Been making steady progress on lower body so I'm trying to hit upper body today.
Bench
1x8x105
1x8x135
1x8x155
1x8x135
1x8x155 (I only got 6)
1x8x105
1x8x155 (I only got 5) damb it.
1x8x135
EZ Bar curls
1x8x50
1x8x70
1x8x90
1x8x70
1x8x90(last 2 were a biotch! I probably looked like I was having a convulsion)
1x8x50
1x8x90 (got 6) done..
Dips 1x10xbw fer fun
Swam 36 laps, 5400 feet, (4937.76 meters) also fer fun.
After my f&%k up with the pool length..I'm getting those distances to the 100th decimal point now.
You know...it's like when I do anything for distance it sux all my strength. Swimming is killing my upper body strength just like running killed my lower body. The difference..this time I'm not going to stop lifting. Let's see if I can make progress at both this time.
My legs are getting noticably stronger but I'm not running any distances. Upper body..well..you see my bench. Doesn't seem to be moving up and up like my squats. I'll keep pluggin at it though.
no problem, keep in mind (as well) that the warm up shouldn't negatively effect your work set. If you're tired by the time you start your "real" work then you did too much. Notice that this is 8RM world here, if you were doing 1RM or maybe even 3 things would be a little different. You're looking for 2-3 sets in that range, don't be afraid of only doing 2.
thnks Gob. I have been hitting at least 2 sets in that range..but I'm gonna be shooting for 3 going forward.
I still like load waving though. dropping to a lower weight between sets really really helps me get those heavier weights up. Or..I guess it's actually going heavy helps me get those lighter weights up? Anyway..it tricks my simple brain and I'm movin heavier stuff.
Ran 3 miles. Wasn't exactly HIIT but not steady state either. I pushed pretty hard a few times and ended up walking a couple of stretches. Still finished in 30 minutes. It was hot out. My legs are a bit sore today from the run. It's been a while since I ran that far. Just had some spare time..and decided to do something instead of setting on my arse.
This day's workout blew chunks. Well, almost anyway. Ate an apple just before hitting the gym. That's not unusual but it just didn't set right. After hitting the squats I thought I was gonna spew. The rest of my workout sucked after that.
Squats
1x8x135
3x8x185
1x8x135
Bench
1x8x105
1x8x135
1x8x155(only hit 6 of these)
1x8x155(again only hit 6)
1x8x135(only hit 6)
suckin
swam for 10 minutes and called it quits. {insert green sickly emoticon}
I really intended on going a little heavier with the squats. But I shortened my rest period and concentrated on coming up as fast as possible out of the hole. This wiped me OUT. Probably what made me almost spew. Was fun. not.
Nice job on the bench press man. Have you ever thought about not doing deadlifts? At the very least sticking to single leg stuff for a few months and making sure everything is nice and strong and even before you put it back under the big loads that seem to have a habit of hurting you?
Thanks Gob. I'm really trying to bring my benching back up...and my squatting. I lost a buttload of strength back when I trained for a half marathon. I squatted 265 for 3 reps back then..and could bench 185 for 3 reps. So..I'm sloooowly coming back. I'm not sure if I could hit 185 once now.
You're probably right on the DL's. I'm thinking maybe some split squat stuff. Everything that hits my hammies is so friggin awkward to do. I guess I just need to man up and get used to something.
I was late to the gym so it was a "hit and run". Had an interesting conversation with one of the employees of the gym I thought was a trainer. Squat day - I threw a couple of 45's on the bar to do a quick warm up set. Right after the set, this fellow rushes over to me. I'm thinking "damb was my form that bad?!" I'm thinking he's gonna offer some advice..but he asks "Why don't you face the mirror when you squat?"
Now..I know I must have looked like a deer in the headlights here.."uh..I dunno..I guess I don't really need to watch myself. Why do you ask?"
He says.."Well..we had a fellow in here yesterday doing "those" (my first clue that this guy was no trainer) and he didn't face the mirror either. I don't know if it had anything to do with it but the weights fell off the bar. He lost his balance or something."
Again..I'm blinky blinky..a deer.. I say, "I see. So he didn't have clips on huh? (I had not put clips on for my warm up weight)" I explained that this was really just warm up weight and I promised to put clips on when I put any more weight on which I did. (I faced away from the mirror) I later over heard him asking a guy "how many dips he thought he could do at once". Good help..hard to find I guess. Enough chat..on with the log...
(hit and run!)
Squats
1x8x135
3x8x185 - These are getting better!
1x8x135
Everyone knows that the weights will fall off if you are facing away from the mirror.
On a more serious note... I agree with Gobbla about the deadlifts, and I think I am also going to follow his advice. Stick with single leg movements for a while, and drop deadlifts from the routine for a few months.
pjb - I agree. It's so tempting to try them though huh? Last time I did rack pulls thinking it wouldn't be as hard on my low back if I wasn't coming from the floor. This is true..but it still tweaked my back a little. We're just built for doing squats and not deads I guess. A lot of these guys doing deads aren't built for squats..so it evens out I guess.
