Got Wood? Woody's Lifting Journal

[Woody-5]

Bonjour mates!
I just finished up about a 2.5 month stint of Starting Strength (my old journal- http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showth...hp?t=125933623)
Gained some mass (started just over 160 lbs, now sitting at 177) and some strength. Heavy squats 3x a week were starting to kill me (already reset them twice) plus the same few exercises were getting a bit stale, so I was interested in breaking up the full body workout into 2 separate workouts and hit them both twice a week.

I've settled on a routine quite like a few of the ones in the "Routines and Advice" sticky, hitting chest, shoulders and triceps in one workout and legs, back and biceps in the other. As this is my first week, we'll see what exercises I settle on once I try it out for a bit. some of my exercises that I haven't done in a long time (bent over rows etc) I'm starting with low weight on to work my way back up.

I'm on a bulking diet of 4000 calories a day (which nets me about 1 lb per week- yeah, fast metabolism for almost 31 years old!) I don't take much for supplements, just ON Whey protein, fish & flax oil, creatine mono and a multi vitamin.

I workout at home in the basement. i've got a marcy pro bench, a powerline power rack and a powerline pulldown machine. screw your fancy well lit gyms, I like mine, it's dark, it's cold and it's dirty!

Tuesday's 8-24 workout was-
Overhead press- 110 lbs 3x5 new PR, I failed on 110 on SS (then hurt my shoulder and never quite got back up to attempt it again)
rear lateral raises- 20 lb dumbells 3x6
flat bench- 55 lb dumbells- 3x10
incline bench- 45 lb dumbells 3x10
trciep pushdowns- 50 3 x8

Thursday's 8-26 workout was-
Squats (light squats since it's deadlift day) 160 3x5
bent over row- 110 3x5
calf raises- 210 3x12
deadlift- ramping up to 1x5- 270 (new PR)
Alt dumbell curl- 30 lb 12-12-10

Cheers!

[Woody-5]

Saturday 8-28 workout-
Bench press to start things off- 170 lbs 3x5 Accomplished this feat! I tried 170 on SS once and failed on the last rep of my last set (with no spotter). Yet again, I was back to attempting 170 with no spotter yet again. Got all the reps no problem this time
flies- 30lb DBs 3x10
Arnold presses- 30lb DBs 10-10-8 Never done these before- they give you a helluva burn in your shoulders!
Close grip bench- 125 3x5 Could probably do quite a bit more weight with this one, but I'm started to get burned out after the regular bench and shoulder presses
side laterals- 15 lb DBs 3x10 to finish off the workout. Luckily the iphone which was playing some jams on shuffle spit out the Hulk Hogan theme song to help me power through the last couple sets.

Good workout today! Looking forward to getting under the squat bar tomorrow! Cheers!

[Woody-5]

Sunday 8-29-
Squats- 200lbs 3x5 These felt ok. Trying hard not to lean forward at all. I did on the 2nd rep of my 2nd set pretty bad, but the rest of the reps were ok.
Bent over DB row- 45lb DB 3x10 Haven't done these in forever so I started light. I actually like these better than bent over BB rows.
Calf raises- 215 3x12
Pullups- 6,4,4 I struggle to bust out 6 on the first set then barely make 4 on the last two. Hopefully this will improve!
SLDL- never done these before so I started hella light 75lbs 3x10 Should have no problem jumping these 10-15 lbs per workout for awhile
EZ bar curls- 85 lbs 3x5 Everytime I do BB curls with the straight bar, once there's any weight on the bar, I get forearm pain. Doesn't seem to happen with the EZ bar so I'll stick with that for now.

Good workout! kinda light for most of it due to new exercises and low starting weights, but I'm sure once they get heavy it'll be a lot tougher! Here's to a fine rest of the weekend! Prost!

[Woody-5]

This morning's weigh in was 177 lbs- same as last week. No idea why I didn't increase. My cals are still at 4000. I'm not gonna sweat it, a few weeks ago I was on a steady gain of 1-1.5lbs every week, then one week I lost 1.5 lbs. The next week I was right back on track. probably water weight fluctuations or something.
And in case it isn't changes in water weight, I had a double cheeseburger for lunch and I'll be grilling up a nice steak for dinner!
No workout tonight, but tomorrow I'll be hitting it. Sucks that its hot and humid all week long. it's gonna make the after work sessions brutal. I'm ready for fall!
Cheers!

