Mustang's workout journal

[mustang GT]

I haven't worked out for over 4 months, which is the longest that I've ever gone without lifting since I started in '98. Before I stopped lifting (the time of my pics) I weighed 183 lbs. Now I weigh 169 lbs and I lost some size and definition. Although, it seems I especially lost size. Here are my measurements right before I stopped lifting, and my current measurements as of right now:

Measurements before I stopped lifting:
Arms: 16
Forearms: 14 2/4
Wrists: 7 2/4
Chest: 42 3/4
Waist: 34
Thighs: 24
Calfs: 16 1/4

Current Measurements:
Arms: 14 3/4
Forearms: 13 3/4
Wrists: 7 2/4
Chest: 41
Waist: 33 2/4
Thighs: 22 2/4
Calfs: 15 3/4

I'm still muscular, but as you can see, I've lost quite a bit of muscle. But I'll definitely gain it back ^_^

I currently have the CrossBow, a pull-up bar, and a freeweight set of a barbell, two dumbbells, and 160 lbs of freeweights. I have the spin on clamps too, so I'm glad for that. I'm gonna use the freeweights mainly for my arms, shoulders, traps, and lower-back. I will use the CrossBow for my chest, abs, legs, and lats.

Before I start lifting, I'm gonna do a short 5 minute warm-up of a combination of shadowboxing and jogging in place, and then before I lift heavy, I will do warm-up sets with a lighter weight of each muscle that I'll be working. For smaller muscle groups, I will do 2-3 warm-up sets, and for bigger muscle groups, I will do 3-4 warm-up sets. Then for the heavy lifting, I will do 2 exercises for each muscle with 2 - 3 sets of 6-8 reps to muscle failure. In between sets and reps, I will stretch the muscle that I'm working. Each week, I will switch to different exercises for variety. During my workout, I'll drink a pint of water for the duration of my workout. After my workout, I will do a short 5 - 8 minute cool-down of a combination of shadowboxing and jogging in place. I will try to consume about 3,000-3,200 calories a day, and space out my meals so that I eat 5-6 times a day. Of course I won't have access to a meal all the time, so that's when I'll supplement with MET-Rx Protein Plus Bars, and MET-Rx MRP shakes. I'll take whey protein along with grapejuice right after I lift weights as my post workout, and drink a liter of water within an hour. I'll also take 500 mg of vitamin C right after my workout. I'll eat a solid meal with a proper macronutrient balance about 60 minutes after my post workout shake. Other supplements that I'm taking include: fish oil tabs, garlic pills, grapeseed extract, lycopene, milk thistle, calcium citrate, and a multivitamin. I will also have the antioxidants green tea and hot cocoa everyday. I'm gonna drink a gallon of water each day. Here's how my workout was yesterday:

tues - Chest, shoulders, triceps
Bench Press - 3 heavy sets of 6-8 reps
Chest Fly - 3 heavy sets of 6-8 reps
Lateral raise - 3 heavy sets of 6-8 reps
Military shoulder press - 3 heavy sets of 6-8 reps
Tricep extention - 3 heavy sets of 6-8 reps
Tricep dips - 3 sets of 8-10 reps
I had a good workout and I'm really sore today. :thumbup:

Here's what my workouts will look like for the rest of this week:

wed - Legs, abs
thurs - Back/lats, biceps, traps, forearms

I started kind of late this week, but next week I will start back up a new routine on sunday. The routine that I will do, I will work each muscle every 3-5 days. I had over 4 months off, so I feel that I will make good gains lifting more often. Here's what my workout will look like for the next several weeks:

2nd week
sun - Chest, shoulders, triceps
mon - day off
tues - Legs, abs
wed - Back/lats, biceps, traps, forearms
thurs - Chest, shoulders, triceps
fri - day off
sat - day off

3rd week
sun - Legs, abs
mon - Back/lats, biceps, traps, forearms
tues - Chest, shoulders, triceps
wed - Legs, abs
thursday - Back/lats, biceps, traps, forearms
friday - off
sat - off

4th week
sun - Chest, shoulders, triceps
mon - off
tues - Legs, abs
wed - Back/lats, biceps, traps, forearms
thurs - Chest, shoulders, triceps
fri - off
sat - off

5th week
sun - Legs abs
mon - off
tues - Back/lats, biceps, traps, forearms
wed - Chest, shoulders, triceps
thurs - Legs, abs
fri - off
sat - off

The workout above is a recipe for overtraining, so I'm not gonna do it for that long. I just want to take advantage of the great potential of muscle gain that I can get due to lifting more often after being off for 4 months. I might even stop after the 4th week, depending on if my gains have stopped. After I do finish the above splits, I will do a split like this:

sun - Chest, shoulders, triceps
mon - day off/maybe cardio
tues - Legs, abs
wed - off
thurs - Back/lats, biceps, traps, forearms
fri - day off/maybe cardio
sat - day off

Then after a couple weeks of the above split, I will start the intense training method called "Max-OT" that Todd has mentioned, to take my training to the next level.

