benjamminb6’s BodyBlog

Well, I wanted to go to the gym today, but decided to wait one more day so that I can get one more day of rest since my last workout was so bad and I felt so fatigued.  Also, Im starting a new schedule at work tomorrow, so I want to get myself accustomed to going to the gym early in the morning before work, and I couldnt do that if I went tonight.  This week I am back to the rest pause, high intensity training, and I fully expect to make gains on all of my exercises.  Im actually a little anxious to see if and when I ever plateau on anything just so I can switch it up and start doing different stuff, but I dont wanna switch anything while Im still making good progress every week.  I started running again for my marathon training, and I plan on being very strict about it from here on out.  So this week, my big goals besides making progress in my workouts, are to be consistent with my marathon training, adjust myself to my new schedule, and really start working on my abs.  I never train them, and I plan on making ab training a regular part of my workouts from here on out.  I dont know if I will list them at all on here since I will be switching them up so often and just going by feel, but if I find a good rotation of exercises I may jot it down.  A big thing for me is going to be watching my diet as it hasnt been terribly good the past two weeks, and my new job is in a restaurant.  We have alot of really good food, so I need to just be disciplined and stay away from the bread and stick to my diet.  It will also be tough to eat as frequently as I would like, but if I take a shake with me to work, I should be able to make it work.  Now that I am working more, I will have more money, so it will be easier to but quality foods and load up on some good supplements, which I badly need right now.  In the next few weeks, I think that everything will be coming together nicely so that I am right where I want to be with everything:  money, work, workouts, marathon training, diet, supplements, and of course fun!  We have been having a really good time since we got here to Vegas, and Im glad that we made the move.  Anyway, time to go root for the Angels, and I will update tomorrow after my workout.

So today was the worst workout that I have had in a LOOOONG time!  I just didnt have any energy or strength, I was lethargic from the start.  Its probably because we were out so late last night and I only slept 5 or 6 hours before trying to go to the gym early this morning, plus we were at the movies all day yesterday before going out at night, so I havent eaten any real food in more than 24 hours.  I probably should have slept in a little and then spent the day eating and getting stuff down at home that I need to do before going to the gym tonight, I would have gotten a better workout I think.  Last time I did 7 different exercises per bodypart, and worked really hard, but this time, I just didnt have it in me.  I ended up doing only 3 exercises each, and the gym was more packed than Ive ever seen it, probably because of the holiday weekend.  I used the rope attachment for the triceps pressdown, I usually use the v-bar.  It seemed really tough and I was only using about half the weight that I usually use, but it was the first time that Ive used this part of this new gym.  As I was struggling with my light weight lol, I saw some older lady and some guy who could be my grandpa both use the opposite pulley from mine, and use more weight than me easily on their rope pressdowns.  Afterwards, I never saw another person use the pulley that I had been using, which leads me to believe that that particular pulley is retarded or the weight isnt accurate, so next time I will try to use a different pulley to see if it feels easier or more normal.  Anyway, heres what I did:

Lat Pulldown: 100×10, 120×10, 140×8, 160×6 with dropset.
Rope Pressdown: 50×10, 60×10, 70×8, 80×6 with dropset.

Deadlift: 95×10, 145×10, 165×8, 165×8.
1 Arm Reverse Pulldown: 30×10, 35×10, 40×8, 45×8.

Seated Row: 100×10, 120×10, 140×8, 160×6.
Dumbell Overhead Press: 15×10, 20×10, 25×8, 30×6.

