11-4 Legs
DB Leg Extension x 25
Peterson Step Up x 12
Seated Calf x 25
4 rounds, 1:05 rest
Belt Step Ups x 6 x 5 sets
Donkey Calf x 20
Tib Raise x 20
3 pairs
The woman and I were schemin’ on Thanksgiving and she brought up the local 5k. We talked generally about running, distance and time. Anyway, she was Confident she could run a 7 minute mile. I was a little skeptical, and she thought I was dissing her.
11-7 Chest
1 Arm Bench Press, neutral grip (20) x 25
1 Arm Band Pushdown (50) x 25
Seated Band Row (40 + 30) x 25
4 rounds, 50 seconds rest
Floor Press, 3-3 tempo x 9 reps x 4 set
up to 130
1 Arm Fly (20) x 15
Squeeze Press (20) x 15
2 pairs, 90 seconds rest
79 degrees out there. Feels like 80.
11-8 Back
DB Row (15) x 25
Rear Delt DB Row (15) x 25
Clamshell x 18
4 rounds, 50 seconds rest
Lying DB Ham Curl x 10
Nordic Hip Hinge, 5 count eccentric x 6 reps
Lying DB Ham Curl x 10
3 tri sets, 1:30 rest
Chest Supported DB Shrug (20) x 15
Standing DB Shrug (30) x 15
2 pairs, 1:30 rest
Count down to a BIG Friday Night!
11-9 Recovery
Rolling around on the floor followed by a dog walk. I’m going to try to get some rolling out and stretching back into the routine. I’ve been avoiding aches and pains from lifting so I’ve slacking on that stuff.
As a result I’m too stiff to do dumb things like standing up from the ground with no hands and putting on socks.
Anyway, 5 minutes down on the floor had my heart rate up enough that it was easy to get into the cardio zone during the dog walk right after. That seems efficient and smart.
11-10 Arms
Rev Curl x 5
Curl x 5
Seated Hammer Curl x 5
Rev Grip Pushdown x 8
Cali Press x 8
Neutral DB Tri Extension x 8
3 rounds, mostly controlled up with slow down.
Ugh! Arms were still tired and I had to drop weights and reps. Maybe I went a little too intense last week.
11-11 Legs
DB Leg Extension x 25
Seated Calf Raise x 25
Peterson Step Up x 17
4 rounds, 50 seconds rest
Belt Loaded Step Ups x 6 x 5 sets
Donkey Calf x 15+
Tib Raise vs Band x 15+
1 to get ready and 2 real paired sets
Not very exciting. Just laying the round work to so some sled drags. Which are also not very exciting.
11-12 More Recovery
KB Swing x 15 reps x 4 sets
Upper Body stretching with bands x 3 minutes
Lower body stretching on floor x 8 minutes
After the swings I was already 1/3 stretched. Nice!
That makes 2 “Recovery” days this week. 1 foam rolling + cardio. And 1 slightly harder than cardio + stretching. Doable.
11-4 Chest
1 Arm Bench, overhand grip (25) x 25
1 Arm Pushdown (40 + 20) x 25
Seated Band Rows (50 + 30) x 25
4 rounds, 35 seconds rest
Floor Press, 3-1-3 tempo x 8 reps x 4 sets. Up to 130 x 8
DB Fly (20) x 10
DB Squeeze (20) x 13
1 pair
Right pec was feeling it. Flies are out next month, just in time.
11-16 Back
Elbow in DB Row x 25
Elbow Out DB Row x 25
Clamshell x 20
4 rounds, 35 seconds rest
DB Leg Curl x 10
Nordic Hinge, 5 count eccentric x 6
DB Leg Curl x 10
3 tri sets
Chest Supported DB Shrug x 10+
Standing DB Shrug x 10+
2 pairs
Tennessee at Georgia tonight! UT can’t guarantee a spot in the SEC championship or the national playoff with a win. But a loss probably puts both out of reach. Stakes are high! And I gotta wait 3 more hours until kickoff.
Tough one for the Volunteers.
11-17 Recovery
Roll out and fast dog walk
11-18 Arms
Reverse Curl x 6
Curl x 6
Seated Hammer Curl x 6
Reverse Grip Pushdown x 8
California Press x 8
DB Tri Extension x 8
3-1 tempo, 4 rounds
My arms are really tired. Hands and shoulders too. I haven’t done raises or grippers in a couple weeks and they still feel too tired to think about trying. Fatigue!
