Forward Progression

[grant]

August 30, 2005

Cardio

This morning I did cardio although I really need a day off here so I kept it short and sweet, would really like to get to abs class tonight but as I said.

HIIT

20 min.
294 cal.
50% fat
HR
Max 158
Avg 114

5 min. cooldown on treadmill

Feeling pretty shitty otherwise.

 

[buildingup]

no!

 

[grant]

Addendum to August 29, 2005

DOMS setting in for legs, started earlier this morning, back sore too. The worst always seems to be two days after workout. Surprised my legs aren't a bit more sore today, though it's good that I'm not totally ripping them up like I used to.

Did take this evening off and will probably take tomorrow off. Although I don't want to. Grrr. But you grow outside of the gym---blah blah.

 

[grant]

August 31, 2005

Today, DOMS definitely set in!!! Hip adductors are especially sore. Decided to go to the gym, even though need a total day off blah blah...

Shoulders

Rotator cuff--Lateral rotations
Upright rows
One-arm Dumbbell Press Really liked these, aka Arnolds, totally will build upon core muscle strength (much needed)
Front Raises--DB
Front Raise--EZ Bar
Bent-over Lateral Raises On second set developed twinge in right shoulder, stopped immediately damn hope this doesn't interfer with Friday's Chest workout
Pec Deck Rear Delt Laterals
Cardio

Walked/Ran to store and walked 1/2 back. Nice weather have to enjoy this while it lasts, can't believe today is the last day of August.

​

 

[grant]

September 1, 2005

OFF TODAY, DON'T WANT TO TALK ABOUT IT.

 

[grant]

September 2, 2005

Chest

Flat Bench Press
Incline Dumbbell Press
Iso-Lateral Chest Press
Low Pulley Flye
Pec Deck Flye

Cardio

10 min. cooldown incline treadmill

OK workout...thought I could go even heavier on some of the chest work. Diet bizarre lately, really gain some weight grrr.

 

[P-funk]

why not post sets and reps at least?

 

[grant]

September 3, 2005

Abs

1/2 hour class

Cardio

20 min. steady state elliptical
WATCH STOPPED 1/2 THROUGH WORKOUT
HR steady at about 155 bpm

5 min cooldown on treadmill

 

[grant]

Addendum to Sept. 2, 2005

why not post sets and reps at least?

OK OK...sorry had to post day after and before class this morning, remembered another exercise too. Should start bringing some sort of log to gym to record everything.



Chest

Flat Bench Press Warm up 12 12 10 8 6 4 4
Incline Dumbbell Press 10 8 6 4 4
Iso-Lateral Incline Chest Press 8 8 6 4
Machine Chest Press 10 8 8 6 4
Low Pulley Flye 12 12 10 10 8
Pec Deck Flye 12 10 10 8 6

Cardio

10 min. cooldown incline treadmill

OK workout...thought I could go even heavier on some of the chest work. Diet bizarre lately, really gain some weight grrr

 

[grant]

September 4, 2005

Good workout today, on vacation at my parents. Had take advantage of the opportunity to work out at their gym--different machines, more than my gym in the city.

Decided to do a full body routine utlized posterior/anterior rotation training

Workout

Good Mornings First time I've tried these, were fun 14 12 10 8 8
Squats 12 10 8 6 6
T-Bar Row 12 10 8 8 8
Incline Dumbbell Press 10 8 8 6 6
Reverse Grip Bicep Curl 10 10 8 8
Reverse Pushdowns 12 12 10 8 8

Workout wasn't necessarily heavy as I was in a newer environment and trying some new things, including the Good Mornings, which I can feel in my lower back now, which I know is weak anyway. I did feel through the movement though in my hamstrings and gluteus. Reverse grip barbell curl also good, felt aggresive through the forearm as it should. I really felt the trapezius engage during the T-Bar Rows especially in the earlier sets with lighter weight.


Cardio

Ski type machine unfamiliar with 10 min., similiar to elliptical though no arm movement

 

[grant]

September 5, 2005

Off Today

 

[grant]

September 6, 2005

This morning...short and sweet, no

Cardio

20 min. steady state elliptical
247 cal.
45% Fat
Max 81%
Avg 75%

Tomorrow morning??

 

[grant]

September 7, 2005

Had a great workout today, surprisely so considering I felt exhausted afterwork.