Well, we couldnt find a gym any closer to home lol.  We just moved to Vegas this week, and the only gym we could find was 9 miles from home, which seems like its really far considering that our last gym in California was right across the street basically.  We have been trying to find one closer, and there are 2 that are closer according to the internet.  However, we went to one that is about a mile and a half up the street, but it was horrible.  The layout was really bad, they had TONS of cardio equipment, and almost no weights or machines for lifting.  We felt like we would be really limited if we tried to work out there, and we would hafta wait to use any machine since there are so few in relation to the number of people using them.  Also, it felt like it was about 100 degrees inside there, it was just a bad experience.  We followed the mapquest directions to go find the second gym that is supposed to be closer to us, and we ended up 20 miles away clear on the other side of Vegas.  I dunno if mapquest is just retarded, or if the street names have changed or something, but where mapquest claims this gym is, is right in the center lane of a busy freeway haha!  No gym to be found.  So for now, we have given up and are just going to drive the 9 miles to the gym and 9 miles home.  Although it is far away, it is a really nice gym with lots of good equipment, and it always seems so empty, which is nice because I can work out in peace and get done quickly.  So Friday we went to the Hilton Casino to go to their pool.  Most of the big casinos in Vegas have nice fancy pools that are great for cooling off or relaxing, but you hafta have a room key and be a guest at the hotel to get in.  The Hilton has the same rules, but doesnt seem to enforce them.  Maybe its cuz they are at the end of the strip or they dont think anyone would sneak into their pool, but they never ask to see your roomkey, even though there is a sign that says you must show it to be granted entrance.  So we just walk right in like we own the place and spend some time tanning and swimming.  On Saturday we were up early to go to a sale at Mervyns so Heather could find new clothes for work.  Then we went to the SouthPoint to go to the movies.  We saw Pirates of the Carribean, which was ok, and when we were done, Shrek 3 was just about to start, so we just walked in since it was in the next theatre.  Two movies for the price of one haha.  Afterwards, we played a penny slot for a few minutes and won nearly 30 bucks which was cool.  And to top off a fun filled day, we had free tickets to go see Jay Leno do stand up at the Mirage!  My friend works human resources there, and can get us free tickets to any show on the strip apparently, which is really cool and should give us plenty of entertainment this summer.  The tickets were 100 bucks each at the box office, so we saved 200 bucks!  As far as working out goes, Friday I had a good workout, though I didnt get to do as much as Id planned since Heather needed to come home and sleep.  We need to start running again for our marathon training, we have missed a week and a half due to Heathers knee pain.  If she cant do it, I need to do it since I am planning on doing the damn marathon at the end of the year.  Here is how my workout went:

Hammer Machine Shoulder Press: 90×10, 110×10, 130×8, 150×6.
Smith Machine Squats: 115×10, 115×10, 115×8, 115×8.

Front Raise w/Plate: 4 sets of 45 pound plate for 10 reps.
Leg Extension: 75×10, 90×10, 120×8, 150×8.

Dumbell Lateral Raise: 15×10, 20×10, 25×8, 30×6.
Lying Hamstring Curl: 60×10, 70×10, 90×8, 100×6.

Rear Delt Fly: 60×10, 70×10, 80×8, 90×6.
Standing Calf: 165×10, 210×10, 270×10, 345×10.

I had intended on doing shrugs and a leg press before Heather needed to go, next time I will add more.  I tried the plate front raise for the first time, it was a different feel, and I liked it, I will include it from time to time.  I have said it before, I have very little experience squatting, and am not sure of myself when I do it, even on the smith machine.  I worry about my form and I may be psyching myself out a little.  Also, I have bad knees from years of playing basketball, and when I broke the growth plates in them as a kid, so I worry about going too heavy.  Either way, I will try to keep doing them until they get easier.  Even with such a light weight, and the use of the smith machine, they seemed extremely difficult and took alot out of me, which is a good thing when your training.

So we went back to the gym this morning, and Im really glad that we did.  I had a great workout, even though I wasnt completely familiar with my surroundings or the equipment in this gym.  We need to find a gym thats closer to home, so we are gonna look online today.  Anyway, heres how it went.

Incline Dumbell Press: 45×10, 55×10, 65×8, 75×6.
Barbell Curl: 65×10, 70×10, 70×8, 80×6.

Incline Machine Press: 160×10, 220×10, 240×8, 280×6.
Dumbell Curls: 30×10, 35×10, 35×8, 40×6.

