My BodyBlog

I emphasized chest development during my 12 week summer program, and I can see solid gains in chest size.  My plan was to go for my 1RM after taking some quality rest time.  For different reasons, I haven’t felt 100% ready to lift heavy on bench press since I came back from my 8 day break.  Last night I decided I was going to try the lift no matter what.  If I waited until conditions were perfect I’d probably never try.  I had a little residual soreness in arms and back from the Friday P90-X workout and the arm workout, and as soon as I started my bench warm-ups I knew I still wasn’t 100%.  But I had a good spotter so I continued on, if not a max lift tonight then I’d have a great chest workout.  I worked up to 225, did a single lift and it was hard.  On a good night I can do 225×3 no problem.  Added 20 more pounds, and gave it my all on a 245 attempt.  The spotter gave the bar a little nudge and I was able to finish, but it was very hard.  My previous 1RM was 250 and I’m hoping to do 260.  I’ll just have to wait until a workout when I’m feeling 100% to do that lift…and I will.  I finished the bench pressing with a 275 negative rep.

I’m trying to decide what kind of split or routine to use for the rest of the year.  It is difficult when I have so many goals…am I cheating myself by not focusing on one thing at a time?  More on this later.

After benching I did chest and back work using the following exercises:  incline dumbbell bench, decline barbell bench, cable flyes, pull-ups, cable pull-downs, and seated cable rows.  Great pump, great workout.  I’ll tackle the bench pressing again within a week.

My weekend trip was delayed by one day so I was able to arrange my schedule to get in a Friday afternoon workout.  I was about half way through my shoulders and arms sets when I was asked by a guy I know well if I wanted to do a workout video with him (my gym has a lot of videos for members to use).  He wanted to try the P90-X Kenpo one, and I was game to try it.  Another guy came along to join in so the three of us went to it in the ‘classes’ room.

It was a blast!  Hard at times but I did the best I could do.  Seeing the movements for the first time, it takes some getting used to.  The kicks were hardest, and also the combinations with 3 or more movements.  I kept moving even when my mechanics weren’t right.  I think if I hadn’t done legs two days earlier I would have done better with the kicks, I was already sore starting off.  My stamina was great, I had no trouble keeping up with the other two guys who were 15 and 20 years younger than me.  At times I even kept going when they stopped for a short break - feels great to know my work is paying off!  Next time I do this DVD I’ll be better at some of the movements.

Finished my arm workout afterwards, felt totally drained but content!  Went out of town Saturday and didn’t get back until late Sunday so no workout, I’ll do it Monday evening.  Bench press will be my priority, time to lift big!

Back from holiday and back to the gym.  Rather than coming back feeling rested, my short vacation left me worn out and looking forward to getting back to my everyday routine.  Sleeping in different hotel beds also gave me a sore lower back that took a few days to clear up after I got home.

My first workout I was feeling tired so I just did a light upper body workout to get the muscles working again.  Workout included some bench press at 135 lbs, felt a lot heavier!  My diet during my 8 day break included some foods that I normally would not eat, some sweet desserts in particular.  I also had more carbs, fat and less protein than is my norm.  I’m sure the lower quality of my diet had a lot to do with me feeling poor for my first workout.  Diet is back on track now, I have no desire for any foods that won’t contribute to my bodybuilding goals! 

My second workout, last night, I did lower body, and I felt much better.  I started with squats, had several solid sets pyramiding up to a max lift of 255.  Did 5 sets of deadlifts, kept the weight low and went for higher reps.  Also did seated leg extensions for quads, lying leg curls for hams, and some good ab work.

Now that I’ve got all my muscles going again, I hope I can get back to some heavy lifting and intensity next time.  I won’t be working out again until Sunday due to a weekend trip to visit relatives.  I want to go for a new max lift on bench press and I’m hoping Sunday will be the day that  a) I feel rested and strong and  b) there will be someone at the gym who I know will spot me correctly.

I hope everyone is eating well and working out hard, time to re-focus and have some great workouts!

Friday night I was mentally prepared for some heavy deadlifting, but my body had other plans.  I was at only around 90% strength, my lower back and legs were still sore from the squats and leg work 48 hours previously.  I managed a 405 lift, then kept to lower weights and threw in some rack deadlifts and a lot of hamstring work.  I just have to believe that all the work will pay off and sometime soon, when the body is 100% rested, I’ll have one of those ‘wow’ workout where I’ll exceed all expectations and do something special.