I decided to take a meal split that cursor made a while ago cause I really respect cursor's nutritional knowledge; of course it won't be exact, but I'll try to follow it as close as possible:

3000 calorie meal split
meal 1 - 571 calories [ 50p - 46c - 21f ]
meal 2 - 714 calories [ 50p - 100c - 13f ]
> workout
meal 3 - 741 calories [ 50p - 100c - 13f ]
meal 4 - 571 calories [ 50p - 46c - 21f ]
meal 5 - 429 calories [ 50p - 20c - 17f ]

Well, I'm glad that I'm finally back to lifting weights again. Time to pump iron! ^_^ :thumbup:

[mustang GT]

I had a pretty good leg and abs workout earlier. Before I get to the legs and abs workout, I will post yesterday's workout cause I forgot to post poundage in my last post, so here it is:

(Keep in mind, when I don't specify which equipment I use, then it's used with the Crossbow)

tues - Chest, shoulders, triceps
Bench Press - 3 heavy sets of 6-8 reps:
1st set 180 lbs at 8 reps
2nd set 180 lbs at 6 reps
3rd set 180 lbs at 6 reps

Chest Fly - 3 heavy sets of 6-8 reps
1st set 140 lbs at 8 reps
2nd set 140 lbs at 8 reps
3rd set 140 lbs at 8 reps

Lateral raise - 3 heavy sets of 6-8 reps
1st set 120 at 8 reps
2nd set 140 at 6 reps
3rd set 140 at 4 reps

Military shoulder press - 3 heavy sets of 6-8 reps
1st set 140 at 8 reps
2nd set 140 at 6 reps
3rd set 140 at 6 reps

one-armed tricep extention - 3 heavy sets of 6-8 reps
1st set 20 pounds with dumbbell at 8 reps
2nd set 20 pounds with dumbbell at 6 reps
3rd set 20 pounds with dumbbell at 6 reps

Tricep dips - 3 sets of 8-10 reps
1st set bodyweight at 10 reps
2nd set bodyweight at 10 reps
3rd set bodyweight at 10 reps

Wow, well even though yesterday's workout went well, I noticed that I lost a lot of strength, especially in my chest and triceps.

k, here was today's workout:

wed - Legs, abs
Squats - 3 heavy sets of 8-10 reps
1st set 280 lbs at 10 reps
2nd set 300 lbs at 10 reps
3rd set 300 lbs at 8 reps

Leg extension - 3 heavy sets of 10-12 reps
1st set 260 lbs at 12 reps
2nd set 260 lbs at 10 reps
3rd set - 280 lbs at 8 reps

Standing hamstring curls - 3 heavy sets of 10-12 reps
1st set 100 lbs at 12 reps
2nd set 120 lbs at 10 reps
3rd set 120 lbs at 10 reps

Standing calf raises - 3 heavy sets of 12-15 reps
1st set 160 lbs at 15 reps
2nd set 180 lbs at 15 reps
3rd set 180 lbs at 15 reps

Weighted abs crunches - 3 sets of 10-12 reps
1st set 80 lbs at 12 reps
2nd set 100 lbs at 10 reps
3rd set 100 lbs at 10 reps

Weighted sitting Leg Raises - 3 sets of 12-15 reps
1st set freeweight 25 lbs at 15 reps
2nd set freeweight 25 lbs at 12 reps
3rd set freeweight 25 lbs at 12 reps

Standing Bent-Over Twists - 3 sets of 12-15
1st set freeweight 10 lbs at 15 reps
2nd set freeweight 10 lbs at 15 reps
3rd set freeweight 10 lbs at 12 reps

[KetoManiac]

Looking real good so far . I hope you get all your muscle back ...

