Fri., 2/28/14, Shoulders

I've shown this workout before. It is a workout that I developed for myself to maximize the pump, keep the muscle under constant tension and avoid stressing the joint. I've found that it is an effective workout for me and for several of my clients, though it is definitely unconventional. You'll notice it's a combo of low weight/ high rep and high rep/ low weight:

laterals: 5s, 10s, 15s; 20s-45, 13
dumbbell front: 15s-33,22
incline rear lateral: 25s-33,15
Hammer Strength press: 90-10; 180-10; 270-6; 180-10

Thur., 2/27/14, LEGS

I almost puked this morning during my leg workout. It was fairly intense. All sets for quads were 15 reps unless I couldn't make it. Here's how it went:

squat: 45-15; 95-15; 135-15; 225-15; 315-15, 15, 8 (At this point they were totally pumped.)
leg press: 450-15, 15
stiff leg deadlift: 135-6; 225-6; 315-6; 365-6; 225-15
standing leg curl: 60-20, 10, 10
leg extension: 105-? + ? (Just to finish off the pump.)

Wed., 2/26/14, Arms

I got an incredible, can't touch my shoulder, pump this morning. I did a couple sets of several different things- dumbbells, cables, machines. Some sets were heavy and some were moderate. It was a good switch up for me:
6 super-sets dumbbell curl and pushdown
2 super-sets spider curl and incline rotating dumbbell extension
2 super-sets hammer curl and lying triceps extension
2 sets 1-arm machine curl
2 sets 1-arm machine extension
2 super-sets cable curl and 1-arm rope pushdown

I haven't done an update on the diet in a while so here's what I ate yesterday:

5am chicken breast; oatmeal; banana
8am chicken breast
(8:45 workout)
9:30am P4P Iso-Whey and waxy maize starch
11am chicken; sweet potato
1pm chicken; sweet potato
3pm chicken; oatmeal
6pm ground beef; rice; tomato; corn; beef; beans; spinach
8:30pm whey protein

Tue., 2/25/14, Back

I got in a good back workout this morning. It was very basic, very focused and intense:
row: 45-20; 95-15; 135-10; 185-6; 225-6; 275-9; 225-10
wide pulldown: 180-12; 225-10
close pulldown: 240-6,5
seated row: 220-8; 240-5 + 3 drop sets

Mon., 2/24/14, Chest and Calves

I got in a killer chest and calf pump today. I am slowly, but steadily getting stronger. I think the P4P Iso Whey is making a difference, just because of the high quality amino acids. My chest workouts have been  similar- I have moves that I use all the time, just in different orders. Here it is:

incline dumbbell press: 20s-20; 35s-15; 50s-10; 65s-6; 80s-6; 100s-18
bent-over cable fly: 80-10; 100-6,5
flat dumbbell press: 75s-12,9,8
pullover: 70-12; 80-8
cable fly with rope handles twisting the pinking in at the bottom;  just one finishing for the chest with 60lb for as many as I could get maintaining the form.

Thur., 2/20/14, Legs

Tomorrow I will begin using P4P Muscle's 100% Iso Whey. I am excited to see the difference it makes in my training and my physique. It is the highest quality whey protein isolate, so it should be good. This is the beginning of my partnership with P4P muscle, so if you'd like to try their products you can use my coupon code: levi15, and you'll get 15% off.

I got in a great leg pump today- they were tight! The plan was to thoroughly pump the muscle without putting too much stress on the joints. Here's how it went:

squat: 45-15; 95-15;135-15; 225-15; 315-15, 15, 6
leg press: 450-15, 12, 12, 12 (I used the occlusion method by leaving my feet up on the platform between sets, and only rested 40 seconds between sets.)
stiff leg deadlift: 135-6; 225-6; 315-6; 365-6; 415-6
standing leg curl: 45-25,15,12 (No rest between sets.)

