fatdaddy67’s BodyBlog

I was tired today, but I felt better after my workout was over. Anyone else experience this? I’m sure you do. You go into the workout feeling like a slug, not knowing if you have the energy to start, and leave the workout feeling 100% better.

I had to work this morning. This is the first time I worked on Saturday in two years, and my body wanted to smash the alarm clock.

FYI, I work deadlifts with lower reps per sets for a couple of reasons. First, simply doing a handful of heavy deadlifts (75% of 1RPM or more) is enough to cause back soreness the next day. Second, when doing heavy deads my calluses feel like they are being ripped from my hands after 2 reps. I really don’t have a problem holding the bar; the problem is more pain than grip strength.

Deadlifts

375×3  375×3  375×3  375×3  375×3

T-Bar Rows

100×10  100×10  100×10

Standing Cubans

15×10  15×10

Side Laterals

15×10  15×10

Deadlift day today. My knee continued to get better, but my lower back felt a little bit taxed and weak. On my last lift, I could feel a bit of lower back strain.

I will be posting a progress pic tomorrow. I didn’t last week out of frustration.

Back Workout

Deadlift, 135×6, 225×4, 275×3, 325×3, 355×3, 385×2, 415×1

DB Rows, 95×9, 95×8, 95×7

Seated DB Curls, 35×12, 35×9, 35×7

Leg Lifts, 17, 12

Today’s calories = 2,900

Check out my You Tube video from today’s workout. I can really see the transformation in my physique from one month ago.

BTW, the background music is me, recorded over 10 years ago in my home studio.

Back Workout

Rack Pulls, 365×5, 405×5, 455×5, 495×2, 455×3

T-Bar Rows, 100×12, 100×10, 100×10

DB Curls, 50×9, 50×7, 50×7

Leg Lifts, 16, 12

Today’s calories = 2,900

I hate Ab work. Hate it. I can go into the gym and tear up deadlifts, squats, and whatever pain the day has for me, but when it comes to Ab work, I would rather go to the dentist. Yikes.

But, with that said, I have been busting my back the last 2 months to do ab work at least once a week. This is the first time in my lifting career that I have performed Ab work this many weeks in a row.

Those of you who have been reading my blog know that my lower back has felt a little weak and overworked the past two weeks. I made a couple of course corrections, moving my lifting schedule back from a body part once every five days to once every six. I have also stopped deadlifting every back day, choosing to interject rack pulls every other workout.

This plan paid off in spades today. My deadlift max jumped 28 pounds today. Last time it took a nose dive, going from 395 to 389. But today I lifted 405 for two reps. I have never performed a single rep over 385 before.

Overall, my 3 lift total is now 997 pounds, up from the 825 pounds I hefted in mid July.
Back Workout 

Deadlift, 135×6, 225×4, 275×3, 315×3, 345×3, 375×3, 405×2

DB Rows, 90×12, 90×10, 90×10

Seated DB Curls, 35×10, 35×8, 35×7

Leg Lifts, 15, 12

Today’s calories = 2,900

Wow, I can’t believe I have pushed past the 3 month mark. After 10 years of hell, being trapped in the body of a fat man, I never though I would make it this far. Why? 10 years of trying, and failing. It’s hard to lose fat, and harder to change a lifestyle.

I had a good lifestyle. Financial sound. Happy marriage. Great kids. Perfect house. Perfect. For the first time in my life I had free money; money to buy whatever I wanted. That included food. Growing up we had no money, and noluxury food. Having money meant I could buy junk food. And I did.

So, back to present day.

I started my creatine loading phase yesterday, and spent half the day on the toilet pushing out water. I know that’s more than you wanted to know, but unfortunately that’s what you get. Today was much better. Last night my rumpus hurt so much that I flopped into bed, unable to function. Of course, my wife was laughing at me. I can’t blame her. I did look like a dork.

I tried rack pulls today for the first time today, and found out that I need to purchase more weight. The hardest part of the sets today was holding onto the bar for prolonged reps. I was able to hold on, but my hands feel on fire as I type. Also, I increased my reps and/or weight in my T-bars and DB curls today. It was a much better day than my last back workout.
Back Workout

Rack Pulls, 365×10, 405×7, 405×7, 405×7

T-Bar Rows, 90×12, 90×12, 90×10

DB Curls, 50×7, 50×6, 50×6

Leg Lifts, 14, 12

Today’s calories = 2,800

Today was my worst workout. I felt good all day, but by the time I hit the basement, I was sweating from the humidity, and didn‘t feel much energy. In addition, by bicep tendinitis didn‘t like the BB rows. I might dump them, and replace them with a different back exercise. Any back exercise that I perform with my palms parallel to my body seems to cause discomfort. And lastly, I am still having a hard time finding a  deadlifting groove.

Back Workout

Deadlift, 345×5, 345×4, 345×4

BB Rows, 165×8, 165×7, 165×6

BB Curls, 85×8, 85×7, 85×6

Leg Lifts, 12, 12

Today’s calories = 2,800

Another good workout. My deadlift went up 14 pounds from my previous best, and I also increased reps on DB rows, and increased weight on DB curls. My tendonitis seems to be getting better with each workout. Hopefully it will stay that way for a long while.

I can really feel my traps getting blasted from deadlift workouts. I had really only given traps a cursory workout in the past.

Back Workout

Deadlift, 365×4, 335×4, 315×5

DB Rows, 90×11, 90×10, 90×9

DB Curls, 50×6, 45×9, 45×7

Leg Lifts, 12, 9

Today’s calories = 2,800

Also, please view my previous post. I had some great personal news…and don’t forget my contest.