Arm_Wrestler's Workout Journal: "One MORE!!!"

[Arm_Wrestler]

Thursday: Back, Traps, Calves, Cardio!

BB Deadlift
225 x 10, 6
315 x 1, 2
225 x 12, 12, 12

DB Shrugs
95's x 15, 20, 15, 12, 12
65's x 20, 20, 20
80's x 20, 20, 20

Calves
10 sets x 12-20 reps

[Arm_Wrestler]

Friday: Rest

Saturday: Chest

BB Bench Press
295 x 5, 6

DB Incline Press
100's x 11, 10, 9 (PERSONAL RECORD; all 3 sets)

SUPERSET: DB Incline Press
100's x 6, 80's x 6, 60's x 6

DOUBLE SUPERSET: DB Incline Press w/ Flat Chest Flyes (This is 6 consecutive sets without a break)
Incline: 80's x 12, 70's x 10, 60's x 10
Flat: 50's x 12, 40's x 10, 30's x 10

SUPERSET Chest Flyes
50's x 10
40's x 10
30's x 10

Pec Deck
3 x 15, 12, failure

SUPERSET: Chest Press Machine
150 x 8
120 x 8
100 x 8

Chest Press Machine
130 x 10

Dips (BW only)
2 x 20

Hanging Leg Raises
10

Crunches
30

Leg Raises off Bench
110

Decline Sit-ups
50

Cardio
Ran of treadmill

*Intensity was extremely high. My original goal was to follow the same template I have been. I started out with 295 on the bench for a set of 5, then got a set of 6 (also a PR). I was planning on doing one more set at 295, dropping to 275 for a set, then doing 225 for 2 sets, but my spotter left, so I decided to change it up. It had been a while since I incorporated supersets in, and they were amazing. The incline DB Presses were the best they have ever been, but that was expected since I didn't torch my chest on the flat bench first. Ab work was good, but I am going to start taking that to a whole new level. Cardio was better than last time, but still pathetic. That '6 set superset' was absolutely killer. I attempted a dip immediately afterwards and could not do it. Somebody actually asked me with a very concerned look on their face as I was walking toward the dip bars, "Are you alright?" I thought that was kind of funny actually.

[fittofattofit]

Friday: Rest

Saturday: Chest

BB Bench Press
295 x 5, 6

DB Incline Press
100's x 11, 10, 9 (PERSONAL RECORD; all 3 sets)

SUPERSET: DB Incline Press
100's x 6, 80's x 6, 60's x 6

DOUBLE SUPERSET: DB Incline Press w/ Flat Chest Flyes (This is 6 consecutive sets without a break)
Incline: 80's x 12, 70's x 10, 60's x 10
Flat: 50's x 12, 40's x 10, 30's x 10

SUPERSET Chest Flyes
50's x 10
40's x 10
30's x 10

Pec Deck
3 x 15, 12, failure

SUPERSET: Chest Press Machine
150 x 8
120 x 8
100 x 8

Chest Press Machine
130 x 10

Dips (BW only)
2 x 20

Hanging Leg Raises
10

Crunches
30

Leg Raises off Bench
110

Decline Sit-ups
50

Cardio
Ran of treadmill

*Intensity was extremely high. My original goal was to follow the same template I have been. I started out with 295 on the bench for a set of 5, then got a set of 6 (also a PR). I was planning on doing one more set at 295, dropping to 275 for a set, then doing 225 for 2 sets, but my spotter left, so I decided to change it up. It had been a while since I incorporated supersets in, and they were amazing. The incline DB Presses were the best they have ever been, but that was expected since I didn't torch my chest on the flat bench first. Ab work was good, but I am going to start taking that to a whole new level. Cardio was better than last time, but still pathetic. That '6 set superset' was absolutely killer. I attempted a dip immediately afterwards and could not do it. Somebody actually asked me with a very concerned look on their face as I was walking toward the dip bars, "Are you alright?" I thought that was kind of funny actually.

Huge pressing session - great volume! BP max must be the mid-300s now
Chest must have been exploding with the pump!

[Arm_Wrestler]

Yea man, it was a lot of fun. Pump was good, It has now been about 30 hours since the workout, and my chest was hit very well. My max as of last week was 345. Hopefully by May 16th, I am up to 355. That gives me a little more than 2 months. I think that is reasonable.

