Aches and Pains - taking a day off

Due to a build up of intense lifting the past couple days my entire body is sore. Hams are sore from yesterday's Romanian deads, my chest is sore from Monday's lift, my neck is so bad I spent two hours using a handheld massager on my neck, and right shoulder. There is no way I would be productive today so I'm taking the day off lifting and see if I can recuperate a little here. Good luck everyone today on your own workout!

Gords

Deadlift Superset

Today I did the following three exercises doing a superset rotation between each of them:

Romanian Deadlift, SLDL, Normal Deadlift - 4 sets of 8 x 185, 8 x 195, 8 x 205, 8 x 215

My back had enough at that point. I had just enough time to do one more exercise:

Seated Straight Arm Cable Rows to a lying back position - 4 sets of 8 x 160, 3 x 8 x 200

There is a muscle in my neck going into my right shoulder which was giving me problems starting on Saturday. I'm not sure what I did, but its getting a little worse. I'm going to try and get an appointment with a masseuse for sometime tomorrow. My hands are also getting more calloused and the chalk really helps with maintaining a grip on the bar.

If Cathi doesn't go crazy with the kids today I'm also going to see if I can do another round at the Bubble tonight doing shoulders.

Working out in Office attire sucks - Chest Day

Surprisingly, my legs weren't sore at all over the long weekend. I also weighed in today and to my astonishment only gained one pound (236) so that's good. I took my lifting clothes home to wash and forgot to bring them in so I worked out today in two blocks to avoid getting too sweaty.

I got some feedback from Stinn on my bench, so today I tried a couple of his suggestions. I usually put my pinky on the inside of the ring, today my index finger was on it. I also positioned my feet much wider than I normally do. The weight seemed much heavier because I wasn't used to the wider grip and my chest/tricep ratio was less work on triceps and more on chest. I sure was shaking like a leaf, but the weight wasn't too much. Balancing the weight took more effort than normal. I'll stick with this grip from now on. Plus it felt weird to have my feet so far out, but it was probably right on. In a few weeks I'll take another video clip once I feel comfortable with these changes so I can get more technique tips to work on.

Flat Bench: 4 sets of 8 x 225, 6 x 255, 4 x 275, 8 x 225
Incline Dumbell Presses: 4 x 8 x 65 (the heaviest dumbells we have)

Break for an hour

Decline Dumbell Flys: 4 x 8 x 55
Weighted Dips: 4 x 8 x (235 + 35 lb dumbell)

Considering I hate lifting in office attire, it was a fairly good workout.

First time doing SLDL

Today I did a fairly tough legs routine (at least for me):

Squats - 3 sets of 10 x 165, 5 x 225, 3 x 275
SLDL - 3 sets of 10 x 115, 8 x 135, 6 x 185
Quad Extensions - 3 sets of 10 x 90, 6 x 135, 4 x 180
Hamstring Curls - 3 sets of 10 x 45, 8 x 60, 6 x 75

This is the first time doing SLDL. After visitng Stinn's site, I've decided I need to start doing these. I started with a really light weight and focused on form and quality reps and found that I could probably do these in the low 200's range on a normal basis. I got the feeling that these work the same muscles used in doing Good Morning's which I've been wary of doing reading from Kris' workouts. I've tried Good Mornings and have nightmares of having an injury similar to what Kris went through, but I really like these SLDL's because they are safer in that if the weight is too much, worst case scenario... drop it! But with Good Morning's, my face could end up on the mat!

I felt distinct tightness just after the workout, but now a few hours later, tightness is gone, I imagine I will definitely be sore this weekend.

Bestrafe Mich

Man was I depressed the last night due to yesterday's quality of 1 rep max. With this week being Thanksgiving, I won't be able to lift Thursday through Sunday so I figured I would really punish my chest for the cheating I did yesterday. So this is today's workout which was done partially during my lunch hour and the rest at the bubble.

