Mike's Transformation Into a Light bulb

[-MF-]

The reason for the title is I have a torn ACL, and can only do upper body work. The surgery will be January 12th. Until it is repaired, my goal is to look like a light bulb. As of right now, I am scheduled to be back to normal on July 12th.

Current Stats:
16 yrs. old
5'10
184 lbs.

Bench: 240ish
Squat: 0
Deadlift: 0

12/30/08
Chest/Shoulders/Tris

PR Attempt
135X8
185X5
205X2
250X1 (Miss)

Partial Bench Reps (Halfway up)
135X8
185X6
185X5
185X5

Incline Bench
115X8
135X6
135X6
135X8

Military Press
95X8
95X8
95X8

Lateral Raises
10X10
10X10
10X10

Skullcrushers
55X8
65X8
65X6
65X5

Pull Ups (Just wanted to see if I could hold weight between my legs with the ACL)
BWX8
20X6

Notes
-I feel extremely weak. It has been about 6 months since I have lifted seriously because of the football season.

[-MF-]

1/1/09
Back/Traps/Bi's

Pull Ups
BW 2X8
20 lbs added 2X6

Reverse Grip Rows
95 1X8
105 3X8

Reverse Grip Lat Pull Down
112.5 1X10
125 2X8
150 1X6

Face Pulls
75 3X10

Shrugs
60's 1X10
90's 3X8

EZ Bar Curl
50 1X10
60 1X8

-Notes
Felt much better than Tuesday. I still cannot believe how much weaker I have gotten since the start of the football season.

[-MF-]

1/5/09
Chest/Shoulders/Tri's

Incline Barbell Bench
135X5
155X4
175X3
195X2
205X1

Flat Dumbbell Bench
60'sX12
60'sX10
60'sX8

Arnold Presses
50'sX10
55'sX8
60'sX6
60'sX5

Lateral Dumbbell Raises
10X10
15X10
20X10
20X8

Dips
BW 3XFailure

Tricep Pushdowns
60X10
70 3X8

-Notes
Felt pretty good today, other than dips. I was doing weighted dips before the season, not anymore.

[-MF-]

Monday was my first day lifting since the surgery. My lifts have dropped, which was expected, but not as much as I thought they would. I did a max effort on bench then just tested myself throughout the rest of the workout. I am still sore even though I didn't do much.

Test Day
2/16/09

Flat BB Bench
135X8
185X3
185X3
225X1
225X1
225X1 (Miss)

Incline BB Bench
135X5
140X5
150X5
155X5
150X5

Arnold Presses DB
3 Sets 30'sX8-10 (It varied)

Lateral Raises DB
4 Sets 10'sX10

Skullcrushers
2 Sets 55X10

Pull-Ups
3 Sets To Failure
Alternating Grip

[-MF-]

Yesterday we had an ABC meet at Deb's Gym. There is a lot of strongman type equipment such as tires, atlas stones, and farmer's walk bars. Sadly, I was unable to do any of that because of my knee, so I did yet another upper body day.

2/21/09
Heavy Pull/Light Push

Flat BB Bench
135X8
3 Sets 185X4
2 Sets 95 With Chains X Failure
2 Sets Bar with Bands X Failure

Pull-ups
4 Sets X Failure

Machine Rows
I don't know how much weight was on there.
4X10

Lat Pulldown
Once again, no idea how much weight.
4X10

Seated Military Press
40 2X10

EZ Bar Curls
45 3X10

Shrugs
55 1X10
75 1X10

I am still testing my body to see how much strength I've lost, so my program isn't really designed yet. I just try to hit each muscle group twice a week.

[-MF-]

2/26/09
Upper

Thursday was my first day lifting in class, so I only had 50 minutes and had to fly through my workout.

Flat BB Bench
135X10
3 Sets 185X3

Incline DB Press
40s 3X10

Front & Lateral Raises
10s 2X10

Arnold Presses
30s 3X10

Pull Ups
2 Sets BWX10

Skull Crushers
2 Sets 45X10
55X8 (Followed by close grip to failure)

EZ Bar Curls
3 Sets 45X10

[-MF-]

Monday 3/2/09

Chest/Tri's/Shoulders Once again

Flat BB Bench
135X10
175X5
185X3
195X1 (Miss)
175X3
175X5
155X8 (Only got 5)

Pull Ups
3X8 BW

Incline BB Bench
115X7
115X5

DB Military Press
30sX10
35sX8
40sX6

Front/Lateral Raises
3 Sets 10 lb DbsX10

Pushdowns
4X7 Plates (Don't know how much weight)

I still cannot get over the fact of how much strength I've lost. It's frustrating to say the least.

