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Levas journey with sdmz 4.0

Levalexi

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Hey there.

I'm going to be logging my use of sdmz and my workouts in this thread. This will be my second round of ph,my first being super epiandro,which i loved.

A little about me

6'2" 232lbs
Squat
325 narrow
275 wide

Deadlift
450 conv
425 sumo

Push press
200

Seated strict press
165

Bench 205x3


Been lifting for 2 years now, with about 6 months off while i perused boxing,during which i did hundreds of pushups,situps,squats,kettle bell swings etc. After i broke my nose for the second time in 2 months before my first fight,i hung up my gloves and took strongman back up. I managed to get lucky and find a good crew within the northeast strongman community.

I want to compete in the lightweight category, but im not sure that will be possible this year. So since im just slightly above middleweight ill be competing there in both federations. The weights are a bit heavy for me (for now) but ive always took a challenge head on.

As for diet,ive always performed best doing a keto style diet. About 5/35/60 c/p/f. I'm eating about 2900-3000 cal a day,getting like 250g p and 210g f.

I recently started training at iron empire in dover nh for my gym work. I hooked up with a 2k multiply coach and have started doing Westside with a focus on the overhead press instead of bench. While i havent cut out bench completely, i don't do it as much.

Events i do on Saturday or Sunday depending on if i work ot on the weekends

Ive been sdmz for about 6 days so far.nothing to drastic,just increased recovery, which is amazing. I'm a sandblaster at a shipyard with 10 hour days 6 days a week so some days work cuts into my recovery.


I think that's about all for now!
 
Today was my speed press day. Pretty good day. Got done fairly fast. Not as fast as i hoped,but it will get there with gpp

Mil strict speed press
100lb+ .5in red band 9x3

Seated incline press
35x10
40x10
45x10
50x10
55x10

Band pull aparts
5x20

Lat raises
10x12
12.5x12
15x12

Tbar rows (weight of plates only )
70x12
90x12
135x12

Sled pulls 25lbs
4 80 ft trips low pulls
4 80 ft trips medium pulls
4 80 ft trips high pulls

Swiss bar curls
Bar x20

At the end i worked on my jerk form for a couple sets. Definitely something im terrible with and need to master for competition.
 
Good 10 hour day blasting. The forearm gains will be great. Ill have popeye forearms when im done.

Went and trained events with my partner.
Worked on my circus dumbell form for a bit
Did something like 4x3 87 with my right arm. And 2x3 at 99lbs.

Did some farmers walks next.
360lbs x50ft x2
440lbs x50x4
And finished off with a 460 yoke run from a low pickup.
Didnt accomplish much,but working on that damn dumbell is most important to me. Didnt have much time either.
 
Today was max effort lower body day. Wanted to do some rack pulls to see where my 18 inch deadlift was at. Ended up pulling from 14 inches instead.

14 inch deadlift - all sets double overhand
135x5
225x5
315x3
365x3
405x3
455x1 mixed grip

Hyperextension
50x12
60x12
70x12

.5 in Red band hamstring curls
3x30

Reverse Hyperextension tilted forward
25x8
50x8
50x8

Finished off the day with 2 sets of standing cable crunches and 2 sets of standing cable side bends.

It was an alright workout. The 455 went up fast after I broke it off the plates. I think I could have gotten a few more reps,but id Rather be safe than injured
 
Max effort upper today

Swiss bar bench, narrow grip
85x5
105x5
125x5
145x5
165x3
175x3
185x3
195x2- second rep was sketchy, but i rebraced for the 3rd rep. It got stuck about 4 inches off my chest, dropped it and tried to press again with no luck. Quickly roll of shamed it off. Not that a rectangular bar rolls...

Super setted these with like 150 band pull aparts.

Seated incline shoulder press
35x10
40x10
45x8
50x8

Krok rows
65x10
70x10
75x10

Facepulls with a straight bar
20x20
25x20
27.5x20

Tricep push downs with the spiral handle
50x10
55x10
50x10

Worked on my jerk a bit while i waited for the sled to free up.

