Ariths Workout Journal

[Arith]

Hi guys, im new to this so bare with me. I just got back into working out after a few months layoff. Im a police officer so my main goal right now is strength gain and hopefully the muscle will come with it. Im not using any particular workout, just something i came up with on my own. I do a three day split with Chest/Shoulder/Tri on Monday, Back/Bi on Wensday and Legs on Friday. I know its Wensday but i am going to post Mondays workout here first and then tonight after i lift i will post todays. Any comments would be welcome.

Monday:Chest/Shoulders/Tri

Flat Bench Press
Warmup 135X15
185 X 10
225 X 4 Failure
225 X 3 Failure
235 X 1 Failure

Incline Bench Press
185 X 8
185 X 6 Failure
195 X 3 Failure

Upright Rows (Pully)
90 X 8
90 X 6 Failure
100 X 4 Failure

Superset of side and front raises
30lbs X 8 for 2 supersets

Close Grip Bench Press
135 X 10
165 X 8
165 X 6

Rope Pushdowns
Dropset from 70lbs to 20lbs

I workout on this:Monster Rack in my basement without a partner. Its a nice setup but without a partner i have some limitations. Also, i do most of my presses on the Smith because i broke my left elbow at work a few years ago and it starts to hurt during my workout. The stability of the Smith hleps with that.

[acegator]

Nice numbers on the lifts there. : . I see your doing chest,shoulders and triceps... I tried doing shoulders on same day as chest/triceps but it nearly killed me.

[Arith]

Originally Posted by acegator

Nice numbers on the lifts there. : . I see your doing chest,shoulders and triceps... I tried doing shoulders on same day as chest/triceps but it nearly killed me.

Hi Acegator. For now im trying to keep it simple and three days a week of lifting until i have been back to doing it a while. Once ive been working out steady again for a month or two i will try to change things up a bit. I do find it hard to train shoulders and chest on the same day but i love how i feel afterwards. Hell, im still a but sore today, i guess thats what i get for not working out for a while.....thanks for the input :

[Arith]

Wensday:Back/Bi

Deadlifts
135 X 15
185 X 10
225 X 5 F
225 X 4 F
225 X 3 F

Pulldowns
120 X 10
130 X 6 F
140 X 4 F

Pully Rows
140 X 10
150 X 6
160 X 4

Bar Curls
85 X 10
85 X 10
85 X 8 F

Standing Dumbell Curls
35 X 6 for 2 sets to Failure

I had a great workout today. I added deadlifts for the first time and they were tough but i felt cashed when i was finished. I could have probably done 2 more reps a set but my grip was giving out. My grip is pretty weak for some reason. Anything i can do about this?

This workout was sort of an experiment, i dont know where i stand weight wise so i may have to make some adjustments next time in order to bring my reps down per set. Ill have to increase weight a bit in some of these exercises.

Its funny but my forarms are really pumped right now and i didnt do any exercises for them. Does this mean my form was off in the curls?

I need to incorporate some cario into my routine a few times a week. Id like to lose some body fat.

[Iain]

All of your lifts today involved gripping, especially your deadlifts that will be where the forearm work has come from.

Good to see another starting a journal, I find it useful.

[atherjen]

Very nice lifts! Glad to see you start a journal, very beneficial to keep on track and advice.
Best of luck

[Arith]

Thanks for the comments guys, its nice to have some encouragement Also, Iain, thanks for the explanation, didnt think of that. Will my grip become stronger as i continue to deadlift or is there something i can do to increase my grip-strength?

[Iain]

As your poundage goes up then you will have to hold on to that weight so your grip will have to get better. That's what me and my tiny forearms are hoping anyway.

[Arith]

I had a real long day at work today so i am not going to do cardio, im going to move it to saturday.

Wow, am i sore. My upper back, right under the shoulders and through the middle back and lats is real sore. Never been sore there before.....feels good

[Arith]

Friday/Legs

Squats
135 X 15
225 X 10
275 X 8 F
300 X 4 F
300 X 2 F
225 X 7 F

Lunges
70 X 8
70 X 8

Calf Raises (Smith)
135 X 30 F
185 X 20 F
185 X 17 F

This was a great workout for me, its felt real good. Ive never lifted over 300lbs in any exercise so that was a milestone for me Also, i forgot how painful calf raises can be. I didnt have a set rep range i wanted to hit i just put the weight on and started going. I would rep until it felt like someone was holding a blowtorch to the back of my calfs then i would try for 5-6 more...hurt like hell. As for the squats, they felt alright but the last few sets i seemed to feel in my lower back, i may need to invest in a belt, i dont have one.