Machine Fly: 62.5×10, 70×9, 70×8, 77.5×6.
Preacher Curl: 50×10, 60×10, 70×8, 80×6 with dropset.

Hammer Decline Machine Press: 90×10, 180×10, 270×4.
Concentration Curl: 20×10, 25×8, 30×6.

Cable Crossover: 50×10, 50×10, 60×8.
Front Double Bicep Curl: 30×10, 30×10, 30×10.

So its been a whole week since I have been able to lift, because I havent had a ton of time with everything thats been going on.  We are going to go this morning and lift, and if I feel ok, I am gonna go back and lift again tonight for different bodyparts.  Anyway, since last Wednesdays workout, we have been doing some cardio almost everyday early in the morning, but because everything was packed up for the move, and we were not always at home, our eating has been really bad!!!   Thursday we did our marathon training, so we didnt lift, then Friday we were in San Diego all day until late at night because my sister graduated from college, San Diego State, and we went to her graduation and went out to dinner after.  I also ran out of gas on the freeway that day!  That’s never happened to me before, and it was a pain in the ass!  Saturday was Heathers college graduation from Chapman University, so we were there from 7am till noon, then went to the swap meet to pick up some things, and later met her family for dinner.  We were exhausted, so we just came home and crashed.  Sunday we were swamped!  We had to get everything out of the apartment and clean the entire place top to bottom so that we could move out on Monday.  We spent all day cleaning, packing, and running around tying up loose ends and trying to find an ipod store to fix Heathers ipod.  We went to bed early again as we had to be up at 5am.  So Monday we checked out of the apartment at 7am, then had two doctors appointments in Los Angeles in the morning.  After that, we got my car, and we were off to Vegas!  The drive was easy and uneventful, but it still makes you feel tired after driving 4 hours in the hot desert sun with no air conditioning!  We got to Vegas, moved all of our crap into our new place, went and ate some chicken at a little place up the street and were sleeping like babies pretty early again.  Tuesday was our first whole day in town.  We went to the gym and did some cardio, and spent the morning relaxing and unpacking.  We went to the store, and drove around a little to see where everything was near us.  In the afternoon we went to the new South Point Casino, which is right by our house.  We checked out the whole place and everything that it has to offer, then went to the sportsbook to watch the Angels game and relax.  We came home, watched American Idol, and planned on going back to the gym, but I fell asleep, I was so tired, Im still adjusting to the long week.  So anyway, we havent lifted weights due to a crazy schedule, but as of today we are gonna be back at it.  I am going to do my high volume week starting with chest and biceps this morning.  If we end up going back to lift again tonight, Im not sure if I will do back and triceps or legs and shoulders.  After the gym, I need to go run some errands.  I wanna find the vitamin shoppe, just so I know where it is if I need anything, and I need to call a few places about jobs.  Should be a great week, cant wait to get back in the gym and lift!!  I will continue to add my training log after each workout.

Last day for this round.  Next I go back to the high volume training week.  I tried to do the seated calf machine, but I always feel like it just doesnt give me a good stretch, and my reps are not as taxing as I would like.  Also, since I am dealing with an ingrown toenail, it makes it difficult to do this exercise with my right foot, so I did my last set with the standing like usual.  Also, the reverse grip curls were tougher than expected, not because of the weight, I went fairly light, but because the grip felt very uncomfortable, and I may have just been using the wrong attachment. 

Dumbell Curl: 50H, 10 reps.

Reverse Grip Curl (low cable attachment): 60, 15 reps.

Standing Calf: 250, 15 reps.

Seated Hamstrings: 145, 7 reps.

Leg Extension: 160, 10 reps.

