My BodyBlog

I found myself at the gym Thursday evening, when I was supposed to be in the middle of a 5 day break.  But my work plans changed, my travel time reduced, and I wasn’t tired…so off I went!

I won’t list all sets, but want to report the great close grip bench sets I had.  Working sets were 185×6, 195×5, and 200×4.  Last set was heaviest I’ve ever done on close grip.  Gym was busy last night, lots of guys moving heavy iron, the testosterone was high - I felt right at home LOL.  I had a great arm workout in a fun atmosphere.

I WILL be off now until Sunday.  I’m helping my wife run her booth at a craft fair tomorrow, I’ll be carrying boxes and on my feet most of the day, so I guess it will be a little cardio anyway.  Legs will be done Sunday, heavy squats - I can’t wait!

It was shoulders last night, finally gave them their own workout instead of combining with another muscle group.  Started with standing overhead barbell press for Strength.  Last time I did this exercise I surprised myself with some stronger than expected sets.  This time, I planned to add 5 pounds to each set.  After warm-up I started with a set of 135×6 (last year I was elated with a single lift of 135 - I’ve come a long way), next set 140×5, then 145×4 and finally ran out of steam doing 150×2.  Last time out my max weight was 140 - getting stronger!

Size sets were 3 each of ’Behind the Head St. Bar Cable Pulldown’(?) and Dumbbell Front Raises.  Shock sets were 2 supersets of ‘Seated Leaning Side Lateral Raises’ (?) and Arnold Presses. (I don’t know if I’m using the right name for some of these exercises)  Finished off with a double drop set of two arm side lateral raises.  After these I had a burn in my shoulders, something I don’t often experience!  I finished off the workout with 6 sets for traps and a little jump rope.  I’m going to take a few days off now, I’ll go back to the gym for a leg workout on Sunday.  I have a couple of long days of travel for work to finish out the week and I know I’ll be tired.  It’s probably not a bad idea to give the muscles a little break at this point since the last 7 weeks I think I’ve worked them consistently harder than at any other time.

Thanks for reading and make your next workout the best yet!   

A hectic life means that time passes quickly between workouts - I like it!  I hit the gym Friday night to find I was alone there, so no one to spot me for my Strength chest sets.  Reluctantly I turned to the Smith machine, hardly my favorite way to do chest.  I can’t push as much weight, but on the positive side the weight I do push seems to require more effort and I end up working pecs hard.  I did flat and decline Smith bench, then for Size sets I did dips and barbell pullovers.  Shock was 2 tri-sets of incline dumbbell presses, flat dumbbell flyes, and standing dumbbell extensions.  Finished with a double drop set of cable crossovers and some plate pushes to failure.  700 jump rope reps for cardio.

I spent all day Saturday on my feet, doing projects around the house.  Then Saturday night I hit the kitchen, cooking up a storm so I wouldn’t have to cook during the week.  I finished putting away the last dish at midnight.  Not surprisingly, I felt tired on Sunday and when I hit the gym in the late afternoon my back muscles weren’t at their strongest.  It was a struggle, one of those workouts where you have to grit your teeth and focus to get through it.  Once I got past deadlifts and barbell rows I felt a lot better.  I banged out the best sets of seated cable rows I’ve ever done, 170×12 and 180×11.  By the time I finished all exercises I was feeling 100% better.  I started jumping rope and didn’t count the number of reps in total but on the last set I kept going until I had 150 reps…my best set ever.

The back is sore today, no surprise.  Nothing a couple of days rest won’t cure then I’ll be ready to hit it hard again!  Have a great week everyone!

Yesterday I attended a day long seminar in a hotel, snacks and meals were provided.  For the morning coffee break there was a large tray of muffins and pastries.  I ate the banana I had brought with me.  The lunch menu was a breaded, baked chicken breast with cheese.  An egg noodle dish on the side.  I had this, not the beast way to eat chicken but not the worst either.  Dessert was apple pie.  I skipped this and had the apple I brought with me.  Afternoon coffee break there was that pie again plus fresh baked chocolate chip and macaroon cookies.  I had the 150 calorie Nature Valley peanut bar I brought with me.  Three opportunities in all to eat food that would do nothing to help me towards my bodybuilding goals.  Three small victories for me!  Only four more seminars to get through over the next month….

Last night I had some unexpected free time so I took off for the gym.  I did 15 minutes of HIIT on the treadmill, then did supersets of shrugs, sets of 100 jump rope, and ab exercises.  After 45 minutes of non-stop work I was sweating and feeling great, then I headed back home.  I really needed that exercise after having sat behind a desk/table the previous two days - what a difference it made to my day!

