OVER 40 MUSCLE

Last August I started on this journey to change my lifestyle and make myself into the best person I can possibly be. When I began I was an unhealthy 260 pounds. Well, I celebrated the achievement of reaching another goal this week. I stepped on the scale Friday morning for my normal weekly weigh-in and saw something I had not seen in quire sometime. The digital readout on the scale proclaimed that I weighed 200.2 pounds. Darn it… only .2 pounds away from my goal of 200. I stepped off the scale and thought very seriously about taking that and going on my way. But I would not be denied. After a couple of minutes I stepped on the scale again and this time she read out a perfect 200. I shouted, “SOLD!” and stepped back off the scale. There it was. The coveted 200 I had not seen in almost 20 years.

The celebration was short lived, however. I still had a workout and a 12-hour shift at the office to put up with today. But knowing I had reached this goal made those hours pass a little quicker. I walked into the gym with a little more cheerfulness in my step and more intensity in my effort. Setting a goal – and then working your tail off to achieve it – and then seeing that goal attained is a great feeling. If you doubt what I say is true I dare you to do just that. Prove me wrong (if you can).

I probably did not stay at 200 for long because I had also decided a while back that when I did achieve this goal I was going to reward myself with one of my favorite cheat meals. There is a little Greek family restaurant a couple of blocks from my office and I just crave their steak sandwiches. I had not had one in about 10 weeks so I knew this was going to be good. When “Mama” saw me come in she knew what I wanted and made this one a little special. Instead of one piece of sirloin steak she gave me two. She piled on the onions and pickles (thank you God) and put a little extra toasting and love on the Texas Toast. I topped the celebration off with my first diet coke in two months.  Hey, when I fall off the wagon I do it right.

I hope this little blog inspires you to set some goals. Write them down, set a date that you want to have those goals accomplished. Then you need to work as hard as you can (and as smart as you can) to see those goals reached. You’ll be glad you did. Now I have to go set some more goals. This is fun.

I saw this article in my local Sunday paper. Might just be something you would like to try.

Want a workout? Give lunging a try
By Nancy Cole
McClatchy Newspapers

"Want to drip sweat and amp up your level of fitness? Try lunging on the treadmill. It’s tricky and tough, and not for the faint of heart. In fact, you should have good cardiovascular endurance before attempting this exercise. It requires balance, strength and flexibility as well.

No matter your level of training, this exercise is a killer. If your glutes are screaming my name the following day, get back on the treadmill and run. That should help to alleviate the soreness."

I started week 7 of the Ripped Rulez Challenge today with arms and cardio. I am over halfway through this thing and I feel pretty good. With the lower carbs I have had a few days of low energy but overall I feel good.

BB Curls – 10 @ 50, 10 @ 50, 8 @ 55, 8 @ 55
Lying Tricep Extensions – 15 @ 40, 15 @ 50, 12 @ 55, 10 @ 60

ARM SUPERSETS
DB Concentration Curls – 15 @ 25, 12 @ 25, 12 @ 30
And
DB Kickbacks – 15 @ 15, 15 @ 20, 12 @ 20

Standing EZ-bar Curls – 12/8/8 @ 45
And
Pushdowns – 15 @ 70, 15/15 @ 90

CARDIO
25 minutes of incline intervals on the treadmill.

I have to work this weekend so I will not be back at the gym until Monday. I will enjoy the rest.

I am playing catch up with the blog so this one will not be too long. Thursday I worked delts and hams. Here are the details.

DELTS
Wide-grip Rows – 3 sets of 10 @ 95, 9 @ 105 and 8 @ 105
Lateral Raise (Machine) – 3 sets of 10 @ 50, 9 @ 70, 7 @ 90
Bent-over DB Lateral Raise – 10 @ 25, 9 @ 30, 8 @ 30
Smith Machine BB Press – 10 @ 70, 9 @ 90, 7 @ 90

HAMS
Seated Leg Curls – 15 @ 50, 12 @ 70, 10 @ 90
Standing Leg Curls – 15 @ 50, 15 @ 60, 15 @ 70

I put in a pretty good back workout today along with some cardio. Starting to get that ole feeling back. Things are looking up!

BACK/CARDIO
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Wide-grip BB Rows – 2 warm-up sets of 15 with the bar, 10 @ 135, 2 sets of 5 @ 155
________

Assisted Chins– 9 @ setting 12, 7 @ setting 10
________

Front-grip Lat Pulls – 2 sets of 7 @ 120
________

DB Rows - 3 sets of 7 @ 55/60/60
________

DB Shrugs - 2 sets of 20 @ 60
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Cardio consisted of 30 minutes of incline intervals on the treadmill. Tomorrow I will hit Delts/Hams/Abs and more cardio.

I have been lax in posting the last couple of days. That is my fault.