Spent most of Saturday helping my sister-in-law get ready for, host, and then clean up from my nephew’s 6th birthday party, which was held in the back yard with about 15 kids plus assorted relatives.  I was on my feet most of the day and I was pooped!  I indulged a little with my diet, having some party food, pizza and a little piece of cake.  First taste of pizza in a long time.  I found it salty, not as good as I remembered.

Workout Sunday night was a lot of fun, when I arrived at the gym some guys I know were just starting a chest/tricep workout and they asked me to join in.  We really pushed each other and I was able to go to failure on most sets thanks to having a spotter.  We did bench press, incline and decline dumbbell press, barbell pullovers, plate pushes, rope pushdowns, dumbbell extensions, and cable kickbacks.

That’s it for me at the gym for a whole week!  Flying to Moncton, New Brunswick tomorrow for a 2.5 day conference then 3 days of relaxation.  Our hotel has a workout area and pool, so hopefully I’ll have time to stretch things out a little and have a nice swim or two.  I’ll be back at the gym on Monday September 21st.  I won’t be on-line much either for the week, but I’ll be thinking about all my bodyspace amigos and hoping everyone has a great week!

After six days off, most of it feeling sub-par and some of it feeling downright miserable, I was back to myself again and ready for a workout.  I walked into the gym and it was like coming home.  Fully rested, I could do whatever exercises or muscles I wanted…I was like a kid in a candy shop! 

I decided to focus on compound work to get the entire body involved and shake off any rust that may have started to form!  After warm-up I did bench press sets of 135×12, 167×10, 201×10 (spotter helped finish), and 135×15.  Then I did 3 sets of clean & press, 95×6, 105×4, 77×8 with little rest in between, this really got the heart rate up.

I headed to the power rack to do some squats.  A guy I know and who I’ve partnered with for a couple of workouts came up to me and asked if I was doing legs.  I said just squats probably.  He wanted to work together, and he was with a friend who was fairly new to lifting.  So the three of us worked together, it turned out to be a very good pace, we did four sets in all.  I kept the weight low and reps high, felt good.  The friend had only tried squats once before and it hurt his neck, and he was very apprehensive about squatting.  We spent a little time coaching him on bar placement and mechanics.  By the fourth set he was ready to try 135 and did a set of six.  He was amazed with himself, didn’t believe he could do it.

They wanted to keep on doing legs and I was enjoying myself working with them so I followed along.  Went to the leg press and did 4 sets, then on the seated leg extension machine for 4 sets.  For the last set I suggested we ‘burn-out’ with a double drop set.  Went to failure at 120, 70 and finally 30.  This set was a killer and we hobbled away from the machine.  The friend said it was the best leg workout he’d ever had.  I then finished my workout with some ab work, total of 6 sets.

It felt SO good to push some iron and feel the muscles working!  A better workout than I expected to have after being sick.  So, what was my reward for this workout?  Simply the fact that I was ABLE to workout.

All of my plans to have an active and enjoyable weekend went up in flames on Saturday afternoon.  My self-diagnosis of what happened is a mild case of sunstroke - the symptoms fit and the way it hit me like a ton of bricks fit.  Saturday was a deceiving day - cloudy and cool for September.  I forgot my baseball cap that I wear constantly in the summer to protect this nearly bald head of mine.  Instead of going back to the house to get it, I felt the coolness in the air and shrugged it off….a big, stupid mistake.  I walked with my wife for about an hour, then took my nephew on his bike for over an hour.  So spent over two hours with UV rays showering down on me and I took no notice of it at all.

As I was clearing up from supper I started to feel flushed and headachy.  I sat on the couch for awhile and soon the chills and shakes started.  Soon I was covered up on the couch, not wanting to move and barely able to stay awake.  After finally going to bed I spent a very restless night.  I wanted to sleep but yet it almost hurt my head to be asleep.  A very weird feeling.  I got up at 8 sunday morning and didn’t feel a whole lot better.  I ended up back on the couch where I slept again, more peacefully this time, until noon.  I haven’t slept until noon for years but I guess that’s what my body needed.  Felt much better when I woke up this time, had a shower and something to eat, and was able to go for a walk (with my cap on!).  As the evening progressed I started to feel poorly again, but thankfully not nearly as bad as the first day.

