe you need a few days of very light weights and relaxation?

 

[ruckin]

This was Monday's workout:

power clean: 250x1x8
Bench: 305x4,4,4,4,5
Squat: 365x4x2
Barbell rows: 225x8x4
Paused incline press: 225x5,6
Shrugs: 435x12x3 (straps)
Barbell holds: 315x20,25 sec (double overhand)
GHRs: bwx6x3

This workout was good except for squats. I was going to do 5 sets of 4 with 365, but after the second set I had to call it quits. My left leg was just getting really bad. As sad as it makes me to say this, I'm going to have to stop doing squats until it's better

Cleans, bench and incline bench were good though.

I can't believe squats have screwed my leg up this bad. At this point, I'm just praying that it'll be okay to run on without pain by the time rugby starts, let alone squat again.

I have to decide quickly on a substitute lower body power movement while I can't squat, that won't stress that part of my leg. I'm thinking possibly trap bar deads. I've never done them before but they seem to be more like a squat than a deadlift so that's why I'm thinking about them. The only issue with that is I'm not sure if they will be as difficult to recover from as normal deads. My other option I'm thinking is heavy barbell lunges. I did them last time I couldn't squat and had decent success at keeping the muscle mass in my legs. I'd easily choose front squats but they cause the same problem.

I'd love to hear suggestions and advice here please.

Oh and @Docd187123 I'll start today trying to implement all of the components of RICE. I don't think I can afford to take days and days off from training again though, I mean I just took a deload week only 3 weeks ago. I am desperate to have my leg get better though so maybe I need to check my ego and just let it rest and heal. Fuck this sucks.

 

[Docd187123]

Ruck,

Try box squats instead of regular back squats.

 

[ruckin]

Ruck,

Try box squats instead of regular back squats.

Hey that's a great idea. How high do you think would be good to set the seat I'd use? When I squat normally I always go ATG. Should I experiment to find the lowest hight box I can use without pain?

 

[Docd187123]

Hey that's a great idea. How high do you think would be good to set the seat I'd use? When I squat normally I always go ATG. Should I experiment to find the lowest hight box I can use without pain?

The mechanics of box squatting are a little different than normal squats so I'd suggest starting on a box slightly higher than parallel. Make sure to sit back so your knees are close to being over your ankles. Each day lower the box a bit until you either get to a depth that causes pain or until you're below parallel.

 

[Docd187123]

Also to add for box squats:

Do NOT plop onto the box. You come down in a controlled manner unless you want to compress your spine. Stay right throughout the movement. Once on the box, keep everything tight but relax your hips. Squeeze your glutes and hams and shoot up.

 

[ruckin]

Also to add for box squats:

Do NOT plop onto the box. You come down in a controlled manner unless you want to compress your spine. Stay right throughout the movement. Once on the box, keep everything tight but relax your hips. Squeeze your glutes and hams and shoot up.

Sounds good, I'll try them tonight when I lift. Thank you

 

[ruckin]

GOOD NEWS!

I tried box squats, at doc's suggestion, and they felt alright. But after my second set of them, my buddy came over and after he finished calling me a grandpa for doing box squats (lol) he suggested just going to parallel on normal squats. So I tried that and BAM! No pain! I did 5 sets of paused parallel squats and felt great! I mean I certainly like going ass to grass more but I'm not in a position to do whatever I want right now lol.

Here's the workout:

Power cleans: 195x1x5
Paused strict Press: 185x4,4,4,4,7
Box squats: 315x3x2
Paused parallel squats: 315x3x5
Rack pulls: 485x10x3 (straps)
Paused incline bench: 225x6,7
Chins: 272x5x4
Weighted planks: 100x30 sec x2
Curls: 45sx10x4

Everything went great! I was very surprised at how great my presses went. 185 for 7 is a huge PR for me, and on my last set no less. I added 10 pounds to my rack pulls too, so that's always good. Also, you might notice I weighed 272 tonight for my chin ups. First time I've ever stepped on a scale and read 270+

3 weeks left, gotta make them count!

 

[ROB581211]

GOOD NEWS!

I tried box squats, at doc's suggestion, and they felt alright. But after my second set of them, my buddy came over and after he finished calling me a grandpa for doing box squats (lol) he suggested just going to parallel on normal squats. So I tried that and BAM! No pain! I did 5 sets of paused parallel squats and felt great! I mean I certainly like going ass to grass more but I'm not in a position to do whatever I want right now lol.

Here's the workout:

Power cleans: 195x1x5
Paused strict Press: 185x4,4,4,4,7
Box squats: 315x3x2
Paused parallel squats: 315x3x5
Rack pulls: 485x10x3 (straps)
Paused incline bench: 225x6,7
Chins: 272x5x4
Weighted planks: 100x30 sec x2
Curls: 45sx10x4

Everything went great! I was very surprised at how great my presses went. 185 for 7 is a huge PR for me, and on my last set no less. I added 10 pounds to my rack pulls too, so that's always good. Also, you might notice I weighed 272 tonight for my chin ups. First time I've ever stepped on a scale and read 270+

3 weeks left, gotta make them count!

Good lifts brother. Nice job on the weight gains too. You've done a hell of a good job so far. Kill these few weeks and finish strong

 

[Seven]

272

That's almost 40lbs!!!! You're a beast and strong as fuck!!!! Great job ruck!!

Excellent news you figured out what's bothering your leg...as long as you can still run with no pain that's most important. You're gonna step on the field @ 275...impressive!!

 

[ruckin]

272

That's almost 40lbs!!!! You're a beast and strong as fuck!!!! Great job ruck!!

Excellent news you figured out what's bothering your leg...as long as you can still run with no pain that's most important. You're gonna step on the field @ 275...impressive!!

Thanks 7, I'm excited! I'm not out of the woods yet though, I still need to get this thing healed up asap, cause it still gets kinda sore when I run on it. I'm glad I've eliminated the main spurce of the problem though.

 

[ruckin]

Conditioning today. I did bike sprints. Same as usual, and I increased the sprint times and reduced the slow/rest times again. 19 second sprints with 41 seconds slow for 20 total sprints.

It wasn't as hard as usual this time, despite having more total sprint time than I've ever done before. Might have been because I took a nice 30 minute nap after work before the workout. It also could have been the chipotle burrito I had for lunch... Yeah it was definitely the burrito.

I'm pretty excited for my workout tomorrow. Assuming it goes well and I get my 255 power cleans I'll only be 20 away from 275. That'll be a HUGE milestone for me. If I keep on schedule I think I'll be able to reach 275 for 8 singles by the end of the cycle.