Decided on a trapezius/latmissmus dorsi/deltoid concentration for today

Back/Shoulder

Assisted Chin ups 8 6 6 4
Close Grip Lateral Pulldowns 10 8 8 8 8
Straight Arm Lateral Pulldowns Tried these for the first time, enjoyed them though better with a lighter weight 10 8 8 8
Narrow Grip Front Press These will help develop my upper chest as well as the shoulder region 12 10 8 6 6
Rows These felt really good today for some reason, they've always kind of eluded me too but I went heavier than usual and it felt good! 8 8 6 6 :hot:
Pec Deck Rear Laterals Started off a bit too heavy with these and again with that twinge in my right delt--not good, eased up though on the weight and finished three sets of 8

Cardio

Had a REALLY good cooldown on the elliptical and bumped my time to 25 min. Only wish I had worn my HR monitor. 400 cals. you (machine) say???

Debating on whether or not I should go tomorrow morning and have a chest workout or do cardio or go to abs tomorrow evening...

 

[grant]

September 8, 2005

Good workout, abs class was tough but what's new. Showing some improvement with some of the pilates-type movements which is good, would like to try and wear my hr monitor to class once just to see exactly what I get to during the workout. Concern, lower back twinges during lower abdominal exercises.

After abs decided to head to the weight area and focus on the chest, although abbreviated it felt amazing to lift, went heavy with smaller number of reps.

ABS CLASS
1/2 hour

Chest

Dumbbell bench press 10 8 6 4 4
Incline barbell bench press 10 8 6 3 3
High pulley flye 10 8 8 10 Felt good though decreased weight on the last set to really feel full muscle contraction

Would like to emphasize how tight I felt after workout, happy with quick and to the point chest routine--

Cardio

Went from running to walking after five. 10 mins total cooldown.

This is where things went from great to OK
Started a run incline tread at a pretty good pace but five mins. into the run my anterior tibialis started to spasm on the left and then sure enough on the right, shoes weren't the best for running today and I didn't warm up which would probably explain it.

Would like to do cardio tomorrow morning and have an evening legs day tomorrow evening.

Diet---oh god what did I do last night too much oatmeal, again, need to focus on the carbies during the day--and perhaps healthy fats.

Grrr.

 

[grant]

September 9, 2005

Cardio

20 min HIIT
5 min cooldown
293 cals.
50 % Fat
Max 167-86%
Ave 137-70%

 

[grant]

Addendum to September 9, 2005

Feeling kinda tired this evening, decided to take the evening off and try to relax a bit. Stressed lately--work especially hectic , good but hectic, starting school next week, ending work next week, personal training exam coming up week after (I think).

Training coming along, probably could've skipped the cardio this morning and had a leg workout in either morning or evening. Body is tired though, just can't seem to wake up today . Also kinda bloated, like I had too much water and too much salt today, ?? Would lilke to incorporate weight training every day but one during the week although with putting as much as I am into lifiting I'm not sure I can really handle it.

Abs are sore, chest will (should) be sore tomorrow, back really stiff and sore. Good to know that I'm doing some damage, makes me happy!!

 

[grant]

September 10, 2005

Lower Body

Squats 10 10 8 8 6 4
Good Mornings 10 10 8 8 (lower weight)
Dumbbell Lunges 10 8 6 4
Hip Machine Adductors 10 10 8 8 6
Hip Machine Abductors 10 10 10 8
Dumbbell Lunges 10 8 6 4
Machine Leg Extensions 10 8 6 6 4
Free Motion Machine Squats 10 8 8 6 6
Free Motion Marchine Spilt Stance Squats 8 8
Free Motion Machine One-Leg Squats 8 8
Free Motion Machine Hamstring 10 10

Cardio

20 min. run on treadmill
5 min. cooldown treadmill

For some reason (radio interference) my watch stopped reading my HR some 10 min into my run Really pisses me off when it does that but HR was varied between 80 and 85% and treadmill said about 245 cals. burned. Probably somewhat higher actually due to the higher HR.

Went lower in weight initially in the workout as my knees where kinda bothering me with the squats even though I wasn't even near parallel, Good mornings--lower back "strain" although I know that I have one of the weakest lower back on the face of the earth but really felt through the glutes and hammies. Dumbbell lunges were fun, really got my HR rate up with these, really happy with the last set, gluteal and hamstring . Freemotion machines, I love 'em, really isolate the muscle, worked up a sweat with these.

Hope I'm not too tired tomorrow...

 

[grant]

September 11, 2005

Rough day today emotionally. Finally got to my workout though--my time.