Then i did 10 minutes of heel to toe sled drags with 70lbs.

Heading to the gym tomorrow as well for some upper body sled pulling.

I added 21mg of caradine (caps are 7mg) and 8 mg of lgd as well. Got them on sale. Im going to start pushing the volume each day while I've got the supps.
 
Rehab day today. Decided to add this in. Better use of my time than going home directly after work. Only takes about 20 minutes. Going to add in ab work next week as well. Maybe some rowing.

45lb sled drag
2 80 ft trips with low pulls
2 with side pulls
2 with high pulls
2 trips doing tricep extensions
2 trips doing curls
 
Thanks chez!

Today was my dynamic lower body day,aka speed squatz! Oddly the day in the week i look most forward to


Note:mini doubled up orange band adds about 60lbs to the top of my deadlift. I need to measure with the fish scale for my squat

Speer Duffalo bar, mini orange band doubled up
165x2 x12 sets. 11 mins 15 seconds.
This was about a minute less than last week. These felt slower to me than they should have been. Box squat form improving though. Need to record myself next week.

Speed deadlifts, mini orange bar,doubled up.
275x1 x8 sets.
4 mins 4 seconds for these. Thats almost 2 full minutes off of last week.felt really good. Bit slow from the floor some pulls.

Bodyweight hyperextensions
4x15

Inverse hamstring curl
205lbs 4x12
I went light on these today,did more reps. Focused on driving my feet into the platform to keep my posterior chain tight and controlled the reps. (For those who don't know what this is,think assisted dips. Except its an assisted ghr )

Cable side bends
25lbx20
30lbx20
35lbx20
40lbx20

Standing cable crunches
35x20
45x20
55x20
65x20
These felt much better as the weight got higher.

Finished off with some
Strict reverse hyperextensions
45lbs 3x12
I wanted to get another set in,but id have missed the bus and the next one wasn't for about an hour.

It was definitely a good workout today. Tomorrow should be just as good. Nothing on Saturday but some upper body sled pulling and training strongman sunday morning.

Recovery is still pretty good, not sure about weight gain,i don't trust the scale most of the time,due to my high meats and cheese diet, though ive been adding in a lot more greens now to help with my fiber issue.

Measurements and pictures tomorrow. Weight when i drop a massive deuce
 
Speed upper day

100lbs with a .5in red band.
9x3 8 mins 30 seconds
These finally were feeling good. I fucked up the first week and based them off of my push press max instead of my military press max,so ive just been doing the same weights instead of waving them. They finally felt fast tonight.

Floor press
100x8
135x8
145x8
155x8
165x8

First time doing these with a barbell,felt really good. Could have gone higher,but 5 sets was good. I made sure to dead stop on every rep.

1/4 dips
Bw 3x12

Supersetted with

Tricep rope extensions
40x12
40x12
35x12

Close grip lat pull-downs
42.5x12
50x12
60x12
70x12

This was a big superset
Straight bar face pulls
20x20 x3
Mini orange band side lateral raises
3x12
Mini orange band pull aparts
3x15

Straight bar fat gripz curls
40x12
50x10
60x8

Started my heel to toe sled pulls,but 3 minutes in, it felt wrong. I wasnt getting any pop. So i picked up the plates, grabbed my shit and ran to the bus stop. Low and behold, i almost missed my bus!

Definitely a good workout today. Got about the volume i wanted in. I wanted some more lat work,but i hit them pretty good with the close grip.

Had my Friday night bag of reeses pieces as i left the gym, i love carb days. Waiting for the wife to come home and then its date night! I love carb days! :D
 
Did some sled pulling,some abs and some lats today. Sled pulling gives me such intense pumps they are painful. Which is awesome.

Low,middle and high pulls
45lbs 3x160ft each.

