Arith's Workout and Diet Journal

[Arith]

Hi guys. Im new here and i have been keeping a journal over on another website. I havent gotten much feedback on it (except for a select group of people, most of whom now post here) over there so i am going to try posting here. Here is the journal so far:

Arith's Journal

A quick over-view. I am 29 years old, 5'10 and 215lbs. I use to work out steadily but havent done so in a long while. I bought some fitness equipement earlier in the year and began steadily working out on March 1st of this year.

To show you my progress in a nutshell im going to post my workout's from March 1st and then this past week to show my strength increase so far.

Here are the measurements i took on March 1st when i first started w/this program:

Chest: 44"
Waiste: 39.5"
Forearms 12.5"
Upper Arm: 15"
Thigh: 23.5"
Calf: 16"
Height: 5'10.5
Weight:224lbs
BF%:21.7

I havent taken any new measurements yet but my weight has dropped to 216lbs, not sure about BF%.

Here is a comparison of some of my workouts so you can see my progress:

March 01, 2004

Chest/Shoulders/Tris

Flat Bench Press
Warmup 135X15
175 X 10
205 X 4 Failure
205 X 3 Failure
215 X 1 Failure

Incline Bench Press
165 X 8
165 X 6 Failure
175 X 3 Failure

Upright Rows (Pully)
90 X 8
90 X 6 Failure
100 X 4 Failure

Superset of side and front raises
30lbs X 8 for 2 supersets

Close Grip Bench Press
135 X 10
155 X 8
155 X 6

Rope Pushdowns
Dropset from 70lbs to 20lbs

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
April 13, 2004

Chest/Shoulders/Tris

Bench Press
135 X 10
255 X 2 (personal record and i did it twice )
235 X 4
235 X 3
235 X 2

Incline Bench Press
205 X 4
205 X 3
185 X 6

Military Press
145 X 8
145 X 5
145 X 4

Pressdowns
90 X 10
100 X 7
100 X 6
--------------------------------------------------------

March 03, 2004

Back/Bi

Deadlifts
135 X 15
185 X 10
225 X 5 F
225 X 4 F
225 X 3 F

Pulldowns
120 X 10
130 X 6 F
140 X 4 F

Pully Rows
140 X 10
150 X 6
160 X 4

Bar Curls
85 X 10
85 X 10
85 X 8 F

Standing Dumbell Curls
35 X 6 for 2 sets to Failure
----------------------------------------------------------------
April 8, 2004

Back/Biceps

Deadlifts
135 X 10
225 X 10
375 X fail
325 X almost
245 X 4
245 X 5

Pulldowns
140 X 7
140 X 5
150 X 2

Closegrip Pulldowns
140 X 8
140 X 6
150 X 4

Seated Rows
170 X 5
170 X 5
170 X 4

Curls
95 X 6 for 3 sets
-------------------------------------------------------
March 06, 2004

Legs

Squats
135 X 15
225 X 10
255 X 8 F
275 X 4 F
275 X 2 F
275 X 7 F

Lunges
70 X 8
70 X 8

Calf Raises (Smith)
135 X 30 F
185 X 20 F
185 X 17 F
-------------------------------------------------------------
April 09, 2004

Legs

Squats
135 X 15
245 X 10
275 X 8
300 X 5
300 X 5

Leg Extensions
90 X 10
110 X 8
130 X 5
130 X 4

Calf Raises
185 X 20
225 X 10
225 X 10
---------------------------------------------------------------
So far, since March 1st ive lost 8 pounds and my strength has gone up a good deal. Im pretty happy with that and really enjoy working out. Starting on Tuesday of next week i am beginning courses in Mixed Martial Arts so that will be my cardio. My goals are to keep gaining strength and to loose bodyfat.

Any and all comments are greatly appreciated. Thanks!

 

[ncgirl21]

Welcome Good Luck!

 

[Arith]

Workout/April 13, 2004

Chest/Shoulders/Tris

Bench Press
135 X 10
255 X 2 (personal record and i did it twice )
235 X 4
235 X 3
235 X 2

Incline Bench Press
205 X 4
205 X 3
185 X 6

Military Press
145 X 8
145 X 5
145 X 4

Pressdowns
90 X 10
100 X 7
100 X 6
--------------------------------------------------------
Today was a great workout strength-wise. I tried for a personal best at 255 and managed to do it twice. Overall my strength in the benchpress has increased quite a bit since last week and since i began this program over a month ago. My max has gone up 30lbs. I also increased weight in incline bench. Military press was the same as before, i think my shoulders were cashed. Pressdowns increased also. A lot of strength gain this week, pretty happy about that

Diet's been off, need to go grocery shopping soon....

