Romanian Deadlift
Bent-Over Row
Clean from Knees
Military Press
Back Squat
Good Mornings
For those who aren't familiar with "complexes"; you take a barbell and load it with the appropriate weight (you can also use an ez-curl bar if 45 lbs is too much). Do each exercise for the pre-determined amount of reps - in this case I chose 8 and then go on to the next exercise not putting down or taking your hands off the bar. After completing 8 reps each for the 6 exercises, put the bar down and rest for the allotted time, puke and repeat!
Looks easy on paper but it's not!
Then I walked for 25 minutes on the hamster wheel, er I mean treadmill.
I was STARVING today after doing this. Then I ate too much and felt even worse!
A2 - DUMBBELL BENCH PRESS
90 Seconds rest between sets
1x5 x 90e
4x5 x 85e
Well I got the first set of 90e but it wasn't very pretty. Something was hurting today and I started feeling it on these. Went back down to the 85's - 5 lbs. seems like a lot more than it should when it comes to these dumbbells!
ALTERNATING SETS
B1 - CHIN-UP OR UNDERHAND-GRIP LAT PULLDOWN
90 Seconds rest between sets
By now I was having some issues with my upper traps and things were starting to hurt even more. I managed 5x5 x 55e last time but I was hurting too much today. I'm pretty sure I "tweaked" my upper trap/rhomboid on my right side today. I'm going to get the massage I've been putting off for about 2 months tonight!! Can't let this get any worse.
ALTERNATING SETS
C1 - REVERSE CRUNCH
30 Seconds rest between sets
2 x 15
C2 - PLANK
30 Seconds rest between sets
1 x 60 seconds
Did the plank with both hands on a medicine ball to change it up.
_____________
Things went okay today despite this massive pain near my right shoulder blade!! I don't think it's anything serious; just a few "kinks" that need to be worked out. I've only got 1 more of this style workout and it will be 3x12 w/ 45 second rests then it's on to phase 2.
Okay, I had a whole lot to catch up on in here! I even read the whole thing cause you make me laugh so much! Workouts are looking great--I hope your trap/rhomboid thingie feels better and the massage helps...
Okay, I had a whole lot to catch up on in here! I even read the whole thing cause you make me laugh so much! Workouts are looking great--I hope your trap/rhomboid thingie feels better and the massage helps...
Hey, good to see you checking back in over here!! Massage was awesome but shoulder is still icky.
So I had a workout today:
BUILT FOR SHOW BY NATE GREEN
FALL - PHASE I
Workout: A - Lower Body
FRIDAY MARCH 6, 2009
WARM-UP: Foam rolling/tennis ball and some lower body stuff
ALTERNATING SETS
A1 - FRONT SQUAT
45 Seconds rest between sets - or not!
3x12 x 145
A2 - STEP-UP
45 Seconds rest between sets
2x12 x 80 /side
1x12 x 40 /side - I said screw it and just grabbed something that wasn't going to crush me to death!
ALTERNATING SETS
B1 - SUPINE HIP EXTENSION/LEG CURL
60 Seconds rest between sets
3x10 x BW
B2 - CABLE WOOD CHOP
60 Seconds rest between sets
3x10 x 110 per side
C - SIDE PLANK
30 Seconds rest between sets
2 x 30s per side
__________________
I officially hate this workout! My legs just hate the short rest. Front squats were very solid but I was buring up doing the step-ups! By the time I got to the swiss ball curls - I was all grumpy. This isn't bad on the 5x5, 90 second rest days but I'm not a big fan of this at all. Well the GOOD news is that this was my last lower body workout of Phase 1. Next week starts phase 2.
Also, despite having some awesome deep tissue work done on Wednesday - my shoulder was KILLING me today. I don't know what the hell but it was nasty! They probably need some rest!!
Nothing fun or new to report today either. Yes - how lame!
Awww....that must have been a bad workout! No funny gym stories, no clever rendition of the same boring old exercises, no slams on fellow forum members! Wow, feel better soon, Damien!