[Wolfnatas]

Originally Posted by mustang GT

one-armed tricep extention - 3 heavy sets of 6-8 reps
1st set 20 pounds with dumbbell at 8 reps
2nd set 20 pounds with dumbbell at 6 reps
3rd set 20 pounds with dumbbell at 6 reps

Are you talking about this? If so... how do you like that for a tricep workout? I find that the one-arm tricep ext just feels weird, and if I do both arms simultaneously using a barbell it feels better. Just curious if you experience the same thing.

Anyhow, congrats on starting back up and I wish you the best of luck in gaining it back.

[mustang GT]

Originally Posted by Wolfnatas

Are you talking about this? If so... how do you like that for a tricep workout? I find that the one-arm tricep ext just feels weird, and if I do both arms simultaneously using a barbell it feels better. Just curious if you experience the same thing.

Yup, that's the exercise. When I first started doing that exercise, it felt a litle weird, but then after a little while I got used to it. I use to be able to do that one arm tricep extension with 45-50 pound dumbbell, and now I can only do 20, which shows how much strength I lost. I'll gain it back though.

Anyway, thanks for the good wishes Wolf and Keto

[mustang GT]

My workout earlier wasn't that good. Usually my Back/lats, biceps, traps, and forearms workouts go great cause biceps and forearms are my favorite muscles to train, but this time it didn't go so good. Here was my workout earlier:

thurs - Back/lats, biceps, traps, forearms
Lat pulldown - 3 heavy sets of 6-8 reps
1st set 280 at 8 reps
2nd set 280 lbs at 8 reps
3nd set 320 lbs at 6 reps

Barbell straight-back straight-leg deadlift - 3 sets of 8-10 reps
1st set 100 lbs at 10 reps
2nd set 100 lbs at 10 reps
3rd set 100 lbs at 10 reps

Pull-ups/chin-ups - 3 sets of 6-8 reps
1st set chin-up-bodyweight at 6 reps
2nd set pull-up-bodyweight at 4 reps
3rd set chin-up-bodyweight at 4 reps

Bent-over row - 3 heavy sets of 6-8 reps
1st set 280 lbs at 8 reps
2nd set 280 lbs at 8 reps
3rd set 300 lbs at 6 reps

Barbell curl - 4 heavy sets of 6-8 reps
1st set 75 lbs at 8 reps
2nd set 75 lbs at 6 reps
3rd set 65 lbs at 6 reps
4th set 65 lbs at 6 reps

Dumbbell free-form concentration curl - 2 sets of 6-8 reps
1st set 25 lbs of 6 reps
2nd set 25 lbs of 6 reps

Shrugs - 3 heavy sets of 8-10 reps
1st set 480 lbs at 10 reps
2nd set 480 lbs at 10 reps
3rd set 480 pounds at 10 reps

Dumbbell forearm wrist curl - 3 sets of 6-8 reps
1st set 30 lbs at 8 reps
2nd set 30 lbs at 8 reps
3rd set 20 lbs at 6 reps

Dumbbell forearm reverse curl - 3 sets of 6-8 reps
1st set 30 lbs at 6 reps
2nd set 30 lbs at 6 reps
3rd set 20 lbs at 6 reps

I'm disappointed about how much strength I lost. My biceps lost quite a bit of strength, asl well as every muscle. But I can't harp on it, cause I gotta focus on having great motivation and gaining it back.

I didn't organize my workout properly. I did more of the Crossbow exercises first, and then did freeweights and pull-ups which was a mistake. Once I got to the freeweights and pull-ups, my muscles were too tired to go with full intensity. I should of done freeweights and pull-ups first since it takes much more energy out of me and works me much harder. Also, I twisted my back days ago and it's still not 100%, so I went easy on the deadlifts. Besides, I lost quite a bit of muscle in my back so I need to build myself back up. I'm gonna do traps with the barbell next workout as well. Next week I will improve this workout and do it right.

