CPT Jeff’s BodyBlog

Thank God the weekend is almost here.  This has been a very tough week.  Last Sunday, as the new company commander for my Signal unit, I had the distinct pleasure of briefing my brigade commander on the fiscal year 2011 training plan.  To my benefit, he had some very constructive thoughts to share with me that I’ll turn into an excellent opportunity to grow.  Because I was home late on Sunday, I didn’t eat very well that night (or all weekend really), and I paid for it at the gym on Monday.  That was followed by a rough day at work that didn’t end until late, which also meant not eating great Monday night.

Tuesday in the gym was just as rough as Monday, but I was a little more rested.   That day was plagued with issues and problems that I needed to address at work and then had to work on a presentation for Wednesday late Tuesday night.  Wednesday I completely skipped the gym to get a good amount of sleep, then worked until late.  After I was done with work I had to work quickly to finish the last few assignments for the Signal Captains Career Course, Phase IV.  All assignments had to be turned in by the 12th of November or we would be de-enrolled from the class and would have to reschedule for a later date.  Needless to say, I didn’t finish on Wednesday.

Thursday was a little better, but my diet at this point is horrible, so Leg day at the gym was rough.  I was able to increase weight doing squats, but it was all down hill from there.  Made it through the day on Thursday at work ok, then kicked the SCCC Phase IV stuff into high gear.  Had an excellent dinner (finally), broiled cajun chicken tenderloins (had like 6) with fettuccine.  Got the protein up and got the carbs up for Friday.

Unfortunately, I didn’t finish all the Phase IV work until 1am Thursday night/Friday Morning, then got up at 4:30am to go to the gym.  It’s arm day and I’ll be damned if I’m going to miss that.  So I had some creatine at the house, polished off a serving of Vasocharge on the way to the gym, and charged headlong into my workout.  However, I could feel that I hadn’t gotten nearly enough sleep.  The routine I did today was as follows….

• 15 minutes on the eliptical, going 1.7 miles and burning over 200 cals
• Close-grip bench - 205lbs/6 reps; 215lbs/6 reps; 225lbs/5 reps
• Standing Barbell curl - 110lbs/6 reps; 115lbs/6 reps; 120lbs/6 reps
• Skull crushers - 110lbs/12 reps; 110lbs/12 reps; 110lbs/12 reps
• Standing alternating dumbbell curls - 40lbs/12 reps; 45lbs/12 reps; 50lbs/8 reps
• The next two exercises were suppersetted together
• V-bar tricep pushdowns - 200lbs/12 reps; 210lbs/12 reps; 210lbs/12 reps
• Incline dumbbell curls - 30lbs/12 reps; 30lbs/12 reps; 30lbs/12 reps

By the end of it all my arms felt like they were going to fall off…  It was a good day at the gym.

Arms day is one of those gym days that I always look forward to (like chest day), and today was no different.  Got to the gym at 5:30am with a healthy dose of Vasocharge in my system.  Started out with a 15 minute warm up on the eliptical, traveling 1.7 miles and burning about 280 calories (according to the machine).  Then jumped into the below arm routine (from the 3-S program).

• Close-grip bench -  195lbs/6 reps; 205lbs/6 reps; 215lbs/6 reps
• Barbell curls (30lbs cheater bar) - 110lbs/6 reps; 115lbs/6 reps; 120lbs/6 reps
• Skull crushers - 110lbs/12 reps; 110lbs/12 reps; 110lbs/12 reps
• Alternating DB curls - 40lbs/12 reps; 40lbs/12 reps; 40lbs/12 reps
• Next two sets were supersetted
• V-bar pushdowns - 200lbs/12 reps; 200lbs/12 reps; 200lbs/12 reps
• Incline DB curls - 35lbs/12 reps; 35lbs/12 reps; 35lbs/12 reps

It felt like a great workout and my arms were so tight that I had a small problem trying to take my shirt off in the locker room…  I love that feeling…

On a nutritional note, like I’ve mentioned before, I’m trying to track what I eat on a daily basis to see what that looks like.  My sodium intake is still ridiculous, but I was able to drop it some.  I’ve also noticed that without supplements, it’s really difficult (if not impossible) to hit at least 200 grams of protein each day.  With protein bars, hard boiled egg whites, pistachios, low-sodium lunch meat, and normal dinners (either chicken, tuna, pork, or whatever), I’m still only hitting between 100 grams and about 120 grams…

