Lower 1, Week 20

Fall '07 - Lower 1, Week 20

Overall Impression:

i hate lower body workouts....ahaha....

Deadlifts = 2 sets x 5 reps x 155 lbs

i did not want to push my back too much because the warm-ups didnt feel too good. so i cut this short.

Barbell Curls = 2 sets x 10 reps x 60 lbs

light and easy

Floor Skullcrushers = 2 sets x 12 reps x 60 lbs

felt ok

Fat Bar Curls = 2 sets x 5 reps x 85 lbs

i did this to work my forearms more. felt pretty good. my grip isnt all that bad lol

Ab Circuits = 3 sets x 10 reps x 4 exercises

the four exercises were
1.) sit-ups
2.) reverse crunches
3.) lying leg raises
4.) ab pistons

Leaving Thoughts:

decent workout. felt pretty good. im still just trying to be patient and wait till my back heals up. its taking too fucking long lol..

ill try and squeeze in some cardio work during the weekend.

thank god today is friday.

i hope everyone reading is having a good day and i wish y'all a great weekend

cheers

Upper 2, Week 20

Fall '07 - Upper 2, Week 20

Overall Impression:

another miserable ****ing week full of exams and assignments lol....but my diet has been pretty good. i got in 7 oz of salmon today that made my day lol...

Military Press = 5 sets x 7 reps x 120 lbs w/ 90s Rest Intervals

this was ****ing awesome. since i had done 2x8,2x7 and 1x6 last week (36 reps) i did 5x7 (35 reps) this time and i reduced the rest intervals. i wish i had taken a video. form is great throughout but on the last set reps 5, 6 and 7 were very very difficult. i need to figure out how im going to progress next time now.

Pull-ups = 5 sets x 4 reps

new PR for this gym lol...im glad im finally progressing a little bit on this. last time i knocked out 17 reps total. even these 3 reps are a lot.

Flat Dumbbell Paused Press = 3 sets x 12 reps x 55 lbs

last week i had done 3x10x55. so that means i added 2 reps to every set. im happy with this progression. next time i plan on doing unilateral presses and i hope to nail 3x12 with 45 lbs.

Overhead Shrugs = 1 set x 12 reps x 85 lbs

Eric has been asking me to pyramid the weights on this for a long tim and i keep forgetting. so i did 3 sets of 12 reps pyramiding the weights. set 1 was 12xbar, set 2 was 12x65 lbs and set 3 (the actual work set) was 12x85.

Tricep Rope Pushdowns = 1 set x 6 reps x 82.5 lbs

ok this was gay....lol.....my friends were trying to nail this and i decided to just see if i could do this and i did 6 easy...since i dont like to do arm work i just stopped and did some fascia stretches for chest and back and walked off...

Leaving Thoughts:

my body is shaping up pretty good. teh abzz are becoming tight. i need to shed a lot of body fat though.

u know, ive heard that when people lose bodyfat they first lose it from their thighs then their chest, then shoulders, then arms and last from the waist. im very scared this might happen to me but i dont think it is. my waist hasnt reduced in size at all but i do know i look a lot leaner.

ill try and get some vids of my next upper body session...

i hope everyone is having a good week. its going to be thursday tomorrow which means friday is close

have a good one everyone and thanks for reading

Lower 2, Week 20

Fall '07 - Lower 2, Week 20

Overall Impression:

another lower 2 workout. why is it that they all suck lol? well today was good and bad.. ive been very very stressed out off late and my diet has really become like absolute crap for the last 3 days.

diet on friday was ok. got in all my protein, etc. but then on saturday all i had the whole day was just one slice of pizza. thats it. i just wasnt hungry and nothing seemed to interest me. then on sunday i had like sushi and mexican food but i wasnt feeling too good and no matter what i ate i just didnt like it. actually for the last 8-9 days ive been having a lot of acidity where ill wake up from my sleep every 3-4 hours to either feel like puking or wanting to have some water. but that ended yesterday. without sounding too gay i did some breathing exercises and some yoga stuff last night which kinda solved the problem.

so anyways, sad news is that i have 3 exams this week....1 was today and the next are on wednesday and thursday. that sucks balls. that means i had 8 exams in 2 weeks. damn....

anyways, enough jibber jabber...time to talk about weights:

Squats = 2 sets x 5 reps x 185 lbs

my lower back wasnt feeling ok so i quit. ****ing A this is gonna take a while to heal lol. but i know my back has become stronger than before though. but it still has a long way to go.

