Yo,

I just started lifting and I'll be documenting all my progress on that page

https://www.facebook.com/SkinnytoBuffJourney

Be sure to follow my 90 day transformation.

I'll be recording all my workouts and logging them. I'll also show and share the meals I eat with meal prep tips. And as usual, I'll be sharing cutting edge bodybuilding knowledge and research.

This post has been edited by Armesh: Sep 22 2016, 12:17 AM

90 days is just a benchmark for the next body picture. I'll still be training for years to come. So the page and log will go on even after 90 days.

Wow, finally. I'm sure many of your 'fans' will come and comment.

W00t. Didn't know you havent start lifting. Lol. Anyway, im pretty sure you'll transform into bigger fitter person. Dem newbie gains good luck in your journey!

Your dumbbell rows, keep your knee straighten either to the side or back. It's affecting your range of motion. I think you're actively trying to avoid hitting your knee cause they're in the way.

I admit u are very knowledgeable. Thats good for a beginner. I salute u. But i was surprised you dont even lift, yet u bash routines, exercises, etc which u NEVER tried before. Give advices only if u have the experience, not just based on what u read off the net

I checked ur fb page. Applaud u. Just change your attitude, and ypu are golden

Thanx. We should meet. If you come KL be sure to hit me up.

Actually my leg is in-front cause I pull the dumbbell to my nipple. Supposed to do pendly rows (horizontal rowing) but hamstring flexibility is so bad I can't deadlift also. I switched to seated rows now, pull to chest.

I even got some injury in my right buttocks on Day 3 from RDL, pain so bad like sciata, just only ok (Day 32). Planning to do MRI.

I see, so you're using this to replace pendlay. I have the same flexibility issue, I replaced mine with seated straight bar row.

if got flexibility issue, stretch more n adding stacker below weight till d point u feel comfort..

I cannot do any hip hinge, it aggravates the injury and I cannot walk the whole day. Causes sharp tingling pain in buttocks.

Currently doing 2min static hamstring stretching for each leg everyday. I'm seeing an orto in this week regarding my injury. Will discuss the whole injury and rehabilitation thing with him. Probably absolute 0 deadlifts or DL variations in my 3 month journey.

I also promised myself no hip hinge exercise until I can touch legs.

ic.. but y starts wit orto? i thought they open mouth sure talk ab surgery /operation


I also hav pain at my buttocks, specifically on d right side. it starts wit DL n spread to squats. need rest 1 month 1st b4 can do anythin. act, imho no need to stretchin everday. jus do on d day u do leg related workout. apart from stretchin, foam roll do help as well. n finally some warmups b4 working sets. till now i still hav minor pain but doesnt bother me too much. apparently d prob m facing is bcoz d urat belakang tertarik till below my buttocks area

Just came back from clinic, since no pain in back, doctor ruled out disk herniation.

So most probabily little tear/strain some ligament/tendon in my buttocks and sciata nerve irritation. Decided no hip hinge for 1 month more to allow full recovery. Then after that test with hip hinge(RDL), if still same prob then see orto.

I still do heavy squats since they so not cause any hamstring stretch.

Edit.

After some long hard 6 hours of thinking, I decided to eliminate all lower body work for 1 month. This is to allow full proper recovery. I've been 3 weeks in with this injury in my buttocks, there is healing, but i think squats are not helping. Thus it is stupid and arrogant to still push them.

I have to admit that I'm abit depressed about this setback especially the fact that it happened early in my training. But then again "Bodybuilding is a marathon, not a sprint". So, I'll be back with stronger ligaments and better hamstring flexibility after 1 month and squat more than ever.

Anyway... Bodyweight bench, here I come! - Day 32

This post has been edited by Armesh: Feb 11 2015, 01:50 AM

Day 118

On April 10 I completed my 90 days journey. https://www.facebook.com/SkinnyToBuff90day/...?type=1&theater

My ass nerve problem is still present but much less. I didn't see an orto.
I can RDL now. I dropped Squats and started doing Knees to Chest Leg Press cause apparently my ass is flat and Leg Presses are safer.
I am not a Powerlifter, I don't give a fuck about the 'total', and I strive to develop an aesthetic physique while staying injury free.
Currently I can flat bench my body-weight 60kg for 1RM according to calculator. I aim to easily flat bench 1.5x body-weight in 365 days of training. On another note, I can rep 11 clean dead hang pullups.
Body-weight today: 59.7kg.

This post has been edited by Armesh: May 9 2015, 08:26 PM

Day 121

After suffering from nerve injury and pain in my buttocks for 4 months, whereby I could not walk properly for 1 month, hardly can walk on 2 month, and 3rd month can walk and even after 4 months still experience some pain, today I decided to see a Traditional Chinese Therapy Master who deals with this.

He was the BOSS! Under 1 minute know the problem edy.





My sacrum/pelvic is tilt to the left. You can clearly see my lower spine bone bumps are not even. This caused my body to lean to the left whereby you can see my left side is slightly more curved. This tilt also caused all my right back muscles to be super stiff due to the strain.

Basically, when I did the light RDLs on Day 3, the tilt sacrum/pelvic poked hard on my sciatic nerve in my ass, crippling my right for 1 full month. This is why I feel nerve pain in my right buttocks when I do RDL even now after 4 months, cause the poking bone.

He said this was caused by sleeping on one side overtime causing the tilt. He said just a small common problem, but if you dun fix it will pain forever. Solution: Sleep straight on floor for 1 month and no leg work for 1 month. FML, goodbye leg gains.

This post has been edited by Armesh: May 9 2015, 09:01 PM

Stats today (Day 123): Weight 60kg, height 182cm++, 5.8 inch wrist.

On darklight79 request

I train in the 8~12 RM range. I don't go anywhere near 4RM cause snapcity, let alone 1RM. I train alone in a empty gym.

Upper
This is the body-weigh bench press I claim. My current max computes to 62kg as of today.



Another key lift is my Incline Bench. It's always locked at 85~90% of my bench press. I don't OHP cause Incline gives the nice aesthetic chest development and my front delts get hit enough anyway.



These are clean deadhang pullups. Neutral grip. No swinging chit.
I saved like 2 reps, cause I find them extremely taxing. Else my whole training today will be disrupted. Time to do them weighted.



