Krieger's journey on OPTIMUM ANABOLICS

      day 1 week 7 - june/25
Monday - progressive load - Low Protein! - shoulders

[superset 1]
Front Dumbbell Raises 6x13 6x9 6x8
Arnold Press 8x11 8x10 8x8

[superset 2]
Rear Dumbbell Lateral Raises 6x11 6x9 6x8
Side Dumbbell Lateral Raises 8-6x10 6x8 6x8

[superset 3]
Machine Shrug 70x12 75x7 75x8
Barbell Military Press 28x5 20x10 20x8

Nice to be back on progressive loading, that's when you don't worry at stopping 2 or 3 reps short of failure... I noticed that I spent all my life lifting without going to failure, maybe this has something to do with my lack of growth (or not, diet is a big thing for sure). In progressive load I try to go into failure, though I think usually I go 1 rep short of that... specially in the exercises with  barbells that can be throwed off the ground or even your neck/head/chest! Anyway, I'm trying...

A good point to observe is that I'm lot stronger in the first set, and drop weaker in the second, the third I'm ok. Maybe I would do great with one-set workouts programs... maybe I do that later.

The Read Dumbbell Lateral Raises was really a killer, as I couldn't do at perfect form without swinging a bit.
I tried to do Side Lateral Raises with 8 kg in each hand, but I noticed it was heavy to do so, and my muscle was already a bit exausted...
My grip on Machine Shrug was failing.... Must use straps!
Barbell Military Press... Now I love that one... really, my stabilizers are over the top when I'm at it... specially if you're with 28 kg...

Oh yeah, and I got a massage with a specialized therapist in the afternoon... must do this at least 1 time a month... very relaxing...

    day 2 week 7 - june/26
Tuesday - progressive load - Low Protein! - Arms/Abs

[superset 1]
Dumbbell Preacher Curl 8x12 8x10 8x8
Twisting Dumbbell Kickback 6x12 6x10 6x9

[superset 2]
Twisting Dumbbell Curl 8x12 8x10 10x8
Close Grip Bench Press 20x12 32x10 32x8

[superset 3]
Twisting Crunch x12 x10 10x?
Hanging Knee Raises x12 x10 x8

Now I really feel the pumpness. Now I feel I'm going into failure. After all, my form is improving much. Thanks no Mr. Jeff Anderson. I don't use a little bit of other muscles as well as swinging when I'm doing curls. I go into failure and squeeze at top. Though I don't like much of kickbacks, it really feels triceps as a whole, contracting.... very good... I think it's growing imensely because of this exercise... the form of the exercise is tiring... But I feel my tri's are growing beserk because of this exercise. And Close bench presses, I love it. The last weight is very good, and it feels like i'm doing this with my bodyweight on the floor.

I tried to do the last set of twisting crunch with a weight of 10 kg behind the head, and the form was so lame that I didn't know how much useful reps I could get...

    day 3 week 7 - june/27
Wednesday - progressive load - Low Protein! - Legs

[superset 1]
Leg Extension 4x12 4x10 5x8
Lying Leg Curl 3x12 3x10 3x8

[superset 2]
Seated Calf Raises 40x12 40x10 40x8
Squat 32x12 32x10 32x8

[superset 3]
Seated Calf Raises 40x12 40x10 40x8
Leg Press 120x12 140x10 140x8


My back, specially the lower part, is sore... so I could not do deadlifts or 6 sets of squats, so I did leg presses.
The weight on the squat is beginning to go up and I should get a spot partner to take the bar out of my back while it's heavier, cause my arms are tired to take them from my back into the rack.

The Diet is good so far, I manage to not crave much meat cause I eat a bit of lean beef post-workout, when you're supposed to take all 30g of protein dairy of lowprotein cycle. This with 3/4 scoops of whey (= 16g protein) in water. Plus some potatoes with olive oil, and toasted cashews (good fats) with two tablespoon of sugar - DELICIOUS! This is my recovering postworkout meal :) Sounds good, isn't? It recovers the taste too...

SO HUNGRY! Arr. Even after a bunch of potatoes I'm hungry! At least this should be easier then lowcarb diet I did before.