Heather and I were in Brea last night to run some errands, so we went to the gym there instead of our usual gym.  I ran into an old buddy, David Devany, he’s still a wigger haha.  It was nice to use the Brea gym because we usually go to a small gym, and this gym is much larger, and has a pool, sauna, steam room, and jacuzzi.  We took full advantage of these extra amenities while we were there, and spent some relaxing time in the sauna and jacuzzi after our workout, which was really nice.  On the flip side though, because the gym is so large, and because its in Brea, the place was absolutely PACKED!!  Way too many people, which made it difficult to finish sets because people were waiting to use weights and machines.  Also, TONS of gay guys, which is really odd, because I dont think there is more than one or two guys at our regular gym whom I would consider to be gay, but it was like 30 or more gay guys in there last night.  Not that I have anything against gay guys, I have had close friends that are gay, its just an uncomfortable feeling when your working out to have guys watching you, and it sucks to not feel comfortable in the locker room because the guy in the speedo decides to come all the way back to your shower area to strip naked and watch you finish your shower.  They just dont seem to have common courtesy or manners in the gym, and its like they think of it as a meat market or a place to meet other guys, when the rest of us think of it as a place to work out.  Anyway, because of the crowd of people, and the different equipment compared to my regular gym, the exercises I did were not congruent with last weeks A3.  So I just didnt keep  track of the stats this week, but I did do an entire makeshift workout, and I will adjust accordingly next time that I reach day A3, which will be in Las Vegas at a whole new gym since we are now moving to Vegas in a week!

Pretty good workout.  I was really surprised how easy the preacher curls were at 90 lbs.  It seems like just a few weeks ago I was struggling with 60.  I forced myself to do the hack squats which I skipped last week, so that was good, and I think I can definitely do more weight next time.  Also, I have only been doing the standing calf machine for my calfs, so I switched to the rotary calf machine today.

Preacher Curl Machine: 90E, 15 reps.

Dumbell Hammer Curls: 42.5, 13 reps.

Rotary Calf: 210, 10 reps.

Seated Hamstring Curl: 110, 9 reps.

Hack Squats: 180, 6 reps.

I continue to see progress in all of my lifts, both in reps and weight.  I thought about going lower in weight on the smith machine incline press because I only managed 3 reps last week, and it was clearly too much weight, but since I’ve been making such good gains everywhere else I decided to keep the same weight and try again to see if I have improved at all.  I felt much more comfortable doing the deadlifts also, which was good as I now feel like I can start doing some more weight.  All in all, a good workout.

Smith Machine Incline Press: 225H, 5 reps.

Hammer Machine Shoulder Press: 140, 12 reps.

Deadlifts: 145, 9 reps.

Cable Lat Pulldown: 140E, 19 reps.

Skullcrusher: 80, 13 reps.

Ok, so tonights B1 workout was much better than last weeks.  I did change the squats to machine leg presses this time because I’m still not comfortable with squats, but I know that I can use real good weight on the leg press.  I have never really done squatting in my life, except for a few times on the smith machine at my old gym.  At this gym however, the smith machine doesn’t allow me to squat comfortably because of where it is located in the gym(no mirror, so I dont know how my form is), and because the racks in it are either too high or too low, so there is no good starting point after I load the weight.  I either have to try and stand on my tippy toes to unrack the weight, or crouch way down halfway to get under the bar, which I dont like to do either.  So last time, I tried free weight squats for the 1st time in my life, in a regular squat rack, which was nice because I could put the bar shoulder high, and easily rack and unrack it.  However, I wasnt completely comfortable with my form still, and I could only put 95 pounds on because I was afraid of going too heavy and either getting hurt, or getting stuck and not having the smith machine to save me.  Maybe I just need more practice, so Im goning to plan on incorporating it into my high volume week and just go light until I get the hang of it.  But since I only get one work set of one exercise for my RP week, I want to be able to really work hard, so for now its leg press on B1.  Anyway, as I said before, no RP on my legs as I have to save them for marathon training, but I’m still trying to work them hard on their sets.  I improved on every exercise, so I was very happy.  Here are the numbers:

EZ Bar Curls: 75E, 18.

Rope Hammer Curls: 150, 18.

Standing Calf: 250, 16.

Lying Hamstrings: 90E, 8.

Machine Leg Press: 420, 8.