Totally Addicted for Life

Well today was the moment of truth, do I really want to get to the next level or not?  If anything will reveal that Leg Day will.  I start by saying I was less then impressed with my focus and effort.  I just cant seem to get the focus on the sets that I do when I train by myself.  Maybe after a few sessions I will get in the groove.  I know for certain I will be sore in all areas of my thighs and glutes.

Started off with leg extensions.  After some warm-up sets I did some moderately heavy sets for 10 reps.  Flexed the thighs in between each set.   Following those sets did some supersets with doing 10 reps on each leg then doing both in a triset.  Did 3 iterations of these.

Next sets were the leg press.  Started light and went heavy using a 90 degree bend at the knee at the stopping point.  He wants me to use a controlled, explosive force on each positive motion motion.  This will take some getting used to as I have been doing the slow and steady motion for years to minimize potential for injury.  I can definitely see the benefit though as the recruitment of the fast twitch fibers will spur greater growth in the long run.  After a couple of heavy sets with 10 reps he shifted to a decreasing 9×10 sets.  Pulling weight off after each set and immediately starting the next set until the sled was empty.  This is where I lost my focus, I couldn’t maintain my level of effort on the last couple of sets.  That’s mental!  I have got to get past that to maximize my time with Charlie.

We next went to some sets of standing hamstring extensions.  Did 2×10 with two iterations.  I am really weak here so these sets were not too tough since we need to build them up some before I can hammer them.

The last thing we did was practice some posing and take a few pics.  i’ll eventually post them but 1) I was not pumped so I look pretty soft and 2) I look pretty soft.. yeeecch.  My vanity just wont let me post them yet.  I’ll get over it but for now… NOT.

These are definitely going to be some tough sessions and I have got to get tougher if I am going to get to the next level.   I have got to do better then I did today.. period!

Well, my first session with my Trainer was interesting.  We discussed my goals and what I wanted to accomplish which I stated was to gain 15 pounds of muscle and get to 8% BF in 60 days.  Well, once he stopped laughing, we discussed targeting specific weak points.  He evaluated my physique and the areas we are going to key in on are:

Upper Triceps, Top of my shoulders, and of course.. Legs!  He took measurements while I was cold so we would have a reference point for progress.

We decided to work the triceps and shoulder weak points tonight and do legs on Thursday afternoon.

Started with tricep pressdowns doing a couple of warm-up sets.  He corrected my form so that I was targeting the specific area of weakness.  amazing how you think you are doing something right and you are not even close.  Once I got the form down we went into some slow count supersets where you take 10 seconds to complete the target motion.  10 reps positive motion, 10 reps negative motion, the fast positive/negative for 10.  Between each set I flexed for several seconds as soon as I finished a set.  Did three sets of those and had a very good pump.

Next we did some nose crunches starting at the top of the forehead and extending backwards and up.  Did three sets of those for 10 reps with moderately heavy weight.  Then did three sets of declining weights, where I would do ten reps, he would pull some weight off while I had the bar extended, I would do ten more, and repeat until not weight was on the bar.  I did 5 sets the first time, then 6 sets the second time.  Definitely pumped now.

Last triceps was dips using the benches.  These were challenging.  I started at the bottom and would move up 1/5 of the distance, hold for 5 seconds, move up, hold for five seconds.. repeat until about 30 seconds had elapsed and without resting start the same thing going down.  When I finished the downward set I immediately did, well, tried to do, 20 full repetitions.  I think I got to twelve and died.  Did two more of those supersets.  I was just toast when finished.  My upper triceps were just numb.  There was nothing left.

Next was shoulders but the only thing we were going to work was the tops.  He had me do some shoulder raises with dumbbells but completely changed my motion to work the tops.  What a difference.  It took almost four sets before I almost had it right.  Kept trying to use my traps and not isolate the shoulder properly.  Then we did some without weights where he provided the positive and negative resistance, then did negative resistance only then immediately did the DB sets with a fast motion.  Can you say burn.  I think we did three sets.  All I know is the target area was cooked.

