Get ripped or go home

[gcs118]

Great job on the deads, quickly approaching the 300 mark!

[Klinger]

Thanks gcs - it's in my sights. :

July 1 - Chest/tris/shoulders

Dear diary: today I lifted like an 8-year-old boy.

OK, it wasn't that bad. Just had no juice. Been lifting five times a week for a month now. Maybe I need a holiday.

BB bench
115x8
134x4
135x4
135x3.5 (WTF?)
115x6

Expected to at least get 4x4 on 135. New "push the max" cycle starts Monday. Clean slate.

Close-grip bench
105: 3x6

Skullcrushers
55x5
50x5
50x5

A little bit of theater:
Me: Do not drop down!
Tris: Fine, don't. But we won't lift your stinking 55!

Military press
75x6
80x6
85x6

At least something is going right.

Lateral raise 20# DB: 2x6
15# DB: 1x8

Weighted crunch 25#
2x12
Weighted leg raise 10#
2x10

Legs tonight, then a couple days off for the 4th. Hope tonight's workout goes a little better.

[Klinger]

July 2 legs/cardio

Good workout overall. Feeling stronger on squats. Tempo was good, too. Did all my leg work in 30 minutes. Hated to do cardio in same session, but the holiday weekend is going to mess up my routine, so I doubled up.

Squats
134x6
155x6
165x4
175x4
135x6

I should have pushed a little harder on 165, but I wasn't sure what I would have left for the 175 set, so I didn't. Definitely ready to take a shot at a couple reps on 185 next week.

Seated calf raise
100x12
100x12

Had to reposition my legs for last 4 reps on 2nd set. Seems like the settings on this machine don't favor my leg height. One notch is too low, the other is too high.

Standing calf raise
140x12
150x12

Seated leg curl (hams)
125x8
130x8

Seated leg extension (quads)
150x8
150x8

Really surprised myself by geting through bot h sets at 150. Last three reps were super slow and agonizing, but I nailed them.

Did a 20-minute jog at a fat-burning pace (2.05 miles). Just enough to work up a sweat and burn off 300 calories or so.

[Klinger]

July 3 - upper-body supersets

Thought I would squeeze in a workout this morning since things will get hectic the next two days. Decided to do something I don't do often: supersets. I was working off the top of my head, so some of these may not be ideal, but they seemed to do the job, and I think I guessed the weight/reps correctly to ensure I could finish the whole circuit. Only reached failure on BB curls.

Set 1 -- dips/pullups (body weight)
8 dips
8 pullups
rest
8 dips
8 pullups
Nice start. Got warm quickly.

Set 2 -- DB bent-over row/DB chest press (40# for both)
8 rows
8 presses
rest
8 rows
8 presses
Last two presses were super taxing.

Set 3 -- EZ-curl skullcrushers (50#)/BB bicep curls (70#)
6 crushers
6 curls
rest
6 crushers
6 curls (had to drop to 65# for Nos. 5,6. Boo.)

Set 4 -- EZ-curl two-arm pullover (50#)/upright row (70#)
8 pullovers
8 rows
rest
8 pullovers
8 rows
These pullovers (works chest) are tricky. This was the first time I did them with a bar instead of a heavy DB. Really had to fight to stabilize arms.

Set 5 -- DB hammer curls (35#)/DB flyes (30#)
5 curls
8 flyes
rest
5 curls
8 flyes
The oddest of the supersets. Probably should have done flyes first and curls second. Should have stuck w/35# on the flyes, too. Oh well.

Pretty decent workout. I felt like I had run a fast mile when I was finished, really huffing and puffing. I like the speed factor of supersets (did all of the work in just over 30 minutes). Will do them again as schedule permits.

[TommyD]

Did a 20-minute jog at a fat-burning pace (2.05 miles). Just enough to work up a sweat and burn off 300 calories or so.

One thing you don't want to do is have a weightlifting/resistance session followed by a cardio session. That's a good way to negate what you did that day in weightlifting because the cardio will catabolize your muscles.

Also, when I'm training for strength, a lot of times I just throw the cardio out until I go above 10% BF. That way I can focus on bulking up to help add strength. Right now I haven't done cardio for a good 2 months and I'm still at 6.4% BF. You'll find that a lot of the time your weightlifting sessions are hard enough that your metabolism will stay high and you won't even have to worry about doing cardio.

Just a thought.

[Klinger]

Originally Posted by Tom_Drahos

One thing you don't want to do is have a weightlifting/resistance session followed by a cardio session. That's a good way to negate what you did that day in weightlifting because the cardio will catabolize your muscles.

Also, when I'm training for strength, a lot of times I just throw the cardio out until I go above 10% BF. That way I can focus on bulking up to help add strength. Right now I haven't done cardio for a good 2 months and I'm still at 6.4% BF. You'll find that a lot of the time your weightlifting sessions are hard enough that your metabolism will stay high and you won't even have to worry about doing cardio.

Just a thought.

Thanks for the advice, Tom. I have been cutting back on the running since I moved to a five-day-a-week lifting schedule. I don't want to stop entirely because I actually enjoy running and it's a good stress buster for me. But maybe I can cut back to one HIIT workout a week and just focus on adding strength.

I'm at 8.8 percent BF now but I think I'll need to drop to 6/7 percent to get the definition I'm seeking. You think I can get there solely through diet and intense lifting?

