My strength training journal.

[thx10050]

Hey, guys. Just thought I'd share what I've been doing thus far, if anyone's interested. :) Looking for some suggestions, comments, and definitely some encouragement if possible. :)

Currently, I weigh about 210, 5'11", with a high BF percentage, maybe around 20 percent. :( Really sucks, but I've begun incorporating Dymetadrine Extreme and HIIT-style cardio on my non-workout days (16 mins of high intensity biking or treadmill running, with pre and post-workout shakes) to start bringing that down if I can.

I've been using Anthony Church's Strength/Power Plan, located here: http://www.teenbodybuilding.com/anthony10.htm
It looked like a solid strength routine and since I'm more into overall functional strength, rather than pure PLing or BBing, I decided to give it a shot.

I always try to stay as strict to the routine as possible, but sometimes that doesn't work. You'll notice some discrepencies in the weights and reps sometimes. Anyways, here are my results from the various workouts thus far:


Week 1.

Feb 10th, 2003.
Deadlift: 225x8, 275x8, 290x8
Barbell rows: 135x10, 155x10, 165x10
Lat Pulldown: 110x8, 120x8, 130x8
Barbell curls: 55x8, 65x8, 65x8

Feb 12th
Bench press: 155x8, 185x8, 205x8
Skullcrushers: 50x8, 60x8, 65x5
Dumbbell shoulder press: 50x8, 50x8, 55x8

Feb 14th.
Squats: 185x8, 225x8, 275x8
Seated Legpress: 6 plates x8, 6p, 2 ¼ x8, 8p x8
Leg curls: 35x8, 50x8, 60x8
Standing calf raise:




Week 2.

Feb 17th.
Deadlift: 225x8, 275x8, 290x8
Barbell rows: 135x10, 155x10, 165x10
Lat Pulldown: 110x8, 120x8, 130x8
Barbell curls: 55x8, 65x8, 65x8

Feb. 19th
Benchpress: 155x8, 185x8, 215x8
Military shoulder press: 105x8, 125x8, 135x7
Skullcrusher: 50x8, 60x5, 60x6

Feb. 21st.
Squats: 185x8, 225x8, 275x8
Seated Legpress: 6 plates x8, 8p x8, 10p x8
Leg curls: 35x8, 50x8, 60x8
Standing calf raise: 180x15, 180x15



Week 3

Feb. 24th
Deadlift: 225x8, 275x8, 285x8
Barbell rows: 135x10, 155x10, 165x10
Lat Pulldown: 110x8, 120x8, 130x6
Barbell curls: 55x8, 65x8, 65x8

Feb. 26th
Bench: 165x9, 195x8, 220x6
Shoulder press: 50x8, 55x8, 55x8
Skullcrusher: 50x8, 60x6, 60x4

No legs (Legs sore from cardio, plus wasn’t feeling too good)



Week 4.

Mar. 3rd.
Deadlift: 225x8, 275x8, 290x8
Barbell rows: 155x10, 165x10, 170x8
Lat Pulldown: 110x10, 120x8, 130x6
Barbell curls: 55x8, 65x8, 70x10

Mar. 5th
Bench: 165x9, 195x8, 235x3
Incline bench: 135x8, 155x8, 175x7
Shoulder press: 50x8, 50x8, 50x6

Mar. 7th
Squat: 185x8, 225x8, 275x8, 275x6
Legpress: 8 plates x8, 10p x8, 10p x8
Leg curls: 90x10, 110x10, 115x10
Calf press: 230x15, 230x15, 230x15



Week 5.

Mar. 10th
Deadlift: 225x6, 275x6, 290x6, 300x6
Barbell row: 155x8, 170x8, 170x8
Lat pull: 110x8, 130x8, 140x5
Bar curls: 65x8, 65x8

Mar. 12th
Bench: 165x7, 190x6, 220x6, 225x6
Dumbbell shoulder: 50x7, 60x6, 60x5
Skullcrusher: 50x7, 60x6, 60x5

Mar. 14th
Squat: 185x6, 225x7, 275x6, 285x6
Legpress: 8p x6, 10p x6, 10p x6, 10p 2 1/4p x6
Legcurls: 110x9, 110x9, 120x8
Calf press: 250x12, 250x12, 270x14, 270x10

[thx10050]

Just for note:

I switched close-grip bench to skullcrushers to isolate my triceps more. Also, on that exercise, I don't count the EZ-bar weight, as I'm not sure what it is. I just count the weight of the plates I put on it.

And on legpress, when I say 8p, or 10p, I mean total of eight or ten 45lb plates, 4 or 5 per side depending. 2 1/4 means two 25 lb plates, 1 per side.

[thx10050]

Hey, guys. Just finished taking my post-workout shake after this morning's workout. Today was the start of week six.

Since I'm on spring break right now for one week and back in NYC (I go to school at Purdue University in Indiana), I managed to secure a 1 week pass at a nearby NYC Sports Club. It's not too trendy of an establishment and doesn't seem like one of those pick-up/hang out places for men and women I keep hearing about when it comes to health clubs. The equipment is excellent, both free weights and machines, so it has everything I need. Problem is, the place is too damn hot, so I was sweating like crazy and kept drinking water from the water fountains between virtually all of my sets.

Here's how it went:

Week 6.
Mar. 17th
Deadlift: 225x6, 275x6, 295x6, 305x6
T-Bar row: 70x8, 90x8, 115x6
Lat Pulldown: 110x9, 130x8, 140x7
Barbell curls: 55x8, 75x6, 80x5


On barbell curls, I add both the weight of the plates I'm using as well as the standard olypmic bar weight (45 lbs). You guys will probably notice that my biceps aren't very strong. :( My arms are almost 17 inches around (cold, but flexed), but that's mostly due to my triceps. Still trying to get my bicep strength up, but I'll probably make that secondary to raising up my core lifts.

For this day, I also decided to switch bentover barbell rows for t-bar rows, as I haven't done them in a while, because Purdue's campus gym doesn't have a t-bar anymore and I'm too lazy to make my own with a barbell. :)

Anyways, that's it for now. Any comments, thoughts, etc?

Dave.

[BPP]

keep up the good work bro

numbers are goin up
thats the name of the game :cool:

EZ bar if I remember correctly is 25lbs usually

[thx10050]

Thanks, BPP. :) Appreciate the encouragement. Besides last summer's PLing with a team that trained Westside, this is my first venture into strength training, not including 1 month of Korte's 3x3, the volume section of it. Heh. :)

Keep up your good work too in strongman training, BPP. I'm expecting a 'strong' finish. :)

[BPP]

did u compete at all withthe team???


thanks :) im hopin to place well

[thx10050]

No, I didn't compete. First off, because they never asked me if I wanted to, nor did they invite me to come along with them to their various meets. :( Kinda sucks, looking back on it now and hearing about how great it is to compete in PL comps, but eh... :) I was weaker than anyways and still am, so I'd be too self-conscious to compete.

[thx10050]

Hey, all. :) Today was cardio, so I've begun doing HIIT on a treadmill. It was my first time doing HIIT and my cardio session actually didn't start off that way.

It was my first time running in a while (been mostly using the bikes up until recently) and I accidently cranked the pace up to a 7:30 per mile pace right from the start, when I finished my warm up jog. I've never been a good runner, so it kinda sucked once I realized how fast I was going and even my fast techno music didn't do much to pump me up. :( So I mainly just kept on pushing through (all the while huffing and puffing and sweating like nothing else) until I reached about a mile at that pace. Then I stopped the treadmill, but decided on a whim to restart the belt. I thought at first I should try and do another mile, but then the session dissolved into interval training, as I'd bump the pace up to a 6 minute to 5:30 pace and run hard on that, and then press the stop button and slow the whole thing down to a complete halt, before repeating. Did that for several intervals and I was beat at the end. I've been tired all day since, actually. Heh. :)

Anyways, tomorrow's chest, tris, and shoulders. Wish me luck. :)

[BPP]

hehehe
turned out pretty good after all then
:)


good luck with chest/tri/delt tomorrow

I really need to catch up to ya in bench hehehe

thats ALWAYS been a very weak point for me :(

[thx10050]

Hey, all. Day 2 of Week 6 here.

Well, I'm disappointed with today's workout and it actually has me rather down at the moment. :( I woke up tired this morning, because I was tossing and turning most of the night, so I wasn't sure if I was going to go workout today or not. I just decided to, so I popped my Dymetadrine Extreme, took my 40 grams dextrose/22 grams whey protein/5 grams creatine pre-workout shake, and headed off to the gym. Here's how it went:


Mar. 19th
Bench: 165x8, 195x7, 225x5, 225x4
Dumbbell shoulder: 50x7, 55x5, 60x3
V-Bar pressdown: 100x9, 110x8, 120x7
Arnold press: 45x7


165 on bench went up very nicely and I did 2 more reps than I meant to, so I gained some confidence, but I still wasn't feeling very energetic and pumped up to lift. I guess I'm getting that mid-vacation lethargy, even though spring break is only one week long and ends this Saturday. So I went on to 195. That too went up rather well and I decided to do 1 more rep than I usually do.

But then 225 came as a real shock. I don't know why. Maybe it was because I've never really jumped from 1 45 plate per side with smaller plates, to 2 45 plates per side. Or maybe it's cause I felt uneasy, because the trainer who I asked to spot me had his right leg right next to my head when I was laying down on the bench. I think that kinda unnerved me, but I don't know. Well, needless to say, I got 1 less rep than I wanted. :( The trainer said I did 6 and he was only spotting me with both index fingers, but the sixth rep seemed too forced, so I discarded it. And on my last set, the trainer said I got 5, but again, that last rep seemed too forced, so I discarded it.

I then moved on to dumbbell shoulder press and that sucked too. I barely managed to get that 7th rep up with the 50s and that kinda set the tone for that exercise, as I missed my last rep with the 55s and then only managed to get 3 frickin' reps with the 60s.

Well, I decided that my triceps were wiped, so I moved on to V-bar instead of skullcrushers. Those went well. First time doing those in several months. Then, as a last minute decision, I decided to punish my tris and shoulders one last time, so I did a set of Arnolds with the 45s.

