Here's the lowdown on Friday's workout:
5x8 Face Pulls - 27.5 lbs
5x6 T-Bar Row - 70 lbs.
2x5 Pull-ups
5 Chin-ups
5 Chins with perpendicular grip
5x5 Deadlift - 185 lbs.
5x8 Overhead Shrugs - 105 lbs.
Friday, August 17, 2007
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
Workout Post #2
Last thursday I did go in for my workout, and did lats, biceps, traps, lower back, hamstrings. Basically combined my thursday and friday workouts into one. I don't remember my exact stats, except that I pulled 175 in deadlift for 5x5.
Monday I went in and did 5x5 squats below parallel with 135 lbs. That's all I had time for, but I used a slow tempo, and a pause at the bottom, and felt it the next day.
I moved tuesday's workout to today, and here's how that went:
5x5 Overhead press - 85 lbs.
5x5 Incline press - 105 lbs.
5x10 dumbbell squeeze press (5 reps with dumbbells parallel to me, 5 perpendicular) - 25 lbs. db's
2x10 Tricep pushdown - 50 lbs.
5x5 incline lateral raises - 15 lbs. db's
I pulled off the Overhead presses this time without any trouble at all, not sure if it was tips from Mehdi, or if my shoulders just got stronger, probably a combination of both, with a lot of kudos to his posts on the subject. In addition, I added 10 pounds to the incline press (still getting used to the motion, but it's coming back). All in all, I think this was a better rounded program for the muscles I was trying to hit, but it still needs a little tweaking.
Monday I went in and did 5x5 squats below parallel with 135 lbs. That's all I had time for, but I used a slow tempo, and a pause at the bottom, and felt it the next day.
I moved tuesday's workout to today, and here's how that went:
5x5 Overhead press - 85 lbs.
5x5 Incline press - 105 lbs.
5x10 dumbbell squeeze press (5 reps with dumbbells parallel to me, 5 perpendicular) - 25 lbs. db's
2x10 Tricep pushdown - 50 lbs.
5x5 incline lateral raises - 15 lbs. db's
I pulled off the Overhead presses this time without any trouble at all, not sure if it was tips from Mehdi, or if my shoulders just got stronger, probably a combination of both, with a lot of kudos to his posts on the subject. In addition, I added 10 pounds to the incline press (still getting used to the motion, but it's coming back). All in all, I think this was a better rounded program for the muscles I was trying to hit, but it still needs a little tweaking.
Tuesday, August 7, 2007
Tuesday Workout and What Happened Yesterday
Today I decided to take my buddy Josh with me to the gym. He's had little-none experience lifting, and technique is turning out to be a struggle for him. I hadn't hung out with him in a while though, and I wanted a workout partner, so he fit the bill.
Here's what the workout consisted of:
5x5 Overhead Press - 85 lbs.
5x5 Incline Bench Press - 95 lbs.
5x5 Lateral Raises - 15 lb dumbbells.
5x5 Rear Delt Machine - 115 lbs.
I probably could have gone heavier on the Incline Bench, but I haven't done it in a long time, so I wasn't in any rush. The overhead press became extremely difficult the last few reps, and I was unable to complete the last set, I only got 2 reps in before I had to use a small knee action to get it started, I'll attempt this weight again next week, then decide what I need to do about it. I'm not a big fan of smaller isolation movements, but the last two exercises were added, just because I never seem to feel like I've done that well on the whole shoulder with just presses.
In retrospect, it seems the workout was a little heavy on shoulder work, with not much in the way of chest work, I'll probably end up doing some explosive push-ups tonight at home.
Yesterday was supposed to be a quad heavy day, but between work, errands, and a function at the school, I couldn't fit in the workout I wanted. I got a pretty good work from carrying two 44 lb dog food bags around and out of the store (I don't believe in carts when I can carry the items). What made it interesting: I ended up parking about as far away as possible without thinking about it. Then after the school function, I ended up carrying a ton of chairs to put them up out of the gym. Wasn't quite the workout I was looking for, but I did get something out of it, and I ended up helping people at the same time.
Here's what the workout consisted of:
5x5 Overhead Press - 85 lbs.