[mustang GT]

Here's my workout from earlier:

Sun - Chest, shoulders, triceps:

Chest press:
1st set 200 lbs at 8 reps
2nd set 220 lbs at 6 reps
3rd set 220 lbs at 6 reps
4th set 220 lbs at 5 reps

Dumbbell shoulder press:
1st set 35 lbs at 8 reps
2nd set 45 lbs at 4 reps
3rd set 45 lbs at 4 reps
4th set 30 lbs at 4 reps

Dumbbell triceps extension:
40 lbs at 6 reps
2nd set 40 lbs at 4 reps
3rd set 35 lbs at 5 reps
4th set 35 lbs at 5 reps

chest press incline:
1st set 180 lbs at 6 reps
2nd set 180 lbs at 6 reps
3rd set 180 lbs at 4 reps

Upright Row
1st set 200 lbs at 4 reps
2nd set 180 lbs at 6 reps
3rd set 180 lbs at 6 reps

Tricep dips with weight:
1st set bodyweight + 25 lbs at 8 reps
2nd set bodyweight + 25 lbs at 6 reps
3rd set bodyweight + 25 lbs at 6 reps

It feels really good to be lifting weights. I can't describe how wonderful it feels to work toward a goal to improve my physique. During the 4 months that I had off, I didn't feel into lifting at all and lost my workout edge. I felt depressed and got so used to not lifting, which made me feel like not lifting anymore. But then I started back up lifting, gained my workout edge back, and my motivation is sky high right now. I'm so into weight lifting right now and it feels great!

The only things that I'm making changes to my diet, is the post-workout meals. Before I was having my whey and simple carbs right after, and then an hour later I would have a meal. But now I'm gonna have a meal 30 minutes after my post-workout shake, another meal 30 minutes later, and then another meal an hour later like Todd suggested in another thread. Here was my post-workout meals for earlier:

(post-workout meal #1): 2 scoops of ON whey protein shake, grapejuice (12 oz), fruit juice (4oz), 16 oz of water, 500 mg of vitamin C.

30 minutes later (post-workout meal #2): sweet potato, Grilled Chicken Breast (6 oz), 16 oz of water.

30 minutes later (post-workout meal #3): ON egg protein shake, steamed broccoli (8oz), 16 oz of water.

1 hour later (post-workout meal #4): 1 cup of 2% cottage cheese, Cauliflower (8oz), 1 slice of fat free cheese, 3 egg whites, 16 oz of water.

And I'm still up right now. Thanks for the great post-workout suggestions Todd! :thumbup:

[mustang GT]

Hayzors©

Mon - I did an hour of off and on HIIT cardio playing ddr!

Here is my workout from earlier:

Tues - Legs, abs:

Squat:
1st set 220 lbs at 8 reps
2nd set 200 lbs at 8 reps
3rd set 200 lbs at 8 reps

Weighted crunches:
1st set 200 lbs at 12 reps
2nd set 200 lbs at 12 reps
3rd set 180 lbs at 12 reps
4th set 180 lbd at 12 reps

Barbell + bodyweight calf raises:
1st set 283 lbs at 15 reps
2ns set 283 lbs at 15 reps
3rd set 283 lbs at 20 reps
4th set 283 lbs at 15 reps

Standing hamstring curls:
1st set 120 lbs at 10 reps
2nd set 120 lbs at 10 reps
3rd set 100 lbs at 12 reps
4th set 100 lbs at 10 reps

leg extensions:
1st set 320 lbs at 15 reps
2nd set 320 lbs at 12 reps
3rd set 320 lbs at 10 reps

Weighted sitting leg raises:
1st set 30 lbs at 12 reps
2nd set 30 lbs at 12 reps
3rd set 25 lbs at 12 reps
4th set 25 lbs at 10 reps

Weighted side bends:
1st set 25 lbs at 15 reps
2nd set 25 lbs at 15 reps
3rd set 25 lbs at 15 reps

It was a pretty good workout, but could of been better. There are things that I need to improve in, such as taking less time in between sets. Next workout will be Back/lats, biceps, traps, and forearms; my favorite workout day! :thumbup:

[mustang GT]

Hayzors©

Here is my workout from earlier:

Wed - Back/lats, biceps, traps, forearms:

barbell curls:
1st set 75 lbs at 8 reps
2nd set 75 lbs at 6 reps
3rd set 65 lbs at 5 reps

pull-ups/chin-ups:
1st set pull-up bodyweight at 4 reps
2nd set chin-up bodyweight at 6 reps
3rd set pull-up bodyweight at 4 reps
4th set chin-up bodyweight at 4 reps

barbell shrugs:
1st set 180 lbs at 15 reps
2nd set 180 lbs at 12 reps
3rd set 160 lbs at 12 reps
4th set 160 lbs at 12 reps

Barbell straight-back straight-leg deadlift:
1st set 120 lbs at 8 reps
2nd set 110 lbs at 8 reps
3rd set 110 lbs at 8 reps
4th set 110 lbs at 8 reps

