So I haven’t had a lot of time for the gym recently. I’m in the process of selling my house, and that’s involved a lot of work. So here’s a summary of recent lifting:
I’m focusing on front squats for awhile, especially in the higher rep range. Also working on power cleans. Trying to do some pump oriented lifting, because I suck at it. I don’t have much planned ahead because I never know what days will be available for me to get to the gym. I’m pretty much cramming as much into each session as possible, focusing on the big lifts.
I’m also down about 10 lbs from a month ago. low 170’s. Lost mostly fat.
I’m done posting in the forums for awhile. I’ll try to keep my training log up.
The amount of bullshit from people with little training experience is too frustrating to deal with anymore. The beginners on this site are overwhelmingly taking it upon themselves to answer questions, when they should be ASKING questions and listening to people with experience. I’ve tried to be a positive voice here, but it’s too much to deal with. The best I can do is answer questions in my own log and share my experiences. Hopefully it can prove useful to some people here.
I did a crossfit workout this Saturday. It was a WOD, consisting of 5 minutes of 3 handstand pushups, 6 jump lunges, and 9 situps, for as many sets as possible within the 5 minutes. Followed by 1 minute rest. 5 total rounds, so 25 minutes total work. I got 15 2/3 sets done. Limiting factor, surprisingly, was the sit ups. I spent much more time on the situps than anything else. Jump lunges were the easiest.
I back squatted yesterday, had been doing front squats every session over the last few weeks. Was rather weak, and had a ton of groin pain. Also did split squats w/ 50lb dumbbells. Was harder than expected, dropped to 40 by my last set. Sets of about 6. These take more coordination than I assumed they did. Just getting into the right position wasn’t easy, I thought I was gonna fall over. Glutes are super sore. Bret Contreras would be proud.
Out of town since last Friday, lifted last night. Front squats up to 205 for 7 reps, then 2 sets 135x10, 3 sets 95x10. Then a set of split squats. Then abs.
Rant, then log:
Externalization of blame is a serious American problem. Here are 2 examples of its manifestation:
To me, it is inextricably intertwined with the obesity culture. Nards posted a good picture of reasons fat people say they’re fat, and why they’re actually fat (on like page 6 or so of the fat newscaster thread). We blame everything and everyone else for our own shortcomings. If we’re fat it’s not our fault. If we can’t lift heavy weights, we blame genetics. We blame our jobs. Everything but things like work ethic, intensity, diet, and other things that are intrinsic to our own makeup. We don’t want to take responsibility for our own bodies.
Political opinion. People blame the president, or an entire political party, for their financial shortcomings. “Waahhh, Obama’s taking all my money.” False. You didn’t work hard enough, and you didn’t make enough money to achieve whatever goals you may have. Not his fault. Or Bush’s. Or Clinton’s. Or other Bush’s. The political parties/individuals in office really have little to do with the average citizen’s successes and failures, in business and otherwise. My company has existed for 35 years, and been relatively stable through every political regime that has existed in that period. Tax laws have made little difference to us. You adapt or die.
So enough of that. I’m switching to a bodybuilding routine, the one on page 1 of KingBeef’s thread. I need a change. So we’ll see how it goes.
Did chest and calves yesterday. ramped to 80 on incline dumbbells for 5. Flat BP ramped to 175 for 6. Decline ramped to 65’s for 7ish. Calves ramped to 3 pps on leg press, 240 on the standing machine, and did some higher rep seated calf raises. I need to probably drop the weight a bit on the pressing to get my reps. Not used to this type of workout, should be easier in the future. My recovery sucked between exercises/sets.
Not in the least. The rant has to do with conversations I’ve been engaged in recently. Mostly just venting.
I’m changing routines because I’ve been doing essentially the same stuff for the last couple years, and I’m bored and tired. I haven’t done a strict bodybuilding-style routine since I was about 20, so I’m interested to see how this affects my body. And it should be fun, and nice to take some pounds off the bar for a few months. I’ll also be doing a greater variety of exercises. Finally, I haven’t strictly followed a plan in forever. I plan to be very strict with this.
[quote]flipcollar wrote:
Not in the least. The rant has to do with conversations I’ve been engaged in recently. Mostly just venting.[/quote]
Yeah, they didn’t seem connected; I was just wondering.
I completely agree with you though regarding externalization of blame/responsibility/accountability. We’re really really good at that in this country. In fact, I think a large number of industries thrive entirely based on maintaining people’s insecurities – quite literally “if you buy our product, it’ll help you feel better about yourself”. Which never actually works.
I don’t like it, but it is how it is. On the other hand, I think the people who can rise above that have figured out how to rise above it. At this point in life, my view on it is pretty much “meh”. I’m not going to engage in it or become victim to it, and I’ll do what I can to keep my friends from it, but otherwise I could care less.
I’m interested in how this is going to work for you.
I’m going to give this exact routine at least 3 months. If it works well, I’ll switch to another kingbeef program. I think between now and the end of the year I’ll have to miss 1-2 weeks of training. I’m going on vacation for about a week and a half in November, and I’ll be in the mountains. Not sure if I’ll have gym access. And I’ll be in the smallest town you’ve ever seen for Christmas. Not sure if they have a gym in the town or not. I sort of think they do. We’ll see. Regardless, I’ll post pictures late December to show progress.
Chest day:
was better than last week across the board.
incline: ramp to 75x10, 85x6
flat bb: ramp to 185x6
decline: ramp to 65x10, 75x6
standing calves: up to 275x10
seated calves: 3 platesx10
leg press calves: up to 8 platesx15
this is my first week doing the program starting on a Monday, I expect to make every workout this week.
top sets:
155 lying leg curls, 5 1/2 reps
285x9 RDL. should’ve used a mixed grip, double overhand started to fail at the end, since I’m not hitting the ground with the weight. used to standard dead lifting, lower reps generally, reset in between reps.
leg press 11 plates x9 , then 13 plates x9.
Squat 175 x 10. Did not really go ass to grass, legs were throbbing, but I hit parallel every rep.
close stance hack squats 205x10.
Hit every prescribed set, every required rep. trying to rest a bit longer between sets after reading some articles on here, I tend to rush my rest periods.
