Heavy metal Olympic routine

[ebon00]

Thursday 02/27/03

Got to the gym eariler than usual as I had to kick my girlfriend (possibly the worst morning person in the world) out of bed. So, it was just me and the weights. Sweet. Arms for the first time in ages. 1 set each for these exercises:

Alternate dumbell curl
Incline curl
Concentration curl
Reverse curl (EZ bar)
Body drag curls
Overhead pulley curls
Pushdown
Reverse grip pushdown
Over head extension
French press
Overhead triceps press (EZ bar)
Bench dips

Kind of ran out of ideas after that (trying to avoid exercises I've used in the last cycle). Added some forearm work and was done by the time I usually hit the gym.

This recovery week is the best idea I've ever had. I'm literally itching to get back to lifting hard and heavy.

[ebon00]

Friday 02/28/03

Leg day today. Sadly, my gym isn't exactly stocked with leg machines and there's only so much you can do with a barbell (that I haven't been doing lately) so this workout was really short. (There is another leg press at the gym that has a stack rather then plate loading but it's better suited for midgets.)

Leg extension
Sissy squat
Hack squat
Leg press
Lying leg curl
Dumbell stiff deadlifts
Seated leg curl
Seated calf raise
One-leg calf raise
Leg press calf raise
Standing calf raise

At least calves got their due. Sooooo stoked about getting back to the real stuff on Monday. Weekend be gone!!

[1more]

Are you going back to the routine you were doing?

[ebon00]

Originally posted by 1more
Are you going back to the routine you were doing?

Yeah. I think I wrote in the journal (somewhere) that I do cycles that are 3+3+1. Basically I do one routine for 3 weeks and then alter it slightly (sets/reps/style) for the next 3 weeks followed by a 1-week recovery period when I train just for fun. (You can see these shifts in this log.) It works well so far, I'm so stoked I'm not sure I can wait till Monday for my next 'real' workout. I've made some changes compared to the first variation I did (for one thing I'm able to work legs properly now it seems) and I hope they'll work out. My goal is to bulk up some more for the coming month and then cut for about two months with a planend peak at my birthday May 25th. If all goes well I'll have pics by then detailing the progress over the 4 months.

[ebon00]

Back/biceps/hams - Monday 03/03/03

Partial Javorek complex*
60kg 6/6/6
60kg 6/5/6
60kg 6/5/5

Power cleans (from floor)
60kg 5
65kg 5
70kg 4

Overhead shrug
40kg 20

Snatch grip deadlift
80kg 10
90kg 10

Zottman curl
10kg 12
10kg 9

Prone hammer curl
12.5kg 7
12.5kg 6

Dumbell stiff deadlift/lying leg curl
12.5/30kg 10/10
12.5/30kg 10/8
12.5/30kg 10/7


Aaaahh... Finally back to the real workout. The Javorek complex totally killed my forearms. Power cleans from the floor doesn't hit the traps as directly as from blocks but I felt that a change was due. Had a hard time finding the groove on the Zottman curls. Much better form on 2nd set.

Moved my hamstring work to Monday and Thursday to avoid overtraining my posterior chain. I was working my lower back more or less 4 days a week last phase.

Did approx. 30 min of cardio work after my weight workout as well.

* A partial Javorek complex is a tri-set of snatch-grip high pulls, clean-grip high pulls and bent over row. I do the pulls from the hang to work the traps harder.

[ebon00]

Chest/shoulders/legs - Tuesday 03/04/03


Bench press [IC sets]*
80/60kg 3/3+8
80/60kg 3/3+7
80/60kg 3/3+5

Cable crossover
35kg 8

Military press
40kg 5
40kg 5
40kg 5

Cuban rotation
4kg 10
4kg 8

Squats [IC sets]
100/60kg 3/3+5
100/60kg 3/x

[Had to stop since the patellar tendon on my left knee felt like crap. Might have had bad form on the explosive reps.]

