Training Log and Random Thoughts

Training Training Logs
21

June 7/2013 - Back

Back:

A) Speed deadlifts - ramped up in sets of 3-5 until I lost speed

B) Wide grip pull ups - 3 sets of bodyweight

C) Smith rows - 3x10

D) Facing away pull down - 4x10

E) Shrugs - 3x15-10

F) Facepulls - 2x15

Notes: Might do biceps later today or tomorrow depending on plans/timing. Also, I am enjoying getting back into the big 3 powerlifts. I think it’s good to add in a component of pure strength training even when your goals are more physique oriented. Not only will it help you build and maintain muscle mass, but it can also provide some motivation - when you aren’t seeing physique progression, you might still be seeing lift progression and vice versa…

22

June 8/2013 - Biceps

Biceps:

A) BB curls - 1x15,1x12, 1x10,1x8

B) Hammer curls - 3x10 each arm

C) Incline curls - 3x15 each arm

23

June 9/2013 - Chest/Shoulders/Tris

Chest:

A) BB bench press - worked up to a heavy triple

B) Incline DB press - 4x8-12

C) Machine press - 3x15

D) Incline cable flye - 3x15

Shoulders:

A) reverse pec deck - 4x8

B) DB laterals - triple drop sets x 3 rounds

Tris:

A) Rope pushdown superset w/ DB overhead extension - 4x12-15

24

June 10/2013 - Back/Bis

Back:

A) Speed pulls - worked up to an explosive single (reps from 5 all the way down to 1)

B) Wide grip pulldowns - 3x8

C) Chest supported unilateral row - 3x10

D) Shrugs superset w/ band pull aparts - 3x15-10 each

E) Facepulls - 3x12-15

F) Straight arm pulldown - 3x12

Biceps:

A) BB curls - 3x8

B) Hammer curls - 1x50 (pick a weight you can do for 20 reps and don’t drop the DB’s 'till you get 50 total)

C) Cable v-bar curls - 3x12

25

June 11/2013 - Legs

Legs:

A) Back Squat - worked up to a hard triple and then dropped down and did 3x10

B) Seated leg curl - 4x10

C) Leg press - 2x20

D) Standing calf machine - 4x12 toe raises between sets

26

June 12/2013 - Chest/Shoulder/Tri

Chest:

A) BB flat bench - worked up to a hard triple

B) DB high incline press - 3x8-10 working sets

C) Cable flyes supersetted w/ incline bottom partials for a stretch - 3 rounds of 10-20 reps each

Shoulders:

A) Reverse pec deck superset w/ DB laterals - 3 rounds of 10-15 reps each

B) Bent over laterals - 2x15

Triceps:

A) Rope pull apart superset w/ v-bar overhead extension - 4 rounds of 10-15 reps

Notes: A little pressed for time today so it was a quick one with a lot of supersetting. That being said, I got a great pump and felt like I got a good stimulus. Although I’m feeling weaker and smaller from dieting I am definitely noticing more definition and pop to my muscles when I get a good pump. I’ll probably diet a couple more weeks and then fall into a sort of maintenance mode. It’s all about what you can sustain for the long run IMO

27

June 13/2013 - Back/Bi

Back:

A) Speed pulls - worked up to a decently challenging single and did 5x1 with minimal rest in between

B) Wide grip pull ups - 4 sets shy of failure

C) Low cable rows - 4x10

D) Straight arm lat pulldowns - 3x12

E) Shrugs superset w/ band pull aparts - 3x15

F) Behind the neck lat pulldowns - 3x12

Biceps:

A) DB curls to failure then switch to hammer curls to failure - 3 rounds of roughly 10 reps each

B) Band curls - 3x20 each arm

Notes: Feel like i’m getting some long lost power on the deadlift back. Speed pulls with 315 were really fast today. Did 5x1 at that weight with less than 30 sec rest between singles.

