. . .rtrophy, that is! Yeap, that's right, a new year, a new routine. The next 12 weeks will be focused on hypertrophy, primarily, but also working on flexibility, conditioning (primarily for TKD) and grip strength. I'll be posting my measurements and other stats in a few days. . . .I need to warmup the tape measure first! [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img] Hard work, dedication and clean-eating will all help me achieve my goals for this year.
I ultimately didn't make it in the gym on Monday -- my brain decided to contract a migraine instead. Tuesday was out due to my first day back at work and TKD; I was exhausted. So, I finally got re-started last night (Wednesday 1/4) on my weight training. I did, however, restart my diet on Tuesday. I jumped on the scale on New Year's Eve to assess the holiday damage; it was bad. I'd gone from a nice 175 in mid-December to 183. I vowed not to weigh myself again for a full week. However, I couldn't resist it and weighed myself this morning to see if I'd made any progress after just the 2 solid days of clean-eating. (Monday wasn't overly clean, but the caloric intake was MUCH more controlled.) I weighed in at 180, so I'm guessing that my actual weight gain was probably closer to only 5 pounds for the 2.5 weeks of eating crap and no exercise. I'm not feeling as discouraged as I was on Sunday.
Last night's routine looked like this:
A1) 3-Board Bench: 3x5 (3-0-1) with 180. I used the same weight from 2.5 weeks ago since I just didn't know how much I might have lost. The weight was challenging, but I did get all my reps without too much of a struggle. I definitely didn't lose any strength here and I'll up this weight next week.
A2) Cable Rear-deltoid Raise: 3x10 (3-0-1) with 20. I probably could go up to 25 next week, but I'll tell ya, my upper back was feeling pretty exhausted by that 10th rep in each set.
B1) Decline DB Press: 3x8 (2-0-1) with 60, which was the same weight I'd used in my DB flat bench 2.5 weeks ago. You'd think that I'd know by now that I CAN push more weight in a decline than a flat bench, but once again I didn't want to push too hard after such a long hiatus. This weight will definitely be going up next week!
B2) Snatch Grip BB Row: 3x10 (2-0-1) with 135. This one suprised me. I was doing 140 2.5 weeks ago and I seriously struggled with 135 this week. I suppose something had to weaken eventually. Plus, my left shoulder has been talking back to me ever since I completed the exercise, which is strange. I'd never had any problems with "pulls" before. The good in this is that the pain is definitely not impingement pain. It more or less feels like my shoulder is not situated quite right in my joint. I'm going to have my TKD instructor crack my back and shoulders tonight before practice and hopefully get it back in line.
C1) Deadlifts (33% of 1RM): 3x20 (2-0-1) with 75. I don't know what my 1RM is so I simply tried to guess, conservatively. I probably went too light, now that I'm near a calculator and I find that 75 is 33% of 225 and I was doing hex-bar deads with 235 for 3x8. I think I need to look into this a bit deeper. Any suggestions on how to establish my 1RM so I can more accurately perform this exercise? I honestly haven't tried for 1RM in years!
C2) Kneeling Cable Crunch: 3x12 (2-0-1) with 130. Well, I was doing 150 for 3x8, so I dropped the weight a tad due to the higher rep range. Mistake. I'm gonna up this back to 150 next week. I barely even felt like I did any work on this exercise.
D) DB Head Holds: 3x20 seconds with 10's. I didn't know where to start, and this was too light. I'm gonna try for at least 15's next week, maybe 20's. I just hope my hand span is big enough to get around the DB!! YIKES!
As for everything else, I'm feeling pretty damn good this morning, although the hearing in my right ear keeps fading in and out for some unknown reason. Can I be getting sick? I hope not!!!
Tonight is TKD & Workout B, not necessarily in that order. I'd like to try and hit the gym around noon today for my weight training, but we'll see how that goes. I need a stability ball for today's training and if there's no one on staff at the gym over lunch, then I can't get to the stability balls. Anyway, here's today's workout:
A1) Squat: 3x6 (2-1-1)
A2) Stability Ball Jackknife: 3x12 (3-0-1)
B1) DB Bulgarian Split Squat: 3x10 (2-1-1) (Yeah, I'm a sucker for punishment!)
B2) Stability Ball GHR: 3x12 (2-0-1) (Don't ask what this is, I still don't know!!)
C1) Diagonal Lunge: 3x15 (2-1-1)
C2) Side Plank: 3x30 seconds (With my shoulders, this might not happen.)
C3) Planks: 3x45 seconds
I did get my workout in over the noon hour, and here's my results:
A1) Squat: 3x6 (2-1-1) with 170. I was going to try for 190, which was the weight I had pushed just 2.5 weeks ago, but the break and the change in tempo from 3-0-1 to 2-1-1 forced me to drop down to 170. That 1 count on the bottom is a real killer when trying to push that damn BB back up!
