Transformation Update: Week 14, Day 92 |

Transformation Update: Week 14, Day 92

By Brandon Cook

Monday, March 1st, 2010

Thought of the Day:

“You can’t build a reputation on what you are going to do.”
- Henry Ford

Featured Article:

Using the 5X5 System to Build Muscle
By Jason Ferruggia

The 5×5 system is one of the oldest muscle building programs in the book and has stuck around forever. 5×5 is good and 5×5 is bad; it just depends on the situation. There are a few ways that the 5×5 muscle building system is implemented. The first way that people use the 5×5 system to build muscle is that they warm up to a weight and then stick with that weight for five sets of five. … Click Here to Learn More

Day 92 of My Transformation Journey:

Three months have passed since I started documenting this in December. The first month was more of a break in phase doing bodyweight exercises. The second month I started a Hypertrophy phase to gain muscle. I didn’t gain much muscle that month, but I was getting stronger. I realized I needed to eat more. The third month I continued the hyptertrophy phase and have been working on improving my diet.

I’m definitely starting to gain some muscle.. in fact, today I weighed in at 167.2 lbs. My goal is to get to 170lbs as soon as possible.

My Morning Ritual:
Woke up at 6:15am
Drank 30 ounces of water
10 Minutes of Tai Chi/Qi Gong Exercises
15 Minutes of seated Meditation

Meal #1 Breakfast (7:00-8:00 am)
1 Banana
30 grams of Pumpkin Seeds

3 Whole Eggs (Organic/Cage Free)
Fresh Kale
Onions, Green and Red Peppers
Shitake Mushrooms
1/4 Cup Organic Black Beans
Add a little Salsa and Sea Salt
16 ounces of water

GNC Multivitamin
GNC 1000mg Vitamin C
GNC 400 IU Vitamin E
Carlson 2,000 IU Vitamin D
Biotest Flameout Fish Oil
2 GNC Super Digestive Enzymes

Walk #1:
Took my dogs on a walk.

Going to work now! Month end….

Meal #2: Brunch (10:00-11:00am)
30 grams Raw Brazil Nuts
30 grams of Pumpkin Seeds
1/2 cup of Grapes
1 Apple
16 ounces of water

Meal #3: Lunch (1:00-2:00pm)
Vegetarian Chilli (no meat, extra beans):
Black Beans
Dark Red Kidney Beans
Onions
Red Cabbage
Kale
Tomotoes
Seasoning
Pasta Sauce

1/2 Cup of Peas
1/2 Cup of Cauliflower
1/2 Cup of Carrots
1 tablespoon of Olive Oil <= Added for more calories
1 piece of 60% Dark Chocolate
16 ounces of water
2 GNC Super Digestive Enzymes

Meal #4: Afternoon Snack (4:00-5:00pm)
30 grams Brazil Nuts
30 grams of Sunflower Seeds
1 Orange

Big Bowl of Spinach
Several pieces of Brocolli
One handful of shredded Carrots
2 Tablespoons of Olive Oil
2 Tablespoons of Red Wine Vinegar

1 Biotest Flameout Fish Oil Softgel
1 Carlson 2000 IU Vitamin D
16 ounces of water.

16 ounces of water.

Meal # 5: Peri-Workout Nutrition (6:00-8:00pm)
Peri-workout nutrition is simply what you eat before, during, and after your training sessions. If you get this right you are on your way to mass. Now, a lot of coaches will just tell you to go get a good supplement. Honestly, that’s better than not doing anything. So, if my strategy is too complex (time consuming) for you I recommend getting Biotest’s Surge Recovery.

I believe whole foods are better than supplements 99% of the time, so instead of paying for tubs of sugar I use fruit. There’s no way you can convince me that processed sugar/dextrose is better than living fruit. So, here’s my strategy:

10-15 Minutes Before Workout:
8-16 Ounces of Orange Juice (Freshly squeezed would be best, but I use store brand for now)
4 tablespoons (22 grams of protein) Optimum Nutrition Liquid Aminos

During Workout:
To make this drink you’ll need a juicer. I prefer to make fresh juice from actual fruit. This way I’m getting all of the beneficial vitamins, nutrients, and living enzymes that are often destroyed in the pastuerization process when you buy juice from the store.