Lower
Remember the long pm I sent you? Basically my right was crippled for 1 full month due to that nerve injury. After close to 3 months only able to walk properly and do some light squats. Now I still can't do any Squats/Deads for another 1 month cause treatment. Painful 4 month setback
Anyway I try my best to build/maintain some leg size despite it.


upload image online free

Sorry no lifts footage, can't lift.

This post has been edited by Armesh: May 11 2015, 05:54 PM

Day 197:

It's been 197 days I've been training. Never took a deload, not even once.
Gym was close 1 week for Raya, thus a forced 1 week no gym deload. Went back yesterday after 1 week, lost like 5% strength on upper body. I dunno it's my CNS or the weather was too fcking hot, or the fact that I lost 500 grams weight in off week.

My progress has also drastically slowed down ever since being able to bench body-weight do Pullups with +10kg for reps.

But since last month, something weird been happening.
I am recovering very very well from my current Push - Pull - Push - Pull split (3 or 4 days a week, done like a A - B split). It's like I have adapted to the volume and now have a higher work capacity. So starting today I will 1.5x my upper body volume, 2x (doubling) my lower body volume, and running a Fullbody split training 6 days a week.

And with doubling my weekly volume, I am also increasing my daily calories from 2500 -> 2650.

This post has been edited by Armesh: Oct 7 2015, 09:15 PM

Day 231:

It's been 7 Months+ I've been training now. Never took a break or deload.

Sadly, I'll have to take almost 1 Month of complete break from upper body training, and it really sucks.

This is due 2 reasons:

1. I slightly/partially tore some tricep tendon which inserts at the behind of my elbow last month. I did Overhead Extensions with a 15 rep max light weight, no pain nothing. But the next day my elbows were bruised/swollen. I did this exercises again the next week and the same shit happen. This swelling took 2 weeks to go away. I did some active rest whereby I only did compounds for my tricep (0 pain) for the next month. It managed to heal 70% after 1 month but today still feel abit pain and sharp pain if do any tricep extensions. I suspect this injury happened due to my accutane/isotetrin course.

2. Facepulls caused an ulna stress fracture in my left arm. It's a micro fracture. I have tiny girly wrist, not even 6 inch thick. Now I can't do any bicep curls or chin ups without sharp pain in my ulna bone. I got this before from bicep curls last year so I know.

So considering 1 & 2, I decided for a complete month off upper body.


It's ok if I lose some gains today. I'll come back stronger, with thicker bones and tendons.
No place for ego in training.

As of today:


Edit
I actually trained 1 week with where I only did 6 sets each for back and chest for the whole week. This actually allowed me to maintain all my strength (even gain some), and my elbows are very close to healing. I only do/will be doing compounds for my triceps. No extensions until next year. Continuing training as normal.

This post has been edited by Armesh: Oct 7 2015, 09:14 PM

Day 285:

Today it arrived. The legendary Harbinger Dipping Belt.



Always wanted to buy it. Finally got it cause the weight was getting heavy and my DIY dip belt was starting to choke my intestines and it was sure gonna break at 20kg.
Used it today right away and this Harbinger belt felt insanely comfortable. Well made, good product.


Also bought together with it was Harbinger padded lifting straps cause my non padded straps was cutting my skin:








Day 286:

Told sister to randomly snap a back picture and wala...didn't even know I had these gains.

Day 290:

Left arm starting to have forearm tendinitis and has slight medial delt strain. Been training continuously for 10 Months + now without break.

So finally I decided to take 2 complete full weeks off from training to let my joints heal and de-condition myself. Taking a break is so hard... srs.

This post has been edited by Armesh: Nov 6 2015, 05:37 PM

Day 302:

Finally back in the gym after 2 weeks complete break. All my maxes seem to be down by ~5kg. Surprisingly never really lost much strength/size.

Didn't track my food in that 2 weeks and ended up losing ~500grams bw, now at ~64kg. That pure ecto metabolism, blessing in disguise.

My body is 100% healed now, even my tricep tendinitis at elbow is also 95% healed, can do light tricep extensions without pain. It felt great training pain free without any inflammations/joint pains. Maybe I'll make it a lifetime staple to take 2 weeks off every 6~8 months of training.

It was worth it, 1 step back, 2 steps forward.

Day 338:


The fucking gym been closed since last week. Everyday open 1 Hour ~ 1.5 Hours I wait outside the door almost everyday I still can tolerate. This time never open at all.
Faggot took my RM 80 for this month and dunno go where. Scam my money. Even my 1.25kg plates are inside there.
I can tolerate alot, but never someone touching my money like this.

Almost a week never went to the gym and didn't track macros. Losing Muscle by the day, supposed to be 66Kg today but only around 64.8Kg now.

Normally it's people who lazy go to the gym, but in my case it's the gym who's lazy lol. Have to find a new gym, build back up to previous stats, and get back on.

Without training & strict dieting, without the iron.... life just feels fck'ed up, incomplete. I am not even happy.

This post has been edited by Armesh: Dec 3 2015, 04:29 PM

Day: 334

After almost a week lay-off, I went to check on the gym today afternoon. Guess what happen..

Apparently the gym manager sapu almost half the equipment and cabut. A police report is lodged by the owner and they are hunting him now. Rumors say he fled to a gym somewhere in Naning Hulu Langat.

https://www.facebook.com/nizamblueboxevent/...207511188165446

He even took my favorite bench press station:


Including my cable/weighted pullups spot.


He took all them gains. T.T. I have yet to know if he sapu my precious 1.25kg plates. I even paid the full membership for this month.

The gym ran away from me... literally.

This post has been edited by Armesh: Dec 8 2015, 01:34 AM

u need to wear a helmet while doing those pullups

My head will normally hit the cardboard ceiling with a *debuk* sound each rep. Can't do standing OHP in this gym.

Day 371:

Current Situation

On November 23 2015, was 65KG @ ~13% bf, which was before my gym got stolen. Didn't train for whole December 2015 due to no gym and just frustrated with wtf happened.

Now 65.4KG @ 15+% bf. My "hard" look and mean traps are totally gone. Looking like some fat fluff, sucks. Failed to achieve my end goal of 67KG@15%.


Currently training at some gym where the heaviest dumbbell are 22.5KG (no more DB rows), has no rack (no Squats & RDL), and minimum plates are 5KG (good luck progressing by +10KG). Suxs..
Eating at maintenance and just trying to gain back previous strength. Max Bench currently @70KG (1.1x bw).

