Low double contraction basically means a half rep out of the bottom followed by a full rep, which is why they are also called "1.5 reps"

On a bench press (easier to describe than a curl, but the same rule applies) it looks like this:

Bring bar to chest, push it up HALF way, bring it back down to chest, push it up all the way = 1 rep

Sometimes he writes for a double contraction at the top, which is the same thing but the top half gets repeated after the full rep.

Thank you for the clarification!

So I was away for the past two days doing some teaching...took my indigo with me but didn't really get to work out. Definitely didn't make all the best food choices eating out and felt pretty bad last night. Was feeling pretty bloated and just generally bad. Decided to go do a workout when I got back last evening so I did the deadlift pattern day from HFS. Man, definitely took a while to start feeling good...everything just felt really heavy if that makes sense. Pushed through though and feeling better about myself this morning.

Deadlift Pattern, HFS
Squat 5 x 6 @ 165
Bench 5 x 6 @ 145
Deadlift 4 x 6 @ 235

Deadlift, standing on plates
5 x 235
5 x 255
5 x 255
5 x 255
Cluster set, 5 x 275 w/ 15 - 20 sec in between each (ROUGH, got through though)

Romanian DL
7 x 145
7 x 155
7 x 165
Clean High Pull (new to me)
7 x 55
7 x 65
7 x 75
Barbell shrug, strict w/ 3 sec pause (new to me)
7 x 75
7 x 85
7 x 95

Went for a walk this morning and my shins have been bothering me a lot lately. Used to get pain in them when I was waaaaay out of shape and tried to walk or run distances, but it hasn't happened in a long time! Not sure what the deal is...might be my shoes. I was consistently wearing my new balance minimus for a while now and have been throwing the nike free's on a bit lately. No clue, but gonna take it easy on the extra walking til I figure it out.

A few notes about the last week.

1. I am retarded. In week 1 of HFS I did all my HFSW as 5 x 6 instead of 3 x 6...because the little blurb at the top reads 3 - 5 sets. I took that to mean...3 was the minimum but you could do up to five, instead of looking ahead and realizing it meant the number of sets change over the course of 4 weeks between 3 and 5.

2. That being said...I didn't seem to exceed my capacity to recover, so wtfever. Moving onto week 2 (yes I know I said I would start week 1 again this week, but I ended up getting all 5 sessions in after all last week).

Breakfast today
1 Red bell pepper
3/4 cup oatmeal
2 scoops chocolate met drive (low carb)
1 tbsp natty PB
1 cup almond milk
Total - 585 cal, 18.5 fat, 53 carb, 52 protein

Workout Nutrition
FINiBAR x 2
Surge Workout Fuel, 1 scoop
MAG-10, 2 scoops
Surge Recovery, 2 scoops
Total - 1157 cal, 21.5 fat, 169 carb, 67 protein

Workout! High Frequency Strength Program, Week 2, Day 1 - Bench Pattern

HFSW - 4 x 5
Squat - 4 sets of 5 x 175
Bench - 4 sets of 5 x 155
Deadlift - 4 sets of 5 x 245

Foundational - Floor Press w/ close grip
4 sets of 5 x 145
2 cluster sets of 5 x 165, w/ 15 second pause between reps

Structural Work - 4 x 6
Decline Bench - 4 sets of 6 x 155
Skullcrushers - 4 sets of 6 x 70 (Did DB hammer curls in between w/ 25 lb dumbbells for AR)
DB Power Flies - 4 sets of 6 x 80 (40 lb dumbbells

Overall this workout felt great! Lots of energy. More to come later!

Dinner
8 oz Chicken Breast
1 1/4 cup (cooked) rice
1/4 tbsp butter
1/2 tbsp coconut oil
Asparagus, Green pepper, Onion, Jalapeno, Broccoli, Tomato
2 Rice cakes w/ sugar free blackberry jam
Total - 655 cal, 12 fat, 69 carbs, 61 protein

Total so far for the Day - 2397 cal, 52 fat, 291 carbs, 179 protein
Might add some greek yogurt after bit if I'm hungry...not really sure what I should be aiming for calorie wise at the moment, so I'm just trying to get close to 300g carbs to make sure indigo can do it's thing and adequate protein. Goal is generally to recomp a bit and get stronger.

Going to log food carefully for the next two weeks and see what happens I suppose.