Seated calf raise [strecth pause]
30kg 11
30kg 9
30kg 9

One-leg calf raise
10kg/B 10/4 (each leg)


Threw in 30 min of cardio to finish off. Not a bad workout although it sucked that legs are still bothering me. Hopefully I'll be able to do the more conventional work on Friday.

* IC sets stand for Inside Contrast sets which is a variation on contrast sets. Basically you take a weight that's about 85-05% of your 1RM, do 2-3 reps; strip weight to get you to about 50-60% of your 1RM and do 3 explosive reps and then you rep out with that weight doing normal reps but with a 2-second pause in the bottom position (don't relax though). I train without a partner so it takes me about 10 seconds to strip the weight.

[ebon00]

Back/biceps/hamstrings - Thursday 03/06/03


Gymnasts' pulls*
B 7/4/4/3
B 4/3/3/3

Power snatch (from floor)
40kg 3
45kg 3
50kg 3

Shrugs**
100kg 10
120kg 10
130kg 8

Preacher curl
30kg 9
30kg 8

Prone hammer curl
12.5kg 8
12.5kg 7

Seated leg curl
50kg 10
50kg 10

Zercher good morning
20kg 12
30kg 10


Decent workout. Reps dropped like a stone on the pullups. Finished off with 30 min of cardio and was out of there.

* Gymnasts' pulls is a variation on a program by Charles Poliquin. It's a giant set with the exercises wide-grip pullups/medium-grip pullups/supinated medium-grip pullups/supinated close-grip pullups. I rest 30 seconds between each exercise in the giant set.

** I hold the weight for about 10-15 seconds after I finish the set to work my grip a little and also to put some extra stress on my traps.

[ebon00]

Quads/chest/triceps/calves - Friday 03/07/03

Incline press
60kg 5
65kg 4
75kg 1
80kg 1
80kg 1

Weighted dips
B+10kg 5
B+15kg 5
B+15kg 5

Overhead extension/pushdown
22.5kg 10/6
22.5kg 9/6

Torture triset*
B/70kg 6/6/6
B/70kg 6/6/6

Standing calf raise [IC sets]
90/40kg 3/3+5
90/40kg 3/3+4


Did 15 min on that stairmaster and hit the shower. Did only two torture sets since I wasn't sure if my knees were alright after Tuesday. They felt OK.

* The Troture triset consists of Sissy squats, front squats and back squats. I use 6 reps for each exercise and use the same weight on both kinds of squat. I never do more than bodyweight for Sissy squats to protect my knees.

[ebon00]

Back/biceps/hamstrings - Monday 03/10/03

Partial Javorek complex
60kg 6/6/6
60kg 6/6/6
60kg 6/6/6

Power clean (from floor)
60kg 5
65kg 5
70kg 4

Overhead shrug
45kg 20

Snatch-grip deadlift
85kg 10
95kg 8

Zottman curl
10kg 10
10kg 1

Prone hammer curl
12.5kg 8
12.5kg 7

Dumbell stiff deadlift/lying leg curl
15/30kg 12/10
15/30kg 12/7


Had planned on a third set of hamstrings but I tore a callus on my last set of deadlifts and there was no small amount of blood. Wrapped the hand with some paper and soldiered on but by the time I finished the 2nd set of hamstrings it was getting too uncomfortable. Missed the 5th rep on the last set of Power cleans. Started the pull with the arms waaaaay to soon. Had the strength but my technique failed me.

[ebon00]

Chest/delts/quads - Tuesday 03/11/03


Bench press [IC sets]
80/60kg 3/3+9
80/60kg 3/3+8
80/60kg 3/3+6
80/60kg 1/3+7

Cable crossover
35kg 9

Military press
42.5kg 5
42.5kg 4
42.5kg 4

Cuban rotation
4kg 8
4kg 8

Seated calf raise [stretch pause reps]
30kg 12
30kg 10
30kg 10


Well, it seems like my left knee won't allow me to do explosive reps on the squat. I'll just have to go with regular heavy reps from now on. 30 min of cardio.

