jGRIFF's Journal: Get After It

[Saturday Fever]

Settle down, first of all. Keep in mind that you are, by far, your worst critic. We all are.

Secondly, a day dedicated to shoulders is a day wasted, in my opinion. If you do the right amount of volume, you won't be in the gym but 15 minutes. And if you do too much volume, you're hindering yourself.

Remember my post about metabolism. For you, a routine that will yield good muscle gains is ideal. 6 clean days of eating with one binge day a week, accompanied by a solid muscle-adding routine. The scale might say you're going the wrong direction, but the mirror will say "It's all good."

 

[GRIFF]

Thanks SF, haha I needed that, I actually felt much better this morning anyways. Ya I agree, despite being heavier this morning than usual (high carb day yesterday) I felt much leaner. I really only was in there doing shoulders for 30 minutes or so, did some traps and cardio I just felt the need to do them. I'm thinking of changing up my routine to a push/pull/legs split and upping the frequency a bit, i dunno, any advice you may have would be much appreciated.

 

[M.J.H.]

That's what I think GRIFF, since you are much more of a bodybuilder, I think that a push/pull/legs split is a good idea. Good luck. Feeling fat sucks.

 

[GRIFF]

May 7th, 2004

Squat:

135 x 5
185 x 5
235 x 5
255 x 3
275 x 3
315 x 1
345 x SQUISH, shit man, this sucked, but I was pretty burnt out by that point.

Cybex Ham Curl (one leg):
70 x 10
120 x 10
130 x 12

Seated Calf Raise, Standing Calf Raise Superset:

45 x 20, 150 x 20
45 x 20, 150 x 20
70 x 20, 150 x 20 All I can say is FIRE

Leg Extension (one leg):

125 x 10
125 x 10
125 x 10

Cardio:

Bike, 15 minutes Hills

So so workout today, wasnt going to go today because my buddy is home and we went golfing, but we all decided to hit the gym after anways, wasnt too bad, legs will still be pretty sore tommorow as usual, Red Sox vs KC tommorow baby! I'm pretty pumped for that, Schilling is on the hill for us, anyhow taking the weekend off and the going to a push/pull/legs split starting monday.

 

[Flex]

^close game yesterday huh? haha. Sox whooped that ass

good leg w.o. bro...keep pilling that weight on. i just did legs today (Sat), so i won't be able to walk for another week

 

[GRIFF]

Thanks flex, my legs suck but I'll just make sure to really get after them from now on, I really have no doubt in my mind that I can get them to where I want them to be.

Baseball game was awesome today, red sox tore shit up man, schilling was amazing, complete game, 1 run, 8 k's.

Tommorow is mothers day so I'm makin breakfast for the ol' battle axe tommorow morning, and then hitting the golf course with the shitheads i call friends for atleast 36 holes, Monday its on, I'm determined to tear myself a new one in the gym, cant wait.

 

[GRIFF]

May 10th, 2004

Flat Bench:

135 x 10
185 x 8
225 x 3
245 x 3
255 x 2
265 x 1.5

Couldnt get 265 for a double, I'll try it again next push day, I was damn close.

Incline Press DB

80 x 5
85 x 5
90 x 5
90 x 5
90 x 6.5 Real good set here, was totally burnt out on that 7th rep, db almost hit me in the face haha

Close Grip Bench:

135 x 10
195 x 6
135 x 11

Lateral Raises DB:

25 x 10
30 x 10
35 x 8

Decline Situp w/ DB to Lying Knee-ups? Superset:

45 x 12, 20
45 x 15, 20
45 x 25, 5! OUCH! Huge cramp up in my abs on this one, felt awesome really worked the abs great.

Cable Twists:

80 x 15
80 x 15
80 x 15

Overall very good workout today. Had to wait a long time for a flat bench to open up, but I got to watch Marty Joyce a former champion PL and 3 guys he's training tare it up before me. Some guy ripped 315 x 12! I couldnt believe my eyes, form was absolutely incredible it was baffling to me.

 

[greekblondechic]

I have a day for shoulders.. its my favorite

 

[GRIFF]

EDITED: drunk posts are NOT cool...

 

[GRIFF]

May 11th, 2004

Dead Lift:

135 x 3
225 x 5
225 x 5
275 x 3
295 x 3
315 x 3
435 x 1! PR
405 x 3! PR

AWESOME sets here, hit 2 new PRs. I was going to hit 405 for a double which I was skeptical of to begin with, the first 2 went up real fast and I felt like I had one more so I cranked it, lockout took a little longer but I got it. This really makes me wonder what my max actually is and if I've been pushing myself enough. Form is coming along very good.