Tricep extension pulls
45lbs 3x160ft

Bicep curl pulls
45lbs 3x160ft

Standing cable crunches- went heavy on these today. After testing them Thursday seeing that the lighter weights did nothing unless I went into the high reps (30-40+)
60lbs x20
65lbs x20
70lbs x20

Standing side bends-starting to really like these. These and side bends on the hyper extension bench. I hate not being able to look into a mirror when i do my left side, i feel like im not getting the full crunch even though i am.
35lbsx20 each side
40lbsx20 each side
47.5lbsx20 each side

Finished off with some seated rows
45lb each side x12
70lb each side x12
70lb each side x12

Im loving the dmz so far. 2 weeks in. Notsure about any muscle increase, but my strength is going up. And my recovery is through the roof.

Sex drive is through the roof,too bad my wife's isnt. Not that id have time for it working so early in the morning.

No hair loss, doesn't run in my family thankfully. Ill have a full head of hair at my death bed.

No increased aggressiveness, im a fairly calm and easy going person. Much less so than when i was on super epi andro.

Strongman training tomorrow with my states uss chairman. Speed axle deadlifts,farmers deadlifts and incline log press on the plate. Should be a good time. Chase is a pressing beast according to my coach, so i have a lot to learn from him.

Hopefully after that tomorrow,ill be doing some upper body work with my gyms coach.
 
Strongman sunday! Really good fucking session. Did some incline log press and some farmers deadlifts

Incline log
90x12 sets
110x10
140x8
190x1
160x3
170x3
180x3

Farmers bar deadlifts
Weights are each hand
135x2
185x2
225x2
245x1 with a 15 second hold
 
After strongman,i went to my gym to work on some upper body exercises to add to my arsenal. I try to meet up with him every weekend to work on things like form,ques,programming questions,progress, etc. Its aclass ky he puts on with my gym,but its usually myself and another kid that shows up.which is awesome.

We started off with flat bench. He taught me the correct form and we worked up from there. Used a 55lb bench bar
145x5
185x5
215x3
235x3
Felt amazing to be benching 2 plates. Just the sight of those on the bar made it all the better. And it put me over a 1000lb total finally!

Did some swiss bar deadstop presses. These started off with my triceps being at parallel and pressing from there
135 5x5
Screwed my feet in, squeezed my glutes and braced my core hard and each press went up much faster,without much struggle.

Worked with the bamboo bar next. Put 40lb kettle bells on and did 4x5 press

Did something like the dick press next with the bamboo bar with 25lb plates on. I pressed up,dropped behind the neck and pressed back to the front. That is 1 rep
4x8 on these

Finished off with some ab work. Did 100 100s,which is 25 straight leg situps followed by 25 leg raises. Im eventually going to work up to 4 sets of each.

Then we went to the hyperextension bench and faced away from it with the 20lb fixed barbell. Body at about a 45 degrees,barbell in the air and you kind of paddle with the barbell and brace the core. This is done for time. Did 2 sets of 30 seconds. This will be a great finisher.

Got some great Ideas for max effort work and accessory exercises today. Great training day for strongman and my class.

The sdmz is fucking awesome. The coach doesn't know im on anything, but he commented on my traps being visably bigger, so its working! Strength is through the roof. Ive made more progress in the last 3 weeks than ive had the past year
 
Decent workout today. The 2 power racks were full and the crossfit jungle gym doesn't have safety bars,so i think I could have gone higher,but i didn't want to chance it. Not sure how to dump a good morning yet haha.it sucks the racks are always full Mondays, but id rather see that then all the benches full! The people at my gym have their priorities straight!

Warm up

Reverse hypers
25lbs x15

Hyperextension
Bwx10

Workout

Good mornings, straight bar
45lbsx5
95lbsx5
115lbsx5
135lbsx3
145lbsx3
155lbsx3
165lbsx3
175lbsx3
195lbsx3
225lbsx1
Maxed out at 225. I know that I could have done more,just with no safetys i wasnt going to risk it.

Bamboo bar front squats
80lbsx5
120lbsx5x5

My new training partner gave me this idea. I could have done more, but loading a bamboo bar solo is fucking hard. My reps were slow, so they didn't bounce much. My last.set I rapid fire did them,so i got more of the bamboo bar effect

I super setted the above with
red band pull aparts
10 sets of 20.

