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.