28

Random Thought - Structuring Your Workout For Optimal Gains

EXERCISE 1: Make this a movement that is suitable for heavy loads and allows maximum tension development within the muscle. Mechanical tension is one of the main mechanisms of inducing muscle hypertrophy. Get in this stimulus while you are fresh and at your strongest. Think of movements like the Squat, Deadlift, Bench, Overhead press.

Those 4 movements AND their variations are enough to ensure that almost every muscle has been hit with a sufficient amount of mechanical tension, provided that technique is on point. If you are going to track an exercise for progression in weight,reps,etc. then this is the one to do that on!

EXERCISE 2 : After mechanical tension, the 2 other main mechanisms of muscle growth are theorized to come mainly from muscular damage and metabolic fatigue. The amount of exercises you perform after the main lift will be determined by the number of heads (and therefor origins/insertions) the muscle group has. For example - Chest may require 2 or 3 (Flat Incline or Decline Incline) to sufficiently stimulate the entire muscle group (clavicular, sternal and costal).

Two things to note here are: A) muscular damage is mostly the result of the eccentric portion of an exercise. B) A tell tale sign of metabolic fatigue is the famous ‘burning’ sensation followed by the pump (reactive hyperaemia). Knowing all of this, we can say that: The remainder of your workout should consist of exercises that allow you to target the desired muscle performed in the range of 10-20 reps with a controlled eccentric for multiple sets.

29

June 14/2013 - Legs

Legs:

A) Squat - worked up to a heavy triple then did 2x10 back off sets.

B) Seated leg curl - 4x8-10

C) Leg extension - 3x10

D) Seated leg press - 3x15

E) Romanian deadlifts - 3x12

F) Calf press - 4x8, 1x20 a stretch for 30 seconds at the end

30

June 17/2013 - Chest/Shoulders/Tri

Chest:

A) BB bench press - work up to heavy triple

B) Incline smith machine - 4x8-12 progressively heavier each set

C) Seated chest press machine - 3x8

D) Pec deck flye - 3x12-15

Shoulders:

A) reverse pec deck - 4x10-20

B) Lateral raise machine - 3x12

C) bent over laterals - 4x15

Triceps:

A) Rope pushdowns - 5x10-20

31

June 18/2013 - Back/Bi

Back:

A) Deadlifts - worked up to a fairly fast single over the course of many sets and then did one set of 5 with straps on.

B) Close grip lat pulldown - 3x8-10, 1x8 8 drop set

C) Smith machine rows - 1x12, 3x8

D) Shrugs - 3x20

E) Facepulls on the low pulley - 4x8-12

F) Straight arm pulldowns - 1x50

Biceps:

A) BB curls - 4x8-10

B) reverse curls - 3x12

C) Hammer cross body curls - 1 continuous set of 50 reps total

32

June 19/2013 - Legs

Legs:

A) Squats - worked up to a fairly tough set of 5 with maybe 1-2 reps left in the tank

B) Front squat to back squat extended set (do front squats, rack it, then do back squats with the same weight) - 3x8-10 for both movements

C) Seated leg curl - 4x10-15

D) Seated leg press machine - 2x20 low foot position, 2x15 high foot position

E) Calf press - 5 sets of various rep ranges. Just getting a good burn and stretch each set.

33

June 20/2013 - Chest/Shoulder/Triceps

Chest:

A) CGBP - worked up to a hard set of 5

B) Incline DB - 4x8-12

C) Cable flyes - 3x12

D) Incline machine press stretch partials - 3x10 10

Shoulders:

A) Reverse cable flye - 3x10

B) Bent over swings - 2x25-30

C) Seated DB laterals - 3x12

Triceps:

A) Rope push down - 3x10-15

B) V bar overhead extension - 3x10

Notes: Had very little energy for todays session. Wasn’t hungry in a physical sense but definitely did not have enough fuel in me for this workout… Lesson learned: Don’t always rely on your appetite when it comes to gym performance.

34

June 21/2013 - Back/Biceps

Back:

A) Rack pulls at knee height - 3x5 working sets. ramping each set.

