nikegurl

I'm cleaning house and the old journal was just too long and hard to read. The new one starts now.

GOALS: I want to continue to get leaner and add some muscle size as well. My legs calves and shoulders are all priorities.



TRAINING: I'm going to lift a bit heavier on everything and lower my reps to something like a 10, 8, 6, 6, scheme. I'll also rest longer between sets (2-3 minutes).

Legs - I think squats are going to be key. I just started them again last week and I felt a definite difference. My hamstrings need more work than quads. I don't know if I even HAVE hamstrings (sure can't see them).

Calves - I neglected them for ages. I'm now training them apart from legs so I have more energy. Hopefully the extra "special" attention will help. I've also learned that when calves hurt - keep going.

Shoulders - less sure how to improve here. My shoulders are really narrow. I've improved them a lot but they are still a weak spot. My strength has increased. It used to be an effort for me to use 10 lb dumbells for shoulder presses. I'm up to the 30s but my shoulders are still way too narrow. I've been doing side laterals for width. I'll keep that up and have added wide grip upright rows. Hopefully those will help.



EATING - today is the first day of new eating plan.

MEALS 1, 2, 3: 35 gram protein, 25 gram carb, 15 gram fat

MEALS 4 & 5: 30 grams protein, 5 grams carbs, 10 gram fat

at Bedtime: 30 grams protein, 5 grams carbs, 20 grams fat


Calories are much higher. We'll see how it goes. I'm hoping to get harder and increase muscle size.

If you want to achieve things that others can't...

You have to do things that others won't.

Stacey

SOUNDS AWESOME GIRL!! GOOD LUCK!!!

I Believe in the Impossible!!!

lina

Hey another new journal.. !!!

Go get 'm nike gurl!!! Sounds like a good plan!!

Question: how come you are doing a 10/8/6/6 for your pyramids? Not dropping to 4 for your last set? Just curious...

Miss LeDix

Hey nikegurl...where'd you get the idea to start a new journal?

You sound like you've got all good goals to reach, I bet you can do it!

My little man!
http://bellsouthpwp.net/l/a/lance911...otos/0718a.jpg

nikegurl

Thanks Ladies for visiting and being supportive (and thanks to Miss LeDix for putting the idea in my head to clear the clutter)

I've never done sets or 4 reps before on purpose. Not sure if I'd want to go that low. I worry about injury I think if the weight's heavy enough that I can't get 6 reps. May be that I need to adjust to the idea though. Reps of 6 isn't new to me but they're not the norm either. I'll see how this goes.

I'm planning on sticking with higher reps for calves. Not sure if that's best but seems to be what most people prefer and suggest. Probably 15-25 reps for calves. I may end up rethinking that too!

If you want to achieve things that others can't...

You have to do things that others won't.

w8lifter

Maybe DP will let me post his shoulder routine?

nikegurl

i think i can find it w8. i remember reading a shoulder routine he posted once. had tons of sets. not sure if i can hang but if you think it would be good to try i'll sure give it a shot!

i was a bit intimidated by it when i read it through first time b/c i usually have a hard time lifting my arm when i leave the gym after shoulder day and i'm doing around 10 sets. his was probably triple that! but i do want them to grow so i'll start digging around and see about trying to get through it next shoulder day!

If you want to achieve things that others can't...

You have to do things that others won't.

Dr. Pain

The "Old" one (or are there 2?), the "Smack Killer", or the one Showdown just had to endure?


DP

nikegurl

i found 2. i think the smackdown was just to make him stfu and never again say he could "hang with Dr. Pain"

that was the one i remembered lol!

do you agree that legs calves and shoulders are my biggest problems needing the most work?

If you want to achieve things that others can't...

You have to do things that others won't.

Dr. Pain

Yes!

DP

w8lifter

I was talking about the one I use. I'm not sure it was posted here?

nikegurl

oh tell me! please tell me. my puny clavicles need to know. lol

one leg question too - should i go with the 10,8, 6, 6 basic rep scheme for legs too or better to go with higher reps for legs?

If you want to achieve things that others can't...

You have to do things that others won't.

Dr. Pain

Sure...I just planned that out for you on the spot....go for it!


NG, reps vary with intensity and degree of failure you wish to achieve!


DP

w8lifter

Hmmm, lots of fun going through my Pain files.