11-19 Legs
Leg extension x 25
Seated Calf Raise x 25
Peterson Step Up x 21
4 rounds, 35 seconds rest
DB Step Ups x 6 reps x 5 sets
Donkey Calf x 10+
Tib Raise x 10+
2 rounds
11-21 Recovery
KB Swing x 21 x 4 sets
Stretch upper body with band while standing
Lower body stretching down on floor
11-22 Deload Chest
1 Arm Bench Press, underhand grip x 25
1 Arm Band Pushdown x 25
Seated Band Row x 25
2 rounds, 90 seconds rest
Floor Press x 10
Band Crossover x 10
5 pairs, 90 seconds rest
Chest and tris were sore, so weights were light. This was like Chest Cardio.
The learned doctors of strength and conditioning say that “Cardio Stuff” like VO2 max, oxygen transport and blood volume can begin to drop after a week or two. And you can lose muscle mass (like your sarcoplasmic hypertrophy leaks out so you look flat) after a week or two. Allegedly it takes a little longer to lose strength, 2-3 weeks. But light training and movement can delay strength loss up to 4-5 weeks.
So in this system of training the plan for deloads is a little extra volume, with lighter weights and rest periods structured to keep heart rate in the cardio zone. To rest the joints and connective tissue while you still work the energy transport, “pump” stuff to preserve muscle mass and not lose strength.
11-23 Deload Back
DB Row elbow in x 25
DB Row elbow out x 25
Clamshell x 25
2 rounds, 90 seconds rest
Inverted Row x 10
DB Shrug x 10
5 pairs, 2 minutes rest
A little heavy breathing during this one.
11-24 Recovery
Roll out + fast dog walk
11-25 Arms Deload
Band Uppercut x 25
Band Shoulder Extension x 25
Band Decline Fly x 25
2 rounds, 90 seconds rest
Band Pushdown x 10
Zottman Curl x 10
5 pairs, 90 seconds between
I fell asleep early with kiddo 3 times this weekend. It added up to almost an entire extra night. I’ll take it.
11-28 Deload Legs
Leg Extension x 25
Seated Calf x 25
Peterson Step Up x 22
Twice around, 90 seconds between
DB Step Up x 10
DB Lying Leg Curl x 10
5 pairs, 90 seconds rest
Deloaded!
This was the first holiday workout in the new garage gym. 24 hour access and no driving. Pretty nice! Now, Thanksgiving at home this year so no driving back and forth for that.
11-30 Swings + Stretch
Hollow body hold on floor x 30 seconds
KB Swing x 25
4 pairs
Stretch upper body with band.
Lower body stretches down on floor.
Some football, and the girls decorating the tree. Pretty Nice!
12-2 Chest, Week 1 Day 1
Low Incline DB Press x 25
Chest Supported DB Row x 25
V Grip Band Pushdown x 25
4 rounds, 1:10 rest
Floor Press x 10 x 6 sets.
Up to 135 for the 5th set, then I had to back off for the last one.
1 Arm Landmine Press x 10
Landmine Chest Squeeze Press x 10
3 pairs, 1:30 rest
Workout 1 of the new 3 month cycle. G.F. lifted with me, set for set. We’ve been in the gym at the same time a lot, but we haven’t done the same routine in like 9 or 10 years. That was nice.
12-4 Back
Straight Arm Pulldown x 25
Seated Band Leg Curl x 25
Clamshell x 15
4 rounds, 1:05 rest
45 Back Raise x 10 x 6 sets. 2 min rest
Behind Back Bamboo Shrug x 12
Dead Bugs x 10
3 pairs, 90 seconds between
Another couples workout. Woman did RDLs and Hip Thrusts instead of back raises and shrugs.
12-5 Shoulders
Neck Mobility Drill
Poliquin External Rotations with DBs x 10 x 3 sets
Front Raise x 10
Side Raise x 10
Cuban Press x 10
3 rounds
After a month of skipping shoulders, today it was back to the Mark Wildman neck mobility routine followed by the DeFranco Shoulder Shocker. It felt good, I didn’t realize how stiff my neck and shoulders were.