Ludlum3k’s BodyBlog

I have neglected to keep my BodyBlogs up to date, so today I will outline my last three workouts (Wed: Legs, Thurs: Shoulders, Fri: Back + Biceps) I didn’t have my usual tuesday arm workout this week, as I had other plans that day, however, I didn’t mind since my triceps were still sore from mondays chest workout, plus I just added biceps at the end of my back workout.
Wednesday, I went to the gym fully knowing I was in for a beating. After taking a week off, returning for a leg day is always a recipe for pain for a few days. Plus, my leg focus was getting changed, which just made things hurt even more. First, my squat stance was widened to more of that of a powerlifters squat; wider stance, toes slightly outward, focus more on inner thighs. Same went for the leg press. Calves were changed to a superset of heavy standing calf raises and light seated calf raises. Then followed by leg curls and leg extensions.
Thursday, shoulder day, was a good day, despite being barely able to walk. I followed my plan to focus on the middle delt to make my shoulders wider and stronger. Plus, I seemed to have more strength, so I was able to lift more.
Friday, I had a great back day, ending with a crazy pump. I went back to doing wide grip pullups (which it’s been a while since I’ve done them) after doing two light sets of pulldowns. Next, I did two sets of heavy reverse grip barbell rows, followed by normal overhand barbell rows. Of course I did my big barbell shrugs after that Followed by wide straight-arm pulldowns. Proceeded to do barbell curls, and finished with what I call jump-n-holds (where I basically do a jumping chinup where i try to hold for as long as possible)

WEDNESDAY
Squats
10×135
4×8x225
Leg press
4×10x470
Superset
   Standing calves
   10×300
   8×300
   10×240
   Seated calves
   15×90
   10×90
   15×70
Leg curls
3×12x100
Leg extension
15×100
2×12x100

THURSDAY
Behind-neck press
10×105
3×8x125
10×105
DB overhead press
2×10x50s
10×45s
12×40s
Wide grip upright row
12×70
10×70
12×60
10×60
Incline rear delt
10×20s -> 10×15s
12×15s -> 12×10s
15×10s
DB Lateral raise
2 x (10×20s -> 10×10s)
10×15s -> 10×10s
15×10s

FRIDAY
Lat pulldown
2×12x80
Pullups
2×5xBW
2 x (3xBW -> 3 negatives)
Reverse grip BB row
2×6x185
Overhand BB row
2×10x135
BB shrugs
2×6x365
20×225
20×185
Wide straight arm pulldown
2×10x50
2×12x40
BB curls
12×60
10×60
10×50
12×40
Jump-n-hold X 3

Finally, I was back back in the gym on monday after a crappy week off. I didn’t do any cardio, or anything much except eat while I was off last week, but I managed not to gain too much weight (visibly, although the scale disagrees, but who cares about the scale, if I look the same, then it’s all good) Anyways, I think I’m gonna ease off on the cutting crap, since it’s not exactly my thing, or working well with me, maybe next year I’ll do better.
I started off the week with chest and abs as usual, but completely redesigned, as will the rest of the following workouts. I went back to the flat bench, luckily with not much, if any, drop in strength there. Actually there was probably improvement, because probably since it was the first time back at that exercise, I might have been sluggish, we’ll see next monday. I was still using 245 lbs, did two sets of 4, but the second set of it I also did two negative reps as well. I then dropped to 225 for 4, and my last set was with 185 for 7 where I immediately dropped to 135 to do 5 explosive reps. Next I went to do dips, which are especially hard after your chest is thoroughly thrashed. But I would do as much as I could fully, and then would do negatives, where I jump up and slowly lower myself down. Next I did decline DB press supersetted with decline DB flyes. Finished off my chest with the chest press machine for sets of 15. Proceeded to do weighted decline crunches, where I’d hold a 35 lb plate for 10 reps, drop it and do 5 more BW reps. Finished with DB decline russian twist.