This morning, about 60 hours after getting sick, I’m feeling 99% better.  Woke up with a little headache but it’s gone now.  My appetite is not great, I had to force down my breakfast, but I’m hoping that will return soon.  My last workout was Thursday night, and this unplanned time off has thrown a monkey wrench into what I wanted to accomplish before going away on holiday next week.  It sucked to be sick like this and miss two workouts, but it’s important to find something positive out of it.

The extra rest time was an excellent chance for some quality muscle recovery time.  I have no soreness, aches or pains from my workouts right now, and that’s a great thing.  I want to get in three good workouts before my holiday and I should be able to do some great work after this time off.  Finally, being sick like this, thankfully for a short time, has reminded me how lucky I am that I don’t have any chronic health issues.  I am so grateful that I have a healthy body.  Working that body, feeling the muscles strain and work to push or pull that weight is one of the best feelings in the world.  I will try to make the most of this gift of a healthy and strong body, never taking it for granted.

Let this be a lesson to everyone - don’t let those UV rays get ya’! 

My reward this time was to be heavy deadlifting, but alas, it didn’t happen.  I had to go to the gym an hour before my usual time (we’re temporarily a 1 vehicle family, had to coordinate my plans with my wife’s plans) and man, was it crowded!  As usual, the start of September brings a lot of people back to the gym who’ve taken the summer off.  Every barbell was in use, even the open area where I set up for deadlifts was taken up with people doing ab work with mats on the floor.  I switched to Plan B, which was an arm workout.

I did supersets and some tri-sets of triceps/biceps/forearms, mostly high reps.  Between sets I jumped rope, did 10 sets of 60 during the workout.  A solid workout.  A couple of things to share about last night:

There is a teenager who goes to my gym who is in a wheelchair as a result of a traffic accident several years ago.  He is dedicated, doing as much as he can with dumbbells and cables, I often see him there without a partner.  I’ve been speaking to him a little, last night I decided to ask him if he knew about bodybuilding.com.  He didn’t, so I went on to tell him that it’s a great place to start if he’s interested in finding out about wheelchair bodybuilding.  I told him how much I’ve learned by using the site, and I’m sure he could get some tips about the best exercises for him and maybe some workout programs.  I’m also hoping he gets some inspiration and motivation if he reads about some of the amazing accomplishments of wheelchair bodybuilders.  He seemed very intersted, I hope he gets on the site.

Lots of new faces at the gym last night, one of them was a twenty-something guy in great shape who was doing squats.  What struck me though was HOW he was doing them.  He was doing ‘ass to the ground’ full squats exactly like I’ve been working to do consistently.  His form was great, and his last set, 315×6, was a beautiful thing to behold.  I wanted to compliment him, but a little shyness came over me, he was a complete stranger and I didn’t know how he’d take it.  If I ever see him squatting again I’ll try to speak to him, knowing someone appreciates what he is doing might be motivating to him, I know it sure helps me to get positive comments.

That’s all for today, I hope everyone has a great holiday weekend!  I’m planning to workout Saturday and again Monday, the rewards just keep on coming!

For the first two weeks of September, before I go on vacation for a week, I’ve decided to reward myself for sticking with my 12 week summer program.  My reward is to have the most intense muscle destroying workouts I possibly can - the reward part being I’m going to do whatever bodyparts, exercises, weights, sets or reps I want to do on any particular day, based on how my body feels and what I feel like doing.  I want to maximize the FUN, and part of the fun is being as intense in the gym as I can be!

Started last night with a chest, shoulder and back workout.  I did supersets, some heavy weight, some light weight, and reps ranging from 6 to 20.  I did 40 sets in all, very little rest in between, it had a cardio component too since my shirt was soaked by the end.  The intensity was definately there last night along with a great upper body pump - I love it! Especially chest, I did cable crossover dropsets from different angles to finish up, and it was insane.

Intense, pump, insane - these are the words I use to describe how my body felt, it’s the same words others use, but they don’t seem adequate sometimes to describe how great a workout makes me feel, a workout like the one I had last night!