Tomorrow I’m hoping to get a back and bis workout in…

5 sets of bench press supersetted with lateral shoulder raises.  I tied my recent best for bench on the first set with 185 lbs x9.  I want x10 and then I’ll try increasing the weight.

Next I 5 sets of hang and presses (if that’s the right term…) supersetted with cable crossovers.  The cxos felt great today.  They hit the spot.

Finally, I did 5 sets of supersetted tricep pulldowns with pushups.

Stretched and went home.  Quick and dirty, but just what I needed today…

Saturday I did a cardio abs workout.  Much needed, but not very exciting.
Monday I did an upper body workout which was fairly decent.  I started off a little slow with pullups and bench both a bit off my recent bests.  However, I got it together and ended with some awesome bicep work.  I curled 35 lbs dumbbells x13 which is the best I’ve done in a long time.  I did five sets of these supersetted with tricep work and my arms felt amazingly pumped (and tired!)

I took Tuesday (involuntarily) off, but I hit the gym today for a great leg workout.  I did walking lunges carrying 70 lbs supersetted with calf raises.  This was a killer.  I followed up with leg-extension and leg-press supersets.  Finally I did some medium heavy squats.  My legs felt very pumped at the end.

We’re getting near the end of the year, which is always a time of reflection.  I’ve been thinking about the areas of my body with a critical eye and here’s where I stand:
Chest: Certainly my weakest area.  This is where I must concentrate the most.  I’ve come a long way since I started two years ago (I used to not be able to bench 100 lbs) but I’ve been stalled where I’m at now for a long time.
Back: Upper back is doing well.  This is one of my stronger areas.  I’ve been pretty happy with the progress.  My lower back has some issues if I don’t treat it well.  Recently it has been doing better, but I’m still dreaming of deadlifting with out pain someday… Someday….
Shoulders: I think I’m just lucky with shoulders.  They are naturally fairly strong for me.  I don’t work them out all that hard, but I’m happy with the results.
Arms: Again like the shoulders, these are naturally good for me.  I’ve made some recent progress on bis/tris that I’m proud of.  My forearms are fairly lame.  I’m not sure I can do too much about that.  They seem to be the same regardless if I pound them to death or not.
Legs: These come and go for me, often depending on the state of my lower back.  Recently I think I’ve come up with a good plan for them and they are coming along nicely.  The trick for me here is lower weight, higher reps, zillions of sets with very little rest.
Abs: Ah abs.  I think I’m starting to see some progress there too.  My diet has been weak the last month or so, but I’m getting back into the groove.  They are coming…  Just wait…

Good workout today, although I was a little tired.  I started off strong with a bench of 185 lbs x9.  That’s the best I’ve done in a while.  Climbing back out of the hole on this one.  I did 5 sets on the bench supersetted with lateral raises.  A couple sets of dips.  Then I did 5 sets of clean & presses supersetted with cable crossovers.  I finished up the weights with some pushups supersetted with tricep pulldowns.  The pushups were lame… my triceps were so fried.   Finally, I hit the abs hard with some serious situps, planks, and oblique work.

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you.

Today: Legs
I took three days off (although I did split wood a good chunk of Sunday, so that was a workout in and of itself!) and then got into the gym yesterday and today.  Yesterday’s back workout was fine and all, but nothing exciting.  I was way off on the pullups I’m afraid, only hitting 10.  I was pretty beat…
Today, however, was a kick-ass leg day.  I increased weights on both leg-extensions and hammmy-curls.  I even squatted a little today, doing 155 lbs x7, which even felt okay on the back.  I now always do squats last (I used to always do them first) so that I’m pretty fried when I get to them.  This way I can still work hard while not having to put super heavy weights on the back.  I’m working, ever so slowly, back up to 185 lbs.  My PR is 250 lbs x5, but I think laying off the heavier squats has been good for my back overall.

Speaking of which, it feels pretty damn good today.  Yesterday was a little rough back-wise, but in a different way than usual.  I attribute that to swinging a maul ten zillion times on Sunday.  Speaking of which, I taught Thing #1 to use it on Sunday.  Wow!  It’s nice when the kids start to actually help around the house.  He split half a face-cord!  And he was very proud of it too…

Pretty good workout today.

