Bulk - Week 3

Macros

This week

• 2300 calories
• 261g carbs
• 150g protein
• 73g fat

Stats

Last weeks weight: 64.1kg

Current weight: 64.5kg

Supplements

• Halotropin Testosterone Booster 1 tablet 2-3x per day
• Creatine 5g per day mixed in pre/post workout shake
• Cellucor C4 Pre Workout before training
• Glutamine 2 tablets post workout
• Probiotics 1x per day
• Multivitamin 1x per day
• Fish Oil/Cod Liver Oil 1x per day

Workouts

Monday 15th Dec: Rest

Tuesday 16th Dec: Lower Body
1. Box Squats 5 x 10
2. Smith Machine Leg Press 4 x 10
3. Cable Romanian Deadlift 4 x 10
4. Leg Extensions 5 x 10

Wednesday 17th Dec: Upper Body
1. Pull Ups 4 x 8
2. Overhead Barbell Press 4 x 10
3. Neutral Grip Pull Down 4 x 10
4. Dumbbell Lateral Raise into Front Raise 4 x 8
5a. Triceps Dips 4 x 8
5b. Cable Hammer Curl 4 x 10

Thursday 18th Dec: Rest

Friday 19th Dec: Lower Body
1. Box Squats 4 x 10
2. Smith Machine Reverse Lunges 4 x 8
3. Cable Romanian Deadlift 4 x 10
4. Leg Extension 6 x 10 (10 sec rest between sets)
5. Lying Hamstring Curl 5 x 10 (10 seconds rest between sets)

Saturday 20th Dec: Abs
1. Bottoms Up on Smith Machine 3 x 12
2. Kneeling Landmine 180 3 x 12
3. Cable Crunch 4 x 12
4. Hanging Leg Raise 4 x 10
5. Cable Oblique Crunch 3 x 12
6. Standing Ab Crunch with 10kg Plate 4 x 12

Sunday 21st Dec: Upper Body
1. Dumbbell Overhead Press 4 x 8-10
2. Standing High Pulley Row 4 x 12
3. Shoulder Bombs 4 x 8
4. Seated Row 4 x 12
5a. Triceps Push Down 4 x 12
5b. Dumbbell Biceps Curl 4 x 12

How am I feeling?

I have been getting really bad nausea during my workouts this week, especially when training legs. I think it could possibly be due to not drinking enough water the day prior to training (I always train in the morning). I am going to try upping my water intake to see if that helps.

In regards to fat gain, I am definitely starting to notice that I am gaining some fat. It doesn't bother me as I start cutting in a few weeks, but I can definitely notice it, especially in my lower body.

I am still taking my testosterone booster, and I am still loving it. I haven't slept this good in a long time. I fall asleep within 10 minutes and am out cold the whole night. The only downside is that you can feel a bit groggy when you wake up in the morning.

Plan for next week

Next week is the last week of my bulk before I start to slowly cut calories into a fat loss deficit, and of course it's Christmas where I will be enjoying lots of oysters kilpatrick and cheesecake - and no macros will be tracked.

I am excited for 2015 to see how much I can change my body. Every year for the past 6 years, I have vowed that I will be 'in shape for summer' and every year I have weighed and looked the same ha! The problem was that that was my main motivator, and it just wasn't enough to keep going with it. I would eat clean and exercise for 8 weeks then stop for 4, rinse and repeat. This time I have been going at it consistently for almost 6 months now, and that is because my motivation changed. My motivation now is to see how much I can lift, increase my strength and see how far I can push myself.

Bulk - Week 2

Macros

This week

• 2300 calories
• 258g carbs
• 146g protein
• 76g fat

Stats

Starting weight: 63kg

Current weight: 64.1kg

Supplements

• Halotropin Testosterone Booster 1 tablet 2-3x per day
• Creatine 5g per day mixed in pre/post workout shake
• Cellucor C4 Pre Workout before training
• Glutamine 2 tablets post workout
• Probiotics 1x per day
• Multivitamin 1x per day
• Fish Oil/Cod Liver Oil 1x per day

Workouts

Monday 10th Dec: Rest

Tuesday 9th Dec: Upper Body

All exercises are 4 x 8-10 reps with 90 seconds rest between sets.

