idahodawg’s BodyBlog

I’ve been trying to get my wife to lift weights with me for quite some time.  She’s always gone to the gym with me, but she usually does her own cardio thing and then lifts some weights, but never on the same program as me.  About a month ago she said she wanted to lift with me, but I was on the tail-end of a mass program and didn’t want to cut it short.  She said she’d do it with me, but with different sets and reps.  That was all fine and dandy, but I could tell she didn’t really enjoy it and was afraid she’d not want to lift with me any more.  Then she found a workout in Oxygen Magazine (Spring 2009 issue) and said she wanted to try it.  I looked at it and thought it looked a little…well…easy.  It’s a 4-day split with "push" exercises on Monday (Chest, Shoulders, Tri’s), Quads and Hams on Wednesday, "pull" exercises on Friday (Back, Biceps), and Calves & Abs on Saturday.  You "only" do two exercises per bodypart; the first is 4 sets of 6 reps with heavy weight, and the second is 4 sets of 15 reps with lighter weight.  Now, I’ve been doing like 4 exercises per bodypart with up to 5 sets per exercise, so I’m thinking "No way this is going to give me a good workout."

BUT, I really enjoy spending time with my wife, especially doing something I love like working out, so I told her I would do that program with her.  All the while I’m thinking to myself "If it’s not intense enough for me, I’ll just add an extra exercise per bodypart."

Well, we started it this week on Monday, and because of some other things we had going on, we didn’t get to legs until yesterday.  I went as heavy as possible on everything while still getting all the reps with good form (having my wife as a spotter definitely helped).  The workout details are in my workout tracker for 4/6 and 4/9.  I was a little sore on Tuesday and Wednesday from the "push" workout on Monday, so I started to feel a little better about doing this program without adding anything to it.  As long as I was honest with the weight I’m lifting and go for max effort on every rep, I’d be okay.

Then came the leg workout.  Holy crap!  Smith machine squats (heavy) followed by dumbbell lunges (light), and leg curls heavy) followed by dumbbell stiff-legged deadlifts (light).  My legs were toast halfway through.  I couldn’t complete the lunges.  I had trouble walking to the car to go home.  My legs were shaky all day, and now, barely 30 hours later, they’re as sore as they’ve been in a long time. Just getting up out of my chair at work is painful, and I LIKE it!

We were going to do back and biceps today, but when we woke up this morning to go to the gym, we were both too sore to get out of the bed.  It’s a good kind of sore, though.  I’m really looking forward to back and biceps tomorrow. I just hope I’m able to steer the car on the way home.

So, lesson learned: Just because the workout came from a "girlie" magazine doesn’t mean it can’t work for us "manly" men.  Pick the right weight for the number of reps prescribed, give it maximum effort, and it’ll work.  Also, perhaps I’ve been overtraining.  We’ll see what kinds of gains I make with this program to see if I need to dial back my total sets and reps and dial up the intensity.

I did the three-rep max thing yesterday (see previous blog post).  I surprised myself a little with the squat and bent-over row, and was disappointed with my bench press results.  I think the main problem there is that for a large portion of the workout program I was lifting without a spotter and therefore couldn’t go as heavy on barbell bench press and overhead dumbbell press as I should have.  Of course I used a spotter for the max-out yesterday, but it was too late then.  I’m starting a mass-gaining program today, and my wife is going to lift with me, so I’ll have the spotter.

Here are the results.  Starting weights first, then ending, then percentage increase:

Barbell Bench Press: 215 pounds on 12/01/08; 245 pounds on 03/08/09; 14%

Barbell Squat: 255 pounds on 12/01/08; 315 pounds on 03/08/09; 23.5%

Barbell Deadlift: 195 pounds on 12/01/08; 275 pounds on 03/08/09; 41%

Barbell Bent-Over Row: 155 pounds on 12/01/08; 195 pounds on 03/08/09; 25.8%

Overhead Dumbbell Press: 75 pounds on 12/01/08; 80 pounds on 03/08/09; 6.7% (What the hell?)
The mass program I’m about to start is the same one I used to kick-start my transformation back in 2004 (added 30 pounds of muscle in just under 9 months).  I don’t know that I’ll see crazy gains like that this time, but we’ll see!  I’ll stick with this program for about 8 weeks, and then I think I’ll do some Tabata training to get cut up for the beach.

