Josh’s Training Log

Today I had a good workout session and I went in feeling motivated. I got in around 11am and stayed for an hour, and I just did back, biceps, and abs.  This is what my workout looked like:

• Warmup - .25 mile jog
• 3x Chinups w/ 20sec rest - 5/5/3 @ Bodyweight (something I really need to improve on)
• 3x Low Rows(Close-Grip) - 12/11/8 @ “9″(M)
• 3x Dumbbell Rows - [LEFT] 12/12/8 [RIGHT] 10/13/11 @ 30lbs. each
• 3x Barbell Curls - 15/13/9 @ 40lbs.
• 3x Dumbell Curls - 8/7/6 @ 20lbs. each (Simultaneously)
• Planks - Front 1min / Right side 1min / Left side 1min

I felt great after leaving, and my biceps felt full and tired.  I don’t expect my back to be very sore tomorrow, and depending on how I feel I might add more to the back phase of my workout next time.  For post-workout, I hit up Smoothie King for a 20oz. Strawberry Hulk Smoothie for 920 calories.

I’ve yet to find a way to maintain focus and motivation for long periods of time and my lack of progress is a direct result of it.  However, more recently I’ve had a few top notch workouts and I feel great. I’ve updated my measurements and I’m gonna take a few progress pictures in the next few days so I should be caught up here.  I’m working a lot with dumbbells right now because I want to even out my weak left side and I’ve been getting positive results thus far.  Tomorrow I’ve got Back/Biceps/Abs so I’ll update again then.

I spent the weekend in Florida visiting family so I got some relaxation time in.  I ate well and exercised a little, and I feel great coming back.  I can’t wait until tomorrow, it’s bench day and I have one last time to finish 185 and move up.  If I fail again, I have to deload.  I also got an updated pic up before I left, which was long overdue.  I’ll check back in tomorrow for the log.

- Coop

So I’ve updated my measurements, uploaded a couple of workouts, and tweaked the profile. I might upload some progress pics soon, if I ever get off my ass.

Okay, so in the past year and a half I have wasted a lot of time and made a lot of promises to myself that I never kept.  I would get distracted, be lazy, and just not care at times.  That’s all going to change.

This is my training log from yesterday:

2008/07/28 - Monday

BB Bench Press - 5/3/3/2/2 @ 185lbs.

BB Squats - 5/5/5/5/5 @ 225lbs.

BB Rows - 5/5/5/5/5 @ 115lbs.

Dips - 15/11/12 @ b/w + 10lbs.

Looking Back
Bench was rough this time.  I did 5/5/5/5/4 on 180lbs. last Wednesday, but 185lbs is a different ballgame.  It’s amazing how much heavier 5lbs can feel.  I bench again Friday though, so I’m gonna try to improve to something like 5/5/4/4/3.  I need to drop deeper on squats because I have become quad dominant and I have joint pain in my knees(and elbows). As far rows, my arms and back are not up to par and it shows on this exercise a lot.  I’m struggling, I don’t like it, and I know I need to improve on them.

Breakfast (11:00am):  Shredded mini-wheats w/ skim milk  /  1 banana

Preworkout (12:00pm):   Protein shake w/ creatine monohydrate  /  8oz. apple juice  /  Turkey Dog

Postworkout (2:20pm):  Protein shake w/ creatine monohydrate  /  8oz. orange juice  / Banana

Afternoon (5:00pm):  Chicken Breast w/ Assorted Veggies  /  8oz. skim milk

Night time (8:30pm):  Apple  /  Gr Chicken Strips  /  20oz water

Bedtime (11:00pm):  Protein Shake  /  8oz. Apple Juice

Workout!!! 

When: Monday, July 23rd, 2007 1:00pm-2:00pm

Cardio?: 10:00m on Exercise Bike (Warmup)

Mood (Pre):  Confident, Relaxed, Focused

Mood (Post):  slightly disappointed, but overall satisfied

I felt great going in today.  I tried the Ultimate Thermo Pump Trial I got from work(GNC) and I really didn’t feel anything special but I felt a boost of endurance so it wasn’t a complete waste. Here’s my workout results:

 Superset

Dbell Flat Bench Press
Dbell Butterflyes

did 3 sets of 8-10 reps a piece with 90lbs on the bench and 50lbs on the flyes.  I only rested 1min between sets and I practiced my locked shoulder technique because I have horrible form since I started out by myself and never have a partner. I’m working on it though.

