Rev's Freaky Athlete Log

[Rev]

Upper Body ME Day 3/22/05

-warm up-
bench press x bar
pullover x 15lbs db

Bench Press
95 x 5
135 x 3
155 x 3
175 x 3
200 x 2 BAH!, oh well PR
175 x 3
155 x 3
155 x 3
Personal best in the bench press today although I wanted that triple. I completed two unassisted reps, but I cut myself off after that and racked the weight going from judgement that I would not be able to complete another rep. The second rep on the 200lbs set was a nice slow grind to the top, I avoid complete physical failure at all times so I called technical failure after rep two.

Bent-Over BB Row
105 x 6
115 x 6
125 x 6
135 x 6
145 x 6
These felt great today. I payed extra attention to slowing down the negatives and taking momentum out of the concetric contractions.

Incline DB Bench Press
45 x 10
50 x 8
55 x 6
I noticed the incline benches here are on a serious steep incline, a little steep for my taste but it's all I have to work with so it works with me.

DB Overhead Extension
35 x 10
45 x 10
35 x 10
I tried to go up to 55lbs db but it was just way too akward. I am still trying to get perfect form down, keeping the upper arms completely perpindicular to the ground and isolating all movement to the elbow joint exclusively. These really work my abs since I'm standing up while doing these.

Incline DB Curl
25 x 8
30 x 6
35 x 6
I hate curls, they hurt like no other. I am starting to do holds at peak contraction and extra slow negatives, why?, because I hate myself and like to make my life as painful as possible. Just kidding, because it feels GREAT!

Low Cable External Rotation
10+ x 15
10+ x 15
I did these pretty fast today, probably too fast. I will slow them down next week.

Today was a good workout. Like I said up there I wanted a triple with 200lbs but then again it was a 10lbs jump in my bench press so I am still happy with what I accomplished today. My arms got a massive pump today, by the way my arms are growing like a mofo, just a few weeks ago they were 12.8 inches cold and 13.8 flexed, now they are 13-13.2 inches cold and 14.2 flexed, not too shabby, it's helping my lifts a lot I know. That and my forearms are growing like a mofo as well. My weight is about 171lbs currently. Good workout, on to food.

[DKing]

Damn dude nice job on the last two workouts. The PRs are flying in! Thats badass that you hit a deadlift PR and then did it again on the full squats. How did you feel the next day?

Danny

[Rev]

Originally posted by DKing:
Damn dude nice job on the last two workouts. The PRs are flying in! Thats badass that you hit a deadlift PR and then did it again on the full squats. How did you feel the next day?

Danny

I feel like I have been ran over by a mack truck 20 times. I'm starting to feel tired all the time and like I've had the shit kicked out of me. Can't keep myself off the couch, the deads and squats along with the bench all being pushed so hard for the last three weeks have definately taken its toll. I'm going to catch some relief on the next three week cycle when I take out the deads and flat bench and mainly push the full squat and decline bench. I'm half way through the third week of cycle number 3, it's been a rough cycle but all the hard work is paying off and that feels great. I'm arranging my fourth and final cycle before I take off a week so that it is intense enough to keep me pushing through but not totally insane to where I spin out and hit the wall. After this week, three more weeks left in my program, then I'll probably take one week to test my maxes and then take a week off and the training log will be complete. After my weeks rest I'm starting another three month, four three week cycle routine of the same westside style setup tailored to my needs which will take me into july which will have more emphasis on deadlifts instead of squat, and overhead pressing instead of bench press.

But as for now I will have my next three week cycle's routine posted shortly.

[Ian Kay]

Doing great, Rev! all these PR's and a well-planned routine into the summer. Can't beat that!

[BamaDave]

Great workouts - I still can't believe you are PR'ing on squats and deadlifts in the same workout. And bench press also. Good job! These routines look like killers.

[Rev]

Thanks for the kind words and inspiration guys! Here is my next three week cycle which begins monday.


Monday ME Lower

Full Squat work up to 3 rep max
Stiff-Legged Deadlift 6 x 5-8
Natural Hamstring Raise 3 x 5-8
Leg Raise 2 x 6-10
Hyper Extension 2 x 6-10


Tuesday ME Upper

Decline Bench Press work up to 3 rep max
T-Bar Row 5 x 5-8
Incline DB Press 3 x 6-10
BB Curl 3 x 5-8
Lying Triceps BB Extension 3 x 5-8
Low Cable External Rotation 2 x 10-15


Thursday DE Lower

Speed Full Squat (1rep max/65%) 5 x 3
Romanian Deadlift 6 x 5-8
DB Lunge 3 x 5-8
Low Pully Swiss Ball Crunches 2 x 6-10
Hyper Extension 2 x 6-10


Saturday RE Upper

Pull-Up Weighted (wide grip) 5 x Failure
DB Bench Press 5 x 5-8
Cable Row (wide grip) 3 x 6-10
Overhead Cable Triceps Extension 3 x 6-10
Vertical DB Curl 3 x 6-10
Cuban Press 2 x 10-15


I am excited to get starter on this cycle. I changed things up a little but not too terribly much. A few exercises I had to let go because I have been doing them forever and I need a little refreshment, I kept all the essentials though.