So, I’ve ordered 16-sample pack of Optimum Nutrition’s whey protein (I’m bound to like one of the 16 flavors).  If I take that twice a day it’ll at about 50 grams to my diet, which will get me a lot closer to that magical 200 number.  I was doing some browsing through the GNC site yesterday and ran across some stuff called GNC Pro Performance AMP Amplified Muscle Meal.  Each serving has 50 grams of protein and it claims that it also has 25 grams of carbs, which I’m not sure that I’m currently getting enough.  But for what it offers, it seems to be very expensive.  According to what I’m tracking, I’m taking in about 300 to 350 grams of carbs per day (not sure what it should be yet).  Interesting exercise in tracking food…

Keeping the faith…

So I’m not sure what happened this morning, but somehow I managed to run out of time.  I made it to the gym in time to jump on the eliptical at 5:30am for about 10 minutes.  Managed to burn about 180 calories, traveling 1.16 miles averaging about 190 strides/minute at a resistance level of 9.  Normally I would shoot for 15 minutes, but leg days seem to take longer than the rest.

Got down to the squat rack with plenty of time to hit every exercise on the plan and started off with 295lbs.  But by the time we finished with the stiff-leg deadlifts we only had time left for leg curls and leg extensions…  Frustrating…  Here’s the full leg workout…

• Squats - 295lbs/5 reps; 295lbs/5 reps; 305lbs/5 reps; 315lbs/5 reps; 325lbs/5 reps
• Hack Squats - 380lbs/12 reps; 390lbs/12 reps; 400lbs/12 reps
• Stiff-leg Deadlifts - 155lbs/12 reps; 165lbs/12 reps; 175lbs/12 reps
• Walking lunges - Ran out of time, couldn’t get this in
• Seated Leg Curls - 135lbs/8 reps; 140lbs/8 reps; 145lbs/8 reps
• Leg Extensions (drop set) -  200lbs/15 reps; 190lbs/10 reps; 180lbs/7 reps

Not to say that my legs aren’t tired, but I really don’t like having to skip an exercise that I should have been able to work in.  Oh well, tomorrow is arms and I’ll attack that with a fury…

Made it into week six of the 3-S routine…  My gym partner and I agreed today that we’d switch to a new routine after two more weeks so that we’ve got a solid eight weeks of this…

Yesterday was day one doing chest and today we did back…   As much as I dislike doing pull-ups, I’m going to have to include them in future routines, they do a lot of good…  Today’s workout looked like the following:

Cardio on the eliptical - 16:27 minutes; 1.70 miles; 277 calories

T-Bar rows - 100lbs/6 reps; 110lbs/6; 120/6; 130/6

Pull-ups - 6 reps; 6 reps; 6 reps; 6 reps

V-Bar Pull-Down - 150lbs/12 reps; 150lbs/12

One Arm DB Rows - 105lbs/12 reps; 105/12

Super-setted the next two exercises
Underhand Pull-downs -  112.5lbs/15 reps; 125lbs/15; 125lbs/15

Pull-ups (assisted) - 10 (# plate in the machine)/8 reps; 10/4; 12/5

Super-setted the next two exercises

Bent Over DB Rows - 55lbs/15 reps; 60lbs/15; 60lbs/15

Reverse Grip BB Rows - 155lbs/12 reps; 165lbs/12; 175lbs/12

We had also included a couple of sets of situps in there, but that really wasn’t the main effort of the routine today (situps and cardio will be tomorrow).   I’m not really sure which is worse, back day or leg day (Thursday).  Either way I have no doubt that I worked the hell out of my back…

On a supplement note, I’ve cycled through a number of various pre-workout, post-workout supplements and have settled on SciVation’s VasoCharge for a pre-workout and currently using Optimum Nutrition’s Micronized Creatine Powder.  The VasoCharge (Lemonade) has a great flavor and I love the tingly feeling that I get from the Beta-Alanine.  The Micronized Creatine (grape) also has a great flavor.  We’ll see if it actually does anything for me…