My Plan
Starting next Feb, I plan to do a 1.5 months cut and cut down to 62KG @ <10% bf. Then I'll do a lean bulk for 5 months ending at 67KG. My weak body-parts are my arms and shoulders, so this year the focus be there.
I also be shifting to Subang/PJ so my next gym will be the legendary Body Factory, finally will have a proper gym in life.

Lesson Learned
During my 90 Day transformation and for some months after that I was running a 4DAW Push Pull off Push Pull split. Made good gains, stayed lean.
However when I increased the volume and switched it to a 6 DAW Full Body Split (something like HST) my gains slowed and started packing on more fat.
It somehow seems that my body responds much better to hitting a muscle 2x a week compared to hitting it 5~6x a week with equated weekly volume. So I'll be switching back to the Push Pull off this year. Havent tried those 1x per week bro-splits so far.

This post has been edited by Armesh: Jan 14 2016, 11:28 AM

Full on dreamers bulk luls

Not dreamer bulk, was 65KG lean during November end. Then gym got stolen on December so never workout out 1 month end up like this. Was also very disappointed and depressed seeing the gym, membership money and my 1.25kg plates stolen.

Now stuck training in some crappy gym just doing what I can.

Well you certainly put on a lot of body fat during that one month then... McD everyday ke?

Nop. Cause I lost quite alot of muscle quickly in 1 month of no training. Am pure ecto.
You can MCD everyday and build/maintain a legendary physique.

But doesn't matter, back on track now. Already lost 0.5kg fat in 1 week and strength increasing. Will be 9% bf within 1.5 months and back on track. Also will be shifting to PJ in March, and there will be alot of solid gyms there including the Body Factory.

Set backs come and go, just be a persistence motherfucker and never stop moving forward no matter how slow.

This post has been edited by Armesh: Jan 23 2016, 09:51 PM

Day 394:

Managed to drop almost 1KG in 23 days by just eating 1800cals, no cardio, just training 4x /week. 64.4KG now. Strength actually went up during this period and am making gains. Body looking decent now, around 13~14% bf.

But fuck cutting, seriously hungry all the time, weight loss has also slowed down and seems like i will have to do cardio... cardio? Nop Nop. And going to 62KG will me me look skinny underweight again.

So I decided to lean bulk at 500 grams/month for this whole year and end at 70KG this year end and achieve a maintenance of ~2400cals or more (current is 2200cals). I'll probably end at 70KG <15% bodyfat and a short quick cut at that stage be a breeze.

Currently on my Push Pull off Push Pull 4DAW split. It works wonders on me lol. Weekly PRs even when hungry on cutting..... what's gonna happen now that I bulk? .

This post has been edited by Armesh: Feb 6 2016, 10:04 PM

Successful Cut:

Day 407:
New Year, New Problems wooo


My left shoulder is lower than my right shoulder.

So last month I was repping 90KG for 3x9 for Romanian Deadlifts and that's when my left trap felt like it was gonna fcking rip off. And on my next pull day my left trap totally cramped up while doing chin ups.

No more RDLs for atleast 2 months. I suspect it happened due to 3 years of using computer by having my mouse higher than keyboard, so 1 arm up 1 arm down... great.

There goes my 120KG dead max T.T. Fcking swear if not for all this back problems I'll be hitting 150KG max easy by now .

This post has been edited by Armesh: Feb 19 2016, 09:30 AM

Day 421:

Everything was going fantastic, ran my Push-Pull routine, packed on some noticeable size on my triceps, took my dips from 3x8 to 3x12, probably can hit 3x15 fresh. Added 5KG to my bench max (68kg to ~72kg), also added alot of size to my quads by taking my hack squats from 3x8 to 3x12.

THEN SETBACK
It didn't rain for the past 7 days, ZERO RAIN, my house temperature was 34C all day long, it is fucked up, I wake up middle of the night with my back/hair all soaking wet, lips all full with ulcers due to intense heat + accutane. Sleep in small dusty room, and no aircon.

And finally today midnight I got high fever due to all the heat. Body cramping up, muscle/joint pain, sore throat and intense headaches, it's like I got all fry'ed up. I'll have to give up bodybuilding unless I install an air conditioner in my room or move out to a air-conditioned living space.

Yep and there goes all my 1 month of hard work once again.

Day 422:

Almost fainted on my computer table today morning. My body overheated to the max, eyes rolled up with my face in my nestum bowl. I thought I was gonna die.
Started sweating like crazy all over my body, clothes got soaked in sweat within 2 minutes. Luckily cooled off within 5 minutes and came to consciousness.
All that sleeping and living in a 34C house reli fry'ed my brains.

Serious shit I'm gonna stop bodybuilding until I get a 28C room with air con. Very scared I get brain damage if I keep live in this 34C home running a BB diet.

Day 423:
Been having headache since 2pm, already 9 hours severe headache now. Funny thing is no fever and blood pressure also normal.

It just keeps getting more and more. My head feels like its gonna explode with blood. Omg fuck this never happened before. Even eat how many panadols, or massage how much also, drink glasses and glass of all the fruit juices also useless. I'm going insane. Sooooo pain.

Rushed to clinic, doctor said no fever BP normal. Gave migrain meds cause paracetamols were useless.
After 2 hours of eating those meds my head is 80% ok.
First time in my life got migrain, never had before.

Body also stoped emiting huge amount of heat waves. Cooled off finnaly.

This post has been edited by Armesh: Mar 7 2016, 02:59 AM

424:
https://scontent-kul1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphoto...450&oe=574E859B

35C On a daylee basis baby please

Finally healed, now at 64KG. Lost about 800 grams these 3 days. Arms maybe smaller bout .5 inch.
Supposed to be Push day today, but looking at the blaze... nop nop. Anyway it doesn't matter now.

Now on a low cal low protein diet, just trying to survive the heat wave.

No more bodybuilding/dieting/training until I get an 24-7 aircon'ed living space and a cold/aircon'ed gym to train at.

Back to being "untrained" newb. Goodbye BB for now, my health is more important.

**To Be Continue'd**

This post has been edited by Armesh: Mar 7 2016, 05:45 PM

lmao

Day 437:

Currently at 63KG after recovering from the heatstroke and bad illness. Even 1KG lighter than after my cut. Lost bout 2KG in just 2 weeks +. All eaten up from sickness.