And so ended my bad lifting day, besides some ab work and back bridging to strengthen my neck. :(

[healthy n_fit]

Hey bro, maybe it was just the day. sorry bout the workout feeling bad. it doesnt look so bad here though. next time, youll kick ass for sure.

As for the shoulder press, you prob were jst worn out..

[thx10050]

Hey, thanks for the support, Healthy, I appreciate it. :) Yeah, maybe it was the day. Don't really know. Something was off, that's for sure. :)

I see you're still pushing steadily ahead with Westside lifting and it seems to be going very well for you. Keep up the good work. :)

[thx10050]

Hey, guys. :) Day 3 of Week 6 here.

Well, after that fiasco of a workout Wednesday, I'm pleased to report that today's leg workout went very well. :) Here's how it went:

Mar. 21st
Squat: 185x7, 225x7, 255x7, 285x6
Legpress: 8p x8, 10p x6, 10p x7, 10p 2 1/4p x6
SLDL: 135x8, 185x10, 205x11, 205x11


Squats went great; there's not much more to say. :) I decided not to make the 50 lb jump I have been doing between 225 and 275 and instead made smaller 20-30 lb jumps between all my sets. There were no problems and I felt I had a better and more intense workout with squats than usual because of these smaller jumps. Legpress went well too; I at least matched the weight and/or exceeded the number of reps from last week.

I couldn't use the leg curl machine, because it's reserved for circuit training and only circuit training (a fact I was unaware of before and which, IMO, is complete BS), so I moved to stiff-leg deadlifts instead. Haven't done these in a while too, so I did a lot more reps than I really wanted to in an effort to figure out proper form and how to hit my hamstrings better with the exercise. No problems there, though.

All in all, today was a great workout. :)

[thx10050]

Hey, guys, this may sound strange, but for personal reasons at the moment, I'd like any and all opinions (constructive, if you don't mind) on my current strength, just based on my numbers thus far. I know as far as PLing goes, my numbers suck, based on my weight and height, but as far as general strength goes, am I doing good? Am I a 'strong' guy?

Thanks.

Dave.

[thx10050]

Hey, guys, here's how it went Monday:


Mar. 24th
Deads: 225x6, 275x6, 315x6, 315x6
Barbell row: 155x8, 175x8, 175x7
Lat Pulldown: 110x8, 130x7, 130x5
Barbell curls: 55x8, 75x6, 75x7, 75x4


I'm very happy with how the deadlifts went. :) Other than that, the workout was solid and went well.

[BPP]

good job on the deads
nice improvement over last time :)

[thx10050]

Thanks, BPP. :) Yeah, I didn't think the deads would go as well as they did. My last rep of 315 on my last set took a moment to lock out. :)

[thx10050]

Hey, all. Didn't go to the gym today for chest/shoulders/triceps.

Reason(s) was that Monday night at Fighters United (Purdue group of different martial artists) we did conditioning work (bodyweight exercises) for two hours. This included a lot of upperbody and ab work. So I was still rather sore today and anticipated a bad workout if I went. We're going to probably do the same thing tonight, so that should make up for today. If not, I may do a volume training day on Saturday for exercise and active recovery. I'm anticipating a solid leg day this friday morning, though. As long as I get my deads and squats in every week, I'll be okay. :)

[BPP]

aahhh
thats cool though
wasnt an off day
just different then what ya planned :)

sounds likea good workout though!

[thx10050]

Yeah, it was rather tough. :) I'm not nearly as conditioned as the guy who led the group through the 2 hours. My shoulders, triceps, and abs are especially sore today, heh. :) It should be another good workout tonight too.

Continue on with your solid strength training, BPP. :) You're gonna do well.

[healthy n_fit]

Awesome workouts!

Wow, that conditioning work must have been a killer! Sounds like fun though. keep it up bro. you're doin great.

[thx10050]

Thanks, Healthy. :)

Yeah, to me, that first workout really was killer and that's an understatement indeed. :) Tonight wasn't so bad. We interspersed some sparring drills in between the conditioning work, so it was 2/3 conditioning work and 1/3 sparring. I'm still sore though, so I prepared beforehand and took pre and post workout shakes, along with a Dymetadrine Extreme at around 8:30 PM. The workout went from 9 PM to 11 PM.

Looking forward to a day of rest tomorrow and then legs Friday morning.

Keep on truckin' on the Westside PLing, Healthy; you're doing very well. :)

[thx10050]

Hey, guys. Friday's leg workout went outstandingly good. :) I either maintained or increased in reps or weight throughout the workout. I'm really loving the stiff-leg deads too. :) No complaints at all. Have a good one, people.


Mar. 28th
Squat: 185x8, 225x8, 255x7, 285x7
Legpress: 8p x9, 10p x8, 10p x7, 12p x7
SLDL: 135x12, 185x10, 205x9

[BPP]

Originally posted by thx10050
Hey, guys. Friday's leg workout went outstandingly good. :) I either maintained or increased in reps or weight throughout the workout. I'm really loving the stiff-leg deads too. :) No complaints at all. Have a good one, people.


Mar. 28th
Squat: 185x8, 225x8, 255x7, 285x7
Legpress: 8p x9, 10p x8, 10p x7, 12p x7
SLDL: 135x12, 185x10, 205x9

:mad:
give me your squat

lol
nice job bro
im jealous

[thx10050]

Thanks, BPP. :) I'm pretty certain though that when you start me on training for strongman, when/if we do that in the fall semester, I'll be damn jealous of your strength and progress. :) And if we're trading, then give me your rack pull of 405, damn it. ;)

[BPP]

Originally posted by thx10050
Thanks, BPP. :) I'm pretty certain though that when you start me on training for strongman, when/if we do that in the fall semester, I'll be damn jealous of your strength and progress. :) And if we're trading, then give me your rack pull of 405, damn it. ;)

heheheh
ok
u can have the 405
ill keep my 420 rack pull ;)


but yeha
well definately have to train when i get down there :D

[thx10050]

Sounds great, BPP. :)

Today was the start of week 8 and was also a solid workout; I have no complaints whatsoever. I lowered the weight on barbell rows and widened my grip on that exercise to work on my form. Besides, no major changes. Bicep strength seems to be going up on barbell curls; I'm happy about that. :)


Week 8.

Mar. 31st
Deads: 225x6, 275x6, 315x6, 325x6
Barbell row: 135x10, 155x9, 165x9
Lat Pulldown: 110x10, 130x8, 130x6
Barbell curls: 55x10, 75x7, 80x6, 80x4

[thx10050]

Today's chest/shoulder/tris workout was both good and bad. It sucked because my numbers were really bad, in terms of poundages and reps, but it was a good workout because I gave it my all and had good intensity throughout. I guess that's what I get for missing this day last week, heh. :)

Rather scary moment during the workout though. On the 5th rep of my 2nd set, when I was bringing it back up for the sixth rep, my triceps gave out halfway up and the EZ-bar kinda swung down at the top of my forehead. Luckily I managed to force it to a stop about an inch from my forehead and my spotter was also on the ball and came to my aid, helping me to hold the bar there. Well, I managed to force out another rep and a half, so I called it a set of six and stopped for that 2nd set, heh. Coulda literally had a 'crushing' headache... :) 3rd set of skullcrushers went fine.


April. 2nd
Bench: 155x8, 195x7, 205x6, 215x4
Military press: 105x8, 115x6, 135x4
Skullcrusher: 50x6, 50x6, 50x5

[thx10050]

Friday's leg workout went really great. No complaints at all. :)


April. 4th
Squat: 185x9, 225x8, 255x7, 290x7
Legpress: 8p x9, 10p x8, 10p 2 1/4p x7, 12p x7
SLDL: 135x10, 185x9, 205x9, 205x8

[healthy n_fit]

Damn you've been getting stronger. impressive squat and deadlift. now why cant my squat be that much better than my bench? :-/

[thx10050]

Your ratio of lifts to bodyweight is impressive, IMHO, Healthy. Keep up the hard work. :)

[healthy n_fit]

Originally posted by thx10050
Your ratio of lifts to bodyweight is impressive, IMHO, Healthy. Keep up the hard work. :)

Thanks! yeah, the bench and deadlift are fine, but i think my squat is out of proportion. oh well.

:)

[thx10050]

Back/biceps went well Monday, very well indeed. :) My last rep of my fourth deadlift set had the bar paused just above my knee for a couple seconds as I struggled to lock it out, but I got it.

Week 9.

April. 7th
Dead: 225x5, 275x5, 315x4, 335x4, 345x4
Barbell row: 135x10, 155x8, 165x8, 165x7
Lat Pulldown: 110x10, 120x7, 130x6
Barbell curl: 55x10, 75x7, 80x6, 80x5

[thx10050]

Hey, all.

Well, chest/shoulder/triceps day on the 9th went a bit better than last week, but my numbers are still low, in both reps and poundages. It seems that whenever I reach my goal of 225x6-8, my strength in benchpress always drops soon after. :( Ah well. I also started doing standing military press and I'm loving it. Pretty weak in it now (military presses have never been a strong point; dumbbell's have always been better), but hopefully I'll boost that up over time. I decided to do standing presses instead of seated because of my goal of overall functional strength: I figure that I won't be sitting down and pressing something over my head in the everyday world, you know?

April. 9th
Bench: 135x8, 185x7, 205x5, 215x4, 225x2
Incline bench: 135x7, 155x5, 165x4
Standing barbell press: 95x7, 105x4, 110x4


Today, the 11th, went extremely well in terms of legs. It was the first time I nearly went to complete failure on legpress after squats. Usually I still have something left after the last rep of my last set, but this time, that last set took a lot out of me. :) Probably because I increased in sets on squats for the first time and increased in weight on legpress also. I felt really good after legpress, so I didn't do as much SLDL as I normally do. A good workout.

