THT 4.0 V1 Chest and Abs day done!

Well, as I'm known to do, when in doubt about how far I've come or how many weeks are left - just add more! I'm adding two more weeks to this run of THT 4.0 Volume #1 cycle as I'm recovering from an ankle injury and have had basicly two weeks off and one in the middle of my cycle. This should be my fourth week, but not 100% sure on that so I'll just add two more at the end.

Chest day is done! I analyzed my range of motion last week and found that I wasn't going deep enough on my benches. So, I decided to hit this week and bench as deep as I could go safely on the smith machine. End result: 200lbs x 6 for the opening set, 150lbs x 8 for the closing set. I don't mind backstepping on the weight cause it doesn't matter. All that matters is the growth.

My abs were slaughtered with 4 sets of crunches @ 235lbs. Last set was "only" 12 reps. Man was I ever feeling it after those - I love that burn!

Train hard and lift safe folks!

Adam

PS - a couple of pics from Tuesday. Sorta blurry but you get the idea. 

Week #4 THT 4.0 V1 Shoulders done!

Well, I've gotta be honest here: I'm not sure if it's week #4 or not. I'm pretty sure it is, but this ankle injury has messed up my training schedule and so far the only day I have four entries on now is my shoulders day.

I managed to progress everywhere, which isn't a bad thing. I've even decided that at this rate I'll do some squats and such on the weekend, and maybe some light calf raises to see how the ankle does.

In my usual fashion of "just do more", I'll literally do just that. I'm adding 2 weeks on to this cycle to ensure that all muscle groups get a decent chance to progress with THT 4.0 Volume #1 before switching to either Volume #2 or a 4.0 HIT cycle.

Also, sorry about the delays. Been really busy of late with everything else and I still have the update from last night's workout to write as well! It never fails!

Train hard but be safe folks!

Adam

THT 4.0 V1 futher updates

Well, this last cycle hasn't been as laser-guided accurate as my previous cycles for reporting, mostly because I started the cycle with a sprained ankle. With that said, it has been healing enough that I was able to do some dumbell deadlifts last night as part of my back / biceps THT 4.0 Volume #1 day.

I actually managed gains yesterday for Back and Biceps day. The same yesterday for Chest and Abs day.

It's really rough sometimes having to fight through an injury enough so that you can do the things you can still do 100% while making sure you also don't re-injure yourself again. The mental struggle just adds to the physical effort required for the day.

With that said, I can honestly say that I'm proud of my efforts and I can't wait to get back into the gym on Sunday for another Shoulders day workout.

Have a great workout everyone! And a great weekend at that!

Lift hard and train smart! Or, when in doubt - MuscleHack it!

Adam

THT 4.0 Volume update

So, a bit of an update that will explain my silence.

 I was on vacation last week and sprained my ankle. This gave way to a still-voluntary, somewhat cautionary and entirely unwanted week off from the gym. I was back on Monday for chest and managed to bench 250lbs for 5 reps. That was WICKED!

So, I'll attempt to recover my THT 4.0 Volume 1 week (this week) by doing shoulders tonight, along with back and biceps. I'm skipping legs as my ankle is far from 100%, although I CAN walk on it - so I might try a set of leg extensions and a set of leg curls. Triceps will be Thursday. I'll then aim to be back on my regular rotation for this cycle starting Sunday with chest again.

Time will tell. I don't have a full range of motion without extra resistance or pain yet, but walking on level ground brings no discomfort. I can walk thru the gym carrying 45lb plates in each hand without grief, so that's something. I just don't want to be right off the "leg training" wagon for too long!

Have a great day all, train hard but smart!

Adam

THT 4.0 V1 Chest and abs day done! Back and biceps too!

Hooookay. This was a lesson in "how do I lift this much weight?" The answer to said question is: carefully and focus on downsizing my progressive sets. This way by far the most trashed I've ever been after a chest workout. The same goes for my abs.

The new THT 4.0 Volume #1 cycle allows you to really isolate your chest well with cabled pec deck workouts, while also hitting it with the extra beefy goodness of bench presses. The end result is that you feel like a million bucks after the workout, but flexing for progress shots takes serious concentration. OK, you feel like a million exhausted bucks.

EDIT - everything after this point is written today, July 12th. I had meant to finish this post yesterday but I ran out of time. Figures. At least I can incorporate things in from last night's wokrout as well!

On that note, my chest is seriously feeling it this morning! 2 days later, I'm reminded of how people can make such drastic changes for themselves using Mark's amazing programs. I can flex my pecs, but it feels like my chest is flexing every muscle fiber independently.

Last night was back / biceps night. I'll attack this one right out of the gate by mentioning that I missed my decline lat pull-overs last night and subbed in an extra set of dumbell rows to make up for it. I just couldn't get cable station time. Biceps went markedly better than that, but I've also decided that as of next week, my final barbell curls set will be followed by at least a single set of single-handed cable curls. Mentially, I need that isolation exercise to help myself grow. Other than that it was an amazing THT 4.0 Volume workout.

Triceps are tonight. I'm really enthused about the fact that triceps get their own day. Something about that just makes a lot of sense to me.

Have a great day everyone. Train hard and lift smart!

Adam

PS - I've often been told that I don't "flex my abs". This is actually a mental trap of mine wherein my abs have always been hard to train up, and to notice their increase, because of my tall frame. So, I decided to give a good pec / abs flex a shot. If I'm pretty impressed, that says a lot because I'm still my own toughest critic. You can judge for yourself!