Banded hyperextensions with banded rows
4 sets of 10 hypers, on the 10th rep,i held and did 15 quick rows.

Inverse curls
170lb assist 3x8

100 100s(situps supersetted with leg raises)
2 sets of 25 each.

Strict reverse hypers
45lbs 4x10

Rope curls
20lbsx20
25lbsx20
30lbsx20
35lbsx20

That ridiculous ab hold "swimming" exercise i learned yesterday
1 set,50 second hold.

I woke up a bit sore today in my mid back and a bit in my arms. Makes sense from what i did yesterday. I thought it was my normal achyness i usually get from waking up that goes away once i start moving. Didn't effect anything though.

I was tired as hell on the bus ride from work today,im not sure why. Popped my dmz about 45 minutes before i got to the gym. That seemed to wake me up after the good mornings . That and a smoking hot late 30s woman showed up. Cant be a pussy bitch around hotties!

Im definitely looking bigger,getting really good pumps and my muscles feel full and hard all the time.
 
Killer workout today. Just absolutely killed it.

Axle ohp lockouts
25x5
75x5
95x5
115x3
125x3
135x3
145x3
155x3
165x3
175x3
185x3
200x1

Incline axle press
115x8
135x8
145x8
155x8
165x8

1/4 dips
Bw 4x 12

Supersetted with
Red band tricep extensions,with a 2 sec hold. Used 2 diff grips
4x12

T bar rows. Weight listed is the plates on the bar
45x12
70x12
95x12
120x12

Close grip lat pulldowns
50x10
60x10
70x10
80x10

Straight bar face pulls
27.5 3x15

Supersetted with

Side lateral raises
10x12
12.5x12
15x12

Hyperextension bench side bends
30x10
45x10
50x10- switched to a bar behind my head. Increased the difficulty 10 fold

Supersetted this with

Hammer curls
20x12
25x12
27.5x12

Did some heel to toe sled work afterwards. Stopped about 8 minutes in due to a severally intense low back pump .

https://www.instagram.com/p/_mnGHkqsAl/
 
Extra workout today

Swiss bar rows
Bar x10
85x10
105x5x10 switched the grip up on these

Elbows flared tricep extension
20x3x20

Seated cable rows next,slow reps
110x12
120x12
130x12

Standing cable crunches
70x3x10

Standing side crunches
42.5x2x10

Strict single leg reverse hyperextension
45x2x12

Strict double leg hyperextension
45x1x12

Did around 10 minutes of upper body sled pulling

Hanging Holds with 20lb chain 1 min
Hanging hold with 40lbs of chain 40 seconds

Good extra workout. Was about an hour long. As my gpp increases,ill be able to reduce the time
I'm aiming for about 30 minutes. Ill be able to specialize them more as i learn what i need to do to bring up lagging parts. That's the point of the extra workouts.

My bodyweight is up to like 245. I've been eating like shit because of the holidays and i frankly haven't given a shit about my diet. Saturday ill be back on keto. I attribute most of the weight gain to water bloat and not shitting much.
 
Short day at work today. Got to the gym really early. Speed day today. The trainer said i should use the cambered bar. It sucks. Not sure on the weight of it yet.

Cambered bar speed squats. Doubled orange band
50lbs of plates 12x2

These were going up fast and stayed fast. Did this in 13:30. Slow time for speed squats,but it is a new bar. The bar definitely sucks. My box squats are getting better,somereps im not sitting back far enough though . Next week ill record them.Super setted these with

Red band pull aparts
12x15

Did speed farmers runs instead of speed deads.
310 total 8x60 or 70 ft. 5:30

Experimenting with these instead of the deadlifts for 3 weeks to see how they will effect my training. These felt fast,really fast. Next week,ill get someone to time each run.

Banded Hyper extension with rows. Doubled .5in red band
3x10,15

Tried for a ghr,but my hamstrings cramped up while going down.