Iso-Lat Pull:

90 x 10
180 x 8
190 x 8

Seated Row:

180 x 10
220 x 10
250 x 8

BB Curl:

95 x 5
95 x 5
95 x 5
95 x 5
95 x 5

Pretty good workout here overall, its a beautiful day today so I didnt want to stay in there too long. Now its time to fire up the grill for some chicken and burgers, maybe smoke a cigar or too, life is good

 

[Saturday Fever]

Oooh, a cigar and some meat. Now that's good times. Too bad I'd choke on a cigar these days.

 

[GRIFF]

May 12th, 2004

Squat:

135 x 5
185 x 5
245 x 3
275 x 3
295 x 3
315 x 2

Cybex Ham Curl:

90 x 10
110 x 10
140 x 10

Standing Calf Machine:

150 x 20
200 x 15
220 x 15

Cardio:

Bike, 15 minute hills

Not much to report on this one really, in and out, hit some good triples and doubles on squats (for me), ham curls were pretty good. Just gotta keep upping the weight, my strength should come along I'm hoping.

 

[M.J.H.]

Nice job on pulling 435, bro, definitely impressive. 405 for a triple is also really not bad at all.

BTW, good work as well on 95 for 5 sets of 5 with BB curls.

 

[GRIFF]

Thanks man, really appreciate it. I think I tweaked my right wrist a little bit, it hurts right now to grip anything, but its really not that bad, just a little stiff I guess, I'm thinking about getting some wrist wraps for bench, I dunno though.

 

[GRIFF]

May 13th, 2004

6" Lockouts:

135 x 5
185 x 5
225 x 5
275 x 5
315 x 5
365 x 5
385 x 3

First time trying lockouts, I really like them a lot, 385 x 3 was hard as hell, arms were shaking like a bitch definitely hit the triceps hard.

Close Grip Bench:

225 x 2
225 x 2
225 x 2
225 x 2
225 x 2
225 x 2
225 x 2
225 x 3.5

Dips:

BW x 10
BW x 8
BW x 8

I'm a fat fuck, what can I say dips are hard haha.

Skull Crushers:

70 x 10
80 x 10
90 x 8

Cardio:

Bike, 15 minute Hills, Level 15

Picked up some wraps today, seemed to help some, but my right wrist is still buggin' me a little.

 

[M.J.H.]

Did you measure 6" for the lockouts? Or are you just estimating?

 

[GRIFF]

Good point, that was an estimation, but it had to have been damn close, I'll double check for you when I go in tommorow.

 

[M.J.H.]

Yeah, it's amazing man how off you can be. What I thought was 4" was 6" and what I thought was 8" was closer to 12". When you're laying on your back trying to guess, it's really really difficult to make any kind of estimate at all. I mark off how high I take the bar on the power rack and then use something to mark the distance and measure with a tape measure when I get home.

 

[atherjen]

EXcellenT workouts GRiff!!

 

[GRIFF]

Monstar: Ya man I definitely hear you, I'll give that a look today I set the pins 4 holes from the bars on the rack, so I'll remember to go back and see how much that is today,

atherjen: Thanks so much, I really appreciate it, I've been workin' hard no doubt.

 

[GRIFF]

May 14th, 2004

Dead lift:

135 x 3
225 x 5
315 x 3
405 x 2
455 x miss (couldnt lock it out)
455 x miss (nothing)

Wasted a deadlift session by being an idiot, I wanted 455 too much, so instead of lifting the right way doing heavy triples and doubles I saved up some energy, and messed it up anyways. I was in no condition to try to max today, back was still stiff, I'm really pissed about this, feel like I totally wasted my time in there today.

Ghetto T-Bar Row:
180 x 5
225 x 3
225 x 3
225 x 5
225 x 5
225 x 8

Wasted these sets by not going heavy enough. Blunder number 2 today.

Lat Pull Down:

160 x 12
200 x 10
220 x 10

So so sets here, nothing special at all.

Abs:

Decline w/ 50 lbs x 15
to reclined knee ups x 15

Medicine ball tossed over head on decline x 15

Decline situps w/ 50 lbs x 20

BB Curls:

100 x 5
100 x 5
100 x 5
100 x 5
100 x 5

Good sets here, wore my wrist wraps which kept my wrists straight and really toasted my biceps.