April. 11th
Squat: 185x9, 225x8, 255x7, 290x6, 290x6
Legpress: 8p x9, 10p x9, 12p x7, 12p 2 1/4p x6
SLDL: 155x10, 185x11, 185x11

[BPP]

Originally posted by thx10050
I decided to do standing presses instead of seated because of my goal of overall functional strength

:)could always join my world and do push presses instead hehe
or once in awhile

same thing except using leg drive



good workouts though
esp on the squat
after contests im REALLY gonna work on bench and squat alot
2 low points

[thx10050]

Thanks, BPP. :) I know you'll get your squat and bench up there. :) Yeah, when you come here in the fall, you'll have to show me how to do proper power cleans and push-presses. I mean, I read about them and watch videos on how to do them, but I'd rather be taught in person and no one really knows any Olympic lifts at Purdue, it seems like.

Good luck with your contest. :) Kick ass, take names.

Dave.

[AJ010]

Hey, you're doing great! Deadlift and Squat are really coming along bro. Was that 225x2 bench to failure? Have fun doing Standing Military Presses. I love them. Donig them with 1+ plates looks sweet too.

[thx10050]

Thanks a lot, Unlimited/Healthy. :) Appreciate the encouraging comments. :) Keep up the hard work yourself.

I'll get an update on this week tomorrow.

[thx10050]

Hey, guys. A good week so far. :) Bench/shoulder/tri day still is sucking in numbers, but is always intense, so I'm not too disappointed. I think that day off from this bench day a couple weeks ago really set me off somehow. Here's how it's been thus far.

Week 10.

April. 14th
Dead: 225x5, 275x4, 315x5, 335x4, 345x4
Bentover row: 135x10, 155x9, 165x7, 165x6
Lat Pulldown: 110x10, 120x8, 130x6
Bar curls: 55x10, 75x7, 80x6, 80x6

April. 16th
Bench: 135x8, 185x7, 205x5, 215x3, 225x2
Standing military press: 95x10, 105x7, 110x6, 110x4
Skullcrusher: 50x7, 50x5, 50x4

[thx10050]

Hey, guys, leg day went excellent today. :) Seems like back and legs are the best days so far. :)

April. 18th
Squat: 185x7, 225x8, 255x8, 290x7, 290x6
Legpress: 8p x9, 10p x9, 12p x7, 12p 2 ¼p x6
SLDL: 155x11, 185x10

[AJ010]

Wow, good job on those workouts!! Thats a nice squat.
Don't worry much about the bench work and numbers. It'll all go your way soon enough. Keep it up!

[thx10050]

Thanks, Unlimited. BTW, just noticed that you're injured. What happened? I know you'll get back into the game soon though and keep those numbers rising. :)

Well, today was the start of week 11. :) And it certainly was a great start, despite the lack of energy. Didn't get the last rep on my last set of deadlifts (I didn't even try for it either) because I really had no energy this morning for some reason, so basically it was just my body against the iron. I had no pump, no adrenaline, no nothing. :( Kinda sucked, but just kept lifting as best as I could. I think my body's telling me it's nearing time for a week off, heh. :) Finally increased my weight for bentover rows by 5 lbs; I JUST noticed today that I hadn't increased in weight at all on that exercise. :) Anyways, no complaints about today, besides the energy thing.


Week 11.
April. 21st.
Dead: 225x5, 275x5, 315x5, 335x4, 355x3
Bentover row: 135x10, 155x9, 165x8, 170x7
Lat Pulldown: 110x10, 120x8, 130x6
Bar curls: 55x10, 75x8, 80x8, 80x7

[AJ010]

Thanks bro. It means a lot to me. Well, I injured myself back in September on ME Squat. I did Sumo Deadlifts for a max the first time i ever did them, i did Rack pulls heavy for the first time ever doing them, and i did many sets of goodmornings and they were a new exercise to me. I only took off 11-13 days and I never did get better after that. I only recently took off 8 weeks ago and it has gotten better, but still not good enough. My pain isn't major or anything, but I want to be 100% better before i lift again. Also, ya gotta remember that I only had 2.5 months of freeweight experience before doing westside and I'm really young, so those kinda added up to this.

Hey, I think that workout looked good. Imagine if you were all fired up and had the energy to do it. :) Good job on the PR. Keep up the hard training.

[thx10050]

Well, you'll soon be back into the iron game, Healthy. :) And you'll quickly get back any strength you might have lost during your time off.


Well, bench/shoulder/tricep day is still sucking wind. :( I went up in one rep on a few sets of bench, but went down in one rep on my last two sets of standing military. Grrr... I guess it's a reasonable tradeoff... I guess... Heh. :) Anyways, I switched skullcrushers for arnold press this week, because I wanted to hit the shoulders more, as well as the triceps.


April. 23rd
Bench: 135x8, 185x8, 205x6, 215x4, 225x2
Standing military: 95x10, 105x6, 110x6, 110x3
Arnold press: 45x6, 45x4, 45x3, 30x8

[AJ010]

Thanks bro. As of the past two days i have been nearly pain free.:)

Good workout! Its alright that the military reps dropped, because you gained reps on the bench sets! The weights are looking good. Keep training!

[thx10050]

Hey, Healthy, good to hear you're doing well and I see, by your new journal, that you're getting back into the iron game. :) Good job; you'll get back your old lifts and increase 'em in no time. ;) Anyways, my leg day Friday went very well. :) Got the final set that I wanted on squat. All in all, an outstanding day.


April. 25th
Squat: 185x8, 225x8, 275x7, 295x7, 315x6
Legpress: 8p x10, 10p x9, 12p x6, 12p x7
Calves: 230x12, 230x12, 230x13, 230x12

[AJ010]

Awesome job on the squats! Looks like a great workout. Thanks man. I'm going to take my return to the weights in a careful manner. :)

[thx10050]

Thanks, Healthy. :) Yeah, definitely take it nice and easy coming back into lifting, but I'm sure you'll be as strong as you were, if you've lost anything, in no time. :) Keep up the good work.

Well, back/bicep day went rather badly. I came in with a sore lower back (must have slept on it wrong) so deadlifts didn't exactly go as planned. I tried to jump from 355 to 405, but only managed to get it off the ground a few inches for two attemps, so I called it quits before I hurt myself. :( Eh... I'll get it some time, I guess. Probably if I wasn't sore or anything. The rest of the workout was good.


Week 12.

April. 28th
Dead: 225x5, 275x5, 315x5, 355x4, 405x0
Bentover row: 135x10, 155x10, 165x9, 170x7
Lat Pulldown: 110x10, 120x9, 130x6
Barbell curls: 55x10, 75x8, 80x8, 95x4

[AJ010]

Originally posted by thx10050
Thanks, Healthy. :) Yeah, definitely take it nice and easy coming back into lifting, but I'm sure you'll be as strong as you were, if you've lost anything, in no time. :) Keep up the good work.

Well, back/bicep day went rather badly. I came in with a sore lower back (must have slept on it wrong) so deadlifts didn't exactly go as planned. I tried to jump from 355 to 405, but only managed to get it off the ground a few inches for two attemps, so I called it quits before I hurt myself. :( Eh... I'll get it some time, I guess. Probably if I wasn't sore or anything. The rest of the workout was good.


Week 12.

April. 28th
Dead: 225x5, 275x5, 315x5, 355x4, 405x0
Bentover row: 135x10, 155x10, 165x9, 170x7
Lat Pulldown: 110x10, 120x9, 130x6
Barbell curls: 55x10, 75x8, 80x8, 95x4

Thanks man, I'm on my way.

About the workout, I think it looked pretty good. I'm sure you max pretty damn near to 405 on deadlifts, and on a good day you'll get that 405.4 plates just seems like an amazing thing to reach. :) Nice assistance work.

[Fullback_45]

Hey. Your pretty damn strong man. Awsome leg work out of you. Bench's are comeing along nicely aswell. Keep it up, your doing great!

[thx10050]

Thanks for the encouragement and comments, Healthy and Fullback. I'm not really that strong compared to most of the other guys that have journals here :(, but for functional, everyday strength, I'm about where I want to be. :) A tradeoff, I guess.

[thx10050]

Hey, guys. This past Wednesday, chest/shoulder/tris day went well. I didn't do legs this week as I did some HIIT cardio Wed night and kinda pulled something in my groin, I think. Anyways, Wed went well, and I'm looking forward to one last solid week on this program, starting tomorrow. This summer though, I'll be switching over to more of a power-building program, rather than pure strength training.


April. 30th
Bench: 135x10, 185x8, 205x6, 215x4, 225x3
Standing military: 95x10, 105x8, 115x6, 115x6
Side laterals: 15x12, 12x10, 20x8, 20x7

[BPP]

Originally posted by thx10050
Hey, guys. This past Wednesday, chest/shoulder/tris day went well. I didn't do legs this week as I did some HIIT cardio Wed night and kinda pulled something in my groin, I think. Anyways, Wed went well, and I'm looking forward to one last solid week on this program, starting tomorrow. This summer though, I'll be switching over to more of a power-building program, rather than pure strength training.


April. 30th
Bench: 135x10, 185x8, 205x6, 215x4, 225x3
Standing military: 95x10, 105x8, 115x6, 115x6
Side laterals: 15x12, 12x10, 20x8, 20x7

ok bro
if im gonna terain some strongman with ya

you gotta get my bench power up :)

[thx10050]

Don't really know what I can do, BPP, but if I can, I'll def try to help you out with that bench. :) Right now, my grip is with the middle fingers on the bar's rings; just feels comfortable that way. I used to bench with my ring fingers on the rings, but I felt that used too much tricep and shoulder, not enough chest. I also try to keep my elbows tucked in as much as possible, but that kinda breaks down after a couple sets, heh. :)

[thx10050]

Hey, guys. Had a truly outstanding back/bicep day today. :) I couldn't be more pleased with how it went. A great end to the back/bicep portion of this strength program. :) I also decided to lower my reps on curls for this final week, but keep the same weight.


Week 13.