3 ice cubes
1/4 cup orange juice (from store)
4 tablespoons (22 grams of protein) Optimum Nutrition Liquid Aminos
6 grams Ultimate Nurition BCAA
5 grams Optimum Nutrition Creatine
5 grams Optimum Nutrition Glutamine
1/4 Pineapple (freshly juiced)
1 apple or 1 cup grapes (freshly juiced)
1 cup cranberries (freshly juiced)
Top off container with orange juice

Warrior Training:

Warm Up:
10 Minutes Foam Roller
10 Minutes Dynamic Mobility Exercises

Hypertrophy Phase: Workout Day One

This first workout in the week focuses on Squats as the main exercise. I will perform 4 warm-up sets escalating the weight upwards into my 4 work sets. My last work set is considered my “money” set and that is where I’ll be using the heaviest weight for the most reps I can do with perfect form. The rep range is 5-8 reps.

I’ll be supersetting some rehab exercises for my shoulders and back into the warm-up sets for my squats. This allows me to save some time, make use of the rest periods, as well as, increase the thouroughness of the warm up sets.

Shoulder/Back Rehab:
1. Band Rows- Elbows out (purple + blue band) = 15 reps, 15 reps
2. Scaptions (15lb dumbbells) = 12 reps, 11 reps
3. Bentover Lateral Raises (20lbs dumbbells) = 8 reps, 8 reps
*Note: These are supersetted with my squat warm-ups to save time

Squats:
1. Warm-up set = 5 reps X 120lbs
2. Warm-up set = 5 reps X 140lbs
3. Warm-up set = 5 reps X 160lbs
4. Warm-up set = 5 reps X 180lbs
5. Work set = 5 reps X 200lbs
6. Work set = 5 reps X 210lbs…. put on my weight belt
7. Work set = 5 reps X 220lbs
8. Money set = 8 reps X 230lbs… Got em all! *
*Note: Great job… got all 8 reps. Raise the weight to 240 next week.

After squats I hung from a chin-up bar to help decompress my spine. I also laid on a stabilty ball and did a stretch that way. Finally, I did a set of knee raises on the power tower to work the antagonistic muscles.

Next, for my chest and back, I superset the following exercises to work these antagonistic muscle groups. This time I’ll only do 3 warm-up sets increasing the weight into two working sets.

One Arm Dumbbell Rows:
1. Warm-up set = 5/5 reps X 30lbs DB (60lbs)
2. Warm-up set = 5/5 reps X 40lbs DB (80lbs)
3. Warm-up set = 5/5 reps X 50lbs DB (100lbs)
4. Work set = 5/5 reps X 55lbs DB (110lbs)
5. Money set = 8/8 reps X 60lbs DB (120lbs)….. Got 8 reps, raise it to 60lbs.

One Arm Dumbbell Press:
1. Warm-up set = 5/5 reps X 30lbs DB (60lbs)
2. Warm-up set = 5/5 reps X 40lbs DB (80lbs)
3. Warm-up set = 5/5 reps X 50lbs DB (100lbs)
4. Work set = 5/5 reps X 55lbs DB (110lbs)
5. Money set = 6/8 reps X 60lbs DB (120lbs)….. Couldn’t get all the reps, stay at this weight.

After that I did a finisher superset:
1. Inverted Rows 16 reps
2. Push-ups 22 reps

Finished with some stretching.

Awesome workout.