Well, it’s been 14 long weeks, but I’m finally done with the Muscle & Fitness "25% Stronger" workout program.  It’s a three-phase program that includes heavy weights (for the most part) and low reps (for the most part).  You start by determining your 3-rep max for 5 exercises.  They are the barbell bench press, barbell squat, barbell deadlift, barbell bent-over row, and overhead dumbbell press.  After you complete the program, you’re supposed to be able to lift at least 25% more weight on each of those exercises.

Each phase is a three-day split with a day of rest in-between (two days after the last workout for the week).  The splits don’t change throughout the program, but the exercises within the splits do.  The splits are Day One - Chest/Shoulders/Triceps, Day Two - Back/Biceps/Abs, and Day Three - Legs.
In the first phase, it’s 4 sets of 5 reps of the various exercises, and then you follow with 2 sets of 5 reps of unilateral exercises for each bodypart (example, 4 sets x 5 reps of barbell bench press, followed by 2 sets of 5 reps of one-arm dumbbell bench press).  The idea is that you balance out your strength for both sides of your body.  That lasts for 4 weeks.

Then you switch things up by (a) changing a few exercises, and (b) doing 4 sets of 5 reps followed by 1 set of 30 reps (with obviously MUCH lower weight) for each exercise.  The theory is that the final, high-rep set causes a growth hormone release.  I don’t know about that, but I do know that it will kick your butt!  This phase also lasts for 4 weeks.

The final phase is 5 weeks long.  Again you switch up some exercises, but the main difference is that the first week is 7 sets of 7 reps for each exercise.  Week 2 is 6 sets of 6 reps, and so on and so forth unti the final week, which is 3 sets of 3 reps.  Obviously you increase the weight each week so that you reach failure on the last rep of each set.

You can see my workouts for Phases II and III in my Workout Tracker.  I didn’t enter them for the first phase, but I should probably go back and do that.
While this is not a mass-gaining plan, I did gain about 4 pounds during the program, while lowering my bodyfat % from 8.6% to 7.6% (caliper method).

When I started the program, my 3-rep max for each exercise was:

Bench Press - 215

Squat - 255

Deadlift - 195

Bent-over Row - 155

Overhead Dumbbell Press - 75 (each hand)

This Sunday I will do the 3-rep max for those exercises again.  I know I’m going to be higher than I was at the start of the program, but 25% higher would be 269 for bench, 319 for squat, 244 for deadlift, 194 for bent-over row, and 94 for overhead dumbbell press.  Deadlift I’ll get, but I’m not sure about the others.

Thanks for reading, and come back on Monday for the results!

Okay, I figured it’s high-time that I got on board the blog bandwagon…

I’m starting a new lifting program this week, but it’s one that I’ve done several times in the past with phenomenal results.  I got it from my brother, who got it in a PE class he took at Duke from the strength and conditioning coach for the Duke football team (not exactly known for their success on the field, I know).  Anyway, it’s based on your one-rep max on bench press, incline bench, squat, and military press, and your working weight for those exercises each week is based on a percentage of that one-rep max.  The program is a 7-week program, and consists of a total-body workout three days each week (each day is slightly different).

Week One is 3 sets of 10 reps at 60%, 65%, and 70% of your one-rep max on the above-mentioned exercises.  Week Two is 4 sets of 8 reps at 60%, 65%, 70%, and 75% of one-rep max. Week Three is 5 sets of 5 reps at 80% of your one-rep max, and each week after that you add 5 lbs. to the weight you lifted the previous week.
Yes, you do more than just those 4 exercises.  Each day consists of one, two, or three of the above exercises along with others such as lunges, leg presses, leg extensions, leg curls, deadlifts, upright rows, front raises, pull-ups, and dips.  You typically do either 2 or 3 sets of 8-10 reps on those exercises each week (not following the sets/reps/percentages as above) and simply pick a weight that you can do 8-10 times, increasing the weight as necessary throughout the 7 weeks.  This is a strength program, so there are no biceps, triceps, or calf-specific exercises because those muscles get hit with the other compound moves that you do (although you could certainly add in a set or three here and there).

The last time I did this program, my starting max bench press was 235 pounds, and I maxed-out at 295 after going through the program twice (14 weeks).  I’ve always wanted to bench twice my body weight (I weighed 150 when I benched 295), and that’s my goal this time, too.  The only problem is that I always gain a little mass when I do this program (this is a good thing), which means I have to bench that much more by the end!  Wish me luck!