    I weighted myself on the same place I always weight, while on fasting upon waking up.
Strange thing, I'm 91.5 kg. This means I'm loosing weight. While I'm not getting any visible bodyfat away... this is scary. I hope this goes up to 96 kg while shrugged off 4 kg of fat at the end of highprotein cycle.

    day 4 week 7 - june/28
Thursday - progressive load - Low Protein! - Back

[superset 1]
Twisting Dumbbell Row 10x12 10x10 12x8
Wide Arm Lat Pulldown 35x12 40x10 45x8

[superset 2]
Twisting Dumbbell Row 12x12 12x10 12x8
Wide Arm Lat Pulldown 35x12 40x10 40x8

[superset 3]
Twisting Dumbbell Row 10x12 10x10 12x8
Wide Arm Lat Pulldown 30x12 35x10 40x8

I could defintely feel the strain on my back. My strenght is getting better at twisting dumbbel row. The 9 series of wide arm lat pulldown really has some awesome effects. It feels the back more pumped than if it was mixed with other exercises.
I ate chinese food - yakisoba with vegetables, and it was very good!

     day 5 week 7 - june/29
Friday - progressive load - Low Protein! - Chest

[superset 1]
Dumbbell Flies 10x12 10x10 10x8
Dumbbell Press to Neck 10x12 10x10 10x8

[superset 2]
Dumbbell Flies 10x9 8x5 6x8
Dumbbell Press to Neck 10x10 8x10 6x8

[superset 3]
Bent Leg Crunch 6x12 6x10 6x8
Full Rotation Knee Raises x12 x10 x8

I'm not doing more repeated supersets in ProgressiveLoad cycle. That's because it's very hard to go into failure for, say, 6 or more sets. This cycle is for intensity, while Hyperadaptive can be more into volume since it's not into failure. I think this approach will improve much in the program overall. Hyperadaptive cycle = repeated supersets, Progressive loading = different exercises always.

My grip was failing in the second superset. The apple muscle (I call this biggest muscle in the palm) of the hand was burning, I had to lower the weight to push forward. Also, chest was burning too.
Good workout, made me think a lot.

    I am doing some massages sessions and I will post here how my body relaxes from it.

The first one is typical relaxing massage, and it's great for relaxation, plus the massagist is very good! Not so good for neck/back pain though, two days after I was sore all the same.

The second is ayurvedic massage, and it was less relaxing and more stretching, which was good. Seems to be better to muscles.

The other one is shiatsu... and it's the more different. It's based on chacraks, and it stimulates the points that's weak and painful. I find it to be not relaxing at all, but at the end of it I was completely more calm, more in touch with myself and more spiritual also.

I will do this again in the next weeks.

     day 1 week 8 - july/2
Monday - progressive load - Low Protein! - Shoulders

[superset 1]
Front Dumbbell Lateral Raise 6x12 6x10 6x8 8x5
Twisting Dumbbell Military Press 6x12 8x10 8x8 10x8

[superset 2]
Rear Dumbbell Lateral Raise 6x12 6x9 6x8 6x8
Side Dumbbell Lateral Raise 6x12 6x10 6x8 6x8

[superset 3]
Machine Shrug 70x12 70x10 70x8 70x8
Machine Military Press 50x10 40x10 45x8 50x8

Creatine is definitely helping... Anyway my strenght is not getting as low as I thought it would be in low protein cycle. In fact it seems a bit better now.

     day 2 week 8 - july/3
Tuesday - progressive load - Low Protein! - Arms/Abs

[superset 1]
Dumbbell Concentration Curl 10x12 10x10 10x9 12x6
Overhead Cable Extension 10x12 15x11 20x8 20x8

[superset 2]
Hammer Curl 10x10 10x10 10x8 6x7
Close Grip Push Up bwx12 bwx10 bwx8 -

[superset 3]
-

This was a killer workout. I was trying new exercises, then I was working on form of overhead cable extension, so I bend down about 90 degrees so I can use the cable which was short, and this required lot's of swinging to hold the weight in the position.
The close grip push ups really made me sweat and fatigued me. I was starting to get dizzy.
My ego was creeping: "Be a man, finish it all! Eat those weights!" And my bodysense was saying me: "Listen to your body, boy! Your job is done, so go to home rest now or keep yourself days from coming back in your home recovering!"