[nwskier]

Tuesday: Back and Triceps

Lat pulldowns
245 x 8
270 x 6, 5, 4

Close Grip Bench Press
135 x 12
185 x 8
205 x 8
225 x 8
245 x 6
255 x 6
225 x 8, 8

damn, when did your lats get so strong? that is some serious lat pull work. are you doing those OH grip or UH grip? how wide?

CGBP has made some real headway too. 255x6 pretty much crushes my old 255x3 PR, lol

Great workout and intensity! New avi is sick, btw.

Saturday: Chest

BB Bench Press
295 x 5, 6

your progress on chest the past two months has been insane! (and inspiring)
I would not be surprised to see you hitting 4 plates in the next year

you still weighing around 160?

[Arm_Wrestler]

Thanks a lot man. My lats... I have no idea haha. I was just feeling like I had it so I went for it and it was there. Those were UH and about 12 inches apart... that is my strongest point. Even OH and all the way out, I am still well into the 200's, and that is straight up plates that I am lifting, not a machine, and no leverage advantage with the pulleys. The CGBP is okay, but I would like to get 275 some day for 5.

And the progress on the chest... It continues to surprise me. I currently weigh b/t 166 and 170 depending on when I weigh myself. That is making no effort to cut. I could easily make 160 if I wanted to. But yea, walking around at about 168 right now.

To get to 4 plates EVER would be... unfathomable at this point, but so was 225 at one point. I don't know. I am just going to keep aiming for my goal of 375 by the end of the year.

[VW_Haus]

This journal is great, I am going to try to take some things away from it and use it myself. Your work is intense.

[Armbender]

hey man..i noticed you stopped your journal.. any reason? you still armwrestling?

[Arm_Wrestler]

hey man..i noticed you stopped your journal.. any reason? you still armwrestling?

Hey man, thanks for asking. I got to being too busy to really update it, but I should start again. I am not armwrestling anymore, for several reasons. The good thing is, I like lifting just as much... the bad thing is, I like AW just as much haha. But, I have been injured basically since August. I had a pretty bad shoulder injury. Not sure how it happened, I just woke up one moring and it was killing me. It is a lot better now, but I had to lay off any real bench work, chest work, or shoulder work (I did some, but it was never intense enough for me) for about 4 months. Then, when I decided it was in good enough shape to start to go hard again, I got about a week and a half in of good workouts, only to injure my neck very badly. This occured 4 days before christmas, LEG PRESSING! What is up with that?


Anyhow, that virtually immobilized me for 2 weeks. I could not do anything (working out was a fantasy, driving a vehicle was a real feat of valor). I have just started, this past week to get back to doing what I can. I look back on the past year, and I have not had improvement in any area (muscle mass, strength, conditioning). That is in itself, very depressing. In fact,I have lost a little bit on where I was last year, also very discouraging. But, I am just playing the hand I was delt right now.

I am looking forward to getting past this and "getting after it." I have started to push hard again in most areas. Yesterday, I attempted shoulder shrugs for the first time since Dec. 21st. I used only a 25 lb plate on each side of the barbell (95 lbs), and I just worked on shrugging again, not building my traps, but just to try to add to the rehab. I started seeing a new Chiropractor yesterday (Saturday), and I got X-rays and thermal scans and all that stuff. He said he could fix it, which was encouraging. I am going back there tomorrow.

I will probably start posting again on here, not just for ppl who want to see it, but it helps me to stay disciplined and document how each workout went, what I did, and all that good stuff. I read through it some, and reminded myself of some pretty good stuff, as well as gained some motivation, knowing that the March 2011 me would outlift/outperform the January 2012 me in EVERY SINGLE AREA. That needs to change, and the greatest thing about it is the fact that the only person I need to count on is myself... that is a gift from God. The thing I love about fitness... I am solely responsible for improving one of the few things in this life that I would rate at "100" on a scale of value from 0 to 100... my body (and I don't mean that in an arrogant way, I just recognize that I only get one of them). What a priviledge.