[Woody-5]

Yesterday afternoon's workout (8-31)- It was hot as hell and even worse, humid! Made more a miserable workout, I really had to push myself to get through it. With a lot of the DB exercises, I plan on adding a rep every week until I can handle the 10lb jump it adds to the presses, but due to the heat I couldn't quite handle it this session. I also took shorter rests today, so maybe that counts for added intensity. Supersetted the last two exercises to finish up quicker.

Overhead Press- 112.75lbs (my microloading solution doesn't hit an exact 2.5 lbs) 3x5 New PR!
Flat Bench DB press- 55lb dumbells 11-11-10
Incline bench DB press- 45lb dumbells 10-10-10
Side lateral raises 15lb DB- 3x10 (supersetted with)-
tricep pushdowns- 50lbs 10-10-8

Was hoping to push things a little harder today, but the heat took away my motivation after the first 20 minutes of lifting. I'm happy as hell about the new PR on the OHP though! The shortened rest periods made me feel like I did something over last week's Tuesday workout even without upping the weight everywhere.
Cheers!

[Woody-5]

Freakin' hot today again! massive heatwave all week, crazy humidity and all. It's making it hard to push through the workouts! Nevertheless, I powered through. Actually, once I got started it wasn't too bad.

Squats (80% of my heavy sets on Sunday)- 165 lbs 3x5 Easy as hell. Hard to believe that back on July 8th, 165 was all I could manage for 3x5 (with awful depth & form as well) Now it's a cake walk
Bent over barbell row- 115 3x5 These are feeling better now that I'm starting to get weight on the bar. with the lighter weights the past few workouts, it felt like it was all arms. Feel it in my back now!
Deadlift- ramped up to what was going to be my workset of 275, ripped two reps, then loaded the bar to 300 and did one rep. Wasn't too bad either. Don't get me wrong, it was heavy, but I didn't have to kill myself to lift it. I'd have tried more, but 300 is all the weights that I have. Time to invest in another pair of 45s
Alt DB curl- 35lb DBs 3x10
One set of chin ups- 4 reps (gased from the workout so I didn't push for more sets). I've been randomly doing sets of 3 or 4 chin ups this week when I'm downstairs.

Good workout! Can't wait for saturday when the heatwave is over so it's a litlte more comfortable. So Until next time!

[Woody-5]

Saturday 9-4- The heatwave has passed! It made the workout a ton more enjoyable!

Bench- Once again, going for a PR on the bench with no spotter. Maybe I've been spending too much time reading about Germinator's "Fear based bodybuilding", I dunno.
172.75 lbs (my microloading tools won't allow me to get an even 2.5 lbs, so 2.75 will have to suffice) hit 3x5 on these, although I had to really force the last two of the final set up. Good thing the kids were upstairs so they didn't hear me motivating myself (Get it up you p*ssy!) I'm glad I decided to microload instead of going for 175 (which I considered) I have a feeling that would have been a failure!
Butterflies- 35lb DBs - 3x10
Arnold presses- 30lb DBs- 3x10 I'll probably do the 30s next time to, the last two reps on the final set were a tad ugly
Close grip bench- did 1 set of 5 reps at 125lbs, then looked at my notebook and realized I was suppose to be doing 130, so I bumped the bar to 130 and did 3x5 with that.
side laterals- 20 lb DBs 3x6
I kept the rest periods short (1.5-2 min) for everything except the bench where I rested 4-5 minutes since I was attempting the big PR.

[Woody-5]

Sunday 9-5- Big day today, I turned 31! And what better way to start my birthday than with heavy squats!

squats- 205 lbs 3x5 Tried 205 once before on SS, and although I got all the reps, they were ugly! all kinds of wobbling, bending, leaning.... no good! These were heavy as hell, but nice smooth form, minimal leaning forward. Quite happy with them!

bent over DB row 50 lb DB- 3x10
supersetted with-
calf raised- 220 lbs- 12-12-10

Chinups- 4-4-4
supersetted with-
SLDL- 85lbs 3x10 still can go a lot heavier on these, I'll add another 10 next time

EZ bar curls- 90 lbs 5-5-6

Great workout both days this weekend! Off day tomorrow to enjoy the holiday! Cheers!