Cable Pull Throughs = 4 sets x 10 reps x 50 lbs

i like this exercise. i did this with correct form where im more or less squatting and my back is tight and arched and my lower back is NOT rounding. it felt good. well, to be honest it didnt feel like anything on my lower back but my glutes and hams were pumped lol.

Standing Overhead Plate Side Bends = 3 sets x 12 reps x 10 lbs

Ab Circuit = 3 exercises x 3 sets x 10 reps

ok so i chose 3 exercises and did 3 sets of 10 reps in circuit fashion. exercise 1 is lying leg raises. exercises 2 is lying pistons where i lie on the bench, hold the bench with my hands behind my head and then i swing my legs (trying to keep my legs straight) to my face and then i lift off the bench focussing all my weight on my upper back/ rear delts and then i move up and down like a piston. its tough to explain this lol..i should've taken a video...my body is as perpendicular to the floor as i can make it. exercise 3 is crunches. well, my abs are gonna be sore as hell tomorrow and i plan on doing some running on the track at night tomorrow.

Leaving Thoughts:

i did tons of stretches for my lower body and lower back today. i think my injury is healing pretty well. im just a little upset about my squat getting ****ed but its ok. im only 19. i know this injury will go shortly and ill still be only 19 when it goes. and if i work on my weak points correctly (as i am trying very hard to) my come back from a 185 squat to a 295 one like before wont take too long.

cheers and have a good weekend y'all

Upper 1, Week 19

Fall '07 - Upper 1, Week 19

Overall Impression:

been having a bad day so far......didnt feel like going to the gym but just turned up to do my 10x3 of bench press lol.....175 is a new PR for me.

Bench Press = 10 sets x 3 reps x 175 lbs w/ 60 second rest intervals

felt pretty easy. wow next week ill be dealing with 180. damn now thats gonna be a tough one.

Leaving Thoughts:

nothing much to say....ill be back tomorrow....i think ill do some cardio actually.

cheers and have a good weekend y'all

Lower 1, Week 19

Fall '07 - Lower 1, Week 19

Overall Impression:

legs were sore as fuck today lol.....well, not really....my quads and hams are really sore. my calves felt a little tight but i stretched them (along with everything else) and they're ok now...mental note: no running before a lower workout haha....

so i narrowed down what my cardio options are:
1.) track running
2.) eliptical from lifefitness
3.) jump rope

so ill be doing these 1x a week. running will be for 30-40 minutes (it depends more on distance actually) while the eliptical work will be 60 minutes plus and the jump rope skipping will be 20 minutes odd.

today my diet was good. i ate 8 oz of smoked salmon for lunch and another 8 oz of it for dinner i also had a few shakes, etc...im trying to get all of my protein in so thats good. i had corn and some salad with that. and bread. and no coke. yes, no coke

i was trying to figure this out: as i mentioned sometime before, ive noticed that in a way i am doing carb cycling without intending to and this is how its looking:
monday to friday = high carb
satuday and sunday = low carb
now, is it odd that only on saturday and sunday i look really bloated? all i eat is sushi and maybe 1 mexican meal.

injury update: lower back is feeling tight.

Deadlifts = 3 sets x 5 reps x 165 lbs

this felt pretty ok. my lower back was feeling wierd. because i slept for only 3 hours last night i took a long nap today from 2:30 pm to 6:30 pm and i woke up sleeping in a really wierd position. i think thats why my back felt wierd. nonetheless my reps were good. thats why i stopped at 5. i could've done 4 more reps or so but i think my form would've degenerated rapidly.

GHRs = 3 sets x 9 reps

no video im sorry. the gym was too crowded today.

Front Plate Squats = 2 sets x 10 reps x 25 lbs

Ab Circuit = 15 reps

so for ab work (additional), i did 4 exercises:
- crunches
- leg raises
- cycling in the air
- this exercise is tough to describe. u lie on ur back and u move ur feet parallel to the floor crossing each other left to right. in the sense, ur left foot will more rightwards and ur right foot will move leftwards and u will overlap each leg at every rep.

Reverse Grip EZ Curls = 2 sets x 10 reps x 50 lbs

Leaving Thoughts:

cool workout today. im pretty happy actually. i just want my lower back to heal fast. im trying hard not to get too depressed by this injury.

i saw the bourne ultimatum today. very cool movie.

cheers and have a good week y'all

thanks for reading!

