PtReyesGreg's Workout Journal

[PtReyesGreg]

This morning I completed Workout 2B (Medium) of cycle 1 of All Pro's Beginner Routine as follows:

Hypers 20-0, 20-0
Squats 9-120, 9-160, 9-205, 9-205 (Belted)
Bench Press 9-110, 9-145, 9-180, 9-180
DB Bent Over Rows 9-30, 9-40, 9-55, 9-55
Seated Military Press 9-105, 9-105
Stiff Leg Deadlifts 9-160, 9-160
Curls 9-70, 9-70
Calf Raises 9-135, 9-135

Overall good workout. My squats felt heavy even though the weight wasn't very heavy compared to what I have recently lifted. My left hamstring felt really tight and that seemed to affect my depth some. I'm a little gun shy after my recent experiences and didn't want to push it too low and strain something else. Need to spend more time stretching (maybe even after my first warmup set of squats).

Bench felt better. I concentrated more on staying tight, having a consistent touch down point, and also locking out. I think they look better in the videos below, but maybe I am biased.

In any case I'm feeling good. The back and hip are getting better each day so hopefully soon all of that will just be a distant memory.

[mirroroferised]

Nice job. Those tight hamstrings are a pain. If I had to squat today I'd probably cry lol Good plan to take it slow and keep it safe. No sense at all in aggravating something again. Good session and great to hear you're feeling better.

[yaaar]

Everything's looking much better, very nicely done. That's some pretty good squat volume at that weight.

[raynerd]

Nice workout Greg, glad to hear you are healing up. Start hitting up that mobility work, hard to actually start but it will help you out tons!

[shaneinga]

Made that 180 look light man. Good work going on in here. You still forgot to move your pins for your squats. Hopefully that never bites you. To be honest, I have yet to fail on a squat, but that is because I never did them in the past. I know it is coming though and I hope when I do fail it will be somewhat graceful. Knowing me though, that is not very likely.

[robosphere]

I agree, those BP's looked effortless.

I like your journal, and how could I NOT subscribe to a one written by someone from a place called Rough and Ready?

[PtReyesGreg]

Nice job. Those tight hamstrings are a pain. If I had to squat today I'd probably cry lol Good plan to take it slow and keep it safe. No sense at all in aggravating something again. Good session and great to hear you're feeling better.

Thanks Dave. You have a good reason to have sore hammy's (and everything else)...the GVT looks like a huge challenge. I might have to try that one day myself...depending upon how it turns out for you.

Everything's looking much better, very nicely done. That's some pretty good squat volume at that weight.

Thanks Wil. Sometimes it feels like plugging a hole in a dam...as soon as I fix one thing a leak starts somewhere else.

Nice workout Greg, glad to hear you are healing up. Start hitting up that mobility work, hard to actually start but it will help you out tons!

Thanks Shawn. I definitely have to keep hitting the mobility work and increasing the amount of it I do. It is hard to find time for it, but I think I'm going to need to do it daily.

Made that 180 look light man. Good work going on in here. You still forgot to move your pins for your squats. Hopefully that never bites you. To be honest, I have yet to fail on a squat, but that is because I never did them in the past. I know it is coming though and I hope when I do fail it will be somewhat graceful. Knowing me though, that is not very likely.

Thanks Shane. I actually thought about moving the pins this morning, and then didn't do it. I haven't had to dump one yet, but I think they'll be OK where they are. If I ever do need to dump the bar I'll probably lean forward to my knees and just set the bar on the pins.

I agree, those BP's looked effortless.

I like your journal, and how could I NOT subscribe to a one written by someone from a place called Rough and Ready?

Thanks Robosphere and welcome to my journal. The BP's might have looked effortless, but I think I might just be a good actor.

The funny thing about Rough and Ready is the name actually fits the town. It's an old mining town founded during the 1849 Gold Rush and still has some of that rough and tumble feel to it.

[InternetTuffGuy]

Working out in boots like a boss. No big deal.

[PtReyesGreg]

Working out in boots like a boss. No big deal.

Those boots have been great for working out. The heel is not very tall and they don't have a lick of padding. I took out the inserts so I'm basically just standing on the sole. Now they are terrible for hiking but great for squatting. Having that little bit of heel has really helped take some of the pain away from my lower back. Once the pain is completely gone I might switch back to my Chucks.

[PtReyesGreg]

Today during my lunch break I walked 2.5 miles in 48m:30s. The walk felt good and I wanted to move a little bit to stretch out my legs and hips for tomorrow's workout.