I have to share a "GYM GRIPE" for a moment. I got to the gym this morning and saw a father and son working out together. I have seen them in there before and they work pretty good together. This morning, however, they took it upon themselves to collect just about every set of dumb bells in the place. At one time I looked over and they had 9, count them 9, pairs of DB’s spread out in front of them. They were doing drop sets for arms - using all 9 pairs. I hope their arms are so sore they cannot even raise them for a week. Maybe I need to print out the article on gym etiquette and leave it lying around the gym. That kind of crap just burns me up. However, it did give me a little more fuel to up the intensity this morning so I guess it did not hinder my workout too bad.

Now that I have that off my chest, here is what Monday and Tuesday’s workouts looked like.

MONDAY - QUADS/TRAPS
_________

Leg Extensions – 2 warm-up sets of 25/20 @ 50, 4 working sets of 15 @ 60, 15 @ 75, 12 @ 85 and 10 @ 100
________

Leg Press– 6 plates @ 15, 8 plates @ 12 and 10 plates @ 10
________

Hack Squats – 2 plates @ 15, 4 plates @ 12 and 10
________

Lying Leg Curls – 12 @ 50, 10 @ 75 and 8 @ 85
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TUESDAY - CHEST/ABS
_________

Incline DB Press – 3 warm-up sets of 25 @ 25 and 20 @ 30, 3 working sets of 12/10/8 @ 40
________

Hammer Press Machine– 3 working sets of 12 @ 90, 10/8 @ 140
________

Standing Chest Press Machine – 12 @ 90, 6/6 @ 140
________

Cable Crossovers – 12 @ 40, 10 @ 50, 6 @ 60
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Knee Raises– 20/20/15
________

Crunches – 25/25/25
________

DB Side Crunches – 15/15/15 @ 30#
________

Vacuums – 3 holding for 1 minute
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I was able to get in a rare Saturday workout this morning. I worked bi’s and tri’s and really put them through their paces.

BICEPS/TRICEPS
_________

Alternating DB Curls (slow and strict) – 15 @ 20, 13 @ 25, 6 @ 30, 6 @ 30
________

Standing BB Curls (long bar) – 10 @ 55, 8 @ 65, 6 @ 65
________

Standing EZ-bar Curls – 12 @ 30, 10 @ 40, 9 @ 40, 6 @ 40
________

Alternating DB Hammer Curls – 12 @ 15, 10 @ 15, 8 @ 20, 7 @ 20
========

Rope Pushdowns – 20 @ 60, 20 @ 70, 15 @ 70
________

Overhead DB Extensions – 8 @ 55, 10 @ 55, 8 @ 65
________

DB Kickbacks (both arms simultaneously) – 3 sets of 10 @ 15
________

Machine Extensions – 15 @ 50, 10 @ 70, 10 @ 70
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After taking a rest day yesterday, I started week 6 of the Ripped Rulez Challenge this morning with a solid delt/ab workout. I threw a few twists into the workout and by the end of the morning my delts were on fire. It has been a long time since I felt it like that.

DELTS/ABS
————
Barbell Shoulder Press – 2 warm-up set of 20 with bar, 15 @ 50 then 3 working sets of 8 @ 75/85/85
————-
Wide-Grip Upright Rows – 3 working sets of 8 @ 115
————-
DB Lateral Raise – 3 working sets of 10 @ 15 *Twist #1 – I held onto the Smith Machine bar with my non-working hand and leaned out at almost a 45° angle. This position takes the body and it’s momentum totally out of the exercise and puts all the work on and medial delt. Trust me, 15# was all I could do and keep the form. 
————-
Bent-over DB Lateral Raise – 3 sets of 8 @ 20# *Twist #2 – When I bent over I used the preacher curl bench (armrest) as a headrest and moved my feet back about ½ a step. This, again, took the body and it’s momentum out of the equation and put all the work on the rear delt.
========
Cable Crunches – 3 sets of 15 @ 90#
Superset with
Weighted Crunch – 3 sets of 20 @ 35#
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I had a pretty good workout on Wednesday but have not had an opportunity to post it until now. Here it is…short and sweet:

BACK/CALVES
————
Bent-over BB Rows – 2 warm-up set of 12 with bar, 10 @ 85 then 2 working sets of 5 @ 135 and 155
————-
Wide-Grip Chins – 2 working sets of 5/5
————-
Front-Grip Lat Pulldown – 3 working sets of 7 @ 100/110/110
————-
DB Rows – 3 sets of 7 @ 50/55/60
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Bodyweight Calf Raises – 3 sets of 20
————-
Standing Calf Raise (machine) – 3 sets of 15 with 6 plates
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I just had to share this. One of my goals was to be in a size 34" dress pant by the first of this month. Well, I missed it by nine days.

Today I went to the mall to find a pair of pants and when I tried on the 36" it was WAY too big. So I grabbed a 34" (after putting my other pants back on - hey I’m not a total freak!) and they fit. In about a week or so they should be just right.

And to top it off - they were on sale.

DOUBLE CHA-CHING!!