Triceps/Biceps; antagonist training

Barbell Curl
Tricep Kickbacks
Freemotion machine Concentration Curls
Freemotion machine Two Arm Seated Curls
Skulls Crushers
Cable rope bicep curls
Tricep rope pushdowns

Cardio

10 min. cooldown

 

[grant]

September 12, 2005

Roused by a firetruck and ambulance brigade arriving at his building at 5:00 AM, dehydrated, bloated, and lacking intensity Grant drags himself to the the gym. Undaunted he initially floats to the elliptical machine, attempting to burn some of the ridiculously tardy calories he consumed late last night. ​

Alas, after three minutes he realizes that cardio would not be in the works for today and resigns himself to the lower echelons of the weight room. "I'll do chest!", he reassures himself. First to the dumbbell bench press then to the Hammerstrength Iso-Lateral Incline Chest Press he deligently counts out his reps and sets. A slight twinge develops in his right shoulder, "God I hope it's not the rotary cuff...", the words drop like rain in one of many puddles dotting the street of his day, already flooded with worries and stresses of a young man soon to be entering graduate school and quitting his full-time job.

After the incline effort he decides to finish the workout with some Freemotion (although realizing this brief but relatively effective workout wouldn't suffice for the day) he pulls out his finishing flyes and promises himself a redemption later that evening.

Looking at his watch he realizes that he must drag himself into work and accomplish fifty million things before he even makes it to bus projecting him and his ziploc container laden backpack downtown to his banal desk job. <sigh> "I hate Mondays", he mutters to himself, trudging, head hung in thought, back to his apartment.

No but really...

Chest

Dumbbell Bench Press 12 12 8 8 6 4
Hammerstrength Iso-Lateral Incline Chest Press 10 10 8 8
Freemotion Flyes 10 10 10 10

 

[grant]

Addendum to September 12, 2005

OK, back to the gym I went...

Chest

Machine Chest Press 12 12 10 8 8 6
Incline Barbell Chest Press 8 6 5 6
Pec Deck Flyes 12 10 10 8
Freemotion Flyes 6 6 4
Freemotion Chest 6 6 4

Cardio

10 min. cooldown elliptical

 

[grant]

September 13, 2005

Last day of the job...took the day off from the gym. Tomorrow first day of graduate school, hope I can make it to the gym for back day. Tomorrow morning?

 

[grant]

September 14, 2005

Back

Bent Rows 12 12 8 8 6 6
One Arm Dumbbell Rows 10 10 8 8 6 4
Close Grip Lat Pulldowns 8 8 6 6
Seat Rows 8 8 6 6
Straight arm Lat Pulldowns 10 10 8 6
Freemotion two arm alternating seated lateral pulldown 9 8 6 6

Cardio

5 min. cooldown on bike

 

[grant]

September 15, 2005

Crazy couple of days with starting school...

Feel really bloated lately, gaining some weight I think, fat, or maybe just not used to carrying more weight. Weird feeling.

Too many carbies later at night?

Ugh, need to make some changes I think.

Abs

1/2 hour class.

Cardio

Ran to apt from train, walked after gym around neighborhood to cooldown

 

[grant]

September 16, 2005

Cardio

Steady state elliptical 30 min. NO HR MONITOR ggrrrrr.
5 min. cooldown to apt.
75% to 80% of max hr estimate
490 cals. or so the machine said

Ugh, gained so much weight. My old "big" pair of jeans are tight on my thighs, and I know I've gained some body fat. Damn it. On the other hand, I've honestly gotten the most compliments from complete strangers on my body in the last week than I ever did before. People actually think that I go the gym...bizarre. The only difference is that I'm eating more. Funny what people think.

Probably going to attempt to make it back tonight although today is supposed to be another extra long day at school. Maybe shoulders, or arms this evening...or legs. Hmm.

 

[grant]

September 17, 2005

Today I felt incredibly awful, my face looked like a pancake. I've decided to discontinue some of the supplementation, including the creatine and the Nutrex. The creatine is nice as it benefits my lifting in the gym, however it seems to contribute to water retention and feel it's making me feel worse overall. The Nutrex is stupid as I'm not trying to cut right now.

The bloat, nausea, and fatigue and lack of training were all due to the fact that I drank. Three vodka gimlets when I went out last night...

#1 I'm not supposed to drink--actual doctor's orders. I may have some sort of blood disorder

#2 It interfers with my body's water level, contributes to fatigue, is full of empty calories and derails my training effort.

I have to remember all these thing the next time I think about engaging in that type of behavior again, which won't be anytime soon.

