39 & Beginning Again with NROL

NROL-Fat Loss2 Workout B
Workout Date: Monday, 30 Nov 2009

Alternating Sets, 8 reps/30 seconds rest between sets
snatch-grip deadlift 185x8 205x8 205x8
T push-up bwx8 bwx8 bwx8

Alternating Sets, 8 reps/30 seconds rest between sets
bulgarian split-squat w/overhead press (each leg) 25x8l/8r, 25x8l/8r, 25x8l/8r
lat-pulldown 150x8 150x8 150x7

Alternating Sets, 8 reps/30 seconds rest between sets
romanian deadlift w/bent-over row 115x8 115x8 115x8
russian twist (lower body) 8 8 8

Notes:
The decreased rest is a bitch! I was really sucking wind in this one. I’m looking
forward to the week off the weights next week, then a new phase of rotating upper/lower
body workouts instead of the total body stuff.

Wife threw out the rest of the pies, stuffing, potatoes, and casseroles from Thanksgiving
dinner. Good thing because I extended my holiday diet way past the weekend. Now time
to get serious again - especially with the off week coming up next week.

Didn’t want to go in yesterday, but did it anyway, and came away with a good
workout - and the satisfaction that I didn’t talk myself out of going.

Also met two guys that were actually squatting! They were squatting with 405
for reps so I was impressed. I commented that other than me, they appear to be
the only two that have ever squatted in this little commercial gym. They have
donated several pieces of equipment into a back room that is usually locked - including
a roman chair, several bumper plates - jackpot! Now I just need to convince the gym
owner to either unlock the room or bring some of that equipment out.

NROL-Fat Loss2 Workout A
Workout Date: Wednesday, 2 Dec 2009

Alternating Sets, 8 reps/30 seconds rest between sets
front squat 185x8 205x8 205x8
widegrip cable seated-row 130x8 140x8 140x8

Alternating Sets, 8 reps/30 seconds rest between sets
swissball supine hip extension w/leg curl 8l/8r, 8r/8l, 8l/8r
barbell push-press 95x8 95x8 95x8

Alternating Sets, 8 reps/30 seconds rest between sets
barbell lunge 135x8 135x4 135x8
russian twist (upper body) 8 8 8

Straight Sets, 10 reps/30 seconds between sets
ab-wheel rollouts (from knees) 8 8 8

Notes:
Raised the weight on the front squats to 205 on the 2nd & 3rd sets. It felt
great doing this today. Also raised weight on the rows

First time getting all the single-leg reps with the hip-extension w/leg curl.
I’ve gotton stronger on this movement.

Nearly fell over on the 2nd set of lunges. WTF! I don’t think I was giving
my best concentration there.

Last time with workout A of fat-loss 2 from the NROL book

NROL-Fat Loss2 Workout B
Workout Date: Friday, 04 Dec 2009

Alternating Sets, 8 reps/30 seconds rest between sets
snatch-grip deadlift 205x8 205x8 205x8
T push-up bwx8 bwx8 bwx8

Alternating Sets, 8 reps/30 seconds rest between sets
bulgarian split-squat w/overhead press (each leg) 25x8l/8r, 25x8l/8r, 25x8l/8r
lat-pulldown 150x8 150x8 160x8

Alternating Sets, 8 reps/30 seconds rest between sets
romanian deadlift w/bent-over row 135x8 135x6 135x5
russian twist (lower body) 8 8 8

Notes:
Felt very strong on the deads, and added 20lbs to the previous workout. I wasn’t
nearly as tired as the previous workout from the short rest periods.

Also added weight on the rom. dead’s w/ bent-over row.

Done with NROL Fat-Loss 2. Thank god! I’m tired of the full-body nature of these
workouts. I’m ready for the upper/lower split of the hypertrophy phase, which is
next.

I’ll take the 7-13th off from weights, then hit hypertrophy 1 hard next Monday. No
log activity from me next week.

