Weekly Progress Report- Week 3 of 26
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By Brandon Cook
December 14th through December 20th
Progress Picture:
- Brandon at 161 lbs and 11.9% Bodyfat
Week 3 of My Transformation Journey:
Ho, ho, ho… Merry Christmas! Okay, okay… I guess technically I should have worn the hat for next week, but I was too excited! Oh well.. deal with it. 
Week 3 has come and gone, but it was a great week. My ankle had recovered nicely and my lower back was feeling fine.
On Monday I worked out hard and had a great workout. I decided to add squats while wearing a 32lb weighted vest to help prepare my body for barbell squats, which I will be doing next month. Similarily I also added Good Mornings with a 32 lbs weighted vest.
My legs were pumped after the Monday workout Day 15 and I found it challenging to walk with the vest on after my workout like I normally do. The following day my lower back was a little sore, but I did icing and stretching and felt pretty good. My legs on the other hand were screaming. Flights of stairs were quite painful.
On Wednesday my legs were still quite sore and I didn’t feel fully recovered so I post-poned my second workout until Thursday. By Thursday I was fine and ready to go. Day 18 started off good. My upper body training went great and then I moved on to legs. Instead of squats and good mornings I did lunges and step ups with the weighted vest.
The following day my lower back/upper glute was hurting so I guess I overdid it a little bit. I spent the rest of the week icing, using a tennis ball for massage, and then heating the area as well. On Friday it snowed and I got to leave work a little early. Saturday I was feeling pretty good so we went sledding on a small hill nearby the house. That was pretty fun!
As far as gains, I must be eating a little too much as I put on 1.7 lbs of fat and only 0.9 lbs of muscle. I believe this is from eating a few extra calories on my non-training/recovery days. I can probably scale that back a little bit.
I have been re-reading Muscle Gaining Secrets by Jason Ferruggia this past week and using this program to help plan out my upcoming mass phase starting in January. I highly recommend this program to anyone looking to build muscle.
Body Composition:
To determine my weight and body fat percentage I weigh myself four times at various intervals throughout the day on my weigh in day. I take the average of these and that becomes the numbers you see below.
This isn’t entirely necessary, but I’m trying to account for flucuations that occur in my bodyweight throughout the day. A simpler method would be to just weigh yourself on the same day and same time each week…. but that’s not as much fun!
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Weigh in Results:
Beginning Bodyweight: 157.3lbs
Beginning Body Fat: 11.0%
Beginning Lean Mass: 140.1lbs
Beginning Fat Mass: 17.2lbs
Current Bodyweight: 161lbs
Current Body Fat: 11.9%
Current Lean Mass: 141.8lbs
Current Fat Mass: 19.2lbs
Total Bodyweight Change: Gained 3.7lbs
Total Body Fat Change: Gained 0.9%
Total Lean Mass Change: Gained 1.7lbs
Total Fat Mass Change: Gained 2.0lbs
Summary:
Overall I have gained 1.7lbs of muscle and gained 2.0lbs of fat
(0.8:1 Ratio of Muscle:Fat).
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I will also be using the following charts to track my progress visually. The first chart represents my body compositional changes from week to week. My scale calulates muscle mass, bone mass, water percentage, and fat percentage. I’m not sure how accurate these results are so this represents my best guestimate based on the scales output.
This first chart uses this data to graph the changes in my body composition over the next 26 weeks. If all goes as planned you should notice the red sections (muscle mass) growing larger and the overall columns (total bodyweight) growing larger. If the yellow sections (fat mass) are growing too large… then we’ve got a problem!
This second chart simply shows my current body composition as a pie chart. Red (muscle) = 19%, Green (bone) = 5%, Blue (water) = 64%, and Yellow (fat) = 12%.
Maximum Muscular Bodyweight:
According to The Weight Trainer: Maximum Muscular Bodyweight and Measurements Calculator:
My estimated maximum muscular bodyweight at ~10% bodyfat is:
197.1 lbs
This calculator gives you an estimate of the maximum muscular bodyweight and measurements that a drug-free trainee of a similar skeletal structure is likely to attain. It is based on equations Casey Butt developed through over 6 years of research and analysis of data from drug-free champions both past and present. The article presenting the equations utilized by this calculator can be found here: Your Maximum Muscular Bodyweight and Measurements.
I’m using this calculator as a general guideline in determining my ideal body weight and measurements for what I can accomplish naturally. I’m not letting these calculations impose limits on what I can accomplish. The only limits are the ones we impose upon ourselves. Remember, limits were meant to be broken! I just think its a cool calculator.
Measurements:
As another means of tracking my progress I will be measuring my neck, chest, arms, forearms, waist, hips, thighs, and calves. My wrist and ankle measurements should stay pretty much the same.
I used The Weight Trainer calculator to determine my goal measurements and rounded up or down a little based on my own desires, but only buy a 1/4 inch or so.
More specifically I just made the goal for my neck, arm, and calves measurements to be the same. This is typical of the Classic Physique goals talked about by Steve Reeves and other bodybuilding legends.
| Body Measurements | 12/13/2009 | Goal | Difference |
| Neck | 15.00 | 16.50 | 1.50 |
| Chest | 42.00 | 46.00 | 4.00 |
| Biceps (flexed | 13.50 | 16.50 | 3.00 |
| Forearms | 11.25 | 13.50 | 2.25 |
| Wrist | 6.50 | 6.50 | 0.00 |
| Waist | 32.88 | 31.00 | -1.88 |
| Hips | 35.00 | 35.00 | 0.00 |
| Thighs | 19.25 | 24.50 | 5.25 |
| Calves | 14.50 | 16.50 | 2.00 |
| Ankles | 8.50 | 8.50 | 0.00 |
As you can see the biggest differences are apparently my chest, arms, and thighs, but everything will need to come up. Well except my waist, which should be slimmer. The ideal concept is to have wide shoulders tapering down to a thin waist to develop the classic V taper.
Of course these are more bodybuilding type goals and objectives and not necessarily a requirement for athletes or those who are more performance oriented. Personally, I desire form and function… so I’m aiming for the best of both worlds!
Happy Holidays,
Brandon
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About the Author:
Brandon Cook is creator 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
© 2009 Hardgainer Muscle Building. All rights in all media reserved.
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