Today's focus is on sticking everything, going slow and making deliberate movements. Less on reps, more on weight:

Incline Dumbell Press - 3 sets of 8 x 45, 2 x 4 x 65
Floor Presses - 3 sets of 8 x 135, 4 x 225, 4 275
Floor Dumbell Flys - 8 x 45, 2 x 4 x 55
Flat Bench - 8 x 225, 4 x 315, 3 x 315
Decline Press - 8 x 225, 4 x 315, 4 x 335
Incline Press - 8 x 135, 4 x 185, 4 x 205
Fly Machine - 8 x 160, 2 x 8 x 200
Lower Half Bench Press - 8 x 225, 4 x 315, 4 x 335
Cable Flys - 8 x 80, 4 x 100, 4 x 80

Its a good thing the cable flys were last because on the last set I tried another 4 x 100 but couldn't get the weight in, so I lowered to 80. Afterwards the struggle with the 100 made me realize I may have pushed it too far as I felt shoulder pain a little so I'm glad that was my last set. Tomorrow I'm doing legs and resting until Monday (except for cardio work in the evenings with Cathi).

I met a guy at the Bubble named Mike who works there in the weight room. He offered a spot when I needed it and place to put my keys and wallet so I wouldn't have to worry about thieves. He was very complimentary (which I don't take too well) and talkative. I'll definitely take him up on the spot in the future I'm sure.

Today I bought the Hypnotize album by System of a Down. From what I've heard so far, it is very good. I like how they end on a newer version of Soldier Side which is what they started on in Mesmorize. I got the clean version this time though, cause I have a difficult time keeping my mouth clean when I'm frustrated and don't need to hear somebody else cuss just for artistic reasons. Awesome musical talent in this album though.

I weighed in this morning and came up at 235 which was a shock since I haven't been doing too good on my diet. My goal for Thanksgiving weekend is to watch my portions and if I do feel like having seconds, keeping it to half a plate instead of two full plates of food. Then only 2 pieces of pie. I guess I'm dreaming if I'm thinking I'm not going to gain weight. If I also do 1 hour of cardio in the evenings, I'm hoping that Monday morning I won't weigh more than 240. Its really hard to say no on Thanksgiving, so I'll have to control my portions to compensate.

375 lb bench - Not legal though!

I was happy to get up 375 pounds today (Here is the video - 1.5MB) on my bench press max, however after reviewing the video, I was disappointed with the failure to stop at the bottom but bounced the weight off.

The weight did not stop but progressively went up, so that's good.

Just for kicks I tried 385, but knew going down that it wasn't going to happen.

I was happy with the lift until I saw the video. Actually I'm not going to count this lift since I have proof that it would have been disqualified in a meet. I'll try 375 again in four weeks where I'll make sure to pause at the bottom of the lift. Let me know what else I can work on. I fould the rules for a good lift here -> http://www.hickoksports.com/rules/rpowerlift.shtml#bp

I've also realized that I should always video my PR's to make sure they are legit. Who knows? Since I didn't video my 365, I may have had crappy form on that one too!

Any tips from fellow powerlifters out there on bench techniques I could work on, would be appreciated!!

Wednesday, November 16 2005

Bubble Day

Today I didn't get to lift at lunchtime, so I decided to double up and do this week's supplement lift today rather than on Thursday. I stopped at the Bubble on the way home and did today's workout as well as tomorrow's.

Legs -

Squat Machine - 5 sets of 12 x 135, 8 x 185, 6 x 225, 4 x 275, 8 x 225
Leg Press - 4 sets of 12 x 150, 10 x 160, 8 x 170, 6 x 180
Quad Extension machine - 4 sets of 12 x 50, 3 x 8 x 60
Hamstring Curl machine - 4 sets of 12 x 60, 3 x 8 x 80

The last two machines were really old and was not smooth at all. The Bubble's leg machines basically suck really bad. Can't go wrong with free weights though.

