I just started a new workout and am going to keep a journal here. First of all, I do not make any recommendations because we are all different and have different training needs. You should consult a physician before starting any diet or exercise. This workout was inspired by the Colorado Experiment. The workouts I am doing are very similar to what different websites claim to be the workouts from the experiment. This journal is not intended to replicate the Colorado Experiment. First of all, I do not have access to the equipment that was said to have been used. In fact, such equipment does not exist where I live as far as I know. My intention is to gain size and strength. I am currently 209lbs and early 40's. My diet is approx 4,000 calories per day. Additional details can be found here about my diet, https://forum.nofap.com/index.php?threads/jws-bulking-diet.346842/ I also want to say this workout is very intense. I would not personally attempt this without a lot of experience in the gym and without being cleared by a physician before starting. What I am seeking to do is use only full full range exercises that provide resistance from the beginning of the rep to end. I am only doing one set of each exercise to the point of momentary failure. I do stretches and warmup before each session. I use a weight for each set that I expect to be able to get at least 7 reps with. I take each set to momentary failure but once I reach 10 reps in a set, I will increase weight next time I do the exercise. I am using a tempo of taking 2 seconds to lift and 3 seconds to lower. Some sets I am doing my reps "Negative Accentuated". This is done on machines. Basically, I am lifting the weight with both limbs but lowering it with one limb; alternating limbs. This is very intense and not for the beginner! I think this is it. I have already done two workouts. I'll list them in a bit and give my thoughts from each session. Thanks for following and feel free to ask any questions.
Workout 1 4-15-23 Deadlift 225lbs x 8 Leg Extension(Negative Accentuated) 80 x 16 Squat 315 x 6 Leg Curl(Negative Accentuated) 80 x 8 Straight Arm Lat Pulldown 45 x 10 Lat Pulldown to Chest 100 x 8 Military Press 135 x 8 Tricep Machine Press(Negative Accentuated) 40 x 8 Machine Arm Curl(Negative Accentuated) 40 x 8 Total Workout Time - 29min 54sec A few more notes about these workouts. This is HIT(High Intensity Training) so I take only the necessary and minimum time between sets. It had been a few days since I worked out so this workout was tough. In the future, I may not do legs in the beginning of the workout. It really zapped me for the rest of the routine. In hindsight, I should have used more weight on Leg Extension. I still took the set to momentary failure. I also hurt by bicep a little. This is the first time I have done negative accentuated reps. They are no joke! I should have started with much less weight for a few days on those exercises to get adjusted.
Workout 2 4-18-23 Straight Arm Lat Pulldown 47.5lbs x 10 Lat Pulldown to Chest 100 x 10 Military Press 135 x 10 Incline Bench Press 185 x 5 Machine Arm Curl(Negative Accentuated) 40 x 11 Tricep Machine Press(Negative Accentuated) 40 x 11 Machine Lateral Raise 60 x 8 Dips 4 Squat 315 x 7 Total Workout Time 19min 9sec This workout went much better than the first one. I felt strong throughout. I'll be adding weight to several exercises next workout. Incline Bench Press was pretty weak. It had been a while since I had done them. I was weak and wobble throughout. I should do better next time. I gained a rep on squat since last workout. Very happy about that!
4/20/23 Workout 3 Straight Arm Lat Pulldown 50lbs x 11 Seated Row 180 x 6 Military Press 140 x 10 Dips 6 Shrug 295 x 7 Incline Bench Press 185 x 7 Machine Arm Curl(Negative Accentuated) 45 x 8 Tricep Machine Press(Negative Accentuated) 45 x 6 Machine Lateral Raise 60 x 8 Leg Extension(Negative Accentuated) 100 x 8 Squat 315 x 7 Leg Curl(Negative Accentuated) 80 x 10 Total Time - 32min 12sec Today's workout was tough. No need to sugar coat it! I added in some new exercises today. Lats are getting stronger really fast. Military Press was a breeze today. No ground gained on bench press on squat. I did move up the weight and reps on Leg Extension and Leg Curl. I am getting more comfortable with the negative accentuated reps. I think this workout could have went much better. I didn't feel well today for one. I must have got 20-30 work related messages in the 32 minutes I was working out; kinda ridiculous! I was constantly stopping the clock to answer. This defeats the purpose of HIT. I will have to prevent this in the future. Not the best workout but learned from it.
