OVER 40 MUSCLE

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
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Assisted Chins– 9 @ setting 12, 7 @ setting 10
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Front-grip Lat Pulls – 2 sets of 7 @ 120
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DB Rows - 3 sets of 7 @ 55/60/60
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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
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Leg Extensions – 2 warm-up sets of 25/20 @ 50, 4 working sets of 15 @ 60, 15 @ 75, 12 @ 85 and 10 @ 100
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Leg Press– 6 plates @ 15, 8 plates @ 12 and 10 plates @ 10
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Hack Squats – 2 plates @ 15, 4 plates @ 12 and 10
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Lying Leg Curls – 12 @ 50, 10 @ 75 and 8 @ 85
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TUESDAY - CHEST/ABS
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Incline DB Press – 3 warm-up sets of 25 @ 25 and 20 @ 30, 3 working sets of 12/10/8 @ 40
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Hammer Press Machine– 3 working sets of 12 @ 90, 10/8 @ 140
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Standing Chest Press Machine – 12 @ 90, 6/6 @ 140
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Cable Crossovers – 12 @ 40, 10 @ 50, 6 @ 60
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Knee Raises– 20/20/15
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Crunches – 25/25/25
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DB Side Crunches – 15/15/15 @ 30#
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Vacuums – 3 holding for 1 minute
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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
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Barbell Shoulder Press – 2 warm-up set of 20 with bar, 15 @ 50 then 3 working sets of 8 @ 75/85/85
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Wide-Grip Upright Rows – 3 working sets of 8 @ 115
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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. 
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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.
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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
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Bent-over BB Rows – 2 warm-up set of 12 with bar, 10 @ 85 then 2 working sets of 5 @ 135 and 155
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Wide-Grip Chins – 2 working sets of 5/5
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Front-Grip Lat Pulldown – 3 working sets of 7 @ 100/110/110
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DB Rows – 3 sets of 7 @ 50/55/60
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Bodyweight Calf Raises – 3 sets of 20
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Standing Calf Raise (machine) – 3 sets of 15 with 6 plates
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I had the best chest workout I have had in a while this morning. The ab work was really a gut buster too. I tried to do all 4 ab exercises as a giant set but could not pull it off. I, reluctantly, changed it to straight sets but I still got in all the reps.

Nutritionally speaking, I have been able to stick to the plan without a hitch since getting back home. Tonight will be my cheat meal for the week. My wife and I are going out to celebrate our 15th anniversary (the actual anniversary is Wednesday but I have to work so we moved it up a day) and she wanted to go to the new Italian restaurant just down from our house. So tonight the diet gets another challenge – pasta, pasta and more pasta!

Tomorrow will be back and calves then twelve hours at work. Yippee for me!

CHEST/ABS
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Flat Bench DB Press – 3 warm-up set of 20 @ 30, 15 @ 35 and 12 @ 40. 3 working sets of 10 @ 45, 8 @ 55 and 6 @ 65
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Incline BB Press (Smith Machine) – 3 working sets of 10 @ 70, 8 @ 75 and 6 @ 85
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Flat Bench DB Flye – 3 working sets of 10 @ 30, 10 @ 30, 6 @ 40
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Dips – 3 sets of 10/8/5
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Knee Raises – 25/25/20
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Crunch – 25/25/20
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Side Crunch – 20/20/20
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Vacuum – 3 sets of holding for 1 minute
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I decided to make some changes in my workouts. The program I was doing was just not giving me the results I desired. It was worth a shot but I have to go with what has worked for me in the past. I am still doing the RCC but that is focused on nutrition more than a standard workout. So today I started my new split.

Monday-Quads/Hams (heavy)/Traps
Tuesday-Chest/Abs (giant sets)
Wednesday-Back/Calves (heavy)
Thursday-Delts/Hams (hi rep)/Abs (mega reps)
Friday-Arms/Calves (hi rep)
Saturday & Sunday-rest

*I will do cardio on my days off from work.

Here is what today’s new workout looked like:

QUADS/HAMS/TRAPS
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Leg Extensions – 1 warm-up set of 25 @ 25, 4 working sets of 15 @ 50, 15 @ 55, 12 @ 60 and 10 @ 75 (using 3-3-3 rep pace)
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Leg Press – 3 working sets of 6 plates @ 20, 8 plates @ 15 and 10 plates @ 10 (using 3-1-3 rep speed)
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Hack Squat – 1 warm-up set, 3 working sets of 2 plates @ 12, 4 plates @ 12 and 6 plates @ 12
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Lying Leg Curls – 1 warm-up set, 3 working sets of 15 @ 50, 12 @ 60 and 10 @ 75 (using 3-3-3 rep speed)
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Seated Leg Curls – 3 working sets of 15 @ 50, 15 @ 70 and 10 @ 90 (using 3-3-3 rep speed)
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Barbell Shrugs - 1 warm-up set of 20 @ 135, 3 working sets of 15 @ 205, 15 @ 205 and 10 @ 225
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DB Shrugs - 20 @ 55, 15 @ 65 and 10 @ 70
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I followed this up with a 20 minute cooldown stroll on the treadmill @ 3.5mph.

