Darknesss23’s BodyBlog

Yesterday, after that looooooooong memorial day/birthday weekend, I did my chest workout as usual and i felt much much stronger from last week considering i had been feeling ill and had a headache all day.   The past month or so of doing chest i had been feeling pretty weak, barely being able to put up 225 on the bench with shoulder and wrist injuries ( i think from softball)  but yesterday i managed to put up the 110lb Dumbbells for 9 reps on my 3rd and final set.. ( i did 10 of 90’s, 10 of 100’s, and 9 of 110’s)  a few weeks i go i was struggling to get 6 reps.   for inclined DB presses as the other people i was training with were bitching about feeling a little weak, i went right ahead and went from 80 to 90 to 100’s I was also able to kick them up to my starting position myself which i had been unable to do when i joined a few months back. for bench, when i first started again in march i was struggling with bench press having been away from it for 2 years didn’t help.  Yesterday, I put up 225 and 285 with ease.  315 wasn’t going to happen as my wrist was still very much sore.

Progress seems good in terms of strength! just need to cut some more.

Ok so apparently my work ethic in the gym is paying off in more ways then one!  Last week, as i was developing my new training program i was on the bodybuilding.com website and then a few minutes later the girl sitting next to me was telling her friends about the site! and all the exercise programs and explanations that the site has!  so that was kinda cool!  i think perhaps i have inspired them in some way to look for new exercises!    shitty thing is…she took the credit for it..lol   oh well…. i guess she "found it" by looking at my computer screen…    AND TODAY! the guy at the little convenience store on the way to school  who asked me last year if i go to a gym randomly asked me about it again today! so i think progress is def. being made!  I will update if i notice anything else!  As of yesterday, 3-19-2008, my chest "is the size of a truck"

Workout Program

Monday

-         Shoulders

o       Arm Circles      Forward x 30, backward x 30

o       Arnold Press 1 x 10, 2 x 8

o       Rear Delt Row 1 x 10, 2 x 8

o       Shoulder Press 3 x 8

o       Seated Lateral Raise 3 x 7

o       Standing Anterior Raise 3 x 8

o       Upright Rows 3 x 8

o       Shrugs 3 x 8

o       Reverse Cable Flies

o       One Armed Bent over Barbell Rows – 3 x 8

o       Rocky Presses 3 x 8

-         Legs (every 2 weeks)

o       Leg Press machine 3 x 8

o       Squats 3 x 8

o       Seated Leg Curls 3 x 8

o       Barbell Lunges 3 x 8

o       Barbell Side Lateral Lunges 3 x 8

o       Romanian Dead Lift 3 x 8

o       Dumb bell Step Ups  3 x 8

o       Calves 3 x F

Tuesday

-         Back

o       Close Grip Lat Pull Downs 3 x 8

o       Seated Cable Rows 3 x 8

o       Full ROM Lat Pull Down 3 x 8

o       Underhand Cable Pull Downs 3 x 8

o       V-bar Pull up 3 x F

o       Long Bar Row 3 x 8

o       Hyper Extensions 3 x 8

o       Barbell Good Mornings 3 x 8

Wednesday

-         Chest

o       Bench Press 3 x 8

o       Incline Dumbbell Bench  Press 3 x 8

o       Flat Bench Dumbbell Flies 3 x 8

o       Downward Cable Flies 3 x 8

o       Upward Cable Flies 3 x 8

o       Cable Cross-Overs 3 x 8

o       Palms Forward dumbbell Pushups 3 x 8

o       Close Grip Bench Press  3 x 8

o       Reverse Grip Bench Press 3 x 8

o       Dips 3 x F

o       Medicine Ball Pushups 3 x 10

Thursday

-         Arms

Biceps

o       Standing Alternating Bicep Curls 3 x 8

o       Preacher Curls 3 x 8

o       Alternating incline hammer curls

o       21’s  3 x 21

o       45lb plate curls 3 x 10-15

o       Bicep Curl Machine 3 x 10 (each arm)

