Back to Shoulders

I am going to have to either stop chinning or lateral raising.

Chinning: Compound movement that has realistic utilitarian purpose.

Laterals: Makes my shoulders bigger and I like that.

Tough call.

Workout for September 26, 2010

Body Weight: 172lbs.
Body Fat Percentage: 20%

Fed/Fasted: Fed. Fasted ten hours before working out, but the day prior I ate a LOT.

Pre-workout EC taken at 9:15AM.

ChinAss

1. 42lbs. x 5
2. 42 x 5
3. 82 x 5
4. 117 x 3
5. Bodyweight (172) – 4 negatives.

Did some lat activation stuff from a dead hang that I didn’t count, after.

Lateral Raise

1. 45lbs. x 5
2. 55 x 5
3. 70 x 3
4. 85 x 2
5. 105 x NOTHING. Got a fourth of the way up and wouldn’t budge.
6. 95 x 1 – and ow, man.

In retrospect, pretty foolish thinking I could handle post-deadlift poundages after doing something already stressful to the shoulders.

Crunch Machine

1. 45lbs. x 5
2. 70 x 3
3. 100 x 2
4. 120 x 3 – increase.

Finally getting somewhere.

I really shouldn’t have done any vanity training and just got to the cardio that I wound up too sapped to do at all, but whatever. My caloric deficit hasn’t been that great (in more ways than one) so while that is definitely an argument for increased cardio… it also meant I felt capable of DOING the lifting.

If I can lift, I’m going to lift. End of story.

Twist

1. 40lbs. x 5
2. 50 x 3
3. 70 x 2
4. 90 x 5 (increase! Grunted like a boar though…)

Calf Raise

1. 45lbs. x 5
2. 75 x 5
3. 75 x 5
4. 75 x 15 – increase

Dumbbell Curl

1. 15lbs x 5
2. 15 x 5
3. 15 x 9 – increase

I just alternated arms, was starting to feel tired and I wanted to finish up. No idle rest.

Pushdown

1. 27.5lbs x 5
2. 32.5 x 5
3. 32.5 x 5
4. 32.5 x 5 – could have done more, but stopped short. Increase.

I don’t want to risk over-fatiguing my triceps, even though the rest before my next incline bench session is probably sufficient.

TIME: 10AM – 12:22PM

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Come Back Crying (P4C5A1D)

UD2 kicks my ass. I just do not have the balls for it.

So I’m going back to the lofty realm of cheesecake and BBQ ribs that is LeanGains. Also less volume work. Today was my last day of volume work. It’s fun, but, I really have no use for the pump.

Heh.

So I went back to my old A1B1 routine, starting with A1 today. Chest/tricep day. Monday. Fuck that worked out horribly.

Not really. I came in early. I finished the heavy portion of this day looong before the benchbros. came to town. I finished up entirely around the same time that Ken11 did. I don’t know if I’ve talked about Ken before or not (I know I’ve cited him as one of the strongest people in my gym) but today we’re christening him because I accurately determined his bodyfat percentage. Woot.

Workout for July 12, 2010

Bench Press

1. 45lbs x 5
2. 60 x 3
3. 80 x 2
4. 100 x 3 ~ increase
5. 90 x 6 ~ increase

This felt really good, honestly. I’m flirting with the idea of increasing the top set by ten pounds instead of five next workout.

Incline Bench

1. 55lbs x 3
2. 70 x 2
3. 90 x 6 ~ increase

This I’ll probably still only bump by five. Too much shoulders, though I found out I can use my legs to help me get to the low pins (failed my seventh rep…)

Horizontal Press, Hammer Grip

1. 65lbs x 3
2. 85 x 2
3. 110 x 1 ~ Actually failed the first attempt but refused to mark down a zero…

I’m ditching these. The machine’s starting to hurt my wrists because of the awkward angle of them to the grips. I could probably fix this. And I am, by switching to close-grip benching.

Pushdown

1. 42.5lbs. x 3
2. 47.5 x 2
3. 52.5 x 5 ~ INCREASE!

Gosh. I almost didn’t EXCITED over this because of the Ryan Reynoldsalike Douchebag who spit LORDLY GOBS OF PHELGM into the water fountain. I wanted to see him fail his 315lbs bench. I didn’t see it from here.

In retrospect: FUCK YEAH! That much closer to lifting the whole stack, HAHAHAHA!