[Woody-5]

Weigh in this morning at 177.5 lbs. After slow (or no weight gain) the past few weeks, I've upped my calories to about 4200 a day and actually squeezed out a 1/2 a pound gain. I'll see how the weight is next monday and then decide if I need to bump it to 4500 a day. At this rate, it's going to make my end of the year goal of 190+ tough to reach!

[Woody-5]

Tuesday's workout- Was on my way home from work, ready to go kill it in my gym, but when I got home we had company so I got delayed for a bit. Decided I'd do an abbreviated workout, but then ended up having time for everything, just did stuff out of order.

Overhead press- 115 3-4-3 Holy heavy! New PR though, even though I didn't get the 5 reps that I wanted. Next week!

Inlcine bench- I'd been doing this with DBs but I used the bar today. wasn't sure what weight so I ramped up and ended up doing 125 for 3 sets of 5

Side laterals - 20lb DBs 7-7-7
supersetted with-
Tricep pushdowns- 50lbs 10-10-10

Flat DB bench- 55 lb DBs- 8-10-10 Usually do these before incline, laterals and pushdowns when I have more gas, hence why I didn't get the 12 reps I wanted. I'm happy that I fit them in though.

Been eating like a fiend today. Haven't even tallied my calories yet, but I'm sure it's near 5000. I'm gonna break 180 soon, damn it!

[Woody-5]

Thursday 9-9-

started off with some light squats- 170lbs 5-5-5 nice smooth, steady reps

bent over barbell rows- 120lbs 5-5-5 these are getting kinda heavy. I'll shoot for another 5lb increase next week though

one leg calf raises- 70 lb dumbell 12-10-10

Chin ups 4-4-5

deadlift- no working up to one heavy rep like last week (namely because last week I did 300 and that was all of my plates!) I did one set of 5 reps at 280. Felt my grip on the left hand slip a little on the last rep right when I was locking it out. Didn't loose it though! I need to get another pair of 45s soon.

Alternating DB curls- 35lb dumbells 10-10-11 (lost count on the last set, thought I had 10 reps, but I wanted to make sure so I did one more)

Good workout. A little disappointed that I don't seem to be making any ground with getting more reps doing chinups, but maybe it would be different if I did them earlier in the session.

As a side note- Bodybuilding.com was kind enough to give me 10% off an order for my birthday so tomorrow I'm expecting a fed ex package with a bottle of Activate Xtreme that I'm gonna try out. Most of the reviews from guys my age seem to dig it, so I figured why not. If it doesn't work, then I'm only out a little cash.

[Woody-5]

My package arrived on time today. My "free gift" was a bodyfat caliper. According to that, I'm 15% bodyfat. No idea the accuracy on that since I've never used one, so I'm sure there's a few % margin of error.
I took my first dose of activate xtreme, so we'll see how that performs for me.

[Woody-5]

Saturday's workout-

Bench- getting bored with 3 sets of 5 at the same weight so I messed around a bit today. Probably go back to the normal 3x5 next wek
(after warmups)- 175 1 set of 5, 180 1 set of 3, 185 1 set of 2, 155 1 set of 10
I had strength to go for 1 (maybe 2) more reps with 185, but I had no spotter and my arm wobbled a bit on the 2nd rep, so I played it safe and called it good at 2.

Incline bench- 50 lb DBs- 10-10-10

Arnold Presses- 35lb DBs- 8-8-8

Close grip bench- 135lbs- 5-5-5

Butterflies- 40lb DBs- 7-7-6

Side Laterals- 20lb DBs 7-7-7

Good workout! It was great to put up more than my body weight on the bench for more than one rep! Now to hit the showers and get rested up for squats tomorrow morning. Cheers!

[Woody-5]

new gold's gym shirt that the missus got me for me B-day last weekend.