Upper 2, Week 19

Fall '07 - Upper 2, Week 19

Overall Impression:

i did NOT want to workout today. i wasnt feeling like lifting anything and its like the 5th fucking day where i have an exam: yes, that means ive been having 1 exam a day from last wednesday. thankfully it ends tomorrow but i dont feel like studying. lol...i dont feel like doing anything other than watch Boston Legal on tv-links....

tomorrow i plan on 1 to 1.5 hours of cardio. low intensity of course. so far no weightloss whatsoever but im looking much leaner. im happy

Military Press = 2 sets x 8 reps x 120 lbs, 2 sets x 7 reps x 120 lbs, 1 set x 6 reps x 120 lbs

fuck yeah!!! this was awesome. i so wish i had taken some vids haha....i did 5 sets of militaries with 120 lbs. i think this is an example of triple progression. last week i knocked out 4x7x115 (volume = 3220 lbs) and this week i increased the number of sets by 1 (to 5), i increased the reps from 7 to 8 and the weight from 115 to 120. volume today was 4320 lbs. thats a 1100 lbs increase in poundage next week my goal is to hit 5x7x120. today none of the sets were to failure. all were 1-2 reps from failure.

Pull-ups = 3 + 5 + 3 + 3 + 3 = 17 reps to failure

+2 from last time. i found these difficult to do after the militaries. i think one of these days im going to just do militaries on upper 2 followed by 7-8 sets of pull-ups. no other work. just these 2 exercises.

Flat Dumbbell Pause Presses = 3 sets x 10 reps x 55 lbs

felt GREAT....haha....

Facepulls = 1 set x 10 reps x 50 lbs

Leaving Thoughts:

im very happy with today's workout. i wasnt too balls out on the militaries and at the same time i wasnt too conservative so i think it was a good session on the whole. im just waiting to be done with tomorrow's exam in Management of Organizations....sad news is that i have to read another 300 lines from Ovid's Metamorphoses.....but ill do that while i finish cardio

thanks for reading everyone. i hope y'all all have a good week ahead

Lower 2, Week 18

Fall '07 - Lower 2, Week 18

Overall Impression:

back is feeling better. but i am not at 100% at all. this workout took a lot out of me.

ok, i did cardio twice last week for 45 minutes the first time and 60 minutes the next. im going to be doing cardio 2-4 times a week.

Deep Squats = 5 sets x 5 reps x 185 lbs

my lower back hurt a couple reps a set. ****. this injury is going to take a long time to go - about 1-2 months. ill post on this later...

Low Box Squats = 2 sets x 5 reps x 185 lbs

felt wierd. ive lost me groove.

Reverse Hyperextensions = 2 sets x 10 reps x 25 lbs

Preacher Curls = 2 sets x 10 reps x 50 lbs

Leaving Thoughts:

ok so here is the deal. i have a lower back injury which isnt gonna go anytime soon. it will probably disappear in 1-2 months. this workout was better than the last since i was able to squat with some weight atleast. so yeah it is healing. but it will take time. naturally, im a little torn up about this because this means my lower body is going to be seriously ****ed strength wise since im not going to squatting 295x4 anytime soon. ive worked hard for 13 weeks ironing out all weakpoints on my lifts to progress and this has happened which is a huge setback. it is temporary but it is a setback noentheless.

so here's the deal, since most of my lower body workouts are going to be like shit 99% of the time, im going to be focussing on certains aspects of training which i have been ignoring for the last 1-2 years:
cardio
direct arm training
ab work

yes, im going to be working teh beach muscles a lot more for the next 1-2 months.

im not really all that upset about this because i have a long time to train ahead of me (15-20 years?) so im fine with being patient and training other "skills" while i recover from this injury. so yeah u guys are going to probably see a little more ab work and more curlzzz and extensionzzz from now on

cheers and have a good weekend y'all

thanks for reading!

Upper 1, Week 18

Fall '07 - Upper 1, Week 18

Overall Impression:

ok so this is one fucking insane week. i have 3 exams, one today (management of info systems) one tomorrow (business statistics) and one on friday (financial accounting). needless to say i got 4 hours of sleep last night and even after studying my balls off this exam was tough. luckily it wasnt for me alone but everyone found it tough. im either gonna nail a A or a C. nothing in between lol.

ok back to the workout, i went to the gym at 11:00 pm today. needless to say my energy was zapped. but i think the workout went well.