Hey what's your weight right now? You got me thinking, I have to make sure I stay lighter than you. If I get up to your weight, then I know its time to diet! JK
Awww....that must have been a bad workout! No funny gym stories, no clever rendition of the same boring old exercises, no slams on fellow forum members! Wow, feel better soon, Damien!
Yeah, I'm kinda not looking very forward to the workouts lately. I've got 1 more week and then I'm taking vacation!!
I'm slipping, I know.
Quote:
Originally Posted by AS
Hey what's your weight right now? You got me thinking, I have to make sure I stay lighter than you. If I get up to your weight, then I know its time to diet! JK
I weigh myself usually once a week on Saturday morning. Today I weighed 203. My efforts are working!
A2 - DUMBBELL BENCH PRESS
45 Seconds rest between sets
3x12 x 60e
I was surprisingly able to stick with the 45 second rest periods on these so I'm happy about that. Shoulder is still sore but doing a bit better than it was. I made sure to do A LOT of extra work today prior to lifting.
ALTERNATING SETS
B1 - CHIN-UP OR UNDERHAND-GRIP LAT PULLDOWN
45 Seconds rest between sets
Couldn't get the last rep of the lat pulldowns with good form today so I let it go! Shoulder presses better today than last time. Still managed to maintain the stupid rest periods.
ALTERNATING SETS
C1 - REVERSE CRUNCH
30 Seconds rest between sets
2 x 15
C2 - PLANK
30 Seconds rest between sets
1 x 60 seconds
The last 15 seconds of holding these planks is still brutal for me. It seems like time just stands still!
_____________
I'm officially done with my version of Phase 1 and will start Phase 2 on Monday. I thought the workouts were good but I definitely should have only been lifting 3 days a week instead of 4!
Saturday at the gym wasn't nearly as entertaining as last week. There were a lot of people there but nothing too crazy going on. I thought about asking some of the girls if they wanted to be my weight when I do bench dips but then I thought better of it.
Hi Damien. Glad to hear the shoulder is improving. Thanks for explaining the barbell complex for me! I want to try it sometime. It will be good to do with my nephew since we can have different/appropriate weights.
Your workouts with the 45 seconds rests must feel like energy workouts. I'd be dying. I LOVE the longer rests between sets in Max Strength.
Hi Damien. Glad to hear the shoulder is improving. Thanks for explaining the barbell complex for me! I want to try it sometime. It will be good to do with my nephew since we can have different/appropriate weights.
Your workouts with the 45 seconds rests must feel like energy workouts. I'd be dying. I LOVE the longer rests between sets in Max Strength.
Yeah, the shoulder is doing better but I'm not. See my workout below!
Oh I'm totally hating these workouts. It's not the program; just that I totally overestimate how much weight I should use and the proceed to over do it.
WARM-UP: Foam rolling/tennis ball and some mobility stuff
ALTERNATING SETS
A1 - DEADLIFT
60 Seconds rest between sets
4x8 x 295
A2 - BULGARIAN SPLIT SQUAT
60 Seconds rest between sets
4x8 x 45e /side
I started out looking forward to today's workout because I haven't done deadlifts in a while and frankly I was OVER front squats supersetted with step-ups for the time being. I think I was just a tad too aggressive with the weights. First 2 supersets were okay. 3rd was very difficult and after the 4th I was ready to die!!!
ALTERNATING SETS
B1 - GOBLET SQUAT
60 Seconds rest between sets
1x8 x 35
2x F
B2 - CABLE REVERSE WOOD CHOP
60 Seconds rest between sets
1x10 x 50 /side
2x F
Boy oh boy. After I had "intermission" which basically involved me going to lay down in the warm up area and pretending to stretch instead of just laying there contemplating death by foam roller I thought I'd give these a whirl. I just wasn't having it. I had nothing left and it sucked.
C - PLANK
60 Seconds rest between sets
2 x F
See above. After my half-ass attempt at the previous 2 exercises I was headed to the shower.
____________________________
Wow. All kinds of big fat F'S today. This was not good. This is the not-so-cool part about having a public training log. I don't know about many of you but it's hard to post a really bad workout. It's really been a struggle for me trying to determine weights to use for these workouts and I've been letting it get the best of me.