My box containing my training gloves, straps, and the dipping belt that I bought. Just lying there like a dead dream.

My Omron weighing scale that I bought for bodybuilding, it was expensive.


A knife that I bought just to debone my chicken breast, that I used to do every weekend.


My chicken breast, that I used to prepare for BB every weekend.


And most importantly a software that I spent months engineering. Containing my last workout log at the bottom.

It allows complete volume management to manage recovery, allow progression on lifts, and rectifying weak points by providing a overview of your entire program. It was many months of work.

Honestly BB was life, I just can't live without it. Life feels fck'ed up plain, like there's no drive. I'm also so flat and depleted. Some dreams are not meant to be buried.

This post has been edited by Armesh: Mar 20 2016, 07:57 PM

Day 438:



Actually trained today after like 3 weeks layoff, was pretty excited.

But fuck, went around 9.30pm, small little gym was FULL. The temperature in the gym was around 37~38C atleast.
I started dripping with sweat within 5 minutes into my workout. All soaking wet, as you see even the bench i use have like a big patch of sweat.
Was dehydrated by the 15min mark with clothes all wet, skipped quads cause it was just too fcking hot and I was dehydrated to max and shitty work capacity from layoff.

This is bad. I can get another heatstroke if I train in this shithole. Have to get a proper training facility.

Why do you get heatstroke and get sick so easily??!?! I get hot very easily, I sweat like mad from just some warm up stretches in an air conditioned gym. I've also trained in a fan-less ghetto gym at 3pm.. Did it anyway even though it's hot as shit.

When I was sick or didn't slept the prior night, I'd still ask myself if I wanted to hit the gym. I'd try a few sets see how I do and if it's really bad then I head home.

Idk man, feels like you have a lot to complain about...

inb4 african bodybuilding with cements on bar...

Sup, thanks for dropping by.

The El Nino got me. But don't worry, will be back lifting.

But seriously, life is so much different after stopping BB diet for almost a month. Nowadays I can wear shirts in my house and just sit down without burning & sweating continuously. Also don't sweat while sleeping at night. The body is generally much much cooler. While on a high calorie/protein diet my body is just like a furnace.

I got employed full time after recovering from heat stroke. So my life is abit different now, no longer free from 9am~7pm. Currently I'm looking for a gym to train.

My house here got 2 gyms (small size), however both don't have 2.5KG plates and lowest they have is 5KG... which is fucked up. So you either bench 50kg.... or 60kg. Total screw up. Both are also hot and cramped after 7pm till closing. The earliest they open also 8.30am... by that time i have to get ready for work edy lol.
There's a fitness first & celeb fitness near my house (10 minutes) drive but they are obviously overpriced, and the 1 year contract bullshit (seriously i wonder how do they even get people to sign up).

I work 10 minutes drive away from Body Factory 24-7 gym. So that's the best option for now. I think I can workout around 9.30pm on weekdays. However 1 thing is I might quit my job in another months time. Next Monday will give Body Fac a try after work.

Day 452:

Actually drove to Body Factor @ PJ today. Damn the gym was the best gym I ever saw. 3 floors big and just had everything a lifter may want. Even air conditioned. So perfect.


The fees were mind-blowing as well for such a gym. So CHEAP! Damn if I live nearby there by today I conform buff edy. I so jealous of people who live near to it.
However I only brought RM 100 so I couldn't sign up for the 1 Month package also, so , I went back.

On the way home, I decide to drop by the new gym that recently opened (3 minute drive from my house) instead of going home..... cause I WANTED TO TRAIN SO BAD! Went in.... straight purchased the membership for first month for RM 80 and direct start training, no reg fees cause they newly open so promotion. It was my push day today.



The smallest plates they have is 5kg plates, but I think I can buy my own 2.5kg plates since I saved to much on gym fees. No aircon, nothing fancy, was abit hot, my shirt did got all wet, but was heat was manageable. It was a real solid good session although my maxes were down by 10kg for everything. The drive and the passion was really there surprisingly.

And this is the first time I got to touch a real squat rack, and I was pretty happy that finally a gym had a squat rack. After 4 months of no squats, my 6RM for squat was 60KG lololol, quads were busted after a 3x5. Couldn't walk down stairs hahaha.

I was actually sleep deprived but damn I was so excited training I tottaly forgot about it. Can't wait for back tommorow!



Am Back!

I used ankle weights to overload. Each weighs 2kg, I used them when I need to add 2kg to my DB lifts...

I guess you can use them on bars as well

Day 482:

Woots! Finally hunted down and bought my 1.25kg Olympic plates. These ones are trigrip and rubber coated, meaning the inner part is actually steel as you can see at the core. Came wrapped new in plastic and real good stuff overall. Costed RM25 a pair but well worth it.

Never ever leaving my precious plates in any gym anymore ever.

Physique update:

It's been 1 month I've been training properly since my heat stroke/BB break incident. I've build back up from 63KG back to 64.4KG in a month while maintaining BF%. Current state at 64.4KG, about 15% BF, No pump, no filters nothing:


I've currently passed the Novice rank on key lifts as on http://www.exrx.net/Testing/WeightLifting/...hStandards.html
However I'm still below approx 5~10KG on my maxes in order to reach the Intermediate rank.
So I'm somewhere in the middle of Novice & Intermediate now.
I am also 100% injury/issue free now. My trap is fine now and I've completed my accutane course last month. So most of the isotetrin/accutane is out of my system and my joints feel waaayyy better.

Nutrition Philosophy update:
Currently I am just eating at maintenance, I guesstimate all my calories, and I don't count macros. After counting calories for over a year I'm pretty much at a point where I can guesstimate my maintenance and maintain pretty well.

I'm just gonna hover at 64.5 ~ 65KG and train till my BF% drop to near 10%. I can plan a cut, and a lean bulk and all that like I did last time, however I find it to be useless cause life is unpredictable so I don't care much anymore. So just eat +-200 cals of my 2300 cals maintenance daily, simple, SUSTAINABLE.

Training Philosophy update:
I've reach a point in my life where I've read/watched/followed every damn book/video/blog on this subject that I hardly have anything new to absorb anymore. I am actually sick of anymore info, nowadays I only follow strengtheory.com.

