ptc22030’s BodyBlog

This was my inspiration today, so I used it for my workout:

• Lying DB extensions, 25×10, 30×10, 35×8
• Sitting DB 1-arm raises, 25×10x2
• Incline facing-bench DB kickbacks, 25×10x2.

Felt a huge pump afterward.  Hard!

Took a good luck at my quads while doing leg extensions this morning and saw some great definition, but not enough wideness and mass.

For lower-back reasons, I’m staying away from barbell squats–they compress the spine way too much and leave room for sideways motion.

So, I’m going to focus on heavy leg presses for a month:  alternating static contraction holds on the machine leg press, with plate-loaded leg presses starting with knees at chest.

Today I got to 450# for 20 seconds static hold on the machine leg press, which I could feel in my glutes.

Lying leg curls are a good change from my usual seated leg curls for hamstrings.  I did 3 sets of 10 at 90#, 110#, and 130#.  Totally different feeling than the seated version.

Then single-legged calf toe press — high reps, at 20 x 70# twice in each leg.

Finished off with bodyweight back extensions for two sets of 10, interspersed with end-of-bench knee-ups, 2 sets of 15.  I like those because I can feel my lower abs totally tighten with each pull-in.

Also did 8 wide chins, then 3 follow-ups.  Goal is still to hit 10 wide chins by November 1.

One of the best things about bodybuilding is that after a few years you can "feel" target muscles and know when you’re working them.

Take lats, for example.  Wide-grip bodyweight chin-ups are great, because they force you to feel the lats at the bottom, and feel the contraction as you raise up to the bar.  Squeezing at the bottom brings out the best contraction.  I got in 2 sets of 6 and 4 in this morning’s workout.

Next was seated v-grip rows, and I downsized the weight to 100#’s so that I could really feel the weight and use perfect form.  Two sets of 10.

Then more lats work with the rowing machine @ 150# (the t-bar row was tied-up).

Spinous erectors got worked with bodyweight back extensions–two sets of 10.

Finished up with knee-ups (2 sets of 15) and leg stretches to get me done by 6am.

Last week on Tuesday I did Smith deadlifts on the heavy side, and was bothered all day thereafter.  By late in the day I was in real  pain, and headed home from work; the next day i called a chiropractor and made an appt.  Then took the rest of the week off from lifting.

Today I was back at it, feeling stronger and rested.  I did my 5:30am workout with a focus on chest and triceps.

As always, did wide-grip dead-hang pullups–6 today before failure. 

Started out on the decline bench with 70# on the bar for warmup, and repped out a set of 10.  Quickly added another two 70#’s and got 10 strong reps; then took off two plates and did another 12.

Shifted to a close-grip and pushed out 8 reps with my triceps burning.

Then to the pec flye machine and squeezed 10 at 150# and another 10 at 185#.

Over to the upright cables and did two sets of 50# high-cable crosses.  Then re-did my Flexsolate straps on one high cable post and did triceps cable pushouts with personal best weights:  10 at 120#, 12 at 130#.  Getting hard to start those, but once I have the weights up they are feeling well under control.

Finished up the workout at the Chest Press machine, where I can pile on more weight.  Did a set of 10 with 210#.

Then focused on abs with the seated ab crunch machine at 200# for 2 sets of 15.

Noticed a huge pump in my pecs…felt like they were bursting  through my Nike shirt!

IronMan Magazine sends out a regular set of emails with tips and workout ideas, mostly featuring the X-Reps style; I’m a big proponent of that, as it’s worked for me for the last year or so.

This week’s email talks about Arnold (yes, that Arnold) and his belief in wide-grip chins–just setting a rep goal, and taking as many sets necessary to hit that goal.

My rep goal for September is 10 wide grip bodyweight chins, and I’ve been getting 6 in for the past few weeks at each morning’s workout.  Yesterday I started a second set of 4 to hit my 10-rep goal, and that last rep is murder!  But the feeling you get in your lats at the bottom of the hang, when all the muscles are stretched and taut, is fantastic. 

I did Smith Machine shrugs with my wrist "irons" and banged out 4 sets of 10 at 180 and 270; I interspersed those with deadlifts at the same weight.

T-bar rows felt hard at 90# and 135#, did 10 and 8 respectively.

Seated rows with the v-handle at 150#, 2 sets of 10.

Back extensions with bodyweight, then floor stretching rounded out the back workout.

Ok, so I get alot of email from fitness groups, companies, and bloggers.  Some of it I immediately throw in the SPAM folder, but some of it I actually enjoy reading.  Jeff Anderson’s stuff from his www.MuscleNerdFitness.com site is actually good reading and good technically, so I always keep any eye out for it.