[Arm_Wrestler]

This upcoming week, I will get some solid numbers, which will give me an indication of where I am on the basis of strength. I honestly do not know. I have an idea, but have not been able to max out on anything in quite sometime. But, predictions are fun...

Squat: 295 lbs
Bench: 285 lbs
Deadlift: 345 lbs

The following are hard (and sometimes stupid) to "max", so I will give failure sets
BB Curls: 135 x 12
BB Bent-Over Rows: 205 x 5
Shrugs: Will not atttempt at this point
Military Press: 85 x 5
CGBP: 255 x 4
Leg Press: 900 x 4

[Armbender]

This upcoming week, I will get some solid numbers, which will give me an indication of where I am on the basis of strength. I honestly do not know. I have an idea, but have not been able to max out on anything in quite sometime. But, predictions are fun...

Squat: 295 lbs
Bench: 285 lbs
Deadlift: 345 lbs

The following are hard (and sometimes stupid) to "max", so I will give failure sets
BB Curls: 135 x 12
BB Bent-Over Rows: 205 x 5
Shrugs: Will not atttempt at this point
Military Press: 85 x 5
CGBP: 255 x 4
Leg Press: 900 x 4

good luck on your recovery

[nwskier]

Welcome back bro, muscle memory will def kick in and help you get back into it faster than you think.

[Arm_Wrestler]

Thanks, to both of you guys. I appreciate it.

Workouts:

Monday: Back
BB Deadlift:
225 x 8
275 x 6
315 x 3
335 x 2
355 x 1
315 x 6

BB Bent Over Rows
135 x 8
185 x 6
205 x 6
185 x 7
155 x 12, 12
135 x 12

Single Arm DB Rows
90 lbs: 4 x 8

Lat Pulldowns (Machine)
150 x 8
170 x 8
150 x 8, 8, 8
120 x 8

DB Bent Over rows (both arms at same time)
45's x 12, 12, 12

Straight arm pulldowns
100 lbs x 12, 12, 12
120 x 8

Pull-ups (weighted)
BW + 25 lbs

5 sets x 7, 6, 6, 5, 5

*Good solid workout. I am ok with the BB deadlift and the Bent-over row was okay as well. Both are about to increase by a good amount though. I was shocked to see such low numbers on the lat pulldown and the weighted pullups, but a good workout. Intensity was good.

[Arm_Wrestler]

Tuesday: Shoulders

DB Military Press
85 x 5, 4 (PERSONAL BEST)
75 x 7, 6, 5
60 x 9

Smith Machine Military Press
(I will list poundage as if the bar was 45 lbs, which it is not, and I am well aware of that fact)
95 lbs x 8
115 lbs x 8
135 x 8
145 x 8
155 x 8
175 x 8
155 x 8
135 x 8

DB Front raises
25's x 12, 12, 12, 12

DB Lateral Raises
25's x 12, 12, 12, 12

DB lateral raises (with arm locked at 90 degrees)
SUPERSET
35 x 6, 30 x 6, 25 x 6, 20 x 6, 15 x 6

BB Front Raises
40 lbs x 12, 12, 12, 12

DB Bent-over Rear laterals
20's x 10, 10, 10

Rotator strength/injury prevention movements
15 minutes

*Good workout. Week smith machine military presses, and the lateral raises are not heavy either, but I don't try to go heavy with them. The DB presses were very good for me. Still a ways t ogo to be pressing 100's, but not far off, which surprised me. I try to add in some stuff to help stabilize the shoulders. I am trying to prevent another injury.

[Arm_Wrestler]

Wednesday: Rest

Thursday: Chest
BB Bench Press
275 x 6, 6, 3
225 x 9

DB Incline Press
85's x 7, 6, 5
80 x 6

DB Flat Press
80's x 7, 6, 6

DB Flyes (Flat)
40's x 8, 8
SUPERSET
50's x 8, 40's x 8, 30's x 8
Normal again:
50's x 6, 4

Dips (BW only)
30, 30, 20, 20

Push-ups
30, 30, 20

Abs:
Hanging Leg Raises
15, 15, 10, 8, 8

*I did not attempt a max, but based on the 275 x 6, that should place my max around 315 or so. I was not willing to try that. I probably won't max attempt until early March. That being said, I was satisfied with the rep count at 275, but more importantly, my shoulder felt fine doing it. The incline press was a little light, and the flat pressing was the only thing that bothered my shoulder. On a scale from 0 to 10, it was about a 3 on the flat DB press, but a 0 on every other movement.