 

[M.J.H.]

Nice to see you made it over Arith!

I'll be checking your journal regularly. Strength is really coming along man, nice work. Your lifts look noticeably better from a few months back when I used to see them on DF. Keep it up.

 

[atherjen]

Hey Arith. Good to see you hear, I think you'll like it here much better.
Lifts are all looking great !

 

[Arith]

Hi jen and Monstar Im hoping this board is better then DF. I enjoy DF but i just dont seem to get much feedback since you guys left. No one else there seemed to care about my progress. Im hoping to get more feedback here. Since im realitively new to this i know i sure can use it.....

 

[I'm Trying]

Welcome ARITH Good Luck!! You'll love it here at this board!!

 

[GRIFF]

Yaaaaaaaaa buddy, Good to see you over here man, lifts are lookin awesome, making a lot of good progress. 275 x 7 on squats??? Lookin' really good. You're gonna be a beast in no time.

 

[Arith]

Well, today was suppose to be my back and biceps day but my schedual got messed up because i had to move chest to tuesday. Since thursday is usually my cardio day i skipped my back/bi day in order to get back on track. Make sense?

Anyways, today ihad my first martial arts training session. I just joined a gym a fellow police officer runs that trains people in Mixed Martial Arts. I dont have experience in martial arts but i do have wrestling experience, both folk and freestyle. Tonight was great. This class has only 6 people and i was able to have one on one time with an instructor the whole night. He taught me some basic boxing, mainly throwing the jab and cross and doing the monkey, which is a form of blocking. We also wrestled for quite a while and im dead tired. The session lasted 2 hours and it was a great form of cardio. My heart was racing and i was covered in sweat. I plan on weight lifting monday, wensday and friday and do MMA on tuesday and thursday as a form of cardio.

Tomorrow is back day

 

[Cate]

Welcome Arith! I'm a Chicago girl myself

 

[Arith]

Hi Cate Thanks for the welcome. I see your getting married soon, congrats. You actually in the city or in the burbs?

 

[Cate]

In the city....our wedding/reception are in Lincoln Park. Where are you???

 

[Cate]

Oh....and thanks on the congrats

 

[Arith]

I grew up on the south side, right off of the Skyway on the Eastside. My parents still live there. I work in Elgin.....

 

[Arith]

Monday April 19, 2004

Chest/Shoulders/Triceps

Bench Press
135 X 10
255 X 2
235 X 4
235 X 3
225 X 5

Incline Bench Press
185 X 7
205 X 4
205 X 3

Flys
40 dumbells X 8 for 3 sets

Military Press
145 X 6
145 X 5
145 X 5

Pushdowns
100 X 8
100 X 8
100 X 7
----------------------------------------------------------------
Overall a pretty good workout. I had to take some time off last week, that mixed martial arts training kicked my ass. I didnt want to overtrain and i felt spent all weekend. That will definetly get me into better shape. Anyways, today i did ok. I was able to do more reps on several set in bench press and i added 3 sets of flys based on Prince's recomendation. My shoulders were cashed after all the benches but i still managed to do decent lifts for them.

My diet has been off lately but ive managed to maintain my wait. I need to take in more water though, ive been bad about it recenlty.

Tomorrow is Mixed Martial Arts training, im looking forward to it

 

[atherjen]

Hey Arith! workout looks great!
sounds like a busy time with the martial arts too!

 

[Arith]

Tuesday April 20, 2004

Today was Mixed Martial Arts training. Man, what a hard workout, probably one of the best ive had in years. You could wring my shirt out after we were done. We did footwork and combo drills and then fighting from the clinch and then 45min of wrestling. Ove of the guys was getting ready for a vale tudo match this weekend so he stayed on the mat and everyone else rotated in to fight him. Great workout....

 

[Arith]

Wensday was an off day....

Thursday April 22, 2004

Today was mixed martial arts training. We went for 2 hours mostly doing live wrestling the entire time. One of the guys is fighting on Saturday so he stayed on the mat and everyone else rotated in. It was a great workout. Im sore, tired and cranky

 

[Arith]

Hi guys. Well, its been one month since i posted my before picture. My wife took a back shot for comparison and then the battery ran out on the digital camera . I just wanted to post both pictures and see if there is a difference. Any comments would be greatly appreciated.

Back Shot from March 12, 2004

Back Shot from April 25, 2004

 

[M.J.H.]

Wow man, great progress for just one month! Definite increase in your delt development and back definition, etc. Keep up the hard work!

