Friday, November 2, 2007

Lower 1, Week 25

Fall '07 - Lower 1, Week 25

Overall Impression:
good workout. my diet has become pretty good. just in case anyone wants to know this is what i ate today:

- wake up: 9:30 am
- sipped my protein shake mixed in gatorade (3 scoops) from 10:00 till 12:30 pm
- ate some pasta with plenty of green and black olives with chicken and shrimp. also ate an apple and a bowl of salad with some nuts. this was very heavy.
- drank 2 scoops of whey with 1/2 a gatorade + 1/2 water from 2 to 4:30 pm
- drank 2 scoops of whey with gatorade from 4:30 to 6:30. this is during workout.
- swallowed 4 taurine pills at 6:30 pm
- plan for tonight is going out to eat dinner a thai restaurant at 7:30 and then seeing a movie, etc and probably getting a late night snack around 3-4 in the morning. from now till then apart from the dinner ill just be having a lot f water.

this is my diet. it probably looks pretty bad but compared to before this is like a 180 degree turnaround for me. i never used to eat fruits or veggies. my carbs were low. i ate too much fat. i drank too much coke. now none of that shit. i can begin to see small - very small changes to my physique already. im giving this 3-4 months max before i can attain my goal of 12% bf. the way i see it: the longer it takes me to reach that while gaining muscle, more permanent will the change be.

also, just incase anyone wants to know how my diet was 2 weeks ago on this friday (i remember):
- wake up @ 9:00 am
- starve from 9 till 1 pm
- 1 pm lunch: smoked brisket
- 3 pm: 1 scoop whey
- 4:30 go for workout
- 6:30 post workout, eat 5 BCAA pills.
- go out for dinner
- drink water
go to sleep

yeah, thats how bad things had gotten. no wonder ive gone from 188 to 175 lbs. but its fine. im going to be backing off the scale for a few months and im going to look at the mirror to see progress. im not a bodybuilder but as ive mentioned before, my current short term goals are:
1.) get to 12% bf
2.) hit a 225 lbs deadlift
3.) overhead press 185 lbs

anyways, time for the workout:

Deadlift = 1 set x 8 reps x 145 lbs, 1 set x 13 reps x 135 lbs
this felt really light and easy. i liked this. the 8 rep set was easy. i could have done a LOT more. good thing i didnt. i can see the 225 lbs being closer than expected. next week im going to do 155x8 and 135x15. then im aiming for 165x8 and 145x10 or something like that. basically 2 sets: one heavy with progression the other more like a light back off set. nothing to failure of course.

Bulgarian Squats = 2 sets x 8 reps x 30 lbs in each hand
this exercise feels VERY wierd to me. i dont like it.

Glute Ham Raises = 2 sets x 10 reps, 1 set x 10 reps x 10 lbs
next week ill get 1 set of 10 reps with my bodyweight and then 2 sets of 10 reps with me holding the 10 lbs plate.

Ab Work
6 sets for abs. 4 exercises supersetted. here u go:
A1: Static Holds: untimed
A2: Lat Pull Down Sit-ups: 3 sets x 8 reps x 60 lbs
B1: Leg Pistons: 3 sets x 12 reps
B2: Overhead Side Bends with plates: 3 sets x 10 reps x 10 lbs

Neck Exercise on Hammer Strength Machine
something new i did just to see how it feels. very light work.

Leaving Thoughts:
i feel positive about this session. i think it went off well and i did everything without doing anything stupid so im happy. my back is feeling better and after those sets of deads i kinda felt invincible and a part of me wanted to load 225 onto the bar but i refrained from giving in to my stupid impulsive feelings.

thanks for reading everyone and i hope y'all all have a great weekend

Upper 1, Week 25

Fall '07 - Upper 1, Week 25

Overall Impression:
wierd workout...
Bench Press = 2 sets x 2 reps x 190 lbs
something just didnt feel right to me. i did my warm-ups and right from the start i knew something wasnt right. my body didnt feel right and i was moving the bar way too slowly. even 135 lbs felt like a ton. so i did a little shoulder rehab workout just to warm up the muscles and then continued my warm-ups but to no avail. so i was supposed to do 10 sets of 3 reps with 190..i mean, ive gotten 10x3x185 twice now but i couldnt do the 3rd rep on both sets with 190. ever since ive fallen sick my strength levels have plummetted on the bench press. all my other exercises are improving. this is the second workout in a row where my bench has become considerably weaker. im not very happy about this.
Seated Unilateral Shoulder Press = 3 sets x 7 reps x 50 lbs
wow. 50 lbs is a milestone lol. this was very easy though. i was conservative on this. next time ill try 3x8 or 3x9. most likely 3x9.
High Cable Rows = 4 sets x 8 reps x 140 lbs
i attached the v-bar onto the lat pulldown machine at the top and did my rows where my back was roughly 15-30 degrees from the floor. it felt good. light and easy. next time ill try for 4x10.
Unilateral Low Pulley Rows = 2 sets x 12 reps x 32.5 lbs
this was a sort of new exercise for me and it was pretty good. i think 32.5 was a fairly decent weight. 37.5 would have been a bit too tough i think.
Facepulls = 3 sets x 12 reps x 90 lbs, 1 set x 8 reps x 100 lbs
these felt awesome! my traps should hopefully get huge doing these lol.
Leaving Thoughts:
im not sure why my bench press is getting weaker. maybe i need a break from benching. maybe not. lets see.
only 2 more days before the weekend. happy halloween everyone!!!