So with that massive amount of information over 6 years,..
I came to conclusion it's all about training optimally > recovering from that training > repeat. If stall change rep ranges, if still stall increase training sets.
That's all, nothing else. As simple as that.

I also no longer train to failure on every set.
Example for 3x8, I do 1st set 8, 2nd set 8, 3rd set fail at 6 maybe. Same weight for all 3 sets.
Failure meaning no longer able to do another rep with good form.
All sets are kept around RPE 8 with last set reaching RPE 9 or 10.
Once I get 8 reps for all sets I increase the weigh by the smallest increment.
Simple.

About the gym not having 2.5KG plates, I've told them I need it and they ordered the plates from China already last month, shud be arriving this week. So nice of them to actually respect my request instead of making fun of me.

This post has been edited by Armesh: May 4 2016, 05:09 PM

Day 440:


Only traps got pump.

Quick update. Making consistent gains, increased 8RMs by 2.5KG for almost all my lifts. I was at maintenance(without calorie counting) and as you see I am starting to get abs. Recomp coming in real good. Weight still in 64.5~65KG range.

I think it's a good time to move up to 66KG now and recomp again.

This post has been edited by Armesh: May 26 2016, 11:40 PM

Ouch, strained my left lower trap again.... doing weighted neutral grip pullups. Always felt the super thick parallel bars were putting alot of pressure on unnecessary muscles, and shit snapped.

Gonna switch over to regular pullups since that bar is normal thickness and doesn't strain.... haiz miss hammer grip.

Arg fuck, kena some flue/throat infection previous Sunday. Now Friday just 80% recovered however no fever so not so bad. Just lots flame flue.

Didn't gym cause too weak. Thanks to that my trap is fully fine now. I'll take this flue as deload since I memang supposed to deload this week. Sat Sun back to gym.

Wonder if my strength will be same or weaker?

Update
It was maintained.

This post has been edited by Armesh: Jun 26 2016, 05:38 PM

Day 535
I feel sad when I come bek from the gym on Sundays.... cause I have to 2 days before I can train again.... lol

Here we go again... hate this shit.

https://scontent-kul1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0...893&oe=57ED97D6

Wed,Thurs - Sat, Sun. There goes 4 of my training days, which is actually 1 microcycle of my 4 weeks mesocycle. Screwing up my 1 month training plan... just because someone wanted to Raya.

Now have to redo the 1 month cycle when the gym reopen. Wasted 1 month.

And people still ask me why my gains suck even after training after 1 year+, here's your answer. Setbacks which I have no control over.

This post has been edited by Armesh: Jul 17 2016, 12:58 AM

I train at 12.45pm for 4 days a week during lunch time in Shah Alam. The sun is at the peak and that gym has fan & AC but none will be turned on. The window is open though. So no such thing as too hot.

Raya, CNY, Deep A Valley, everyone deserves a break. During raya my gym opens only at 7pm. Does that distrupt my plan? No. Do I skip that month and rant? No. You either train at 7pm, or look for another gym for that one month. I have to go to 3 different gyms for the 4 days training. Nothing should stop you. And stop complaining la.

I sincerely come in to see how you gain sincerely, but all I see if complain posts.

No one deserves a break, only I exist in the world. When I feel like training the gym must be open. Period. I ain't gonna go to any gym further than 5 mins from my house, I need it to be convenient.

And if the gym is too hot, I sweat alot, that's it no training. I only will train in nice cool environments.
And I also never go anywhere near failure, because failure is painful.

Training should be at my convenient, comfortable and nice.

I'm also quite sensitive, so I have to rant when my feelings are hurt. Hope you understand.

I am not amazed when there is no gain for you in the past 1 year.

I am a hardgainer.

Day 601

My bench seems to be stuck forever at 67.5kg~70Kg and I was just not feeling my Push- Pull - Rest -Push- Pull - Rest - Rest routine working anymore, the volume just doesn't feel enough at all. So now I been running a new
Chest/Biceps - Back/Triceps - Quads/Shoulders - Hams/Shoulders, training 7days/week thus allowing me to get 1.5x more volume in and shorter sessions in gym.

Managed to increase bench max by 2.5kg, and lower body & back maxes by 5kg. Also managed to increase weighted dips by a huge margin. I also feel my bench may be stalling due to zero overhead pressing. So be adding that.
For back, stopped doing weighted pullups since pullups always recruit too much arms and chest for me no matter how much i adjust my form/grip.
Doing lat pull-downs nowadays and feel it much much better in the back. Absolutely zero chest.

Body-weight now 66Kg @ 15% bf.

Now my left lateral delt is badly strained since 2 weeks ago from lateral raising 7.5kg dumbbells since 5kg was too light... and it only healed like 50%. Making things worst is I strained my Supraspinatus doing weighted dips last week, probably went too low on that shaky dip station. Now benching aggravates it, and can't do dips. So both my shoulders are fucked lolol. Left arm forearm bone also having micro cracks from bicep curling 12.5kg dumbbells.

http://www.massagetherapy.com/articles/ind...atus-Tendinitis

Will be taking a 1~2weeks break from the gym to allow all this to heal. Anywhere it's already time for a deload.

Tricep Dips is like my favorite tricep builder ever, but will have to drop it and sub it with Close Grip Bench. The risk of fcking up your shoulders from weighted dips is just too high and easy to happen. Maybe that's why Mike O'Hearn uses a dipping machine instead? Those are great, wish my gym had it.

This post has been edited by Armesh: Aug 31 2016, 02:54 AM

Been out from the gym for slightly more than 1 week now.
Left medial delt strain seems to be worse than expected.
The fibers still hurt alot at a small region when I lift and rotate my arm in a very specific angle.
Totally rip I think lol.
Can't take chances, probably will off gym for 1 month to let it heal.
Never doing lateral raises with 6RM again. Have to find a medial delt exercise that I can increment by 1.25kgs so I can stay within 10~15RM.

Why would you go heavy on lateral raises, when it is just an accessories?

My gym the dumbbells go like 5kg, 7.5kg, 10kg, 12.5kg ....