4-22-23 Workout 4 Straight Arm Lat Pulldown 55lbs x 11 Lat Pulldown to Chest 105 x 10 Military Press 145 x 10 Seated Row 180 x 9 Dips 7 Machine Arm Curl(Negative Accentuated) 45 x 10 Tricep Machine Press(Negative Accentuated) 45 x 10 Lateral Raise Skipped Incline Bench Press 185 x 7 Squat Skipped Deadlift Skipped Total Workout Time - 22min 46 sec I didn't make it through this workout. I have felt off for the last couple days. I have consumed way too much caffeine which is another bad habit I have been working on. I skipped Lateral Raises because my right shoulder didn't feel quite right. After my set of Incline Bench I ran out of water and went to get more. Feeling light headed, I sit down for a bit and realized I was done for the day. I've drank tons of water the last two days. I think the increase in caffeine may have caused me to be a bit dehydrated. Writing this post about 90 minutes later, I am leveling out now. All of the exercises I done went very well. I made gains everywhere except for Incline Bench Press. I'll be patient and try again next time. I weighed in today and took measurements. I am up 2lbs in body weight and legs show the most growth. Legs have been lagging so I am happy about that.
Update to yesterday's workout. It seems I was a bit dehydrated. I went on a big caffeine binge for the last couple days and on top of that I started taking creatine again. I have been drinking lots of water the last 24 hours and I am now 213lbs; up 4lbs since I started.
4/24/23 Workout 5 Incline Cable Flies 40lbs x 10 Incline Bench 185 x 8 Straight Arm Lat Pulldown 60 x 10 Military Press 150 x 7 Tricep Machine Press(Negative Accentuated) 47.5 x 10 Machine Arm Curl(Negative Accentuated) 47.5 x 10 Lateral Raise 60 x 7 Leg Curl(Negative Accentuated) 85 x 6 Deadlift 225 x 7 Leg Extension(Negative Accentuated) 105 x 10 Squat 315 x 7 Total Workout Time - 31min, 12 seconds I'll start off with some workout notes. I added Incline Cable Flies and am working chest first. I have not made a lot of progress here in strength so I am emphasizing it more. I plan to switch between flat and incline press from one workout to the next. I really like Straight Arm Lat Pulldown. I credit Mike Mentzer for that exercise. I would have never thought of that had it not been for him. In fact, I am looking for a good deal on a lat pullover machine. I continue to gain size and strength in arms. My arms have been stuck at 16-1/2 for a while now. They recently shot up to over 17"! I really like negative accentuated training. The areas I am doing it are arms and legs and that is where I have seen the most growth. I would like to do some straight up negatives but I do not have a training partner. Bodybuilding is not the norm where I live although I do know two weight lifters within 30 min of me. I may be able to coordinate something with them in the future. These workouts are extremely tough. I am going to momentary failure on each set. I feel like it is pushing the limits of my body and am extremely fatigued afterwords. My wrists are hurting for reasons I am unsure of. I will have to watch that closely. It could be to the tricep machine I am using. It is a bit awkward. I may switch to working triceps on my cable machine instead. Other than legs growing rapidly, arms now back over 17". I noticed excellent growth in my pecs and shoulders. I am starting to get the vascularity back in my pecs again. I seem to be shedding some body fat too. I am getting more defined. Again, these workouts are tough but I am getting results. I will forge ahead.
4-26-23 Workout 6 Incline Cable Flies 50lbs x 10 Flat Bench Press 185 x 4 Straight Arm Lat Pulldown 65 x 8 Tricep Machine Press(Negative Accentuated) 50 x 6 Machine Arm Curl(Negative Accentuated) 50 x 6 Shrug 295 x 5 Dips 4 Squat 315 x 10 Total Workout Time - 24min 29sec I done a short workout today. I did not have much energy and did not feel like going to the gym. I knew I would be gone all day tomorrow so I decided to do a short workout. I finally got to 10 reps on Squat although the last rep was sloppy. Flat bench press was not the greatest. For some reason, I have lost a lot of bench press strength. Not sure why. I feel like I may be over training. I will try one more workout and I may have to re-evaluate. This workout was not the best but it was all I had.
I decided to wrap up this training cycle. The last workout was 4-26. This seems like too much training for me. I was sore workout to workout, didn't feel like I was fully recovering, and at the end I believe I developed CNS fatigue. If you look up the symptoms, I had about every one. In particular, I had the flu like symptoms, brain fog, irritability, and at the end it felt like my performance was declining. I am going to keep a lot of the principles of HIT. I am working on a new workout now and will start a new journal once I get it where I want it.
