Nice work
on your squats.
Yeah, a PR . . . congrats.
@ Mr. Eccentric: LOL! I can open a jar! Jelly jars count!
@ Matty, KM, Cav: Thanks so much!
Wednesday:
I decided to do a new warm up session by warming up with exercises instead of my traditional 10 minute warmup with dynamic stretches.
New Warm-Up:
2-3 sets (8 Reps) using a 4 pd bar then last set was a 30 pound bar
Overhead Squats
Back Squats
Good Morning
Rows
Deadlifts
Worksets:
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Zecher Squats 60 (5 x 5 - 402 TUT)
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Push Press 90 (5 x 5 - 402 TUT)
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Deadlift 90 (1 set of 5 Reps - 402 TUT)
Funny thing is that I even had Old Skool (the dude that has a massive upper body and probably chicken legs because I never seen him work on legs) ask me how often I work on legs. That was surreal…
Zerchers were intriguing…balancing the bar to strengthen the core and making sure the shoulders are back are key.
I think I may have carpal tunnel in my left elbow…I may need to reconsider doing supinated chin-ups or find a worthy substitute. Then again, I may “play with pain” and continue because I’m crazy like that.
I am supplementing with bromelain, rubbing magnesium oil on the elbow, wrapping it, and hot/cold treatment.
So we will see…today is Pre-Hab work…we will see how the elbow feels…
(((Dateline Thursday:)))
Pre-hab work…was…awesome!
I never thought that Turkish Get-Ups (TGUs) will snap my left rear deltoid and left carpal tunnel in the elbow into shape. Not literal snap.
I did the following:
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Chop N Lifts (weak side / strong side)
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Single Leg Deadlifts (weak / strong)
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TGUs
And of course, crazy me, I threw in Kettlebell swings and chin-ups.
(((Dateline Friday:)))
In the morning, my left side is surprisingly not sore at all! The TGUs were a miracle worker! I’m hooked!
After work, I did not feel like working out yet will had to overcome feelings. So I prayed and grab a can of Hansen Energy Pro then went to the gym.
Workout:
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Zercher Squats 65 x 5 x 5
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Decline DB Bench Press 55 x 5 x 5
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One Arm Arc DB Row 15 x 5 x 5 (yeah, laugh at the weight yet this exercise will kick your butt and take names…major stabilizer workout…brutal)
(((Dateline Saturday:))
I will do pre-hab work later today and enjoy the rest of the day as a Splurge Day / Cheat Day as far as food is concerned.
Make it a great day!
Hi Warriors:
Lots have happened since Valentine’s Day…
Let me explain…after a heart to heart talk with my wifey and her feeling like she was a gym widow with the frequency I go to the gym, I have decided to cut back on my workouts.
Actually, this cutting back is similar to Four Hour Body (4HB, for short) by Tim Ferriss particularly the Occam’s Protocol for mass building.
At 165.8 raw weight, I am looking to slap on 20 pounds of muscle so the extra rest and focusing on eating big will be intriguing to follow.
So my new workout schedule will be: Monday and Friday (kill the weights), Saturday (Pre-Hab exercises).
The rest days will be Tuesday (date night with my wifey), Wednesday (church), and Thursday (rest).
I will stick with Stronglifts still (I’m stubborn) using the 5 x 5 scheme and during the rest days, I will research and hack my genetics to put on the 20.
So, good Lord willing, I will see you here on Friday to let you know how I felt in the gym as I go to slaughter the weights.
As promised…here is my update…dom dom daaaa!
Before I hit the gym, here was my Facebook status message:
"Target identified: Weights. Mission for today: Kill the weights. Leave no prisoners. "
Okay, the workout…first of all…I DID NOT WANT TO GO! WAAAA!
I was spoiled on the three day sabbatical yet I had to pimp slap my whining self and “go and make the donuts.”
I fired up my MP3 player and cranked my Playlist (I love epic music to get the heart rate going).
