So this is day 3, and i woke up this morning to a very sore back. Good news is the pain is in my muscle in my lower back, i know good news right? It could be worse, it could have been my spine. I made the decision to take the day off and rest my back up, i will continue to rest for the day and hit shoulders/traps it will be a good test to see how my back is doing.

Sorry for the lack of news today but tomorrow will be more interesting, promise.

Ok so this column is quickly turning from near and dear  to me, to my worst idea ever. I Will start by saying that i have never been hurt at the gym and i take pride in using proper form to avoid such situations. That being said, the last 2 days i have hurt myself at the gym lol. Yesterday i tweaked something in my upper back, right below my shoulder blade, not to serious, i can barely feel it today. Well today was back day and it started out great.

I started will some bent over rows, just one set, to warm up, low weight with high reps, i think i did like 20. Then it was on to wide grip pull downs, one of my favorites. I Started with 130 and did 10 plus a rest pause set. I wont get into my love for rest pause, refer back to yesterday for that. I finished pull downs off with 2 sets at 145, 6 reps then 8. Next was bent over rows.

Now i do my rows with an underhand grip, personal preference. I find it works my bi’s as well. I have seen people do them either way but for me it has always been underhand grip. So i did my 3 sets, all to 10 reps at 110. I know this is low weight, but i have not done back in a while, so i decided to ease into it.

Apparently i wasn’t easing in enough, i made it through 1 set of dead lifts at 130 and tweaked my lower back, and it hurts. Now this isn’t an unbearable pain, and im sure its a combination of my lower back being weak, and me not training it enough period. One leads to another anyhow. So i decided to cut the dead lifts short, just to be safe.

I tried doing some single arm rows, wasn’t gonna happen, cable rows? nope. I had my whole biceps workout still left to do as well, but i decided to cut my loses and call it a day, i don’t want to do any more damage. I will do my bi’s on my core/calf day for this week. I just hope my back if fine for my leg day tomorrow.

For the rest of the day, after i take my protein i am going to clean the house, maybe fold some laundry. Then i am going to take my daughter for a walk, maybe to the park. Then its off to work at 2, i may make an update from there, depending on how busy i am.

Here’s the stats:

Wide Grip Pull Downs: 130 x 10 + RP / 145 x6 /145 x 8

Bent Over Rows: 110 x 10 / 110 x 10 / 110 x 10

Deadlifts: 130 x 10 / 130 x 2 (Stopped/Ended workout)

One Arm Rows : ——

Cable Rows : ——-

BB Curls: ——-

DB Preachers: ———

Stability Ball Hammer: ———

P.S. Progress pics in a week

First off let me start by saying that the exercise that i am about to write is absolutely Macho Man Randy SAVAGE! They may be one of my absolute favorite to do, and they give unparalleled results in working the muscle that they are designed to do.

That exercise being….. Tricep Kickbacks. Tricep kickbacks are critical in gaining muscle in your arms, and considering that triceps make up for 2/3 of your arms, if you are looking to get huge arms, this is a great way to help.

You don’t need to go too heavy doing tricep kickbacks, you just need to focus on proper form, and repping it out. Complete every rep and don’t give up. Your arms WILL burn, they will burn and burn and burn, especially if you throw them at the end of a tricep day or a chest day.

In order to do kickbacks effectively you need a flat bench, and a dumbbell. You could probably do it with a stability ball as well, which just gave me an idea for my next workout. I will get back to you and let you know how that works next time.

To start the exercise you are going to put the weight on the ground to the left of the bench or ball, then you are going to put your right leg on the bench or ball. next you will pick up the weight and raise your arm with your elbow bent until the elbow is parallel to the floor. Next without moving your arm position you will raise the weight until the arm is completely straight. Then you will lower the weight back down to the starting position. That is one complete rep.

Some tips for this exercise would be to keep your elbow locked to your sides, and look ahead at all times. You want to make sure you squeeze your tricep muscle at the top and as always go hard from first rep to the end.

All in all to sum this exercise in one word… SAVAGE… That is all, just savage. If you are looking to gain muscle, or get bigger arms, this will work for you, if you are looking for great definition, this will work for you. It is a well rounded exercise that will make your arms bigger, and just may end up one of your favorite exercises.

This will be the first post in my new rush the stage category. Rush the stage is a section that i will be holding very near to my heart, as it directly involves me. Rush the stage will be a daily (for the most part) diary of my training program and results in my goal to compete in my first bodybuilding competition, around my birthday next year.

That gives me a timeline of about 1 year to gain muscle, and definition and then drop the body fat, to reach my goal. Now to be a bit more specific on my goals, i plan to have a stage weight of about 175 pounds, that is what i am hoping for. Now i weigh 185 right now but im sitting around 25% body fat. So clearly i have a lot of work to do.

For the first phase of this program i am going to be on a semi-limited diet as i want to burn off the fat to hopefully go shirtless this summer, i still have a lot of work to do. I am still working out with the intention to gain muscle, but my diet as well as my cardio levels will not let me gain muscle as fast as i would like to at this point.

Late on i will be switching to a bulk diet where i hope to gain about 20 pounds of muscle or so, haven’t determined if that is realistic or not but we will see. After i gain lean muscle, i will finally switch to a cut diet in hopes to Burn Fat and get myself as close to 0% as possible and compete in my first show.