I also had my BF% checked today. It was down (thankfully) but not down to where I had hoped. Just something to make me work a little harder next month. I’ll post that info later today.

I like doing the isolation moves first because I can really feel the muscles working better. I guess there is a scientific principle in there somewhere but someone smarter than me will have to decipher it.

After my week of bad eating I still dropped 2.6#. See the last sentence above because I am sure it relates to this too.

CHEST/TRICEPS
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Incline DB Flye – 3 sets of 10 @ 40
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Pec Deck Flye – 10 @ 80, 2 sets of 10 @ 100
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Incline DB Press – 10 @ 40, 10 @ 45
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Decline Smith Machine Press – 2 sets of 10 @ 90
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Cable Rope Pressdowns – 2 sets of 8 @ 100, 1 set of 7 @ 100
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Seated Overhead DB Extensions – 2 sets of 8 @ 50
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Bench Dips – 3 sets of 15 (bodyweight)

I really screwed things up this past weekend. I had to travel out of town again and failed to prepare for this trip like I have my other ones this month. Because of that I ate all the wrong things, my times were all over the map and I came home feeling like I had gained a ton. I missed two days of workouts and, although I had full intentions of making then up while on the road, I did not do anything that would remotely be confused with a workout. When I step on the scale Friday morning I hope just to break even. Even though I regret what happened this weekend I did learn a very valuable lesson. Intentions do not accomplish much.

One part of the Ripped Rulez Challenge is that I have to keep a nutrition journal and send it in once a week. Last weeks journal was not my best and my journal this week is going to be horrible. While on the road I received an encouraging email from Michael. There was one word that stuck out more than any of the others – CONSISTANCY!

None of us have a problem with consistency. We are either consistently good or bad. We do things on a daily basis that impact our overall performance. Our problem (I am including me in this one as well) is that we need to get into the habit of doing the RIGHT things, consistently. For many years I did the WRONG things and did them over and over again. Last year I decided that I was going to make a change. I am still in the changing process.

From here on out my commitment to the RRC will be all out! I do not know who else is in this competition but they better look out. I’m in it for the long haul.

After preaching consistency in my last post I did not get to workout Wednesday because the gym was closed for the holiday. I was able to get back in there yesterday and get in a great shoulder workout. This week’s exercises emphasize Isolation Movements first in the rep scheme. After this one, my shoulders were feeling pretty good.

DELTS/TRAPS/ABS
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DB Lateral Raise – 6 @ 25, 6 @ 25 and 6 @ 30
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Cable Front Raise – 6 @ 20, 6 @ 25, 6 @ 30
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Wide-grip Upright Row – 6 @ 115, 6 @ 135, 6 @ 155
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DB Shoulder Press – 3 sets of 6 @ 45
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BB Shrug – 2 sets of 6 @ 225
Superset w/
DB Shrug – 2 sets of 6 @ 70
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Hanging Leg Raises - 3 sets of 15
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Ab Machine Crunch – 3 sets of 15 @ 110

I had a pretty grueling leg workout today. This was the first "real" leg workout since I hurt my back so I was pretty proud just to be there. The back is back to normal (normal for me anyway) and I think I will be fine.

June will start being my most difficult month from now on. I am traveling again this weekend (for the third weekend this month). I leave out tomorrow and will be back sometime Monday. My main concern is sticking to my RRC nutrition plan. I am taking some food but I have no way (or the room) to take enough food for 5 days (6-7 meals per day). I would need another trailer just to carry my food. I will do the best I can. There is a Y in the town I will be staying in so I am taking my gymbag and will hit it Saturday. Thursday will be a travel day and Friday will be too busy for a workout. Saturday is it!

I do not have my journal with me so I will have to give you the workout from memory. I’ll go to bodyblog timeout if you think it will help me remember to do better next time.

QUADS
Superset#1
Bodybuilder Squats - 3 sets of 30 (3-3-3 rep speed)
Plie Squats - 3 sets of 30 (3-3-3 rep speed)

Leg Press - 3 sets of 10

HAMSTRINGS
Leg Extensions - 3 sets of 10 (3-3-3 rep speed)
Lying Leg Curls - 3 sets of 10 (3-3-3 rep speed)

CALVES
Superset #2
Standing Calf Raises - 4 sets of 15
Bodyweight Calf Raises - 4 sets of 15