I’ve also started to try and do a better job to track my calories, sodium, protein, and carbs using an application called MyPlate over at www.livingstrong.com and was shocked to see just how difficult it was to try and get my sodium intake down to recommended levels (almost impossible without going to low sodium foods).  It’s also very difficult (without supplements) to hit 200g of protein everyday.  Looks like I need to pick up some more whey protein…

Holy crap am I smoked…  Yesterday was chest day and today was back day…  I woke up this morning very sore from yesterday, which tells me that yesterday was a good day at the gym.  Today I started with 15 minutes on the eliptical (got a PT test coming up on Sunday), then joined up with my gym partner to jump into back.  In a little over an hour, we went through the following:

T-bar rows: 75×6, 85×6, 95×6, 105×6

Pull-ups: 6, rest, 6, rest, 6, rest, 6

v-bar pulldowns: 125×12, 137.5×12

one-arm db rows: 100×12, 100×12

Supersetted the next two (no rest):

Underhand pulldowns: 112.5×15, 112.5×15, 112.5×12

Pullups (assisted): #10platex10, #10×5, #10×5

Supersetted the next two (no rest):

Reverse bent over rows: 135×12, 135×12, 135×12

Bent over 2-DB rows: 55×12, 55×12, 55×12

I’m figuring that I shouldn’t be able to move at all tomorrow…  Again, another solid workout.  Tomorrow I’ll be doing just cardio and abs, then hitting legs on Thurs and arms on Fri.

Keep the faith…

While chest and triceps is my favorite gym day, I decided to take Monday off and go play 18 with some friends.  It was a nice break from the regular routine.  Tuesday I was back at it doing legs and shoulders.  From "Jacked-in-MI’s" routine, I replaced regular squats with hack-squats (turns out my gym does have a hack-squat machine).  After those, I moved on to the shoulder press doing low weights and working on form, then side raises using 35lbs, then shrugs at 190lbs on each side…

From there I moved back to legs doing a super set of leg extensions and seated leg curls climbing by 10lbs each set starting at 230lbs & 110lbs respectively for four sets (last set down 10lbs).  Then I maxed the stack at 315.5lbs on the third set on the calf raises machine.  Afterwards I did a couple of sets of sit-ups and called it a day.

On Wednesday I hit back and biceps doing the usual routine.  However, after doing the three-sets without rest on the preacher bench I did four sets of concentration curls (3@55lbs, 3@60lbs, 3@65lbs, & 3@50lbs) with only enough rest between sets to write down what I did and get the next weight.  The goal behind doing this was to try and shock my biceps by doing something different.  After that I move over to the cable cage and did some hanging crunches from the pull-up bar.

Today was back to chest and triceps day.  I’m not really sure that I’m really gaining much here so I’ve tried changing things up some.  I’m trying to focus on form while doing less weight.  So, here’s what I did today…

Bench - 20@135lbs (warm up), 8@225lbs, 5@245lbs, 5@255lbs, 5@265lbs, then 5@245lbs

Decline - 5@245lbs, 5@265lbs, 5@285lbs, 5@305lbs, then 5@245lbs

Pec Deck - 12@137.5lbs, 12@162.5lbs, 12@187.5lbs, 10@212.5lbs, 12@187.5lbs

Then did a superset of the following:

Skull crushers/close grip (25lbs cheater bar) - 12/12@95lbs, 12/12@100lbs, 12/10@105lbs, 12/12@95lbs

Cable-pulley bent-over tricep extensions - 12@160lbs, 12@170lbs, 12@170lbs (mistake, meant to increase weight here), 12@180lbs, 12@170lbs

By that point I was toast.  My chest felt tight and my arms were on fire, plus I ran out of time and had to leave for the day.  Tomorrow it’s back to legs and shoulders.  Can’t wait….

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…

Last week went by pretty quickly and it was over before I realized it.  While I did manage to post something last Monday, I completely ran out of time after that.  On Wednesday I checked my max for Squats.  I was able to get up to 330lbs before I decided that I just wasn’t feeling stable enough to go any higher.  I finished that day with several sets of sit ups, the first set was weighted and my arms were still sore from Monday’s workout.

On Friday I went for my max with the barbell shoulder press.  I was able to hit 205lbs before I needed some help.  I just couldn’t get up to 210lbs by myself.  It’s amazing how much different the barbell shoulder press feels as compared to using dumbbells.

