Chest press machine / low row machine
70 x 8 / 80 x 10
80 x 6 / 90 x 10
90 x 8 / 100 x 12
90 x 8 / 100 x 12
90 x 8 / 100 x 12
70 x 9 / 80 x 14
Standing DB OHP / wide neutral pulldowns
50 x 8 / 120 x 10
50 x 8 / 120 x 10
50 x 8 / 120 x 12
Great combo. I might drop DB OHP to a secondary lift for a month or two and let the chest press machine continue to be the primary push exercise of my upper body workout B.
Pec deck / reverse flyes
110 x 10 / 110 x 10
120 x 10 / 105 x 12
130 x 10 / 105 x 12
Ouch, even my rear delts dislike the ROM on this machine. I’ll return to low pulley cable flyes next time.
Incline skull crushers / DB curls
60 x 10 / 35 x 9
60 x 12 / 35 x 10
60 x 12 / 35 x 10
I honestly can’t remember if I did anything HIIT. And that was only five days ago from when I’m posting.
Finally getting back on track with my weekly leg workout. I’ve learned how to squat on the Smith machine so the movement is akin to a vertical leg press. It’ll hold me over til I’m at a gym with barbells again,
Smith machine squats
45 x 15
95 x 10
135 x 6
155 x 4
170 x 4
185 x 4
200 x 4
215 x 4
230 x 3
245 x 1
200 x 4
Due to getting sick and Thanksgiving preparations, I missed several squat workouts in November, and my lower reps show it. Not to despair though! It felt good to squat again. I plan to keep the one single and the lighter backoff set in future workouts.
Smith deadlifts
200 x 5
230 x 4
260 x 3
290 x 4, 4, 4
Arc trainer
15:00, 35-40 resistance
Heck of a combo. Some heavy pushing, some heavy pulling, and some unilateral conditioning. In this workout, my legs do pretty much everything they’re made to do.
Low incline Smith bench / pull n chinups
45 x 15 / bw x 7
95 x 10 / bw x 7
135 x 1 / bw x 7
170 x 4 / bw x 7
170 x 4 / bw x 7
170 x 4 / bw x 7
170 x 4
Seated cable rows / flat bench DB press
80 x 8 / 75 x 10
80 x 8 / 75 x 10
80 x 9 / 75 x 11
80 x 10
My regular cable row machine was taken, so I used a different machine and straight bar with overhand grip. It was a nice change of pace.
Single arm DB triceps ext / DB curls
30 x 9, 9, 10 / 35 x 3 x 10
Thank you! It’s nice to be greeted when I return. I’m handling the volume well enough, but I need to decrease it a bit. While deciding whether to do the T-ransformation, I’m re-assessing my goals and mulling over different regimens.
One niece skipped out on the other so I filled in, preempting my upper body workout for cardio and all the abs.
Incline treadmill
15:00, 3.7 mph
Russian twists - 10 lbs x 50
Crunches - bw x 50
V-ups - bw x 50
Side plank bends - bw x 25/side
Flutter kicks - bw x 200
Hanging leg raises - bw x 30
Wood choppers - black band x 30/side
Warm-up
5 minutes elliptical
Seated leg curls - 100 x 10, 115 x 8
Smith squats
45 x 10
95 x 10
135 x 6
155 x 4
170 x 4
185 x 4
200 x 4
215 x 4
230 x 2, 2
200 x 6
The 230 sets were doo-doo. To be fair, it was midnight, and I was nearly falling asleep while resting on a bench between sets. I won’t make it to the gym for a couple days, so I pushed through as best as possible.
Goblet squats / DB RDLs
75 x 3 x 10 / 75s x 3 x 10
So light and easy for my (skeletal) muscles, so why was my cardio system working overtime?!
Seated calf press / seated leg curls
130 x 20 / 160 x 7
140 x 20 / 160 x 7
150 x 20 / 160 x 7
160 x 20
Well put. Thanks for the reminder. I knew I wasn’t going to exercise for at least two days after and would be packing away tons of food, otherwise I would’ve throttled back.
Warm-up
Face pulls / back extensions
red x 2 x 20 / bw x 2 x 20
Side plank raises - bw x 2 x 11
Single leg glute bridge - bw x 2 x 8, 2-second top pause
Finally did the warm-up I’ve been meaning to before deadlifting, and I felt great. It takes more time but addresses some lagging areas.
Smith machine deadlifts
110 x 10
160 x 7
200 x 5
230 x 4
260 x 3
290 x 5
300 x 3
310 x 3
320 x 3
320 x 3
Single leg press, plate loading machine
45 x 12 (pounds per side)
55 x 12
65 x 12
70 x 12
The last set was easier than the first. Unfortunately, the gym was closing so had to stop there. I’ll allow more time for the warm-up next week so I can do the full workout. This was a nice combo of lifts, and I’m glad I’m squatting and deadlifting on separate days again.
I always did like smith deadlifts. I feel like you can involve your lats in a big way, pulling up and back on the bar. That, and my lower back feels so much better with them…
That’s exactly how they affect me, too. I feel comfortable leaning back and really pulling on the bar, which fires up my lats and hamstrings. And driving home tonight, I was realizing I didn’t have any aching deep in my body or joints. Although the sets were taxing enough to zap my muscle glycogen, by the end of the workout I felt refreshed instead of beaten down.
But with consistency, it should reduce the junk volume on my waistline.