This is what I was talking about:

I have a lot of extra time today, so try this, use only what you want as this would be overtraining for most people:

Warm-up, some rotator cuff exercises, light shrug, light lateral, light press

Smith machine press to the front, never to the rear (there is no natural movement like that and not worth injury, there are other ways to work that area)
4 ascending sets to almost failure 10,8,6,5
then a triple drop, failure and one forced rep at each weight (we add quarters or quarters and 35's, till we get to 4 various plates on a side, the ladies do dimes. Sometimes if I'm working with a smaller guy, we go 25,25,10,25 or 25, 10, 10 ,25)
or DB pressing, sometimes Arnold's, , or seated or standing BB, or clean and press, 4-5 sets

Next laterals up and down the rack
first set (adjust the weights to you)
15,20,25,20,15 4 reps each
next 15,20,25,30,25,20,15 3 reps each
then 20,25,30,35,30,25,20 3 reps each
and then top down
40,35,30,25,20,15 (the record rep out is like 27 times) failure at each weight

or

cable laterals, 3 sets ascending and a fourth set, time under tension. We go against each other at our respective weights, both using right arm or left arm, 5 reps and then hold, hold ,hold, and hold some more!
or lean aways, or straight sets heavier, seated laterals, or machince or a giant set of 3 or more of these

Then shrugs, either heavy seated with a cambered bar 6 sets heavy or,
a triset with DB's, smith (front or back) and either a trap bar (diamond shape) or machine shrug 4 sets ascending of three exercises, 8-10 reps, no rest between exercises, rest 3 minutes between sets.

Front laterals: one arm cable holding the little ball, or 2 arm rope between the legs, or heavy DB's (I PR at 60# two weeks ago, shitty form), 4 ascending sets
rarely, up and down (ladders) the rack
we have plates with handles, so sometimes we front raise with those, but 45's are too small unless you hold the contraction longer
or heavey straight sets, or we have fixed bars by 10's so we lean against a poll with these, 4 sets

Lastly rears, our favorite is a reverse flye between the cables with a low incline bench, 4 sets ascending or, a triset with bentover laterals, side bench, and one arm cable seated, or just plain old on your stomach on an incline bench rear raise. Very rarely, machine rears. 4 sets 10,8,8,6

If we have done less work or skipped some shrugs or other exercises we do upright rowing, BB wide grip to the pec line, supersetted with narrow grip cable to the chin, with a 3 secind pause 8-10 reps, 4 sets ascending

Again I want to emphasize, don't do everything, it takes years to be able to do 40 heavier sets and still be able to hold the phone, these are just some suggestions!
DP


It does sound intimidating, lol...but I never did all of it...usually stuck w/ light shrugs for warm up, simth press and/or DB press, compound sets of shrugs & side laterals...drop sets w/ each, compound sets of front & rear raises...again drop sets, and finish w/ upright rows.


Then there's this :

Shoulders
Laterals
20, 25, 30, 25, 20- 4 reps each
20, 25, 30, 35, 30, 25, 20- 3 reps each
20, 25, 30, 35, 30, 25, 20- 4 reps each
35, 30, 25, 20, 15, 12- 5, 5, 5, 8, rep out
cable front raises supersetted with plate raises (our plates have handles)
2 plates X 12 then 25# plate X 12
3 plates X 10 then 35# plate X 10
4 plates X 8 then 45# plate X 8
3 plates for 5 reps then time under tension looking at your partner, hold as long as you can!
Then hold the 35# as long as you can, literally kick the other guys ass!
Rear delt superset
prone incline bench rear laterals with DB's
with two arm bent cable laterals
15# X 10, 2 plates
15# X 9, 3 plates
20# X 8, 4 plates
giant set shrugs, no rest pyramiding weight up:
stations:
behind the back smith
sitting camber olypic bench bar
dumb bells
trap bar (diamond shaped)
Body Master Shrug Machine
10 reps, 12 reps, 8 reps each
Pressing at the end of the W/O
Superset
Smith Machine 95, 145, 185
Seated DB's 45, 55, 65
seated Barbell 95, 115, 135
3 sets no rest 8 reps each exercise, this is freakin hard to do at the end of a W/O
only 2 people finished, 2 others, including the MEAT, only made it 1/2 wat through the last exercise!
Try lifting your arms after that, and we did this in about 70 minutes!
DP

Dr. Pain

WOW, Princess...your files are so "Extensive"



DP

nikegurl

TODAY's FOOD

MEAL 1
whey
1 Tbs flax
1 medium apple

(36 protein, 24 carb, 15 fat)

MEAL 2
can tuna
1 egg white
6 olives
1 Tbs safflower mayo
1/2 cup brown rice (cooked measure)

38 grams protein
24 carb
17 fat

**messed this up. will cut back olives next time to hit 15 grams fat. i forgot about the fat in the tuna (1 gram) and rice (1) when figuring it out last night. **

MEAL 3
Turkey burger
1 egg white
1/2 yolk
1/2 cup brown rice

34 grams protein
22 grams carbs
16 grams fat

MEAL 4
can tuna
1 Tbs safflower mayo
1/2 cucumber

34 grams protein
12 fat
4 carb

MEAL 5
Turkey burger
1 egg white
1/2 cucumber

32 grams protein
12 grams fat
4 grams carbs

MEAL 6 (at bedtime)
whey
flax - 4 tsp

36 grams protein
20 grams fat
3 grams carb

TOTALS
2038 calories
212 protein
92 fat
81 carb

If you want to achieve things that others can't...