May. 5th
Deads: 225x8, 275x7, 315x6, 335x5, 355x4
Barbell rows: 135x10, 155x10, 165x9, 170x8
Lat Pulldown: 110x10, 120x8, 130x5
Barbell curls: 55x7, 75x7, 80x7, 95x3

[BPP]

awesome
glad it went well bro :cool:

[thx10050]

Thanks, BPP. :)

Wednesday went well, more or less. :) That's all really to say, heh. :)

May. 7th
Bench: 135x10, 185x8, 205x7, 215x4, 225x2
Standing military: 95x10, 105x7, 115x6, 115x7
Tricep pushdown: 60x12, 70x10, 80x6, 60x14
Side lateral: 20x12, 20x12

[AJ010]

Nice workout! The weight's looking great bro. Keep up the hard work.

[thx10050]

Hey, guys. Sorry for the lack of updates (if anyone was even wondering, that is :) ), but I was busy with finals, packing up, and moving out and all that end of the year college jazz. Anyways, I just got a membership to a NYSC up on 86th St (back in Manhattan, NYC now for the summer), so I'll be starting my power-building routine there next Monday. It'll be a 5 day routine; I just hope that it's okay to keep posting my journal here, even though it's not purely strength training anymore... Had a decent workout on the last day of final exams (the 9th of May) so here's how it went.

May 9th.

Squats: 185x8, 225x8, 275x7, 315x7, 325x6
Legpress: I had to use the seated machine legpress cause the plate one was being used, but still a good workout; went from about 280 lbs to 400 lbs sets of 12-10 for 5 sets. Can't remember the exact numbers.
Calf press: 230x12 x 4 sets.

All in all, a good workout. :) I've been taking this week off, since I've been lifting non-stop for about 12 weeks in a row; I figure my body could use some rest before a hard summer of lifting more. :)

[BPP]

how'd finals and everything go bro??


awesome job on squats too :cool:

[AJ010]

Great job on the squats bro!

[thx10050]

Thanks for the encouragement, Healthy/Unlimited; I really appreciate it. :) I've watched your progress on your journal (sorry for not commenting under it so far; I'll try and do better) and you seem to be doing better and better. Keep up the solid and steady progress, man. :)

BPP, thanks for the encouragement too. :) Finals went well. Really glad I did well during the year in my History class (American Military Affairs) because I got a 56 out of 100 on the essay final exam. :( First time I've ever failed a final exam in school. So I ended up with 2 As, 1 B, and 2 Cs. Not too bad, but not outstanding either, heh. Ah well. Do better next semester.

Anyways, I'm really itching to get back into the gym Monday and start my new program. Even though people say it's virtually impossible, I'm going to try and build muscle and burn some fat away at the same time. I'm horrible at individual bulking and cutting cycles, so I'm going to try and do both. Maybe I can reach some sort of medium? :)

[BPP]

its possible
just hard :)


nice job with classes though
solid grades :)

[thx10050]

Thanks, BPP. :) How did classes go for you this semester?

Well, it was the first day of my power-building routine today, after a week off to recuperate from my 3 month long strength training routine. Started off with chest day first. It went pretty well; I didn't seem to have lost a great amount of strength. Decided to throw in calves as well at the end, because I'm usually wiped at the end of leg day. Anyways, here's how it went.

May 19th
Bench: 155x8, 185x7, 205x6
Incline dumbbell: 60x7, 60x5, 60x6
Cable flys: 50x8, 50x8, 50x8
Seated calf press: 180x12, 200x10, 220x10, 220x10

[BPP]

class was good
only took 3 credit hours at purdue cal b/c I took an 8hr/week firefighting and an 8hr/week EMT class that are still going

but pulled a 4.0 with my 1 class :)

hehe

[thx10050]

Good job, BPP. :) What do you plan on majoring in at Purdue? How many creds do you think you'll be taking?

Well, this week continues to progress rather interestingly, as some of these exercises I haven't done in a long while, such as dumbbell military press. I'm basically figuring out what weights to progress from with this week with all these different exercises. A journey of exploration and discovery, I guess. :) There are discrepancies between my strength training poundages and these current ones. First, cause I just came back from a week off obviously enough, and second, there are differences in equipment as well. For example, the single EZ-bar the NYSC has is much lighter than the ones at Purdue, by probably ten lbs. Also, the lat towers at NYSC have a much smoother action to them than the university ones, allowing me to use more weight. Additionally, for my cable movements for arms, I use the cable fly/crossover machines, which always seem easier than using a lat tower (in terms of tricep movements).

Anyways, here's some updates.


May 21st
Dumbbell military: 45x8, 50x8, 55x6
Side lateral: 20x10, 20x8, 20x8
Bentover lateral: 12x11, 12x10, 15x11
Dumbbell shrug: 60x8, 60x10, 60x8

May. 22nd
Barbell curl: 75x7, 95x5
Hammer curl: 30x7, 35x7
Cable curl: 90x7, 100x7
Skullcrusher: 50x7, 60x7
V-bar pressdown: 90x8, 100x7
Reverse pressdown: 70x7, 80x7

[BPP]

Im majorin in Health and Fitness
takin 15 credit hours this sem(got my schedule online yesteday)

[thx10050]

Sounds good, BPP. :) I'm a Law and Society Major, Liberal Arts School. It's a pretty good major, though almost all of my classes are Soc classes, which isn't always a bad thing. Slight problem is that it's not a specific working/job major, like Engineering, but then, the jobs I'm interested in don't really need a specific major/area of study. :)

Anyways, did legs today. Workout was very intense; it was the most intense leg workout I've ever had. My lower back was really sore after the squats though, so I couldn't do the four sets of SLDLs that I wanted, and like I mentioned before a while ago, I can't use their hamstring curl machine, cause it's part of this 20-min Express Line system or something like that. Here's how it went.


May 24th
Squat: 185x10, 225x9, 275x8, 315x6
Legpress: 8p x10, 10p x8, 10p 2 1/4p x6
SLDL: 135x10, 185x10

[AJ010]

Originally posted by thx10050
Sounds good, BPP. :) I'm a Law and Society Major, Liberal Arts School. It's a pretty good major, though almost all of my classes are Soc classes, which isn't always a bad thing. Slight problem is that it's not a specific working/job major, like Engineering, but then, the jobs I'm interested in don't really need a specific major/area of study. :)

Anyways, did legs today. Workout was very intense; it was the most intense leg workout I've ever had. My lower back was really sore after the squats though, so I couldn't do the four sets of SLDLs that I wanted, and like I mentioned before a while ago, I can't use their hamstring curl machine, cause it's part of this 20-min Express Line system or something like that. Here's how it went.


May 24th
Squat: 185x10, 225x9, 275x8, 315x6
Legpress: 8p x10, 10p x8, 10p 2 1/4p x6
SLDL: 135x10, 185x10

Nice workout! Weight's really comin along.

[thx10050]

Thanks for the encouragement, Healthy. :) I see from your journal that rehab, as you put it, is coming along nicely. Keep throwing those weights up. How's the back doing nowadays, by the way? You'll be back into your heavy stuff soon, I have no doubt. :)

Well, this week has gone off to a solid start. I've decided to switch more over to Max-OT principles, so this week is once again a week of experimentation, to see what weights I can or can't do for 4-6 reps. Today was great, and chest day yesterday wasn't bad either. :) It seemed, however, like my flat bench sets flew by, so I added another set to incline dumbbell to make up for this, in my mind. ;) I've also decided to cut out deadlifts for this summer and stick to squats, to give my lower back some extra recovery time this summer. I'll bring the deads back in the fall.


May. 26th
Bench: 155x9, 190x8, 210x6
Incline dumbbell: 60x6, 60x6, 60x5, 60x6
Cable flys: 50x10, 50x8, 50x9
Seated calf press: 180x12, 220x11, 220x10, 220x12

May. 27th
Bentover row: 165x8, 175x7, 195x7
T-bar row: 100x7, 120x7, 125x5
Lat Pulldown: 140x8, 150x7
Dumbbell row: 65x8, 65x8

[thx10050]

I've also come up with a warm-up system, based on Max-OT as well. What do you guys think? The single reps are for acclimation, to get myself used to the heavier weights I'm going to be starting my actual 2-3 main working sets on.

Warm-ups:

Bench: 95, 135, 185 single

Bentover row: 95, 135, 165 single

Military press: Bar, 30, 95 single (dumbbell 25, 25, 45 single)

Curls: Bar, 65, 80 single

Skullcrusher: Bar, 20, 30 single

Squat: Bar, 135, 225 single

[AJ010]

Looks good. This should be interesting. :)

Thanks bro. The back is doing ok. Just varying between more and less pain, but doing better.

[thx10050]

Hey, all. Shoulder day and arm day today went outstandingly well. :) I'm very pleased with both days' results. All my shoulder exercises have gone up in weight and so has my barbell curls; my other bicep and tricep exercises I'm still figuring out good weights and all. But still, I'm very happy. :) This Max-OT style of lifting is great, and I'm still basically conducting strength training as well, because the sets are of 4-6 reps. Here's how they went:


May. 28th
Standing military: 115x7, 125x7, 135x7
Side lateral: 25x8, 30x5
Back lateral: 20x8, 25x5
Dumbbell shrug: 70x8, 95x7

May 29th
Barbell curls: 95x6, 100x4
Hammer curls: 35x7, 40x6
Cable curls: 100x8, 120x8
Skullcrusher: 60x7, 65x6
V-Bar pressdown: 100x10, 130x6
Reverse pressdown: 80x10, 100x6

[AJ010]

Nice curl and military press. I wish i could rep 1 plate for military lol. Everything looks good.

[Rookie]

Originally posted by UnlimitedSteel
Nice curl and military press. I wish i could rep 1 plate for military lol. Everything looks good.

Hey you're not alone bro.

[thx10050]

Hey, guys. Leg day yesterday went very well too, without the added aggravation of an already sore lower back from deadlifts. :) This week, all in all, was definitely a solid lifting week and a definite learning experience for me. Not to mention it was a heck of a lot of fun too, figuring out all these weights and stuff. I may not be the biggest or strongest at 210 lbs, but I've got at least some strength to me. :) BTW, I've also begun cutting this week as well. My meal plan is based off of Derek Charlebois' cutting diet he's using for his Week 24 report.