[Woody-5]

Sunday morning workout-
Woke up and wasn't really feeling it, so I went and did the grocery shopping and by the time I got home I was ready to kill it

Squats- 210 3x5 New PR, and wasn't too hard. I kept solid form, minimal leaning forward, good depth. the last 2 or 3 reps on the final set were all that I really struggled with

bent over DB rows- 55lb DB 10-10-10 nothing special here. bump it to 60 next time
Calf raises- 220 12-12-12
SLDL- 95 10-10-10 still easy. maybe I should be bumping it 15 pounds per week
chin ups- 4-4-4 seriously, I can't get any better than 4 per set
Hammer curls- 35lb DB 10-9-8
curling with a straight bar was giving me forearm pain, so I switched to the EZ curl bar which was fine, but once I got 85+ lbs on it, the pain came back. I'm gonna stick with dumbell curls for awhile and see how that is.
Now it's almost kickoff time! Cheers!

[Woody-5]

Weigh in this morning at 180 lbs even. Dunno what's with the fluctations.... water weight, bathroom scale sucks... lord knows. Seems like the weight that I should have been gaining the past two weeks caught up with me all at once.

Due to a strange schedule this week (and the fact that I've got the day off from work wednesday) I'm going to shift Tuesday night's workout to Wednesday morning when I'm fresher. So until then!

[Woody-5]

I F'kin killed it today! dunno what it is- the fact that I'm off from work until monday, the two days off that I took. I've been on activate xtreme for less than a week, so I'm pretty sure that wouldn't be doing anything. Maybe it's the mindset of stepping on the scale Monday and seeing 180 for the first time in my life, or the compliments I've been getting a lot of this week about not being such a skinny bastard anymore. Whatever the reason, it was a great workout!

Overhead press- 115lbs This killed me last week, only got 3-4-3 reps. Busted out 5-5-5 like nothing today. probably could have done more.

Incline bench- I said f the 5lbs increase and bumped it to 135 and did 5-5-5 like nothing. Could easily have done another 10 lbs.

Flat DB Bench- 60lb DBs- 8-8-8 No problems here either. Although 60 is all I can get on my dumbells with my current weights, so I'm gonna have to start adding reps instead of weight until I can get some more plates

Side laterals- 20 lbs 10-8-8 It's so easy to cheat with these, so I'll wait until I can get 10-12 real smooth, clean reps before I bump the weight anymore

Tricep pushdowns- 55lbs plate weight (no idea how much the head on my pulldown machine weighs- it's definitely got some resistance with no plates on it though!) 10-10-10 great tricep pump with these

behind the back wrist curls- never done these, so I started light- 45lbs 12 50 lbs 12 55 lbs 12
wanted to specifically add a forearm exercise to my routine. I have some dumbells upstairs that I'll do wrist curls on, but I always forget.

I need to go shopping! My gym needs some more equipment! I need to get some more 10lb plates (1" hole) for my dumbells, I need to get another pair of 45s (2" hole) for my barbell, I need to get a basic bench that's small enough to fit inside my powerrack for when I don't have a spotter, and I still want to add a stationary bike down there for warmups so I don't have to roll out the wife's treadmill all the time.

Killer workout today, and I hope tomorrow's goes just as good! Love seeing those numbers rise! Cheers mates!

[Woody-5]

Thursday 9-16-10-
Feeling great again this morning. Supposed to be a "light" squat day, but I didn't care for that.
squats- (was going to be 3x5 at 170lbs which is 80% of my workset on heavy day) did 170 1x5, then went to 215, 1x3, then 225 2x3. Felt great (although heavy!)

Bent over BB rows- 125 3x5
one leg calf raises- 60lb DB 3x12
chin ups- 5-5-5 finally some progress over my 3 sets of 4!
deadlifts- 135x 5, 185x3, 240x2, 285x3, 300x1
alt DB curls- 40lb DB- 8-7-6

Good workout! got a little distracted, my iphone was logged into AOL and an old buddy of mine that I haven't seen in years messaged me, so I was talking to him in between my last few sets.
Also- I found a sweet deal on a new pair of 45s- $78 bucks for 2, delivered to my door! those should be here soon

[Woody-5]