As for today, i woke up around 8:30 and got to the gym at 9. I am taking a few supplements as well as my multi. Currently i am taking Six Star Muscle products, their creating, nitric oxide, and fat burner pills. As well as their protein. It has a pretty good effect on me so while funds are tight it will have to do (BSN hit me up, i love your products). So i get to the gym and today is one of my favorite days, Chest and Tri’s My program will be the same for about a month, then i switch it up so that my muscles get confused and it helps my growth. So after a warm up i start on the flat bench, a plate and a 35 per side, repped it out to 8, with a rest-pause set tied into it. Then i went down to a plate and a 25 and did 2 more sets at 10 reps a piece. I love rest-pause sets when i’m trying to gain muscle, as they take a tired muscle and give it limited rest which in turn gives you great results. Next was the decline bench, which was pretty self explanatory, plate and a 5 on either side, high reps (15) to burn the fat, lower chest is an insecurity of mine. On to the incline bench for some more heavy weight, plate and a 35 on either side, on the first set i repped out to 8 but i felt weak, and as i put the bar back on the rack, i tweaked something in my back, below my shoulder blade, so i dropped down to a plate and a 25. The last two sets were fine after i stretched out my back repped them both out to 10. I try to keep my rep range between six and 10, i am trying to gain muscle, but i find anything with reps lower than six, i am killing myself trying to get up, and it does more harm then good. I do throw in high rep sets every workout, to burn some fat as well as to get the blood really flowing into the body part..

2 more chest exercises to go, i did cable crossovers on a stability ball, to help my core as well as i find it makes you focus on your chest contractions more, then i did a final drop set, with 50 pounds of chains on either side, with 20 pounds of with added to that. I love the chains because they give you a different feel for your chest, and they really work the deep tissue.

As for tri’s i did overhead dumbbell raises with heavy weight, tri extensions with low weight/ high reps and finished it off with tri pull downs with a rope. I will go into more detail about my tri workouts next week.

All in all, great workout, except for the damn cycle class playing John Mayer all class, but other than that it was great.

Here’s the first Set of Stats.
Weight: 185.6
Flat Bench: 260 1RM
Decline Bench: 193 1RM
Incline Bench: 260 1RM
Cable Cross: 17.5 Either Side x 15
Tri Overhead Extend: 120 1RM
Tri Extensions: 20 1RM
Tri Press down Rope: 70 x 15

For anyone looking to gain muscle, and shred away fat, i would suggest looking no further than a simply beautiful system designed by Jason Ferruggia. This system will not only show you proper techniques to use while at the gym, it will also debunk many myths about supplements and training regimes. Now any person looking for a quick fix should steer away, as this will not be an instant “snap of the fingers” fix, as gaining muscle is a process that will take time and a serious effort. If you are that person, that is willing and able to put in some effort and legitimately change your life and your personal health then i strongly suggest that you continue reading.

Jason is a world renown fitness trainer and health consultant with over 700 athletes on his resume. His work can be seen ranging across all sporting levels, in many different sports. You may have seen his work featured in such publications as Men’s Fitness, Men’s Health as well as Maximum Fitness. This may seem like your typical bodybuilder/personal trainer, but at that point is where Jason’s program frays from the norm. Jason was not one to be blesses with perfect genes, or the money to pump his body full of steroids, he has been working on his unique system for 15 years. His dedication to his clients and his own program is what initially drew me in. Jason has been around long enough to see products come and go, to see “fad” techniques and training programs fail, and this give his program a distinct advantage when compared to other programs.

The main things that drew me into Jason’s program were:
- His passion for fitness
- His knowledge of the fitness world
- His impressive resume
- And the shear volume of his program

This program comes with tons of resources for the average person to utilize and work to their advantage. Things like the nutrition guide and workout guide may not be what someone is looking for but they will quickly turn into something you use on a daily basis.

Using Jason’s guide, i was able to put my hard work to use at its maximum efficiency and see electric gains not only at the gym, but in the mirror. This program benefited me in more ways than i can count, and will do the same for you. If you are looking to:
- Build lean muscle without supplements
- Overcome less-than-ideal genetics
- Shred pounds while gaining rock hard muscle
- Be confident and happy about your body image

This is the perfect program for you! It worked flawlessly for me, and it will do the same for you.

If this is something you are serious about or just want to read up on the program yourself then i encourage you to visit Jason’s website to see for yourself. He can be found at the link immediately below.

Click Here – Muscle Gaining Secrets.

Hello Everyone,

As this is my first blog on my brand new website, I will be telling you what will be happening around here in the upcoming weeks. I have big plans for my new digital home. As you may have already noticed, or clued in from the title, TitanicProportions is a Bodybuilding/Bodybuilding Culture themed blog site. We will be covering a wide range of topics but the general theme will always be Bodybuilding. There are many features planned for this site, things that include product reviews, athlete spotlights, tips and advice to get you building muscle fast, as well as a feature that is very special to me. This feature will be called Road To The Stage, and it will be the ‘Meat’ of this blog, Road To The Stage will chronicle my effort and timeline in burning fat that has been left over from the winter, and getting prepped to take part in my first bodybuilding competition. There will be more on these features in the coming days, so stay tuned.

Thanks Everyone.