Have a good break!

NROL-Fat Hypertrophy Workout A
Workout Date: Monday, 14 Dec 2009

Alternating Sets, 5 reps/90 seconds rest between sets
dumbbell incline bench 60x5 65x5 70x5 70x5 75x5
cable seated-row 150x5 160x5 170x5 170x5 170x5

Alternating Sets, 5 reps/90 seconds rest between sets
dumbbell shoulder press 45x5 55x5 55x5 60x5 60x5
pull-up bwx5 bwx5 bwx5 bwx5 bwx5

Alternating Sets, 5 reps/90 seconds rest between sets
close-grip bench 115x5 135x5 155x5 175x5 185x4
high-pull 95x5 95x5 95x5 115x5 115x5

Straight Sets, 10 reps/30 seconds rest between sets
roll-outs 10, 10, 10

Notes:
Feels great to be back in the gym after a needed rest. It also
feels great to get away from total body for awhile, and start my upper/lower
split.

I was surprised at how much I could lift on all of the presses. I know. I know.
These aren’t heavy to you, but they are to me. :>)

Got a spot from a strong young kid on the last set of close-grips, and he helped
a little on the last rep so I didn’t count it as a complete rep.

Not too familiar with the high-pulls. I’ll probably try not to go very heavy on
these since it’s an explosive movement - just heavy enough to make it hard work.

Lower body on Wednesday followed by a repeat of this on Friday with a different
rep/rest scheme.

Good work. Nothing wrong with full body, but I think you will like splitting it up.

I hear you my man…

take a look at this for your desk. I have one at two different offices… and I love them.

http://www.treaddesk.com/

[quote]Dadnatron wrote:
I hear you my man…

take a look at this for your desk. I have one at two different offices… and I love them.

http://www.treaddesk.com/

[/quote]

Wow. $775. That’s out of my budget right now until I get my kids through college; however, I can stand some during the day.

NROL-Fat Hypertrophy Workout A
Workout Date: Wednesday, 16 Dec 2009

Straight Sets, 10 reps/60 seconds rest between sets
back squat 135x10 135x10 155x10 175x10

Straight Sets, 10 reps/60 seconds rest between sets
deadlift w/shrug 135x10 155x10 155x10 175x10

Alternating Sets, 10 reps/60 seconds rest between sets
bulgarian split squats
step-up

Straight Sets, 10 reps/30 seconds rest between sets
swiss-ball jackknife

Notes:
Felt like shit today. Finished my first two exercises, then walked out.

Read JJackkrash’s thread; now I feel like a pussy. I should’ve sucked it up
and finished.

I’ll pound it hard on Monday when I do this one again.

Thanks for the props, but don’t beat yourself up. I have walked out of plenty of workouts early. I try not to make a habit out of it, but sometimes you need to listen to your body. There is a lot of good work going on in here and a lot of progress being made.

Jack.

NROL-Fat Hypertrophy Workout A
Workout Date: Sunday, 20 Dec 2009

Alternating Sets, 15 reps/30 seconds rest between sets
dumbbell incline bench 40x15 40x15 45x15
cable seated-row 120x15 120x15 120x11

Alternating Sets, 15 reps/30 seconds rest between sets
dumbbell shoulder press 30x15 30x15 30x10
cable pull-down 120x15 120x11 90x11

Alternating Sets, 15 reps/30 seconds rest between sets
close-grip bench 95x15 95x15 95x13
high-pull 60x15 60x15 60x15

Alternating Sets, 15 reps/30 seconds rest between sets
roll-outs 15, 15, 15

Notes:
This was supposed to be Friday’s workout, but I spent the last 2
days moving Grandma to a new apartment.

Lighter weights, high reps, and low rest today. It got my heart
pumping good. A good way to spend a Sunday morning.

Lower body tomorrow.