Friday night I’ll be doing my regular 3-S workout, it’ll be chest and I’ll do whatever I can to make it even better than last time!

17 workouts in the books using the 3-S program and I’m ready to pronounce my opinion - it rocks!  These workouts are giving me everything I want from my gym experience - deadlifting, squats, & bench press strength-increase work, training to hit all muscle fibers and stimulate growth, and training to increase blood flow to the muscles that’s giving me the greatest pumps I’ve ever had.  I think I look bigger long after the workout and there’s no doubt it makes me feel like I look huge.  And let’s not forget our friend the DOMS.  Deeper and more intense than with any other workouts I’ve ever done, they are my daily reminder of the joy of lifting iron and the recovery process that will leave me a little bit bigger. 

Alex Stewart writes "These workouts will be the most intense workouts that you have ever done", and "I promise you will feel overall body fatigue in the first couple of weeks".  Man, he wasn’t kidding!  Thanks to sledford for being my inspiration to give this training method a try, it has really taken me to another level and opened my eyes to what I can accomplish with my workouts.  I’ll keep training like this until mid-December, then it’s time for a change to finish the year and some less structured workouts, but I’ll definately be keeping 3-S training in my arsenal from now on!  I encourage anyone with some lifting experience under their belt to give this a try - give it your all and you won’t be sorry. 

A great leg workout last night, I pushed the envelope with squats, upping the weights a little from last time.  My working sets were: 225×5, 235×5, 240×4, 245×4, 250×4.  Starting the 250 set I would have been happy with 3 reps, but when I got started I thought ‘the hell with that, I want 4!’  The last rep was tough, but I got ‘er done!  That was the Strength portion of the workout.

For Size I did Straight Leg Deadlifts, three sets of 165×10, plus two sets of leg extensions, 130×12 and 140×12.  On to Shock where I did 2 tri-sets using different machines, then I ended with a double drop set of leg extensions.  Quads were burning after that!  I then did some calf work, 6 sets in all, and they must have been pre-exhausted by the other work because it took no time at all to get a burn with fewer reps and lighter weights than it usually takes.

Another one in the books, that’s 17 workouts using the 3-S training method and I haven’t had a disappointing workout yet!

I started drafting this post a couple of weeks ago, finally got around to finishing it on a work break today:

The nature of my profession can bring with it a lot of stress.  I am more fortunate than many in that I am self-employed and have built my business to the point where I can minimize a lot of the stress i.e. only accept good clients and have some flexibility in my schedule.  In spite of my efforts though there are times that some stress cannot be avoided.  The last few weeks and I suspect the next few will be one of those stressful times.  I am finding, however, that my ability to cope with stress is vastly improved in the last few years as compared to earlier in my life.  I’m positive the difference is bodybuilding!

Pre-bodybuilding, work related stress would cause me to become grumpy, withdrawn and even a little depressed.  I used binge-eating for stress relief, and of course this probably made me feel even worse physically.  Now that I am fully committed to bodybuilding, trying to eat, sleep and work out like a committed bodybuilder, I am having an entirely different reaction to the work stress.  Mentally I am more focused, things aren’t getting to me, I’m taking it all in stride.  I am doing the best I can and not worrying about things I can’t control.  Physically, I’m feeling great and don’t have any cravings for junk food at all.  I am following my same eating routine which is keeping my metabolism humming and my energy high.  Being able to go to the gym regularly (which I will never sacrafice for any work circumstance) is keeping my spirits high and the workouts themselves are helping me release any stress that may be lingering. 

I read a blog in which someone said that one of the things they find so satisfying about bodybuilding is that the evidence and reward of all their hard work is with them at all times.  After 5 years 8 months working out I can now relate to that feeling.  After hating the mirror for so long I now make a point of looking at my progress.  I am pleased with what I see and know that I DID THAT…it was the result of my decisions and actions and I know I can keep transforming if I want to…what a feeling of empowerment, I’m in control of my own body, not a slave to it!  I know I’m rambling and getting off topic but these are the thoughts that are coming out of me as I type and it’s important to express them.  Is this vanity, to look at yourself and like what you see?  How can feeling so good about life and your accomplishments, and wanting to keep improving be a negative thing?  Any thoughts? 

Anyway, a final comment on stress relief.  The mere fact I can sit at my desk and feel the DOMS, flex a little or stretch a little, these simple things remind me of how good bodybuilding makes me feel and that seems to push away any stress I may be experiencing at that moment.

Thank you bodybuilding for everything you do for me! 