May. 30th
Squat: 235x7, 285x7, 325x6
Legpress: 8p x8, 10p 2 1/4p x7, 12p x6
SLDL: 135x10, 185x10, 205x7

[AJ010]

Nice workout! And good luck cutting. How much weight are you going to cut?

[thx10050]

I'm hopefully going to try and cut down to 190 or thereabouts by the end of August. As of this morning, I'm 208. My diet right now is about 2200-2300 cals, maybe more, with plenty of protein, moderate carbs and good fats. All my carbs are in the morning mainly, or consist of veggies with my baked chicken breasts. I used Champion meal builder to make it so that hopefully I'll be losing about a pound or a lb 1/2 of fat per week. This is about 2-3 bodyweight lbs per week, I think.

Here's my meal plan, roughly:

Workout Days:

Meal 1: 22 grams whey, 1 cup cereal, 1-1 ½ cups milk, 6 fish oil caplets.

Meal 2: 22 grams whey, 30 grams dextrose, 2.5 grams creatine, 5-10 grams glutamine, water.

Meal 3: 40-45 grams whey, 5-10 grams glutamine, 30 grams dextrose, 5 grams creatine, water.

Meal 4: 1 ½ cups cereal, 1-1 ½ cups milk, multivitamin, 3 glucosamine caplets.

Meal 5: 1 MRP (Nytro-Pro or Myoplex shake)

Meal 6: 1 baked chicken thigh, carrots or other veggies (raw or cooked)

Meal 7: 24-30 grams whey protein, 2 tablespoons peanut butter.

Meal 8: 1 baked chicken thigh, carrots or other veggies (cooked or raw)

Meal 9: 3 ZMA caplets; ½ hour later, 1-2 cups milk, 2 tablespoons peanut butter, 24-30 grams whey protein OR two scoops SAN Infusion.


Non-workout days (Sat and Sunday) are the same, but I substitute another MRP shake in there to make up for my pre and post workout protein.

[thx10050]

Well, today was a solid start to the third week. :) I'm satisfied with how chest day went. I could have gotten one more rep with 215 on my 2nd set. A good workout nonetheless.

Tonight I start my HIIT-style cardio, for 14-16 mins per session. I'll be doing this two-three times per week. It's not the same as HIIT in that there are no alternating intervals between high and low speeds. This is the Body-for-Life cardio and the speed and intensity keep rising over the 14 mins until you can't maintain it anymore. Been a while since I've ran, so we'll see what happens.

June. 2nd
Bench: 205x6, 215x5, 215x4
Incline dumbbell: 65x6, 65x5, 65x6
Cable fly: 60x7, 60x7, 60x7
Seated calf press: 180x10, 240x10, 260x10, 280x10

[BPP]

god luck with the cardio
keep up the good work bro :)

[thx10050]

Hey, all. :)

Back day yesterday and shoulder day today went very well. Bentover rows were great, but the third set wasn't too good; I really need to focus on the execution of the exercise on that last set as best as I can. The same applies to my bentover laterals, or back laterals as I call them, in that instead of going as heavy as I can, I'm using a relatively light weight right now to really focus on the execution of the exercise so I can hit those rear delts good. But it's harder to judge your form with back laterals than it is with bentover rows.

On a plus note, I'm really happy with how my standing military press is progressing thus far. I'm hoping to hit near 170 lbs by the end of the summer for 2-3 reps. *Crosses fingers*

Anyways, here's how it all went:

June. 3rd
Bentover row: 195x7, 205x5, 205x4
T-bar row: 120x7, 125x6, 130x7
Lat Pulldown: 150x7, 150x7
Dumbbell row: 70x7

June. 4th
Standing military press: 135x6, 145x6, 155x3
Side lateral: 30x6, 30x6, 30x6
Back lateral: 20x10, 25x7, 25x7
Shrugs: 70x10, 80x10, 90x8

[BPP]

looks good bro :)

one thing
if your lookin for some grip strength
at the end of the DB shrugs
after your last rep, just hold them as long as possible(the heavy ones at least, 90, 100 etc)
helps build up grip quick

[thx10050]

Thanks for the tip, BPP. :) I'll give that a shot next week on shoulder day. Should be great. :)

BTW, for anyone interested, my caloric intake has stabilized to about 2200-2300 per day; finally got the last kinks in my diet worked out over the weekend. I should be losing about a pound to two pounds a week, starting the Monday of last week.

[thx10050]

Hey, all. :) Arm day yesterday went great, as did leg day today. I'm very happy with both days' results. Dieting seems to be coming along well, though I think I'll bump up my calories by a few hundred more every friday (leg day) to make sure my body doesn't think its starving. I think I'll be switching between overhead presses (overhead skullcrushers with the front lateral raise bar, that rectangular bar) with lying skullcrushers; I think both are good exercises. I think the overhead presses are called french presses? Not sure. Also, my squat weight might drop down dramatically in the future as well, as I'm still trying to get my form down even better.

Anyways, here's how it all went:


June. 5th
Barbell curl: 100x5, 100x4
Hammer curl: 45x5, 45x4
Cable curl: 130x6, 140x4
Overhead press: 50x5, 55x5
V-bar pressdown: 130x8, 140x8
Reverse pressdown: 100x8, 110x8

June. 6th
Squats: 225x7, 275x7, 315x7, 325x5
Legpress: 10p 2 1/4p x7, 12p x8
Lying hamstring curl: 75x7, 85x7, 90x5
Seated calf press: 180x10, 280x7, 280x7, 300x8

[AJ010]

Great workouts bro.

[thx10050]

Thanks, Healthy. :) I may not comment on other's journals, but I monitor yours and BPP's. Keep up the great work, man. :) You're doing good. Nice and steady progress.

All right, well, after a moderately clean 'cheat' weekend (a few hoagie sandwiches were taken in :) ), because I was visting some friends at their highschool graduation, I came back for jury duty today, which was from 8:30 AM till 4 PM. The issue was settled, so now it's another 4 years before I had back to NYC jury duty. :) So that was good.

The bad part was that I wasn't as pumped up for my chest workout, and I was feeling kinda wiped to boot, from all the sitting around during the day. So chest day today wasn't too good, and also seemed to pass by really quickly; it was almost surreal, now that I think about it. I also suffered a calf cramp on my 2nd set of incline dumbbell press, which distracted me, needless to say.

Anyways, here's how it went:


June. 9th
Bench: 215x6, 215x5, 215x3
Incline dumbbell: 70x5, 70x3, 70x4
Cable flys: 50x8, 60x6, 60x5
Seated calf press: 180x10, 300x10, 300x8, 300x8, 300x8

[thx10050]

Hey, guys.

Well, I'm back on track with my cutting diet and all that. Had half a Subway cold cut trio sandwich left over from yesterday, so I added that in place of my first Myoplex shake; I also added another Myoplex shake into my diet where it says whey protein and peanut butter (replaced the whey with the shake). It adds heaps to my protein intake (another 40 grams) and not too much to my carbs (20 grams). So my protein intake is a little more than 1 gram per lb of bodyweight. I think I might make leg day my clean 'cheat' or carb-up day, to fool my body some more, but I'll have to see how to work that.

Today was back day and it went well. Got a couple questions for you guys though: I added another set of one-arm dumbbell rows (the lawn mower kind) and switched my T-bar grip from the straight one to the v-grip; I thought that the v-grip would hit my back differently than the straight, which is like a bentover row grip. Now, should I keep the v-bar grip? Also, Max-OT calls for 6-9 sets per bodypart. I have 10 with the extra set of dumbbell rows. You guys think that's all right, or should I drop one set of T-bar?

At any rate, here's how it went:

June. 10th
Bentover rows: 205x7, 205x6, 210x6
T-bar row: 125x7, 130x5, 130x4
Lat Pulldown: 160x6, 160x6
Dumbbell row: 75x7, 75x7

[BPP]

If nothin else Id stick with the switched up V grip for awhile, see how it works
I always did them that way, and did bent over rows together, so that both grips are incorporated

and Id assume 10 sets would be ok :confused:


:) keep up the good work

2 months 8 days til move in day :D :D

[thx10050]

Yep, only two months and a bit to go, BPP. I'm actually looking forward to moving in; I don't really have much to do here in NYC. And thanks for the advice: I'm going to keep the v-grip, but I'm switching up my back routine around to place lat pulldowns first, then bentover rows, then t-bar rows, and cut out the dumbbell rows for the summer; I don't think those dumbbell rows were really helping anyways.

Well, shoulder day today was not so much distressing as it was annoying. Initially the adjustable benches were all in use, so I thought I'd do standing military press, even though my chest and front delts were/are both rather sore from monday. After a good warm-up, I moved straight to 155. The very first rep seemed to take forever to get up and that so surprised me that I nearly just quite halfway through the rep, but then I managed to crank out two more, for a total of three, same as last week.

After that, the benches were now open, so I decided to cut my losses and head to dumbbell military, which is what I was originally planning on doing anyways.

Well, the rest of the workout went great, but that standing military press has me down. I do abs after shoulders once a week too. Anyways, here are my results:

June. 11th
Standing/dumbbell military press: 155x3, 55x7, 65x6
Side lateral: 30x6, 30x6, 35x4
Back lateral: 25x7, 25x7, 25x7
Dumbbell shrugs: 80x10, 95x10, 100x8, 100x6

[BPP]

yeah
dont worry bout it bro
the rest was good
and theres a reason it wasnt great on the standings

[thx10050]

Hey, BPP, PM me your school schedule sometime so we can figure out some time to meet up for a workout. Depending on what happens with my Marine Corps Officer Program (still deciding whether to continue in it or not), I don't know if I'll want to train strongman, or just do some regular strength training, or just still do Max-OT. But I can definitely meet up with you for workouts whenever.


