fatdaddy67’s BodyBlog

This is the first time in months that I did a non-powerlifting style leg day, and man, can I tell the difference. A few reps per set makes all the difference. My legs were hit hard, and I feel great. Tomorrow I will hit my back, if legs aren’t too sore, that is. Deadlifts, here I come.
Squats

325×5  325×5  325×5  325×5

Front Squats

195×6  195×6  195×6

Romanian Deadlifts

155×8  155×8  155×8

I tested my max squat today, with good results. My squat jumped from 355 to 385. I should have tried 390, but instead I went for 400 and missed. I am really happy with that jump.

BTW, I have added 110 pounds to my squat max in 4 months. Not bad for a 40 year old who hasn’t lifted in 10 years.

Last month I designed a strength program - a 32 day cycle - and was hoping to see gains of 20-25 pounds combined each cycle for all three lifts. I have already crushed that goal with 2 lifts to go this week.

On Wednesday I will try to beat my best bench of 275, and on Friday I will try to break my deadlift PR of 415. I haven’t tested my deadlift max in 2 months, so I am hoping to hit 450.

T.G.I.S.

Thank God It’s Squat Day.

Tomorrow I turn 40. Yesterday, I was 27. What happened? I am so grateful that I put aside sarcasm and self-centeredness, and moved on in life to the richer things. My pleasures now are asking for forgiveness, and taking great pride in being a role model father, and a reliable husband.

I hope all of you have a great weekend. Celebrate life. I am celebrating life. 40 years. How lucky am I?

Leg Workout

Squats, 185×5, 215×4, 215×4, 250×4, 250×4, 285×3, 285×3, 285×3

Stiff Leg Deadlifts, 135×10, 135×10, 135×10

Muscle rub. Muscle rub. How I love thee, muscle rub.

Yeah, so I’m a little late to the party. The muscle rub party, that is. Having a strained knee this week, along with a slight lower back strain from my last deadlifting workout, I decided to purchase some muscle rub from Wal-mart. I slapped a heaping helping of rubby love on my lower back and knees today before squatting, and bammo! Whammo! Did my muscle feel like a million bucks. 

Squat, I did, with muscles a’fire. By the way, if any of you think that weightlifting is NOT a cardio activity, come join me for a workout. Squats leave me panting harder and longer than any 2 mile run ever did. ‘Nuff said.

Leg Workout

Squat, 315×3, 275×9, 275×7

Double Leg Ham Curls, 60×12, 60×10, 60×7

Single Leg Calf Raises, 65×12, 65×10

Today’s calories = 2,900

I haven’t lost any weight this month. On September 1st I weighed in @ 231.0 pounds. During the last week I have fluctuated between 233.8 and 234.0. Talk about frustrating. Today was a "water loss" day; I had to run to the bathroom every half hour. Hopefully this will show up on the scale tomorrow. I went through a spell like this a while back. It was followed by 2 weeks and a 7 pound loss.

Leg Workout

Squats, 315×3, 295×5, 295×4

Romanian Deadlifts, 165×8, 165×8, 165×7

Double Leg Calf Raises, 195×12, 195×12, 195×12

Today’s calories = 2,900

Some days you have energy, but no strength. Today I had strength, but little energy. Despite this, I pushed. And pushed. And I increased in every exercise, including squats.

Leg Workout

Squats, 275×8, 275×6, 275×5

Double Leg Ham Curls, 60×12, 60×9, 60×7

Single Leg Calf Raise, 55×12, 55×12

Today’s calories = 2,800

The scale gave me some love this morning. 231.0

An abbreviated workout today, for 2 reasons. First, I have to take my oldest daughter to meet her new 3rd grade teacher, and second, my back is a tad tired from squatting and deadlifting so much. I will be making minor tweaks to my workout program, deadlifting less often. Hopefully this will take some of the stress off my lower back.

A great workout tonight. Thanks to a buddy from work (Todd the massive powerlifter), I tried NO for the first time. It had me jacked up, which is always nice on squat day.

I hefted 335 (15 more than my previous best) for one rep tonight, choosing to work my way to a max squat instead of doing numerous (back-killing) reps tonight. I thought it would take me another year to get back over a 400 deep squat. But, I feel great, and am confident that I can hit 400 by the time Santa barrels down your chimney.

Leg Workout

Squat, 225×4, 275×2, 305×2, 325×1, 335×1, 345xFAIL

Romanian Deadlifts, 155×10, 155×10, 155×8

Today’s calories = 2,800

I am feeling a mile high today. My bodyfat is the lowest it’s been in nearly 15 years, coming in near 27%, and I can smell 20% around the corner. It is hard to believe, but since I weighed in at 278, overall I haven’t lost a pound of muscle. Sure, I lost some the first month when I went gonzo dropping fat, but since then it has returned. God bless muscle memory.

Any of you ever conclude your leg workout feeling like you should have done more, and then reality sets in and you can barely crawl up the stairs, or climb into/out of your car? That was me tonight. Each step was like a dozen.

I improved again tonight.

Leg Workout

Squats, 275×6, 275×5, 275×5, 275×5

Double Leg Ham Curls, 60×10, 60×8, 60×6

Double Leg Calf Raises, 185×12, 185×12, 185×12

Have a great weekend!

The scale was generous this morning, revealing 236.8.

My leg workout went great today. While I have been doing sooo much reading on the web about various training styles, I decided to stick with my tried and true method of rep and weight progression. I went up in weight on each of my 3 exercises today.

Legs

Squat, 255×6, 255×5, 255×4, 228×8

Romanian Deadlifts, 165×9, 165×7, 165×5

Double Leg Calf Raises, 165×12, 165×12, 165×12

Today’s calories = 2,800

Can’t…walk…up…stairs. Yes! What a great leg workout today. After 36 days on my old routine, I started a new one today. For those of you just tuning in, I started lifting for the first time in 10 years last month. Today I put aside the beginner program and moved on to some greater intensity workouts.

And they worked.

I struggled to climb the stairs after my workout, and then…then, my wife asked me to go back down into the basement and get some dog food. Yelp! I could barely crawl back down. I felt like a drunken sailor during a hurricane.

Legs, Core Workout

Squats, 225×9, 225×8, 225×7, 225×6, 245×5

Single Leg Extensions, 25×12, 25×12, 25×12

Romanian Deadlifts, 135×12, 155×10, 155×10, 155×8

Today’s calories = 2,700

And finally, a note regarding my last post. I received a comment from a reader who mistakenly thought my weight loss plan included a “low carb” diet. It doesn‘t. I eat only healthy carbs, but still eat quite a few carbs, all things considered. I eat 2 servings on quinoa, 1 serving of oatmeal, 2 bananas, 2 onions, 1 can of black olives, 1 cup of salsa, and 1 cup of jalapenos each day. This doesn’t take into consideration the carbs I eat from my protein bar and protein shake, or from my other protein sources. It is by no means “low carb.”