1. Assisted Band Pull Ups (2 x 6) *

2. Wide Grip Lat Pull Down

3. Barbell Overhead Press

4. T Bar Row
5. Single Arm Linear Jammer
6a. Triceps Push Down
6b. Cable Rope Hammer Curl

* I injured my elbow badly two years ago doing chin ups and I haven't done them since. I still suffer with pain in my elbow if I lift over 45kg with my arms. Due to this I am easing slowly back into pull ups.

Wednesday 10th Dec: Rest - Sick

Thursday 11th Dec: Rest - Sick

Friday 12th Dec: Sick

Saturday 13th Dec: Lower Body
All exercises are 3 sets of 8-10 reps
1. Squats
2. Romanian Deadlift
3. Walking Lunges
4. Leg Extension
5. Lying Leg Curl
6. Seated Calf Raise

Sunday 14th Dec: Upper Body
1. Band Assisted Pull Ups  3 x 6
2. Reverse Grip Lat Pull Down  4 x 12
3. Barbell Overhead Press  4 x 12
4a. Single Arm Dumbbell Lateral Raise  4 x 8
4b. Single Arm Dumbbell Front Raise  4 x 8
5. Straight Arm Pull Down  3 x 10
6a. Triceps Push Down
6b. Cable Biceps Curl

How am I feeling?

I am still feeling great. I think I may have overdone it a bit last week and I wasn't feeling very good half way through my Monday upper body workout, so I decided to take a few days off until the muscle soreness, aches and sore chest/cough went away.

My weight is up 1kg since I started increasing calories 4 weeks ago, which is about on schedule.
I have 3 weeks left of my mini bulk until I start cutting for my friends wedding at the end of March.   My cutting phase will last 10 weeks. Then I will ease into a 3 month bulk starting the beginning of April.

I definitely feel like the testosterone booster [Halotropin] is making a difference. I have been sleeping like a baby and I am seeing some gains being made. Creatine on the other hand is going to take some getting used to. The 'pump' that it gives you feels very strange - like your muscles are going to burst. Definitely not a feeling I'm used to.

I love bulking, but the further into my bulk I go, I can see why people can struggle with it. It's definitely not fun feeling 'fluffier' than usual. You feel a bit chubby and your clothes don't fit as well as they used to. It's not something that bothers me enough to struggle with it - but I can definitely see why girls would.

Plan for next week

• Keep my calories and macros the same
• Do two upper body, two lower body and one ab workout with reps between 8-12.
• Drink 3+ litres of water per day
• Add more vegetables to my diet

Bulk - Week 1

Macros

This week

• 2300 calories
• 258g carbs
• 146g protein
• 76g fat

Supplements

• Halotropin Testosterone Booster 1 tablet 2x per day
• Creatine 5g per day mixed in pre/post workout shake
• Cellucor C4 Pre Workout before training
• Glutamine 2 tablets post workout
• Probiotics 1x per day
• Multivitamin 1x per day
• Fish Oil/Cod Liver Oil 1x per day

Workouts

Saturday 29 Nov: Legs

*Pre exhaust quads*

1. Leg Extension 4 x 8

2. Single Leg Extension 4 x 8

3. Barbell Full Squat

4. Barbell Walking Lunges

5a. Lying Hamstring Curls

5b. Barbell Deadliest

Sunday 30 Nov: Shoulders

All exercises are 4 x 6-8 reps with a 1/1/3 tempo

1. Overhead Barbell Press

2. Single Arm Linear Jammer

3a. Lying Cable Upright Row

3b. Front Plate Raise

4a. Cable Lateral Raise

4b. Bent Over Cable Fly

Monday 1st Dec: Rest

Tuesday 2nd Dec: Legs
Squats 5x6
Smith Machine Leg Press 5x8 superset with 5x8 pulses
Walking Lunges 3x16
Leg Extension 4x8 with drop set on last set