A2) Stability Ball Jackknife: 3x12 (3-0-1). I'd never done this exercise before and I really liked it! I could really feel the abs working and I did struggle just a tad on the very last rep. Perhaps I might up the reps next week just for kicks.
B1) DB Bulgarian Split Squat: 3x10 (2-1-1) with 5's. The last time I did this exercise was months ago and I used 10's, but I also didn't have a tempo to follow either, so I lowered the weight to 5 and it was plenty!
B2) Stability Ball GHR: 3x12 (2-0-1). Ok, GHR means Glute Ham Raise, and as soon as CB told me that I was like "DUH"! I tried it, but couldn't keep my face off the floor as the ball rolled away from the wall. It wasn't until after my routine that I saw a pic of how it's supposed to be done, and it makes more sense now. I actually performed a simple GHR at the lat pulldown station instead just to get the exercise in. There's always next week!
C1) Diagonal Lunge: 3x15 (2-1-1) with BW. Man, was I spent after these suckers. I don't know that I'll be adding any weight next week, but I'll revisit that later.
C2) Side Plank: 3x30 seconds. I had some concerns with my shoulders and this exercise. It's one that I tend not to do in TKD because my shoulders just couldn't handle the pressure for very long. But, that was a fairly long time ago since I've even attempted them and I decided to give it a go and I actually survived with no discomfort. Another great sign that my shoulders have made some HUGE progress in the past few months!
C3) Planks: 3x45 seconds. Yeah, like I really enjoy these, or at least I did in my last routine, but when you couple regular planks with side planks and repeat, the 45 seconds is MORE than enough time for the hold!
Workout 2 down for the new year and I'm feeling GREAT! I'm also really looking forward to TKD tonight as we're going to be spending most of the hour on our forms. My instructor wants to have our next testing in about 2 weeks, but I think I'm gonna skip this one. Purple belt is a little more complex that the previous forms and I want more time to master it. Also, I'm embarrassed to admit this, but I've realized that I haven't retained much of my lower colored belt forms. I believe this is probably because I've pushed myself to move up in the ranks far too fast, all the while focusing on attaining my black belt, but I've lost something along the way. So, before I will test for my Purple belt, I want to relearn White and Orange and practice my Green some more. Once I feel comfortable that I have gotten all those relearned along with my Purple belt, then and only then will I test. My next step will be to maintain White, Orange, Green and Purple, while relearning Yellow & Camo and starting to learn Blue. What good is it to attain Black Belt status if I can't recall and perform all my lower colored belts in a moment's notice? I'm basically just going to slow down my progress in an effort to enhance my retention.
Good job on the workout, Jamie (that is why we're here, isn't it?) I felt the same way about the planks, so I can understand the apprehension. Luckily, it looks like everything is OK for you.
I have been 'under the iron' a few times this year already, and I can't wait until I finalize what program I'm going with and get going.
As I stated at the beginning of this log, my left shoulder is still quite achy, but I'm thinking that I probably just slept on it wrong Monday night because I woke up with this discomfort on Tuesday morning. I'm hoping that a good thwack from my TKD instructor will pop it back in place! [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]
Originally quoted by Deserve:
[qb]Beach muscles has you doing planks and side planks and I really like them. People always look at you funny but they are 2 great exercises.[/qb]
No doubt, but combining them with limited rest between is a real killer! I do like them, though, especially since the kneeling cable crunch isn't doing much of anything for me.
The increase in shoulder abduction with the snatch grip row is why your shoulder feels funny. It demands a great deal of rotator cuff strength/shoulder stability to do without complications (strain/sprain, impingement, etc.). I'd avoid the wide grip for now.
Originally quoted by Bill Hartman:
[qb] The increase in shoulder abduction with the snatch grip row is why your shoulder feels funny. It demands a great deal of rotator cuff strength/shoulder stability to do without complications (strain/sprain, impingement, etc.). I'd avoid the wide grip for now. [/qb]
I don't know that that's exactly correct in this particular situation. Let me provide you with some more detailed information. My last workout was 12/17/05 and it was 1/4/06, almost 2.5 weeks, when I started my new program. That was actually a Wednesday. My shoulders have both been feeling great for a couple of months and I had absolutely no discomfort during my long break. I went to bed Monday night feeling wonderful and woke up Tuesday morning with my shoulder feeling "funny". Now, I could very well be completely wrong or just deluding myself, but I honestly believe that my routine didn't have anything to do with my current discomfort, which has all but subsided as of this morning after my shoulder let out one seriously good "POP" last night that woke not just me, but the dogs as well. I do believe that the condition of the shoulder and pushing it while it was apparently not seated just quite right in the "joint" led to additional pain and poor performance for that workout. Also, I still tend to want to sleep with my arms over my head during the night, even though I fall asleep flat on my back with my arms at my sides. I know that can't good for my shoulder health, but short of lashing my elbows to my waist, I just don't know what else I can do.
Does that make any sense at all, or am I deluding myself? I can delude myself VERY well, but I'm sure you've already guessed at that one!! [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]
The Bond Hype. . . . .
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