Anyways, leg day will start in about an hour, but I thought I'd post up my arm day from yesterday, which went great. :) Even though I'm cutting, I think a combo of Max-OT and a clean diet is really helping me maintain and even get stronger as well. Hopefully, I'm actually losing weight. I've been hovering at 208-209 all week so far. I mean, I'm only supposed to lose about a pound or so every week, based on my 2600 calorie diet, but still... Wanna lose NOW!! :) Anyways, here's arm day:


June. 12th
Barbell curl: 100x5, 100x3, 100x3
Hammer curl: 45x5, 50x3
Cable curl: 140x6, 150x5
Skullcrusher: 60x6, 65x6, 65x5
V-bar pressdown: 60x7, 60x6
Reverse pressdown: 50x7, 60x3

I did skullcrushers with the front lateral raise bar and it seemed all right, but I think I'm just going to do them with the EZ-bar from now on, even though the FLRB is heavier than the EZ. I also decided to add one more set to each of my beginning exercises, as they're the most 'compound' for bis and tris, in my opinion. I also switched from the cable crossover machines for my tricep cable exercises to the lat pulldown machines, which have more resistance it seems. Finally, I switched from bicep exercise to tricep, back and forth throughout my workout, and it was great. I think I'll do this from now on.

[thx10050]

Well, leg day was friday and it went great as well. :)

I changed my squat stance around and I put SLDLs before legpress. Both of those I think made a huge difference. I used to squat with my toes pointing out, because I felt that only in that position could I get down to parallel or a little below it. Well, I experimented around yesterday and with toes pointing straight, I got down to the same position, so that was great. :) SLDLs also felt great. My back got really, really sore (full of blood), but today I'm feeling all right. I decided to leave calves for Mondays from now on. Also, nearly got stuck on legpress for the first time, so that was a great feeling too, more or less. ;)

Anyways, here's my new leg day workout:

June. 13th
Squat: 245x6, 295x6, 320x6
SLDL: 185x7, 205x6, 215x6
Legpress: 10p x7, 12p x5


BTW, you guys think I should change lat pulldown to chin-ups for back day?

[BPP]

Originally posted by thx10050
June. 13th
Squat: 245x6, 295x6, 320x6

BTW, you guys think I should change lat pulldown to chin-ups for back day?

:(


chins are good
but I always saw good results from lat pulldowns

id say depends how well yuor feeling the pulldowns
to me it varies in feeling and hwo good it works from machine to machine

[AJ010]

Super job on the squat. Keep it up bro.

[thx10050]

Thanks, Healthy. I know you're not really lifting that much as of late, but I wish you the best in recovery. Hope it all works out for you, man.

And BPP, I decided to stick with the lat pulls for now. Thanks for the encouragement. BTW, I'll get my schedule to you soon too.


Chest day yesterday and back day today went very well, IMO. I'm not too sore from chest day, but I still went up in weight on those exercises, plus I replaced cable flys with weighted dips. I switched bentover rows with lat pulldown for back today, to get the more compound lat pulls out of the way first. Overall, two solid days.


June. 16th
Bench: 215x5, 220x4, 220x3
Incline dumbbell: 75x6, 75x5, 75x4
Weighted dips: 7, 10x5, 10x5

June. 17th
Lat Pulldown: 160x6, 170x6, 180x6
Bentover rows: 205x6, 210x6, 210x4
T-Bar rows: 130x6, 130x6, 130x5

[thx10050]

And so it goes on and on... :)

Shoulder day was good yesterday. Decided just to do dumbbell presses from now on, and switch to standing military in the fall. Staying at 30s for the laterals for now, as I'm still trying to get the best form down on them. Back laterals are coming along just fine. Shrugs felt great.

Arm day was great. Had a good workout. Just to reiterate a couple points, I don't add the weight of the EZ-bar to my skullcrusher weight, and I switch between bicep and tricep exercises, but not in a superset fashion.


June. 18th
Dumbbell shoulder press: 65x6, 70x3, 70x4
Side lateral: 30x6, 30x6, 30x5
Back lateral: 25x7, 25x7, 30x6
Dumbbell Shrugs: 100x7, 7, 6, 6

June. 19th
Barbell curl: 100x5, 4, 4
Hammer curl: 45x4, 4
Cable curl: 150x5, 5
EZ-bar Skullcrusher: 65x7, 70x5, 5
V-bar pressdown: 60x7, 70x4
Reverse pressdown: 60x5, 3

[Fullback_45]

Everywere you look your lifting some damn fine wait. Nice job!

[thx10050]

Hey, thanks, Fullback. :) Means a lot to hear (well, read) comments like that. :)

[thx10050]

Hey, guys (or those that still read this :) ), I posted up two pics in the Pictures forum. One's of me, and one's of my girl and I. Later.

[thx10050]

Hey, people. Today was leg day and it went well. My left knee feels a bit weird though, like I torqued it or something. I think it's because when I rack the bar, I step forward with my left foot, so it shifts a lot of weight onto my left leg. Have to work on that. :)

Anyways, here's how it all went:

June. 20th
Squat: 245x7, 285x7, 325x6
SLDL: 205x7, 215x7, 225x6
Legpress: 10p x7, 12p x6


I'm going to start to increase my squat weights by 5 lbs per week from now on, because I think my form is getting better. SLDLs felt great; I'll definitely start out at 225 next week. Legpress weight I'm not too concerned about increasing; I'd rather have the weight go up on my squat and SLDL for now.

[BPP]

Originally posted by thx10050
Hey, people. Today was leg day and it went well. My left knee feels a bit weird though, like I torqued it or something. I think it's because when I rack the bar, I step forward with my left foot, so it shifts a lot of weight onto my left leg. Have to work on that. :)

Anyways, here's how it all went:

June. 20th
Squat: 245x7, 285x7, 325x6
SLDL: 205x7, 215x7, 225x6
Legpress: 10p x7, 12p x6


I'm going to start to increase my squat weights by 5 lbs per week from now on, because I think my form is getting better. SLDLs felt great; I'll definitely start out at 225 next week. Legpress weight I'm not too concerned about increasing; I'd rather have the weight go up on my squat and SLDL for now.

whoa
your squats gonna be huge if you keep it goin bro
keep it up!!

[AJ010]

Your squat just keeps going up and up! You'll be at 365 before you know it :)

Keep it up bro.

[thx10050]

Thanks, Healthy and BPP. :) I'm hoping to one day reach 405 on both squats and deadlifts, then I'll be happy. :)

Anyways, today, as usual, was chest day and overall, it was a good and intense day. Went up in weight and/or reps on all three exercises. The 80 lb dumbbells were a bit difficult to move into position on my first set, but I got the hang of it for my 2nd and 3rd sets. Weighted dips felt awesome; I really like that exercise. :)


June. 23rd
Bench: 215x6, 220x4, 220x4
Incline dumbbell: 80x4, 80x4, 80x4
Weighted dips: 10x6, 15x7, 25x4

[thx10050]

Hey, all.

Today was back day and it went really well. :) I'm very pleased with my progress thus far, even when cutting/trying to cut. ;) I'm extremely happy with my lat pulldown so far, because every rep is smooth and controlled. Bentover rows, I'm still trying to get my form down even better, as I still have the tendency to sometimes jerk on the bar on my last one or two reps of each set. I've just realized that I almost bentover row what I can bench. Don't know if that's good or bad... :) As for t-bar rows, they're coming along just fine and the V-grip feels good.


June. 24th
Lat Pulldown: 180x7, 190x6, 200x4
Bentover rows: 210x6, 210x5, 210x4
T-bar rows: 135x7, 140x5, 140x4

[BPP]

Originally posted by thx10050
I'm hoping to one day reach 805 on both squats and deadlifts, then I'll be happy for a few weeks until I do my next max day and break those PR's


thats better :)

[thx10050]

LMAO! :)

805?? Christ.... :) I'll leave that to you, BPP.

[BPP]

Originally posted by thx10050
LMAO! :)

805?? Christ.... :) I'll leave that to you, BPP.

your squat is MUCH closer than mine bro :)

your all over it

I will take the 805 DL though ;)

hehehee

[thx10050]

Heh, you can have that 805 deadlift, BPP. :) Like I said before, I'll be happy with just a plain old 405. ;)

Anyways, today was shoulder day and it went well. Still working on the best form for side and back laterals, so the weight didn't change for those just yet. I'm happy with my dumbbell press, but on my last set, I felt a problem (knot, cramp, couldn't tell) developing in my right side, middle back, so I stopped the set earlier than I wanted to, just to make sure I wasn't hurting myself in some way or training one side more than the other. Changed dumbbell shrugs to barbell shrugs and they felt great. :) I think I'll keep barbell shrugs for the remainder of this program.


June. 25th
Dumbbell press: 70x6, 4, 3
Side lateral: 30x6, 6, 5
Back lateral: 25x10, 30x8, 6
Barbell shrugs: 185x8, 225x7, 275x6, 6


Tomorrow I'm going to keep my arm routine the way it is, except I'm going to replace cable curls with preacher curls (using the wide grip on the EZ-bar). I also may try out incline EZ-bar presses for my 1st tricep exercise (like French press, but sitting back at an angle).

[BPP]

Originally posted by thx10050
Tomorrow I'm going to keep my arm routine the way it is, except I'm going to replace cable curls with preacher curls (using the wide grip on the EZ-bar).

i always felt preachers were a great way to isolate and build

one of the best burns for biceps is the feel of barbell preachercurls :)

good call :)

[thx10050]

Thanks, BPP. :) Actually never done preacher curls before. I used to use the EZ-bar for regular curls (using the inner grip), so now I'm going to try out the outer grip and see how it feels.

[thx10050]

Well, arm day was fantastic. :)

That incline skullcrusher/french press exercise is outstanding. I really liked it a lot. :) Tried it with the wide grip first on the EZ-bar, but that was hurting my elbows and shoulders, so I switched to the narrow grip and it felt great. Felt a really good stretch at the bottom. Had to get someone to hand me the bar though, as it was awkward trying to 'clean' it up into position when I was sitting (never thought to stand and clean it up, stupid me). And preacher curls were great too. :) I really like these two new exercises. And again, I alternate between bicep and tricep exercises.