Wednesday 3rd Dec: Back
All exercises are 4x6-8 with 1.5-2 mins rest between sets
1. Wide Grip Lat Pull Down
2. Neutral Grip Lat Pull Down
3. Single Arm Wide Grip Pull Down
4. Bent Over Single Arm Barbell Row
5a. Straight Arm Rope Pull Down
5b. Band Pull Aparts

Thursday 4th Dec: Abs
All exercises are 4 sets of 8-12 reps
1. Kneeling Landmine 180
2. Standing Cable Crunch
3. Hanging Leg Raise
4. Stability Ball Knee Tuck

Friday 5th Dec: Rest

Saturday 6th Dec: Hamstrings
All exercises are 4 sets of 6-8 reps
1. Deadlift
2. Romanian Deadlift
3. Cable Pull Through
4. Lying Leg Curls

Sunday 7th Dec: Shoulders/Arms
1. Overhead Barbell Press
2. Kneeling Single Arm Linear Jammer
3. Cable Lateral Raise
4a. High Cable Pull
4b. Plate Front Raise
5a. Triceps Dips
5b. Dumbbell Biceps Curl

How am I feeling?

I am feeling great! I am loving eating all the extra food and I love that my lifts are getting stronger. I found that for the first 5 days when I would take my testosterone booster in the afternoon/evening, it would make me pretty drowsy, but when I took it before working out in the morning, it had the opposite effect - I could lift heavier and longer. Thankfully the drowsiness went after a few days and now I don't notice any side effects (except more energy and strength when taken before exercise).

I know a lot of people talk about really struggling with putting on weight and not being as 'lean' while bulking but I have to say I haven't experienced that yet. Yeah sure I have a bit more fat than I usually would, but I know I need to bulk in order to gain muscle so it doesn't really bother me. Plus, this girl loves her food. Next week I plan to keep my macros the same and keep an eye on how my weight changes.

Home Gym Set Up

I have had a few people ask me about my home gym - what's in it, what does it look like, how much have we spent on everything etc. So since I have just recently tidied it up, I thought I would take some photos of it. Keep in mind, we did not purchase everything at once - we have slowly added equipment over the last 6 years. My husband and I worked out that we would be paying $500 a year each to go to a local gym, so why not use that money to buy our own equipment that we can use at any time.

At the beginning of this year we built a 9x7 metre shed down the back of our block, half of which is our home gym, the other half houses our camper trailer.

I think my first purchase was the SelectTech Dumbbells which cost me around $380 back in 2009. These things are awesome and it beats having a bunch of dumbbells lying around. These were difficult to come by here in Australia and the only place that sold them was eBay. I still use them for nearly every workout.

The barbell and bumper plates are my husbands, and to be honest I did not want to buy them as I thought they were way too expensive - but now I use them more than he does. I think all up for the bar and the bumper plates it cost around $800. The bumper plates come in 0.5kg, 1kg, 1.5kg, 2kg, 2.5kg, 5kg, 10kg, 15kg and 20kg.

I also have a few stability balls, an agility ladder, boxing gloves, mits, rings, foam roller, TRX and a few other bits and pieces stowed away in a box in the corner. The squat rack/cable pulley is also my husbands purchase. We got it from Gym & Fitness two years ago for around $450.

I bought my smith machine off a man who lives on the Central Coast for $250. We got the leg extension/bench from a local man for $50. We also have a sled that my husband made, but I forgot to snap a picture of it!

I would love to get a boxing bag, more cable attachments, ropes and some medicine balls to add to the collection - maybe next year.

There you have it - that is pretty much all the fitness gear that we own (aside from DVD's). I am forever thankful that I am able to exercise from home and that we took the time to save and set it up. One of our big future goals was to have our own home gym and I am so grateful that we made that goal a reality.

If you are looking at setting up a home gym, I recommend shopping around - you can find a lot of second hand fitness equipment in excellent condition for a fraction of what it would cost in the shops. Take your time and add things as you can afford it.

Hopefully this gave you some ideas for your home gym. Feel free to message me or comment below if you have any questions!