My BodyBlog

I arrived at the gym at 11:15 a.m. - first time I’d gone to the gym in the morning for over a year!  Lots of things to do this evening, so it was the morning for my workout, or not at all.  I’m not really a morning person, so I wasn’t expecting a great workout…I was wrong.

It was bench press day, I decided to work up to my previous maximum lift and see how I felt.  I did a few warm up chest exercises, then got to work on bench.  I did 95×10, 135×8, then 185×6.  I was feeling stronger with every set.  I loaded the bar up to 225, my previous best on this was 2 reps.  I surprised myself by doing 3 reps and I probably would have gone for a fourth if I had a spotter!  My previous 1 rep max was 235, achieved in September at the end of a bench press training program.  I had duplicated this lift a couple of times since then, but couldn’t do 240 unassisted.  Today, feeling confident after the 225 set, I increased to 240, got someone to spot me, and I nailed it!  I had to give maximum effort but I got it done with no help from the spotter!

Increasing upper body strength seems to be a lot slower for me than lower body strength.  But I keep working at it, and when the gains come it is very satisfying!  So, I’m at 240, and I’ve set a goal of benching 300 by the end of 2009.  Considering that one year ago I couldn’t bench 200, and considering I only focused on bench press for the last half of 2008 and still increased my lifts by over 40 pounds, I think my goal for 2009 is realistic if I keep working at it.

After benching I did chest/back supersets using various exercises, and I finished off the workout with 15 minutes of ab work.  I tried a new ab exercise…saw it in a video posted by stevep78, very simple really, you hold a cable and just crunch the body to the side to work the obliques…I used 50 pounds on the stack and did 3 sets of 20 reps each side…really felt it!

All in all a very satisfying workout both pysically and mentally…tomorrow is an off day (if you can call fighting the crowds at the malls trying to get the Christmas shopping done an off day!) but back at it on Sunday where I’ll make squats the priority.  Have a great weekend everyone!  

In spite of what I said in my last post, I did make it to the gym sooner than Friday!  I’ve been itching to do heavy deadlifts for a couple of weeks, but have been waiting for a day when I had no lower back/leg stiffness or fatigue….a hard thing to come by lately with everything I’ve been up to outside the gym.  I’m happy to say that last night it happened!

On September 5, I reached a major personal milestone of deadlifting 405.  Since then I’ve deadlifted 3 times using the 5×5 training method, getting up to 290.  On November 16, I tried to deadlift heavy but I had low energy and the best I could do was 365.  So I wasn’t sure what to expect last night….I had already decided not to attempt 405 straight away, I think it’s wiser to build back up to it over a few workouts (and then try for more, of course!)

After a couple of warm-up sets at 135 and 225, I lifted 315×2.  I’ve noticed that I can usually tell if I have the energy to lift heavy depending on how hard doing 315 is…last night it was a piece of cake!  After that I stayed with single lifts and did 335, 357 (used chalk only, no straps up to this lift - most I’ve been able to do strapless, grip is getting stronger), 375 and 390.  I won’t say 390 was easy, but it was easier than I remember it being since I last did it.  I stopped at that lift, sticking with my plan to gradually get back to 405.  The hamstrings felt particularly strong, I had no trouble powering the bar off the floor….a good sign I hope for my future lifts!

I know deadlifts are one of the best overall mass and strength building exercises….and for me at any rate they’re the best confidence (ego?) building exercise too!  When I succeed at heavy deadlifts it makes me feel on top of the world!  I rarely see lifters at my gym deadlifting, there is only one guy I’ve seen who is deadlifting as much as I am…even regulars who have big upper bodies and can bench 315+ aren’t deadlifting…why not?  Last night I was spotting on bench press for a guy who was benching 250 plus….watching me deadlift he commented that just watching me was making him tired.  He said that he has never deadlifted.  I know there is a fear that deadlifts will somehow hurt your back…and they will if done with poor form, just like lifting any weight training exercise can hurt you if you don’t do it right.  On the other hand, done right over time deadlifts will strengthen the back tremendously, and practically the whole body is involved in some way during the lift, building overall size and strength.

Just about every time I do heavy lifts I notice that one or two people at least will pause in what they’re doing to watch me…those who know me as a regular often compliment me or ask a question about deadlifting…this is a boost to my ego for sure and I love talking about it…if they’re an experienced lifter I encourage them to give deadlifting a try.  It’s challenging, of course, but the rewards are more than worth it!

Wow, I’ve written more than I intended to…hope I didn’t bore anyone!  I’ll be trying to deadlift more regularly from now on…I’ll keep posting about how it’s going. 

After taking 2 full days off I’d planned to do deadlifts Friday evening - but my wife had other plans!  Friday afternoon a large load of crushed stone was delivered to her Mother’s house, it was needed to cover a large area of soft ground/mud that in the back that was getting worse.  We spent about 2 hours Friday evening and another 3 hours Saturday morning getting it all spread around.  The shovelling, raking, and moving wheelbarrow loads of stone gave me quite a shoulder and lower back workout!