Inverse curl
170x8
180x8
190x12

100 100s(situps,leg raises)
25,25
20,20

Hamstring curls,doubled. 5in band
2x30

Reverse hyper, with full swing.
90x3x10

Sidebends
90x20
Only did one set. I was getting a fucking painful lower back pump. Ive actually been getting a terrible low back pump from just about anything ive been doing the past few days. It sucks so much ass.

Actually got complimented by one of the old guys at the gym. Powerlifter all his life, still pulling 740 hex bar at 63 with so much shit wrong with his body. He asked my weight and i said 245. He never would have guessed it
Said i carried it well. Definitely felt good.

As far as weight, i downed a bottle of magnesium citrate. Got most of it out,but im still 245 246ish. Definitely a lot of bloat though. Keto again on Saturday morning. Cant wait.
 
xmas gains today!
speed upper day

axle bar bench press- mini orange bands, doubled. fish scaled these, about 20lbs of tension at the top each.
115x9 sets of 3 super wide, on rings, close grip

dicks press
50lbs 5x10

1/4 dips
bw 2x12
20lbsx12
20lbs x20

supersetted with

overhead tricep extensions
25x12
30x12
25x12 switched handles here
30x12

orange mini band front and side delt raises
3x15


chest supported cable rows
50x10
65x10
72.5x10
80x10
95x10

standing close grip latpulldown/tricep extension
85x2x8
100x2x8

dumbell shrugs
50x12
55x12
60x12

supersetted with

fat bar curls
40x3x12

landmine twists
25lbs bar weight 2x20

ankle sled drags
45lbs 2 trips walking forwards
1 trip sidestepping left
1 trip sidestepping right

good workout today, bodyweight was still up at like 247. those ankle drags were a killer. holy shit.
 
No class today. Still waiting on my strongman partner to see when he wants to train.

Did some restoration sled work and abs

25 or so minutes of upper body sled pulling
35lbs

100 100s (situps,leg raises)
25,25
25,25

Ab swimming holds
2x40 seconds

Hyper extension side bends,doubled red band
1x15 each side
1x12 each side

Back on keto today. Will be good to drop this bloat and see where i need to get to for February. Im about 5 weeks out from my competition now.
 
strongman today.

started with some
bamboo bar strict presses with holds at the top
50x8
70x8
90x8

played around with the 125lb circus dumbell. i had lots of cleans, and only managed 2 presses with lockouts. i have trouble with the lockout on it
circus dumbell
lockouts x2
cleans x5

did a sandbag medley next. im going to have one of these, but its going to be a grab and run then clean.
175,200,225lbs 2 30 ft runs, one timed(1:06) the other not

these just about killed me. definitely a weak spot for me. thankfully, the 250 bag i only have to bring like 10 ft and clean it. ill have no problem with that. once i can get some bags at my gym, ill be hitting this every damn week.
 
Max effort lower body day. Shitty day outside the gym. Fighting with my wife over something that any other woman wouldn't give a flying fuck about, but its a Huge deal for her,due to low self-esteem, anxiety and other shit.

So i figured the only thing to do was to squat. No bullshit,no variations,just ass to grass squats. When the world pushes you down, you say fuck you and squat.

135x5
155x5
185x3
205x3
225x3
245x3
265x3
285x3
315x3
325x1
335x1
350x1
My last 4 sets felt really easy. I was shocked how easy 315 felt.ive always had a mental barrier when it comes to squats over 285 or so. But im finally shattering it bit by bit.
I only had the slightest pause coming out of the hole on 350,but it was for less than a second and i shot right up.

I super setted all sets with pull aparts.
Mini orangeband x200 total reps

Hyperextensions
70x10
80x10
90x10
100x12

Inverse curls
190x3x10

I think im going to add in another hamstring movement or two. I'm not progressing as well as id like with these. Another movement and i think im going to drop the weight and do some lower reps for a bit

100 100s
25,25
15,15

I think with these as well,im going to do 4 sets and just try to reach 25 on each set.