For the bench I got 185 lbs x8 which I think ties what I got last time (I’m too lazy to go check.)  I’d really like to get back to where I was five months ago.  I’m stuck at a plateau right now.  I supersetted the bench with lateral raises where I graduated up to a slightly heavier girlie weight.  I did six sets.
Next I did OH Presses supersetted with pushups.  I can’t go super heavy on OH presses so I did 5 sets of 65 lbs superslow.  The supersetted pushups were pitiful.  I could only get like 5 or so on each set.  My triceps were jelly!

Finally I did 5 sets of cable crossovers supersetted with tricep pulldowns.

My triceps are on fire right now in the best possible way.
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Yesterday: Back + Bis + Abs

Today: Legs

So I’ve been away from this site, but not entirely away from the gym.  I’ve been awfully busy at work and really unable to find time to post.  I have a little breathing room now, so here’s a quick update.

I did some good cardio on Friday, and then I took the weekend "off" so I could do work around the house.  God granted me a bonus couple of days to do all the getting-ready-for-winter chores that I have been putting off for so long, and I decided to take advantage of them.  Things are looking pretty good now.

Yesterday I had a ho-hum back+bis workout.  I was planning on an upper body workout, but I was so pooped, I just did the back and bis part.  Today was better, with a strong leg workout, despite the fact that I made Thing #1 (who is a natural early riser) get me up at the crack of dawn so he and I could stack a cord of wood.  There was a pile of it on my lawn and I wanted it stacked before it rains later in the week.  We just bought a new woodstove that we’re putting in on Friday.  He and I have been having fun stacking wood and playing with my chainsaw and maul.

My back has been feeling decent lately…  I’m excited.

Legs were good.  I actually squatted 155 lbs today, which is the most I’ve done in a loooong time.  Working slowly back up to 250 lbs which is my all time record, back willing…

At the end of my workout, there was this guy I’ve talked to a few times really blasting it.  I’m mean, like out of this world blasting it.  He was doing a no-rest curcuit kind of thing with a cycle of clean/jerk/presses with 95 lbs, incline bench presses with 80 lbs dumbbell, pullups, and finally this crazy sit up/jump up thing he was doing with a 25 lbs weight. Basically he laid down on his back with 25 lbs behind his head.  He swung the weight over his head and down and across the front of his body very hard and then used the momentum to jump up into a squat position.  Then he stood up.  He made it look easy.

So I had to try it.  I failed several times, and then finally got two of them.  Gadzooks they were hard!  I think I might try these some more, but at home until I master them, to avoid embarassing myself any further!

This guy was just incredible and a super nice guy too.  I’ve seen him around before, but usually at night when I’ve gone back to do a workout I missed at lunchtime, but recently he’s started working out at the same time I do.  I think I’ll be asking him for advice…  He was completely amazing.

Today: Upper Body

Yesterday’s leg workout was fine and good, but today’s workout was great.  The best workout I’ve had in a long time.  Everything was just "on" today, I don’t know how else to describe it.

I started with pullups supersetted with upright rows.  The first pullup set I tied my PR at 13.

Next was the bench supersetted with lateral shoulder raises.  The first bench set I got 185 lbs x8 which is the best I’ve done in a while, but far off my PR.

Next I did overhead shoulder presses supersetted with pushups.  I’m not allowed to go heavy on the OH presses because of my back, but it was enough let me tell you.  The first pushup set I could only do 10, my triceps were so shot, and the subsequent sets were downhill from there.

Normally I do cable rows next, but that machine was taken, so I did one-armed rows instead.  I haven’t done these in so long, I forgot what weight I should use.  I ended up doing 65 lbs x13 on the first set.  Usually these make my back a little sore, but not today.  Today I was invincible apparently.  These were supersetted with reverse flyes.

Finally, I did alternating dumbell curls supersetted with tricep pulldowns.  My triceps are completely fried, in the best possible way.

What a great workout!

I was planning on doing Abs and Cardio today, but after the abs work, I just felt like hitting the upper body instead.  It was a fairly good workout.  Nothing terribly exciting, but it felt good to get in there and blast it a little bit.