My Fitness Journal

[gcs118]

Originally Posted by a_welch503

I should say no complaints! You are deadlifting me and my skull crushers together. :

Those marks can be worn with pride. Besides better the shins than the back.

haha well thank you. I personally won't be too impressed with myself until I hit the 315 mark. My grip is the weak link in my deadlifts, I feel like I'm going to drop it sometimes. Any ideas how to work it better? Like I said earlier, today DL destroyed my forearms. I think I need to do something to help out there.

[gcs118]

CARDIO, Thursday, October 21, 2004
Walk 1/4 mile
Jog 1 mile
Walk 1/4 Mile

Very light day, didn't feel like doing much, still very sore from lifting.

[jgriffith]

Deadlifts are looking good man, I would say one thing you can do to increase your grip instantly if you arent already doing it would be to change your grip from overhand to a mixed grip, one hand over one hand under, this will help some, you may already be doing it like that but I just thought I'd throw it out there. The best way I've found to increase grip strength is to keep doing heavy rows, curls, deads etc. Direct forearm work is good but I often times find that its hard to get heavy weight with enough ROM, holding 10 pound plates together as long as you can is good, farmers walks are good too.

[gcs118]

jgriff, yeah I use the mix grip. I switch which hand is over/under each set. It seems though like you said, just keep doing heavy lifts to build forearms. I dropped direct forearm work out of my routine a couple months ago because they were growing too fast I thought, so I guess it makes sense that they will grow on their own at my pace. hmmm ... good suggestions though.

[gcs118]

SHOULDERS/TRICEPS, Friday, October 22, 2004
Arnold Press 8 x 30 lbs, 6 x 40 lbs, 6 x 45 lbs, 5 x 45 lbs
Seated Tricep Extension 6 x 50 lbs, 6 x 55 lbs, 4 x 60 lbs
Dumbbell Side Lateral 6 x 15 lbs, 6 x 20 lbs, 8 x 15 lbs
Close Grip Bench Press 6 x 115 lbs, 6 x 125 lbs, 6 x 135 lbs
Dumbbell Shrugs 6 x 70 lbs, 6 x 75 lbs, 6 x 80 lbs

Notes: Didn't try 50s on Arnold Press, 45s were heavy. I haven't done tricep extensions in forever, I thought they were weak, but then I realized it was almost like the Arnold Press, so I was like whatever. Overall a good workout, worked me good.

[gcs118]

SUPPLEMENTAL DAY, Saturday, October 23, 2004
Bench Press 10 x 45 lbs, 10 x 115 lbs, 10 x 135 lbs, 8 x 135 lbs
Incline Press 8 x 105 lbs, 8 x 105 lbs
Decline Press 10 x 125 lbs, 6 x 135 lbs
Abs
Barbell Curl 10 x 45 lbs, 8 x 65 lbs, 8 x 65 lbs, 6 x 45 lbs, 8 x 45 lbs (reverse)

Notes: No spotter so I couldn't push myself on the presses. I went veerry slow on the BB curls. Really burned.

[Klinger]

Originally Posted by gcs118

Arnold Press 8 x 30 lbs, 6 x 40 lbs, 6 x 45 lbs, 5 x 45 lbs

Nicely done - this is a difficult movement to get perfect form with, too. Really works the delts and the entire arm. Much harder than standard DB presses, I'd say.

[gcs118]

CARDIO, Sunday, October 24, 2004
Walk 1/4 Mile
Jog 1 Mile
Walk 1/4 Mile
Sprint 100M

Notes: Another easy cardio day. I had to release some anger after watching Michael Moore speak. I am convinced more than ever to vote for Bush.