B) Low cable rows - 4x10

C) Prone shrugs - 3x10-15

D) Pulldown machine w/ neutral grip - 3x8

E) Behind the neck pull down - 3x8-12

Biceps:

A) Cross body hammer curls superset w/ reg. hammers - 3x10 each

B) BB curls - 3x12

35

June 22/2013 - Legs

Legs:

A) Squats - 3x5 explosive

B) Smith “hacks” - 3x10-12

C) Leg curl alternate with Leg extension - 3x12 each

D) DB SLDL - 3x12

E) Toe press - 5x15

36

June 23 - Chest/Shoulders/Triceps AKA “PUSH” muscles

Chest:

A) CGBP from pins - worked up to 5RM

B) High incline DB press - 3x8-10

C) Chest press machine superset w/ slow eccentrics on chest flyes - 3 rounds

Shoulders:

A) Prone flyes - 3x15

B) DB laterals - 3x10

37

June 26/2013 - Back/Biceps

Back:

A) Deadlifts - worked up to a fairly heavy single

B) Low cable rows - 4x10-15

C) Smith rows - 3x6-8

D) Shrugs - 3x15

E) BTN pulldowns - 3x12

Biceps:

A) Pinwheel curls - 3x20 each arm

B) Reverse curls superset w/ reg. DB curls - 3x15 each exercise

38

Random Thought - My Return to the Old Upper/Lower?

Well, just since starting this log you’ve seen me condense and simplify my training split once. I’m now thinking of going a step further and reducing it down to a simply upper/lower split. My reason for this is because there are periods of time now where I can’t make it to the gym for multiple days in a row and I feel that the higher frequency will help eliminate the negative aspects of occasionally missing workouts. The exercise selection I am thinking of is as follows:

Day 1) Upper Body -

A) Some sort of flat press (Bench, CGBP, Flat DB): This will be done for lower reps per set and will obviously hit mainly chest, tri’s, front delts.

B) High incline press (BB, DB, Smith) - This will be done for slightly higher reps than the first movement and will hit the same muscles but obviously have an emphasis on the clavicular head of the pecs and the front delt.

C) A latissimus dorsi movement (Cable row, pull down, BB row) - Performed with elbows close to sides to emphasize the lats. 6-12 rep range. Will obviously hit the mid back, rear delts and bi’s to some extent.

D) A Mid back/Trap/Rhomboid movement - Emphasis will be on squeezing the scapula down and back together. This will be done with less volume since these muscles have already been touched indirectly with the lat movement.

E) Lateral raise - 10-15 rep range

F) Rear delt flye - only a couple sets here since they have already been hit indirectly.

G) Bicep/Tricep superset - Not much volume needed as they have already been hit indirectly and grow relatively easily for me personally.

Day 2) Lower Body -

A) Squat movement (front or back) - Done for lower reps and more sets because it hits every muscle in the lower body to some extent.

B) Leg curl - To take care of the knee flexion aspect of the hamstring. 8-12 rep range.

C) Leg extension - I feel that these are necessary to hit the rectus femoris. a couple sets only.

D) A hip hinge movement (DL, SLDL, Goodmornings, back extension) - To take care of the rest of the hamstring and the glute area.

E) Calf raise/Toe press

39

June 27/2013 - Lower Body

A) Back Squat - did 3 progressively heavier working sets of 5. Dropped down and did 1 all out set of 25 reps.

B) Leg curl superset w/ Leg extension - 3x12-15 each

C) SLDL - 3x10

D) Toe presses on leg press machine - 5x10-20

40

June 28/2013 - Upper:

A) Bench press - 4x3-6

B) High incline smith press - 4x10-12

C) Close grip lat pulldown - 4x8-12

D) Wide grip sternum row - 3x12

E) Reverse pec deck - 2x15-20

F) DB laterals - 4x12-15

G/H) Superset of tricep rope extensions with BB curls - 4x8-15 each