Ab swim hold
45 sec
36 sec
30 sec

Strict single leg reverse hyper
45x2x12

Double leg strict reverse hyper
45x12

This is my last week on sdmz4.ill be having a new log up as soon as it comes in the mail. My strength is through the roof right now. Ive got no other way to describe it. Day 3 of keto,and im still at 247. Still working to deplete my glycogen stores and start burning fats for fuel. This shouldn't take more than a few days. My body goes into ketosis within a week of my cheat weeks usually .


The 247 may be a problem come February, but im good friends with the promoter and he said if im within a couple lbs of 220 he will give it to me.

2 weeks out ive got a protocol i follow that will help cut off a lot of weight while keeping strength up. And i can water cut at least 10lbs,i know that much.
 
Max effort upper today.

Axle push press
135x3
145x3
155x3
165x3
175x3
185x3
195x3
205x3
Couldn't lock out a 210. Still beat my best yoke push press of 200lbs though. Still happy as hell about it.

Axle floor press
135x8
155x8
175x8

1/4 dips
20lb chain 3x8

Elbows flared tricep extension
17.5 3x20

Dual pulley lat pull down (each hand has a handle )
50x10
55x10
60x10

Seated delt raises ( front, side,rear)
10lbsx2x8
7.5lbsx8

Various curls
3x20

Good workout today. Not as much volume as i usually do. Wanted to make the 608 bus. I cut out the sled work and some abs. Ill get all those in tomorrow.

Taking the rest of the week off from work so i can come backMonday refreshed. Its been a long year so far can't wait to enjoy the last few days
 
Restoration workout today.

Axle bar rev grip rows
25x10
75x10
135x3x10

Ab swim holds
1. 50 sec
2. 30 sec
3. 30 sec

Med grip seated rows
100x3x10

100 100s
25,25
25,25

Weighted hangs
20lbsx57 sec
40lbsx57 sec
60lbsx1min

Did a bunch of upper body sled work.
35lbsx too many sets to remember.

Reverse hyper full swing
45x3x12

Bodyweight is down to 243 today. Slowly getting there.
 
14 inch cambered bar speed squats, doubled mini orange band
135x10x2

12:40- would have been a bit faster, but i had to find a ride home

speed farmers runs
370lbs total weight 60 or 70 ftx8 5:06
at 6 runs i was at 3:30

RDL
135x8
185x8
225x8

banded hyperextensions with banded rows- red half band
10,20
10,15
10,15

banded crunches with side bends, thick orange band
2x12,12,12
1x15,15,15

doubled red 1/2 band hamstring curls with a pause
3x20

pallof press(each side)
2x12,12
1x15,15

inverse curl
145x6
145x2x5

reverse hyper
75x3x8

s. bar curls
40x3x12
30x12
 
I definitely will. Ive got a few days before im finished with the sdmz. Definitely gotten bigger,but ive gained a lot of fat and bloat too.

I cheated last night and had a bunch of carrot cake with cream cheese frosting. It was my dads birthday so i said whatever!

Still need to drop 20lbs by the Friday before my competition. But ive got something coming in the mail that will help with the recomp!

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G870A using Tapatalk
 
Speed upper today

Axle speed press,mini orange bands(about 40lbs at the top total )
135x9x3 8:30 about 30 seconds faster than last week

Bamboo bar dicks press
60x5x8

1/4 dips
Bwx8
20lbx12
40lbx10

Supersetted with

Overhead cable extensions
25x12
30x12
35x12

Close grip pulldown
120x10
140x10
150x10

Supersetted with

Tbar rows(plate weight )
70x10
95x10
95x10

Shoulder press machine
50x10
90x10
140x10
I didnt feel like doing delt raises today,though the shoulders got a beating with the bamboo bar

Ez bar curls
75x3x8

Facepulls
25x3x15

100 100s
25,25
15,15

Supersetted with

Ab swims
35 sec
27 sec

About 15 minutes of ankle drags afterwards with a 25lb plate. Walked forward mostly. Did 2 side to side runs for the left and right as well.

Last few days of sdmz. I think my last day is sunday or monday. Ill have pictures up then! Along with weight and measures
 
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