Added the following snack before bed (and after my ZMA)
1/2 cup Greek Yogurt
1 scoop Grow! Whey vanilla
1/2 cup mixed berries
1 tbsp Almond butter
Flameout, 4 caps
Total - 362 cal, 16.5 fat, 23 carb, 36 protein

Daily Total - 2759 cal, 68.5 fat, 314 carbs, 215 protein

Today so far...

Breakfast
1 cup oats
2 scoops Metabolic Drive Low Carb
1 tbsp peanut butter
1 cup almond milk
3 mixed small bell peppers
Metabolic Drive bar (90 minutes later)
Total - 880 cal, 25.5 fat, 95 carbs, 74.5 protein

Workout Nutrition
2 FINiBARs (1 pre, 1 post)
2 scoops MAG-10
1 scoop Surge Workout Fuel
2 scoops Surge Recovery
Creatine
Total - 1157 cal, 21.5 fat, 179 carbs, 67 protein

HFS - Week 2, Day 2 - Squat Pattern
HFSW
Squat - 4 x 5 @ 175
Bench - 4 x 5 @ 155
Deads - 4 x 5 @ 245

Foundational
Leg Press
2 x 5 @ 270
2 x 5 @ 290 (feeling around for a good weight still...used the machine last week, used the one with plates this week, felt slightly different)
Cluster Sets
5 x 320
5 x 320

Structural
Front Squat - 4 x 6 @ 155
Bulg. Split Squat - 4 x 6 @ 50 (25 lb DBs)
Leg Extension - 4 x 6 @ 115

Did one set of 30 on the ab roller when I got home as well.

More laters...

Ended up eating dinner out (date night! shocking for me) at a little mexican place
Pretty sure it's a good thing I'm taking indigo...I didn't go crazy but pretty much every aspect of the meal had carbs lol.
Chicken Enchiladas w/ Green tomatillo sauce
Rice
Refried beans
a few chips and salsa
No clue on calories or carbs really, but it wasn't a huge meal necessarily.

Back at it tomorrow!

July 13th, 2012

Breakfast
1/2 cup oats
1 tbsp PB
2 scoops choc met drive low carb
2 cups puffed rice
1 cup almond milk
2 rice cakes
Total 690 cal, 17 fat, 85 carb, 53.5

Snack - Met drive bar (added in total)

Workout nutrition
1 FINiBAR
1 scoop SWF
4 scoops MAG-10 (2 during morning sprints, 2 during weight session)
1 scoop Surge
839 cal, 11 fat, 117 carb, 66 protein

Snack - finibar (added in total)

Dinner
1/2 lb Ground beef, w/spices
2 extra thin corn tortillas
1 cup (cooked) rice
various veggies
620 cal, 16 fat, 60 carb, 50 protein

Total for day so far - 2522 cal, 60 fat, 317 carb, 185 protein

Morning workout - 15 sprints of about 50 - 60 yards

Afternoon - Lats/Biceps
Kayak Rows - 4 x 6 @ 32.5
Straight Arm Pulldown - 4 x 8 @ 32.5
Lat Pulldown w/ hold - 4 x 8 @ 100
DB Pullover w/ hold - 4 x 8 @ 30
DB Hammer Curls/Rope Tricep Extension
4 x 8 @ 35 (each DB)
Preacher Curl/Overhead Tri Extension
4 x 8 @ curl bar + 30 lbs
Seated DB Curl, 2x Low Contraction/Close grip Push ups
4 x 8 @ 25 (each DB)

So yesterday was kind of a crap shoot calories and macros wise. I mean, I'm sure I got enough in but made some less than stellar decisions. Had a lunch meeting at chili's and went to the Rangers game later that night and definitely had some cheat foods, but oh well, moving on.

Thursday June 14th

Breakfast - Oats w/ Protein & PB

Lunch (at Chili's)
Grilled shrimp tacos, w/ flour tortillas, avocado, cabbage slaw
black beans
rice
a few chips w/ salsa

Workout Nutrition - finibars, SWF, MAG-10, Surge

Afternoon snacks - a MAG-10 pulse and later a finibar on the way to the game

Dinner (at the game)
BBQ beef sandwhich w/ chips
Hot Dog
3 beers

Not the best decisions, but it was fun and not a regular thing so I'm not like, sweating it really. Fun time, even though TX lost hard. I'm a Pittsburgh fan anyway! ;D

Had a bowl of puffed rice cereal w/ almond milk and some greek yogurt w/ whey when I got home too.

