a_welch503 WORKOUT JOURNAL

[.V.]

1-12-2004

Chest / Shoulders

Military Press...........90x4x6
Upright Row.............105x4x6
Bench Press.............135x4x6
B. Flyes................100x4x6
Shrugs..................190x4x6
Static Grip - 190x4x 30-seconds

Goals met: Increased weight on Bench Press, Butterflyes, and Shrugs.
New Goals: Increase Reps on Military Press and Upright Row.

Bench Press felt really good today. This is the first time I've increased the weight and got all 4x6 without a sticking point. I was able to push right through them slowly, with control, and without shaking right before the top. Also no "locked out break" before #6.

I don't think I will be increasing the butterflyes for a while - they were good, and the form was good, but 10 pounds is a pretty big jump for me on this one. Because it is a machine, I only have 10 pound increments. Sadly when I am ready to increase, I have nowhere to go. The machine only has 100 pounds on it. I guess I will have to learn to do real Flyes.

The static grip is pretty hard just standing there holding the bar. At 30 seconds, I was ready to drop it today and barely got it back on the rack. So I did it 4 times with a 30 second rest between each time. I guess it is hard because the grip is already wiped out by doing shrugs and upright rows or on back day doing deadlifts and bent over rows. I will experiment with doing this every day vs doing it every 4th day like all the other exercises.

[Firehawk]

How in the F can you be upright rowing what i do? MAN THAT PISSES ME RIGHT OFF LOL nice work man!

[.V.]

Originally Posted by Firehawk

How in the F can you be upright rowing what i do? MAN THAT PISSES ME RIGHT OFF LOL nice work man!

Grunting, squeezing, crying, straining, and keeping my back against a 4x4 post so I don't swing and cheat. . oh yeah, thanks.

[.V.]

10-14-2004

Arms / Abs

BB Curls....................110x4x6
Skull Crushers..........90x3x6, 1x5
DB Curls.....................45x4x6
Tate Press..............41x1x6, 4x8
Crunches.....................75x4x8
Leg Raises.....................4x30
Tricep Pressdown........80x2x8, 2x6

Almost have met my current goal of getting 4x6 on the 90lb skull crushers - not there yet. The first three sets were easy - then absolute failure on #6 of the last set.

Goals met: Increased weight on BB curls, DB curls. Increased reps on Tate press, Crunches, Tricep pressdown.

New Goals: Continue increasing reps on Tricep Pressdown. Increase weight on Tate press and Crunches.

Not a bad workout considering I have not done direct arm and ab work in 13 days. I will probably regret the increases tomorrow when it is time to do legs/back again. I took the first 12 hours off of work today and don't go in until 8pm to get myself back on schedule. Forgot to do the grip thing. Will do it tomorrow.

[.V.]

10-15-2004

Legs/Back

Pull Ups...............25x4x6
Squats................190x4x6
Deadlifts.............190x4x6
Calf Raises...........190x4x6
Bent Over Rows........140x4x6

Goal met: Increased reps on bent over rows.
New Goal: Increase weight on bent over rows.

I otherwise repeated my last leg/back day - as I was scheduled to do. But, I had hoped to plan on increasing reps by next workout. I feel that I need to repeat the same weight/reps again on these. My triceps were still really stiff from yesterday's arm workout. Had a hard time straightening my arms or bending them all the way when I got up this morning. That makes pull ups, deadlifts, and bent over rows really difficult. But after the workout they had really been stretched quite a bit. After my workout I came in and my wife had made me a lunch: a hamburger patty with a nice big salad - just the way I like it. The hamburger was over cooked (the leanest ground chuck I can find is all I buy) and it needs to be only cooked to medium. She also put cheese on it. I don't eat it that way, but the sentiment was really sweet - I guess she has finally accepted that I am going to eat meat and lift weights. I said not one word except thank you and ate it all. Now I am going to take a nap to make up for going out on ambulance calls half the night last night.

Odd thing, when I came home this morning, I noticed that someone had tried to break into my house last night. The family all had slept through it. My house is one of those very old, solid ones - except for the heavy steel bulletproof doors I put in when we got it. Too bad I wasn't home to try out the new muscle and speed I've been working on over the last year on them. Oh well, just a few scratches on the doorframe (where the prybar was inserted) - no damage, no harm - the huge deadbold held just fine. Maybe they will come back when I'm home next time.

[SurfinAmy]

Geez, are you kidding me??? Ya, too bad you weren't there - I know you'll snap 'em like a twig....
Right on about your wife. That was so sweet of her....
-Amy

[.V.]

10-16-2004

Military Press.............90x2x7, 1x5, 1x4
Upright Row....................105x1x4, 4x8
Bench Press....................135x3x5, 1x6
B. Flyes............................100x4x6
Shrugs (front)......................190x4x6
Shrugs (back).......................190x4x6

Today's workout was pitiful. I moved backward on military press and bench press. The upright row on the first set I was only able to get 4 reps. I counted that as a warmup and did 4x8. On the butterflyes and shrugs I was able to do what I had planned to do.

After yesterday's nap, I woke up sore and achy all over with chills but no fever. Felt the same way today. This might be why the workout was so weak. The only new goals this time are to get back to where I was on the exercises I lost ground on and to increase the upright row weight.