I listened to my body.

I have been traveling, and I had not a computer nearby to post my workout log. And even I have them on paper, it would do a lot of work doing it now as I keep them anyway and the journal here is for motivation purposes, so I'll continue from this week on.

All I have to say is that I didn't missed a single day of exercise and even was doing my lowprotein diet successfully.

Here are my measurements:

neck 42 cm
wrist 17 cm
chest 109 cm
waist 99/105(abs) cm
arms 37 cm
forearm 30 cm
hips 107 cm
calves 38
thighs 62

BF ? (still waiting for callipers... )
Weight: 92 kg
Height: 185 cm

What I can tell about low protein phase? I did not notice any major changes, really. Maybe some strenght gains in the first two weeks. My sex drive was not yelling like I thought it was going to be, but it's high normally so :) I was amazed about how I didn't lost any muscle or had any troubles with this diet, it seems to handle just fine. I even thought I was more bulky by the mirror.. but I think I'm still with that belly... very weird, it seems like this program mess with your body greatly... I mean, sometimes I feel thinner and sometimes fatter... that's strange...

    WEEK 10 - DAY ONE (mon 17/july)
HYPERADAPTIVE
HIGH PROTEIN + 1
SHOULDERS

SS1
Front Dumbbell Lateral Raise 4x12 4x10 4x8
Barbbell Military Press 8x12 8x10 8x8

SS2
Rear Dumbbel Lateral Raise 4x12 4x10 4x8
Side Dumbbell Lateral Raise 4x11 4x9 4x8

SS3
Rear Dumbbell Lateral Raise 4x12 4x10 4x8
Barbbell Military Press 12x12 12x10 12x8

That's a relief. Going on progressive loading while in low protein diet is exausting and all you wait is for this first week of relief.
I can take my ass of protein now... milk, milk, milk! and eggs, and meat, never tasted so good! I'm having a pizza this weekend for sure. Maybe two. :)

Hyperadaptive I'm going into low weights but with some volume (i'm repeating some exercises from the same tables). Anyone has a comment on doing the same exercise in different times, like I did with military press?

Shoulders are very nice and I can see in the mirror (with proper lighting) a separation of delts and triceps.

     WEEK 10 - DAY TWO (tues 18/july)
HYPERADAPTIVE
HIGH PROTEIN + 1
ARMS/ABS

ss1
Dumbbell Preacher Curl 6x12 6x10 6x8
Reverse Grip Press Down 10x12 15x8 15x7

ss2
Hammer Curl 6x12 6x10 6x8
Dumbbel French Press 6x12 6x10 6x8

ss3
Twisting Crunch x12 x10
Hanging Knee Raise x12 x10

I had to go unfinished cause of the time.
I don't know if it's my gim's mirror but my arms is looking bigger.

     WEEK 10 - DAY THREE (wed 19/july)
HYPERADAPTIVE
HIGH PROTEIN + 1
LEGS

ss1
Leg Extension 15x12 20x10 25x8
Lying Leg Curl 15x12 20x10 25x8

ss2
Seated Calf Raise 30x12 30x10 30x8
Squat 20x12 20x10 20x8

ss3
Seated Calf Raise 30x12 30x10 30x8
Squat 20x12 20x10 20x8

That's the easiest leg workout ever.

    WEEK 10 - DAY FOUR (thurs/july)
HYPERADAPTIVE
HIGH PROTEIN + 1
BACK

ss1
Hanging Row 20x12 20x10 20x8
Wide Arm Lat Pulldown 35x12 40x10 40x8

ss2
Hanging Row 20x12 20x10 20x8
Wide Arm Lat Pulldown 35x12 40x10 40x8

ss3
Hanging Row 20x12 20x10 20x8
Wide Arm Lat Pulldown 35x12 40x10 40x8

Very good workout. It was not hard, not easy either, how it should be a hyperadaptive workout, without going into failure but without doing some effort.