CPT Jeff’s BodyBlog

I had the opportunity this past Saturday to visit a Powerhouse Gym and work out with "Jacked-in-MI" (Jeff) for a couple of hours doing his leg routine.  To anyone who reads this, if you have a chance to work out with someone you meet on BodySpace, take advantage of it.  It’s a great way to learn new methods, to try new exercises, to see what works for others, and to share ideas.  I was very lucky as Jeff was a great host and has an incredible leg workout.

Before I got in Jeff had already warmed up for about 20 minutes with some cardio.  The first exercise we did was hack-squats.  Following his lead, we did four sets of 10 reps.  I’ve never done these before, so Jeff led off with 165lbs on each side.  I immediately dropped the weight to 90 on each side to get a feel for the movement.  On my second set I upped the weight to 135 on each side and got 10.  On the third set Jeff suggested that I try 165 and I was able to knock out 8.  For my last set I was able to keep the 165 on and hit 10 reps, but I felt every one of them.  I was surprised at how much the hack-squats worked the front of my quads…  My front of my legs felt like they were on fire, and I had just started…

The next exercise was another one that I had never done before, the stiff-leg dead-lift.  Again, Jeff was doing more weight then I was.  I started out with one 45lbs plate on each side for the first set, then bumped it up to 70lbs on each side for the next three sets.  We did four sets of ten reps on this.  While I definitely felt this one in my hamstrings and a little in my lower back, I’m not sure that I’m a real fan of this one.  After each set I got really light-headed from having my legs locked.

After that Jeff wanted to hit the leg-press, but that was occupied, so we moved on to lying-leg curls.  Unfortunately, the last time I did leg curls was back in June.  I really know that I need to do these, but I’ve never really been a fan of this exercise (no good reason).  We did four sets of 10 reps.  I started at 110lbs, then added ten pounds for the second and third set, then dropped ten for the last set.  Between this and the stiff-leg dead-lifts, I’m still feeling them today.
The next exercise we did was seated leg-extensions.  Fortunately, I had been keeping up on these, and both of our routines called for four sets at ten to twelve reps each.  So on this one, each of us did what we normally do (of course, I was still feeling the hack-squats).

After the leg-extensions, the leg-press sled opened up.  Normally I do these in a pyramid, starting with a warm-up set at 180lbs on each side, then I jump up to the work sets.  The last time I had done these, the work set started with 315lbs on each side for eight reps and went up to 375lbs on each side for two reps, then down for the last set.  Jeff does the four sets of 10 to 12 on these and we used 270lbs on each side.  I have to admit, especially after doing what we had already done, doing four sets of ten at 540lbs is an ass kicker.

By this point I’m pretty wasted, then Jeff suggests that we throw in some calf raises.  Game on…  Except instead of doing them on a machine like I normally do, Jeff has us do them on a Smith rack, with a slanted step made out of wood.  Again, Jeff did significantly more than I did, but then his calves are huge…  Following the rhythm of the day, we did four sets of ten reps.  As much as I enjoyed the workout, I was glad it was over and I knew that I’d be paying for it for a couple of days (and as expected, I am).

Normally when I hit the gym I try to keep my routine to about 90 minutes, plus or minus 10 minutes (normally plus), as I would guess that Jeff does as well.  So, I’m thankful that Jeff didn’t get annoyed as we approached the third hour.  We started a little after 8am and didn’t finish up until a little before 11am.  I’m not entirely sure if he was expecting it to go to almost three hours, I certainly wasn’t but I wouldn’t change a thing…

While we certainly didn’t do three hours straight of bone-crushing exercise, the reason why it went to three hours was due to all the talking we did.  I normally like to just put on the earphones, crank up the iPod and blast some Disturbed, Stained, or Slip Knot.  However, this Saturday I had the opportunity to workout with a fellow body builder.  One who has lots of experience and knowledge about body building and who had actually been to several contests.  So in that time we talked shop, talked about our families, our jobs, some of our plans, and more shop.  Not only did I learn a few things that I’ll try to incorporate into my work-outs, but I had a great time, met a great body builder, and was able to get a soreness into my legs that I’ve not felt for a while.

Jacked-in-MI, thanks for the great workout…

Ok, its been far to long since I posted anything…  Since getting back to work in April, every day has been busier than the last and by the time I’m done with work, I try to push away from the keyboard.  Fortunately I’ve been able to maintain my workout schedule.  I’ve changed back to six days a week and have been pushing hard in between business trips (hotel gyms suck).  Through all that effort, I think today I hit the 1000lbs club.  I was able to hit 405lbs twice on the squat rack today, and that’s after hitting 315lbs on the bench on Monday and 315lbs on bent-over barbell rows on Tuesday.

Right now I’m following the same type of routine that I did while in Iraq.  It’s a three day rotation staring on day one with chest and triceps, day two with legs and shoulders, then day three with back and biceps.  On day four I start over with day one, and usually rest on Sunday.  This week I flipped day two and day three so that I’ll be doing legs again on Sat.  The reason for doing legs on Sat is that I have an opportunity to train with "Jacked in MI" on Sat and he does legs that day.  Should be a good time.

I’ve pretty much run this routine through the entire summer.  In about two weeks I’ll be changing routines to a 5×5 program.  I’m hoping that this will help my bench as I seem to be stuck around the 315lbs mark, but then there has been a lot of travel this summer.  I felt pretty good on Monday hitting 315 so I may try to go up again next Monday, but we’ll see…