You have to do things that others won't.

nikegurl

thanks w8 and Dr. Pain! i have been doing some drop sets lately with shoulders and recently wondering about compound sets. i doubt i can do it all but i'll modify where i need too and fry 'em!

If you want to achieve things that others can't...

You have to do things that others won't.

w8lifter

I have a lot Pain!

rks1969

Looks like a good plan.Keep up the hardwork.Sooo jealous of your discipline w/ your diet.Hope I can get back on track again.GOOD LUCK TO YA!!!

YOU CAN SPEND YOUR TIME ANY WAY YOU WANT ,BUT YOU CAN SPEND IT ONLY ONCE.
MAKE IT WORTH IT!!!!!!

J'Bo

NG, you have to do this routine.

I started the shoulder smackdown routine.
The first time i did it i almost left the gym crying cause i couldn't lift my arms. Man that feels good.
Anyways in the short 4 weeks that i have been doing the routine i believe i have brought my shoulders up a bit.
It is hard, but i just picture the team DPw8 screaming at me to continue. It works.

Glad you too started a new journal, now i can keep up with your posts.

....and thats my $.02

tgkfour1

NG- Good going on a new journal for some new focus......

On the big body parts, a lot of pros seem to work stubborn parts multiple times per week.

Perhaps your calves can be done 2-3 times per week, and your upper legs twice- one heavy, one light.....

Dr P and w8, is this reasonable for us mere mortals? What are the recovery strategies for multiple days for stubborn parts?

IRON Poet Laureate

Man is basically Good- Locke

Man is basically Evil- Hobbes

Who was paying attention to the women back then?- TGKFour

nikegurl

Saturday is shoulder day so I'll give the smack down routine my best shot! I'm already having a tough time lifting my pen to log shoulders by the time I'm near the end so this is bound to be painful. But if they grow - I'm all for it!

Last night was biceps and calves. Had a great bicep workout. Haven't done lying cable curls in ages and those were great. (High cable, flat bench, lying down curl to forehead)

BICEPS
Hammer Curls
10 x 20 lb dbs
8 x 25
2 x 6 x 25

LYING CABLE CURLS
12 x 40
10 x 45
8 x 55

STANDING CONCENTRATION CURLS
12 x 10
10 x 15

I prefer to do concentration curls standing up. I bend a bit and let my arm hang straight down.

CALVES
Standing Calf Raises
2 x 20 x 120
18 x 120

Donkey
10 x 140
12 x 120

Calves just kill me. 5 sets is nothing but I was dying after 2. Can't even believe how they can hurt so much and still be so small! I'm trying to up my volume. Actually hurt to shave my legs this morning - no, I didn't cut myself. The razor touching my calves was painful.

Must keep my water intake up. That's this weeks big goal. It's been a challenge and I was up to 6 liters a day finally but lately I've been slacking. Have to make it an always every day thing starting now.

If you want to achieve things that others can't...

You have to do things that others won't.

J'Bo

If you are doing W8's leg program i would stick to once a week. I tryed to do 2 times and i just did not recover fast enough.
The claves grew doing this routine for me.

Also try to give your self a rest day after the shoulder workout.

....and thats my $.02

nikegurl

Thanks J'Bo! I do have a day off after shoulders. I haven't used w8's leg routine. I definitely should check that out as well. I started another leg program I like recently and was going to go with it for a few months and then switch to w8s. But when I think about how her legs look - I should probably switch now!

I've been training legs so hard now that I can't even imagine trying to do it twice a week. I'm frequently nauseous and light headed in the gym on leg day and I get through it by telling myself - "you won't have to do this again for a whole week" lol

If you want to achieve things that others can't...

You have to do things that others won't.

J'Bo

My legs have made great changes on that plan and since it is a 4 phase plan i tend to stay on it forever until my legs stop growing.

....and thats my $.02

nikegurl

i'm headed to w8s website to grab that leg routine. i bet there are lunges.....arrrrrghhhhh. there is nothing i hate more than lunges.

If you want to achieve things that others can't...

You have to do things that others won't.

Leslie

hey what does this great Leg workout look like? Let me in on the secret! My legs need a challenge!

Leslie
My Journal
My Sponsor:www.AvantLabs.com

J'Bo

The leg workout is on W8's website.

....and thats my $.02

kuso

Way too much on here to read at this hour....just wanted to say Cool title for the thread