By: Derek Charlebois

Bulking - Week #19

NOTICE: This is article #19 of this series. Click HERE for the front page.

Diet and Supplements

Same as last week.

Monday, January 20th

Abs/Chest

Leg Lift 25 lbs X 12, 10 - View Exercise
Weighted Crunch 45 X 8, 6 - View Exercise
Cable Crunch 170 X 15 - View Exercise
Bench Press 255 X 6, 4, 4 - View Exercise
Incline DB Press 85 X 5, 4, 4 - View Exercise
Weighted Dips 35 X 6, 5 , 4- View Exercise

My bench press has been consistently climbing. Chest day continues to get better and better. I am surprised at how quickly my strength on weighted dips is going up. I'm not complaining though.

Q: Have you ever tried dips with a reverse grip? Someone mentioned them to me and I've never heard of them.

A: Larry Scott is a big supporter of reverse grip dips. Instead of your palms facing your body, they are turned away. If you do want to give these a try, I recommend using a dip assist machine, because they are very hard. The first time I tried to do them, I couldn't do a single one. I never really got into them because they are tough on the wrist and I feel you can hit the chest better with standard dips.

Tuesday, January 21st

Biceps/Triceps/Calves

Barbell Curl 135 X 6, 5 - View Exercise
Skull Crusher 145 X 6, 5 - View Exercise
Ez Bar Curl - 135 X 6, 5 - View Exercise
Pressdown - 195 X 6, 5 View Exercise
Reverse Curl - 115 X 6, 6 - View Exercise
Reverse Pressdown - 190 X 6, 4 View Exercise
Standing Calf Raise 440 X 8, 6 - View Exercise
Seated Calf Raise 180 X 8, 8 - View Exercise
Leg Press Calf 630 X 8, 6

* I alternate between bicep and tricep exercises

My left forearm was flaring up. It only hurt when I did underhand curl movements. Therefore, I was be rearranging to arm day to fix this.

Q: How do you feel about 21's?

A: I never saw the benefits of 21's. What the point of doing the bottom part of a curl, then the top part, then the entire exercise. Why not just do full reps? My feeling is, why waste time and energy doing partials only to then do full reps when you could just do full reps at the beginning. You would then be able to use more weight and fully overload the entire muscle from start to end.

	What Are 21's? One of Arnold's favorites. Using the curl as an example, you would do 7 full reps followed by 7 half reps from the starting position to half way up followed by 7 half reps from half way up to the top of the movement. All of this counts as one set.

Click To Enlarge.
21's Using The Curl.

Cardio

Bike for 16 minutes
Distance Covered: 5.76 miles

Alright, I'm pretty sure this is the highest distance this machine can compute for 16 minutes. I monitored my revolutions per minute and I was a minimum of 10 above what I was doing last week and I still only covered 5.76 miles. So I'm guessing that this is the highest distance the machine will show for this time.

Wednesday, January 22nd

Legs

Squats 315 X 6, 6, 6 - View Exercise
Stiff Leg Deadlift 245 X 8, 6, 4 - View Exercise
Leg Press 540 X 4. 450 X 6, 4 - View Exercise

Stiff leg deadlifts are becoming one of my favorite exercise. Most people say they do not feel this exercise in their hamstrings. At first, I didn't either. But after doing it for awhile, you will learn to perform it so it kills your hams. Definitely an awesome exercise.

Q: How come you never do front squats?

A: I love front squats, I just have't done them lately. I have been getting great results with my current routine, and as the saying goes, "Don't fix it if it ain't broke." I will most likely incorporate them into my routine when I start cutting though. There are a few exercises I like to do when I am cutting because, I feel, they help bring out the shape of certain muscles.

Thursday, January 23rd

Abs/Delts/Traps

Leg Lift 25 X 12, 10 - View Exercise
Weighted Crunch 45 X 8,6 - View Exercise
Cable Crunch 170 X 15 - View Exercise
DB Shoulder Press 85 X 5, 5, 4 - View Exercise
Side Lateral 40 X 6, 6, 6 - View Exercise (Two Arms Shown)
Bent Over Lateral 25 X 8, 8 - View Exercise
Shrugs 315 X 6, 4, 4 - View Exercise
Dumbbell Shrugs 75 X 10, 8 - View Exercise

Side laterals today were wicked. Shrugs are feeling better. And I'm getting used to doing bent over laterals with dumbbells again.

Q: Which is better for shrugs, using a barbell or dumbbells?

A: Each has its advantage. Using a barbell allows you to use more weight. Using dumbbells allows you to use a better range of motion. If I had to choose though, I would go with the barbell because I can always hit my traps harder that way.

Cardio

16 minutes on Bike
Distance covered: 5.76 miles

Ok, I'm pretty sure my guess was right and this is the highest distance the machine will show for 16 minutes. I'm guessing that it can only calculate the distance up to a certain speed, then everything above that is the same.

Friday, January 24th

Weighted Wide-Grip Pull Up 35 X 8, 5, 4 - View Exercise
Bent Over Row 245 X 6, 5, 4 - View Exercise
T-Bar Row 200 X 6, 4, 4 - View Exercise
Forearm DB Curl 75 X 8, 6, 6 - View Exercise
Forearm BB Curl 135 X 10, 8 - View Exercise

Short and sweet! I was pumped today. I went in the gym and attacked everything. I felt like the Incredible Hulk.

Q: I have trouble doing wide grip pull ups. I can't really lift my body weight. How can I get stronger?

A: If your gym has a pull up assist machine, I suggest using that. It allows you to use a certain percentage of your weight. Start at let's say 50% and see how many you can do. I would aim for 10 reps. Once you can do 10 reps, increase the percentage of your body weight that you use. If you do not have access to that machine, stick with pull downs as your strength will gradually increase.

Saturday, January 25th

Off

Sunday, January 26th

Cardio

16 minutes on Bike
Distance covered 5.76

5.76 is the highest it will go...

Weekly Reflection

Well, I'm kind of disappointed that the bikes can only show a certain distance for a particular amount of time. I am going to start using the elliptical machines more. They are usually being used, but I will try to get on them. As I said, I'll be switching my arm day up a little next week, so look for that.

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