[quote]iyaayas wrote:
What do you experienced guys do when your grip fails? Do you end the set when
your grip fails? Or, do you put the weight down, rest the hands for a few seconds,
and perform one rep at a time in this fashion?[/quote]

I’m not an experienced guy, but I use straps.

Yeah, some people say “Don’t lift anything you can’t grip.” Well, for me, that dosen’t work for reps, and if I had to rely on grip alone, I’d never get stronger. I use straps for pull ups, too. Besides, working my grip too hard messes with my fretboard agility.

[quote]Yo Momma wrote:

[quote]iyaayas wrote:
What do you experienced guys do when your grip fails? Do you end the set when
your grip fails? Or, do you put the weight down, rest the hands for a few seconds,
and perform one rep at a time in this fashion?[/quote]

I’m not an experienced guy, but I use straps.

Yeah, some people say “Don’t lift anything you can’t grip.” Well, for me, that dosen’t work for reps, and if I had to rely on grip alone, I’d never get stronger. I use straps for pull ups, too. Besides, working my grip too hard messes with my fretboard agility.[/quote]

x2

I don’t use straps often but for high rep work with sizable weights it beats lifting a weaight that doesn’t work the primary muscle just to avoid using a strap.

[quote]JoeGood wrote:

[quote]Yo Momma wrote:

[quote]iyaayas wrote:
What do you experienced guys do when your grip fails? Do you end the set when
your grip fails? Or, do you put the weight down, rest the hands for a few seconds,
and perform one rep at a time in this fashion?[/quote]

I’m not an experienced guy, but I use straps.

Yeah, some people say “Don’t lift anything you can’t grip.” Well, for me, that dosen’t work for reps, and if I had to rely on grip alone, I’d never get stronger. I use straps for pull ups, too. Besides, working my grip too hard messes with my fretboard agility.[/quote]

x2

I don’t use straps often but for high rep work with sizable weights it beats lifting a weaight that doesn’t work the primary muscle just to avoid using a strap.
[/quote]

Thanks YoMomma and JoeGood. Wow. People do read these threads! I’ll use the straps when I get to the next high-rep phase. My grip has improved, but I’m sure I’ll be able to use more weight with them.

NROL-Fat Hypertrophy Workout B
Workout Date: Monday, 21 Dec 2009

Straight Sets, 5 reps/90 seconds rest between sets
back squat 135x5 185x5 205x5 225x5 225x3

Straight Sets, 5 reps/90 seconds rest between sets
deadlift w/shrug 185x5 205x5 225x5 275x5 300x5

Alternating Sets, 5 reps/90 seconds rest between sets
bulgarian split squats 40x5 40x5 40x5 40x5 40x5
step-up 40x5 40x5 40x5 40x5 40x5

Straight Sets, 15 reps/30 seconds rest between sets
swiss-ball jackknife 15 15 15

Notes:
I pulled 300 on the dead. This is the first time I’ve ever lifted anything
that heavy. I set the weight down, and couldn’t stop a big smile from unfolding
on my face. The shrug felt like my shoulders didn’t move an inch, but I don’t
care. This made up for the lethargic workout last Wednesday.

The squat is going up. 225 is the heaviest I’ve squatted since I started this a
few short months ago. I’m hoping to push up 275 or more by the end of February.

Next time I do the 5-rep version of this workout, I’ll video the squat and dead
so Meat can take a look at them. He asked me to get a back squat with a near max
so he can evaluate my form with a heaver load.

Great job on the leg work and the 300 deads! There is something magical about pulling heavy weight off the floor.

Think you already snuck off on holiday. Hope you have/had a good one.

Merry Christmas, and congratulations on the 300 DL!

Merry Christmas!

Jack

I’ma fekking idjit. For God knows what reason I thought NROL was some hormone replacement drug and so I haven’t been reading your log. Welcome and please accept my apologies for not welcoming you sooner. Good consistent lifting happening here.

And Mar Ye Crisco Mats.