Looks like I’m recovering nicely on this new program. Today - upper body.
Bench
45 x 10
65 x 8
85 x 6
115 x 3 feels good - will go for 135
135 x 4 tough, but good - rest a few minutes
135 x 4 last one was near failure - pyramid down
125 x 5 good
Arm curl
60 x 8
60 x 7
60 x 8 that’s up from last week
Rope pulldown
80 x 12
85 x 10
90 x 8
OK, do the next will g-o-o-d stretch and hold at bottom
75 x 6
DB lat raise
15 x 6
15 x 5
15 x 6
up from last week
Been reading up on sports PTSD, trauma that hits when things don’t go well. They describe optimistic cases - someone’s been a sport success for years, loads of confidence, then one injury or setback and suddenly they’re an emotional basket case. Still, might be appropriate to what I’ve gone through for many years.
Squat
65 x 10
85 x 6
105 x 5 good so far
125 x 3
145 x 3 very good, the work set should be a piece of cake
165 x 3 WTF??? felt like I was about to pass out, starting hip bending like I was doing Good Mornings - what??
165 x 3 - STILL can’t do all 5. screaming (really - I did) - totally freaked out
145 x 5 - did them, but stressful Get a hold of myself
145 x 5 better
Cybex leg curl
75 x 10 - same as last time
80 x 5 - just wanted to see some increase
75 x 10
Icarian Leg X - cuz I’m tired of weak legs
100 x 8 - ooh, hard
100 x 10 - better, paused
100 x 10 - much better, paused
Leg Press
1 plate per side x 12
2 plates x 10
3 plates x 8
3 plates x 8
Today: DOMS in legs. About time.
Been sleeping a lot lately. Taking lots of naps. Just seemed so tired. Today woke up feeling great, and couldn’t wait to get to the gym (an unusual feeling, believe me).
Bench
45 x 10
75 x 8
95 x 6
115 x 5
135 x 5 almost failed on last. That’s one more rep than last time - a tiny improvement, but improvement
125 x 6
125 x 6 good ones!
Arm curl
60 x 10
65 x 4 planned to pyramid back to 60, but 65 just felt sooooo good
65 x 4
65 x 4
Trip rope pulldown
85 x 10
90 x 5
90 x 6
80 x 6
DB Lat raise
15 x 7
15 x 6
15 x 6
15 x 6
Now if I can just keep going like this.
It’s been 2 weeks since my last deadlift workout. Am I recovered?
Deads
95 x 8
125 x 7 feeling good
155 x 3
195 x 3 double overhand and feeling good
235 x 5 mixed grip, and did great!
225 x 5
205 x 5
Everything went just right. Lower back was whining on the last set, but did it all anyway. Conclusion: I can’t go for same weight x 5 on three sets. Deads just take too much out of me. So reverse pyramid it is.
Cybex crunch
90 x 10 hold and squeeze, too easy
100 x 6
90 x 10 more pause and squeeze
100 x 5
Deads work low back and traps, but lats need a little help
Flite Lat pulldown
90 x 10 that’s 2 plates
110 x 5
110 x 6
Hyper extension
25 x 8
25 x 8
a bit surprised at how easy this was - not easy, but not the meatgrinder I had expected
A good workout! Can’t wait for next time, should knock out 245.
Been eating a bit more heavily on protein and getting lots of sleep. Will it help?
Bench
45 x 10
75 x 8
95 x 7
115 x 3
135 x 6 - yah! that’s one more than last time, and didn’t get close to failure
125 x 5
125 x 5
Arm curl
65 x 7
65 x 6
65 x 6
65 x 6 - it’s an improvement
Rope pulldown - do all of them stretching and pausing
70 x 12
75 x 8
75 x 7
not sure if these really work tri’s or not
DB lat raise
15 x 9
15 x 7
My plan was to keep at 15 lbs for another couple of weeks before going to the 17’s. But I saw the 17’s sitting there on the rack, and they started whispering “Lift us . . . lift us . . . just a couple reps . . . you can do it . . .”
Really. I heard it.
17.5 x 4
17.5 x 4
very happy
Icarian dip machine
80 x 20
120 x 10
I may start using this instead of pulldown, seems to hit my tri’s harder.
OK. Two weeks since my last leg day (which wasn’t all that great). Would I be recovered?
Oh, yeah.
Squat
65 x 8
85 x 8
105 x 4
145 x 3 . this was great. Legs and hips felt like thick rubber bands. Just push the knees apart, let the hips drop, and boinnng, they came right back.
155 x 5 . easy peasy!
165 x 5 . still good!!
175 x 3 . probably could have done five reps, but wanted to quit while I was ahead.
155 x 5
Now let’s see if I can get some serious gains with this!
Cybex leg curl
75 x 11 . hmm, kinda tough
85 x 3 . too much?
