JD_Johannes’s BodyBlog

It really looks kinda preposterous…

But, I have been doing it every Wednesday for a few weeks now.  When I get to 10 reps on the first set, or if I can’t increase the reps…I’ll move on to another exercise.

All in all, a good back workout today.

DB Rows 150 x 7, x4, x 2

Lat Pulldowns 255 x 6, x4, x2

Rear Delts Machine 140 x 13, x7, x4

Shrugs Machine 120 x 11, x4

Some people may call it a heresy, but I take each set to failure.  It seems to work well for me–how many other people you see rowing a 150 pound dumbbell?  I do a set to failure, take 15 breaths, do another set to failure, take 15 breaths….always keeping the weight the same.  When I get to 10 reps on the first set, I increase the weight the following week.

My gym wife, Jules, shot the video clip with her cell phone.  We’re both single, but have been lifting together for almost six years!

Tomorrow is a day off and Friday is chest.

Perhaps it is wrong that I dislike Resolutioneers so much.

I am all for people setting a goal and help quite a few people achieve their fitness goals.  What I do not understand is the linking of a goal with the rather arbitrary date of January 1.  And January 1 is an arbitrary date, for centuries the date of the New Year varied from March, to the equinoxes and solstices.

But it still holds a power over people who make a pledge that after the beginning of the year, they will go to the gym and that this is the year they will get in shape.  And every year the gyms of America and probably the world are clogged with resolutioneers during the month of January as they put on a pair of running shoes and walk on the treadmills or fiddle with machines.
The resolutioneer fails for many reasons–the most telling being that they tied their goal with an arbitrary date.  If they really wanted to accomplish their goal, why wait for the first of the year start?

And that is what I dislike about the resolutioneer.

For me, fitness is not a hobby.  It is not self-improvement.  It is a necessity.  It is a matter of life or death.  When I find myself in the mountains of Afghanistan or river valleys of Iraq, I have to be able to keep up Marines, Paratroopers, Rangers and whoever else I’m filming.

Sometimes these expeditions are planned I can specifically train for them.  Sometimes I just get a phone call and few days later I’m on my way to some war zone.

I take my training very seriously.  Everything I do, the way I do it, has a purpose.  It works for me and has been proven in combat time and again.

When the resolutioneers get in my way, they are not a mere inconvenience–they are messing with my life and the lives of the Marines, Soldiers, Sailors and FACs I operate with.

I can tell who works out regularly and who does not.  I have no grievance with people who workout consistently as they are smart enough to stay out of my way, put their weights away, not take naps on the machines and not annoy a guy when he’s doing dumbbell rows with 150 pounds.

But suffice it to say, for the next 40 days I will do my best to be polite, answer a few questions and let the amateurs go along their way–secure in the knowledge they will be gone by early February.

The resolutioneers have yet to take over the gym.  But traffic was up a bit for a mid-afternoon.

The shoulder workout was groovy–

Standing DB Shoulder Press 85 x 7, x2, x2 (each set to failure, as always)

Lateral Raises 50 x 4, x2, x2

Leaning Single Arm 25 x 9, x4

The 50 pound lateral raises is getting a bit extreme.  It begins to look absurd at 60 pounds.

Tomorrow, I will pretend to work my legs.

Ventured out into the snow to do arms.  The snow kept the resolutioneers away…but I can feel them coming…the pack of people who every year vow that this year will be the they get in shape.

Tricep Ext. 120 x 7, x4, x2

Wide Grip Skull Crushers 115 x 8, x4, x2

Barbell Curls 135 x 10, x3, x3

Dumbbell Curls 60 x 6, x3, x2 (each arm)

Next week I will be moving up to 140 Lbs. for arm curls and trying to get more reps on everything else.

Sunday off, shoulders on Monday.

Today was chest day.

I’ve been keeping track of my "rep-max" on the chart and it has been going down.

Today for flat barbell bench I did:

295 x 5, x4, x4

According to the formula, my rep max is in the low 330’s down from a high of 380 a few weeks ago when I did 275 x 11.

I should start to creep up next week when I do 295 again, but I’ll probably get 7 or 8 reps.

Over the course of a few months, the chart is gonna look like a crazy zig zag.

Does this mean the chart is useless and formula useless?  No.  It is just another imperfect measurement.  All measurements are imperfect, but a flawed measurement, if used over the course of time, reveals an accurate trend.

Legs day is not much of day for me.  If everyone has their outstanding body part, legs are mine.  If I actually work them they begin to dwarf the rest of me.  In the offseason I kind of work them.  During Pre-expedition training when I’m running sprints, I only pretend to train them.

Yesterday (Monday) was shoulders.

I few weeks ago I started doing standing dumbbell shoulder presses.  I like it so far.  The move has an old-time-strong-man feel to it.  The power clean to get into the starting position will be a problem soon.  When I get to 100+ pound dumbbells, it will look really silly.

Here’s the shoulder workout:

Standing Dumbbell Shoulder Press

85 x 5, x 2, x 2,

Standing Lateral Raises

45 x 9, x 6, x 2

Single Arm, Leaning (I grab a power rack and lean at an angle)

25 x 5, x 3

Tomorrow (Wednesday) is back day where I wrestle with a 150 pound dumbbell doing single arm rows.

I didn’t really train arms yesterday, just goofed off, did a few cable pushdowns, one arm dumbbells overhead, some db curls, and some crazy bicep curl contraption that I don’t think I’ll ever try again.  Seriously, some of these machines were designed by Rube Goldberg.

As I predicted in a post in the forums, I did indeed eat an entire pizza.  I also drank a sugary soda.  This morning had some pastries while reading the NYT.

I do that occasionally.  Some call it a cheat weekend, I call it a Metabolic Reset ™.  Yes, I’m trademarking that phrase along with Hypertrophy Zone ™.

No training today.  Tomorrow is delts day.

I just started doing barbell bench press again.

I haven’t done it since…2005?

Last week my sets went:

275 x 11, x5, x4

This week I went up in weight:

285 x 8, x5, x2

I expected the number of reps to go down.

Here is what is going to be fun.  On the Rep Max calculation chart, I went down…a lot.

Next week, I bet I will be up because I’ll get more reps.  Then I’ll go up in weight by 5 or 10 pounds.  The reps will go down and the Rep Max calculation will go down.

It will be a funny looking zig zag after a couple of months.

Fitness is not a hobby for me.  It is an imperative.  It is a matter of life or death.

I have no desire to compete in bodybuilding.  My physical look is secondary.  My first priority is being able to survive a hike through the Khyber Pass in Afghanistan, sprint through the streets of Baghdad and climb over obstacles while wearing body armor, a camelback and a TV camera.

What works for me is as much explosiveness and stamina as possible, that can be maintained while living in the dirt or some crummy little combat outpost.

Every time I get back from a trip to Iraq, I’m starting from scratch.  Build the muscle, increase the stamina, lose the fat.

The best training advise and literally everything I do came from a group of female bodybuilders in Miami and IFBB Pro Fitness Competitor Nita Marquez.  Training for combat is remarkably similar to what a female fitness competitor does–putting as much strength, power and stamina into a lean a package as possible.
I’ve been shot, shot at, stabbed, blown up and cheated death or serious injury enough times that I take my training very seriously.

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