Finished with some cleans with the bar for a couple of setts then added 20 whole pounds.  Really all I could do after the earlier sets.  

Based on the fatigue I am feeling this was an effective workout today.  Tomorrow I will go ahead and work out my back.  He did see a weak point I need to address, to get more width on the lats so I have a more pronounced V.  I’ll have to wait for another session to get the exercise for that area, for now I’ll just do some wide grip pull ups to target that area.

note: I will complete a shoulder and triceps workout on Friday morning.  I’ll hit my biceps on Saturday and Chest on Sunday.

I have taken off Saturday and Sunday with no training at all.  Was busy Saturday and Sunday went offshore fishing all day so I didn’t miss it too much.  This morning was tough though.  I did my 20 minutes of running, then sprinted the stairs 10 times, then did wind sprints on the basketball court 10 times.  Legs felt GOOD!  Finished up with some abs.

My diet was so-so this weekend.  I probably put on a pound or two but will lose it by the end of the week.  One thing I have noticed is at 10-11% BF you deviate for more then a day from carefully balanced meals and and don’t compensate with additional training you see fat gains very quickly.

Tomorrow morning will be 20 minutes of rowing followed by some stretching and I will be done for the morning.  Tomorrow afternoon I will meet with my new Personal Trainer Charlie Goodnough, formally, for the first time.  The thought of training with an accomplished BB and having that accountability that goes along with it has me stoked more then I have been in years.  I feel like this is the beginning of a new phase in my training and my life.

I am going to carefully track the program in the tools provided by BB.COM.  We will take pictures and measurements I will fully document the training regimen as I go along.

T minus 29 hrs 51 minutes until liftoff……………………………….
……….

Today was a special day for me. I actually sprinted for the first time in years. I have been slowly rehabbing an old achilles rupture using the elliptical machine and then graduating to the treadmill. Today when I finished the treadmill after taking it to a speed of 7.3 my legs felt great, so I decided to try some sprints up the stairs. God it felt soooo good to be able to drive my legs like that. My glutes and thighs were burning when I finished the sets. Now I can start training them hard again!  It won’t be long before I can include my legs in pictures, lol.

I have been thinking about whether or not to engage a personal trainer for over a year now.  I have managed to muddle through using BB.COM as a resource but I am getting so much information I cannot pick a training method and focus on it.  What has vasued me to hesitate in engagin a PT is the fact that I am basicly cheap and refuse to throw away hard earned cash on a trainer who may be only margionally more knowledgeable then I am. Finding the one that is right for you is the trick.  As luck would have it there is a past Mr USA winner who happens to work out in the same gym I do.  He has owned his own gym and been a full time PT before moving on to become a Physicians Assistant.  He still is willing to do some PT on the side and he has agreed to work with me for a while to shore up some weak points and fine tune my nutrition.  With his extensive BB, PT, and medical background I know I can have complete confidence in his reccomendations.  It will be a least next week before we can formally begin but I am already documenting everything I do this week to prepare.  

This is very, very exciting for me and I can only imagine where I will be in six weeks with expert training advice.   I will definately get some fresh pics just before we start so I can do some before and after shots.

Saturday’s Workout was at Planet Fitness so I had to be carefull about grunting cause I am a grunter.  I still did on some of the heavy sets but the guy and women working the front desk are friendly to me and unless I got really obnoxious they wont say anything.

I worked shoulders on Saturday.  I haven’t really hammered them hard in a while so I wanted to use Saturday to really focus on them.  I worked them for 60 minutes.  I definately wore them out.  It is so hard to describe my workout I am just not gonna try.  One of the things I do very diffrently on shoulders then on other muscle areas is to do the isolation sets first, then do the heavy lifts at the end.  This allows me plenty of time warm up my old worn out shoulders.  The isolation sets are all done on the cables and I hit them from all angles.  My heavy sets are with dumbells but since PF only goes to 75lbs I first used very heavy cable sets simulating a behind the neck press.  Actualy worked better then expected.  Once I completed those I did three sets of 75lb DB’s doing 15 reps but change hand angle every 5 reps to vary the point of attack.  I did three sets of these and my shoulders were screaming on the set. I can feel them today.  All in all I probaly did around 15 exercises in a 60 minute period but keep in mind many of the exercises focus on rotational improvements and I only do 3 exercises heavy.  Since they feel fatigued today I know the workout was effective.