o       Reverse barbell Curl 3 x 8

Triceps

o       Overhead Dumbbell Tricep Extensions 3 x 8

o       Cable Pushdowns(Rope) 3 x 10

o       Cable Pushdowns (V-bar) 3 x 12

o       Cable Tricep Extensions 3 x 8

o       EZbar Skull crushers 3 x 8

o       Tricep Extension machine 3 x 10 (each arm)

o       Dips 3 x F

Friday

-         Forearms, Abs, Misc Full Body

o       Barbell Forearm Curls 3 x 10

o       Barbell Forearm Extensions 3 x 10

o       Wrist Roller 3 x ?

o       Abdominal  crunch Machine 3 x 15

o       Abdominal crunch Machine Obliques 3 x 15  (each side)

o       Cable  Crunch 3 x 15

o       Hanging Leg Raises 3 x 15

o       Cork screws 3 x 20

o       Seated Cable Rows 3 x 10

o       Dips 3 x F

Saturday

-         Misc. Full Body

o       Similar to Friday

OR

-         Basketball

-         Racquet Ball

-         Speed Rope + Shadow Boxing

Sunday

-         Basketball

-         Racquet Ball

-         Speed Rope + Shadow Boxing

Cardio 

o       Speed Rope

o       Shadow Boxing

o       Basketball

o       Racquet ball

Misc. Training

Plyometric Training

Plyometric Jumps

12-18” box

24” box

Plyometric Medicine Ball  Chest Pass

Because someone asked me and there just isn’t enough room in the comment box..lol  anyways here’s why I do for cardio, its very simple.  It works both upper and lower body and helps build endurance, stamina, and reaction times.  Because I have to deal with winter I can’t run outside, and to be honest I don’t in the warmer weather due to a knee injury from high school so my alternative is Speed rope.  I started doing speed rope when i was in college I found that it really helped with my speed and agility during the late night basketball games that my roommates and neighbors played.

I do speed rope in sets.

First Set = light, about 10-20 skips just to get the motion down basically a warm up set to work on proper technique
Second Set =  about 50 skips, alternating between using both feet to skip and left and right feet individually

"Third Set" =  attempting to get to 100 skips or  so just like the second set. (i placed third set in " " because i haven’t quite gone all the way to 100 without messing up a little, but I’m working on it)

fourth set = try to go as hard and as fast as i can within a 2.5-5 minute time period.

NOW Cardio part 2 = Shadow boxing

This is great for after speed rope or after shoulder workouts kind of like a finishing exercise for the shoulders.

Get into a "Fighting Stance" i’m right handed so left leg out front, right leg in back, square the upper body to target (I don’t have a speed bag or a punching bag so i have placed TAPE athletic tape on the wall in the shape of a square is something of a target, something to focus on as I do this)

I do this in 3 "sets"

Each set consists of ten(10)  sub-sets.

Each Subset is as Follows;   (L & R are used to determine left and right hands)  L-Jab, L-Jab + R-cross, L-Jab +  R-Cross + L-Hook, L-Jab + R-Cross + L-Hook + R-uppercut

This is one (1) subset and will be done Ten(10) times in the first set as a warm up to get the technique down.
The second set is  is basically the same only with 5lb wrist/ankle weights strapped to…the wrist.lol
Third set  is the same, only fifteen times(15) not 10 with the wrist weights off and going full bore non stop, because the weights are off you can move faster or…thats what it will feel like.

When performing this, tighten abs for the whole time, and maintain proper breathing techniques to help with the motions.

This is what i do for cardio, any critques that can be made are more then welcome as i am always looking to improve.