Post-Workout Drink: Smoothie
8-16 ounces Orange Juice
1 Banana
1/2 cup frozen Strawberries
1/4 cup frozen Raspberries
1/4 cup frozen Blueberries
2-3 tablespoons Plain Yogurt
1 scoop Nutiva Hemp Protein
6 grams Ultimate Nutrition BCAA
5 grams Optimum Nutrition Creatine
5 grams Optimum Nutrition Glutamine

Meal #6: Dinner Time (10:00-11:00pm)
6 ounces of Organic Chicken
Quinoa
Salad
16 ounces of water

Made it to bed around 11:00pm.

Brandon

——————————————————
About the Author:

Brandon Cook is author of The Awakened Warrior Blog, and co-creator of HardgainerMuscleBuilding.com, a website specifically designed to teach hardgainers how to build muscle fast using the laws and scientific principles of body transformation.

HargainerMuscleBuilding.com features a free email class covering the basic principles of training naturally, eating a nutritious, muscle-building diet, and understanding the truth about supplements. The website is filled with free articles, videos, and the programs you need to create your ideal body.
Please visit us at http://hardgainermusclebuilding.com

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5 Responses to “Transformation Update: Week 14, Day 92”

Fajar Says:
March 4th, 2010 at 10:14 pm
Awesome improvements! Keep it up champ!

I know you had explained this before but I didn’t quite get it. Do you mind if you could explain how the supersetting works again?

Also, for your breakfast do you add (cook) all the vegetable (or all the ingredients for that matter) with the eggs or eat it as a side dish?

thanks.
Brandon Says:
March 5th, 2010 at 11:48 am
Thanks man! Yeah, supersetting is basically doing 2 exercises back to back or with little rest in between. So you could do a set of dumbbell presses and then do a set a push-ups. That would be a superset for your chest.

Normally, I like to do supersets with antagonistic muscles like chest and back, shoulders and lats, biceps and triceps. So I may work my chest with a set of dumbbell presses and then when I’m done I’ll rest for like 10-15 seconds (if that) and do a set of dumbbell rows. After that set, I’ll rest for anywhere between 40-120 seconds before repeating the next superset. When doing warm-ups I may rest only 30-40 seconds, on heavier weight and more intense sets I will rest longer.

I’ll do those in that manner until I do the 5 Supersets. Basically, you’re just alternating bewteen chest and back exercises. This allows one muscle to rest while you’re working the other muscle. Saves time and increases intensity.

For breakfast I just scramble all the ingredients together. Although, eating the vegetables raw would be better for you healthwise. Cooking destroys some of the nutrients and enzymes in our food. In fact, I may be cutting out eggs in the near future and making breakfast smoothies instead using hemp protein and oil, frozen fruit, and spinach.

Are you starting your transformation?
fajar Says:
March 7th, 2010 at 4:44 pm
Yes. I’m looking to start in 2 weeks or so. I’m devising a plan and strategy of my daily workout routines and nutrition diet. In the past I would start my transformation but for whatever reason I fall off. Majority of the time was due to my lack of proper nutrition daily requirement. I loose motivation to work out if my daily nutrition intake is not met. I have to say the nutrition part is challenging and that’s why I’m trying to plan now before I start. It’s mostly that I don’t have much time to cook. In the past also, i didn’t know anything about hargainer training and thanks to your blog i now consider myself knowledgable.

By the way, I stopped at the store the other day to buy fish oil and wasn’t sure which one to get. I saw omega 3, essential fatty acids (If i can remember well), fish oils and others. I was confused as to which is would be good. Which one do you reccommend?
fajar Says:
March 7th, 2010 at 4:45 pm
oh yeah! thanks for clarifying the supersetting technique.
Brandon Says:
March 9th, 2010 at 11:35 am
All essential fatty acids are good. You want to make sure you are taking some fish oils. I use Flameout. I also buy my own flax seeds and grind them up in a coffee grinder. I recently bought some hemp oil, which also contains your good fats. You can also eat lots of nuts and seeds to get these.

A great book on nutrition is called “Thrive” by Brenden Brazier. Although, he is talking about a plant-based diet.

Good luck man! Just train hard, eat a ton, and get your rest.