55 x 8 . weird. the first several reps just flew up, then suddenly was like moving through molasses.
Leg extension
100 x 15 . did this actually give me trouble the last time??
120 x 10 . that’s paused and squeezed at the top, folks
120 x 10
Leg press
2 plates / side x 12
3 plts x 10
3 plats x 10
Great workout!!
Nice work, Cav. Looks like the set up is allowing you to recover better. It shows in the increased weights and reps.
Thanks, Hawkman. Plus I’m feeling way better. Doesn’t feel like someone tasering me when I lift.
Well, I set a PR yesterday but paid a price for it.
Bench
45 x 10
75 x 8
95 x 6
115 x 3
140 x 4 . good. really had to put oomph in it, but did it
130 x 5
130 x 5 . tough, I just MADE it go up
left shoulder aching. I’ve had problems in the past, but now it was definitely hurting.
Bar curl
65 x 8
65 x 8
65 x 6
these were hard, an improvement, but tough
Icarian dip machine
100 x 15 . ho hum
140 x 5 . whoa, that got hard in a hurry
140 x 5 . was this such a good idea with shoulder hurting?
I gave a brief thought to lat raises, but no go.
Ate, mobility stuff, ice on shoulder. Not hurting bad enough to keep from doing things, but dull ache comes and goes, even if I’m just resting. Next week, definitely take it easy.
Actually, even if not for the shoulder, pretty clear once a week for upper body is just too much - just not recovering enough.
Shoulder’s a little better. Won’t affect deads.
Deadlift
95 x 8
135 x 6
165 x 3
205 x 3
245 x 3 . aurghhh. forgot to arch back, it rounded, form went all over the place. Sure I could have done 5.
225 x 5
205 x 5
looks like I’m getting lots of recovery. Nothing straining, felt great, good solid lifts. But will have to stay at 245 until get all 5 reps.
Cybex crunch
90 x 12
100 x 10
100 x 10
95 x 10
mind you, these are pause and squeeze
lat machine
90 x 12
110 x 8
110 x 8
didn’t think I’d get all 8, but just kept thinking of getting bigger & stronger and they kept coming. Mind over matter.
Hyperextension
25 x 10
25 x 10
whee, these were easy
That was yesterday. Today woke up with just a touch of DOMS in lower back, lats, and traps. Ahhhhh.
Light workout, relatively for upper body. Just a bunch of whatever-I-feel-like. Low to medium toughness.
Bench machine - OH press with empty bar - DB curls - calf machine - couple of chins (getting better, it seems!) - lite lat raises. You name it.
Left shoulder still twinging on bench movement. May have to do OH pressing until that clears up. I don’t like OH - so weak at it.
Lost another pound bodyweight, seem to trimming up a tad.
Felt fantastic after last workout, felt hard and swole the next day. Gotta do more of it.
Iced shoulder, mobility, fish oil, sleep. Feeling better, but not putting any load on it.
Two weeks since last squat session. Here we go:
Squat
65 x 8
85 x 6
115 x 3
145 x 3
175 x 5 . yay! tough but no problem. hmm, maybe 185?
185 x 2 . wouldn’t swear to depth, but got it
155 x 5
155 x 5
thighs feeling good and hard from these
Leg curl
60 x 12
65 x 5
65 x 5
Leg Extension
140 x 10
140 x 10
140 x 10
ow - but paused and squeezed
Leg press
180 x 10
270 x 8 . hmm, down from last time? wanna do more weight
290 x 8
or legs were just fried from squats - hope so
No hacking, no dry heaves, just lifting. I like it.
Been doing this routine for 6 weeks now, got good and recovered. Thinking I may need a little more work, may go to 3 day / week or even 4.
General easy day, upper body, do any fun stuff. Should a little better, comes and goes. Press machine, DB curl, row, calf machine, anything that strikes my eye. Couple of points:
Pullups. Never been able to do them before - at all. Decided to try. Got a little ways up for several reps, pleasantly surprised. Left elbow felt a little odd, like cracking knuckles, but not painful. Really want to get better at these.
OH press. If shoulder takes a while to clear up, will have to do these instead of bench. The racks were free, so tried a few sets. Empty bar - hey, that felt tough, had to put effort into it. Did it again, a little better. I don’t like this - empty bar, felt better. 65 lbs - OK, did some reps. 65 again. Did 95, got a couple reps. Don’t want to stop there. Slapped on a couple little plates for 105. Strained, shoved, NOTHING. I HATE this. Seems like I can never budge this.
Went home, ate a lot. Felt better.
Ate hearty the past week. Slept a lot. Very refreshed. Workout started out really great, then I ruined it doing something really stupid.
Deadlift
95 x 8 . wow, that just flew up
135 x 7 . so easy
175 x 3 . parallel grip and still easy
215 x 3 . much easier than 215 has been before.