Bench Press = 10 sets x 3 reps x 170 lbs w/ 60-72 sec RI

very cool. im glad i got in 10 sets. it was tough as hell. but it was GOOD

Chin-ups = 4 + 5 + 4 = 13 reps to failure

i bombed on these. these are so fucking difficult to predict. one day i do 23 and the next i do 13. very weird.

Unilateral Seated Dumbbell Shoulder Presses = 3 sets x 12 reps x 40 lbs

i finally managed to do 3x12 with this. this was difficult as well. but it felt good to nail this next week its 3x8x45.

Leaving Thoughts:

yeah this workout was shorter than normal. but thats because the gym shuts at 11:30 and i arrived at 11:15 and they kicked me and my friend (who i have been "training" for the last 2 weeks) out lol...well, the guys at the gym all know me so it wasnt getting "kicked out" but more of my workout not getting completed anyways, im happy with today's session. i hit all my target weights in 2 out of 3 exercises. next time im going to try and manage my time better. fucking triple major'ing sucks....

cheers and have a good week y'all

thanks for reading!

Lower 1, Week 18

Fall '07 - Lower 1, Week 18

Overall Impression:

back pain has gone. but im going to be conservative. i need to stop reaching for my old max of 315x5. i need to start out on deads from scratch and work up. and i plan on doing that. this is a whole new learning experience for me and i need to take it as that. patience is something i need to adopt and its sad that my back injury has caused me to change my line of thought.

other than that i have some good news (well the above part is good news too); i have entered the realm of cardio and i did 45 minutes of crosstrainer cardio (or whatever technical term u cardio bunnies call it ) on saturday. i will be doing cardio tomorrow as well.

another new topic of interest is that i have finally started doing some heavy ab work.

Deadlifts = 2 sets x 12 reps x 155 lbs

i did my usual deadlift warm-ups and then decided to take 135. i did that for 10 reps easy as ****. so i added 10 lbs a side and did these 2 sets in a breeze. the main reason why im not increasing the weight too much and too fast is not only because thats the reason why i got injured in the first place but more importantly because since ive injured the left of my lower back, the right is being used more so the chance of muscle imbalance is very high and i do not want to add to that. hence the low numbers and higher reps. my back has not hurt ever since i did this. everything has been fine.

Bulgarian Squats = 2 sets x 6 reps x 25 lbs

i decided to do this light. ive been doing these with 60 lbs but im still not getting my form down 100%. plus, im going to start out light because of my back injury. it hasnt hurt me at all.

Glute Ham Raises = 3 sets x 8 reps

i finally got this down correct!!! im sooooo happy with this. it was very well done. i love this exercise.

Reverse Hyperextensions = 2 sets x 8 reps x 35 lbs

done for therapeutic value. felt pretty cool.

Standing Ab Pull Downs on the Lat Machine = 3 sets x 8 reps x 60 lbs

nothing special to report.

Hammer Curls = 2 sets x 5 reps x 60 lbs

nothing special to report

Leaving Thoughts:

im very happy with today;s workout. im not going to do any more drastic jumps on deads for some time. my back feels very much better after this workout.

on a side note, here is something inspirational: Click Here

cheers and have a good weekend y'all

thanks for reading!

Lower 2, Week 17

Fall '07 - Upper 2, Week 17

Overall Impression:

i guess im recovering better. im eating a lot. my diet usually consists of

morning: protein shake because im running late for class

afternoon: brisket with chopped beef, honey wheat bread, tons of sweet corn, water or coke.

around 4 pm: same as lunch above

around 7 pm: same as lunch above or some chinese thing

around 9 pm: a protein shake

around 12 am: some sandwiches

ok, this is much better than what my diet was a year ago lol

Barbell Military Press = 4 sets x 7 reps x 115 lbs

one more set than last week. felt damn easy. maybe im getting stronger on militaries. next week im increasing the weight. i love this exercise!

Pull-ups = 5 + 4 + 3 + 2 + 1 = 15 reps

stronger than last week. i think the main reason why my numbers have dropped is because im using a different pull-up bar than what i was using at home. is this possible?