*15 minute warm-up. Boom! Done. Threw in one arm rows as well because I want to get a big back.
*Evil Zercher Squats - 75lbs x 5 x 5 (402 Tut) - 5 sets x 5 reps - Tut is time under tension. My nerdy self learned this from Brainy trainer Charles Polinquin. The more your muscles are under tension, the more growth. The first number represents the lower in seconds, second no pause, and third number is the lifting. Note: I do warm-up sets x 2 before I kill the weights.
Don’t know what Zercher are? Never fear…I got you covered…check out this vid here: Zercher Squats 315x2 - The Strong Maker - YouTube
*Incline Dumbbell Press - 60 x 5 x 5 (402) - I was really feeling the music and beast mode was engaged. By God’s grace, I breezed through this with ease and loved the feeling of slamming the weights down. I don’t know…maybe it’s a man thing.
*Scheduled: One Arm Dumbbell Row yet switched to Chest Supported Dumbbell Rows - 50 x 5 x 5 (no count - i forgot! LOL)…I screwed up this exercise royally. I still see this as a success because if I don’t fail, I don’t learn. I was doing more of a scapular shrug than the proper way as show here: Thibaudeau Coaches the Chest Supported Dumbbell Row - YouTube DOH!!
Afterwards, I felt really good and mission accomplished! I took a swig of my grog (my protein shake mixture) and went home. How was your workout today?
Anytime you make it to a workout even though you don’t want to go is a triumph just walking in the door.
[quote]cavalier wrote:
Anytime you make it to a workout even though you don’t want to go is a triumph just walking in the door.[/quote]
Aye, you speak truth, Cav!
Hey, I just noticed you are in Ohio…I was born and raised in Cincy. 
Pre-Hab Work Today…woke up at 4:00 am to “make the donuts”…grabbed a Hansen Energy Pro, a Pure Protein Bar, and a post workout Met-Rx brownie.
When I got to Snap Fitness, there was no one there…I could scream (which I did after my last set) and no one…it was great.
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Chop and Lift: #4 weight (need to get the exact weight from the machine) (both left and right sides - attacked weak area the most)
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Single Leg Deadlifts: 35 lbs (strange…found out that my right side was the weakest).
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Turkish Get-Up (TGUs for short): 25 lbs…let me say this…I “love” this exercise (sarcasm). I think since I love this exercise so much I better do this first because I have tenacity to cheat.
Splurge Saturday today for food: Babka (Cinnamon) and Chocolate Whole Milk…simply amazing…and no guilt…LOL
Food Goal For This Coming Week: Size, Size, Size…I will make a beefy casserole with lots of calories to put on size. The combination of more rest and eating big will certainly get results.
Tomorrow, I turn the big 4-0. I am super excited and plus I will be taking time off from work for part of Thursday, off Fri, next Mon, next Tues to celebrate.
Thanks for stopping by!
Ooo DIY set up. I tried to do my own set up (in a small apartment, silly me), but it was a complete fail for me. Your set up sound much cooler, although I see you are in gym now.
I actually had to resort to zercher squats because my gym didn’t have any squat racks, BB’s only went up to 50kg anyway. I was actually proud of my arm bruises.
Congrats on the PR
[quote]Kairiki wrote:
[quote]cavalier wrote:
Anytime you make it to a workout even though you don’t want to go is a triumph just walking in the door.[/quote]
Aye, you speak truth, Cav!
Hey, I just noticed you are in Ohio…I was born and raised in Cincy. :-)[/quote]
I just moved here last month, to Columbus. Been all over the place, but was born and raised in south Indiana. In college, had some friends from Cincy.
Our brand of humor involved Kentuckian jokes.
And before you ask, no, I haven’t visited Westside yet.
@MM: Thanks for stopping by…Zerchers are just like Frank Zappa…“Interesting”…lol
@Cav: Re: jokes…I can see why…LOL. No, I wasn’t going to ask you about Westside at all. I know it’s Mecca and all. Haven’t been to Columbus though.