I don’t know how healthy this was but i figured i’d treat myself to a nice home cooked meal!…and I went fancy with it..haha

Baby Spinach and Romano Cheese omelette  w/ italian bread/french toast style (sorta)
4 Egg Whites

2 Whole Eggs

Fresh Grated Pecorino Roman Cheese

1/2 Cup Fresh baby spinach diced into thin strips

Mixed in a bowl with a little bit of salt and pepper

Italian Bread Thinly sliced and Dipped into the mixture above before it was poured into the pan. Pieces  of the baby spinach placed onto the bread, then once omelette was finished, the bread slices were tossed into the pan and then seared to allow the spinach to stick

Once placed on the plate for serving, a little more freshly grated romano cheese was added for garnish and thin tomato slices to add  color and other nutritional value…

like i said i don’t know how healthy this was but…IT WAS DELICIOUS!

I just did one of those internet body fat estimators…and it suggested i was 17% body fat…whats ideal? what range i mean…    for normal life, not competing… just wondering..thanks

After much hesitation, I’ve decided to go ahead and train some friends (who have approached me about helping them) and I think I’ve come up with a system…  Now, I’m not big on the latest trends on diets and fitness….so please anyone reading this, let me know if they’ve seen this before….  But what I’ve come up with is a "points challenge" and it requires some honesty upon my friends but I don’t think it should be too much of a problem..i hope…..  but it requires them to keep track of ALL their exercise activity and eating habits…and after analysis of the information each week, they can either earn points or have points taken away. Their goal is to achieve a certain number of points(yet to be determined).  For Instance, for each mile they run OR  hour they spend on a cardio machine, they will earn a point, for x amount of reps per weight training exercise(amount has yet to be determined)  they will earn a point. I figure points can be earned for eating habits as well, for the kinds of meals if its balanced and "healthy" they can get a point.  if they keep track honestly i would have them list down what they drink and what they eat so if they drink soda, i could take away a percentage of a point …say per 8 oz.  so if they drink a 20 oz. bottle of coke, they’d get 1.5 points deducted from their daily total…  (You can let me know now if this sounds stupid at all…)  I’m still working on this but I think that once they get into it, they will be more competitive in attaining their points towards their goal. and it may also teach them better health and fitness behaviors, psychologically speaking…

For example, one of my friends has decided to run a marathon in december and plans to run every day until then…which is great and it will earn her lots of points however hear eating habits aren’t that great…soda’s, pizza’s, ice creams, etc. etc….so i think this may help her learn how to eat healthier …I’m hoping that by the end of this program, both friends will see some the results from both exercising and eating healthy.  And like I said, the only concern is whether or not they will be honest when keeping a record of their activities…

Well, I found myself responding to a fire call tonight, and in all of the hustling around getting things done, i found myself not breathing heavy, something i had been doing prior to my reorganized training program, i felt stronger, faster, with more endurance than before…Looks like hard work is paying off…I know there are other guys in my Fire Dept. who are in worse shape then me, even friends NOT in my FD who could use a little extra work…and in some cases A LOT of extra work…I think I’ll take on this new challenge to recruit others to join in the Healthy and Fit lifestyle…wish me luck

its now about 2-3 weeks into my training program of healthier dieting and regular workouts….Something seems to be working…For the first time, I’ve actually hit a home run in a fun league softball game.  From what everyone was telling me it was a monster hit too… I guess I should have seen the "get off the steroids" and "Hey Giambi" comments coming tho…lol  Hard work and Persistence does pay off…For anyone who reads this…Hang in there and Keep up the good work.

Edit - 08-21-2007

So yesterday I went back to salvage the actual home run ball that I hit in Sunday’s playoff game from the wooded area behind the outfield…Not knowing that the "wooded area" had about 15 ft. of grass in between itself and the metal fence outlining the outfield…Now When I hit the ball, it hit a tree in the wooded area about 30 ft in the air and then fell to the ground….. For anyone thats played softball…I think thats one hell of a shot… Maybe Tomorrow if the weather is nice I will go back to the field and take pics……

Edit: 08-29-2007

Gotta love it when people still talk about the home run a week after it happened..lol

nothing wrong with an ego boost ever so often… LOL

Ok so weight training with free weights will have to be put on hold for a while..   I sprained my thumb during a softball game last weekend and i don’t have its full range of motion yet…