Suppose to be an off day, but no work today, the wife is at a class until tonight, my oldest is at school and my youngest is in front of the TV so I figured I'd do some abs and forearms (which I always forget to add to my normal workouts) Short workout, but it was nice to do something
weighted situps- 45lb plate- 20-20-20
behind the back wrist curls- 60 lbs- 12 65lbs- 15 70lbs- 15
leg raises- 12-12-12
reverse wrist curls (arms lying on preacher pad) 30lbs-12 35lbs-12 40lbs-12

[Woody-5]

I just realized that I didn't post yesterday's workout! Apologies to my loyal followers!
saturday 9/18- was a decent workout, however I had a few things to do in the morning so it took away a little of my energy that I had built up for the workout

flat bench- 177.75lbs 5-5-5 the missus had the day off, so I actually had a spotter! The first set was good, but the last rep on the last two sets was tough. both times she was just about to grab the bar but I called upon my inner rage and locked both of them out before she could jump in.

Incline bench- 55lb DBs- 10-10-10- nothing of note here
butterflies- 40lb DBs- 6-6-6
Arnold press- 35lb DBs- 10-10-8
Close grip bench- 140lbs 6-6-5 FAILED on the last rep (and of course my spotter had gone back upstairs so I had to roll it off of myself) No big deal- nothing hurt but my pride.
side laterals- 20lb DBs 8-8-7

+2.75lbs on the bench, so I was happy!

[Woody-5]

Sunday 9-19- Not the best workout, but my pre workout nutrition was terrible- I'm not too hungry when I get up, so I usually have a shake with whole milk, oats etc then have a banana and a lighter shake before I workout. I wanted to get my workout in before football starts, so I went down to lift not long after my morning breakfast shake which was sitting like a lump in my gut the whole time. Nothing like that "I'm gonna puke" feeling at the end of every set. I toughed it out though

Squats- I was going to do 215 3x5 today, but after doing 225 for 2 sets of 3 thursday, I decided to be a cowboy and go for 220 3x5. I handled it, but it was tough (note to self: stick to 5 lb increases!) I almost failed on the last rep of the final set. I got it up though. I've yet to fail a rep on squats before, so the virginity of my power rack's safety bars is still intact.
bent over DB rows- 60lb DB 10-10-10
calf raises- 225 12-12-12
SLDL- 105 10-10-10
chin ups 4-4-4
hammer curls- 35lb DBs 10-10-10
weighted crunches- 45lb plate 20-20-20


I think I'm gonna take a deload week next week- haven't done one in forever. I've talked about it before, but I"m gonna write it down in my notebook so I actually remember when I go to lift tuesday.
Also, I ordered a bench to fit in the powerrack, so no more rolling failed bench reps off myself. I ordered the body solid GFID31.
Now time to hit the showers and pre-game for some football! I made some chex party mix yesterday all spiced up with hot sauce and some habanero pepper. Cheers!

[Woody-5]

Hefty weigh in at 182 this morning. No idea why the past two weeks have been big gains whereas the few weeks before were minimal to none. I've been sticking to 4000 calories this past week.
As I will be de loading this week, I'll probably cut back to 3000-3500 calories a day.

[Woody-5]

Tuesday 9-21- DELOAD week. felt weird lifting so light (doing the same sets and reps, just using 60% of the current weights I've been using)
OHP- 70lbs 5-5-5
inlcine bench- 85lbs 5-5-5
flat bench- 35lb DBs 10-10-10
side laterals- 10lb DBs 10-10-10
tricep pushdowns- 35lb plate weight- 10-10-10
behind the back wrist curls- 45lbs 15-15-15
reverse wrist curls- 20lbs 15-15-15

Didn't feel like much of a workout, but it'll give the body a rest from the heavy stuff! I did get a pump in my forearms and triceps, and it felt good to be doing something in the weight room.
Cheers!