Dumbbell free form concentration curls:
1st set 30 lbs at 7 reps
2nd set 30 lbs at 4 reps
3rd set 20 lbs at 6 reps

Seated Row:
1st set 260 lbs at 8 reps
2nd set 260 lbs at 6 reps
3rd set 260 lbs at 6 reps

Dumbbell forearm curls:
1st set 30 lbs at 8 reps
2nd set 30 lbs at 6 reps
3rd set 23 lbs at 8 reps

Dumbbell reverse forearm curls:
1st set 30 lbs at 6 reps
2nd set 23 lbs at 8 reps
3rd set 23 lbs at 8 reps

It was a pretty good workout. I'm going easy on the deadlifts and don't want to increase too much weight since I lost quite a bit of strength in the back area; besides, my lower back was never my strong point anyway. My biceps lost quite a bit of strength as well, heh. But I'm lifting to gain it back, and trying to achieve so much more. ^_^

[Piper]

Hey.. good to see someone else playing DDR... What level are you at, and what machines you play?

Here in Ireland, I have Dancing Stage Euromix, Euromix 2, and DDR Extreme machines, but I mainly play Dancing Stage Euromix 2. I have passed Max300 on Heavy only recently, but have done it twice at this stage. I'm still stuck on a few songs, but that was my major goal to reach and I'm happy I did it. 555 steps in about 90 seconds is HIIT :P

[mustang GT]

Originally Posted by Piper

Hey.. good to see someone else playing DDR... What level are you at, and what machines you play?

Here in Ireland, I have Dancing Stage Euromix, Euromix 2, and DDR Extreme machines, but I mainly play Dancing Stage Euromix 2. I have passed Max300 on Heavy only recently, but have done it twice at this stage. I'm still stuck on a few songs, but that was my major goal to reach and I'm happy I did it. 555 steps in about 90 seconds is HIIT :P

Hey man, it's good to see another ddr player here. I used to play heavy level back a while ago, but then when I stopped playing, I lost my stamina. I recently got back to ddr. Right now I'm playing most songs on standard, rerverse, flat. At the place that I go to, they have ddr extreme and ddr 5th mix. They also have iidx, but I suxors at that. lol

I play the extreme more due to the options. I'm an option guy. I once got a B on ORION.78 (AMeuro-MIX) heavy, 1.5, shuffle, sudden, dark, reverse. :thumbup: I can't do that again though, unless I get my stamina back and get some skills back that I lost.

Wow, you beat max300 on heavy? Congrats! I beat it on standard, but never on heavy. lol It's too fast for me, and my stamina was never good enough to beat it anyway. lol

[Piper]

IIDX

Yeah.. I beat Max300 twice, but both times I actually felt tired before I attempted it, so i dunno how that happened. What did help a LOT is my bit of cardio after my workouts.. I'd normally go for a 20-30 min swim to increase my stamina. I could run for ages, but when it comes to swimming, I was horrible. It's better now, and so's my DDR.

I freestyle often, but not any dangerous ways and definitely not knee drops OWWW!!!

The steps on Max300 are not that hard, the problem is just stamina.... You can get a program here that will simulate a DDR machine, only you use your fingers (unless you have a PS mat). The songs are harder to get.. Go here for the song files (DWI's).

Downloads for it....
DDR 5th
DDR Extreme

Enjoy!

[mustang GT]

Piper, wow beating max300 two times is really good. :thumbup: I do tech and can't freestyle if it depended on my life.

btw, I made a typo in my last post, when I said that I got a B on ORION.78 (AMeuro-MIX) heavy, 1.5, shuffle, sudden, dark, I also meant to write "reverse" as well.

Thanks for the info on stepmania, but I've had stepmania for a long time now. You are right that max300 isn't that hard, it's just the stamina issue. If you want really good stepfiles, go to bemanistyle.com, and they have very good originals to download. A lot of people make very fun and challenging steps.

[mustang GT]

Piper, here is the exact link to bemanistyle.com. There is a very big list of awesome originals made by a number of people...

http://www.bemanistyle.com/sims/sims.php?cat=1

[Piper]

Sorry to hijack your workout thread...

I've known about bemanistyle for ages too.. I have MADE some sims that are on there, hehe... I have well over 1500 DWIs, but pure laziness stops me from getting more.

I also have a hard mat I bought from Hong Kong which will connect to my Pc and allow me to play songs like Max300 on it. Those other flimsy mats are terrible. It cost me about $450, so it's pretty good :P