Friday night’s workout didn’t give me much back soreness, but biceps…that’s another matter.  I’ll finish the second part of my arm workout today, triceps, along with shoulders.  The first time I split bis and tris on 3-S I didn’t like it so much, but the back/bicep combo was great and I’m hoping shoulders/tricep split will work too.  That’s the great thing about this program, you can customize your split however you want as long as you follow the Strength, Size, Shock principles.

Looking at the calendar and there are less than 8 weeks left in 2009!  I’ll do the 3-S for about 6 more weeks then keep the last part of December for less structured (but just as intense) workouts….

…I’m back from the gym and the shoulders/triceps work went well together.  Here are my working sets:

Shoulders

Strength: Seated Dumbbell Press - 55×6, 55×6, 55×6, 55×6 (up five pounds from last time)

Size:

Upright Rows: 50×12, 50×12  Two Arm Side Laterals: 28×12, 28×12  Incline Revese Flyes:24×12, 24×12

Shock: Double Drop-set Machine Seated Press: 130×6, 90×7, 50×10.

Triceps:

Strength: Close Grip Bench Press: 191×5, 196×5, 196×5

Size: Skull Crushers: 50×12, 60×10, 60×10  Rope Pushdown: 120×12, 130×10, 120×12

Shock: Two tri-sets: Bar Pushdown, Reverse Bar Pushdown, One-arm Dumbbell Extension.

I used heavier weight for almost all exercises completed today.  As usual with 3-S, this work left me fatigued but feeling great!  Next workout - Legs!  

Decided to do biceps along with my back workout Friday night, just to try something different.  It was a great combo, the heavy back work really taxed biceps too, by the time I got through the bicep isolation work I was exhausted.  I did 600 jump rope reps during the workout, the last 100 my arms wouldn’t cooperate and I stopped-started my way through.

Highlight of the workout came at the start where I did heavy rack pulls.  I increased the weight 70 pounds over last time for the working sets.  My sets were: 135×10, 225×8, 385×5, 385×4, 385×2.  The last set each lift was a monumental effort.  I’ve never done those kind of heavy reps before, I didn’t know I had it in me.

That’s all for now, I have a lot to do on this rainy Saturday.  I’ll be doing a shoulder/tricep workout tomorrow.

Only about a quarter of the usual people at the gym last night.  People were talking about all the friends they have who are home with the flu.  The front desk girl says gym use is down about 50% since last week.  The H1N1 pandemic is here, along with the regular flu.  My wife and I don’t qualify for the vaccine yet, we aren’t in a high risk group.  I’ll keep my fingers crossed that we can avoid getting sick.  I’m sorry that people are sick but on the positive side I didn’t have to wait for any equipment!

It was ten days since my last chest workout and I was chomping at the bit to do some heavy lifting.  I warmed up with some light rotator cuff work and light chest sets.  Here’s what followed:

STRENGTH:

Incline Barbell Bench Press:  I often struggle with this one, and I haven’t done it in awhile.  Turns out I under-estimated the weight I was capable of.  I will know better what weight to use for next time.  I did: 145×6, 155×6, 165×8

Flat Dumbbell Bench Press:  I was also a little stonger on this one than I had anticipated.  First set 80×6 I could have easily done 2-3 more reps.  Second set used 90’s and did a solid 8 reps.  I guess in order to be in the 4-6 rep range on this one I need to use the 100’s or even a little higher?  Mind boggling.

SIZE:

Dips: Two sets of 10.  Second set felt a great burn.

Decline Dumbbell Bench Press: 75×10, 75×8 (failed).

SHOCK:

Tried something different, a Giant Set.  Pushups x10, Incline Dumbbell Flyes x10, Flat Dumbbell Presses x10, Plate Pushes to failure.  Exhausting.  Did it a second time!

Ended off with a drop set of high cable crossovers: 50×15, 35×15, 20×20.

After the lifting I hopped on the treadmill for some HIIT.  I only got in 12 minutes before my hamstrings started to cramp up a little, not surprising given the heavy leg work I did 48 hours earlier.  I guess 12 minutes is better than nothing.

Woke up this morning physically and mentally exhausted.  Instead of rushing down to work I decided to shake up my routine.  Cooked a big breakfast and enjoyed it thoroughly.  Then I had a long hot shower, and my wife and I went for a walk on a cool but sunny autumn day.  This made me feel a lot better and I think I’m ready for several hours of quality work now.

Sometimes I can accomplish more work in a few hours when I’m feeling good than I can in a full day if I’m tired or not mentally focused.  It’s the same thing at the gym - quality wins out over quantity every time.