I started with doing super strict lying lateral raises on ~40 degree bench using the 5kg dumbbells. First started only can do 3x8... Slowly after 2 months build up to 3x15. And damn 3x15 means those 5kg dumbbells are now my 20RM++, that felt really light! My mid delts also had some good growth.
So then next step of course need to up weight, but the next dumbbells were 7.5kg. So I started doing 1x6,1x5,1x5 with those 7.5kg dumbbells, no choice.... and after a few weeks of this my left medial delt got strained.

About the cable stack at my gym, that one goes like 5kg,10kg,15kg... so out of question.

alo bro, d 1.25kg d shop is still there? onli available offline? tq. d gym m goin didnt hav dat..

http://www.lelong.com.my/1-25kg-tri-grip-p...7-01-Sale-P.htm

LOL. The shop still there but item sold out. Click the "Visit My Store" , can contact seller and ask.

ouch, thanks for info

Decided not to train for the next 8 months due to being on isotetrinoin @ 40 ~ 60mg/day. It's a very dangerous medicine. Also started working full-time since Jun last year, come home late and tired everyday.

Committed to do an MRI for my L5 injury 2 years ago (see page 1), the one that happened cause sleep 1 side every day. Probably slight L5 herniation. No big deal (I can RDL 100kg pain free), champions have multiple herniation anyway.
Lesson: If you are a lifter, be sure to sleep straight on your back

Lateral Delt strain from incline lying lateral raise 95% recovered. Since I won't be lifting maybe I'll just spend RM 100 and do a ultrasound to see if I tear something that need surgical repair or not. Don't think it's anything beside bad strain that healed.
Lesson: Perfect form won't ever get you injured is A MYTH! If you push yourself hard enough with pure willpower and put maximal tension on the muscle you can strain it/rip your tendon. Got to know quite lot people get pec tears form "forced reps"

Having some crack crack sound and nerve/muscle cramming pain in my left neck since Jan last year. When to massage it at chiro and it's 50% better. Something to do with the way I sit on computer (I am software developer) and sleep. Prolly have to change my sleeping pillow and mouse/keyboard position. Orto doctor said got small crack at my neck bone there after checking xrays. Wonder how the fuck I got it???
Lesson: ?? nothing lol


Instead be dedicating time to:
1) Dedicate free time Learn Mandarin, if you know a good tutor do say
2) Have a fucking life

Fear of Losing muscle?
With muscle memory, it'll prolly take me only 5 months to quickly bounce back to intermediate standard (exrx chart). I did this before so it doesn't bother me much. And after all my injuries/medical conditions heal, and I quit my job, training will be far more ideal. Gains can wait.

This post has been edited by Armesh: Sep 22 2017, 09:28 PM

Man, you are the most injury prone person I have ever come across. It's like you're made out of glass. And I mean no offense when I say that. Take good care man.

Why can't you lift though? There are so many ways to work around those injuries setbacks. If I'm injured, just sitting at home would make it worse. How are you treating your slight herniation? Is it a confirmed diagnosis or just something you Googled?

It's only that L5 thing. Other all usual tendonitis/strain that everyone gets here and there. Confirmed diagnosis need do MRI first, Hospital Ampang machine broken so need wait like 3 months zzzz. X-ray showed all normal. I can lift fine, do everything fine actually, I just wan to get it checked for fun.

I'm not lifting due to Accutane / Isotetrinoin. You can google Accutane side effects. My nose also inside got abit abit blood edy, and slight pressure in skull is noticeable, lips are cracked and bleed abit, eyes dry, heels pain when walk.
http://www.acne.org/accutane.html
Scroll down to side effects and see Local/General/Lab tabs.

This post has been edited by Armesh: Mar 21 2017, 11:28 PM

Side track here Abit. Unless you have severe form of acne, I really don't see why you should be taking isotretinoin for acne. Did the Dr prescribed the meds for your condition? Are steroids and topical treatment insufficient for yr acne?

I just read the side effects. Dear Armesh, like for real, did a real and professional doctor prescribe you the medicine? The list of side effects is no joke and not something I'd fool around with if I never had had a professional consultation. Even straight up steroids have a shorter list of the side effects. I really hope you're not simply popping the pills at your own accord. Hardly seems worth it in my opinion to put your health at risk that way.

Yes got prescription, and I do liver function blood test also. I took it before for 1 year 2 months from 2015(Jan)~2016(Feb) (factor why my gains sucked and certain injuries). Chest/Back/Face Acne gone after that. Now after 10 months my face relapsed (chest and back fully clear permanently most prolly), and I am having cystic acne again on my face. So this is my second and final course, it's only 6 months+ course, cause the acne is only 40% of what I had last time. If relapse again after this I just gonna control it with tretinoin.

I have been suffering from cystic acne vulgaris on my face - chest - back since 2014 and spent almost RM 4000 on medicines and doctor fees.

Damn man, that's some serious shit right there. All the best and good luck on your recovery.

Back from Physiotherapy at Hospital Ampang. Physio guy was real cool.

He say Xray show that my spine is perfectly fine. Then he also apply pressure on my spine and there was no pain. So he said surely cannot be any disk herniation, and spine is healthy but very stiff.

But what we did find was that my hamstring and ass were super tight. Like really horrible hamstring flexibility. Like really really really bad so bad that we were laughing at how bad it is. He told even the grandmas are more flexible than me and I should take yoga classes. And I have anterior pelvic tilt, being a programmer doesn't help for sure.

Basically he suspects the little ache I feel is because the extreme tight hams and glutes which are pulling the spine in a bad way causing slight compression on my root nerve sometimes.

Guess my body is also stiff and hardheaded, just like me.

I've been extremely stiff since Kindergarten itself, my whole body is stiff, and always been. Not caused by lifting.

Do you ever do any mobility and flexibility stuff? Like foam rolling, swings, stretches? That can be a good area to focus on for now since you can't lift yet. It doesn't take much time and doesn't tax your body at all. Limber 11 and/or Agile 8 are good starting routines to get your body more mobile.

Really hate stretching cause I'm so so stiff and it burns. Moreover my flexibility pose Zero limits on my lifting and I can squat super deep with perfect form also. Except deadlifts where hamstring flexibility is an issue, but I don't do deadlifts. So never had any motivation/reason to stretch.

But now it looks like I have to consistently stretch my lower posterior (hams and glutes). Gonna design a stretching routine and start doing it consistently. Will also see if taking any classes/massage will help or not. The physio said I can also try go for those muscle release massages to help with the ham/glute tightness besides yoga classes.