[Arith]

Monday:Chest/Shoulders/Tri

Bench Press
135 X 15
185 X 8
225 X 4 F
235 X 1 F
235 X 1 F

Incline Bench
195 X 4 F
195 X 3 F
185 X 4 F

Military Press
135 X 6 F
135 X 6 F
145 X 4 F

Close Grip Bench Press
165 X 6 F
165 X 4 F
165 X 3 F

Tri Press Down
70 X 10 3 Sets

Today was a good workout, i increased weight in most exercises and went as heavy as i could. I took front and lateral raises out of this workout because they did not really fit in with training for strength and added military presses.

Are my reps too low? My goal is mainly increasing strength. I was planning on keeping the weights in the bench at 235 until i can do it 6 times and then increase it. Does that make sense? Thanks guys.

[Arith]

Starting today i am going to be posting my diet. I am pretty clueless when it comes to diet so any hints or suggestions would be much appreciated. I am 5'10 and 224lbs.

Diet
meal 1 730am
2 Pks Quaker Instant Oatmeal
1 Cup 1%Milk
1 cup Strawberries
TOTAL: 19.7 Protein 63.9 Carbs 6.8Fat 9.3 Fiber 370.0 Calories

meal 2 1100am
Balance Gold Bar
Apple
TOTAL: 15.3 Protein - 41.1 Carbs - 6.5 Fat - 3.4 Fiber - 284.0 Calories


meal 3 200pm
5oz NY Strip Steak
Romaine Lettuce Salad w/low fat dressing
Light and Fit Dannon Cherry Yogurt
Total: 33.5 Protein 23.0 Carbs 30.5 Fat 0.0 Fiber 498.5 Calories

---------> CARDIO (30 min on Spin Bike) 430pm

meal 4 600pm
3 Flour Tortillias
1 cup lean Ground Turkey
1/4 cup Shredded Taco Cheese
1/2 cup grapes
Total: 55.7 Protein 33.1 Carbs 28.1 Fat 2.1 Fiber 607.8 Calories


meal 5 830pm
Protein Shake
Total: 50.9 Protein 33.9 Carbs 6.8 Fat 3.3 Fiber 400.4 Calories

DAILY TOTAL: 175.1 Protein - 195.0 Carbs - 78.7 Fat - 18.1 Fiber - 2160.7 Calories

[cursor]

meal 1 – Scrap the instant version of Quaker Oatmeal (sample) and make your own version from basic rolled oats. The instant has too much added sugar @ 13 grams per serving ... and you're having 2 servings! The regular only has 1 gram of sugar per serving. Add a little fruit if you want some natural sweetener (like an ounce of raisins). Consider adding a quality protein powder supplement to bump the protein balance in your meal. This is how my wife has her oatmeal: Oatmeal.

meal 3 – What, no fiber?! That's quite a chuck of dietary fat you've included there (it must be from the steak?)

CARDIO (30 min on Spin Bike) – Done just an hour and a half after that last meal, you're not going to get a ton of benefit out of this effort. Something is better than nothing though.

meal 4 – Increase your fiber! Fiber is your friend.

meal 5 – Ditto on the fiber intake

175p 195c 79f [18 fiber] – Double your dietary fiber (at least). Consider adding more fibrous carbohydrates (in the form of veggies): carrot sticks, broccoli, cauliflower, etc). You might also consider a fiber supplement.

It'll be interesting to see how your weightlifting day goes.

[MonStar]

Diet and training looks solid man, keep up the hard work. Curious though, what is the "F" next to a lot of your sets in your training? Also, what are your current goals?

[jgriffith]

I'm guessing that the "F" stands for failure. Workout looks good. The only thing I would say is that 15 reps at 135 seems like a little bit of a waste of energy. If it were me I'd drop that down to 8-10, no need to do that many when its only a warmup. This will probably allow you to do more reps when you get to the 225-235 range.