Sunday I slept late and then hit my legs.  Today I increased the weigths on the leg press and leg extensions and everything felt fine so I think I am ready to start pushing harder.  At this point it is not even worth describing my leg workout, just suffice it to say I see women working with more weights then I do   At least my legs are now healthier and I can start pushing them more.

It was a rainy day today so I took a nap today. That means I will be fully rested for tomorrows back workout.  Back workouts have definately become my favorite and I am already looking forward to it.

Since I took yesterday off from resistance training I was bound and determined to have a great morning in the gym.   Ate good yesterday, around 3500 calories of low fat, high protein, with a touch more carbs then normal.  Made sure to drink some Muscle Milk lite before I went to bed.

I got my normal six hours sleep and woke up refreshed.  Drank my two cups of double strength coffee and headed into the gym.  

Quick warm up on the bike.

Warm-up with seated full twist curls I saw Larry Scott demonstrating in one of his videos on BB.COM  Started with 15lbs, 25lbs, 35lbs, then 45lbs at 15 reps.  Felt pumped up and ready to go heavy.

Started with quarter DB curls on the preacher bench.  I do  these one arm at a time.  There is a picture of me doing these in on my bodyspace.  These target the upper bicep.  For the heavier sets I rest until the burn is about gone.  Takes about 90 seconds.

15×65lbs
12×75
12×85
10×95
10×105
8×105
12×85

Next is the the hanging curls with the EZ curl bar.  I hang over the back of the preacher bench so my arms hang free and loose.  I use a wide grip.  I Start fully extended and go up about two thirds and squeeze the bicep.  Rest about 60 seconds.

10 x 65
10 x75
8 x75
7×65

Last sets focus on mid biceps and outer biceps.  I use a rope on the cable machine with the pully down at the bottom of the rail.  I try to turn my hands out at the top but can only do so at lighter weights.

10×100
10×140
8×160
6×190, 6×160, 8×140 (superset)

and..  my arms can hardly move.  Fully engorged with blood.  I love that feeling!

On biceps day I need to shave BEFORE I go to the gym.  Damn it was hard to shave this morning!

I came in today rested and ready.  My back was faituged but I was rested and felt strong for a good chest workout.  Today was definately going to be a power day.

Warm ups.  15 minutes on ellip[tical

Incline Bench w/DB’s at 45 degrees.

15×35lb
15×45
12×65
12×85
10×105
10×115
7×120
12×85

Incline Bench w/DB’s at 75 degree angle (hit the upper chest and the insertion point where the chest goes into the delts.)

10×45
10×55
8×75
8×85

Decline Bench w/DB’s

10×55
12×65
12×75
12×85

Cable Machine that emulates Standard Bench Movement  (I do this because I cannot flat bench due to partial tear of the rotator cuff)

12×110
12×140
10×140
8×140

I do these with little recovery between sets.  this is more for the pump then to build any size.

DB flys w/slight incline

15×45
15×55
12×65
12×75

Thats about it.  I had a solid pump by then and the heavy sets on incline had hit deep into the muscle.  Another really good workout.  I feel like my biceps got hit during my back workout so I want to give them another days rest before I go heavy on my biceps again.  

I know if I keep this up I am going to see some decent results!

Back in my 20’s and 30′ I used weight belts, gloves, and wrist wraps and wrist straps.  I always seemed to be dealing with nagging injuries all over my body.  After I had to have a discectomy to repair a badly damaged back during therapy the physical therapist told me the danger of using these aids.  How they hid your weak points and didn’t force you to evenly develop all areas.  So, once I returned to the gym I never used any of them again.  Since I wasn’t going to be doing squats anymore there was no need for a weight belt or knee wraps.  My training was still haphazard and diet was just garbage so I never really did much more then maintain, barely.  In my early 40’s I really became concerned with the joint pain and stiffness I felt in the morning.  I started doing more reading on the specifics of nutrition and training and as my knowledge has grown and training/diet improved over these last few years I feel better today then I did in my 30’s.  That alone keeps me focused and motivated.  And discovering BB.COM has given me a place where I can go to learn from some of the best.