Bench press
2×12x135
4×245
4×245 -> (2 negatives) x 245
4×225
7×185 -> (drop) 5×135
Dips
6xBW -> 4xBW
4xBW -> 4xBW
4xBW -> 4xBW
Superset
   Decline DB press
   12×50s
   10×50s
   8×50s
   Decline DB flyes
   12×20s
   2×10x20s
Chest press machine
15×115
15×100
15×85
Decline crunches
3 x (10 w/ 35 lb plate -> 5xBW)
Decline Russian twist
3 x (10 w/ 15 lb DB)

Couldn’t go to the gym today (tuesday) but didn’t bother me, my triceps were too sore from that chest day.

Today was my first taste of doing back and biceps together, still think that having a separate arm day is the best way to go. But, unfortunately, I’m going to have a rest week next week, so I’m off the gym until monday April 23 It’s not like I want to have a rest week, (hell if it were up to me, I’d be in the gym all day every day lol), but I got exams, 2 next week, so I gotta do what I gotta do… I’m gonna try to keep doing cardio though next week, because I know that while I’m sitting at home studying, I’m going to be snacking more than usual, so hopefully there won’t be any junk food in the house next week to taunt me. But back to my description of today. Since I had to eliminate arm day this week, I had to incorporate biceps into today’s back workout. I did so by using reverse grips on barbell rows and pulldowns, and finishing the workout with EZ curls and high cable curls. It still felt great in my biceps, but I think arm day is better. I seemed to have more energy for T-bar rows, so there were a couple extra reps there. And the barbell shrugs felt a little easier today, but still deadly. This is the layout.

T-Bar
15×90
2×4x225
10×180
15×135
Reverse grip BB row
2×6x185
2×10x135
BB shrugs
2×6x365
20×225
20×185
Reverse grip pulldown
2×15x120
2×15x100
EZ curls
2×12x50
2×12x40
High cable curls
2×12x30s
12×25s
BIKE 30 minutes (HIGHER INTENSITY)

Today I completely redesigned my shoulder routine, in order to bring up my middle delts, which are probably my most lagging area. My front delts and rear delts are great, from all the chest and back work I do. But my middle delts are so much weaker than the rest of the delts, for instance, when I do DB shoulder press, I struggle with 65’s while most smaller guys are having no problem with 70’s and up. I’m good at Arnold press, and normal BB shoulder press, as they use the front delts mainly. So, after a while of planning and researching and thinking, I analysed my normal delt routine and realised that it’s because I don’t prioritize the middle delts. I usually start with BB shoulder press, followed by Arnold press, then DB front raises, then rear delts and finish off with DB laterals. BUT NOT ANY MORE!!! Today, I started with behind-the-neck shoulder press on the smith machine (I don’t like the smith machine, but I decided to use it so I can get the hang of the behind the neck version) then did DB shoulder press, then DB laterals, followed by rear delts and finished off with wide grip upright row. I didn’t get the same pump that I usually get on shoulder day, but I think it’s because I should go with the order: Rear delt - wide upright row - DB laterals. Because I think DB laterals give the best shoulder pump. But anyways, I don’t get to try that next week, because I’ll be off next week for exams, but the following week will be crazy since everything is getting redesigned. But enough blah blah, heres the numbers

Behind-neck shoulder press (Smith)
10×105
2×8x125
6×125
8×105
DB shoulder press
10×50s
9×50s
10×45s
10×40s
DB Laterals
2 x (10×25s -> 10×15s)
(10×20s -> 10×10s)
15×15s
Incline rear delt
2 x (10×15s -> 10×10s)
15×10s
Wide grip upright row
3×12x50
BIKE 30 minutes (HIGHER INTENSITY)