[Arm_Wrestler]

Friday: Arms
Biceps:
BB Curl
135 x 11, 6, static hold
115 x 12, static hold
95 x 15, static hold

DB Hammer Curls
45 x 8, 8
50 x 8
40 x 12

EZ Bar Curls (Seated, with about 10 seconds rest b/t each set. Grip from outside, regular, to inside)
100 lbs x 7, 7, 7

DB regular curls
45 x 8, 8

Triceps:
Skull Crushers (These were actually superset'ed with BB curls)
70 lbs x 12
90 lbs x 12
100 lbs x 12, 10, 8
70 x 12

Cable Pressdowns (Rope)
20 reps, 15, 12, 8, 8, 12, 12

Cable Pressdowns (V-handle)
12, 8, 8

Single arm (DB) extensions
30 x 12, 12
25 x 12, 12

*Great workout... felt like my arms were going to explode. Very sore, biceps especially. My neck was able to hold up fine to this workout, and I pushed pretty hard, so that was a relief. That is the first hard bicep worout I have done in quite some time. Forearms were fatigued much more than normal, and my wirsts were in slightly more pain than normal (like a 3 on a scale from 0 to 10 (and pain tolerance is often greater while lifting)).

[Arm_Wrestler]

Saturday: Legs
BB Squat:
225 x 8
275 x 8
295 x 6
315 x 3
275 x 6

Leg Press
270 x 12
360 x 12
450 x 12
540 x 12
630 x 12, 8
270 x 30

Lunges onto a box 6 inches high (I love these)
135 x 12, 8, 8

Calve raises
6 sets of 20

*This leg workout was the best I have had in a LONG time. I felt stronger than I have in months, especially on the squat. I just felt very solid, expecially in my core (yea, core for squats). I could have set a PR probably. My best good squat was 335 x 2 reps I believe. To put it in perspective, last week (my first day to the new chiropractor) I attempted 275 and got 6 very hard reps, and they were not very clean. So, I dropped to 225 for a few sets of 8. This week, I went deep on all of them, and they felt good. I attribute some of that to the chiropractor, who seems to really be helping me out. Can't wait for next week.

[nwskier]

great workouts! doesn't seem like you've lost much pace from where you were at pre-injuries and are a in a good position strengthwise to make the gains back quickly. strong work on the DB pressing and 'grats on the PR! I remember delts being a lift you weren't happy with before - so def moving towards moving those hundos around.

[Arm_Wrestler]

I do not currently have the time to be posting in every workout, but I will keep updates on the lifts that matter to me. Particular lifts this week which were good:
BB Bench Press (with the chains included) 355 x 1 : that is 315 lbs raw weight... this was the first time I have actually attempted really heavy since my injury, and my shoulder held up. It wasn't a PR, but it was 10 lbs shy.

BB Bent Over Row: 225 for 2 sets of 8, after deadlifts where I went to 355 lbs x 2. That was the heaviest I have ever rowed for that many reps, twice. I think my high before was 6 reps at 225. My rows are, like my bench, since coming back to lifting hard a month ago, are both just exploding.

Squats: 315 x 6, which was a personal best, and that was after 275 x 8.

BB curls... still stuck around 135 x 10, but form is getting stricter.

That is about it I guess. Staying injury free so far (thank God), and enjoying lifting. I only got in 4 times this past week, but I think the extra day rest will do me well.

[Arm_Wrestler]

Squat: 315 x 8 (PERSONAL BEST)
BB Bent-Over Row: 245 x 6, 225 x 10
Bench Press: 275 x 8, 8, 7
*Right shoulder slightly tweaked, but doesn't seem to be an issue, and more importantly, does not feel like it is a recurrance of the previous injury.

[Arm_Wrestler]

Flat Bench Press: 335 + chains, which add about 40 lbs. So, around a 375lb press. Raw weight should be about 20 lbs less, so around 355. I have not tried it yet, but I will get an official max within a month.

[themrpanda]

fuarking cool