This took about 45 minutes to this point then I transitioned to upper back, shoulders workout:

Military Press - 5 sets of 10 x 115, 2 x 8 x 135, 2 x 6 x 145
Dumbell Shrugs - 5 sets of 8 x 55
Lateral Raises - 5 sets of 10 x 25, 3 x 8 x 30, 8 x 35
Barbell Rows - 5 sets of 2 x 10 x 95, 8 x 115, 8 x 95, 6 x 95
Reverse Cable Crossovers - 5 sets of 10 x 20, 8 x 40, 3 x 8 x 50

I was happy with the upper body workout, but the leg workout, while I did work it hard, the machines were so crappy that I didn't feel like I was into it as much. My shorts didn't have a pocket for my MP3 player so I had to tuck under my belt which was annoying. Today my chest was quite sore still so I am pleased with Monday's chest workout! I also noticed that I was already a little sore in the neck/shoulders area so I was hoping that today's workout wasn't going to make things worse, but I had a plan in place on paper and didn't want to mess it up. I might take Thursday off. We'll see.

Tuesday, November 15, 2005 - Back

Close Grip Cable Rows (All arms)- 5 sets of 10 x 170, 8 x 180, 3 x 8 x 200
Wide Grip Cable Back Bends - 5 sets of 10 x 170, 8 x 180, 3 x 8 x 200
Wide Grip Cable Pulldowns - 5 sets of 10 x 140, 8 x 150, 3 x 8 x 160
Deadlifts - 4 sets of 8 x 225, 6 x 245, 4 x 275, 2 x 295
Incline Dumbell Rows - 5 sets of 3 x 8 x 40, 6 x 45, 8 x 45

In between each exercise I did 25 crunches. I also didn't plan on doing the deadlifts, but planed on doing bent over barbell rows, but figured I probably wouldn't hit my back again this week and really wanted to do deadlifts this week. I did the deadlifts without wrist straps, since I recently learned that they are not allowed in competition. I need to go pick up some chalk since I almost dropped the 295 on my last rep.

I'm also quite sore from yesterday's chest workout. Much more than the chest workout I did last week which was supposed to be a Chest Marathon. Yesterday I did the chest workout totally raw so I think that made the difference.

Excellent workout today and yesterday! I'm very pleased.

Monday - November 14, 2005 - Chest Day

Flat Bench - 5 sets of 12 x 245, 8 x 275, 6 x 295, 4 x 315, 2 x 335, 15 x 225
Incline Dumbell Flys - 5 sets of 12 x 35, 8 x 45, 6 x 50, 12 x 50, 8 x 45
Floor Presses - 4 sets of 15 x 135, 3 x 8 x 225
Decline Dumbell Press - 5 sets of 12 x 55, 10 x 60, 8 x 65, 12 x 65, 35 x 35

I got Brendon to spot me on the third and fourth set of flat bench (thank goodness). I needed help on the 2 x 335 although I got the first one up myself. I felt great about today's workout!

The talk I gave on Sunday went much better than I thought and man talk about a relief when it was over! We had Mom and Dad over for dinner since they watched the kids at the meeting for us. That was fun. I think I'm going for a new PR next Monday on the flat bench (375).

Week 2 November, 2005

Friday, November 11, 2005 - Arms

Dips - 4 sets of 12 x 240 (full body weight), 3 x 8 x (240 + 35)
Alternating Dumbell Curls - 4 sets of 10 x 40, 3 x 8 x 45
French Presses - 4 sets of 8 x 95, 3 x 8 x 115
Preacher Curls - 4 sets of 8 x 95, 8 x 100, 8 x 105, 6 x 115

Tonight Cathi and I are going on a date, I'm going to try talking her into going to the Bubble on the way to SLC and workout with me for a little bit instead of going out to eat to a fancy restaurant and then we can eat healthy afterwards. We'll see how that plan goes. I have to give a 15 minute talk in church on Sunday and I haven't done that in about 13 years so I'm kind of nervous although I'm prepared and researched the topic (Obedience). It made me realize that I have a long way to go before I'm the kind of person I want to be spiritually, but I'm still working on it. We all know that nobody's perfect and as long as we don't pretend to be and help each other out then we heading the right direction.