Today was a deadly leg workout. First of all, I was low on energy from having no sleep last night (working on lab), so that was deffinitely felt during the workout. I decided to change things around a little today, for as long as I can remember, I’ve done two heavy lifts at the beginning (consisting of squats, leg press, or hack squats) followed by calves as a little break, and then usually romanian deadlifts followed by leg extensions. That means there was always almost no energy when I’d be doing hamstrings. Today, however, I did squats followed by heavy romanian deadlifts. Oh my God, I could barely walk. I continued with seated calves, was able to do a little more volume this week, but during the standing bodyweight calf raises that are supersetted, I kept getting little cramps. Even though my hamstrings were already thrashed, I then proceeded to do lying leg curls. On my last set of these, when I was done, I then reduced the weight and did partial reps to failure, then dropped again on did the same. Leg extensions were done with slightly more reps than usual, due to the fact that it was with lighter weight. Proceeded to do cardio afterwards.

Squats
10×135
4×8x225
Romanian Deadlifts
2×8x225
8×185
10×135
Superset
   Seated calves
   12×180
   10×180
   15×140
   20×90
   Standing calves
   4×20xBW
Lying leg curls
10×100
12×85
12×70 -> drop partials
Leg extension
20×100
15×85
15×70
BIKE 30 minutes

After the mother of all cheat weekends, where I ate enough to count for every cheat meal for a year, I know that I have to come back harder and more determined to make up for the lost progress. First of all, since the gym was closed yesterday, this week will consist of a four day split. Basically, I got rid of arm day (which was normally today) and placed triceps with chest and will place biceps with back. Just finished chest and triceps, first time I’ve done triceps after chest, so they were thoroughly exhausted, which led me to only do two exercises for them, but I guess that’s ok since triceps get worked elsewhere (might ad a tri exercise on shoulder day). I think that this was an effective method, as my triceps feel more worked than normal, however, I’m still a believer of having a separate arm day, as since I’ve been doing one, my arms have responded really well. I’m sticking with Shock Therapy pre-workout this week, because of the added caffeine, taurine etc. to boost the fat burning a little bit so I can get back on track where I was before this weekend. Other than that, not much new for this week.

Since I have exams starting, particularly two next week, I have decided to have next week be a recovery week (gonna drive me nuts not being in the gym) But I’m gonna try and still do cardio next week (which will drive me more nuts) Plus, since I’ll be busy studying, I won’t be hanging around with my friends or my girlfriend as much, which will give me a better opportunity to watch my diet and resist the cheating on the diet. But after next week, when I get back in the gym there will be changes to the workouts: flat bench focus for chest, change of arm routine, wider stances and different focus for legs, change of shoulder routine, and change of focus on back. So I have enough to get planned within the next couple of weeks, hopefully everything will work nicely.

Incline bench
12×135 (wide)
10×155 (wide)
6×205
4×205
8×185
Superset
   Flat DB press
   8×90s
   3×90s
   7×70s
   9×60s
   DB flyes
   3×10x30s
   10×25s
Pec Deck
2×15x70
15×55
Close grip Bench
2×6x135
2×8x95
Rope pushdown
8×50
8×45
10×40
12×35

Today may be thursday, where I normally do shoulders, but since the gym is closed tomorrow, I would be missing back. So, I decided to do back today, since it is my favorite day of the week. I know I should have done shoulders, since they are my lacking area, but too bad. I was able to bump the weight up a little bit today, was able to do 5 plates for T-bar rows, loved it. Changed up the last two exercises, and think it was for the better because my back felt like it was gonna explode lol. Anyways, here’s what I did

T-Bar row
15×90
6×205
4×225
8×180
12×135
Bent BB row
2×6x185
2×10x135
BB shrugs
2×6x365
20×225
20×185
Wide grip pulldown
2×12x120
2×12x100
Straight-arm pulldown
12×50
2×15x40
BIKE 30 minutes