[ebon00]

Beck/biceps/hamstrings - Thursday 03/13/03


Gymnasts' pulls (20 sec rests)
B 6/5/4/4
B 4/3/3/3 [+ 3 negatives on last]

Power snatch from floor
45kg 3
45kg 3
45kg 3 [slight pressout on last]

Shrugs (+holds)
110kg 10
120kg 10
130kg 8

Preacher curl
32.5kg 8
32.5kg 5

Prone hammer curl
12.5kg 9
12.5kg 8

Seated leg curl
52.5kg 10
52.5kg 10

Zercher good morning
30kg 10
40kg 10


Felt good to be able to do everything. Was a fairly fast workout too. Added 30 min of cardio when I was done. Slowly upping my weights on most exercises. Might add creatine next week to kick-start some new gains.

[ebon00]

Chest/triceps/quads - Friday 03/14/03


Incline press
65kg 5
67.5kg 5
80kg 1
80kg 1
80kg 1

Dips
B+15kg 5
B+15kg 5
B+15kg 4

Overhead ext/pushdown
25kg 8/5
25kg 7/4

Torture triset
B/75kg 6/6/6

Standing calf raise [IC sets]
90/50kg 3/3+6
90/50kg 3/3+3


Well, my left knee is now beginning to piss me off. Got halfway through the second triset and it was screaming bloody murder. Had to rack the weight and quit the quad work. Did 30 min of cardio to force some blood in there for recovery. Not training legs properly has me feeling like crap.

[ebon00]

Back/biceps/hamtrings - Monday 03/17/03


Partial Javorek complex
62.5kg 6/5/6
62.5kg 6/5/6
62.5kg 5/5/5

Power clean
60kg 3
70kg 3
70kg 1

Overhead shrug
50kg 17

Snatch-grip deadlift
90kg 6
90kg 5

Zottman curl
10kg 10
10kg 10

Prone hammer curl
12.5kg 10
12.5kg 8

Dumbell stiff deadlifts/lying leg curl
15/30kg 10/10
15/30kg 10/9
15/30kg 10/7


Slept nary a wink between Saturday and Sunday and last night was crap too. Needless to say I was a zombie in the gym today. I tried to gut it out but my power cleans totally lacked snap and by the time I got to the deadlifts I had to surrender. Did 30 min of cardio because I'm a stubborn SOB.

[ebon00]

Chest/delts/calves - Tuesday 03/18/03


Bench press [IC sets]
80/50kg 2/3+8
80/50kg 2/3+6
82.5/52.5kg 2/3+4
82.5/52.5kg 1/3+4

Cable crossover
35kg 9

Military press
42.5kg 5
42.5kg 5
42.5kg 4

Cuban rotation/L-laterals
4kg 8/5
4kg 8/5

Seated calf raise [stretch pause]
40kg 8
40kg 7


Left knee left me wanting again. I did a number of high-rep, low weight isolation exercises to thoroughly warm up but that didn't work. Two sets of front squats and the knee was done. It's time to drop the squats for the time being and see if I can do leg presses instead. Did some heavy interval training on the stationary bike because I got pissed off at not being able to work legs properly...

[ebon00]

Back/biceps - Thursday 03/20/03


Wide grip pullups
B 5
B 5

Medium grip pullups
B 5
B 5

Close grip chins
B 5
B 5

Power snatch from floor
40kg 3
40kg 3
40kg 3

Shrugs [+ holds]
120kg 8
120kg 8
120kg 8

Preacher curl
35kg 5
35kg 5

Prone hammer curl
15kg 6
15kg 6


Hopped on the stationary bike for 30 min of cardio. Did a few things differently for this workout. Focused more on technique on the snatches and worked straight sets of 5 for the pullups. Worked well.