So the working set? I decided to jump up to 10 lbs more than last time.
255 x 1 and half - HIT FAILURE
DUMB DUMB DUMB DUMB DUMB DUMB DUMB DUMB DUMB DUMB
I LIFTED 275 AT MEET THREE YEARS AGO AND CAN’T GET PAST IT???
246 x 0 - that’s ZERO, goose egg, nada, zilch. The &^#@! bar was just bolted to the floor. I am very, VERY PO’D
225 x 5
185 x 8
Cybex crunch
100 x 12
100 x 8
100 x 8
I am ANGRY that a good workout turned sour so fast.
Visited the Iron Addict site for a bit. Only place I found that really addresses hardgainers. Got to swallow my pride and realize I went up too fast.
Cav,
Take it easy on yourself, man. The gym isn’t a pass/fail test, it’s practice, training for the test. Stop beating yourself up over what you failed at and look at all the work you succeeded at. You left the gym a little stronger than when you got there, good job.
Shoulder coming along nicely. Will try bench next week.
Got a few ideas from Wesley’s site. Will abbreviate the routine a little - BUT have to make sure that my working sets really work, otherwise complete waste of time. Goal: do as many reps with as high weight as possible. But as soon as cross some threshold, the bar pins me. I remember back at Matt Wenning’s place with one of the trainers. Select a weight, do a lot of reps. Five pound increase, do a lot of reps. Five pound increase, BAM, could hardly move it. Trainer was amazed, no idea what was going on. So if I increase weight a bit too much, kiss goodbye good set. So will start testing and see what the sweet spot is - the max weight that gives me a good set.
Cable row
60 x 5 . light
80 x 3 . light
90 x 3 . medium
100 x 3 . medium
110 x 1 - BAM, could barely budge it. 100 it is.
100 x 15 . took this one to almost failure, and whole thing was good form. But another 10 pounds would bury me. Go figure.
Pullups (sortof)
x4
x4
x3
Chins
x2
Arm curl
45 x 3 . light
55 x 3 . medium
65 x 3 . medium
75 x 0 - no way
65 x 8
Wrist curl. Cuz I hate thin arms
30 x 10
50 x 5
60 x 5
70 x 5
80 x 2 - too much, that was failure
70 x 20
At least didn’t feel too beat up.
Lower body. First try to find the optimum weight to knock out squats. Try out a number of weights. Unfortunately, I apparently overdid it:
Squat
65 x 8
105 x 5
135 x 3
145 x 3
155 x 3
165 x 3
175 x 2 . hmm, this seems to be the breaking point . . . I guess . . . drop 10 lbs
165 x 6
SCREAM HACK RETCH flop onto bar and just sob it’s so goddamn stressful
after a moment, take off weight and try again
143 x 10 more screaming, crying, sobbing
Rest for a few minutes. Swig a little protein supplement. No idea how deads will go, will be surprised if I get anywhere
Deadlifts
95 x 5
135 x 3 . yeah, this is just wiping me out
185 x 3. this was actually hard
205 x 3 . OK, enough is enough
Went home. So wiped out, I didn’t even fix dinner, just plopped down on bed and slept for an hour. Got up, ate, and exhausted again. Will sleep a lot tonight.
So this will bring great results . . . right?
Well, guess what I ran across.
Seems that if you have asthma, you run into symptoms when working out EXACTLY like what I’ve been going through. Severe coughing, shortness of breath, weakness.
I was diagnosed with asthma and allergies when very young. Don’t remember what led to that, only remember getting shots every damn week at the doc’s. Yech. Hate shots. They tapered to once per two weeks in high school, then three weeks in college. Finally went off them and didn’t see any difference at all. So all this time I’d thought it was a mis-diagnosis. Or cured, or something.
But after doing some research, suddenly it all falls into place. I do cough when stressed - it’s gotta be REAL stress, like the truck coming right me kind of stress. Or anytime I laugh really hard suddenly start coughing. Or hit severe levels in the gym - hi rep squats, deads, sled pull, etc.
Hell, I asked the trainer at Ludus Magnus why I was doing that and no one else was. “I don’t know”, he said and walked away. (National ranked PL, degree in exercise science, years experience training. And why am I skeptical of trainers?)
Of course, need to get confirmed by a doc. Money is in red alert zone at the moment, even with insurance. But if true, now I have a plan of attack:
It gives me a glimmer of hope.
Good luck. My sister has asthma. It can limit you at times. And you are correct, hers flares up when she is stressed. You can probably adjust your rest times and volume to accommodate it. I am sure there are others here who have dealt with it and can give you some guidance.
Thanks, Ogre. Sorry about your sister. I’m getting ideas of how to work around it until I can afford a doctor’s visit. I realized that taking deep breaths just before squats or deads is the worst thing to do - it fills the lungs with cool, dry air, exactly the one thing that will trigger it.