Al–1961’s BodyBlog

I pulled the ole switcheroo for this morning’s workout.  Last night I chowed down on junkfood AND ice cream.  So I channeled this morning’s anger by changing up the workout, as penitence for this junkfood sinner.  Had planned on this being leg day with no cardio.  Instead, I switched up to do shoulders & punished myself on cardio……..

WORKOUT THIS MORNING  —  Heavy set (5-8 reps) & light set (15-20 reps), alternating with 60 sec’s rest before heavy set & 30 sec’s rest before light set.    DELTOIDS:  1st exercise:  Military press (heavy set) & front dumbbell raises (light set).  Total of 6 sets with this alternation.  2nd exercise:  Arnold dumbbell overhead presses (heavy set) & dumbbell lateral raises (light set).  Total 5 sets.    CARDIO:  45 min’s of varying intervals on the elliptical, heartrate 155-170.  Then finished up with 8 total sets (4 ea) of lateral dumbbell raises alternated with front dumbbell raises, 30 sec’s rest.     A great workout for this junkfood sinner.     

It’s Superbowl Weekend!  Will it be clean eating or snack time smackdown?!  

PS:  On the drive home from the gym this morning, I hit & killed a deer.  It jumped right out in from of me at the last moment, so that I couldn’t avoid it.  That was definitely an adrenoline shot to get the morning rolling! 

JUST GETTING TO THE GYM IS A SUCCESSFUL WORKOUT.     

I like it!      Soreness due to a change-up & hard workout.  I’m sore this morning from yesterday’s chest workout.  

WORKOUT THIS MORNING  —  Heavy set (5-8 reps) & light set (15-20 reps), alternating with 60 sec’s rest before heavy set & 30 sec’s rest before light set.    LATS:  1st exercise:  Cable pulls (heavy set) & wide grip cable pulldowns (light set).  Total of 5 sets with this alternation.  2nd exercise:  Close grip cable pulldowns (heavy set) & dumbbell bentover rows (light set).  Total 5 sets.  3rd exercise:  Dumbbell behind the head pullovers (heavy set) & barbell bentover rows (light set).  Total 5 sets.    CARDIO:  I tried jogging on the treadmill, but the right calf muscle is still saying no.  So, 23 min’s HIIT varying intervals on the elliptical, heartrate 170-175.  Finished lats with 4 quick sets of close grip cable pulldowns supersetted with barbell bentover rows, 30 sec’s rest between sets.  Then 4 sets of behind the head dumbbell pullovers supersetted with dumbbell bentover rows, 30 sec’s rest.     Another great workout. 

JUST GETTING TO THE GYM IS A SUCCESSFUL WORKOUT.     

This was a wheaties morning.  Great start to the day.     

WORKOUT THIS MORNING  —  Heavy bench (5-8 reps) & light flyes (15-20 reps), alternating with 60 sec’s rest before heavy set & 30 sec’s rest before light set.    CHEST:  1st exercise:  Bench press, incline flyes, bench press, decline flyes.  Total of 5 bench sets with this alternation.  2nd exercise:  Incline bench press, decline flyes, incline bench, flat bench flyes.  Total 5 incline bench sets.  3rd exercise:  Decline bench press, flat bench flyes, decline press, incline bench flyes.  Total 5 decline bench sets.    CARDIO:  22 min’s HIIT on the elliptical, heartrate 170-175.  Finished chest with 5 quick sets of incline flyes supersetted with pushups (feet up on bench), 30 sec’s rest between sets.  This part was killer…….out of breath & pumped!   Whew.    ABS:  Wrapped up with 3 quick sets of situps. 

JUST GETTING TO THE GYM IS A SUCCESSFUL WORKOUT.     

My wife cooked an awesome Chinese New Year’s dinner last night.  Chinese noodles with various meats, veggies.  And spicy.  Mmmmmm.  I get to eat the most tasty foods thanks to her great cooking, and healthy too.     

Here’s some progress pics from this morning.  I was hoping for more reduction in BF, but considering that my diet has been more off than on this month, I’m not complaining.  Perhaps a little more muscle?  The 1st pic is Oct 23 vs Jan 27.  Below the pics is this morning’s workout. 