[Rev]

Lower Body DE Day 3/24/05

-warm up-
full jump squat x bar x 95

Speed Full Squat
175 x 3
175 x 3
175 x 3
175 x 3
175 x 3
135 x 3
I was moving reeeeeally slow on the first five sets (because I recalculated 65% of my new 1 rep max on the squat and raised the weight accordingly). I added a quick set of 135 just for fun at the end and also so I could get under less weight and move faster and shift more concentration over to form.

Romanian Deadlift
135 x 6
155 x 6
175 x 6
195 x 6
215 x 6
235 x 6
These were awesome! I am taking a really close stance with these and keeping my toes pointed straight infront of me. It feels better overall to do it that way and I feel a pull in my hamstrings and hips harder that way. I take each set to the ground, touch, and come back up. The last set was a grinder, on the the third or fourth rep of the last set I accidently spit up on the floor.

Walking DB Lunges
body says: not today boys...not today...

Ab Pulldown
100 x 10
110 x 10
I am working on getting a much better stretch on these and working on technique. I start out with my arms full extended and kind of do a hybrid pullover/crunch and bring my face to the floor. These really felt great today and I got a huge squeeze out of my abdominals.

Hyper Extension
+90 x 10
+90 x 10
I can't describe the massive pump I get in my lumbar from this. These was pushing it pretty good today but I will shoot for match reps or same reps next time because I had to use two 45lbs db's instead of one 90lbs db so it was weird.

I'm flirting with burn out (that or I'm just letting the SHITTY weather get to me), I'm trying to sustain myself for three more weeks. This cycle which I am almost done with has really beat the shit out of me. When I came in to workout today I already felt tired and I hadn't even lifted anything yet. Although Lower DE Days are my least favorite days to train. My numbers keep going up though so who knows. You may see a gradual slide into the higher rep ranges like 8-12 on a few exercises I normally take to 5-8 reps over the next three weeks.

[Rev]

Body Composition Change From 1/23/2005 to 3/23/2005.


Height
70.00 in (1.78 m) 70.00 in (1.78 m)
Weight
166 lbs (75.50 kg) 172 lbs (77.90 kg) 5 lbs (2.40 Kg)
Neck
15.00 in (38.10 cm) 15.00 in (38.10 cm)
Shoulder
47.01 in (119.40 cm) 47.50 in (120.10 cm) 0.28 in (0.70 cm)
Chest
40.00 in (101.60 cm) 41.10 in (104.40 cm) 1.10 in (2.80 cm)
Waist
30.98 in (78.70 cm) 31.26 in (79.40 cm) 0.28 in (0.70 cm)
Abdomen
31.50 in (80.00 cm) 31.73 in (80.60 cm) 0.24 in (0.60 cm)
Hips
37.01 in (94.00 cm) 37.20 in (94.50 cm) 0.20 in (0.50 cm)
Thigh
23.39 in (59.40 cm) 24.02 in (61.00 cm) 0.63 in (1.60 cm)
Knee
15.98 in (40.60 cm) 16.26 in (41.30 cm) 0.28 in (0.70 cm)
Calf
15.31 in (38.90 cm) 15.24 in (38.70 cm) -0.08 in (-0.20 cm)
Ankle
9.49 in (24.10 cm) 9.41 in (23.90 cm) -0.08 in (-0.20 cm)
Arm
12.80 in (32.50 cm) 13.15 in (33.40 cm) 0.35 in (0.90 cm)
Forearm
11.50 in (29.20 cm) 11.81 in (30.00 cm) 0.31 in (0.80 cm)
Wrist
7.24 in (18.40 cm) 7.28 in (18.50 cm) 0.04 in (0.10 cm)


Lean Body Mass (LBM)

147 lbs (66.82 kg) to 152 lbs (68.75 kg)


Fat Mass (FM)

19 lbs (8.68 kg) to 20 lbs (9.15 kg)


Body Fat Percentage (BF)

11.50 % to 11.75 %


Final results from beginning of program to end of program will be post in 3-4 weeks upon completion of program.

[Rev]

The body fat percentages were taken from tape measure at mybodycomp.com. Tanita scale and Fat Track 2 Calipers both read 7-9% body fat so that is probably more accurate. 156lbs lean muscle mass, 15lbs of fat mass.

[Ian Kay]

Those numbers are damn good for 2 months!!! Great job, man!

[Rev]

Thanks Rock! My next measurement actually was 14.5, it raised to 15 inches over the past two months, just a little typo.

