Today was the hardest workout I ever had. A training log.
April 8th, 2008 was the hardest workout of my life, to date.
I'm not kidding. It took every ounce of my resolve to finish it. But finish it I did. And I am proud of that. It was my first Hypertrophy 1 B workout from The New Rules of Lifting. I had to take longer breaks between sets than I am used to doing to regain my breath, sweat was pouring down my face, and at the end I almost got sick. But I finished.
Now it is 3 hours later, and I feel great.
Today is the day I make a training log, and stick with a routine for a long time.
My Story: I am 27. I've been "active" my entire life. I've belonged to one gym or another since I was 17. Some months I make great progress, some months I barely maintain what I had, and other months I forget to workout. I played sports all of my life college. I am lucky that I've always ate healthy and prefer clean food(thanks to my parent's influence).
Recently I decided I want to be a monster. Not a steroid fueled, bulging monster, but rather a lean, fit, 30 pullups at a time, kind of monster. I want to be in great shape. During the last 3 months, I've been making gains better than I ever have. I don't skip workouts, and I "try harder" while at the gym. A month ago I bought NROL and read it cover to cover in a day.
A month ago I could honestly say that I'd never ever done a deadlift, and I hadn't squatted in years. Now I love them.
I didn't take notes during my break in program. Sorry. I did write down my first hypertrophy workout, so here it is.
Sorry about the out-of-order thing. It seemed wrong to not start out this thread with my hardest workout first.
NROL: HYPERTROPHY 1 A
Day 1 - April 6, 2008
Weight: 185
Superset with full 90 sec rest
Dumbell Incline Bench Press 1 x 6 x 120 (2 60s)
1 x 6 x 140
1 x 7 x 150
1 x 5 x 160
1 x 3 x 160
Cable Seated Row with Overhand Grip 1 x 5 x 150
4 x 5 x 162.5
Superset with full 90 sec rest
Dumbell Shoulder Press 1 x 5 x 80 (2 40s)
1 x 5 x 90
2 x 5 x 40
1 x 6 x 40
Wide Grip Lat Pull Down 1 x 6 x 150
1 x 5 x 162.5
3 x 6 x 162.5
Superset with full 90 sec rest
Barbell Close Grip Bench Press 1 x 8 x 95
1 x 8 x 115
2 x 5 x 135
1 x 3 x 135
1 x 7 x 95
High Pull 1 x 8 x 65 (fast)
1 x 7 x 85 (fast)
1 x 10 x 65(slow)
2 x 6 x 65(slow)
Straight set with 60 sec rest
Swiss Ball Crunch 1 x 20
1 x 20 (alternating left and right for obliques)
1 x 20
Notes: I underestimated the amount of weight I could do for some of these exercises, so my numbers are all over the place. My High Pulls felt sloppy on the first two sets, so I did a slower, my controlled movement on the last three sets. This workout felt good.
when you say lean and fit - does that have any target weights or body fat or anything? Awesome that you've tied your goals to doing "something" like 30 pullups.
when you say lean and fit - does that have any target weights or body fat or anything? Awesome that you've tied your goals to doing "something" like 30 pullups.
Thanks.
I don't have a target weight. I do have a mental picture of what I'd like to look like. Less body fat, more defined muscles, more visible abs. In the right lighting, at the right time of day, I have visible abs. I'd like to have visible abs in any lighting any time.
As for the pullups. If I am completely fresh, I can currently do 14 pullups with proper form and full extension. The next set I can do about 9. Then 6 or 7. I don't know what it is about that lift in particular that makes me want to concur it. But I do.
Side note: I am a lot less sore right now that I expected to be. I plan to go for a short run this evening and return to the gym on Thursday for another day of Hyper 1 A.
I can happily say I was 100% clean yesterday, and so far so good today with no plans to mess up.
I don't count calories. I just do my best to eat clean. Eggs, seafood, chicken, lots of veggies, fruit, nuts, milk, yogurt, cheese, brown rice, oatmeal, whole wheat pasta and healthy cereals make up most of my diet. I drink nothing but water and coffee.