I really feel like this workout sucked today, wasnt feelin it from the beginning and just wasnt thinking in there or sold on what I was going to do. Whatever, I guess I worked hard but I feel like I could have been much smarter and done a better job in there. My body is adjusting to the increases frequency as I was a little more sore, this will go away eventually I'm sure, I'm takin the weekend off, christ I need it...

P.S. Wrist still bothering me, getting uncomfortable on some lifts, I dont want to take anytime off though.

 

[Saturday Fever]

Sometimes you just aren't going to hit a lift, don't sweat it. Happens to all of us. The key is to figure out where you missed it and work on that weakness. If you couldn't lock it out, work on your lockout with some rack pulls. You'll get there, don't worry about it.

 

[GRIFF]

Ya SF, totally hear you, I'll get it soon no worries. I'll go for some rack pulls on an upcoming pull day.

May 17th, 2004

Flat Bench:

135 x 5
155 x 5
185 x 5
205 x 5
225 x 5

Weighted Dips:

25 x 2
45 x 2
55 x 2
55 x 2
55 x 2
55 x 2
55 x 2
55 x 3

Toasted my triceps here, felt great.

Incline DB:

75 x 10
75 x 9
75 x 8

Didnt have much left at this point, weights felt like they were gonna fall on my face.

V-Bar Extensions:

200 x 10
200 x 10
200 x 10

All in all very good workout today, I'm happy with it, I decided to drop my bench weight down and build it back up, I havent been progressing much lately with it, so I'm hoping this will help. Would like to get 250 x 5 (up from 245 x 5) within the next few weeks, we'll see how this goes. Did weighted dips for the first time today, really like them a lot, I'll continue to do that, the gym has a good belt I was able to use.

 

[atherjen]

way to go on the dips!!

 

[GRIFF]

Thanks Jenn, ya I really like the weighted dips, should help with my tricep strength, when I get back to Dips with BW in a few weeks it should feel really light.

I've got a pull day today, So I'll be hittin the deads and rows, I'm lookin forward to it, I'm hopin to get some new progress pics up soon, I'm still tryin to figure out my moms camera that she got, some crazy FUJI with tons of options.

 

[GRIFF]

May 18th, 2004

Deadlifts:

135 x 3
225 x 3
365 x 3
455 x 1! PR
425 x 2! PR

GREAT sets here, 455 went up pretty damn smooth today, 365 x 3 felt like nothing. 425 x 2 was pretty smooth as well. VERY pleased here.

Ghetto T-Bar Rows:

225 x 8
250 x 6
250 x 6

DB Rows:

105 x 10
105 x 10
105 x 10
105 x 10

All I can say is ouch, these were rough sets, I was pleased with my intensity here, but man I was glad when they were over.

BB Curls:

105 x 3.OUCH, right wrist REALLY hurt on this rep, I couldnt finish the set, I dont know what the hell is wrong with it but its really bugging me. I dont want to stop though, so I'll just ice it, and see what I can do, I dunno.


Overall very good workout today, hit 2 PR's which is ALWAYS nice, legs tommorow which I'm looking forward to. My friend DJ is home, doing his Springfield football summer lifting program so he'll be giving me some good ideas for workouts coming up.

 

[Saturday Fever]

If it hurts, quit doing them. Or at least take a break for a few weeks.

 

[GRIFF]

Ya, I may lay off the curls for awhile. My biceps are sore as HELL today, I think the 4 sets of DB rows really did them in.

May 19th, 2004

Squats:

135 x 3
225 x 4
275 x 3
345 x 2!PR, was only expecting to get one, felt great, hit a second one.
365 x SQUISH smashed to the rack once again, put the ego in check...
315 x 6

Great sets here. Changed my form slightly by bending over at the hips slightly while keeping my back arched, allowed me to go deeper and made me feel much stronger, I think I had been too upright previously.

Hack Sled:

90 x 10
140 x 10
150 x 10

Ham Curl (single leg):

90 x 8
140 x 8
140 x 8

Seated Calf to Standing Calf Machine Superset:

45 x 20, 150 x 20
90 x 20, 150 x 20
135 x 20, couldnt superset this one because some guy started using it.

Overall very pleased with my workout today and the new PR, feeling much more confident and comfortable on squats now.

 

[Saturday Fever]

Almost sounds like you were squatting with powerlifting form. We may convert you yet.

 

[GRIFF]

haha convert away, I just wanna get strong...and jacked haha.