Well, here's how it went:

June. 26th
Barbell curl: 105x5, 4, 3
Hammer curl: 45x6, 5
Preacher curl: 50x8, 65x5
Incline skullcrusher: 65x7, 70x8, 75x5
V-bar pushdown: 70x7, 6
Reverse pushdown: 60x6, 5

[thx10050]

Well, this week started out strong and ended strong. :) I'm very...pleased... ;)

June. 27th
Squats: 285x7, 315x6, 330x5
SLDL: 225x6, 6, 6
Legpress: 10p x7, 12p x5

[BPP]

im always amazed with the squats bro :)

good week
keep em up :)

[thx10050]

Thanks, man. :) BTW, I'm glad you thought my lifting movie idea was cool. :) That was my basic outline for the movie; things can be added or taken away if need be.

[BPP]

Originally posted by thx10050
Thanks, man. :) BTW, I'm glad you thought my lifting movie idea was cool. :) That was my basic outline for the movie; things can be added or taken away if need be.

yeah
that can all be done on the fly
but the basic gist is there
and its badass :cool:

[thx10050]

Heh, thanks, BPP. :) Funny thing is, I just thought about it when I was walking home Thursday after doing arms. The idea just came out of nowhere. Then I started grinning in the street like a fool because I thought it was a cool idea and all these people were staring at me as I was walking by, like "WTF are you smiling for, psycho kid?" :) Anyways, if you want to listen the music I want to put in the background, look up Lord of the Rings trailer music in Kazaa, and then DL Gothic Power, by Christopher Field. This music is also in one of the newer T-3 ads.

[thx10050]

Well, like last week, this week started off strong. :)

I'm still trying to perfect my form on the presses (both incline and bench), because even though I keep my elbows in on bench, my back feels a bit sore on my right side after the 2nd work set. Same with my incline. Need a better mind-muscle connection, dang it! :) Have to recruit chest, tris, and some shoulders, but not the back. ;)

Week 7.

June. 30th
Bench: 220x5, 4, 4
Incline dumbbell: 80x5, 5, 5
Weighted dips: 25x6, 6, 5

[thx10050]

Well, back day went great today. :) I decided to start off my bentover rows from a deadlift position (usually the bar rests on pins at waist height). I figured that if I started off low and bent over at 90 degrees right off the bat, then I'd be less inclined to cheat on the exercise on the last couple reps. It worked, more or less. :) Had much better form on my first two sets, but on my last set, my last couple reps were a bit forced. ;)

July. 1st
Lat Pulldown: 190x7, 200x6, 200x6
Bentover rows: 210x6, 210x5, 210x5
T-bar rows: 140x5, 140x4, 140x4

[BPP]

Originally posted by thx10050
Well, back day went great today. :) I decided to start off my bentover rows from a deadlift position (usually the bar rests on pins at waist height). I figured that if I started off low and bent over at 90 degrees right off the bat, then I'd be less inclined to cheat on the exercise on the last couple reps. It worked, more or less. :) Had much better form on my first two sets, but on my last set, my last couple reps were a bit forced. ;)

July. 1st
Lat Pulldown: 190x7, 200x6, 200x6
Bentover rows: 210x6, 210x5, 210x5
T-bar rows: 140x5, 140x4, 140x4

i always take the rows from the floor, does help get ya low enough :)

very nice lat pulldowns too

how is the grip on the machine you use??
i loved one i had at my old gym...esp with a curl grip of palms facing in

[thx10050]

I just use the regular lat pulldown bar. :)

And I like that quote at the bottom of your sig, LOL. ;)

[BPP]

Originally posted by thx10050
I just use the regular lat pulldown bar. :)

And I like that quote at the bottom of your sig, LOL. ;)

which way do you grip it?
I always found hands facingin could get a better squeezein them :)
just me though, was curious if I was the norm or weird


hehe thanks :) i thought it was hilariius!

[AJ010]

Awesome pulldown and row weight. If i tried pulling that down, I'd probably pull myself up! :D

[thx10050]

BPP, I use the normal wide grip on the lat bar, about an inch away from the bar's ends, palms facing out, thumbbless grip. I'll have to try out that other bar you were talking about sometime. :)

And thanks, Healthy. :) Hope your road to recovery is still coming along well.

Well, another strong day. :) I tell ya, this clean diet and Max-OT are working great. I'm not too concerned about my back lateral weight, I've decided. They get a good pounding on back day anyways. :) Well, looks like next week it's time for an increase in poundages on these lifts! ;)

July. 2nd
Dumbbell press: 70x6, 6, 4
Side lateral: 30x6, 6, 6
Back lateral: 25x10, 30x6, 6
Barbell shrugs: 275x6, 6, 5

[AJ010]

Nice dumbell press and shrug weight! So, hows Max-Ot feelin? I was gonna try it once actually before.

[thx10050]

Personally, I think Max-OT is great, Healthy. :)

Despite the fact that you train to failure on your workouts (which is counter to PLing/strength training), I still think that you can gain a lot of useful/every day strength from its principles, which are relatively basic. Even though I'm cutting now, my strength has still been increasing. I think a lot of it has to do with intensity, because your reps are only 4-6 and that's easier to, I guess, focus and concentrate on, than 6-8, 8-10, or even more. I guess it makes me feel comfortable (allows me to focus more) knowing that even if I only manage to crank out four solid reps for an exercise, that's still good enough to get stronger on and grow from, you know?

I know Max-OT isn't as good for every day kind of strength (you'd probably really gain that best from a strenuous manual labor job, like construction or lumberjack) than other strength programs, but I still think it gets the job done. It's simple and easy to understand and apply its concepts.

[AJ010]

Oh, i see. I've heard of many good gains from it, and it seems to be workin good for you too. Good luck with it!

[thx10050]

Thanks, Healthy. :)

Anyways, arm day yesterday went great. :) Leg day today was a bit off. I think it's cause the free weight area was so hot and humid. Plus there were a lot more people in that area than usual, so that kinda threw me off a bit, so I decided not to do legpress today. Instead, I just did one more set of SLDLs, as I thought the squats had hit my legs pretty good. Did a few heavy sets of calves too.

July. 3rd
Barbell curl: 105x5, 3, 4
Hammer curl: 50x4, 4
Preacher curl: 70x4, 4
Incline frenchpress: 70x8, 80x5, 5
V-bar pressdown: 80x8, 90x5
Reverse pressdown: 60x6, 5


July. 4th
Squat: 315x6, 330x6, 5
SLDL: 230x6, 6, 6, 8

[AJ010]

Impressive squat and curls. I bet you max the squat at over 375. :)

[thx10050]

Well, guys, another excellent start to the week. :) What more can I say, other than I'm damn happy. :) Definitely moving up the weight on these exercises next week.


July. 7th
Flat barbell bench: 220x6, 5, 4
Incline dumbbell: 80x5, 4, 4
Weighted dips: 30x6, 5, 4

[AJ010]

Originally posted by thx10050
Well, guys, another excellent start to the week. :) What more can I say, other than I'm damn happy. :) Definitely moving up the weight on these exercises next week.


July. 7th
Flat barbell bench: 220x6, 5, 4
Incline dumbbell: 80x5, 4, 4
Weighted dips: 30x6, 5, 4

Awesome job bro! I can see you repping 225 for 6 next week :)

Keep up the good work.

[BPP]

awesome bro :)
cant wait to see next weeks weights!!!!

[thx10050]

Thanks, guys. :) I think only you two are really reading this journal of mine, but I really appreciate the support. Thanks again. :)

[Fullback_45]

Looking strong bro. Id love to have your bench. I got 220 for 2 one time hehe. That dip is real nice. Killer on my collar bones. Keep it up. Hows your big 3 looking?

[AJ010]

Originally posted by thx10050
Thanks, guys. :) I think only you two are really reading this journal of mine, but I really appreciate the support. Thanks again. :)

Anytime man. :)

But, I'm sure a lot others are reading.....its just that a lotta ppl are too lazy to reply.

[BPP]

Originally posted by UnlimitedSteel
Anytime man. :)

But, I'm sure a lot others are reading.....its just that a lotta ppl are too lazy to reply.


hehe i think we all get that in our journals

[AJ010]

Originally posted by bigpoppaproppy
hehe i think we all get that in our journals

Yeah lol. Bump that.

[thx10050]

Originally posted by Fullback_45
Looking strong bro. Id love to have your bench. I got 220 for 2 one time hehe. That dip is real nice. Killer on my collar bones. Keep it up. Hows your big 3 looking?

Thanks for the comments, Fullback. :)

Well, the Big 2 are looking okay so far, I guess.... :) Could always be better though... :( I haven't deadlifted since the beginning of June, so I'm looking forward to seeing where I'm at in the fall.

[thx10050]

Healthy and BPP: Despite that, I'm still thanking you both all the same. :)

[BPP]

psh
I guess!?!/

your squats damn impressive!!

we just need a promotion to get ppl to post

post 5 get the 6th free or something :confused:

[AJ010]

Originally posted by thx10050
Healthy and BPP: Despite that, I'm still thanking you both all the same. :)

Anytime man. That's what im here for.

[thx10050]

Well, still going strong. :) Had a couple good workouts.

I lowered the weight on bentover rows on back day to work on my form for the first set, before upping the weight again by 5 lbs. Next week, I'll start off at 210 for my first set, then move on to 215. Side laterals for shoulders were kind of strange. I definitely started off too early on the 35s; needed to warm up my medial delts first. I lowered the weight back down to 30s, and then upped it again to 35s; that went much better. :) I was losing my grip on the shrugs, hence the loss of 1 rep for my 2nd and 3rd sets. No biggie though. :)

July. 8th
Lat Pulldown: 210x6, 6, 4
Bentover row: 205x7, 210x6, 5
T-bar row: 140x5, 4, 4

July. 9th
Dumbbell shoulder press: 75x5, 4, 4
Side lateral: 35x4, 30x6, 35x5
Back lateral: 30x6, 6, 6
Barbell shrug: 275x6, 5, 5

[Fullback_45]

Extremely nice BB row there. Then again everything is looking really strong. Do you love those DB Shoulder press's as much as I do?!?!?! I love those things.

[thx10050]

Thanks, Fullback, I appreciate the encouragement. :)

And yeah, I love military presses, whether they're barbell (standing or sitting) or dumbbell. :) They're my 2nd favorite compound exercise, the first being deadlifts.