Asschin ~ bodyweight 171.5

1. 51.5lbs x 5
2. 76.5 x 3
3. 101.5 x 2
4. 126.5 x 4 ~ Increase.
5. 61.5 x 6 (misread my log and set the pins to the weight I intended to lift rather than the proper offset, I’m not counting either drop set today)
6. 96.5 x 6

I’ve basically decided that, for top sets, 3-5 will be the rep range of increase. If I get at least three reps at a given weight, I’ll increase it next workout.

Cable Twists

1. 30lbs x 5
2. 40 x 3
3. 60 x 2
4. 80 x 5

Not doing drop sets on core work of any kind.

Weight (preworkout): 169.5
Body Fat %: 17.1%

This is bad. I haven’t been able to properly keep a lid on my appetite following the refeed. I’m going back to UD2, with cardio on off-days to help with the deficit I’m behaviorally incapable of properly achieving through diet.

Start: 10:20AM
Finish: 11:48AM

I took about a half hour break to rest and reflect on my approach (yes, again, another post on planning coming up. Sorry I suck at adhering.) before returning to the floor to do volume-centric work. I cut out some sets based upon the above workout as well. This was from my INTENDED UD2 depletion workout, and I only managed to get one round in before I checked time and blood to decided to do some cardio. Here we go.

Superset: Leg Extension / Leg Curl: 3 x 15 @ 30lbs / 25lbs

Cable Rows: 3 x 15 @ 45lbs

Superset: Lateral Raise / Calf Raise: 3 x 15 @ 30lbs / 45lbs

Dumbbell Curls: 2 x 15 @ 8lbs (no rest, alternating arms)

Pushdown: 2 x 15 @ 27.5lbs (probably should have just skipped these, but I had planned to do the ENTIRE depletion workout, and I cut the extra sets from the back-end.)

Cable Twist: 3 x 15 @ 30lbs (I almost just skipped them because somebody had the pulleys, but he was all “Nah man! I only have one more set on each one!” so I hung out.)

For the single-exercise portions I just waited 2 minutes straight between sets. On the supersets, I did the first exercise, started my timer, walked over and did the second exercise, walked back, and waited for the timer to hit 2 minutes before I did the next set of the first exercise. Seemed to be the least-bothersome way of organizing the rest periods, to me.

Start: 12:35PM
Finish: 1:30PM

I didn’t check time as to when I did the cardio. I think it was around 1:40PM after I called my dad to secure a ride home (I would otherwise be stuck until 7PM, and as I’ve typed this my mom called to tell me she was running late besides… but this was why I figured I’d have time to do the entire depletion routine.) Once sure, I hit the bike for 5 miles in 14 minutes. If I keep biking, I’ll work on speed and try to get to 7.5 miles in 15 minutes, before I work on duration.

Realistically, though, I don’t give a shit about my cardio performance. I’ll probably drop the intensity and go for calories in the future.

I got out of the gym at 2:55PM, after showering/shaving etc.

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Ignoring The Stopwatch

I did something yesterday while I was working out that I have never done since I started training five years ago. Rather, I didn’t do something.

I didn’t time my rest periods.

In the past I’ve certainly NOT RECORDED my rest periods, or been NOT ANAL about them (oh my god, I’ve rested thirty seconds over two minutes, WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO WRITE DOWN!?) but I’ve never been totally unaware of generally how long it was since my last set.

When my dad got me started with lifting when I was fourteen, he didn’t lord over me on the machines. He was right next to me working antagonist groups, but he never said: GO NOW. DO THE SET RIGHT NOW. END OF THE WORLD IN FIVE MINUTES AND YOU STILL HAVE THREE SETS.

Nope. Just “when you’re done with your set, look at the clock. After two minutes, do your next set.” So I did.

Sometimes a set would take longer than another because I recently bumped weight, or whatever. He had his own workout going on and would peek over from time to time to make sure I was using my biceps and not my ass when I did curls, but he didn’t count my reps for me. He didn’t count my rest periods for me. He kept it simple and chimed in if I was doing something horribly wrong.

In all my recent efforts to reduce complexity in my program, I’ve just found that I’m still programming my rest periods as though they really mean something. So I decided to leave the watch in the locker and just go whenever I’m ready.

Just as I thought I would, I recovered from warm-up sets quickly (in many cases, significantly less than the two minutes I prescribe myself on my workout tearsheets) and needed an undetermined longer amount of time to recover from the top sets on down.