 

[Arith]

Monday 04/26/04

I missed all my workouts last week except for mondays. I began training in Mixed Martial Arts and its kicking my ass. The training sessions are brutal and ive been incredibly sore. I took it a bit easy last week so that i dont hurt myself. Im going to try to get back on schedual this week and do all my workouts. Also, my diets been a bit off. I need to get that in order also.

Workout
Chest/Shoulders/Tri

Bench Press
135 X 15
255 X 3 PR
235 X 5 PR
235 X 3
235 X 4
235 X 2

Incline Bench Press
205 X 4
205 X 4
205 X 3

Flys
40lb dumbells x 8 reps for 3 sets

Military Press
145 X 6
145 X 5
145 X 5

Pressdowns
100 X 8
100 X 8
80 X 5
-----------------------------------------
Real good workout. I set personal records in bench today doing 255 3 times and 235 5 times. Ive yet to do a one rep max so i have no clue what that may be. Im thinking about 275 or so. I had to lower the weight on my last set of pressdowns because my tris were cashed.

 

[GRIFF]

Damn bro, workout is looking AWESOME, 235 x 5? 255 x 3!? I was wondering about your 1 rpm myself. I'd say around 270-275, give it a shot!

 

[Arith]

Thursday April 29, 2004

Back/Bi

Pulldowns
140 X 8
140 X 6
150 X 4
150 X 3

Closegrip
150 X 6
150 X 6
150 X 5

Seated Rows
160 X 8
160 X 7
160 X 4

Dumbell Curls
40 DB X 8 for 3 sets
---------------------------------------------------
Well, today was suppose to be Mixed Martial Arts training and i went at 8pm and sat around for 20 min until i found out it was cancled. Kind of threw off my whole schedual but i did come home and do back. Wasnt very motivated today but i did the best i could. Overall it was a decent workout and hopefully i cant stay on track...

 

[Arith]

May 02, 2004

Workout

Chest/Shoulders/Tri

BenchPress
135 X 15
225 X 4
275 X 1
275 X 1
245 X 2
225 X 5
135 X 10 (Slow Down/Fast Up)

Incline Bench
185 X 8
205 X 2
185 X 6

Military Press
135 X 8
135 X 8
135 X 8

Upright Rows (Wide Grip)
135 X 8
135 X 7
135 X 6

Bench Dips
10 X Bodyweight
8 X BW +25lbs for 2 sets

Pushdowns
100 X 8 X 2 sets
100-60 drop set
---------------------------------------------------
Progress

March 17, 2004 May 02, 2004
Chest 44.5 inches 46.4 inches
Upper Arm 15.0 inches 15.6 inches
forearm 12.5 inches 13.01 inches
---------------------------------------------------
Good workout today. I maxed out on the bench press and hit 275lbs. It went up easy so i did it again. I also added a set of light weight at the end and went slow on the way down and fast on the way up. My MMA instructor told me it would help my quickness, well see . I also added a few exercises (upright rows and bench dips) and had a pretty intense workout. Good day.

 

[atherjen]

Hey Arith, you made some EXCELLENT progress from March-April! that back pic looks great! increasements elsewhere are super too!

great work on the PR on bench today!!
something I might suggest- not so many reps on your warmup set.
on your last back day- I might also suggest that you aim to have at least 1 compound movement in there.. i.e deads or bent over bb rows (either 90 deg. or yates style).

 

[Arith]

Hi Jen, thanks for the input . How many reps should i shoot for on the warmup set? Also, i did 225 a few times before i did 275 because i didnt want to make a 145 jump in weight, i figured it would feel real heavy coming of the rack. Ill have to reincorporate deads into my back day. That martial arts training has been killing me and i was real sore in the legs and back, i was also having a bad day. I wanted to work out but just wast in the mood for high intensity. I guess ill have to push through it. Thanks

 

[Arith]

Well today was Mixed Martial Arts training. We did a lot of wrestling from the clinch and the guard and i was put into many armbars and chokes. Hell, i got chocked so hard one time my mouthpiece shot across the mat, hehe. Well, what can i expect, im new to this stuff. Anyways, great cardio workout, i was dead tired after the two hours. I really enjoy this stuff....

 

[Arith]

......Wensday was an off day......

Thursday May 06, 2004

Today was Mixed Martial Arts training. Another 2 hour training session and it was a tough one. My instructor showed us how to pass the guard and how to defend against it and then we rolled for an hour and a half, concentrating on what he showed us. wreestling for that long with no break is a killer, anyone whos wrestled knows how tough this is. I was drenched in sweat and im bruised up and sore as hell. Great workout and I learned alot.