5x5 Incline Bench Press - 95 lbs.
5x5 Lateral Raises - 15 lb dumbbells.
5x5 Rear Delt Machine - 115 lbs.
I probably could have gone heavier on the Incline Bench, but I haven't done it in a long time, so I wasn't in any rush. The overhead press became extremely difficult the last few reps, and I was unable to complete the last set, I only got 2 reps in before I had to use a small knee action to get it started, I'll attempt this weight again next week, then decide what I need to do about it. I'm not a big fan of smaller isolation movements, but the last two exercises were added, just because I never seem to feel like I've done that well on the whole shoulder with just presses.
In retrospect, it seems the workout was a little heavy on shoulder work, with not much in the way of chest work, I'll probably end up doing some explosive push-ups tonight at home.
Yesterday was supposed to be a quad heavy day, but between work, errands, and a function at the school, I couldn't fit in the workout I wanted. I got a pretty good work from carrying two 44 lb dog food bags around and out of the store (I don't believe in carts when I can carry the items). What made it interesting: I ended up parking about as far away as possible without thinking about it. Then after the school function, I ended up carrying a ton of chairs to put them up out of the gym. Wasn't quite the workout I was looking for, but I did get something out of it, and I ended up helping people at the same time.
Saturday, August 4, 2007
This Past Week in Summary
Not much has happened this week in my lifting, due to one particular problem: I injured myself early on this week. My schedule has typically been, Monday for Quads and Calves, Tuesday for Chest and Shoulders, Wednesday off, Thursday for Hamstrings and posterior chain, Friday for Upper back/biceps, with weekends off. I've been doing five sets of five with most exercises, using almost exclusively big, multi-joint movements (squat, deadlift, bench, overhead press, rows, etc.), upping the weight by 10 pounds each week on the big movements. I also walk about 4-5 miles each night on the road since I live in the country and there aren't many cars.
I've been seeing big improvements with this over my past records. At one time I had a 1 RM max on the decline press of somewhere around 175 lbs, but recently, with the plateau I hit, things in most exercises started to go downhill. My max dropped to 165. Tuesday I was doing this press, five sets of five, for 165. Big improvement. One small problem though, something popped in my shoulder in the last few reps, I was left able to do overhead pressing movements and lateral raise movements easily, but any type of raise to the front, caused sharp pain to go through my shoulder. For those of you who are delusional, no, it didn't feel good at all. I couldn't raise my arm over a few inches from resting in the front of my body, this left me unable to perform my Thursday and Friday workouts.
One good thing about this experience, it has once again taught me the importance of getting in a good warm-up, and good stretching habits. Today my shoulder feels perfectly fine again, I've been icing it when home from work, and our fitness director (who's real passion is rehab work) taught me some good dynamic stretches that helped to keep things loose.
I start things over again on Monday, we'll see how things go then. I've learned some lessons this week, as I'm sure to learn more in weeks to come. Feel free to post any lessons you've learned the hard way in the comments section, I'd love to hear your stories.
I've been seeing big improvements with this over my past records. At one time I had a 1 RM max on the decline press of somewhere around 175 lbs, but recently, with the plateau I hit, things in most exercises started to go downhill. My max dropped to 165. Tuesday I was doing this press, five sets of five, for 165. Big improvement. One small problem though, something popped in my shoulder in the last few reps, I was left able to do overhead pressing movements and lateral raise movements easily, but any type of raise to the front, caused sharp pain to go through my shoulder. For those of you who are delusional, no, it didn't feel good at all. I couldn't raise my arm over a few inches from resting in the front of my body, this left me unable to perform my Thursday and Friday workouts.
One good thing about this experience, it has once again taught me the importance of getting in a good warm-up, and good stretching habits. Today my shoulder feels perfectly fine again, I've been icing it when home from work, and our fitness director (who's real passion is rehab work) taught me some good dynamic stretches that helped to keep things loose.
I start things over again on Monday, we'll see how things go then. I've learned some lessons this week, as I'm sure to learn more in weeks to come. Feel free to post any lessons you've learned the hard way in the comments section, I'd love to hear your stories.
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