What was once pushing three hours to do got knocked out in about an hour-and-a-quarter. Accounting for the additional 30 minutes of steady cardio I tacked on as part of a “moar srs” fat loss effort and it’s still roughly an hour of time saved.

I’m certainly feeling the after-effects of the workout now, more than I did when I took those extra minutes, but I LIKE that. It’s not a debilitating level of soreness, just “hey man, take it easy.” Which is what I want to feel on my rest days!

Speaking of rest days: I’m reconsidering my approach to frequency as well, meaning the number of times per week I work out. I can get by on one or two workouts a week, and it really isn’t a broken or horribly rigid scheme to begin with.

But MAYBE I could do more, and I’d like to allow myself the opportunities to try, should they present themselves.

Simply, my approach to rest intervals, both between sets and between workouts, is this:

“Wait until you’re comfortable, without getting RELAXED, and go again.”

That was my subvocalization yesterday, talking to myself so I wouldn’t feel obligated to check the clock.

Workout for Tuesday, February 23, 2010

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Sans Bullshit

I received an ankh for my birthday; I've wanted one since I was very young.

Lots of horeshitastic nonsense in January, I mean ta tells ya!

But rather than get into all of that, suffice to say I’ve been binging rather orgasmically. The only record I’m obliged to place at the moment, is Thursday’s workout.

Depletion workout on Monday, with a return to fasting as well.

Birthday Lifts

Deadlift

1. 65lbs. x 5 (from hang; hook grip)
2. 65lbs. x 5 (hang-hook)
3. 95lbs. x 3 (hang-hook)
4. 140lbs. x 2 (from floor; hook grip)
5. 165lbs. x 5 (from floor; left hand under; increase next week)

Incline Bench

1. 45lbs. x 5
2. 45lbs. x 5
3. 60lbs. x 3
4. 80lbs. x 2
5. 90lbs. x 3 (stay-at next week)
6. 80lbs. x 5

Hi-Low Twist

1. 20lbs. x 5
2. 30lbs. x 5
3. 40lbs. x 3
4. 50lbs. x 2
5. 60lbs. x none! half-way, static hold (staying the weight)
6. 50lbs. x 1 (keeping in mind the goal of the de-loaded sets is to get one more rep than the previous set…)

Weight: 161lbs.
Body Fat Percentage: 15.8%

Obviously, I didn’t make my birthday goal. My goal by the end of May is sub -9% body fat. Let’s get to it.

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Gookfest

This is from Thursday.

I don’t know about anybody else, but when I walk into a room (especially a big room) with nothing but staff being all of the same visual ethnic background, it weirds me out. Even if I identify with the group (Asians, in case the post title wasn’t ambiguous enough) it messes with me. You know how I like to take my glasses off and look for “hey, that’s kind of a celebrity!” Well, I kind of now get that god-damn Liu Kang nickname for myself, especially after bumping into Shang Tsung and fearing for my [little brother's] life.

(Then I remembered I don’t have a little brother… Oh shi-)

Then I saw him do crossovers and I could see striations in his chest. Without glasses. I immediately fled to the other side of the gym and deadlifting amidst Chow Yun Fats.

Deadlift

1. 135lbs x 5 ~ Not bad from having been doing my warm-up sets from a hang. Could never figure out the proper height so I just did them via form back then. Whatever. Bumping weight.
2. 145lbs x 5 ~ Much more taxing. Still not HARD, just, my whole body felt “uhh… whoooa~”
3. 155lbs x 1 ~ My midback failed. I couldn’t draw my shoulder blades together at all. I did as much of a shrug as I could and put it down. Looks like it’s 150lbs. next workout.

Incline Bench

1. 45lbs. x 5
2. 55lbs. x 5
3. 65lbs. x 5
4. 75lbs. x 5 – Getting tougher here, but the bar hasn’t slowed down yet.
5. 85lbs. x 1 – Failed @ lower pins on the second rep.

Hi-Low Twists (each side)

1. 20lbs. x 5
2. 30lbs. x 5 – iffy on form, I have to pay attention to too many things at once for what is essentially an ‘isolation’ exercise.
3. 40lbs. x 5 – slowed down, but I felt like more/stronger was still possible here.
4. 50lbs. x 5 – slowed noticeably. I decided to stop a set before failure because I’m not really sure about ab work just yet, and I don’t want to torque my spine or something.