Smith Flat Bench

did 4 sets, 95lbs-105lbs-135lbs-135lbs.   I was really happy with my results because practicing the locked shoulder technique I was able to do a solid 8 reps a piece on my 135lbs max, whereas 2 weeks ago i was only doing 4-6 reps at that weight. It was the highlight of my workout, without a doubt.

Military Press

I intended on doing a standing Barbell MP, but because of populace in the gym I settled for upright seated smith presses.  I did 3 sets of 8-10 reps with 95lbs and struggled on my last set. I couldn’t even pyramid the weight because I was having such a rough time with my first set weight.  I’m going to attribute this to lack of sufficient rest between exercises and sets just previous to starting this one.  Left me kind of disappointed as I left the machine.

Vbar pushdowns & Overhead Rope pulls

I did 3 sets of each but didn’t superset this time.  I don’t like the v-bar we have at my gym, so I use the rope. 8-10 reps of 60-65-70lbs on both.  I noticed I felt more of a burn if I pulled in a "V" technique, so instead of pulling straight down I pulled down and away from my center. I was happy with my triceps for the day, as I felt a great burn and loved the pump.

Lateral Raises

I started off with 15lb dbells on this one.  My shoulders are rather weak and 15lbs is actually 75% of my max so due to the extremely rough time I had just doing 3 sets of 8-10 (without increasing any weight) next time I think I am going to do 10-15-20lbs and see if I can do that more effeciently.  I much rather prefer the next exercise I do for good shoulder workouts.  Kind of displeased with this one.

Dbell Upright Row

I kind of ruined my shoulder workout today because I was doing 15lbs to start which I should have started higher, and then i went to 30lbs before going back down to 20lbs(on each arm).  I need to focus more on these exercises and rest adequately between sets.  I’m going to do some light shrugs this evening with 20lb dbells i have at home and see if I can satisfy my loss today.

Dips

One of my favorite exercises because when I started lifting 2 months ago, I could only do 2 at the end of my workout.  Today, I did 2 sets of 8-10 reps (unweighted) to complete my workout for the day and I was happy with the way they turned out.    Since Chest and Triceps are my 2 favorite muscle groups to work, of course this is going to be a stable in my program for a long time.

Training, Nutrition, Supplement notes:

I didn’t take my 17hd today because i wanted to see how the Ultimate Thermo Pump worked for me.  I felt a stronger endurance than previous workouts but really didn’t notice a bigger pump than usual.  I’ve had a successful day with nutrition, as listed above, and my workout would be prolly be rated a B-.  I see progress not only in my bench today, but in my dips as well.  I see my strength increasing but not much mass increase… I’ll post again tomorrow after my session!

2007-07-11 12:50AM

I took a protein shake pre & post workout today. Got plenty of protein throughout and didn’t eat anything too detrimental except maybe a little too much sugar than i preferred.  I also did my Biceps/Back this afternoon and I’m still getting frustrated because halfway into my workout my forearms are burning like hell before my biceps even begin to fail.  This happens on Chest/Triceps/Shoulders(monday) as well, and if anything it’s worse that day.  I work through it but carefully try not to over-train my forearms.  I’m not too sure what these bodyblogs are all about just yet, so I’m going to post my results here for log keeping purposes.

Exercise                    Sets          Reps          lbs.

Seated Dbell Curls          3             8-10           30

Concentration Curls        2             8-10           20

Lat Pulldowns                 3            10-12          110

Close-Grip Lat Pulls         3            8-10           130

Back Extensions             3            10-12          120

Still trying to find a good, stable workout for beginners but there are so many out there that are suggested that it’s starting to confuse me.  Going to end this because it’s pretty late and I need to get some rest.