My big thing is "something is wrong". I don't know what, don't know why. Bottom line you do deads and you get hurt...consistently. Unless you can come up with a super compelling reason to do them and risk getting hurt then don't. Try single leg stuff and squats and see what happens. You *should* get better results in the long run because you're not going to be gimped half the time AND there just isn't any "reason" that you "have" to do heavy deads.
Cable Tricep Press Downs
1x16x90
(a rack came open so I jumped off of these and grabbed it. The rack was already set for doing bench work..so I decided jsut to do that. This was a mistake since I had already worn my friggin self out on the curls and press downs)
BB Bench
1x8x135
1x5x155 damb it.
1x 2.5 x155 Well Holy Hell.
I failed on my 3rd rep. I mean..I had to lay the bar on the safety bars and crawl out. Man I felt like a weakling weasle. I haven't had that happen in a long long time. I'm pretty sure that that one set of press downs fired up my triceps and wore them out. First set of press downs I've done in a lonnnng time.
Jumped back on the press downs.
Cable Tricep Press Downs
1x16x90
1x12x90
1x10x90
1x8x90 I was friggin pissed at my tri's :P
Went swimming.
Swam 1652.92 meters (mile)
I guess the only thing good about this work out was I learned about another weakness. Sheeit.
Doing triceps work before bench press will do that to you, especially if you haven't done them in a while.
Try mixing in some close grip bench press to help bring up your tri's.
Doing triceps work before bench press will do that to you, especially if you haven't done them in a while.
Try mixing in some close grip bench press to help bring up your tri's.
Maybe a dumb question but I'll ask it..What exactly is considered "close" grip? Is that like shoulder width..or narrower than that? I usually go a bit wider than shoulder width on normal benching. So would it be anything narrower than that?
"close grip" = anything with your hands together more than your standard comfortable grip
I normally grab the bar like normal, flare out my hand, plant my thumb, pull the hand back together (without moving the thumb) and voila! Or you could just move in a hand span.
Just in case anyone is looking at all those curls and wondering wtf..
Well..here's wtf..
I'm trying to stimulate some growth/change in my arms. Over the last 4 years of training I have gained some muscularity pretty much everywhere..even my arms look different. But they are still the same size. I'd like them to grow. I have done nothing but compound lifts over the years and very little to NO curling or isolation work. So I thought I'd give it a stab for a year or so and see what happens. What's the worst that can happen? I'll get better at curling. that is all.
Nice to see you adding weight to those squats. It looks like you are progressing nicely.
No need to justify your curling. It's a perfectly normal thing, everyone does it.
Thanks. It's a sloooow progress. But progress is progress. Dude right after me was squatting 350 for 8 reps. bastard.
On the curls..I guess I did try justifying them..strange enough. Felt almost guilty including those in my log.:p Like you said..every but everyody is doing those. I did keep them out of the squat rack though.
__________________ “I have always done my duty. I am ready to die. My only regret is for the friends I leave behind me.”
-- Zachary Taylor, 12th U.S. President, 1849-1850
EZ Bar Curls
1x4x105 Narrow Grip
2x8x95
1x6x95 Wide Grip
2x8x85
Dips - BW
2x10
Swam 1646m (1 mile)
My energy levels are up. I felt good and still feel good. Going out to weed eat and mow now and actually looking forward to it.
I started low carb today. Despite my efforts to control my caloric intake, nothing has really made a big difference in my body comp. When I manage to drop weight..I don't drop a lot of fat. I'm 175# at 5'10" and have stayed right there for a lonnng time. So..gonna try lo carb for a month and see what happens. I am planning to cycle a "carb day" in 2 weeks.(I'll try and control myself when that day comes..) If I think I'm making actual progress, I'll extend this another month.
So instead of my wonderful bowl of oats for breakfast, which I dearly love, I had a nice omellete and a lo carb monster drink (I love those things) for breakfast.
After training I had a chocolate whey shake\egg smoothy. (like 58g protien there and only 8 carbs)
I'm all but ignoring caloric intake during this period. I know me..and I know that I will eat < calories just dropping the carbs. cuz I'm a carb crazy fool. So we'll see where this leads me. Goal is cutting the fat..not necesarrily dropping my weight. I want to see results in the mirror. So I will keep hitting the weights and eating. I'll just be eating low on the carbs. How low? As low as I can handle and still function. Stay tuned.(I need ya'll to bust my chops about my diet so I'll stay honest. This will not be easy.) I know I can count on you guys.
I'm not sure if I could hit 185 once now.
Man I felt like a weakling weasle. I haven't had that happen in a long long time. I'm pretty sure that that one set of press downs fired up my triceps and wore them out. First set of press downs I've done in a lonnnng time.
Linear Mode