I love pizza, cheeseburgers and a good microbrew beer, so those sneak in every now and again to keep me honest.
Very cool man. You've got a good program going, good diet, good attitude, keep it up!
Since you are looking at doing CrossFit type stuff, if I may suggest, it may not be a bad idea to stick with NROL and complete the entire Hyp program and during this time throwing in a CF WOD once a week (or twice). This is all depending on your goals.
__________________ Completed Programs: NROL Strength Series X 2. Hyp. Series. Current Program: CrossFit-Performance Menu-Strength Work
Very cool man. You've got a good program going, good diet, good attitude, keep it up!
Since you are looking at doing CrossFit type stuff, if I may suggest, it may not be a bad idea to stick with NROL and complete the entire Hyp program and during this time throwing in a CF WOD once a week (or twice). This is all depending on your goals.
Not a bad idea. I saw a video of the Mini-Cindy WOD recently, and I plan to give that a try soon. I can't imagine what the last few minutes feel like.
So I made a mistake and accidentally switched the wide grip lat pull downs and the seated cable rows. Whoops. To make tracking easier, I'll list them as though I had done them in the right order.
NROL: HYPERTROPHY 1 A
Day 3 - April 10, 2008
Weight: 185
Superset with full 30 sec rest
Dumbell Incline Bench Press 1 x 15 x 100 (2 50s)
1 x 14 x 110
1 x 13 x 100
Cable Seated Row with Overhand Grip 3 x 15 x 100
Superset with full 30 sec rest
Dumbell Shoulder Press 1 x 10 x 60
2 x 13 x 50
Wide Grip Lat Pull Down 1 x 15 x 100
2 x 15 x 112.5
Superset with full 30 sec rest
Barbell Close Grip Bench Press 1 x 13 x 95
1 x 10 x 95
1 x 13 x 95
High Pull 2 x 15 x 45
1 x 15 x 55
Straight set with 60 sec rest
Swiss Ball Crunch 1 x 20
1 x 20 (alternating left and right for obliques)
1 x 20
Notes: I felt good about today. My forearms were tight by the 6th set of pulling. With time I imagine I'll get a stronger grip. It's kind of hard not too when picking weights up and moving them around. I came to the gym a little tight and sore, so I did a nice, long warm up before jumping into the workout.
On an unrelated note, I have my first show with a cover band I joined recently tomorrow night. We'll be playing for just over 3 hours. I hope my arms will make itt through.
Good luck, Justin. You look like you are setting yourself up for some serious success. The NROL workouts are definitely not for the faint-hearted.
__________________
"Whether you think you can or think you can’t, you are right." - Henry Ford
"UNLESS someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not." - Dr. Seuss
"Life is no brief candle to me. It is sort of a splendid torch which I have got hold of for a moment, and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it on to future generations." - George Bernard Shaw
The NROL workouts are definitely not for the faint-hearted.
You aren't kidding. I love that I am getting my heart rate into the 170s and loosing my breath from lifting. It has made me rethink my views of what a "good" workout consists of.
Day 4 - April 12, 2008
Weight: 183 (-2lbs)
Straight Sets with 90 sec rests
Squat
warm up
1 x 10 x 45
1 x 10 x 95
1 x 5 x 135
The real deal
1 x 5 x 175
1 x 5 x 185
1 x 5 x 195
1 x 5 x 205 (+ 20 lbs PR)
1 x 4 x 205
Deadlift warm up
1 x 8 x 95
The real deal
1 x 5 x 135
1 x 5 x 155
1 x 5 x 175 (+ 40lbs PR)
1 x 3 x 185 (PR, but bad form not I'm not counting it as a PR. I felt my back rounding a little, so I stopped, and dropped the weight down to 135.)
1 x 10 x 135
Superset with full 90 sec rests
Bulgarian Split Squat 1 x 5 x 50
4 x 5 x 60
Step Up (higher than knee level) 1 x 5 x 50
4 x 5 x 60
Straight set with 60 sec rest
Hanging Bent Leg Raises (Hanging Knee raises?) 3 x 15
Notes: Today felt great. Before today, I never tried above 185 on the squat, so it felt great to put up 205. And if memory serves me correctly, I've never tried more than 135 on deadlifts, so I had a great PR there as well with 175 with good form. Up until recently, I never did deadlifts, so I am still being careful with them. I really like how they are a challenging lift that really requires focus.