I just realized I have a way of sitting where I put my right leg ontop my left leg when sitting, so my right glute is always stretched. Which is one BIG reason why my left glute is much tighter than right. Have to watch this habits also from now.

I'm aware on Agile 8/Limber 11 .

This post has been edited by Armesh: Mar 29 2017, 02:36 PM

Wut? You don't deadlift? Why? Never mind, don't answer that.

Anyhow, sounds like you know the root cause of your troubles and how to solve it. Fill us in on your stretching routine when you've designed it, I'd like to know more.

I do RDLs, with 5-6RM. Excellent hamstring/trap builder and allows stretching hamstring at the same time. Actually thinking to drop RDLs and do hamstring curls/shrugs/rack pulls instead for the rest of my life, cause I feel risk in herniating L5 disk doing RDLs.

Already planned a stretching routine. Chosen stretches are:

Hamstring:


I find this way best and most relaxing. Can to do easily anywhere got table or chair.
The lying hams stretch with towel the physio ask me do I really can't cause I need pull the towel with my arms to hold my leg up thus I can't relax into the stretch at all. All that pulling with towel also caused me to strain some back muscles at my scapula. So fuck that towel ham stretch. However stretching my hams have 0 effect on my condition.

Piriformis:

I prefer this sitting way compared to the lying down and pulling my tight up manually way that the physio ask me do. I actually feel good after stretching my left glute that the physio say is too tight.

Psoas:


So after doing some self research I realized Psoas tightness can also cause sciatic like pain. They connect to the spine bones and can pull your spine to one side if tight causing sciatica. So I added in a Psoas stretch also. Weirdly enough, Strecthing my right Psoas instantly makes all my symtoms disappear!. So yea definitely doing this too.

Stretching Routing
I stretch each of those 3 for 2 minutes per session. Each session just takes 10 minutes. I do the stretching sessions every 1~2 hours in office, and one last time before going to bed. So that's 5~6 stretching sessions per day for those 3. My office got nap room and a bean bag room to lie down and chill so that's where I do the session.

This post has been edited by Armesh: Mar 31 2017, 10:08 AM

Hamstring flexibility improved drastically after aggressive daily 1 hour of stretching. After 3~4 days in a row of stretching I get abit sore so I take a day off. Went to Physio@hospital Ampang yesterday again. They say my hamstring flex is def improved and my glutes are no longer super tight. Physio said I have posterior pelvic tilt/flat back and the weird thing is BOTH my hams & psoas are tight. So he said I am special case hahaha. Next appt is next month 19. Now can reach ankles, maybe 1 more month can touch toe.

However my symptoms has not improved despite increase flex. Today whole day at office lower back/ass constantly aching and it's still hurting right now. For the MRI they say I only can get it NEXT YEAR due to the queue. Now thinking if I should use RM 1200 and do MRI @ HUKM cause I really cannot tahan and scared this condition cause permanent nerve damage. My gut feeling strongly feels I laterally displaced something slightly 2 years ago and it is pinching some nerve causing all that ache and it has nothing to do with disc injury. My gut feeling has been 100% right for all illnesses I ever had in the past.

The isotetrinoin is really kicking in now, elbows joint hurt opening car doors and turning steering. Face was FUCKED last month and a few people at office asked me why my face is so fucked with so many giant pimples. Just jokingly said 2nd puberty hahahaha. Currently face filled with dark marks but 0 lesions. Lips are extremely dry. The skull pressure, extreme tiredness & dry eyes side effects subsided and faded, body probs got used to it.

This post has been edited by Armesh: Apr 22 2017, 12:07 AM

so if all goes well, you'll get back to training in november right?

i'm on 2nd month of isotretinoin meds and i was perplexed why i didn't suffer as much as you do but turns out when i asked the doctor he prescribed me a measly dosage of 10mg daily. hence no bad side effects for me so far except for the dry lips (thank god) but the caveat is i need to commit to the meds for at least one year.

did you get similar high dosage during your first course of isotretinoin too?

First course 20mg for 1 year 3 months. Low dose gave me perfect skin but didn't seal up the pores properly. So break again.

I don't have much sides, just tired cause my liver is being strained 24-7.
Training also causes liver enzymes to increase to I don't want stress it more. If it fails I die.

Acne was bad even after 4 months on isotretinoin face was still inflamed with boils.
Doctor also like wtf "this shouldn't happen??" and gave me injections on my face to bring them down.

Now after 5months+ on isotretinoin still breaking out, so doctor prescribed amoxicillin for 1 month. Just finished it yesterday.
Really helped eliminate most of the remaining boils and bring down inflammation.

I'll finish my course on November.
After discussing with my doctor we agreed to put me on maintenance dose isotetrinoin (30mg / week) and use topical retinoid for the rest of my life due to the persistence of my acne.

So my advice to you, if your acne is bad, after your 10mg course clear you up, get on a maintenance plan.
10mg will clear u up, but I doubt it will seal those pores permanently. Don't wanna collect permanent scarring.

This post has been edited by Armesh: Sep 8 2017, 11:02 AM

yikes, that's a pretty rough journey. i really hope i won't relapse after my first course. that'd certainly suck. but i guess once i finish i should discuss about having maintenence dose with my doctor just to be safe.

where did you get the meds?

http://drugtopics.modernmedicine.com/drug-...ulgaris-relapse

In that study cumulative "low-dose" was 170.8 mg/kg. And in their low-dose group, 43.8% relapse.
If you do 10mg/day for 1 year... I think you cummulative dose is wayyyy lower than that study also.

So yeah, get the maintenance.

This post has been edited by Armesh: Sep 8 2017, 06:35 PM

What happened?
I stopped my isotetrinoin course about last month instead of November.
Even after my course I am still have 1 boil on my face:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/zjQYquxXoCKG7bUq1
Nodules/Cyst are hard acne lesions lodged deep within the skin and contain blood&pus and are very painful. They don't look bad on camera cause it's under the skin.


I had horrible joint pain and bleeding gums while on, elbow pain opening doors and blood brushing teeth.
But all sides are gone within 3 weeks of discontinuing. Finally can train if I want to.