Wed., 2/19/14, Arms

I got in a good arm workout this morning. It was fairly basic, though I always go by instinct- some things were high volume and some low volume. Here's how it went:

6 super-sets of preacher curls and V-grip pushdowns
2 super-sets of seated dumbbell curls and seated 1-arm extensions
2 super-sets of hammer curls and lying rotating dumbbell extensions
3 sets of concentration curls
3 sets of 1-arm rope pushdowns

Mon., 2/17/14, Chest and Calves

I destroyed both calves and chest today. It was a killer pump:
4 sets Smith machine calf raise + 3 drop sets
3 sets calf presses
6 sets incline dumbbell press
3 sets bent over cable fly for upper chest
3 sets pullover
2 sets machine fly
1 set cable crossovers

Thur., 2/13/14, Legs

As a rule, I have always refused to have a bad workout. Of course, there are those days when I don't feel good, I'm sore, I didn't get enough sleep, I'm weak, I didn't eat enough, I'm in a bad mood, just plain don't feel like it. But I refuse to leave the gym defeated. I will get a pump in the muscle and stimulate the fibers- one way or another. Today it just didn't feel right (whatever), when I went to do squats the joints weren't feeling up to it, so I didn't do any failure sets. Actually I stopped half way through the main set, dropped the weight and then decided that weight didn't feel right either.... so on to the next move, with a new plan in mind. Here's the whole workout:

squat: 45-20; 95-6; 135-6; 225-6; 315-5; 405-7; 315-2
deadlift: 135-6; 225-6; 315-6; 365-6; 415-6
leg press: 720-15 + 7 drop sets
standing leg curl: 45-20,20,15

Wed., 2/12/14, Arms

I got a great arm pump early this morning. I did a little different order than I normally do. When I was finished they were so tight I couldn't touch my shoulder- that's a good pump!

preacher curl: 30-20; 50-15; 70-10; 90-6; 110-5
super-set with V- pushdown: 60-30; 90-30; 120-20; 150-15; 180-12; 210-11

spider curl: 35s-7; 20s-15
s/s lying 45 degree extension: 110-10; 80-10

cable curl: 120-17,10
s/s seated rope extension: 120-10,6

hammer curl: 30s-15,10,6
s/s seated 1-arm ex: 30-15,10,6

wrist curl s/s with reverse wrist curl: 2 s/s with no rest just to pump.

Fri., 2/07/14, Calve and Shoulders

This was my 3rd shoulder workout using this new plan that I put together. The focus is on constant tension in the muscle, and low stress in the joint- allowing the joints to heal up while shocking the muscle into growing. I use a relatively light weight for each individual delt head, 2 sets using constant tension to failure with a 30 second rest. Then do a heavier basic press:

1-calf press: 90-60,40,30,20; 180-20,12 (no rest)
smith machine calf raise: 180-23,20,21

laterals: 3s/5s/  15s-48,22
front raise: 15s-35,23
incline rear lateral: 20s-31,25
military press: 95-12; 145-6,8

Thur., 2/06/14, Legs

I got in a great leg workout this morning. Fairly low volume, with some decent intensity:

Squat: 45-20; 95-6; 135-6; 225-6; 315-5; 405-10
stiff-leg-deadlift: 135-10; 225-10; 315-20
leg press: 450-15; 590-12; 680-12
standing leg curl: 45-25, 12, 8 (1 leg at a time with no rest.)

Wed., 2/05/14, Arms

The workout this morning was very short and pretty intense and very focused. I super-setted biceps with triceps. It was 14 super- sets total:
 7 dumbbell curl and rope pushdown;
 3 spider curl and skull crusher;
 2 cable curl and pushdown;
and 2 hammer curl and 1-arm dumbbell extension.

Tue., 2/04/14, Back

Today was back. It was a good workout- just the basics:

row: 45-20; 95-15; 135-10; 185-8; 225-6; 275-6 + 225-4 + 135-6
wide pulldown: 180-12; 200-10; 220-?
seated row: 200-8,6
V-grip-pulldown: 190-10,8

Mon., 2/03/14, Chest

I got in a great chest pump today:


incline Hammer Strength: 50-20; 90-15; 180-10; 230-8; 320-6; 360-6
incline dumbbell press: 100s-8; 75s-12
bent cable fly for upper chest: 80-10; 100-6; 80-12
dip: 90lb-6 + 45-6 + body weight: 6
pullover: 75-12

It was swole and tight.

Sat., 2/01/14, Hamstring and Calf

I got in a good pump for the whole back of the leg this morning. Yesterday I only did quads, but everything else got a pump, so I didn't want to kill it too bad. I did 3 circuits through with no rest at all:

seated leg curl:                      50-30; 80-30; 80-15
hyper extension:                          10;      12;     10
standing leg curl:                   45-20; 60-12; 45-12
lying 1-leg curl:                    15-15;  15-15; 15-15
machine calf raise:             135-30; 180-30; 225-20
dumbbell stiff leg deadlift: 50s-20; 50s-20; 50s-12
1-leg calf press:                  180-20; 180-20; 180-20