lifting

I think I’m done with documenting workouts here. I put in a solid year going through Dave Tate’s strong(e)r program and it was mostly good. I feel like I gained a lot of strength in Phase II but Phase III burned me out and I feel like I lost a lot of power.

I’m going to be doing a much similar workout for the near future. Focusing on primary lifts: press, bench, deadlift, squat. It’ll be pretty similar to Jim Wendler’s 5|3|1 program and I’ll be working to increase strength more than anything. Fewer, heavier lifts with a deload cycle for recovery.

Next week I’ll be on vacation and I’m looking forward to the time off to recover and refocus. The last couple months burned me out and I stopped enjoying going to the gym. That’s the one thing in life that has been there for the last five years that I’ve always looked forward to, so for me it’s a good sign that I need to change things up.

Saw a guy at the gym this morning walk in and load up with knee wraps and a belt and knock out a 315 squat with no warm up. It looked like the wraps were preventing a full, deep squat but I can’t imagine doing that w/out any warm up. My body is far too old for that and I would be in more pain than normal. I’m going to continue on unassisted lifting with full range of motion and try to just keep increasing the load.

March 24, 2010 | Filed Under lifting | Comments Off

P4W1D3

Short and simple workout this morning, but it felt productive.

incline bench: 135×5, 185×5
bench: 225×5, 255×5 (three sets) 135×10 (five sets)
barbell row: 135×10 (five sets)

March 18, 2010 | Filed Under lifting | Comments Off

P4W1D2

Second day on the new phase, it felt good to deadlift again .. at least until the lower-back pain sets in.

deadlift: 135×5, 185×5, 225×5, 275×5 (three sets)
sumo deadlift: 135×8 (five sets)
leg raise: x12 (five sets)

March 16, 2010 | Filed Under lifting | Comments Off

P4W1D1

Starting a new lifting phase. I was getting pretty burned out and needed to change things around a bit. I’m going to try this phase for the next two weeks before going on vacation. I’ll see how I feel after some time off and work out where I need to focus on lifting wise.

press: 45×10, 95×5, 115×5, 135×5 (three sets) 65×10 (five sets)
chins: x3 (five sets)
zercher squat: 95×6 (three sets)
medicine ball rotation: x12 (two sets)
medicine ball crunch: x12 (two sets)
bike: HIIT (10 min)

March 15, 2010 | Filed Under Uncategorized | Comments Off

P3.2W8D4

Arms:
incline dumbbell curl: 30×8 (eight sets) [30 sec b/w]
french press: 80×8 (eight sets) [45 sec b/w]
reverse curl: 80×6 (two sets) [45 sec b/w]
single arm triceps extension: 5×12 (two sets 45 sec b/w]
cable curl: 6×12 (two sets) [45 sec b/w]
seated calf raise: 70×8 (eight sets) [30 sec b/w]

March 12, 2010 | Filed Under lifting | Comments Off

P3.2W8D3

A good day at the gym. I went in and completely changed my entire lifting plan. I had a really solid level of energy and felt my time would be best spent with squats:

squat: 135×6, 185×6, 225×6, 275×2, 315×1, 315×3
standing calf raise: 135×10, 155×10, 185×10
seated calf raise: 90×18 (two sets)
cable pulldown abs: 11×10, 13×10, 15×10 (three sets)
leg raise: x8 (two sets)

March 10, 2010 | Filed Under lifting | Comments Off

P3.2W8D2

Back:
chins: x3 (six sets)
zercher squat: 95×5 (six sets)
// combo, 60 sec b/w
close grip row: 13×6, 15×6, 17×5, 18×4
close pulldown: 8×10, 9×10 (three sets)
medicine ball crunch: x12 (three sets)
medicine ball rotation: x12 (three sets)

March 9, 2010 | Filed Under lifting | Comments Off

P3.2W8D1

chest / shoulders:
bench: 135×6, 185×6, 205×6 (eight sets) [45 sec b/w]
cable flys: 5×12 (four sets) [45 sec b/w]
cuff pull: 3×8 (three sets)
cuff ext: 4×8 (three sets)
hip-to-shoulder: 2×6 (three sets)
bent-over cable raise: 2×6 (three sets)
cable pull: 8×8 (three sets)

March 8, 2010 | Filed Under lifting | Comments Off

P3.2W7D4

Tabita: 45 lbs 15x15x3
overhead squat: x7
swings: x6
rows: x12
front raise: x8

Arms:
standing curl: 30×8 (eight sets)
overhead extension: 70×8 (eight sets) [combo w/ curl 60 sec b/w]
barbell curl: 70×6, 80×6, 90×5 (two sets) [45 sec b/w]
triceps pressdown: 11×8, 13×6, 14×6 (two sets) [45 sec b/w]

March 5, 2010 | Filed Under lifting | Comments Off

P3.2W7D3

Hamstrings / Abs:
leg curl: 6×8 (five sets) [45 sec b/w]
stiff leg deadlift: 135×6 (five sets)
hanging leg raise: x8 (five sets) [combo w/ sld 60 sec b/w]
pulldown abs: 12×8, 14×6, 15×6 (two sets) [45 sec b/w]
seated calf raise: 90×8 (five sets) [45 sec b/w]
medicine ball crunch: x12 (two sets)
medicine ball rotation: x12 (two sets)

March 4, 2010 | Filed Under lifting | Comments Off