One thing that I discovered when doing Maximum Strength is that I really like lifting heavy shit! Unfortunately, I haven't been developing a good plan to get through these entire workouts and get the maximum benefit. I'm going after my goal of just lifting heavy stuff without considering the reps/sets and completing the entire workout.
So I was really upset with myself this morning but it's time to but it behind me. I need to use this experience to learn from and improve myself.
Don't get discouraged Damien. You are really doing great. It looks like you really pushed yourself at the beginning and just didn't have anything left in the tank. How's your nutrition? Did you have anything preworkout? You know, I'm all about the food!
Don't get discouraged Damien. You are really doing great. It looks like you really pushed yourself at the beginning and just didn't have anything left in the tank. How's your nutrition? Did you have anything preworkout? You know, I'm all about the food!
Hey. Thanks for the kind words; I truly appreciate it. Instead of sugarcoating stuff I just type what's on my mind and it's not always "rainbows & butterflys".
My nutrition is always evolving (read: I still don't know what the hell to do for sure). I still have a lot to learn about optimal pre-workout nutrition and I experiment with a few different things. I think on that day I had a protein shake with water and a "pre-workout" drink that provides about 35g of carbohydrate. I was really "dragging" on Sunday though and I think it may have carried over a bit as well.
I did have a workout today which was MUCH better:
BUILT FOR SHOW FALL - PHASE I
Workout: B - Upper Body
WEDNESDAY MARCH 11, 2009
WARM-UP: Foam rolling/tennis ball and some upper body mobility work.
So today's workout involves 6 sets of 5 reps which makes this drag on a little longer than I would have typically liked. One "experiment" that I tried today was resting until I felt ready for the next set. Most times I did not even utilize the full 90 seconds as I was typically ready between 60 and 75 seconds. I didn't try killing myself either today. I picked weights that I felt comfortable about doing the entire amount of sets and reps.
ALTERNATING SETS
B1 - WIDE-GRIP LAT PULLDOWN
90 Seconds rest between sets
1x5 x 160
5x5 x 180
B2 - DIP
90 Seconds rest between sets
6x5 x BW + 25
Same thing here. Everything felt good. I was happy about the wide-grip pulldowns and may be able to add weight next time. I can't even remember the last time I did dips. I could sure feel it on my shoulders though so I kept the weight down a bit and the form solid. I think these will really help me out actually (if I don't get carried away)
ALTERNATING SETS
C1 - REVERSE CRUNCH
30 Seconds rest between sets
3 x 15
C2 - SIDE PLANK
30 Seconds rest between sets
2 x 30 seconds per side
Holy smokes! This gets pretty tough towards the end!
______________________________ ______________________
Overall this was a much better workout then the last one I had! We'll see how I do on Friday when the lower body workout rolls around again! My entire back side is a bit sore still from Monday's workout!
Today I added a bannana to the pre-workout feeding without any complication. I still have a good bit to learn about what would be optimal for me pre-workout! I probably should keep a better journal and note what I'm doing and the effects. That's probably a bit more work than I want right now!! Maybe I'll roll in the door with some McDonald's and see what happens???!!
WARM-UP: Lower body mobility stuff - did some foam rolling on Thursday
ALTERNATING SETS
A1 - DEADLIFT
90 Seconds rest between sets
5x5 x 315
A2 - BULGARIAN SPLIT SQUAT
90 Seconds rest between sets
5x5 x 50e /side
It's amazing what a difference 3 less reps and 30 more seconds of rest make. On Monday I was about dead and today I felt like I could have used quite a bit more weight. I just wanted to get through a complete workout! THe bss's actually felt easy - probably should have added more.
ALTERNATING SETS
B1 - GOBLET SQUAT
30 Seconds rest between sets
3x8 x 50
B2 - CABLE REVERSE WOOD CHOP
30 Seconds rest between sets
3x10 x 60 /side
I noticed that you're only supposed to take 30 seconds rest in between these sets! I didn't try anything stupid, just picked a weight and went with it!