Thursday, November 10, 2005 - Legs

Today I left work at noon to let Cathi go run an errand that couldn't be postponed. Poor Isaac and Samuel have bad colds and don't feel well at all. I just held them while we watched TV. I caught myself dozing off here and there. When Cathi got back we did our normal evening routine early and went to Austin's Pack meeting. After the Pack Meeting it was about 8:00 and decided to go to Gold's Gym in Layton rather than the bubble. It cost me $10, but worth it cause the equipment was better and it was much closer. However considering I didn't want to do a massive leg workout and get cippled it almost wasn't worth the money. Here is what I did:

Leg press - 5 sets of 12 x 135, 8 x 225, 8 x 315, 8 x 405, 6 x 495
Calf Raises - 5 sets of 8 x 90
Quad Extension Machine - 4 sets of 8 x 120, 3 x 8 x 150
Hamstring Curls Machine - 4 sets of 8 x 120

At this point it was only about 45 minutes into the workout and I didn't want to overdo it, but at the same time didn't want to spend $10 for just 45 minutes so I did some upper back:

Seated Machine Rows: 4 sets of 12 x 150, 8 x 170, 2 x 6 x 190
Bent Over Barbell Rows: 4 sets of 3 x 8 x 135, 1 x 12 x 90

Wednesday, November 9, 2005 - Shoulders

Close Grip Cable Pulldowns - 4 x 8 x 160
Military Press - 4 x 8 x 135
Standing Dumbell Rows - 4 x 6 x 135
Pull-up and Arnold Press Superset: 4 sets of 8 pullups minus about 60 pounds using pull up machine (I know I'm fat, but I'm also on a diet and losing a little) supersets with 4 x 8 x 35, 40, 45, 50.

Total time: 1:00 - I felt OK about this workout. I'm really surprised that I'm not evey tight or sore at all in my chest from yesterday's workout. I would have thought that the workout would have made me sore for sure. This week when I go to the Bubble I think I'll work legs since my squat and Deadlift are so wimpy compared to my bench.

Tuesday, November 8, 2005 - John McDonald's nothing but bench workout

Flat Bench: 8x185 (.507), 7x200 (.548), 6x220 (.603), 5x235 (.644), 4x255 (.699), all 2:00 rest 2x3x270 (.74), 2x2x290 (.795), 1x310 (.85), 1x340 (.932), all 3:00 rest
1x345 (.945), 5:00 rest
1x340 (.932), 3x310 (.85), 4x290 (.795), 5x270 (.74), 6x255 (.699), 8x235 (.644), 9x220 (.603), 10x200 (.548), 10x185 (.507) all 3:00 rest
Total expected time: @1:05

I did the workout above just as expected (Except I didn't have a watch so I guessed at the rest and ended up taking 1:20. I also put on the Bench shirt at the One Rep 310 and took it off at the 255 on the way down. It sure gets scary putting up that kind of weight with no one in the room to help in case I get stuck. I really need a partner on bench days! Thanks to John McDonald for his post which I copied for this workout. It was awesome and I was very pleased with the routine. Wouldn't want to do it more than once every couple months though.

Monday, November 7, 2005 -

Lower Back Workout (and Deadlift PR attempt)

Deadlifts - 2 x 225, 1 x 315, 1 x 335 (Failed on this attempt)
Finished up with: 12 x 135, 8 x 185, 6 x 225, 4 x 275 (successfully completed all these)

In between sets I did 10 reps of leg curls using the tower for hitting my abs. I ended up doing probably over 10 sets.

After deadlifts I wanted to hit more lower back so I did:

Seated Cable Rows (Lower back only) - Seated to laying on my back (Like Goodmornings)
8 x 130, 8 x 160, 8 x 180, 8 x 200

Then did 1 minute of jump roping (I know I'm wimpy), but I'm aweful with hard surfaces and the cement floor was not fun jumping on. It was just a fair workout and I was very slightly satisfied. After doing two sets of chest last week, I wasn't about to do chest today. Maybe tomorrow I'll do Upper Back/Shoulders and Neck and then do chest on Wednesday.