[PtReyesGreg]

This morning I completed Workout week 2C (Light) of cycle 1 of All Pro's Beginner Routine as follows:

Hypers 20-0, 20-0
Squats 9-115, 9-145, 9-180, 9-180 (Belted)
Bench Press 9-95, 9-125, 9-160, 10-160
DB Bent Over Rows 9-30, 9-40, 9-55, 9-55
Seated Military Press 9-95, 9-95
Stiff Leg Deadlifts 9-140, 9-140
Curls 9-60, 9-60
Calf Raises 9-135, 9-135

Overall good workout. It was the light workout of week 2 so it wasn't very tough but it did give me a little work and the opportunity to work on form and to loosen up a bit. Now onward and updward to 10 reps next week.

[raynerd]

Nice crush Greg, lots of volume and reps to grow on. Those lighter workouts are great for pushing you into the higher weights on the heavy days...something I am guilty of not doing. One day I'll get it right lol

[robosphere]

Now, what does a belt do for you? I've never used one, but have seen guys with them.

[yaaar]

Light days are very good to nail down things, very good stuff. So much volume in there, tired just looking at it.

[PtReyesGreg]

Nice crush Greg, lots of volume and reps to grow on. Those lighter workouts are great for pushing you into the higher weights on the heavy days...something I am guilty of not doing. One day I'll get it right lol

Thanks Shawn! I think if/when I restart my 5x5 plan I will try to incorporate some sort of heavy/light programming in to provide my body a little break from lifting heavy all the time. I think going for broke each time wound up breaking me a little bit on the last go-round.

Now, what does a belt do for you? I've never used one, but have seen guys with them.

In a nutshell they help provide mid-section support. Basically they help you hold your core tight by pressing the abs against the belt and thus indirectly support the back. Here is a good video that talks about it and about the different types of belts out there:



And an article that talks about it:

http://articles.elitefts.com/trainin...lifting-belts/

Light days are very good to nail down things, very good stuff. So much volume in there, tired just looking at it.

Yeah, it's amazing to me how much more it takes out of me to go for 8+ reps on each set instead of the 5 on my last plan. I'm curious to see how the 5th week with 12 reps on everything will go. I think it will be tough, especially once I get a few cycles in and the weight goes back up a bit.

[shaneinga]

Looking good man. Your moving some good weight. How long did you do the 5x5 before you switched over to Allpro?

[PtReyesGreg]

Thanks Shane. I did the 5x5 for 13 weeks before I tweaked my hip doing Deadlifts. Prior to that I did 12 weeks of the Body For Life workout plan (http://bodyforlife.com/library/exercise/weight-training). It was basically an upper lower split that used descending pyramid reps from 12 to 6 and then another set of 12 for each major exercise followed by a set of 12 of an accessory lift. It was actually a very good program I thought.

I've been lifting off and on for years now, and in the past I would usually get my lifts up to respectable levels and then eventually drift away from working out only to lose most of my strength gains and add on some body weight. Now I'm on a mission to drop my body weight back under 200 pounds and basically keep working out regularly for the rest of my life. One of the reasons I started keeping a journal on here was to try to make sure to keep the motiviation going long term. So far so good...

Fwiw, I plan on following All Pros until I hit my body weight goal and then switch back to the 5x5 and then on to 5/3/1. I think I do better with those rep ranges than with the higher ranges. All Pro's fits very well with my weight loss goals though and the Heavy/Medium/Light days dovetail perfectly with the Anabolic Diet I'm on. The carb loading from the weekend gives me plenty of stored energy to get through the heavy day workouts.

[shaneinga]

That was kind of my thoughts as well. Do Allpro until I drop the weight and then move on to another one. Though as long as I keep progressing, I might just keep going on it until I am not. Cycle 3 on Allpro I am going to add an accessory. Not sure which one yet, I am thinking good mornings or lat pull downs.

Agreed on the journal. I like keeping it here. I was doing it on my phone and that was a PITA. Plus, the accountability is awesome.

[Jbizzlechizzle]

Thanks Shane. I did the 5x5 for 13 weeks before I tweaked my hip doing Deadlifts. Prior to that I did 12 weeks of the Body For Life workout plan (http://bodyforlife.com/library/exercise/weight-training). It was basically an upper lower split that used descending pyramid reps from 12 to 6 and then another set of 12 for each major exercise followed by a set of 12 of an accessory lift. It was actually a very good program I thought.

I've been lifting off and on for years now, and in the past I would usually get my lifts up to respectable levels and then eventually drift away from working out only to lose most of my strength gains and add on some body weight. Now I'm on a mission to drop my body weight back under 200 pounds and basically keep working out regularly for the rest of my life. One of the reasons I started keeping a journal on here was to try to make sure to keep the motiviation going long term. So far so good...

Fwiw, I plan on following All Pros until I hit my body weight goal and then switch back to the 5x5 and then on to 5/3/1. I think I do better with those rep ranges than with the higher ranges. All Pro's fits very well with my weight loss goals though and the Heavy/Medium/Light days dovetail perfectly with the Anabolic Diet I'm on. The carb loading from the weekend gives me plenty of stored energy to get through the heavy day workouts.