Last week Jeff sent out a pec-blasting routine by email and I gave it a try this morning at my workout.  I loaded 2 35# plates on each end of the decline bench press to give me my current 140# working load, and repped out 8 under strong control.  Then I took off a plate from each end and repped out 12 at 70# with a very wide grip until exhaustion.  My pecs were almost vibrating with overload and I could feel the pump for the next 30 minutes.

I finished off with a 60# dumbell over-bench press, pec-flye machine at 210#, and 60# hi-cable crosses.

Still 45" when I measured my chest cold, but hoping to stimulate some new growth

I got to the gym this morning at 5:30am as usual for my Friday biceps workout and felt sluggish.  I had gotten out of bed an hour earlier and downed a pre-workout drink of NO-Shotgun (1 scoop) and Glycergrow (3 scoops) and Creatine (5g’s), then added carbs by microwaving 1 cup of oatmeal with water.  Still, I wasn’t feeling totally motivated.

I decided to drop back on the weights and focus on perfect form instead.

Hit the preacher curl with a 45# pre-loaded bar, and repped out 2 sets of 10; could feel the pump actually start to build at that low weight, and so I upped to 65# and repped out another 2 sets of 8.  My arms felt huge.

Next, 2 sets of spider curls with a 30# dumbell — lower than usual.  Then overdid it with seated incline DB concentration curls at 30# and 40#.  By the 5th rep of the 40’s, I could barely bring the ‘bell off the floor.

Whether it’s the combination of focusing on perfect form and lower weights, or the Glycergrow, as I’m sitting here writing my biceps are still pulsing and feel like they are huge. 

I got to the gym about 5:30am today with a goal of doing a 25-30 minute quick hit on my shoulders.  I’m finding that shoulder work is not so much heavy weight work as defining or sculpting work using perfect form.

Started out adding 1 rep to my daily dead-hang wide-grip bodyweight pull-up regime.  Goal is 10 each by by 9/30/09.  The 7th was an effort today, as I start out at a truly dead-hang with a strong shoulder-blade squeeze.

Next I grabbed a 20# dumbbells and with my feet at the base of the high-cable pulley stand, leaned out at about a 30-degree angle with a DB in my free hand.  Did raises to parallel with the floor for 10 reps on each side, then upped the weight to 25# and did the same sets again.

Sitting down, I grabbed two 40# DBs and pushed up to do a set of 10 DB presses, then switched out to 50# DBs with another 10.

Then got two 20# DBs and pressed out 2 sets of 10 lateral raises.

By the end of the lat raises, my shoulders looked and felt like they were bursting!

Finished with floor leg stretches.

I hit the gym at 5:30am this morning with my usual pre-workout supps and oatmeal in.  Spotty rain and about 68 degrees as I drove in the dark to WSC.  About 6 dedicated folks–mostly women–on the treadmills, and three guys plus me hitting the weights.  I like the fact that WSC is always clean, the air is always cool and moving, and the lights are bright … they really take service seriously.  My old gym — Gold’s  on Cap. Hill — had black-painted walls, black rubber floors, industrial spot lights, and bored staff members.  Plus, the locker room was like a bus station — yuk.

Anyways, I started out with dead-hang bodyweight wide grip pull-ups — my new favorite warm-up exercise.  I managed 6 chest-touches, and think I could hit seven tommorrow.  Goal is ten.   I notice the strength in my lats–when I’m dead-hanging at the bottom, I squeeze my lats together, and almost effortlessly drive up to the bar again.  Love that feeling…

Warmed up my quads with a dozen leg extensions at 170.  Then hit the seated curl for hamstrings, pumping out 10 at 90# for warmup, 10 at 100#, and then 10 at 130#. 

Toe presses were hard at 235#x15, then 255#x15.  Just to work my weaker right calf, I lowered the weight to 150# and ground out 2 sets of 15 with just the right leg.

I like to use the Free Motion standing squat machine, because it supports my back so well during the squat.  I put the pin at 200# and did 12 reps for warm up, lowering down to a 90-degree angle in my legs.  Then raised the weight to 300# and did another 12.

Still felt some energy in my legs, so headed to the leg press, set it at 400#, and did a 20-second static-hold press followed by about 10 x-reps. 

Finished up with 20 leg extensions at 170# to pump some blood into my legs, then floor work:  side planks for 45-seconds each side, then leg stretches.

Was back home by 6:00am.