[AJ010]

Thats a damn good row man. Keep up the great work.

[thx10050]

Well, this week ended solid, more or less.

Arm day was intense, but not as good as last week's, in my opinion. I think my biceps were still feeling it a bit from back day. Incline frenchpress was outstanding; I couldn't jump to 90 lbs on v-bar pressdown because of those presses. :) Legs went well, more or less. Went down a couple reps. Decided to replace legpress with front squats. Spent most of the time trying to get the hang of them, so I kept the weight low. Next week I'll try to go for the 4-6 reps I've been doing for Max-Ot. SLDLs went great.

July. 10th
Barbell curl: 105x5, 4, 4
Preacher curl: 70x3, 3, 3
Hammer curl: 45x5, 4
Incline frenchpress: 80x6, 6, 5
V-bar pressdown: 60x8, 70x7, 80x6
Reverse pressdown: 60x9, 80x7

July. 11th
Squats: 315x7, 330x5, 4
Front squats: 95x10, 105x8, 115x10
SLDL: 250x5, 5, 5

[AJ010]

Originally posted by thx10050
Well, this week ended solid, more or less.

Arm day was intense, but not as good as last week's, in my opinion. I think my biceps were still feeling it a bit from back day. Incline frenchpress was outstanding; I couldn't jump to 90 lbs on v-bar pressdown because of those presses. :) Legs went well, more or less. Went down a couple reps. Decided to replace legpress with front squats. Spent most of the time trying to get the hang of them, so I kept the weight low. Next week I'll try to go for the 4-6 reps I've been doing for Max-Ot. SLDLs went great.

July. 10th
Barbell curl: 105x5, 4, 4
Preacher curl: 70x3, 3, 3
Hammer curl: 45x5, 4
Incline frenchpress: 80x6, 6, 5
V-bar pressdown: 60x8, 70x7, 80x6
Reverse pressdown: 60x9, 80x7

July. 11th
Squats: 315x7, 330x5, 4
Front squats: 95x10, 105x8, 115x10
SLDL: 250x5, 5, 5

Damn, you repped 315 for squat like it was nothing. 330x5 is also very good. I'm very impressed man. SLDL is lookin great too, as well as your curls

[Fullback_45]

Arms are looking nice and strong bro. Your a beast when it comes to legs. Keep on pressing!

[BPP]

bump on the arms and squats! beastly numbers bro!!!!
keep it up
your doin gr8!

[thx10050]

Thanks, guys! :) I think I'm going to stay at 330 in squat for now, and get my form down better. I'll also try to add a rep to my 315 every week, even though I'm supposed to stay btw 4-6. ;)

[AJ010]

Originally posted by thx10050
Thanks, guys! :) I think I'm going to stay at 330 in squat for now, and get my form down better. I'll also try to add a rep to my 315 every week, even though I'm supposed to stay btw 4-6. ;)

Hey, I'm just curious. Do you have more reps in you on those 315lb squats? Or was 8 the limit at the time? Because thats pretty good man.

[thx10050]

To be honest, Healthy, I don't know. That's why I'm going to keep adding a rep to 315 until I reach about 9. :) I think I have more in me, just never tried before.

Well, chest day today started out strong. Just a great day. :) Still gotta work on getting the dumbbells into position on incline DB press. I use my legs and knees to get 'em up onto my chest and then just carefully move them into position from there. Still kinda weird sometimes, almost had to hammer curl them up a couple times in the past when they began to slip. ;)

I managed to get 4 reps on my last set of flat bench, but the trainer who was spotting me helped out a bit more than I would have liked on the last one, so I just said I got 3 solid reps.

Week 9.

July. 14th
Flat Benchpress: 225x5, 4, 3
Incline dumbbell: 85x4, 4, 3
Weighted dips: 35x4, 5, 4

[BPP]

very nice incline #'s bro

I know whatcha mean about position
I always have trouble gettin them in the right place until after rep 1

[AJ010]

Nice workout man. That incline is looking really good. Wow,I've only tried getting 30+ up for incline extensions, id probably see the problem with 80+!! :D Also, good luck adding reps to the 315 squat!

[thx10050]

And so it continues...and continues...etc... ;)

I've been stuck at 140 on T-bar for two weeks now, so I'm definitely going to up the weight by at least 5 lbs next week. My forearms and biceps always give out first on that v-grip, otherwise I think I could row a lot more. Ah well. :)

July. 15th
Lat Pulldown: 220x5, 4, 4
Bentover rows: 210x5, 215x6, 5
T-Bar row: 140x5, 4, 4

[BPP]

workouts are lookin solid bro

your doin great!

you gonna keep with the max-OT while your back at school?

[thx10050]

Thanks, BPP. :) I see that your PL program is coming along solid and steady as well. Keep it up.

As for Max-Ot, I'll probably drop it for first semester. Instead, I'll be using this basic abbreviated program that Fortified Iron helped me come up with.

Day 1
---------
Squat 3 x 4-6
Front squat 3 x 4-6
SLDL 3 x 4-6


Day 2
----------
BB/DB Bench Press 3 x 4-6
Military press 2 x 4-6
Weighted Dips 3 x 4-6
Skull Crushers 3 x 4-6


Day 3
------------
Deadlift 3 x 4-6
Weighted Chins 3 x 4-6
BB Rows 3 x 4-6
Barbell curls 3 x 4-6

[BPP]

thanks bro

and I expect great results from that new pogram as well
FI has helped many people with good results :cool:

[thx10050]

Yeah, I think it's a solid routine. It's geared towards strength too, with a low number of mostly compound exercises, low reps, and only a few sets per exercise.

[AJ010]

You'll do great on the abbereviated routine bro :)

[thx10050]

Thanks, Healthy. :)

Well, today was a solid shoulder day. Didn't really feel like doing traps though, so I just threw in a couple sets of DB shrugs to work on grip as well. Back laterals were great, really need to up the weight on them. Side laterals were good too, I'll start off at 35s next week. A good day. :)

July. 16th
Dumbbell shoulder press: 75x4, 4, 5
Side laterals: 30x8, 35x6, 4
Back laterals: 30x8, 7, 8
Dumbbell shrugs: 100x8, 8

[AJ010]

Even though you didnt want to do the shrugs, they looked good. I bet you had a lot more in you too.

[thx10050]

Thanks, Healthy. :)

Well, arm day and leg day today were rather disappointing, to say the least. My strength gains have definitely tapered off since I started Max-OT, though I attribute this to 5 days per week training since May, without a week off yet. I think my body is just becoming worn down from the 4 day per week cardio, 5 day lifting, and constant dieting. At any rate, next week will be my last week of heavy lifting, before a two week vacation with my g/f and her family. I'm actually looking forward to the rest. :) I'll still be doing cardio though, as much as I can, and I bought myself a 36 lb kettlebell (hoping to get more later on), so I'll be using that the 2nd week of the vacation.

Anyways, here are my dismal results:

July. 17th
Barbell curl: 105x5, 4, 3
Preacher curl: 70x3, 3, 2
Hammer curl: 45x5, 4
Incline frenchpress: 85x6, 5, 5
V-bar pressdown: 80x5, 4, 4
Reverse pressdown: 60x6, 5

July. 18th
Squats: 315x7, 325x5, 5
Front squats: 115x10, 125x8, 135x7
SLDL: 255x5, 5, 5

[BPP]

ah dnt worry about it bro
your body just needs a break!

enjoy the 2 weeks off, and youll come back and see big gains when ya get back to it! :cool:

[thx10050]

Well, this is my last week of heavy stuff for a while. I'm trying my best. :) Here's how chest day went. I'm sure I could have gotten more reps on the 225 for my 2nd and 3rd sets, but I was out of my groove, I guess. :) Same with incline dumbbell; I had a more difficult time than usual getting the DBs into position, and I think that threw me off somewhat... I'm really not this weak, honest! ;) Well, yeah, I am... Ah well. :)

Week 10.

July. 21st
Bench: 225x6, 4, 4
Incline Dumbbell: 85x4, 4, 3
Weighted dips: 35x6, 5, 4

[BPP]

make it a good week then :)

even thought you said it was a bad day, good workout still with respectable #'s!!

[Fullback_45]

Definetaley some respectable numbers, 225 is good weight, 14 times in a workout isnt bad by any means.

[AJ010]

Numbers are definately looking good. You gotta max that bench bro! :D Nice incline db press too :)

[thx10050]

Thanks for the encouragement, guys, I really appreciate it. :)

Anyways, today's back day was very good; I'm satisfied with the results. :)

July. 22nd
Lat pulldown: 220x6, 5, 4
Bentover row: 215x6, 220x6, 225x5
T-bar row: 145x5, 4, 5

[thx10050]

Well, this'll be my last journal entry for a month or so probably, so mods, if you want to delete this, you can; I'll just start up a new one for my abbreviated strength program for the fall.

I felt much weaker than normal when this week began and my body was definitely telling me it was time for a break by today. Still, despite all that, I managed to put up some solid weight, IMO. :)

Thanks to Fullback, Healthy, and BPP for your encouragement and support. :) I really appreciate it. You're all doing excellently in your own journals, and I know you guys'll do great. Talk to you all in about a month.

July. 23rd
Dumbbell shoulder press: 75x6, 5, 4
Side lateral: 35x5, 5, 5
Dumbbell shrugs: 100x10, 10, 10, 10

July. 24th
Barbell curl: 105x5, 3, 4
Preacher curl: 60x6, 65x4, 4
Hammer curl: 45x5, 4
Incline frenchpress: 90x5, 5, 5
V-bar pressdown: 70x5, 5, 5
Reverse pressdown: 60x6, 5

[AJ010]

Bro, definately nice workouts, despite how you felt. I hope you do well on your next routine. And i think you should keep this thread! As a reminder of everything that happened, and its fun to read back into.

See ya in a month :)

Peace

[BPP]

bump
great job
it was fun readin your journal and watchin the hard work put in

email me or mesage me or somethin when ya get down to purdue!
ill pm you my AIM, email, etc

cya in august :)