[Woody-5]

Thursday 9-23- Still in deload mode so the workout was quick and easy
squats- 135 3x5 my knees are a bit sore (haven't been in my office much this week, I've been on the shop floor standing on concrete all day which doesn't help) and warmup squats always bother my knees until the weight gets 160 or more for whatever reason
calf raises- 135 3x15
BB bent over row- 80 3x5
chins- 3x3
deadlift- 185 1x5
alt dumbell curl- 25 lb
weighted crunches 45lb 3x20

[Woody-5]

Saturday 9-25- Almost done with deload week! Good thing, I'm dying to lift something heavier!
bench- 115 3x5
incline DB- 35lb 3x10
flies- 25lb DB- 3x10
arnold press 25lb DB- 3x10
close grip bench- 85 3x5
side laterals- 15lb DB 3x10
behind the back wrist curls 75lbs 3x15
reverse wrist curls- 30lbs 3x15
shrugs 105 3x10

Nothing special, light and easy which is the point of this week. I received 2 more 45lb plates on Monday, and my new bench arrived Thursday. I dig the new bench! Fits nicely inside the power rack. changing the incline is a quick adjustment (on my old bench it's a PITA) I can't wait to try it with some real weight!

[Woody-5]

Sunday 9-26- The final workout of deload week!
squats- 140 3x5
calf raises 140 3-15
bent over DB row- 40lb 3x10
chin ups- 4-4-4
SLDL- 110 3x10 (I didn't deload this one since the weight is so low already)
weighted sit ups- 45lb plate 3x20
hammer curls- 25lb DBs 3x10 (actually the first set was regular dumbell curls- forgot I was suppose to be doing hammers)

Nothing much to note. Sit ups are great on my new bench with the stationary pads to hook my feet under.
My next workout is set for Tuesday, but I have crap to do after work so I'm going to either have to move it to Monday or Wednesday. I might do it tomorrow- I know it will be three straight days, but the first to being light, I figure I can handle it just fine. We'll see how I feel after work! Now it's time to pregame for a day of football! Enjoy the rest of the weekend! Prost!

[Woody-5]

weight- 182, no change from last week. Which is good, I cut back on the calories a bit where it was a deload week. Plus the jump from 180 to 182 the week before was kinda high (probably some was water weight). So I guess it's averaged itself out!
Hopefully I'm going to hit up a heavy workout tonight when I get home from work, if work doesn't sap all my motivation

[Woody-5]

Deload is DONE! Couldn't wait to get home and actually challenge myself! Was an ok workout. Took a little bit to hit the groove.

Overhead Press- 115- 2x5 120- 1x2 new PR
Probably could have got 1x3 with 120, but it was off a short rest from the last set of 115. I was planning on doing 3x5 with 115, but I wanted to push the weight a little bit on the last set

Incline bench- 135 3x5 these were on my new bench- LOVE it!

Flat bench- 60lb DB- 6-8-8 got into the groove on the 2nd set and hammered out 8 reps no problem. Maybe this week I can run to sports authority and get some more 10lb plates so I can increase my DBs past 60

behind the back wrist curls- 80 lbs 3x15

reverse wrist curls- 35 15-15-10

side laterals- 20 lb DBs 10-10-10 Last couple reps were ugly (and a bit of rest pausing on the last few of the last set)

tricep pushdowns- 60lb plate weight- 8-8-8

Good workout, no issues. Two days off then I'll tackle another one on Thursday with some squats and deads. now I've got to go devour a steak! Cheers!

[Woody-5]

wednesday 9-29- just some light accessory work that usually ends up getting stuffed at the end of workout when I don't have much gas left. Thinking about doing this on Wednesdays from now on. Only takes 15-20 minutes.
BTB wrist curls- 85 lbs 3x15
Crunches- 45lb Plate 3x20
Shrugs- 115 2x10 135 1x10
reverse wrist curls 35lbs 3x15

[Woody-5]

Thursday 9-30- Great workout! I wasn't too worn out from work thankfully.

light squats- 185lbs 3x5
calf raises- 205 3x15
bent over BB row- 130 3x5
chin ups- 3x4
Deadlifts- wanted to ramp up to a top set of 1 rep (before my deload the most I had attempted was 300x1. Figured I'd go for 310x1 today)
Anyhow, 3 warmup sets-135x5, 225x3, 275x2 then I loaded the bar up to 310 and pulled not one rep, but two! Probably could have gotten a third, but I didn't go for it.
Sweet new PR right there! I video taped my last two warmup sets and the set @ 310. Can't post it due to the fact that my camera is an ancient VHS recorder and I don't have an adapter to get it into my computer so I can post it. No worries, I'm planning on a new digital camcorder soon (that's necessary gym equipment, right?)