Body Weight: 156lbs.
Body Fat Percentage: 15.9%

I spent the  day after at the mall: Panda Express Lunch (shouldn’t have had the chicken egg roll, it was good but I had to force it down because I was full and didn’t wan to feel like I wasted the money… but I did, I SOOO did); doing job applications (Applebee’s, Footlocker, Bar Louie, Devon, Bravo!, LA Fitness [ha!], and Barnes & Noble); and reading stuff at Barnes. Really interested in that Clint Eastwood biography, and the Neil Gaiman one.

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Turtle Workout

You know, I watch one video on youtube where a dumbass rounds his back during deadlifts and I unconsciously do it too. (Granted, it’s upper back, so there are probably powerlifters out there jerking off to him doing that, but I feel bad because I called him on it.)

I’m going to have to retest my 5RM with really strict form next. I have no idea how long I’ve been fucking this up. Furthermore, next week I’m starting a new routine. Still low volume, but it’s going to compensate for my tendency to miss the second workout of the week while still making a second workout worthwhile. I think.

Deadlift

1. 80lbs. x 5
2. 80lbs. x 5
3. 120lbs. x 3
4. 170lbs. x 2
5. 205lbs. x 1 ~ I was paying a lot more attention to my form than I might ordinarily.  I didn’t like what was happening. I decided to do singles.  As with all heaviest sets on DL, mixed grip. Left hand over here.
6. 205lbs. x 1 ~ MUCH BETTER. Left hand over.
7. 205lbs. x 1 ~ Strictly GOOD. Distracted like a motherfucker on descent though, some ginger doofus felt like trying on my glasses because I left them on the windowsill.  I hate that.
8. 205lbs. x 1 ~ Not bad. Could have done better I think, but not disastrous.
9. 185lbs. x 3 ~ This is where my back started rounding. At this point I just wanted to be done with deadlifts. A trainer came over and bro-viced me on my form. I WAS TURTLAN GUISE! (Still, I’m glad he said something to confirm my suspicions that I’m a fuckup. I honestly need that.)

Lat Pulldown

1. 45lbs. x 5
2. 45lbs. x 5
3. 55lbs. x 5
4. 70lbs. x 3
5. 85lbs. x 2
6. 100lbs. x 5 (FUCK YEAH!)
7. 95lbs. x 4

I skipped Horizontal Rows. I’ll hit my mid back from now on by, you know, doing deadlifts correctly. Fuck my life.

Well, only kind of. Today I have a date! So after she texts me that she’s on the bus over (it’s a long ride, poor gal :( ) I resolve to do some ab work before I take a shower. Somehow, doing less than three exercises in a workout seems lazy to me. I dunno. I’m sure three exercises seems lazy to everyone else in the world except maybe Starting Strength folks. Though I bet SSfolks would scoff at my dedicated ab work, so, I have no friends.

Rectus abdominis = blitzed still. I felt like I would have torn something if I tried to do any more than a token amount of effort with it. So, obliques. I asked my DLbro to show me some oblique exercises (mentally: NO SIDE BENDS.) So he showed me how to do bodyweight side bends on the thing I probably maybe would have done back extensions in a long time ago. I stepped on it and it wobbled, so I took his other advice “twist at the waist with some resistance. Up to down, down to up, straight across, whatever.” He didn’t demonstrate, but it was essentially what I was hoping for.

I shared the pulleys with this porky fellow who was very polite about taking turns, and I tried to work with his rest intervals. Whenever he’d rest, I’d work, and vice versa. He was doing crossovers though. We didn’t actually say anything to each other. That’s how I know he’s polite.

Poorly Executed Ignorant Oblique Twists, Shoulder to Hip

1. 30lbs. x 7
2. 40lbs. x 5
3. 40lbs. x 5
4. 40lbs. x 5

All listed are for both sides. I now know all the leg bending I’m supposed to do and what the range of motion should look like, but at the time I was doing essentially the kind of twists I would do with no weight: no bend in the arms, turn along 180degrees, and go back. I did a lot slower and more controlled than I would trying to pop my back, but it definitely felt it where I’m supposed to feel it. So I’m going to increase the weight ten pounds (or whatever the other pulley stack has, if I can do a smaller jump I will) next session.

Then I took a shower and headed out for a day date.

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