 

[grant]

September 18, 2005

Legs

Squats 10 8 8 6 6
Good mornings 10 8 8 6 6
Dumbbell Lunges 8 8 6 6
Freemotion split stance squats 10 8 8 6 6
Machine Ab Crunch 10 8 8 8
Deadlifts 10 8 8 6 6
Machine leg curls 8 8 6 6
Machine hip adductor 8 8 6 6
Hammerstrength Iso Lateral Leg Extension 10 8 8 8 -- utilizing unilateral motion (one leg at a time)

Cardio

25 min. Hills setting on Elliptical w/5 min. cooldown walk back to apartment
355 cals.
50% fat
Max 161
Avg 134

Workout wasn't anything too intense, not as intense as last leg day which in part had to do with the drinking from a couple of nights ago. Kept the weight lighter and added some sets. Cardio wasn't anything to intense either, but a good workout overall. Planning on doing some more work later tonight I think, perhaps some cardio, really burn off some this glycogen that's been hanging around.


​

 

[BigDyl]

I gotta give you props for keeping this journal going. One thing i noticed on one of your posts--you did 1 hour 40 minutes of cardio. Unless you are training for a marathon run or something, this seems a bit excessive. I would suggest 20-30 minutes or less of intense exersize. Also, i see you are posting the number of reps you are doing. In the interest of progress, I would like to see the weights too.

Keep it going.

 

[grant]

Addendum to September 18, 2005

I gotta give you props for keeping this journal going. One thing i noticed on one of your posts--you did 1 hour 40 minutes of cardio. Unless you are training for a marathon run or something, this seems a bit excessive. I would suggest 20-30 minutes or less of intense exersize. Also, i see you are posting the number of reps you are doing. In the interest of progress, I would like to see the weights too.

Keep it going.

Thank you very much. I really appreciate the input as well as the support.

I've always enjoyed doing cardio and actually started off going to the gym doing just that years ago. I've often been told that I should run some sort of marathon...maybe it'll be in the works someday.

Recording weight would be the next step I suppose in this journal although I am pretty good at increasing weight in the past couple of weeks in particular--anyone reading this wouldn't really know though . I do know this, I've noticed that I tend to go a bit higher with my sets than I would like.

For a redefinition of my goals of strength and hypertrophy in this phase of my training I need to increase the weight as I already know that my muscle endurance is quite good. I think sometimes my muscle fibers struggle between IIA and strictly II. I also would like to start posting my diet here, I do use Fitday PC religiously and record everything that I eat. My calories as I've mentioned quite a few times in the past couple of months have increased. This is good because I've noticed some good gains, however of late I've noticed that I've gained fat (just by looking in the mirror and by the way I feel overall). Curtailing some of the carbs later at night and a curbing of some calories overall is in order I think. It's been a good experiment as I know what a good maintenance for myself is w/o the starvation bullshit.

And speaking of excessive I did end up making it to the gym again

Cardio

47 min.
(20 min treadmill, 25 min. elliptical style although NOT the same type of machine from earlier today)
578 cals.
45% from fat
Max HR 165
Avg HR 143

Nothing that incredible but good to go back.

 

[grant]

September 19, 2005

Well no weights today...

Chest/Back Antagonist training

Dumbbell Bench Press 10 10 8 8 6 6
One-Arm Dumbbell Rows 10 8 8 6 6
Incline Barbell Bench Press 10 8 6 3 3
Seated Rows 8 8 6 6
Hammer strength Iso Lateral Chest Press 8 8 6 6
Bent Rows 8 8 6 6 4
Machine Chest Press 10 8 6 6

Cardio

25 mins. Stairclimber* 5 min. cooldown treadmill

343 cals.
50% from fat
Max 159
Avg 136

Not my favorite piece of cardio equipment but the only thing available besides the treadmill.
This workout was OK. I made some changes in my diet over the course of the day and wasn't as well fueled as I had hoped. I also think there was something physiological going on as I just didn't have it w/some of the chest, especially that god forsaken barbell glaring at me from above, mocking my every attempt to force it from its very stationary perch.

Also forgot to add a Machine Crunch to yesterday's workout just the basic 4 sets with about 10-8 reps per set.

And speaking of yesterday, my hammies and glutes are quite sore. Didn't think I impacted them that much, great to know that I did some damage! Thinking about doing some cardio tomorrow, morning, might redo some of my chest work that didn't turn out so well this evening. **sigh**

 

[grant]

September 20, 2005

Cardio

20 min. steady state Elliptical machine 5 min. cooldown
247 cals.
45% from fat
Max 155
Avg 143

Not the most dynamic of cardio session but given the amount of time I had this morning...

Tonight I think I might venture back in to redo some chest, although it is kind of tight this morning. My legs are in complete, I hate you for what you did to me mode. Feeling a bit overtrained-ish.