Workout Yesterday - Week 2, Day 4 - High Frequency Strength, Overhead Pattern

Squat - 4 x 5 @ 175
Bench - 4 x 5 @ 155
Deads - 4 x 5 @ 245

Push Press - 4 x 5 @ 120, Cluster Sets - 5 x 135, 5 x 140

Wide Grip Press - 4 x 6 @ 85
BB Front Raises - 4 x 6 @ 60
Upright Rows w/ Rope - 4 x 6 @ 57.5

Now I'm gonna hit submit...and not reset...again.

Let's go Bucs!

Hell yeah man! Hope they pull out of this little funk they've been in today!

So still running a day behind...here's my friday...

Workout came earlier today...so workout nutrition was breakfast

FINiBARs, SWF, Mag10, Surge

Workout - week 2, day 5 - deadlift pattern

Squat - 4 x 5 @ 175
Bench - 4 x 5 @ 155
Deads - 4 x 5 @ 245

Platform DL - did this on an actual platform this week instead of standing on plates, felt way different...better but I had to go lighter. Still kicked my ass though.
4 x 5 @ 225
cluster 2 x 5 @ 255 w/ 15 sec pauses

Romanian DL - 4 x 6 @ 175
Clean High Pull - 4 x 6 @ 95 (felt way better after only one week, should be able to go heavier)
BB Shrug w/ 3 sec pause - 4 x 6 @ 95 (maybe I'm effing these up...but do you guys like have to...tuck it back or anything doing these? Or are you supposed to lean forward a bit and not drag the bar up your thighs?)

Pulse and one more finibar later for a snack...spaced them out so the pulse had time to do its thing.

Then had some oats w/ whey, pumpkin, flax, walnuts, and almond milk.

Other meal was...more oatmeal...this time w/ choc protein and PB

Was feeling lazy about cooking yesterday for sure

Today (saturday) I went for a long walk this morning, felt good.

Still haven't felt a ton like eating...had a couple pulses earlier and just had a couple finibars after my latest indigo dose. Date night tonight so I'll eat something out most likely.

Been doing some ab work today and chin ups while I've been cleaning.

Pretty good day today...workout felt really good as I get started on shock week.

Breakfast - Cup of oats w/ protein and PB
Workout nutrition - 1 FINiBAR, 1 scoop Surge Workout Fuel, 3 scoops MAG-10, 1 scoop Surge
PWO solid meal - chipotle...burrito w/ rice, pinto beans, double chicken and a bit of cheese/hot salsa
Dinner - BBQ shrimp, extra thin corn toritllas, rice w/ mexican spices cut with onion, asparagus, rotel tomatoes/chiles and jalapeno. Dessert was half a can of pumpkin, 1 scoop vanilla grow and cinnamon w/ rice cakes. Also Flameout.

Workout!
Week 3, Day 1 - Bench Pattern
Squat - 5 x 4 @ 185
Bench - 5 x 4 @ 165
Deads - 5 x 4 @ 255

Close Grip Floor Press
3 x 5 @ 155
Cluster sets - 3 x 5 @ 175

Decline Bench - 5 x 5 @ 165 (alternate w/ rows)
Skullcrushers - 5 x 5 @ 75 (alternate w/ curls)
DB Power Flies - 2 x 5 @ 90 (45's)
3 x 5 @ 80
Was having trouble with form doing the 45's so I dropped a bit.

Oddly busy day...

Food so far
Oats w/ Metabolic Drive, and PB
Ghengis Grill - LOT of chicken, w/ spinach, mixed peppers, jalapeno, broccoli, couple eggs and rice
5 finibars and a couple pulses throughout the afternoon and evening.

Going to the gym soom...not adding any more FINiBARs but using Surge Workout Fuel, MAG-10 and Surge Recovery as usual.

Week 3, Day 2 awaits! More later.

Squat - 5 x 4 @ 185
Bench - 5 x 4 @ 165
Deads - 5 x 4 @ 255

Leg press
5 x 290
5 x 310
5 x 310
Cluster sets
3 x 5 @ 320 w/ 15 sec pause between reps

Front Squat
5 x 5 @ 165
Bulg Split Squat
Got a real weird feeling in my groin trying to do these tonight (at body weight) decided to scrap them for the night and keep practicing them throughout the week.
Leg Extension
5 x 5 @ 125

Other than the split squats the workout felt great...still don't think I'm down to an hour like CT mentioned last night, but I really made an effort to shorten rest periods a bit tonight. The HFSW sets seemed to fly by with no loss of intensity or explosiveness.