[SurfinAmy]

Originally Posted by Klinger

Did a 20-minute jog at a fat-burning pace (2.05 miles)

This must be your leisurely 20 minute run.... hey, congrats on the DB curls w/ 35 lbs. I have been using 20 lb'rs on my DB curls but last time I felt that they were getting too light and I wasn't getting the most out of it. We don't have 25 lb'rs, next on the rack are 30 lb'rs. I'm going to ATTEMPT them next time...uh, that's today's w/out, we'll see....
I should take the journal home sometime so I can record some of the actual weights here at DF.

On the rows, I would still stick w/ doing your DL's first, I'm no expert, but I'm pretty sure that DL's are a compound exercise and the rows are more isolated so you would get more benefit doing your DL's first even though you feel like your rows suck afterward.....

Happy 4th! Have Fun....

-Amy

[Klinger]

Thanks Amy-and yes, that is my leisurely run.

If at all possible, try to move up incrementally on your curls. The 20# to 30# jump is a big one. Try asking someone at the gym if they can order the 25s.

You're probably right about the deads/rows order. I skipped a normal back/biceps day Sunday due to the family picnic, so maybe my strength will be back for Wednesday's back/biceps session.

[Klinger]

July 4 - cardio, which was totally offset by the fact that I ate everything in sight. -- 4 beers, potato salad, cake, pierogies, ugh. Stomach...nearly...bursting.

roller hockey - 90 minutes

Chased 13-year-olds all over the rink. No checking, of course, since I outweighed them by 60 pounds or so.

[Klinger]

July 5 chest/tris/shoulders

Month 2 of a bench routine outlined by Gary Edwards. Week 1 is all about high reps, low weight, which I assume is supposed to shock the system and prepare it for the next stage of growth. Trying to raise max from 160 to 170-175 by end of month.

Flat BB bench
90x12
90x12
95x10
105x8
105x8
95x10

I assumed the low weight on the BB would be too easy, but the rep overload really fatigued me at the end.

DB incline bench
45x7
45x6
45x5

Dips (BW) to failure
7
6

Disappointing. I should be getting 12 & 10 by now.

Skullcrushers
50x6
50x6
50x5.5

Military press
90x7
95x4

DB press
35x6
40x4

Eh. First crack at the 40s. Not terrible.

Abs

Hanging leg raise
2x8
Weighted decline situps 10#
3x12

All in all, not too shabby -- especially since I was mildly hung over.

I'm at a crossroads. In order to get stronger, I might have to start bulking. I'm at 168 now, up from a steady 165 all year long. I'm hungry all the time, which I will interpret as a sign that it's time to up the calorie intake. I eat clean now, about 2,200 calories a day. Will have to think about it. I like being at sub-9% BF. Not sure if I'm ready to take the plunge.

[Klinger]

July 6 cardio

Did not feel like HIIT, so I did a 30-minute run covering 3.5 miles. Then a cooldown walk. Tore through about 500 calories.

Later I tossed the football around for ~30 minutes.

[LifterMike]

way to burn up some calories buddy! :

[SurfinAmy]

Originally Posted by Klinger

Thanks Amy-
If at all possible, try to move up incrementally on your curls. The 20# to 30# jump is a big one. Try asking someone at the gym if they can order the 25s.

Well, guess we'll have to get some 25 lbr's....I tried the 30's and couldn't do it, but the 20's are too light.........those 30's would be a good goal to set though.....
-Amy

[Klinger]

July 7 back and bis

Deadlifts
135x6
185x6
225x6
255x4
275x1

Really concentrated on form throughout. I had developed a bad habit of using too much lower back and not enough hams. Much better on these sets. Threw in a 1-rep to see if I could still hit my previous high w/proper form.

Weighted chins 22.5# (goal is 20 in fewest possible sets)
6,5,5,3,1

Upped the weight from 20 last week. Ran out of steam in the last two sets.

T-bar row. I rigged this by wedging an old standard bar into a corner of my basement. Steadied it w/a 40# DB. Used only small plates but ROM still seemed constricted.
75x8
85x8
100x7

DB bent-over one-arm row 45#
3x8 each arm

Nice break from the BB row.

BB curl
70x6
75x4
75x4 (barely)

DB alt. hammer curl
35x4
35x4/drop to 30# to squeeze out 2 more reps and totally exhaust the muscle.

I'll give this workout a B grade. Solid but not spectacular. Worked hard and left nothing in the tank. I love blasting those biceps at the end.

[SurfinAmy]

Originally Posted by Klinger

T-bar row. I rigged this by wedging an old standard bar into a corner of my basement. Steadied it w/a 40# DB. Used only small plates but ROM still seemed constricted.
75x8
85x8
100x7

I love blasting those biceps at the end.

If this is what I think it is we did that one time in the garage w/ just the Olympic Bar between the legs, weight on end, didn't have to be steadied by anything....also, I think ROM was o.k. I saw some guys at the gym doing it that way too, but maybe I'm thinking of different exercise?

Good job blasting your biceps. What do you think of this, it will kill your arms, we call it "Biceps Annihilation". You stand at your heaviest DB's you can curl on your rack. Curl them once. Go down to next lighter, curl them once, go all the way down the rack this way.
Then go back to your heaviest again, curl them twice, go all the way down the line again.
When you can't curl the heaviest ones anymore you start the next set at the next heaviest weight, curl them whatever number of times you are on at that point and keep going down the line.
When you're exhausted at that weight, you start at the next heaviest @ whatever number of times you're on, go down the line again....
etc.
etc.
At the end, you're probably down to the 10 lb'rs, just curl them to exhaustion.

NO REST AT ALL FROM START TO FINISH....talk about frying them....works good.

We also do it with triceps - "Triceps Annihilation" (Overhead press) fries them everytime.....

-Amy