Columbus is very nice, reminds me a lot of Evansville.
Hadn’t considered any Kentuckian jokes for a very, very long time . . . but then I took a look at the folks you send to Congress. Yikes.
[quote]cavalier wrote:
Columbus is very nice, reminds me a lot of Evansville.
Hadn’t considered any Kentuckian jokes for a very, very long time . . . but then I took a look at the folks you send to Congress. Yikes.[/quote]
Cav, two things that I won’t touch in public forums (unless in PMs) is politics and religion. So I will respectfully refrain.
=====================
Monday
After a gaseous attack from the last visit on Friday (there was this dude that was making some rancid protein farts), I was willing to dare to go back into the gym (the fart dude was there yet he must have had a plug in his butt this time).
I was very excited to get to the gym today and to try something new.
So I did my warm-up (10 minute style) and threw in KB swings 25lb x 8 reps x 3 sets then went into my work-set.
((Work-set))
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Zercher Squats - Warm up: 50/55 (5 x 5) - Work sets: 80 (5 x 5) - 402 TUT - I was focusing on leg positioning and keeping my chest high and my butt out.
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Supersets - tried something new to shock the CNS.
2a. Incline Bench Press - Warm up: 45/50 (5 x 5) - Work set: 65 (5 x 5) - 402 TUT - Matty would have been please with me because I squeezed my butt. LOL
2b. Introducing Meadow Rows - Thanks to John Meadows’ article today (Fine Tuning the Basics: Back Training), I was eager to do this exercise. Warm up: 45/50 (5 x 5) - Work set: 80 (5 x 5) - 402 TUT - only the last set and did the row in the style of a Pendlay Row (allowing the bar to rest in the down position then pull up).
((Observation)): By God’s grace, the 65’s felt…light. blank stare I burned through them easy. Awesome sauce! My grip strength failed on the Meadow Row (at least the left side) which tells me what I need to attack this Saturday on pre-hab work.
I grabbed my grog (Jay Robb’s Vanilla Protein powder, 1 cup of local chocolate milk, 1 banana, 1 cup of pineapple/coconut juice, 1 cup of corn flakes), slammed it down and left.
Also, this song helped save my workout and even when I had my MP3 player on shuffle…this song came back to help…maybe this is my theme song (I like epic choral action music when I work out).:
If you want to know what Meadow Rows are, look here:
((Food Plan)): Over the weekend, I created a beefy casserole in order to pack on size: 2 lbs of ground beef from Whole Foods, portobello mushrooms, lentils, gluten-free shell pasta, heavy whipping cream, 4 pastured raised eggs, 1 block of cream cheese, cheddar cheese, and grass-fed butter.
I also have been consuming chocolate milk to increase calories as well.
Another marble for the workout jar. My cycle will end this week and I will have a whole week off during week 8 then attack again.
Meadow rows have always bothered me, the form looks really tricky. Does it give you more range of motion than DB rows?
And congrats on the training & eating, you’re dedicated.
Cav, I think the MRs (Meadow Rows) gave me some elbow problems (or the heavy incline benching). I will in the future follow more of Nick Tumminello’s guidance for DB rows…thoughts?:
HI, just stopping by. Two things I’m late in mentioning: congrats on the 100-lb goblet squat, and belated bday wishes! Hope you had a great weekend celebrating!
-KB
I like doing my rows like that. Accept my lower back tightens up and i get that ‘stuck,’ feeling sometimes.
Training looks good
good luck with the elbow
@ KB: Thanks so much! Lord willing, I plan to celebrate this weekend. Any plans for yourself?
@Mom: I haven’t experienced that and hopefully they won’t have to cart me from the gym. LOL. What are your fave back exercises?
@KMC: Thanks…plan on getting some elbow pads this week. Have you ever experienced tender elbows in lifting too?