Bodybuilding.com - Derek Bulking Week 20!

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Last week of bulking! I went from 194 to 208 pounds. I added 14 pounds, most of which was muscle. I have much less fat to lose this year than last year.

Bulking - Week #20

NOTICE: This is article #20 of this series. Click HERE for the front page.

Well, sad to say, this is my last week of bulking. Starting next week, I will begin lowering my calories. I will still be attacking my workouts full throttle. I will lower my calories for the next three weeks, then take a week off, then start cutting at my lowest caloric level. I will include the next three weeks in this series, but after that I will start my cutting series. In my cutting series, I will most likely have weekly pictures because I will need to gauge my weight and appearance to decide have to improve my diet.

After these next three weeks, I will turn into a robot, meaning no cheating on my diet at all. As of right now, I am not planning on entering a contest. I have a bunch of stuff that I have to do and really do not have the time to devote myself to preparing for a contest. But I will still attack my diet as if I were entering a contest because, in essence, I am in a contest against myself. The only person who can stop me from improving my physique is me. With that said, let's look at my last week of bulking.

Diet and Supplements

Same as last week.

Monday, January 27th

Abs/Chest

Leg Lift 25 lbs X 12, 10 - View Exercise
Weighted Crunch 45 X 10, 6 - View Exercise
Cable Crunch 170 X 15 - View Exercise
Bench Press 265 X 6, 4, 4 - View Exercise
Incline DB Press 85 X 5, 4, 4 - View Exercise
Weighted Dips 45 X 6, 4, 4 - View Exercise

An excellent start to the week. My strength went up on bench press and weighted dips, but stayed the same on incline DB press. I'll have to push myself harder next week on this exercise.

Q: I am not strong enough to do dips. Is there anything I can do instead to target the lower pecs.

A: Decline presses also hit the lower pectoral region. Both dumbbell and barbell presses are awesome when done on a decline bench. Another thing which you can do is use a dip assist machine if you have access to one. As I mentioned last week about the pull up assist machine, they allow you to use less than your body weight on the exercise. To make the exercise harder, you can increase the percentage of your body weight that you use. Eventually, you should be able to use your body weight.

Tuesday, January 28th

Biceps/Triceps/Calves

Reverse Curl - 135 X 6, 5 - View Exercise
Reverse Pressdown - 200 X 6, 5 View Exercise
Hammer Curl 50 X 6, 5 - View Exercise
Rope Pressdown 200 X 6, 5 - View Exercise
Cable Curl 200 X 6, 5 - View Exercise
Pressdown - 195 X 6, 5 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

There was no pain at all with this routine. I will stick with this for a while. I have not done cable curls in ages and man did they feel good. I got an awesome pump from them. I'm looking forward to doing them again.

Q: Have you ever heard that you shouldn't do calves when you exercise another body part that is in the upper body?

A: Yes, I have heard. The reason behind this is that the blood is being pumped to two different places. Therefore, the calves will not get "enough" blood to them. I totally disagree with this. Your body will pump blood to where it needs to be. Also, you should work your calves when you can hit them the hardest. So I do them after arms. There is no way I could concentrate on my calves after doing legs, which would "be the best time because the blood is in the area." So it all comes down to when you can target them the best.

Cardio

Bike for 16 minutes
Distance Covered: 5.76 miles

Wednesday, January 29th

Legs

Squats 325 X 6, 4, 4 - View Exercise
Stiff Leg Deadlift 255 X 8, 6, 6 - View Exercise
Leg Press 540 X 4, 450 X 6, 4 - View Exercise

My squat strength is starting to slowly increase again. I must keep pushing myself to et back to where I was. I can't seem to get past 4 reps on leg press with 540. Something else I must work to overcome.

Q: If you could do only one exercise for legs, what would it be?

A: Squats, what else. Squats hit the entire leg (quads, hams, as well as glutes). It is one of the most effective exercises, along with deadlifts, to produce growth.

Thursday, January 30th

Abs/Delts/Traps

Leg Lift 25 X 12, 10 - View Exercise
Weighted Crunch 45 X 12, 6 - View Exercise
Cable Crunch 170 X 15 - View Exercise
DB Shoulder Press 85 X 6, 5, 4 - View Exercise
Side Lateral 40 X 8, 6, 6 - View Exercise (Two Arms Shown)
Bent Over Lateral 30 X 8, 8 - View Exercise
Shrugs 315 X 6, 5, 4 - View Exercise
Dumbbell Shrugs 80 X 8, 8 - View Exercise

My DB shoulder press strength went up some but, like I mentioned before, I have to use so much strength to get the DB's up into position. For a while, it seemed like shoulder day was my "easy" day of the week. But it is quickly becoming just as grueling as back or chest day. Nothing is as hard as leg day though.

Q: Is doing an exercise for the rear delts necessary?

A: For some yes. Some people's front and side delts overpower or dwarf their rear delts. In order to get that fully rounded cannon ball shoulder, you needed a well developed rear delt. If your rear delts are falling behind the front and side heads of the shoulders, you should do them. If you do not have this problem, you are lucky and I guess you really don't need to focus on that area.

Cardio

16 minutes on Elliptical
Distance covered: 1.31

Friday, January 31st

Weighted Wide-Grip Pull Up 45 X 4, 4, 4 - View Exercise
Bent Over Row 255 X 5, 4, 4 - View Exercise
T-Bar Row 210 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

Q: Is direct forearm exercises necessary?

A: The forearms get stimulated during a variety of exercises, especially back exercises. I feel that they do need to be directly stimulated. They are a muscle group just like the chest, back, etc., and in order for them to grow and become stronger, the must receive overload. The best way you overload them is to directly train them.

Saturday, February 1st

Off

Sunday, February 2nd

Off

Weekly Reflection

Well, that's the end of my bulking. I went from 194 to 208 pounds. I added 14 pounds, most of which was muscle. I have much less fat to lose this year than last year. I am very happy with my gains in size and strength. I would have liked to gain a bit more size on my chest, but I can't really complain. My diet was very strict for the most part. There were times when my diet was off, but those times didn't last long.

Now, it's on to cutting. What could be more fun than 3 months straight without eating any junk food... just kidding. But it is all worth it when it is over. You just have to remember that, especially when you are surrounding by people eating pizza and you want so badly to eat a whole pizza because your last two meals have been chicken and broccoli. Oh well. Let the games begin.

Muscle Week 1 Week 20

Chest 43 7/8 47 1/2

Shoulders 49 52 1/2

Thighs 24 1/2 26 1/2

Biceps FLEXED 16 17 1/4

Biceps Unflexed 14 3/8 16

Forearms 13 13

Calves 16 3/4 18

Waist 33 34

Weight 194 208