Busy week!

Workout (wednesday) Lats and Biceps
Kayak Rows 5 x 8 @ 32.5 (sometimes I really feel these in my back, but they also feel like they're hitting my tri's, I keep watching the videos but feel like I might be messing them up)
Straight are Pull Down - 5 x 10 @ 27.5 (still trying to really get form down on these too)
Lat Pull Down w/ hold - 5 x 10 @ 100
DB Pullover - 5 x 10 @ 30
DB Hammer Curl - 5 x 10 w/ 35's (rope tricep)
Preacher Curl - 5 x 10 w/ ez curl bar + 30 (overhead tricep ext)
Seated DB Curl 2x low contraction - 5 x 10 @ 25's (close grip push ups)

Workout (thursday) - HFSW, Overhead Pattern
Squat 5 x 4 @ 185
Bench 5 x 4 @ 165
Deads 5 x 4 @ 255
Push Press - 3 x 5 @ 125, 3 x cluster 5 @ 145
Wide Grip Overhead Press - 5 x 5 @ 95 (no problem increasing the weight, wasn't easy but got all the reps with good form and speed)
BB Front Raise - 5 x 5 @ 65
Upright Row w/ Rope - 5 x 5 @ 80 (big increase from last week, felt great though)

Killer deadlift pattern workout today! Whole thing felt pretty good...I really love the cluster sets. They can be brutal but in a good way.

Squat - 5 x 4 @ 185
Bench - same @ 165
Deadlift - same @ 255

Deadlift on Podium
3 x 5 @ 235
3 x cluster 5 @ 255

Romanian - 5 x 5 @ 175
Clean High Pull - same @ 105
Strict BB Shrug w/ 3 sec hold - same @ 105

Couple pulses this morning before a late breakfast of oats/whey/PB
Typical WO nutrition (for me...see above posts)
Ordered a couple tubs of anaconda cause I've almost gone through my remaining Surge Workout Fuel and Recovery. I'll miss chocolate Surge...a lot. The mere thought of it sitting at home in the fridge has powered me through some difficult sets lol. I think I have a problem...
Dinner was chicken, rice, and veggies w/ some bbq sauce...couple PB/J Rice cakes for a snack later on.

Really looking forward to checking out the new anaconda formula next week...also excited for Peak week and some heavier weights! Shock week was pretty awesome...loving this program so far. Looked ahead a bit to phase 2 and 3 and am very excited for things to come.

Definitely sold on Indigo-3G...not doing any update pics till the 4 week mark but I'm noticing little things...more veins, bigger pumps, feeling more confident in the gym. And big things like doubling the calories of the vdiet I was on and eating more carbs per day than I have in years without noticibly losing my vdiet results. Excited to see where I can get long term with this plan!

Peak week is freakin awesome, after all that volume in shock week you cant help but think "Damn, thats it!?"

The phases are really well laid out, each of the 3 building on the one before it. That, and I really dig the 4 week cycles of modifying weights/volume. Progress pics should be good at about 4 weeks.

Yeah! Was definitely looking forward to today, until I got in there lol. Was just having one of those days where I went into, just get it done and gtfo mode cause everything felt terrible. I think I was a bit too lazy over the weekend...didn't do anything athletic at all yesterday especially. Then while doing floor presses I definitely tweaked something in my shoulder. I was able to finish but halfway through my decline bench I decided to call it rather than to make it worse. I was able to press fine but I could feel pain while I was lowering the bars. Just moving my arm around a bit I felt like it would be counter productive to try skullcrushers and power flies. Hoping it feels better tomorrow...its not like terrible or anything, but I'd rather be cautious now than pay the price later.

Here's what I did get done.
Two or three warm up (ramp up) sets for each
Squat - 3 x 3 @ 205
Bench - 3 x 3 @ 185
Deads - 3 x 3 @ 275

Floor Press
2 x 5 @ 165
2 x cluster5 @ 175

Decline bench
3 x 4 @ 165
1 x 4 @ 135
Stopped workout due to unusual shoulder pain.

Hoping it just goes away...we'll see how I feel tomorrow.

I don't want to take time off that's for sure, but I am about to leave town for a couple weeks so I might take that time to just kinda maintain, do some neural charge type things, etc and then start on Phase 2 when I get back in mid July. I'll have access to a gym while I'm gone but it won't be as regular, etc. Not sure yet.