[gcs118]

LEGS, Monday, October 25, 2004
Squats 10 x 45 lbs, 10 x 135 lbs, 10 x 185 lbs, 8 x 225 lbs, 10 x 185 lbs, 10 x 135 lbs
Calf Raises 12 x 225 lbs, 12 x 225 lbs, 12 x 225 lbs
Straight Leg Deadlifts 6 x 145 lbs, 6 x 155 lbs, 6 x 165 lbs
Leg Press 6 x 320 lbs, 6 x 370 lbs, 6 x 420 lbs

Notes: Trying to mix up my squats so I don't always have a 3x6 routine. Doing something like this for 2 weeks definitely helped out last time. Calf raises were too light. I love the leg press because the numbers are high...lol.

[.V.]

Originally Posted by gcs118

Notes: Another easy cardio day. I had to release some anger after watching Michael Moore speak. I am convinced more than ever to vote for Bush.

I'm sure Mr. Moore will be happy to hear he got you motivated.
Perhaps you could invite him along for a little cardio too?

[gcs118]

Originally Posted by a_welch503

I'm sure Mr. Moore will be happy to hear he got you motivated.
Perhaps you could invite him along for a little cardio too?

haha amen! EVERYONE here in Kent, Ohio is democrat. It's terrible. I can't wait for Bush to win just to make t-shirts and spite the democrats and rub it in

[gcs118]

CHEST, Tuesday, October 26, 2004
Bench Press 10 x 45 lbs, 12 x 110 lbs, 12 x 110 lbs, 10 x 115 lbs, 8 x 125 lbs, 8 x 125 lbs, 10 x 115 lbs
Incline Dumbbell Press 6 x 50 lbs, 6 x 55 lbs
Flyes 6 x 35 lbs, 6 x 35 lbs
Abs

Notes: Wow. Bench reaalllly took it out of me. I dropped a set on incline DB press and flyes and skipped decline press altogether. First week of the 4 week bench program again...looks like this time around it's gonna be pretty tough!

[gcs118]

BACK/BICEPS, Wednesday, October 27, 2004
Deadlift 6 x 155 lbs, 6 x 225 lbs, 6 x 260 lbs, 6 x 270 lbs, 6 x 280 lbs
Dumbbell Curls 6 x 35 lbs, 6 x 40 lbs, 5 x 45 lbs
Hyperextensions 12 x 40 lbs, 12 x 40 lbs, 12 x 40 lbs
Pull Ups 7, 6
Wrist Curls 8 x 20 lbs, 8 x 30 lbs

Notes: It is getting noticably harder to hold on to the weight for deadlifting. I threw in some wrist curls at the end to try and do some grip work. On my supplemental day this week I'll have to work on forearms/grip. I'm glad DB curls haven't gone down any. Hyperextensions were relatively easy, so I should be able to take care of 45s in the next couple of weeks. Good workout overall, just need more grip strength!

Side Note: I weighed myself today, clothes and shoes like always, and I'm at 167 lbs. This is down very slightly since I quit bulking, but my body fat is much lower. I'm working on shaving off more fat because I'd like my abs to show up better.

[Klinger]

Originally Posted by gcs118

Notes: It is getting noticably harder to hold on to the weight for deadlifting. I threw in some wrist curls at the end to try and do some grip work.

Yeah, this is getting to be a problem for me, too. I don't want to use straps, though. I've found that I get a much better grip with the chalk. Don't know if your gym has a chalk pot or not.

Looks like your max is over 300 judging by that 280 by 6, by the way.

PS: I'm getting back on to this bench routine Monday. My regular chest day is tomorrow, so I'll do 5x5 flat or something just to stay on schedule. I'm envious of your progress, dude - nice job so far. :

[gcs118]

Thanks Klinger, but my first year of lifting is almost up. After that, I bet the gains won't be coming quite as quickly. My gym doesn't have a chalk pot so that isn't really an option for me. The trainers recommended straps or heavy back work/shrugs to work on grip...except I need a stronger grip to do heavy back work lol. Good luck on your benching though, I'm eager to see where you land. I'm sure it'll be pretty good, you've had a lot of variety recently.