Paused Unilateral Flat Dumbbell Bench Press = 3 sets x 12 reps x 40 lbs

u might wonder what this exercise is so ill explain briefly. start off doing dumbbell presses. bring both the dumbbells up. then keep the right one at the top and bring the left one down. then bring the left one. in the sense do a single arm dumbbell press with the left hand. then hold the dumbbell up and repeat the process with the right hand. i kept doing this till i reach 12 reps on either side. this is a very nice exercise.

Cable Rows = 2 sets x 12 reps x 110 lbs

went conservative on this due to my injury

Facepulls = 1 sets x 12 reps x 50 lbs

nothing special to report.

Hanging Leg Raises = 2 sets x 12 reps

im trying to work on flexibility on these. i want to do these with my feet completely straightened. right now they bend a slight bit at the knees and more so as i try to go above waist level.

Leaving Thoughts:

cool workout. im happy. going out now for a great friday night

cheers and have a good weekend y'all

thanks for reading!

Lower 2, Week 17

Fall '07 - Lower 2, Week 17

Overall Impression:

my back is feeling much better today. no pain in my routine activities.

Deep Squat = 1 set x 5 reps x 135 lbs

so i warmed up with these like normal and i knocked out 5 reps with 135 but when i took 185 and squatted down right at the bottom my lower back hurt a bit. i dunno why it wasnt serious or really painful but it was a sharp small pain. i couldve easily knocked out many more reps but i didnt want to take the risk. i know that if i had done it, since my left lower back is hurting, more stress is on the right so i would've most likely clusterfucked my lower back AND screwed my progress. im glad i backed off. i figure in 2-3 weeks MAX ill be good to go. the pain that occured today was RIGHT at the bottom position of my deep squat. probably where the "butt wink" occurs.

Romanian Deadlift = 1 set x 5 reps x bar

just to stretch my back a little bit.

Reverse Hyperextensions = 1 set x 10 reps x 25 lbs

for therapeutic value

Leaving Thoughts:

im recovering well and i hope to be strong again soon. interesting vid: Click Here

cheers and have a good week y'all

Upper 1, Week 17

Fall '07 - Upper 1, Week 17

Overall Impression:

ok so back has almost gone. this is isnt really good news because just because the pain has gone it doesnt mean the injury has healed...so that means im going to be a little extra cautious about my weightlifting for the next month or so. anyways, diet this weekend has been crap. im fucking sick of this cafeteria food and im dying to go out. too bad none of my other friends want to go out. so that means i had like 6 servings of my weightgainer this weekend to fill myself up because the cafeteria was shut 99% of the time. and when it was open only 1-2 stations were open - the salad bar and the burger bar. yuck. so yeah: diet was shit.

i was supposed to go lift yesterday but on my way to the gym it started raining and i was soaked to the bone. so i come back to my room and as i am entering the rain just stops. fucking wierd.

workout today on the whole was good. im pretty happy.

Bench Press = 10 sets x 3 reps x 165 lbs

last week when i did this this was a whole lot tougher. but this week it was much easier. i could have done another 2-3 sets easily. this isnt really good news because i have this history of bombing on the bench press at the worst and most unexpected moments ( ) but i think this is rolling in the right direction for now. next week ill be using 170 lbs. that will be fun. i hope.

Chin-ups = 6 + 4 + 5 + 8 = 23 reps total

4 sets to failure. good workout. im comparing it to last week when i did this and i must've been shit fatigued from the plane journey coz it was sooo bad compared to todays

Seated Dumbbell Unilateral Shoulder Press = 3 sets x 11 reps x 40 lbs

so i added 1 more rep per set to this. last week it was 3x10 today it was 3x11. im still a bit nervous about these. but im learning to do these with confidence. i just need to rebuild my confidence on these and doing it slow and steady seems to be a great idea.

45* Barbell Rows = 4 sets x 8 reps x 95 lbs

my back is not at 100% so i didnt take any heavy weights. i just did a few light sets. felt pretty decent. no strain on the lower back so im happy.

OH Shrugs = 2 sets x 10 reps x 65 lbs

fuck i was supposed to do this thing Eric had asked me about this exercise and i totally forgot until right now!!! next week ill do this. ive made an entry in my log. im supposed to try and pyramid if possible and see if i can get a few with 85 lbs. fuck i should've done that!

Leaving Thoughts:

good workout IMO. very productive. but from now on i am going to let her answer all questions related to the squat: Click Here

cheers and have a good week y'all