Those BSS and Step up splits are brutal. I was breathing hard and sweating like crazy by the end. I am dreading the 3 x 15s with 30 second rests. I am going to have a lot of trouble doing that with just body weight.
I hated the BSS + stepup w/30 second breaks. The key for me was to go lighter on the deadlifts + shrug. Also start with bodyweight. You can add more weight if needed.
Dumbell Incline Bench Press 1 x 10 x 120 (2 60s)
2 x 10 x 130
1 x 5 x 140 followed immediately by 1 x 3 x 100. 5 reps didn't feel like enough for that set.
Cable Seated Row with Overhand Grip 1 x 10 x 112.5
1 x 10 x 125
1 x 10 x 137.5 (form suffered a bit on the last few)
1 x 10 x 125
Superset with full 60 sec rest
Dumbell Shoulder Press 4 x 10 x 60 (2 30s)
Wide Grip Lat Pull Down 1 x 10 x 112.5
2 x 10 x 125
1 x 10 x 137.5
Superset with full 60 sec rest
Barbell Close Grip Bench Press 1 x 10 x 115
1 x 8 x 115
1 x 6 x 115
1 x 10 x 95
High Pull 1 x 10 x 65
3 x 10 x 75
Straight set with 60 sec rest
Swiss Ball Crunch 1 x 20
1 x 20 (alternating left and right for obliques)
1 x 20
Notes:
Today felt GOOD. The gym was almost empty, I had good tunes on my ipod, nothing was sore, and I was ready to lift. I thought my first 3 sets of close grip bunch press were done with 95, so I was pleasantly surprised to find 115 loaded on the bar when I stopped to drop the weight down for the final set. I was very pleased with all of my back exercises. I think every one of them contained a PR at that rep quantity. I need to track that better.
Eating:
I've been great, eating clean food for every meal in the last week aside from the grilled cheddar cheese, bacon and apple sandwich I made after watching a special on grilled cheeses last night. It was delicious. Snacks like that keep me sane.
I can't wait for Wednesday's 3x15 BSS / Step up splits. They will hurt, and I will beat them.
Those last two sets of close grip were killer. It took a lot to do the final 10. Chest work always feels more real to me than back work does. It is easier to give up when you are only trying to pull something to you. There's no quitting when you are pressing weight up and away.
Thinking about it though, I am more likely to try one more rep with a back exercise, since I am not going to get pinned under the bar if I fail. Either way, I try to get close to failure at every set, so that has to be doing something good.
I spent 30 minutes running sprints up and down a basketball court practicing fast break layups and working on my 10-12 foot jump shot. Beautiful weather for basketball. It was a shame that no one else was at the courts today. (I needed to practice anyway)
April 16, 2008
Weight: ?
Straight Sets with 30 sec rests
Squat
3 x 15 x 135
Deadlift 1 x 15 x 115
1 x 10 x 115
1 x 8 x 115
Superset with full 30 sec rests
Bulgarian Split Squat 3 x 15 x BW (Body weight)
Step Up (higher than knee level) 3 x 15 x BW (Body weight)
Straight set with 60 sec rest
Hanging Bent Leg Raises (Hanging Knee raises?) 3 x 15
Back extensions 1 x 18
1 x 10
Notes: It is amazing how short 30 seconds is. It wasn't enough time to recover inbetween the deadlift sets, that's for sure. Squats felt good! I went very deep on them and maintained good form. I was excited to be able to do 45 squats at 135 in such a short period of time.
I thought the BSS / Spet Up superset was going to kill me. I have been afraid of this part of the workout since I first read the book. I made it through it, but I felt very "wobbly" afterwards. That was hard.
I didn't like my numbers on the deadlift, so I finished off with some back extensions to work my lower back / glutes / hamstrings a little more before heading home. One day I'll be good at deadlifts. One day!
Today was the hardest workout I ever had. A training log.
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