So where is this going?  In the over 35 forum there have been several discussions on the merits of using aids or not.  Having experienced the negative impacts of overuse, or improper use, of lifting aids I was inclined to take the purist stance.  No aids, period.  That is, until I hit the wall.  In my progress pictures I could clearly see how my upper back was doing fairly well but my lower lats were lagging.  I asked for some suggestions on improving them and the consensus was "Lift More Weight".  So, I tried.  But as had been mentioned in the discussions, your forearms just cant hold up to the heavy weight routines. They give out before your back does.  So I broke down and bought the versa gripps everyone is raving about.

I used them on my back workout last week, but mostly just trying to get familiar with them.  Today I was determined to really push my back.  How did they work?  DOMS.. forget DOMS. I was sore by lunch!  I did pulldowns to the front up to 6×240lbs strict.  Behind the neck lat pull downs up to 4×220lbs.  then did wide grip pullups to the front, back arched and focused on lower lats, slowwwww.  No way could have done these without the grips.  This is where I really felt it.  Awesome.  

Did some cable cross over on the Lat Cable Machines for upper back, then the inside grip on the T-Bar for lower lats again.  Used the grips on the DB rows, 8×105, 6×105.  Was really feeling it by then.  Finished with my "surfers move".  I set up a bench at the cable machine `, drop the pulley all the way to the bottom, set the inlcine to about 15-20 degrees, stand on it he bench.  Starting low I pull the cable across my body and up to my side while twisting.  Think of a DB row but the cable is pulling downward and across your body..  This twists the lower back while allowing you to pull out your lower lats.  The goal is to me stay flexible so the extra muscle doesn’t impact my surfing as much.  Not that I am really all that good at surfing, thats why I need all the help I can get, lol.

So based on the soreness I am feeling in the RIGHT SPOTS, the versa gripps did exactly as advertised.  Allowed me to focus on the target area and hammer it.  I still will limit their use so my forearms stay strong but they are now a staple in my bag.

Yesterday was a recovery day and I did thirty minutes on cardio (15 minute fast walk on treadmill and 15 minutes on inclined elliptical). Then did a good ab workout hitting lower back, obliques, and frontal abs.  

So today I had lots of energy for the biceps workout.   Since the Tattoo I got on Tuesday wraps around the triceps a little I couldnt place my arm on the preacher bench so everything had to be "free hanging".  Good change up actually.

After warming up I started with the full extension with a full twisting motion.  Larry Scoot’s video says these bild a major part of the biceps thats runns underneath an diagonally across the biceps.  I started at 30lbs, 35lbs, 45lbs, then 50 lbs.  Did 3 sets at 50 lbs.  8×50, 7×50, 6×50 (2 assist for 8 total).  Good pump there.

Next went to the Cables racks.  Did the standing double biceps curls where you are standing with your arms ups up and pulling the cables on either side.  Started at 30lbs and went up to 60lbs.  Had not done these in a long time.  They are definitely going to make me sore.  Massive pump!

Next used the rope on one of the cables to hit deep in the middle area of the biceps.  Went heavy doing three sets 10×80, 8×100, 6×120.  Arms could hardly bend from the pump.  They were so swollen all definition is gone.

Next exercise was the reverse grip curls using the EZ Curl bar.  Nice movement to do after all the pump movements I had just completed.  I liked the way it hits the outer biceps.  10×50, 8×80, 7×80.

Finished with concentration curls.  did 15×30, 15×35, 10×40, then 10+3 assist x40.  

I was so pumped up I did not even try to shave!

I know that this workout will produce results so I am going to repeat it next week until it no longer makes me sore!