After lunch on Saturday my wife and I went for a long walk, then before dinner I went to the gym.  Decided to defer deadlifting since my back felt tired and I had been on my feet a lot that day, I don’t think I would have done very well.  I started the workout doing Clean and Press, 5×5 @110, a new PB.  Then I did Close-Grip Bench Press supersetted with mid-weight, 8-10 repetition Barbell Curls.  On CGBP I did 5×5 @185 pounds, another PB!  Finished the workout with several supersets triceps/biceps using various exercises.  Doing triceps and biceps together like that seems to give me the best pump and I have a blast doing it.  I did several sets of jump rope during the workout to at least get some cardio in.

Sunday morning started with more work.  We are trying to get two new rooms we just had added to our house completed, so I was varnishing pine strips, followed by priming and painting window casings.  Add the effect of shovelling stone plus my arm workout to the repetitive motion of painting and you get a very tired and sore right arm/shoulder!  But I pushed through and got it done.  Then Sunday evening rolls around.  My wife is tired and so am I.  It’s rainy and windy outside, what a great night to curl up in front of the TV.  But wait…Sunday night is gym night.  Even though I went Saturday, that was to make up for Friday night.  I wanted to get back on schedule with my 3 day a week rotation, so away I went.  Based on how I was feeling I decided to work muscles that hadn’t been used too much over the weekend, namely calves and traps.  Finished the workout with 12 minutes of non-stop ab work consisting of 10 sets of mostly different exercises.  Went on the treadmill for 15 minutes of walking just because it felt like the right thing to do.  Felt very content to get the workout in even though I’d describe it as ‘low-intensity’.

Looking forward to a productive week, will be a challenge to get to the gym as the push is on to get the new rooms finished plus I have a couple of days work out of town.  The way I feel today a few days off from lifting will do me good and I’ll be strong and motivated for my Friday night workout, which will be deadlifts for sure. 

It’s about 42 hours since my chest and abs workout, and I’m really feeling it!  The DOMS actually makes me feel great, it tells me I did the right things during my workout to break down that muscle tissue and force it to GROW!  I’m feeling it in my chest, triceps, upper back, shoulders, and upper abs.  Here’s my workout:  I started with a few sets of moderate weight incline dumbbell presses to get the blood flowing in my chest muscles, then I went to the bench press.  I worked on 5×5 @205 (third attempt at this - came closest yet to doing it - I pushed up the last rep using every ounce of strength I had, but had to place the barbell on the lowest holder on the rack instead of the top…..SO CLOSE!  I’ll do it next time!), followed up bench press with 3 heavy sets of dumbbell pullovers, and 4 sets of cable flyes at different angles, using lower weights and high reps, going to failure.  What a pump! 

I capped off chest by doing 6 sets or rotator cuff isolation exercises…I’ve read from a few sources that this is a key to increasing bench press, and should be done after a chest workout.  I’ll give it a try and see what happens.  I finished up my workout with about 12 minutes of ab work.  I did 9 sets in total, using 3 different exercises, and I did them all to failure, only resting long enough to go to the next exercise.  I’ve been working abs like this twice a week for a couple of months and if the resulting tightness and soreness is any indication, I’m getting more out of it than any other way I’ve tried doing abs.  Oh, and I also got my cardio in during this workout by skipping rope between most sets….I guess I did about 400 reps all together….plenty to work up a sweat!

A very satisfying workout….days like that are what keep me coming back for more and more punishment!  Up next is lower body for sure, let’s see if I can generate some more great DOMS!  

Worked on quads and hams last night, decided to take a break from squats and do other exercises.  Started the workout with leg press, an exercise I haven’t done much this year.  Mostly I’d done leg press towards the end of the workout, using moderate weight for high reps.  The weights I’m going to list here are plates only, I don’t know the weight of the machine.  First set I warmed up with 270×15.  Next set did 360×12, followed by 450×10.  Feeling really strong!  Added two more plates and banged out 540×10.  Next set I did 630×8.  No great fatigue yet, what’s going on?  The most I’d pressed before was about 680!  Added two more plates for a total of 720 lb, 16 plates!  I did 4 reps, still feeling pretty good but of course the quads were starting to fatigue by now.  After that set, feeling a little amazed by what I was doing, I wondered how much higher I should go.  I’ve never shied away from testing my limitations so I didn’t have to think long.  I added two more plates, total 810 lbs, 18 plates!  I’d watched videos of guys doing leg press with that many plates and more, and been impressed.  Now here I was, about to join them!  I did two presses at 810, and although they weren’t quite as deep as with the previous sets they were by no means cheats.  That’s the story of my new PB leg press of 810 plus weight of the machine!

My increase in leg strength I’m sure is due to all the squatting I’ve been doing.  Pyramid, 5×5, or just low weight high rep, I have been squatting regularly and there’s no doubt it’s the best overall leg exercise.  So if you want to add mass to your legs, start squatting!