The body 4 life program is very good for a beginner, imo. That was the first program I ran when I got back into lifting seriously. After that I did some custom/random 5/5 broscience stuff that I mostly made up and anything that seemed like it made sense to me. I'm really enjoying 5/3/1 right now and I think I may just run it long term for the built in progression and do whatever accessory work I deem necessary.

[PtReyesGreg]

That was kind of my thoughts as well. Do Allpro until I drop the weight and then move on to another one. Though as long as I keep progressing, I might just keep going on it until I am not. Cycle 3 on Allpro I am going to add an accessory. Not sure which one yet, I am thinking good mornings or lat pull downs.

Agreed on the journal. I like keeping it here. I was doing it on my phone and that was a PITA. Plus, the accountability is awesome.

The accountability is definitely awesome. Also, with these forums in general, I'm happy for how there is so much information available for free...it's a great resource.

The body 4 life program is very good for a beginner, imo. That was the first program I ran when I got back into lifting seriously. After that I did some custom/random 5/5 broscience stuff that I mostly made up and anything that seemed like it made sense to me. I'm really enjoying 5/3/1 right now and I think I may just run it long term for the built in progression and do whatever accessory work I deem necessary.

It sounds like we have followed similar workout paths, although judging from your lifts I took a few more bad detours. It's good to hear you're enjoying the 5/3/1. That sounds like a very good program and I look forward to giving it a shot down the road. Pretty much everything I've heard about it has been positive.

[mirroroferised]

The body 4 life program is very good for a beginner, imo. That was the first program I ran when I got back into lifting seriously.

Same here, that was the book that first got me into the gym years ago. I really enjoyed that program a lot and had actually thought about it a year and a half ago when I got back into lifting for a bit but opted for 5x5 instead after reading this site. I still have a lot of respect for that program though.



Good workout Greg. Allpro is working well for you.

[PtReyesGreg]

Same here, that was the book that first got me into the gym years ago. I really enjoyed that program a lot and had actually thought about it a year and a half ago when I got back into lifting for a bit but opted for 5x5 instead after reading this site. I still have a lot of respect for that program though.

Good workout Greg. Allpro is working well for you.

That's funny Dave how that program is common to a lot of people here. I didn't realize it. Actually if I would have thought of it I probably would have re-started it a couple of weeks ago instead of All Pro's. Now that I've already started AP I'll probably run it at least for at least a few cycles. I like the variety of exercises and rep ranges with BFL, though, and might give it a 12 week run at some point in the future when I'm looking for a break from lifting heavy...hopefully I'll be lifting heavy and need a break again.

[PtReyesGreg]

This afternoon I ran 3.5 miles in 38m:32s. This was my first run after tweaking my hip and it felt pretty good. I didn't want to push it by running too far, but it was nice to get out there (even though it was raining as usual) and run a little bit.

[yaaar]

Think once the sun is up at 6am I may see about picking up some running for a cycle or two. Good news about the hip, seems you're able to do about everything at this point so sounds like it's almost back to normal. Very good news.

[PtReyesGreg]

I really enjoy getting out and running. As long as it doesn't cause any knee pain that interferes with squats, I say go for it. Being a bigger guy I always try to run on dirt trails when possible to reduce the strain on my joints. Plus, the uneven ground on trails is good for strengthening the ankles and tendons, etc.

[yaaar]

Think I might try to program it like the 5/3/1.

Do deload type of lifts on Tuesday and Thursday just to keep them going, and run M/W/F. Week 1 do 3 miles each, week 2 do 4 miles each, week 3 do 5 miles each, week 4 just walk.

[Plateauplower]

Nice progress in here and sounds like you have a solid plan going forward with your programming. Sticking with it long term is the overall goal that is most important thing to me too.

[PtReyesGreg]

Think I might try to program it like the 5/3/1.

Do deload type of lifts on Tuesday and Thursday just to keep them going, and run M/W/F. Week 1 do 3 miles each, week 2 do 4 miles each, week 3 do 5 miles each, week 4 just walk.

That sounds like a good plan Wil. The only thing I would advise it to only increase your weekly mileage by 10% though. Anything more than that can quickly lead to overuse injuries. The walking in week 4 would be a good measure to let the body recover a little bit before the next cycle.

[PtReyesGreg]

Nice progress in here and sounds like you have a solid plan going forward with your programming. Sticking with it long term is the overall goal that is most important thing to me too.

Thanks Plateau. I'm definitely in it for the long haul as it sounds like you are. With lifting I'm getting better about reminding myself to plan for tomorrow and not get too carried away today, especially if it means that what I do today will limit what I can do in the future.

[yaaar]

Good call on the 10% increase. May actually make it more do-able.