Training was sooooo much better today! Guess I just had a case of the mondays. I can still feel a little bit of weirdness from yesterday in my shoulder but it didn't hold back my HFS benching at all like it did yesterday so that's really good news.

Also...Anaconda came today! Freakin sweet. Definitely enjoyed it during the workout!

Breakfast was typical oats, whey, PB with a banana today... ~750ish calories

W/O Nutrition was 1 FINiBAR, 2 scoops Anaconda, 2 scoops MAG-10

...and that's all I've eaten so far. :(

Squat Pattern Day

Squat - 3 x 3 @ 205
Bench - 3 x 3 @ 185
Deads - 3 x 3 @ 275

Leg Press
2 x 5 @ 320
1 x cluster5 @ 340
1 x cluster5 @ 360

Front Squat - 6 x 4 @ 175 (rocked these today, felt really solid even after leg pressing)
Split Squat - 6 x 4 @ 50 (a 25 Plate in each hand, these were vaguely more comfortable today, but I still hate them...which of course means I need to keep doing them.)
Leg Extension - 6 x 4 @ 140

Lats and Biceps - 6/27

Kayak Rows - 3 x 10 per side @ 27.5
Straight Arm Pulldown - 3 x 12 @ 27.5
Lat Pulldown w/ hold - 2 x 12 @ 100, 1 x 12 @ 85
DB Pullover - 3 x 12 @ 30

Hammer Curls w/ hold at peak - 3 x 12 @ 35's Alt w/ Tricep Rope extension
Preacher Curls - 3 x 12 @ 45 Alt w/ Overhead Tricep Extension
Seated Curl 2x Low - 3 x 12 @ 25's Alt w/ close grip push ups


Some of the Lat exercises that I was having trouble getting correct are starting to click now, mainly the kayak row and straight arm pull down. Still a couple frustrating sets mixed in though.

Overhead Pattern Day

Squat - 3 x 3 @ 205
Bench - 3 x 3 @ 185
Deads - 3 x 3 @ 275

Push Press
2 x 5 @ 135
1 x 5 @ 155 (cluster) Barely got the last rep
1 x 5 @ 145 (cluster)

Wide Grip Press - 6 x 4 @ 105
BB Front Raises - 6 x 4 @ 75
Standing Row w/ Rope - 6 x 4 @ 100

Loving the Anaconda so far! Sad day...running out of finibars and no value pack (hopefully for the moment only). Training felt great today...deadlift pattern tomorrow!

Phase 1, Week 4, Day 5 - Deadlift

Squat 3 x 3 @ 205
Bench 3 x 3 @ 185
Deads 3 x 3 @ 275

Deadlift on Plates
2 x 5 @ 245
Cluster Reps 2 x 5 @ 275

RDL 6 x 4 @ 185
Clean High Pull 6 x 4 @ 115
Strict Shrug w/ 3 sec hold 6 x 4 @ 135

This workout went really well! Didn't feel easy per se...but like, I just felt accomplished as I got through it. Was definitely my most confident deadlift day this month! Annnnnd it brings phase 1 to a close.

Going on vacation to Pennsylvania to visit my family the next 2 weeks...hoping to get in a weight room at a local college where my mom works, will probably get 3 sessions a week in if I'm lucky. Just gonna maintain and start Phase 2 of the Strength program in a couple weeks when I'm back home.

Progress pics in the morning most likely...might wait til next week and get the "official" 4 weeks. I started on a tuesday with Indigo I think.

Well...time to get back on posting I think (or well past that time really).

3 weeks ago I went on a road trip up to PA for two weeks and did not end up having any access to a gym. I kept on with Indigo full dose since I'm in my break in period still and worked out when and however I could. Did some playground stuff, body weight work at home and a couple sprint sessions and a lot of low intensity walking. Didn't eat perfectly the entire time either but definitely don't feel like I gained much fat over that two weeks.

This past week after getting back to texas I've just been doing a MWF in the gym to get a feel for the weights again and plan on starting Phase 2 of the strength program on monday next week. Did some lighter work on monday on my main lifts and had a great heavy session on wednesday. Later today I want to test my 6RM to use for the next phase.

Eating has been a little sketchy this week but not too terrible. If anything I've been under eating mostly...having some relationship trouble and lack of appetite because of it, but hoping that's not gonna be an issue much longer.

Looking forward to getting going full steam again on monday!