WORKOUT THIS MORNING  —  BICEPS:  Continuing heavy cycle alternating with light set rotation.   Started with curl bar curls (5-8 reps), rest 30 sec’s, then dumbbell curls (15-20 reps).  Rest 60 sec’s, then back to curl bar curls, etc.  Did this alternating for 5 sets.  Next, did dumbbell curls (5-8 reps), rest 30 sec’s, then straight bar curls (15-20 reps), rest 60 sec’s, with similar alternating for 5 sets.     CARDIO:  31 min’s of intervals on the elliptical, heartrate 150-170.  Would like to do some interval runs on the treadmill, but the lower back & right calf muscle aren’t letting me yet.  Finished with 5 quick sets of dumbbell curls (5-8 reps) supersetted with straight bar curls, 15-20 sec’s rest between sets.   ABS:  2 quick sets each of crunches with 10 lbs & leg raises. 

JUST GETTING TO THE GYM IS A SUCCESSFUL WORKOUT.      

I was the loving sensitive dad this weekend.  Took my daughters to see High School Musical 3, while my wife was with some friends.  I have to admit the choreography & dancing are pretty amazing.  No way this old white guy could move like that!     

WORKOUT THIS MORNING  —  TRICEPS:  Close grip bench press (5-8 reps), 30 sec’s rest, then dumbbell behind the head raises (15-20 reps), 60-90 sec’s rest, back to close grip bench press (5-8 reps), 30 sec’s rest, then dumbbell behind the head raises (15-20 reps), 60-90 sec’s rest, etc. etc.  Did this alternation for 5 sets.  Then did similar alternation with curl bar tricep extensions & dumbbell kickbacks for 5 sets.    CARDIO:  32 min’s of intervals on the elliptical, heartrate 155-165.  Finished with 5 sets each of reverse cable tricep extensions, 15-20 sec’s rest, then regular cable tricep extensions, then 45 sec’s rest, etc. etc.    ABS:  3 quick sets of crunches with 10 lb weight, and 2 quick sets of situps.

Have a groovy day.  

JUST GETTING TO THE GYM IS A SUCCESSFUL WORKOUT.     

The lower back & calf muscle are still on the fritz, but I had great weekend workout this morning.  I did the heavy/light alternating I started on Friday with chest.  Go heavy, then light, then heavy, then light, etc. Tomorrow will be a much enjoyed rest day. 

WORKOUT THIS MORNING  —  DELTOIDS:  Military press (5-8 reps), 30 sec’s rest, then dumbbell lateral raises (15-20 reps), 60-90 sec’s rest, back to military press (5-8 reps), 30 sec’s rest, then lateral raises (15-20 reps), 60-90 sec’s rest, etc. etc.  Did this alternation for 5 sets.  Then did similar alternation with Arnold overhead dumbbell raises & dumbbell front raises for 5 sets.  CARDIO:  21 min’s HIIT on the elliptical, heartrate 170-175.  Finished with 5 sets (30 sec’s rest) alternating between lateral raises & front raises, each supersetted with Arnold dumbbell overhead presses.  GREAT WORKOUT!     

JUST GETTING TO THE GYM IS A SUCCESSFUL WORKOUT.     

I had to change-up the workout a couple times this morning due to aches & pains.  I did manage to hit cardio hard enough to almost puke the last 5-10 min’s.     

Today was supposed to be leg day.  Since my lower back is still bothering me from a muscle pull on Monday, I wasn’t going to do any squats or leg presses.  Just leg extensions, curls & calves.  I decided to start off with some cardio, which I don’t usually do on leg day.  I was going to grit the teeth with the sore back & do interval runs on the treadmill.  The back felt pretty good, and I was getting into some really hard running………..but my right calf started hurting big time.  After 5 min’s it felt like I was about to tear it off the bone!  So I moved to plan B or C.  I switched to the elliptical and did intervals, and managed to have a great cardio session, almost to the point of said puking.  But with the back & calf hurting, I chose to ix-nay working the legs with weights. 