[Bigdonut]

How did your bench drop from 225 in 2/22 to less than 195 now?

[-MF-]

How did your bench drop from 225 in 2/22 to less than 195 now?

It isn't less than 195. I just had a bad day. 225 is the highest I've gotten since the surgery.

[-MF-]

3/5/09

Back/Bi's

Pull-Ups
4 Sets BWX10 (Failure on the last set)

One Arm DB Rows
50 1X10
60 1X10
70 2X8
80 1X4

Lat Pulldown
100X10
112.5X10
125X8
100X10

Shrugs
70s 4X10

EZ Bar Curls
45X10
55X10
55X10
55X8

[-MF-]

3/10/09
Chest/Tri's/Shoulders

Flat DB Bench
55X10
65X8
75X9
90X4(Spotter help on last two)(PR)

Incline DB Bench
40X10
3 Sets 50X8

Military Press
65X10
85X10

Supersetted Front/Lateral/Overhead Raises
All with 10s
Till failure on each exercise

Skullcrushers
45X10
65X6
55X8 (Followed by close grip to failure, got 6)

Pushdowns
6 PlatesX10
8 PlatesX6
7 PlatesX8

[-MF-]

I decided not to keep up with my log until my knee got better because as much fun as it would be to keep a log of doing bench every day, I would rather not. This past Monday was 5 months since the surgery and the mark at which I was allowed to return to heavy lower lifting provided I was wearing my knee brace.

6/4/09
First day lifting heavy lower since knee injury

Deadlift
135X10
225X8
315X5
315X5
315X5
315X5
315X4

Form was not superb, but it got the job done. After this, I had no energy left so I just did some lighter stuff and stretching.

Pull-Ups
BWX8 Neutral Grip
BWX8 Wide Grip

Calf Raises
4 Sets of however much weight I could stack on the leg press to failure.

Afterwards my knee felt fine; my legs and back, not so much. It's good to be back lifting heavy again.

[-MF-]

6/7/09
Upper

Incline DB Press
70'sX10
80'sX8
90'sX5
I was going to do 100's but couldn't get anyone to help me get them off my knees.

Flat BB Bench
185X8
185X8

Cable Flyes
2 Sets 20X12

Pull-ups BW
2X8

Seated BB Press
95X10
115X8
135X8
135X8

Front Raises
20X8
20X8
25X8

Lateral Raises
15X8
20X8
20X8

T-Bar Rows
45X10
85X10

Machine Rows
100X8
120X8

Skullcrushers
75X8
95X6

Dips BW
2X8

[-MF-]

6/9/09
Legs

Squats
BWX10
135X10
185X8
225X5
235X5
245X5
245X5
245X5

Pull-Threws
Don't know how much weight
3X8

Leg Press
Don't know how much weight
3X10

Because this was the first day doing legs since the injury, I was pretty much done after squats so I just took it easy.

[-MF-]

6/10/09
Back/Bi's

Pull-Ups
3X10 alternating grip each set to warm up.
3XFailure with 30 lb DB

BB Rows
135X5
135X5

DB Rows
90'sX6
90'sX6

Lat Pulldown
Wide Grip
165X8
165X8
Reverse Grip
200X5
212X4

Hyperextensions
Holding a 25 lb plate
3X12

EZ Bar Curls
75X10
95X7
95X6
75X8

[-MF-]

6/11/09
Chest/Shoulders/Tri's

BB Bench
135X10
185X8
225X5
215X5
215X5
215X5
225XFailure

DB Incline
70'sX9
70'sX7
70'sX6
70'sX6

Seated DB Press
50X10
55X8
55X6
55X6

Military Press (I was already fatigued at this point so the weight wasn't much)
75X8
65X8
65X8 Drop Set 45XFailure

Front/Lateral Raises
F:20X8 L:20X8
F:25X8 L:20X8
F:25X10 L:15XFailure Drop set 10XFailure

Skullcrushers W/ EZ Bar
75X8
75X7
75X6
75X6 Followed by close grip to failure

Pushdowns
Don't know how much weight; just wanted to finish with a nice pump.
2 Multiple drops sets to failure

[-MF-]

6/15/09
Legs

Tire Flips
Don't know how much weight or how many reps. I just flipped them till I couldn't anymore. There are pictures in my photo gallery if you would like to see the size of the tires.

Keystones
135 4X8

Leg Press
Don't know how much weight; there was 6 45's and 2 25's on the machine.
4X10

Bulgarian Split Squats (2 Rubber 45's stacked on top of each other)
Plates behind me 95X8
Plates in front of me 95X8

Calf Raises
2 Sets of feet facing in, out and straightX25 reps each way

[-MF-]

7/20
Upper Body Day

DB Bench
90'sX12
90'sX10
90'sX8
80'sX13

BW Pull-ups Supersetted W/ Single Arm Reverse Cable Flyes
4X8 for both; Flyes has 2 plates on the machine, I don't know how much weight it was.