C - PLANK
60 Seconds rest between sets
2 x 60 second holds
I don't think I can go much more than 62 seconds when it comes to these!
____________________________
Woo hoo - I survived!! I was dreading coming to the gym today because of how badly I got my ass kicked on Monday! Everything felt good today though so I'm thrilled! Probably could have done a bit more on each exercise so that's a plus. There weren't any thoughts of wanting run into traffic today either and that's always a plus!!
Another fella at the gym wanted me to make sure I didn't feel too special though. While I was doing my deadlifts, he loaded 3 - 45 plates on the smith machine for his shrugs.
So I'm on vacation next week!!! woo hoo!!
going to take the week off from lifting too. You know for some CNS recovery and stuff
sDamien, I've been experimenting with some different forms of planks, stuff they use at CP (TonyG and EC's) gym. They say they like to have a plank be around 30 seconds, so they have to make it more challenging. Ever seen any of them?
Ooh, plank torture. I bookmarked those links for later. I've done prone and side planks on one leg but not like that!
Damien, sorry you were feeling discouraged. It's so hard to switch from one style of working out to another, esp those high-rep, low rest ones. But sounds like you're pushing on and doing the right thing.
I totally rocked the side plank w/row and the prone plate switches today. People were looking at me like I was out of my mind while they were curling in the squat rack and doing calf raises.
ive been meaning to do the prone plate switch, thanks for the reminder
and i suck at side planks, if i tried it up against the wall, I would end up in a heap
after 5 secs
I'm glad you had a good workout before vacation. Have a great week!
Quote:
Originally Posted by AS
sDamien, I've been experimenting with some different forms of planks, stuff they use at CP (TonyG and EC's) gym. They say they like to have a plank be around 30 seconds, so they have to make it more challenging. Ever seen any of them?
So I'm back from vacation! Don't know if I'm quite ready to be back though! The time flew by so quickly but it was sure nice to get away. Spent some time in driving through Colorado and then went to Arizona. The Grand Canyon is awesome! I did a TON of walking around there. Hopefully it helped counter the 20,000 calories I was eating per day. You know because I'm bulking and all....
I think I'm going to go back and hike to the bottom next time! I can totally see taking on hiking as another hobby!!
I didn't go to the gym today because I didn't have transportation.
Oh and I caught a STUPID cold. Argghghh!!! #&(@& I hate being sick!! Tomorrow I'll give it a try.
Quote:
Originally Posted by AS
sDamien, I've been experimenting with some different forms of planks, stuff they use at CP (TonyG and EC's) gym. They say they like to have a plank be around 30 seconds, so they have to make it more challenging. Ever seen any of them?
You know I've seen these but I haven't tried them yet. I always read Tony's blog and just forgot about them. Will have to give it a try! I'll let you know how badly I fail.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Celestialmom
Damien, sorry you were feeling discouraged. It's so hard to switch from one style of working out to another, esp those high-rep, low rest ones. But sounds like you're pushing on and doing the right thing.
Have fun on vacation! Where ya goin?
Yeah, I've been being a whiny baby lately. I think I was burnt out as well. Haven't had a break from lifting in a while and I tend to burn myself out. I'm ready to be back though!
I'll still whine though because now I'm about 75 lbs. heavier than I was before the vacation!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Celestialmom
What the heck? I just noticed this at the top of the page! I'm not sure if I'd like to work out in your gym or not!
OMG. I don't know how THAT word got in there!!?? I meant to type thIng but apparantly my fingers had other plans! Total whoops, I never noticed that!!
This log just has a way of going down the drain from time to time!
The Grand Canyon is the most awesomest place ive been to.
I have been there twice (only for day trips) and when I head back over the ocean one day I would love to go back and spend a heap more time there, hiking etc..
Sounds like you had a great vacation! I hope to get out west someday.
Hope you're feeling better today and can make it into the gym. I'm feeling like a pig too after a binge weekend but I started Phase III yesterday so I've got some renewed enthusiasm!
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