Week 3 Progress Pics

Check out the gains. This week's set of progress pics will showcase strength and some size gains rather than progress in the area of definition. My abs have not improved because I haven't been doing cardio so I will not be showing them here today.

Note: The arrows above each text segment designate the picture that I am talking about with respect to the location of the text.

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To the right is a shot of my bicep and deltoids. I haven't been able to achieve total separation between my anterior and medial heads in the deltoid region but the definition is not bad.











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This one shows the peak development of my left bicep. I think it's purely genetic, but my left arm has this "baseball" peak whereas my right arm has nothing of the sort. Both arms are equal in strength. This is the best peak that I have ever had in my life. I attribute it mostly to a variety of bicep exercises rather than a select view. I've started to vary my bicep exercises as much as possible as of late.

This left arm measured in at 17" full pump. I do not think I could reproduce this number in a deflated state.



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These two images show my forearm development. I've managed to strengthen and define my forearms through very controlled hammer curl movements as well as very controlled movements on back day. I do not use wrist straps because I value the forearm development that comes along standard grips. My left (picture on the right) forearm is larger than my right since it is my dominant hand, however, my right hand's grip is stronger.


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I really like this image since it shows overall bicep, forearm, all deltoid groups, superior trapezius, chest, rhomboid, lat, and a tiny bit of tricep development.

My trap development isn't that great because I almost never do shrugs. I do not think that the next-day neck stiffness caused by shrugs is worth any sort of muscular development in that area. Genetically I have average traps and I'm ok with that. The areas that I want to develop more include the entire trapezius group and the rhomboid group.

Chest striations were achieved by reincorporating plyometric-based chest exercises such as the explosive bosu ball pushups as well as TRX-based exercises. Atomic pushups are magical.

Author's note: I think it's pretty artsy for a progress pic selfie considering the fact that the placement of my head with respect to the camera blocks the toilet perfectly. If only I were wearing a Gold's Gym tank...










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Ever since I started working out with my friend Jeremy W. at UCLA, I began to incorporate a wider range of lat exercises not limited to lat pulldown variations. Different types of bodyweight exercises are all fair game as well. I've started getting into obstacle courses and using climbing ropes as a method of lat training. In this image you can see I've developed good but not great lats.

For ease of comparison I will use the lat pulldown as a measurement tool to gauge progress. I was stuck at 160 lbs. (8-10 reps) on lat pulldown when I entered college. Since then I've probably done an average of 1 back day a week and managed to increase that weight by 50 lbs. I mean to say that I can now rep 210 lbs. for 8 reps on lat pulldowns. For me the key was intensity and a spotter. Just because an exercise uses mechanical assistance of some sort doesn't immediately designate it as one that would not benefit from a spotter. The only way that my back responds and grows is through heavy weight and high volume. I hit my lats hard and heavy for many sets, but what got me out of the plateau was changing my entire exercise scheme. I transitioned to incorporating T-Bar rows into my workout and broke through my plateau, despite the fact that T-Bar rows emphasize lower trapezius and rhomboid muscle groups.



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And for reference, here is the original pic: