ExRx.net

20091015 - Thursday

ME Lower

Cardio Warmup
10 Min Treadmill Weak Setting (Was supposed to be interval, but nothing ever changed)

ME Squat:
BW x 10
45 x 5
95 x 5
115 x 3
135 x 3
155 x 3

Barbell Stepups 15"-18" Box:
40 x 8,8,4**

Romanian DL
95 x 5
145x 3
165x *&($%^

Wrist Roller 10#
40sec
40sec
65sec

Overall Notes:
Not at all Happy with performance. I knew it had been a while since I had a true leg workout, therefore, I didn't intend to "Push" myself that hard. The Only exercise which ended as planned or expected were teh squats. I intended to Stop at 145-155# for 3-5 and cleared 155# with minor form issues for 3 reps.

Now for the rest of the workout... For the Stepups I used a fixed weight curl bar (40#) instead of a standard BB. Stability was much easier, due to being shorter, and I even kept to myplan of going lighter and/or fewer reps than I had in the past. Set 1 and 2 went as planned, stopped at 8 reps and left a little in the tank. However, Set 3 went to crap. My Left leg tightened up and just felt like I pulled something. Had to stop, and walk off the injury, thinking it might be a cramp beginning. Walked off the majority of the pain and decided to move to the Romanian DL's

RDL's:
While worming up, I could still feel the soreness in my leg, but push on through. Then I throw 165# on the bar and intend to do 3 sets of 8-12. I think I "Should" Be OK, but obviously I wasn't. Didn't even complete a single rep, put the bar down, walked off the pain and soreness again, then put the weight and Bar away.

Finished up with the Wrist Rollers, and truly surprised myself on these, but they are easy to cheat on, due to the rope length. I tried not to cheat, but I may have. My Forearms truly had a Pump when I left though.

Bummed about my leg/muscle issue. It is still sore today. I will focus on stretching and active style recovery this week. If it's still not right at the next workout, I will just stick to lighter weights with everything and try to add reps. May even work on some BW Stuff.

20091018 Sunday

Rep Upper Day

Warmup:
~8min Jog/Walk (mostly swift walk) around the track..

Bench Press Reps 95# (1.5 min rest work sets)
45-10
75-5
95-8,8,10

Tricep Pushdowns (1min rest) straight bar
30-12,12,12,16

Lat Pull Downs Close Grip Palms Out (1min Rest)
100-9,9,9,9

DB Overhead Press Seated (1.5min Rest)
20-12,12,12,12

DB Curls (1min Rest)
20-10,10,10,10

Bench Rep Notes:
More is better, but my goal was sets of 8 across, which would have been 2 more reps than the previous workout. Ended up with 26 total reps, which was better than expected.

Pushdowns: Straight bar instead of the Rope.. Easier overall, therefore completed all planned reps.

Pulldowns:
Last couple of reps were still quite hard, but completed planned reps..

Overhead press:
Wow, the last set was hard, and it was probably only 11 full reps to lockout, but I will still call it 12. :) Hard is good, and again more total reps than the previous workout. And that is the real goal.

DB Curls:
Wasn't sure where to start with the weight, but I was pretty close. I "Might" have been able to do 1 or 2 more, but I doubt it.

Overall, Pretty good workout. Hard, but felt good. Nothing to really complain about on my part.

Weight:
179.4

BF%: resistence machine at gym
19.6%

Body Measurements:
Waist: 35"
Neck: 15"
BF Based on those measurements: 23%

Wednesday - 20091021

Cardio Warmup:
~5min Walk - track

ME Bench: (~3min Rest between last 2 sets, otherwise no rest)
45x10
75x5
95x3
115x1
125x1
115x4

DB Incline Bench: Palms Forward (1min rest)
30x10,10,10,11

Bent Barbell Row:
80x10,10,10,10
Supersetted With
Face/Neck Pulls: (1.5min Rest)
32.5x12,12,12

Knee Hip Raises:
12,12,12

Bench Notes:
Truly Pissed of with these. Should have been plenty of rest, but complete failure on the second rep at 125#. Had to dump the weight to get up. I probably should not have, but I rested 3 min and pushed the 4 reps up at 115#, which made me feel a little better, but I'm still disappointed.

Incline DB Notes:
Etched out more reps than last week. Guess I can't complain to much.

Row/Face Pulls:
The Rows were done with much better form this week. Kept my back nearly horizontal for all reps. I didn't completely Deload the weight though, and still need to work on the Stretch at the bottom to get the full ROM. The last set really hammered my forarms. I think I may have been doing a semi wrist-curl to get the bar up to my stomach. :) The Face Pulls weren't to bad until the final set, when I had to take a couple of second rest before squeezing out the lst couple of reps.

I usually pull to my neck, and I hit myself in the chin due to fatigue and focusing on pulling the weight, but forgetting to lift my face/chin out of the way. hahaha Sadly, this happened more than once. :) I feel like I get more ROM on my left shoulder, but this could be my imagination.

Overall Workout:
I was afraid it was going to be a BAD night. But Despite my Bench Disappointment, All other Exercises show improvement. Small improvement, but still improvement.

Should I go for 120# on the Bench, or add more reps at 115# to try and get past this small. I guess another option would be to change the from the DB Inclines to DB Flat Bench for the accessory work. I'm doing Inclines to try and keep a decent balance. In a few more weeks, I intend to switch to working on heavy inclines, and DB flat for accessory work. I don't know if this is a good plan or not though.

20091025 Sunday

Rep Upper Day

Warmup:
~Some BW exercises just to get some blood flowing

Bench Press Reps 95# (1.5 min rest work sets)
45-10
65-5
95-9,9,12

Tricep Pushdowns (1min rest) straight bar
35-13,13,13,13

Lat Pull Downs Close Grip Palms in (1min Rest)
100-10,10,10,10

BB Overhead Press Standing (1.5min Rest)
45-12,10,12,10

DB Curls (1min Rest)
22.5-10,9,8,10

Bench Rep Notes:
Still Progressing on these, even though my ME Bench Press isn't moving that much or fast. Next weeks goal will be 10,10, 10+ . I have been setting goals to try and exceed the previous week by at least 2 reps. So fat, so good. Ironically, my Log program calculates a 1rep max of 132 for 95x12. This is more than I have been able to push up for an actual lift.

Pushdowns: Straight bar, added weight and reps. Last few reps were really hard. Will likely add more reps next week. Goal to add reps until I can do sets of 15 across, then add more weight.

Pulldowns:
Simply amazing how changing the grip completely changes the muscles used. I knew Palms in, hit Biceps more, but hadn't really noticed how much until this workout. Still got all planned reps in. Need to keep adding more reps until I can do sets of 12 across.

Overhead press:
DB's and Seats were all full yesterday, therefore, I switched to BB and Standing. And, Added 5# extra due to Bar weight. First few reps and sets were pretty good and felt fairly easy, but starting with Set 3, Every rep began getting progressively harder. Otherwise, these felt good, it just seems I have lower back issues when "Getting Under the Bar". Doesn't feel like a weakness, but almost feels like overarching. Likely a Form issue, just need to be careful.

DB Curls:
After switching grip on the Pulldowns, these were really hard today. Didn't get all reps in as planned, but added weight. Looking back at the template, I should only be doing 8-10 anyway. So, I stayed within the Template's Goals. hahahah

Overall Notes:
Motivation was a little low yesterday to actually get up and go to the Gym. I'm glad I forced myself to go though. I'd been inside with a houseful of Sick Family. Two young girls and the Wife, Not exactly been the best couple of days. Going to the Gym worked wonders for my morale, I just didn't have the motivation to do more cardio though, even though I need it, and Ab Work always requires me to Forcefully do it, which I didn't do. Shame on me..

On the Upside, I did witness something quite rare at the gym. While I was pressing, an individual was doing a Hang Clean and Jerk with at least 135# for what seemed like at least 10-12reps, and unknown amount of sets. Not many people actually lift a BB above their heads in my gym, especially after doing a Clean of any type.

Tuesday - 20091104

Cardio Warmup:
Short Jog around the track

ME Bench: (~3min Rest between last 2 sets, otherwise no rest)
45x10
80x5
90x5
100x10

DB Incline Bench: Palms Forward (1.5min rest)
30x10,10,11,15

Bent Barbell Row:
80x10,10,9,10
Supersetted With
Face/Neck Pulls: (1.5min Rest)
32.5x13,13,12,12

Bench Notes:
Started the 5/3/1 Cycle on this workout... As Expected, I squeezed out 10 reps with a rep or 2 left in the tank. According to my 1rep max calculator (And the one from this site) that's a 133# 1rm. It will be nice having an exact plan on what weights I will be lifting next week.

DB Incline Bench Notes:
I expected maybe 12 reps for the last set on these. 15 truly surprised me. Time to up the weight and reset to a lower rep count.. Should be doing 6-10 reps. The question is 32.5 or 35#?????

Could the "extra" strength come from not lifting "Heavy" on the Bench due to starting the 5/3/1 cycle?

Rows/Face Pulls:
The Rows really felt heavy, and form fell apart again. I found myself standing up near the end of the sets. I did use a wider grip though, which allowed me to feel more in my back.

Probably time to add weight to the Face Pulls, but, the last couple of reps were hard.

Overall:
Not bad for missing a week due to unforseen Hospital Visit. Could have done better on some lifts, but it could have been a lot worse also. I rushed through the workout though. Must force myself to do the prescribed AB work, and would even like to add a couple more exercises to the ME Upper day from WS4SB-3 template (shrugs maybe).

20091105 - Thursday

ME Lower

Cardio Warmup
~5 Min Bike

ME Squat:
BW x 10
45 x 5
95 x 5
115 x 3
145 x 1
165 x 2

DB Stepups 15"-18" Box:
45 x 7**

45^ HyperExtension:
25 x 10,12,11

Cybex Crunch Machine:
95 x 15,15,10

Wrist Rollers:
Skipped

Overall Workout:
Not what I would consider good. I felt pretty good going to the gym, I guess I just didn't have the right motivation. Not really happy with my performance... None of my lifts felt "Right".

Squat Notes:
Mentally, just not there. All this talk recently about shoes has gotten to me.. I haven't been wearing my Chuck Taylors like I should be. It really does make a difference. My knees were caving bad on my final rep. This is why I stopped.

Stepups:
Time to drop these for a while. After just a few reps, the inner leg/groin pain returned. Only did a short single set because of this. I think I will try a lunge variation to replace these on my next workout.

45^ Hyperextensions:
Never tried these with a 25# plate before. Much harder than expected. After the 3rd set started to feel some tightness in the lower back. The tightness may have been the "pump" now that I think about it. I did these to avoid the RDL's due to the groin soreness. I will likely keep these in the "Rotation" but not likely every week.

Ab Work:
Just did it, should have done more.. Goes along with they theme for the night.. Workout just didn't seem "Good".. Nobody to blame but myself for that.

Wrist Rollers:
I still had stitches in my forearm, and certain movements are still uncomfortable. Wrist rolling is one of those uncomfortable motions. On the Up side, My sister removed my stitches this morning..

Tuesday - 20091110

Cardio Warmup:
~10min Elliptical

ME Bench: (~3min Rest between last 2 sets, otherwise no/short rest)
45x10
85x3
95x3
110x7

DB Incline Bench: Palms Forward (1.5min rest)
35x6,8,9,11

Low Cable Row:
85x12,12,9,10
Supersetted With
Face/Neck Pulls: (1.5min Rest)
35x10,10,XX,XX

Bench Notes:
Could have squeezed 1 more rep out I think, but better safe than sorry. 1rm calculated at 132.. Should I see improvements in the calculated 1rm from week to week with the 5/3/1?

DB Incline Notes:
Added weight and stopped a rep or 2 early on the first set to ensure I could complete all reps on my last set. Goal was 10 on the last set, completed 11. Not bad.. Sadly, my gym does not have a matching set of 35# DB's currently, therefore, I will be jumping to the 37.5# ASAP, or may try and jump up to the 40#'s.. Will depend on how a feel next week.

Low Cable Row:
My Third Set of Rows always seems to be the hardest. I think I end up getting a better stretch when doing Cable Rows. Added weight, Hard..

Face Pulls:
Was supersetting these with the Rows, but after my second set of Face Pulls, a chick stole the Rope attachment for the machine. That was the end of that...

Overall Notes:
My Wife joined me last night. Therefore, I spent more time upstairs on the Elliptical than I normally would. I also switched back to the cable rows so she would do these with me. Good time, Good workout. I still can't get her to spend any REAL amount of time in the Free Weight area.

Oh yeah, Checked weight... Going up 181.4.. Must be eating enough, but likely not good enough. Just have to make sure I get the workouts in or I will just get fatter. I feel like I am putting on strength.. I hope it's true. Not happy with the Gut though, but if I'm gaining strength, I don't want to try and cut calories and drop the fat.. Arrgghhhhhh....

20091115 Sunday

Rep Upper Day

Warmup:
.5mile walk/jog around track

Bench Press Reps 95# (1.5 min rest work sets- 2.5min before last set)
45-10
73-3
95-12,13,13

Tricep Pushdowns (1min rest) straight bar
40-10,10,12,13

Lat Pull Downs Wide Grip Palms Out (1.5 min Rest)
100-10,10,10,8

BB Overhead Press Standing (1.5min Rest)
45-11,11,11,10

BB Curls Straight Bar Standing(1.5 min Rest)
45-10,10,10,10

Bench Notes:
Set 1 and 2 went quite well. Set 3 I had a goal of 15 reps, but somewhere around rep 8, I lost focus, which caused my entire body to lose tightness. I found myself wobbly on the bench. I tried to pause long enough to tighten up, but I never regained full stability and tightness.

For a bonus, I actually felt the Chest working today. Normally, I feel more work and failure in my Triceps. Maybe, I am actually beginning to "Get It" when it comes to the Bench Press. We'll see.

Pushdowns:
Just did them..

Pulldowns:
I have always sucked at wide grip.. Don't feel to bad at the work performed.

BB: Overhead Press:
Expected to get 11reps across, The last set just got heavy faster than expected. All other sets and reps felt good though. The First 2 sets were fast and had great lockouts.

BB Curls:
First time with a fullsize straight bar. Took a bit to get a Grip that felt right. Last set was quite hard, but pushed through to complete planned reps.

Overall:
Good workout, pretty happy about the Bench work. This did take more out of me than I expected though. I think this may have been why I didn't get any "Extra" reps in for the other lifts. Driving home is always fun after this workout.

Weight:
181.6

Tuesday - 20091118

Cardio Warmup:
8min Jog(4min)/(4min)Walk Treadmill

ME Bench: (~3min Rest between last 2 sets, otherwise no/short rest)
45x10
90x1
100x1
115x8 **

DB Incline Bench: Palms Forward (1.5min rest)
40x6,6,6,8

Low Cable Row:
85x12,12,10,10
Supersetted With
Face/Neck Pulls: (1.5min Rest)
40x10
42.5x10,7,5

Knee Hip Raise (1min rest)
BW-15,15,15

Bench Notes:
Set a goal of at least 7 reps at 115#, Squeezed out 8 and might have had 1 maybe 2 more left, but was wobbly and no spotter. Super Happy, NEW calculated 1rm of 142#. Upped 10# in 3 weeks, and actually set new maxes twice this week. I guess you could say I'm SOLD and CONVINCED on the 5/3/1 program. Amazing, all while lifting weights that I didn't consider "Heavy".

DB Inclines:
Added more weight again.. YEAH..... Should stay at this weight for at least 1 more week and just add reps. The Last set was definetely HEAVY.

Low Cable Row:
I think I mis reported my weights last week. I think I only lifted 80# last week, but Did lift 85# this week. Different machines, one has the 5's and the other has teh 10's. Anyway, This really made these heavy this week. Definetly Shorter reps toward the end.

Face Pulls:
Changed cables, which changed weight after the first set. Truly Heavy all the way across at 42.5#.

Overall Notes:
Great Workout.. Had half a large apple on the way to the gym. I think that helped keep the strength up throughout, but who knows..

Weight: 181
BF% Resistence: 20.4%

Questions:
Next week is a Deload and should be a piece of cake. I doubt that I will make my Sunday Rep Workout, due to working an event starting tomorrow. For the Deload, is it straight sets across of 5, or is it 5/5/5+

Next, for the next cycle, Do I use my current calculated 1rm to base the weights on? Or how do I progress.

For JungleDoc:
How do you handle Missed workouts on the 5/3/1 program. Since you are on "Call" and work the odd Doc's hours, you appear to miss a workout here and there. Do you continue to progress like you did the workout, or how do you handle it for the 5/3/1 lifts?

I'd ask Peter this, but his work ethic is way to good. He doesn't seem to ever miss workouts.

Tuesday - 20091124

Cardio Warmup:
8min Elliptical(Cross Country Setting)/(2min)Walk Track

ME Bench Deload: (~2min Rest between all sets)
45x5
65x5
75x5

DB Incline Bench: Palms Forward (1.5min rest)
30x10,10,10,10

Bent Row:
45x10,10,10,10
Supersetted With
Face/Neck Pulls: (1.5min Rest)
22.5x10,10,10,10

Cardio:
Long Walk around Track.. Not Timed, but would guess 15-25min

Overall Notes:
Just did the work.. Light weights, so it was fairly quick...

Did extra cardio because my wife was there and she wanted to walk a while longer after I had already finished lifting.

The Face Pulls felt really good. Due to the lighter weights all around, I was able to focus more on Squeezing the shoulder blades together. Some days with the heavier weights, I don't get as much squeeze.

20091128 - Saturday

ME Lower

Cardio Warmup
7 Min Bike Warmup Setting
5-10min walk track waiting for the rack to clear

ME Squat:
BW x 10
45 x 5
95 x 5
145 x 3
165 x 3,3,4


Romanian DL
45 x 5
95 x 5
145x 10,10,10

Heavy Hold: 225# Smith Machine
20sec, 10sec, 20sec 1-regrip

Squat Notes:
I should have upped the weight used, but decided to go for more sets and reps instead. On the final set, I decided to go for more reps ala 5/3/1, but the 4th rep was off balance and not great form. Planned for 5 but stopped at 4reps.

RDL Notes:
These just felt good. I made a conscience effort to focus on the lockout, which I don't normally do. This really added to the lift for me.

Heavy Holds:
Never done these before. Someone had left 245's per side on one of the smith Machines, so I decided to use that weight. I really got a pump/burn in my forarms at the gym. But, now several hours later, I can really feel my shoulders/upper back as I had to semi-shrug the weight up off the rests.

Overall Notes:
Good workout. I will feel this in the coming days (DOMS). My quads weren't hammered though, because I didn't do the stepups. I left the gym tired, but not wiped out, came home drank my shake, then the wife had quite a bit of stuff for me to carry downstairs. This extra work proved to wipe me out.

20091129 Sunday

Rep Upper Day

Warmup:
.5mile walk/jog around track

Bench Press Reps 95# (1.5 min rest work sets)
45-10
65-3
95-12,15,8

Tricep Pushdowns (1min rest) straight bar
42.5-12,12,11,12

Lat Pull Downs Wide Grip Palms Out (1.5 min Rest)
100-11,11,10,10

BB Overhead Press Standing (1.5min Rest)
55-10,10,6

BB Curls Straight Bar Standing(1.5 min Rest)
45-10,11,11,12

Bench Notes:
Should have rested a bit longer for the last set. Just ran out of gas..

Pushdowns and Pulldown Notes:
Not much to say.. Just did them... Last couple of pulldowns were very hard.

Overhead Press Notes:
Completely ran out of gas. Probably should have tried the last set, but didn't. Same issue as with the Bench.

Curls:
They are what they are.

Overall Notes:
I've had better workouts, but still pushed through to the finish. Time to start making excuses now.. HHAHAHHA :) Didn't sleep well, lousy lunch (greasy fried fish and fish fries), DOMS from yesterday's workout.. Bottom Line, I just need to push through and work hard.

Other Notes:
I'm going to continue with the 5/3/1 system for my Bench Press. But, I feel that I can still get some nice linear progression for my Squats and Deadlifts. Therefore, I won't be using 5/3/1 for those. I may change the rep upper day to focus more on the Overhead press. If so, I will likely use a 5/3/1 progression for them.

Saturday - 20091205

Cardio Warmup:
10min Elliptical(Cross Country Setting)

ME Bench (~3min Rest between last 2 sets, otherwise no/short rest)
45 x 10
80 x 5
95 x 5
105x 13

DB Flat Bench: Palms Forward (1.5min rest)
35x10,10,10,14

Low Cable Row:
85x11,10,10,10
Supersetted With
Face/Neck Pulls: (1.5min Rest)
35x10,10,10,11

Bench Notes:
Felt pretty good. Likely had more than 3min rest for the last set. This is another calculated Max PR.

DB Flat Notes:
Nothing really special. Probably should have went with 37.5 or 40's.

Superset Notes:
Felt great. Dropped weight on the FacePulls, which provided better form that felt like I was working the right muscles.

Overall Notes:
Workout Felt good, Just over an hour in and out. Considering I have not been sleeping well, I am really happy with the workout.

20091210 - Thursday

Cardio Warmup:
7min Bike - Warmup Setting

ME Lower - Deadlift

Deadlift
95 - 5
135 - 5
155 - 3
175 - 3 (3min rest)
185 - 4,5,4 (3+min rest)

RDL: (90 sec rest all sets)
95 - 10,10,10,10

Overall Notes:
Simple Workout today... Modelled after Wendler's Boring But Big Template. I still feel I have some Linear progression left for the DL's, therefore, the plan was to do heavy 3x5 worksets. Time will tell if I can continue to add weight on this scheme. If I can't, then I will move this to a traditional 5/3/1 rep scheme.

Sadly, by the end of the RDL's, my grip was suffering from fatigue and breaking down. Also, workout length was longer than expected even though I was only doing 2 lifts.

Tuesday - 20091215

Cardio Warmup:
A few BW Squats..

ME Bench (~3min Rest between last 2 sets, otherwise no/short rest)
45 x 10
90 x 3
95 x 3
115x 7

DB Flat Bench: Palms Forward (1.5min rest)
37.5x10,10,10,10

Low Cable Row:
85x10,10,10,10
Supersetted With
Face/Neck Pulls: (1.5min Rest)
35x10,10,8,8

Overall Notes:
Felt weak today, but pushed through it. Likely caused by having my workouts spaced out to far. Life's getting in the way again. Didn't hit target weights for any lift except the DB Press.

Now to get back on track despite holidays the next two weeks, then the dreaded "Busy" months at the Gym. It was quite busy tonight also, not sure why.