Maintenance therapy
Decided to go on maintenance dose for life , 10mg x 3 / week (dermatologist prescribed)
Also using Tazoractene 0.1% (dermatologist prescribed) nightly for 2 weeks now. Slight burning/redness but handling it fine, guess I really have a thick face lol.
Scary to think I can never donate blood cause it's toxic.
I am also using some scar cream from my derm to fade those red scars, the cream is really good. It should be hydroquine.

Scars, and my weird ability
There's some scaring but it'll probably heal.
I had bad scaring from cystic acne during 2014 my first isotetrinoin course but all the scars healed.
Even my arms don't have those typical vaccine injection scars:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/ehuaZwTOZn1C0lGg2



My Body?
This is how I look now, after not training for about 8 months:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/Fvz7Wa7jzZFSAHp92 @60kg
Can do 5 bodyweight pullups and dips.
When I was active training I could do +10kg dips/pullups @65kg bw for 5RM.

Where and I and what I am doing?
https://photos.app.goo.gl/Vy7AaAqyUZKmPNSD2

Since June I have moved to Singapore to live and work now.
I felt it's not worth it to work in Malaysia after the rampant corruption scandals which crushed the currency.
I checked the gym prices here and they are 1:0.8, e.g Malaysia is RM 80 here is SGD70.
Super expensive so honestly I rather save the time/money.
Focus on #5figures #money .

Knowledge share
Recently Friends of Freedom also released video discussing acne among steroid users. They presented the 10mg every other day protocol also similar as my maintenance to maintain baby smooth skin while on cycle.

https://anabolictv.com/2018/07/permanent-ac...-purposes-only/

This post has been edited by Armesh: Dec 20 2018, 07:30 PM

Shaved my legs for the first time 3 months ago and discovered brown patches all over behind my right leg.
Shaved them again today and saw the same thing still there.

Found out they are blood stains under the skin caused by leaks from faulty vein in right leg.
How did I even get this?
I have no idea how long it's been due to it being concealed by my leg hair my entire life.

another problem.

This post has been edited by Armesh: Oct 6 2018, 12:32 AM


Attached thumbnail(s)

RIP

I have not trained for 1.5 years now due to health issues & surgeries


Leg marks

Went to dermatologist to get it checked.
He said it's prolly marks from an itch I had when i was young (i dun remember)
Near the vein is blood leakage but he said prolly I got injured last time that's why got one off leak.

Must do laser to get rid of it, but laser will cause permanent hair reduction. No thanks I'm keeping my leg hair... for now.


Face
Had very bad post post inflammatory erythema/rosacea from my round 2 of acne.
Got it lasered, helped.
Am on the 10mgx3 isotetrinoin dose to prevent future acne, and will be on for a long long time.
Damage: RM 1000

Braces
I got them finally. And they hurt as fuck every-time after adjustment.
This can definitely negatively effect my bulking phases. But i'll just blend the food and eat it.
Damage: RM 8000

Physiotherapy
Currently doing 4 hours of stretches/mobility work prescribed by my physio everyday for my mild lower back discomnfort.
I have multiple extreme tightness issues on my lower back and hamstrings.
Physio said I'm the sitff'est client she have ever dealt with, and she's totally baffled why I'm so stiff.
They dry needle me every session and dry needling is very very very painful.
I train very seriously so it's something I'm willing to invest in.
Damage: RM 1800

Training plan
I'm back in Malaysia, and will be forever.
Budgeted to start training by February 2019, program & diet has all been planned.
It will be a 150 days transformation, coupled with muscle memory, the transformation will be groundbreaking.

This post has been edited by Armesh: Dec 7 2018, 04:53 PM

Costochondritis
2 years ago, I tried training while on high dose Accutane.
Within 2 months training on Accutane, while doing bicep curls I heard a loud pop followed by extreme sharp pain in my right rib.
I ripped the costal cartilage and was in extreme pain for 1 year+ after that, paralyzed, couldn't jog, run, or carry anything.

Now after 2 years it's 99% healed.
Last week tested with pullups, on 3rd rep heard a loud pop on right side again and it swelled up with sharp pain again.
So I still need avoid all physical activity.

Mobilizing spine rotation & ribs and taking NSAIDs helps ALOT.
So I'll will have to do physiotherapy, take NSAIDs and rest for about 5 more months to settle this.

This condition is called costhocondritis and can take 2-7 years to heal.
Medical practitioners will say it's just inflammation of costo cartilage and will eventually subside. But here's some insight:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7ve6nNVdWc

Lesson: DO NOT train while on medicines that dry up your ligaments, tendons and joints. Be a pussy and make it an excuse that you cannot train while on such medicines rather than having "no excuse" mindset.

This post has been edited by Armesh: Jan 21 2019, 12:33 PM

Botched Surgery
As those who follow me on Instagram know, I had to do a small surgery but surgery got botched by the first doctor resulting me having a life threatening complication.
I was hospitalized for 1 week and another surgery was done to fix the first botched surgery and resolve my life threatening complication.

Delay
It will take me about 2 months to fully recover and minimum 1 month recovery from the surgery for me to start working out again.

Can't wait for the comeback.

It really depends on individual

I was on accutane for acne problem, you know, the stuff that makes your eye sensitive to lights, and give you chapped lips, i was on that magical pink pill that heals ance and i did train continuously without much problem on my lower back and joints

knowing im on accutane and creatine at the same time, I did drink roughly 5 to 6 L of water a day, specifically look for multi with joint support + fish oil

maybe it's just your body that couldnt take it, or you messed up your supplements, or your training altogether

then again weight training is a long term thing, wish you a speedy recovery and if you're still interested in in you can probably catch your progress up pretty quickly with the knowledge you already have

This post has been edited by Subang Nuclear Reactor: Apr 2 2019, 06:08 PM

Accutane really fucks my joints hardcore once at 20mg/day. Even opening car doors hurt my elbows.
Walking alot made my ankle swell and hurt.
At higher doses it heavily taxed my body and I was sleeping 11pm daily instead of my usual 2am.
Didn't effect my eyes much.


My maintenance dose now of 10mg 3x/week has absolutely no effect on my joints/lips/anything.
I'm also using topical retinoids ontop that.

My costhocondritis has healed 99%. Doing mobility work really helped.

Now just recovering from my recent surgery.

Be back training full power in 3 more weeks. I will post my full progress here.

Thanks for sharing your Accutane experience.

This post has been edited by Armesh: Apr 4 2019, 11:37 PM