[.V.]

10-17-2004

Arms / Abs

BB Curls........110x1x3, 4x6
Skull Crushers........90x4x6
DB Curls..............45x4x6
Tate Press............46x4x6
Crunches..............80x4x6
Leg Raises..............4x30
Tricep Pressdown......80x4x8

The weakness of the last few days continues. No more chills though. I'm not sure of the cause. It may be that I've felt bad and have not been eating enough. I just have not wanted food after lifting. I am out of protein shakes and have to actually eat--yukk. It may be 6 days of lifting without my off day which works out to 3 days between body parts instead of the 4 that I'm used to. It may be the time off when my back was hurting. Either way I have a day off of lifting tomorrow - just have to go to work for 24 hours that gives a break from the iron.

I thought I was going to have a bad workout when I wimped out on the 4th rep of my first set of BB curls. But then I took a break and got my 4x6 so it worked out OK. I met my goals today and managed to increase weight on the tate press and crunches. I increased the reps on tricep pressdown and next time will up the weight.

I have been doing basically the same 4x6 routine since may. I keep reading that it is a good idea to change the routine every few months. I have made some pretty good strength gains but no real size. My wife tells me that I've gotten some bigger but I don't see it.

I'm debating with myself on if I want to make a change in November. I've considered going back to the full body every other day routine but I like the split I'm using now. I may go to a scheme where instead of 6-8 reps I will work up to a 10 - 12 rep plan. Don't increase the weight until I can hit 12 reps instead of increasing at 8. The old "if you can't do 10 it's too heavy, if you can do 12 it's too light" thing. I also have to decide if I want to do 3 or 4 sets if I go with that plan.

If I do that the increases in weight will be much slower and so will the strength gains. But, I may get some hypertrophy from that. Then after a few months go back to the 4x 6-8 thing to work on strength again.

Well, I've got a couple of weeks to decide what to do. I may just keep it like it is.

[.V.]

10-19-2004

Legs / Back

Pull Ups............25x4x6
Squats.............190x4x6
Deadlifts..........190x4x6
Calf Raises........190x4x6
Bent Over Row......145x4x6

I was able to do everything I had planned to do today.

Goal Met: Increased weight on bent over row.
New Goal: Increase reps on squats, deadlifts, calf raises.

Dreaded it and put working out all day didn't start until 16:30. When I finally got started, it was a good workout and I enjoyed it - grunting, straining, pain, and all.

[Klinger]

Originally Posted by a_welch503

I have been doing basically the same 4x6 routine since may. I keep reading that it is a good idea to change the routine every few months. I have made some pretty good strength gains but no real size. My wife tells me that I've gotten some bigger but I don't see it.

I'm debating with myself on if I want to make a change in November. I've considered going back to the full body every other day routine but I like the split I'm using now. I may go to a scheme where instead of 6-8 reps I will work up to a 10 - 12 rep plan.

Higher reps is a good change. In that case, stick with 3 sets because even though the weight is lower with these sets, the endurance factor makes it just as intense as 4-6 heavy, I find.

I'm in the same boat as you. I know I'm stronger than ever, but I kind of want to see some more obvious results. Guess it's an ego thing. In any case, a bodybuilding routine will definitely give you more of a buff look.

[.V.]

Klinger, thanks for the input, that is what I'm seriously considering. I have to decide soon, November 1 isn't far off. If I decide to go back to the 3x10 - 12 thing, I want to have as much strength built before I start it as possible. Thanks again.

[.V.]

10-20-2004

Chest / Shoulders

Military Press.....90x3x8, 1x7
Upright Row............110x4x6
Bench Press............135x4x6
B. Flyes...............100x4x6
Shrugs (front).........190x4x6
Shrugs (back)..........190x4x6

Had a good workout today - none of that weakness or neuro symptoms that have been giving me problems lately.

Improved my reps on the military press and bench press some - one more workout to go to get ready to increase the weight I believe.
Increased weight on upright row - felt strong and this went well.
Repeated same set/rep plan as last time on everything else with better, cleaner contractions - everything felt strong and worked like I wanted it to. I could actually feel what part of the muscle was working at each part of the movement and it felt as if I was controlling the contraction. Maybe my body is learning to do this lifting thing after all.

[Firehawk]

The highest I prefer to go is up to 8 reps. I cannot stand doing more than 8. My body doesn't really respond either lol.

[.V.]

Originally Posted by Firehawk

The highest I prefer to go is up to 8 reps. I cannot stand doing more than 8. My body doesn't really respond either lol.

But will 8 give you the mass to go with the strenght. I have no strength compared to many, but for me from where I started, I've built a lot - and got rid of lots of fat, but have built no mass at all. Now I want to SEE some results for a couple of months. Another question that came to me today though is if I do this and build some size, when I go back to the 4x6 - 8 routine after a few months, will I lose any size that I manage to make?

Questions, questions, questions....what to do.

[Klinger]

I'm honestly not sure how long you would want to stay on the hypertrophy routine. Maybe a general question to BBers on the board would help?

Here is my current plan (which is still too new for me to judge in terms of effectiveness):

Two weeks heavy (4-8 reps)
One week light/dynamic (10-15 reps)

The idea is to shock the system every couple weeks and hopefully build a little size while I'm at it.