[BamaDave]

Hey Rev, good job with the progress! You must be looking ripped. Your proportions sound good, too. I think a lot of guys would like to have 47 inch shoulders and a 31 waist, with 24 thighs.

[Rev]

Upper Body RE Day 3/26/05

-warm up-
lat pulldown

Wide Grip Pull-Up
+25 x 6
+25 x 4
+25 x 4
bdy x 6
bdy x 5
Man, taking an ultra wide grip is KILLER. These are much harder with my knew choice of grip but my back is recieving much more of a stimulas.

Flat DB Bench Press
60 x 8
65 x 7
70 x 6
75 x 5
75 x 5
This was the first day placing these AFTER an exercise. They were pretty difficult by result so my progress stayed the same.

Wide Grip Cable Row
130 x 8
135 x 8
140 x 8
These felt great, especially after doing chins. I already had a pump in my lats when I did these.

Lying Triceps Extension ARMS AT 45 DEGREES!!!
65 x 10
70 x 8
70 x 8
I forgot to add five pounds for the last set, oops. I do these with my arms at 45 degrees to my body, not straight up and down (perpindicular to my body) where the weight rests on my joints at the top. Have to keep that tension constant when I'm pushing for that triceps hypertrophy.

BB Curl
60 x 10
65 x 8
70 x 7
I did these as straight up controlled repetitions. Nice four second negatives but I took out midpoint holds that I had done last time.

L-Lateral Raise
12 x 12
15 x 8
This is the last time I'll do these for a long time, on to cuban presses.

And so finishes this three week cycle, on to the fourth and final cycle in the routine. It was a fairly descent workout today, I don't have any complaints.

A few things I have been pondering about with my new cycle I posted recently. I may take out incline db presses and replace them with cable flye's. I could use an exercise which gives me better isolation in the chest and really gets my chest pumped. Plus doing incline db presses after doing bench press max work is pretty hard on my body. I am setup to do Decline Bench Press for my bench max work for the next three week cycle, it was suggested to me that I may be better off doing weighted dips, I don't know about that, I will do some more thinking on both of these possible changes I have mentioned.

[Rev]

Lower Body ME Day 3/28/05

-warm up-
squat x bar

Parallel Squat
135 x 3
185 x 3
225 x 3
255 x 2
275 x 1
295 x 1
This is the most I have ever squat in my life. I lifted with my buddy today and after arguing forever over the whole knee issue and squating deep I finally said fuck it I'll squat to parallel for a change for this one time. He was maxing out so I did too, I didn't plan on doing it this way at all, oh well it's good to catch the body off gaurd sometimes. I could have tripled 255 and probably 275 but since we were pushing for singles I didn't. This is a PR...although it's not the deep squat I wanted...I wonder what I could have full squated, back to triples and full squats next week.

SLDL
135 x 6
155 x 6
175 x 6
195 x 6
215 x 6
215 x 6
I stayed at 215 because I was basically just trying to dynamically strech my hamstrings and get some repetition work in. I go heavy when I do romanians on thursday.

Leg Curl
75 x 6
85 x 6
85 x 6
Bah...no where to do natural ham raises. This was a one time deal lifting at my buddy's gym on monday, I said I'd come up to help him psych up for squats and vise versa.

Hanging Bent Knee Leg Raise
bdy x 8
bdy x 8
I'm getting way better at these FINALLY. I can hold the contraction for a few seconds now.

Back Extension
90 x 10
90 x 10
How come I don't see anyone else going heavy on hyer extensions...is this not a beneficial thing to do, do I need to change this out for something else?

Good workout today, I pretty much squat 300lbs and thats fucking amazing for me. Around christmas my parallel squat was a 245 one rep max, NICE!

[gobbla]

nice job bud. won't be long till the quest for 400!

[Rev]

Originally posted by gobbla:
nice job bud. won't be long till the quest for 400!

Thank you kindly! I'm anxious to see what I come up with when I go oly squat on monday.

[ninja]

Booo Yaahhh.

I got 295 three times last week too. It was a pretty badass feeling; moreso when the numbers start beginning with a 3.

[Rev]

Upper Body ME Day 3/29/05

-warm up-
decline bench press x bar

Decline Bench Press
95 x 5
135 x 3
155 x 3
175 x 3
200 x 3
185 x 3
155 x 3
155 x 3
First time for me to perform a decline press of any type, it was akward as HELL. I did a ton of warming up just to get used to the path the bar was traveling in, I was still really shakey and falling in and out of the groove through each set anyway. It will take some time but I'll get the muscle memory down and find the groove. I thought decline pressing would be stronger than my flat bench...yeah-no. They are about equal really which is weird. It felt really weird not to be able to arch my back on heavy sets, my brain was like "well fuck...no tricks up the sleeve here, just press your heart out". I followed the same pattern as last flat bench ME lift last week and got my triple wi