WORKOUT THIS MORNING  —  CARDIO:  Warmup jog, then 5 pain filled minutes of interval runs on the treadmill.  Moved over to elliptical for 45 min’s of varying intervals, heartrate 150-170.   ABS:  3 quick sets of crunches with 10 lb weight. 

Now I’m hobbling like a cripple due to the right calf muscle, with a sore lower back thrown in for kicks.  Kinda feel like I’m not 25 anymore.     

It’s great being able to switch things out when needed, because……

JUST GETTING TO THE GYM IS A SUCCESSFUL WORKOUT.    

The back is still reminding me of my scoliosis.  It’s still sore from pulling a lower back muscle the day before yesterday.  I had planned to run intervals on the treadmill for cardio this morning, but no-can-do with my back.  I did a change up to the routine with weights:  Go heavy, then light, then heavy, then light, etc. And it kicked my butt.     

WORKOUT THIS MORNING  —  CHEST:  Bench press (5-8 reps), 30 sec’s rest, then flyes (15-20 reps), 60-90 sec’s rest, back to bench press (5-8 reps), 30 sec’s rest, then flyes (15-20 reps), 60-90 sec’s rest, etc. etc.  Did this alternation for 5 sets.  Then did similar alternation with decline bench press & decline flyes for 4 sets, followed by the same with incline bench & inclines flyes for 4 sets.  Finished chest with 3 sets of flat bench flyes supersetted with decline pushups (feet up on a bench).   CARDIO:  25 min’s HIIT on the elliptical, heartrate 160-170. 

Have a blessed day.  Encourage someone.   

JUST GETTING TO THE GYM IS A SUCCESSFUL WORKOUT.     

Whatever one’s ideology or political persuasion, yesterday’s inauguration was a reminder for me of American exceptionalism.  During a time of recession, 2 wars & great division within our nation, we witnessed the peaceful & intentional transfer of power from one administration to the next.  It is said that the election of 1800 was the 2nd American Revolution, with the election of John Adams.  This was unprecedented in world history at that time.  George Washington intentionally gave up the presidency, when many were willing, and many were calling for, keeping him as president permanently (i.e. crown him a virtual King).  What a great country!     

WORKOUT THIS MORNING  —  BICEPS:  Continuing heavy cycle (5-8 reps/set), and the single set per exercise rotation.  Exercises were curl bar curls, dumbbell curls, close grip curl bar curls & reverse dumbbell curls.  I did one set of each exercise, then moved to the next, and so on.  Did 5 sets going through this rotation, with 1 dropset added to each exercise on the last set.   CARDIO:  40 min’s of intervals on the elliptical, heartrate 150-170.  Finished with 3 quick sets of straight barbell curls & 3 sets dumbbell curls (20-30 sec’s rest) and 2 dropsets on the last set each. 

God Bless the USA.   

JUST GETTING TO THE GYM IS A SUCCESSFUL WORKOUT.     

Scoliosis rears its ugly head……..I tweaked my lower back this morning doing bentover rows.  I try to be careful with these, squats or simply picking up/putting down weights due to my scoliosis.  But every once in awhile, I pull something.  Careful workouts will be the order of the day for the next week or two. 

We’re getting snow this morning in NC.  Here’s when we find out who the hardcore gymrats are for early morning workouts.  There was approx 1/3 the usual crowd this morning.  But yours truly was among them.  It’ll take more than snow, ice & a bit of cold to derail my workout!    

WORKOUT THIS MORNING  —  LATS (5-8 reps per set):  Close grip cable pulls, wide grip cable pulls, bent over barbell rows, close grip cable pulldowns & dumbbell pullovers.  I rotated through these exercises for 5 sets, doing 1 set each then moving to the next exercise.  Added 2 drop sets on the last set of each.  CARDIO:  32 min’s of intervals on the elliptical.  Heartrate 155-175.  Followed up with 5 quick sets (15-20 sec’s rest) of close grip cable pulls & dumbbell pullovers.  Again, last set of each was finished off with a drop set.  ABS:  3 quick sets of crunches. 

The back’s hurtin’ already.  My chair is not very good ergonomically, so sitting at my desk is going to be not fun today. 

JUST GETTING TO THE GYM IS A SUCCESSFUL WORKOUT.