After doing the shoulder press, I moved on to a that arm workout that I’ve done for the last couple of weeks now.  It’s a killer.  On the preacher bench, it’s 8 reps with 35lbs dumbbells followed by 3 half-reps, then without any rest, switching to a 75lbs straight bar and doing 8 more reps followed by 3 more half-reps, then again without any rest, going back to the 35lbs dumbbells and doing 8 hammer curls followed by 3 hammer curl half-sets…  Those last ones are where you really feel the pain.

From there I went over and did kneeling cable tricep extensions at 180lbs (according to the stack) for 8 reps, then stood up and turned around and did 8 push downs at the same weight.  Then moved back over to the free weight area and did some weighted dips with an 85lbs bar on my lap.  I have to admit, my triceps felt like rocks and after the shower, my arms felt like jello…

Today I had another good workout.  I won’t be able to workout Thursday or Friday, so my gym partner and I decided to take it easy for anothe week (maybe two), then kick into the 5×5 routine.  We started out with the bench and I tried to follow the day one portion of the 5×5 for bench.  I warmed up some with some pushups, did some stretching, then did 5@195, then 5@225, then 5@255, then 5@285 and realized that the bar was getting pretty fricken heavy…  I decided that I’d go down some weight on then next one instead of going up to 300lbs.  I dropped the weight down to 185 and did 12 reps.

After hitting the bench we decided to go check to see what our max is on bent over barbell rows.  Following the same kind of ramp up that we did last week to attempt a 1RM, I was able to work up to 290lbs.  I was feeling pretty good at 280lbs and had to add on 10 more.  When I did that last rep at 290 I started to feel myself using other muscles to perform the exercise and decided that 290lbs was enough.  The problem with this was that there was still more than 30 minutes left before I had to even consider hitting the shower and going to work.  So…

I suggested that we do some flat bench dumbbell flies and then some skull crushers (can’t work out Friday so I’ll be missing arms).  I hit 3 sets of 12 at 45lbs for the flies trying to focus on form and trying to go slow.  Then I did 3 sets of 12 at 75lbs for skull crushers.  I think that I could have gone higher on the weight for them, but I made up for it.  Still with some time left, I then suggested that we do some wide-arm push ups.  i got 45 knocked out before I fell flat on my face.  I got up, walked around a little, stretched and tried to shake it off…   Then my gym partner suggested doing some more.  Needless to say I was a little surprised and thought to myself "oh, shit", but got down and did 25 more (and fell flat again).  Ow…  Yeah, I’d say it was a good workout…  And I was worried that I didn’t have a plan for working out this morning…  Next stop, more squats on Wednesday and maybe some dead lifts…

I finished the eight weeks…. Last Friday I did legs, getting all ten sets of ten at 225lbs, then did calves and abs.  Saturday afternoon I did shoulders and arms.  I was able to knock out ten reps for all ten sets of the dumbbell shoulder press at 65lbs.  This was the fourth week in a row that I made an attempt for this and the first week I was able to get it.  Then I finished up with standing ezbar curls and overhead dumbbell tricep extensions.  It was a good workout and I’m glad it’s over.

Today I hit the gym with the goal of checking my 1RM on the bench and, if there was time, finding out my 1RM for bent-over barbell rows. As it turns out I ran out of time and couldn’t get to the rows, but I was able to hit 325lbs one time unassisted.  I did try to get 335lbs, but  I needed assistance with that one.  I followed a new warm up routine that I read about to try for my 1RM.  I started using 315lbs as my estimated 1RM, then started by doing eight reps of 145lbs, which is about 45% of my estimated max.  Then I went to 185lbs for five reps, then 215lbs for 3 reps, taking two minutes of rest between each set.  Then I went to 245lbs for one rep, followed by 275lbs for one rep, then 295lbs for one rep, but resiting three to five minutes between each set as they got heavier.  Then I hit 315lbs for one rep, rested for another five, then hit 325lbs for one rep, rested for about 10 minutes, then tried to hit 335lbs.  Like I said, I needed help with this one.

Wednesday I’ll try the same approach to checking my max on squats.  Hopefully I’ll be able to get through them a little quicker and check my max on something else as well.  I’ve got a feeling that I’ll be feeling pretty sore come tomorrow…