Week 1 November, 2005

November 4, 2005 - Arms

Tried out the dip tower for the first time:

Dips - 4 sets of 12 x (240), 8 x (240 + 35), 8 x (240 + 35), 8 x (240 + 45)
Cable Tricep Extensions - 4 sets of 12 x 80, 8 x 90, 8 x 90, 8 x 90
Dumbell Alternating Curls - 4 sets of 8 x 35, 8 x 40, 8 x 40, 8 x 40

My arms didn't have the normal pump feeling but instead of had a pain that I've not felt before so I stopped there. I think I may have strained a muscle from yesterday evening's lift.

November 3, 2005 - Legs at noon, Chest after work

Noon: Today I did 4 sets of squats: 6 x 225, 12 x 135, 8 x 185, 8 x 185

Then I did 2 set of knee raises using my new tower, 12 reps each. My legs and abs are pathetic! I plan on leaving work today at around 4:30 and then have a great chest workout. I'm also excited for a fun weekend up at the cabin.

After Work: I went to the bubble this afternoon and did a great chest workout:

Flat Bench (With Shirt) - 4 sets of 12 x 225, 8 x 275, 6 x 295, 4 x 315 - after these sets, the shirt came off (quite easily by the way - It has stretched a little or I'm getting smaller)
Decline Bench - 4 sets of 12 x 225, 8 x 275, 6 x 315, 4 x 335
Incline Bench - 4 sets of 12 x 135, 8 x 185, 6 x 205, 4 x 225
Fly Machine - 4 sets of entire stack 8 x 225
Cable Flys - 4 sets of 12 x 30, 12 x 50, 8 x 70, 8 x 70
Flat Dumbell Press - 3 sets of 8 x 85

What a great workout! I really enjoyed this workout. The gym was unpopulated, but the equipment was well worth the visit. I think I'll keep going once a week if Cathi can handle it. Isaac woke up with a minor fever and some dry throated coughs. I may have to stay home with him while Cathi goes to the cabin. I hope he gets better today and I can still go. I was really looking forward to going. I found a link on gym ettiquete. One the one day I go to a gym, its basically only me anyway, but I still find that my habits are in accordance with a busy gym anyway -> http://www.criticalbench.com/gym-etiquette.htm

November 2, 2005 -

Today I bought and assembled a tower for doing dips, situps, pullups etc. It took about 2 hours to build and man was I sweating! I considered that my workout because of the calories burned and the fact that I had already extended my lunch break way beyond what I should have done. I plan on hitting my legs again tomorrow which means I'll probably just do 4 sets of squats and thats it. I am no longer going to sacrifice my entire week because I go overboard on a leg workout. Tomorrow I'm going to do a good chest workout at the Bubble.

November 1, 2005

-

Yesterday I ate too much candy, but I walked about 2 miles with the kids so I called it even. Today's workout started out with low energy. I didn't have any OJ with me today and I've been eating a roast cut up into one inch squares. I bet I get close to 150 Grams of protein today. This week I plan to lift Chest at the bubble on Thursday. I also need to make up for short days on Monday and Friday so it will be a long week. We are going to the cabin this weekend with some friends so that should be fun. Today's workout went like this:

Seated Barbell Military Press - 4 sets of 12 x 95, 8 x 115, 8 x 125, 8 x 135
One Arm Cable Front Raises - 4 sets of 8 x 10
Standing Barbell Rows - 4 sets of 12 x 95, 8 x 115, 8 x 125, 6 x 135

At this point I started to get a headache and starting to get real sick of the combination of tunes I've got. Time to get a new set. I love Rammstein, but nothing but Rammstein for a few weeks in the weightroom can get me sick of it, time to give them a break a try a different genre.