Yet another gisgustingly brutal leg workout today, as usual. I remember back in the day when leg day was my favorite lifting day of the week, but now… no. That was back when I wasn’t doing everything properly; I didn’t do squats, I did super heavy leg presses with a small range of motion, on machines like the leg extension and calf raises I’d just put the whole stack and push as hard as I could without simply using the contraction of the muscle. But that was a long time ago. Now I do squats, and I mean FULL squats, unlike most people at my gym not even going to parallel, lowered the weight on the leg press to focus on the form, which ends up giving a crazier burn than anything, and same for the other machines, as I concentrate on the mind-muscle link. And now, my legs, and the rest of my body are MUCH better than a year and a half ago.
I have no idea what the point of that rant was, but for some reason I felt like typing it. So anyways, back to the point. Brutal leg day today, it’s always death when I somehow get myself to include romanian deadlifts, because by that time in the leg workout, my head is not thinking right and my tank is pretty well close to being empty. Went back to good ol’ seated calf raises, to find my soleus must have been getting lazy, because they were harder than last time I did them, but I’ll just have to work on that won’t I. Waddled over to the bike to do cardio again after my workout.
Since friday is Good Friday and the gym is closed, I still havn’t decided whether I should do my usual shoulders like every friday, or do back, my favorite, since I’ll be missing it Friday. I guess I’ll see how my legs feel tomorrow, cause I needs em on leg day to lift those heavy ass weights.

Squats
10×135
4×8x225
Leg Press
4×12x450
Superset
Seated calves
12×180
10×180
12×140
20×90
Standing calves
4×20xBW
Romanian deadlifts
2×8x185
2×12x135
Leg Extension
15×130
15×100
15×70

A great arm workout with a few new things. I switched triceps dips with close grip bench press, but I think that I’ll stick with triceps dips, as they fatigue my triceps more, because after the close-grip bench press, I still had lots of energy in my triceps for the rest of the workout. When I did the preacher curl 21’s, I had to use the straight bar, instead of the EZ curl bar, as both were being used, which allowed me to use more weight. However, another thing that contributed to me using more weight on the 21’s was the fact that two other guys were using the preacher curl bench which made me wait longer. Later, instead of doing high cable curls supersetted with tricep pushdown, I did DB hammer curls supersetted with rope pressdown. Finally, I went back to doing heavier wrist curls supersetted with lighter reverse wrist curls (instead of vice versa). Finished off with cardio as usual.

EZ curls
15×50
2×10x70
2×10x60
Close grip bench press
15×155
11×155
2×12x135
Preacher curls
4 x 21’s x 50
Overhead DB extension
2×15x70
12×70
12×60
Superset
    Alternating DB curls
    15×25s
    12×25s
    15×20s
    Rope pressdown
    10×55
    2×12x45
Superset
    Wrist curls
    25×60
    15×60
    15×50
    Reverse wrist curls
    25 x rubber bar
    2 x 20 x rubber bar
BIKE 30 minutes

After a weekend of SEVERE gluttony and complete destruction of my diet I knew that I had to work hard this week, especially since I’ll be missing Friday (Gym closed for Good Friday) I was back using Shock Therapy this week and wow, it felt like the first day I used it. I felt crazy and too energized. I LOVE IT. I felt real strong today, thought I could probably bump up to 2 plates on the incline bench, but decided not to as my focus is still cutting, not bulking (dammit). Hit everything hard, and with all the dumbell exercises, the numbers of reps listed below are just the full reps, because I did partials once I got fatigued, because I didn’t have a spotter. I tried decline DB press today to replace the DB pullover. Did the ab rollout, which is hard to do since the roller at the gym takes you all over the place because it’s wheels are filled with crap. Anyways, everything went great, 10/10 workout, can’t settle for anything less.

Incline Bench
12×135
10×155
6×185
6×205
Superset
    Flat DB press
    8×90s
    5×90s
    9×75s
    9×70s
    DB Flyes
    2×10x35s
    8×30s
    10×25s
Decline DB press
7×60s
6×60s
7×50s
6×50s
Incline Cable Flyes
15×40s
12×40s
12×30s
Decline crunches
3×15
Ab rollout
3×10
Crunches
2×10
BIKE 30 minutes