Military Press
95X10
115X8
95X12
105X12

DB Shrugs Supersetted W/ Incline DB Curls
80's 3X10-12 on Shrugs
30's 3X8 for Incline DB

BB Holds (Just put a bunch of weight on the BB and hold it as long as you can)
225X30 sec
275X20 sec
275X25 sec

[-MF-]

7/21
Legs

Squats
135X10
185X5
225X5
275X1
300X1
315X1 (PR)
340X1 (PR)

Pull-Threws
40 2X8

Bulgarian Split Squats
95 2X8

Leg Press
6 Plates on each side 4X8

Calf Raises
I don't know how much weight it was, 2XFailure

[-MF-]

8/14/09
Legs

Back Squats
135X10
225X8
275X5
315X3
325X3
325X3
335X2

Bulgarian Split Squats
135 2X8

Reverse Hyperextensions
BW 2X12

Ab Wheel on Knees (I never realized how difficult these things were)
BW 2X10

[-MF-]

8/29/09
Max Effort Legs

Squats
135X8
225X5
275X2
315X1
365X1 (PR)
385X1 (PR)
405X0

Split squats
70 Lb. Db's 2X8

Hyperextensions
BWX2X12

[-MF-]

9/11/09

Deadlift
135X10
225X5
315X3
415X2 (PR)
435X0
435X0

Hyperextensions holding a 25 lb. plate.
4X15

[-MF-]

9/14/09

Upper

Flat BB Bench
135X10
185X5
225X3
255X2
255X2
255X2

Pull-Ups BW
3X Max Reps

Supine Rows Supersetted W/ Cable Reverse Flyes
Rows 4XBWX10
Flyes 4X20X8

Shrugs
100'sX10
100'sX10

EZ Bar Curls
75X8
115X6
115X7

[-MF-]

9/21/09

Upper

BB Incline
135X8
175X5
205X4
205X3
205X3
205X4

Flat DB Press
85'sX11
85'sX9

DB Rows
100X5
100X5
100X5

Supersetted With:

Face Pulls
60X12
70X10
80X10

Db Shrugs
100X10
100X10

Preacher Curls
95X8
95X8
95X8

[-MF-]

10/5/09

Upper

DB Incline
30X10
60x10
100X5 (PR)
100X5
100X3

Cable Flyes
20X12
30X12
40X10
40X10

Cable Rows
160X8
160X8
160X8

Face Pulls
60X12
90X10
90X10

Shrugs
50X10
100X8
100X8

EZ Bar Curls
75X12
100X10
115X8
115X8

[-MF-]

10/6/09

Dynamic Lower

Power Cleans
135X5
185X3
225X1
250X1 (PR)

Bulgarian Split Squats Holding DBs
80'sX8 (Front foot elevated one block)
80'sX8 (Front foot two blocks)
80'sX8 (Front foot two blocks)

Hyperextensions
BWX12
BW+25X12
BW+45X12

Ab Wheel
3X8

[-MF-]

10/7/09

Upper Repetition

Speed Bench
135X8X2 30 secs rest between sets

Pull-Ups Supersetted with Single Handed Reverse Cable Flyes
BWx15 20X12
BWX12 25X10
BWX8 25X8

Military Press
95X12
135X10
155X8
135X10

Not much today, I'm still tired from lifting the last two days.

[-MF-]

10/21/09

Upper

Flat BB Bench
135X5
185X3
225X1
275X1 (PR)
290X0 (I had it, but caught a butt cramp about halfway up)

DB Incline
65X20
65X15
65X12

Pull Ups (2 Sec Dead Hang in between each rep)
2X8XBW

DB Rows
4X8X90

EZ Bar Curls
2X5X115

[-MF-]

11/10/09

Upper

BB Bench
135X10
185X5

3 Board Bench
225X5
275X5
295X3
315X1
315X1
315X1
275X5

After this, I was spent.

Pull-Ups
BWX12
BWX12

DB Rows
90X10
90X10

Supersetted with Face Pulls
6 PlatesX12
6 PlatesX12

BB Curls
95X8
95X10

[-MF-]

11/16/09

Upper

DB Incline
35X10
70X8
90X6
95X5
95X5
95X4

Chin Ups
BWX13
BWX20

Cable Rows
160X8
160X8
160X8

EZ Bar Curls
105X8
105X8
105X8