lbdb18’s BodyBlog

I found a Bill Wilmore leg routine in the newest issue of FLEX, so I decided to try it.  It called for training hamstrings first and then quads, which was a mix up from what I typically do.  Also it had no back squats in the workout just free weight front squats.  I hadn’t done BB front squats in a while and I thought it would be a nice change up.  I had to play the role of personal trainer b/c my roommate had never done them before and it’s a weird movement if you are a novice to the exercise.  Here was the workout:  leg ext. (2 sets of 20) warm-up, Db Lying leg curls (my favorite hammy exercise), Seated Leg Curls, Leg Press, Front Squats, Leg Ext. (this time for working sets), and finally Db Lunges.  We had gotten all the way to the last set of front squats and in my opinion the workout intensity had to brought up a notch, so I proposed to Ari (my training partner) lets superset the final set of front squats with back squats.  He laughed, one b/c he thought I was joking (his legs were already killing him) and two b/c he didn’t think it would be that hard.  So with 225 on the bar, I did 12 solid ass reps of front squats, racked the bard on the rack and placed it directly on my back to proceed with back squats.  225 felt like 315, I struggled to get 10 deep reps and thought I was going to faint.  I personally cannot do a leg workout and not do back squats, I love the exercise and think it’s the greatest of all time.  Anyways we did leg ext. after that, followed by lunges and I can feel it in my glutes today hahahaha.   Pretty good workout, something different and my legs are extremely sore, so mission accomplished.  Off today (Sunday) and back in the gym on Monday to hit Chest and Calves.

It was the day before Thanksgiving and I was thumbing through an old edition of FLEX.  I wondered upon an interesting Shoulder and Trap workout that said I could be done in 15-20 minutes.  I was very skeptical at first, but I realized that it was the current Mr. O’s workout, and let me tell you, Jay has phenomenal delts.  The workout consisted of four giant sets of all 8-12 reps.  In the order of completion:  Seated Db Shoulder Press, Standing Side Laterals, Seated Neutral Grip Front Raises, Single-Arm Side Cable Laterals, Bent Over Rear Raises w/ Dbs, and finally Db Shrugs.  It took me and my training partner only 22 minutes to complete four sets and our shoulders and traps were on freakin’ FIRE!  We were in and out of the gym in 22 minutes while getting an incredible pump and workout.  If you are looking to move large amounts of weights then this workout isn’t for you.  Also in the article Jay says he only does this once a month to shock his delts into new growth if he feels they are lagging behind.  Give it a try and tell me if you experienced the same pain as I did.

I woke up this morning with my entire back killing from muscle sorness (a glorious feeling).  I worked out with a guy i met at school, who by the way is a monster to only be 19 yrs. old.  Heres what we did: pull-ups (to warm-up), then deadlifts, t-bar rows, Lat pulldowns, Smithe Machine rows, Hammer strength pulldowns, and finally seated low cable rows.  Pretty solid back workout, and let me tell you my back is sore as hell.  I really focused on squeezing my muscles and i think thats what increased my back pump.  It helps working out with a kid whos 230 pounds (me being only 190), he really pushed me to up the weights i was lifting, while maintaining good form.  So, i have shoulders and traps today and Arms on Thanksgiving.  Luckily i have a full free weight set and cables at my house, so i will get to train on the holiday!

I woke up at 6:30 am so that i would have enough time to digest my egg whites and oatmeal before legs at 8.  I typically need around an hour so that i dont have that blodded feeling in my stomach.  So after warming up on a stationary bike, i made my way over to the leg ext. machine to do some warm-up sets of one-leg.  After feeling like my knees are ready for squats, time to chalk up the bar and pile some weight on my back.  Five sets later i have 275 lbs on the bar and am shooting for 12 deep, controlled reps.  Luckily i am able to complete all 12, then i step out of the rack and hold a squat position (thighs are paralell to the floor) attempting to hold for a minute but the pain made me drop to the floor after 30 seconds.  It took about 10 seconds for me to regain enough strength to attempt another 30 seconds, i didnt get to 30 but held for another 15.  Give that a try it hurts really bad.  Next was close stance leg press supersetted with Leg ext., 4 sets of 12 on both exercises.  I decided to up the reps to give my body a shock, and let me tell you i was breathing hard the whole workout.  Next was a superset with seated hamstring curls with Db straight leg deads.  3 sets here, with the last set a triple drop set for seat leg curls and then polishing them off with the final set of straight leg deadlifts.  Needless to say me and my training partners legs are swollen with blood and its hard to even walk.  All of that and it only took 60 minutes.  High reps at a fast pace is a killer.  That was our leg workout, now we had to go get up leaves at his house and i had to go to Blackburg to watch the Hokies beat up on Kent State.  Sunday is my rest day, and you better believe my ass is going to be parked in front of the TV watching football and eating.

So i typically train legs on saturday morning but i had to work all day (raking leaves for work), so i definately  was not going to be able to bring 100% to the gym saturday night, and Virgina Tech was playing so i just took it easy and ate my ass off.  My girlfriend grilled jamacian jerk chicken breasts and backed potatoes for me, so two potatoes later and 3 chicken breast, i was extremely full.  Anyways i woke up early on Sunday and trained legs.  I didnt have a training partner, but luckily one of my buddies was working so i got him to spot me on Squats and Leg Press.  I started with One leg leg ext. to warm up then did 5 sets of squats, followed by 4 sets of lying hamstring curls.  Then close stance leg press, after that straigt leg deadlifts.  Next was back to leg ext. for three working sets.  And to finish off legs i did two sets of walking lunges.  It hurt to walk up the steps at my gym to my car, so it was a successful day.  So chest and calves on Monday, i need to hit calves espically hard this up coming week b/c i didnt have time to train them twice last week.  The journey to getting big is a hard road, but i love it.