Journal to motivate me to keep records

[macsemper]

Hey, this is the first time i am am making an online record of my workouts, mostly to motivate myself to keep records at all.

The routine - Emphasis on compound lifts and building strength with supplementary exercises thrown in for fun and a good pump.

The Goal - gaining strength and having fun...

enough talking here's the numbers.

Today was chest day:

Barbell Bench Press
3 warm up sets with increasing weight up to 185
3 sets @ 225 with target reps of 8 but performed to failure
1st set - 9 reps
2nd set - 9 reps
3rd set - 6 reps
1 set @ 245 for 2 reps
Will be increasing weight next week i guess, 9 reps is too much

Incline Bench Press
1st set @ 185 - 6 reps
2nd set @ 185 - 5 reps
3rd set @ 205 - 2 reps
4th set @ 135 - 15 reps (burnout set)

Skull Crushers - (work out buddy wanted to do these here i usually do after close grip bench)
12 reps @ 80
7 reps @ 90
3 reps @ 100

Close grip bench press
12 reps @ 135
4 reps @ 185

Pull downs done to failure

[macsemper]

Back and bi's today. Looking toward to it but it is gonna be short due to a double at work today. Feeling some shoulder pain from falling of the bike yesterday... No pain no gain right

[macsemper]

forgot to fill out my back/bi's results.

not my strongest day although i did do a decent ammount of pull ups, which by the way i have started doing from a dead hang instead of cheating... no fun.

Pull ups
Set 1 - 8 reps
set 2 - 4
set 3 - 6
set 4 - 5
I think the second set was a bit erroneous due to being rushed because i was working in with somebody for the first 2 sets

Barbell Bent over Rows
Set 1, 6 reps @ 185
set 2, 5 @ 185
set 3, 5 @ 185
burnout set, 12 @ 135

Barbell Curls
Set 1, 8 @ 95
set 2, 5 @ 105
Set 3, 3 @ 105

Dumbell curls
started at 50 to failure, then 40 to failure, the 30 to failure


usually i would have done dumbbell rows before the curls and done them with more regular sets but i was running out of time and wanted a good burn before i worked 12 hours... these 72 hour work weeks are really killing my gym time

legs tomorrow, buddy can't come so lets hope i can motivate myself

[macsemper]

did a shortened leg day today... not very happy with my squatting form i decided. before i get into details here is the full report for the day.

Squats:
2 W/U sets, 1 empty bar, 1 135... both 12 reps
3 sets of 6 @ 275
1 burnout set of 12 @ 225

Standing BB calf raises
1 set of 20 @ 185
3 sets of 12 @ 225
1 final rep where i raised and held as long as possible

ran out of time to start anything else intense so i did a plank for 2 minutes and side planks for 1.5 min

anyway, i realized today that i am not getting fully 90 degrees on my squats anymore, which is bad...

however i am maintaining much better form with my back than i used to so there is no more lower back pain after squatting which is good.

so here is my problem... exercises like bench press, curls, overhead press... etc it is very easy for me to notice when i do not fully extend or contract as i should be. they are easier to keep an eye on. squatting is not as easy to tell, it is difficult to tell what angle my knees are bending at from above, plus i shouldn't be looking down anyway. maybe i should video them so i can see for myself how i am doing, but it is also difficult to do that at planet fitness because they are a bunch of Nazis... /endrant

[macsemper]

so i've been slacking with this journal thing a little bit... sorry.

last week was not a great gym week due to 72 hours of work but this week is going alot better.

yesterday i did some of the best chest sets i have ever done. i set a new personal record with a 265lb bench press (1 time solo, 1 more with a little spotting getting it the first couple inches off the chest.

today i did not set any records but did manage to squeeze out 8 reps on the Bent over BB row at 185 so i increased it to 195 and did 2 more sets of 5 reps each. i don't really feel like listing every rep and set since nobody is actually reading this and i already have them all recorded in my book, but if anybody does read this and is interested let me know and i will start listing.

on a workout related note, i am deciding if i should take off deadlifting this week as i think i hurt my back a little bit. it is in pain in certain positions, not unbearable pain but some pain nonetheless... not sure what to do but i might ere on the side of caution here.

[macsemper]

Ok did some serious legs today Finally squatted 315. Felt great. Then we did dropsets on the leg press starting on seven plates and moving down to four... This hurt like a biotch so must have been good for me.