Fri., 5/30/14, NEW BIGGER DUMBBELLS!!!

So we got 120s, 130s, 140s and 150lb dumbbells this morning. I'm stoked. This is a new challenge for me, as I can only dream of pushing 150 lb. dumbbells right now. I've been going to another gym that has 120s to do chest for my inline dumbbell presses, and been getting 6 reps. Well on my "home turf" this morning I blew that out of the water. The workout today was pretty short- not too much volume, because I will switch chest to Monday next week. It was a great pump, though. Here it is:

incline dumbbell press: 20s-20; 40s-6; 60s-6; 80s-6; 100s-6; 120s-9
flat dumbbell press: 120s-6; 100s-8; 80s-12
rope cable fly: 60-10,10
cable fly: 80-12
lying triceps extension: 60-15; 80-12; 110-8
seated rope extension: 120-12,10,10
1-arm rope pushdown: 50-12,10,10

Thur., 5/29/14, LEG DAY

I got in a great leg workout this afternoon. The focus was on maximum stimulation of the muscle and minimal stimulation of the joints. I always start with squats, but did not want to go crazy on them today. So I did all sets of 20 reps, and even the last set, with 315, was not total failure. But it causes a killer burn that built up over the next 5 minutes after the set. So the lunges and the presses hurt! did Here's how it went:

squat: 45-20; 135-20; 225-20; 315-20
reverse lunge: 95-11
leg press: 540-23
leg curl: 105-23
ham/glute raise: 10,6

...they were crazy pumped

Tue., 5/27/14, Back and Biceps

 My split is changing up a little from a four day to a five day and I will add a rest day for a couple of weeks. My body is needing a little more recovery time. My split will be (after transition week): Mon- chest/ tri's; Tue- back/bi's; Wed-rest; Thu- legs; Fri-shoulders; Sat, Sun- rest.

I got in a great back and biceps workout this afternoon. Here's how it went:
rows: 45-20; 95-10; 135-10; 185-6; 225-6; 275-10
wide pulldown: 180-12; 200-10; 220-8
rope pulldown: 120-12,12,15
rope low row: 140-12; 180-?
seated dumbbell curl: 35s-8; 45s-6; 60s-4+ 2dropsets
concentration curl: 65-4, 50-6, 35-6 (no rest)
cable curl: 140-12,?; 100-10
hammer curls: 35s-10
This was an awesome pump. I am still slowly getting stronger using the P4P Muscle Iso-Whey. My home-made-post-workout shake (which I've found very effective) is: 35g P4P Iso-Whey, 60g waxy-maize starch, 5g glutamine and 5g creatine.

Fri., 5/23/14, Chest/Calves/Arms

No this was not all one workout. Yesterday was chest and calves and today was arms. Both were great workouts. Both were hard. Yesterday I'd not gotten enough sleep. Today everything on my body is sore (including the bi's and tri's I worked.) I got an intense arm pump this morning- it was killer. I really pushed them.
The starter for arms was a super-set of curls and skull crushers going up the rack back and forth (bi/tri) and back down immediately without any rest for a total of 8 sets. Next up was cable curls and pushdowns 3 sets again no rest at all. Then it was 3 super-sets of hammer curls and seated 1-arm extensions. And I finished it up with 2 sets of concentration curls and 2 sets of rope pushdowns again with no rest. This took 25 minutes, and they were tight!

Wed., 5/21/14, Legs

I got in a great leg workout this morning. I did not impress myself with anything today, but got an incredible. I used very slow reps (counting to 4 on the way up and on the way down) on 2 exercises and did lunges for the first time since the world championships. I'm not going to be able to walk tomorrow. Here's how it looked:

squat: 45-15; 95-6; 135-6; 225-6; 315- (super-slow); 225-6 (super-slow)
reverse lunge: 95-6; 145-6; 185-6
leg curl: 60-15; 90- I don't know 4 seconds up and 4 seconds down... ouch
ham/glute raise: 7,8
leg press: 270-20; 360-20; 450-20,20

Tue., 5/20/14, Back

I seem to be specializing in 20 minute workouts this week. My schedule has been a little wack, so the workouts have been short and intense. This is today's rendition:

row: 45-20; 95=15; 135-10; 185-6; 225-6; 275-6+3; 225-12
V-grip row: 255-6,6
seated row: 160-12,10
wide pulldown: 240-6+ 3 dropsets

Mon., 5/19/14, Shoulders

So, the 20 minute shoulder workout... Yeah it was pretty much a smash and run job this morning. The schedule was a little cramped, so I hit it hard and fast:

Hammer Strength shoulder press: 50-20; 90-12; 180-6; 270-6; 320-4 + 2 drop sets
incline rear laterals: 35s-12; 50s-12
laterals: 30s-12; 40s-10 + 2 drop sets
pause shrug: 225-12
laterals: 40s-8

Fri., 5/16/14, Arms and Calves

Though I did not report yesterday, I did get in an awesome chest workout. I was just very busy yesterday. Today was an incredible arm and calf workout. I used a different technique for calves- very slow reps. It hurt. It was all the basic stuff for me:
5 sets of calf presses (slow... it was bad)
2 sets of seated calf raises (again slow... and the word that came to mind to describe it was irritating)
5 supersets dumbbell curl and rope pushdown
3 supersets spider curl and seated rope extension
2 supersets close-grip cambered bar curl and lying triceps extension
1 superset hammer curl and 1-arm seated triceps extension

Wed, 5/14/14, Legs

I got in a great leg workout this morning. They were crazy tight when I finished. I started with the old favorite (it's kind of a love/hate relationship) squats. My knee was feeling a little shaky and irritable, so the reps were (really as always,) very controlled and focused. My last set on squats really did not impress me, so when I followed up with leg presses I was a little mad- which means it got real. Here's how it looked:

squat: 45-10; 95-6; 135-6; 225-6; 315-6; 405-10
leg press: 450-20; 630-15; 930-10
leg curl: 90-12; 120-8; 150-4 + 3 drop-sets
ham/glute raise: 6,6,6

Tue., 5/13/14, Back

I got in great back workout this morning. I'm definitely getting stronger on all my pull downs. Weight that was feeling heavy is now feeling relatively light. It was a short intense workout this morning, with just the basics:

6 sets of rows
3 sets of V-grip pull downs
2 sets of seated rows
1 drop set of wide pull downs

Mon., 5/12/14, Shoulders and Calves

Todays workout was just the basics- very focused and intense. It only took about 45 minutes from start to finish, and I crammed a bit in too. I'm definitely getting stronger- partially thanks to the high quality p4p muscle protein powder I've been using- seeing improvements. The big variable today was popping a blood vessel in my left hand during rear lateral raises. That always stinks, it swells up and you can't put any pressure on the spot for a couple of days. Needless to say it changed the workout a little, though still not much. Here's how it looked:

bosu ball crunch: 3 x 30
stretching
machine calf raise: 120-30; 180-20; 225-20; 270-?
1-leg calf press: 180-20,15,12,12

laterals: 10s-15; 20s-12; 30s-12; 40s-10 + 2 drop sets
incline rear laterals: 50s-12 (popped blood vessel)
machine rears: 140-15; 200-9
Hammer Strength shoulder press: 90-12; 180-12; 230-12; 280-6

fri., 5/9/14, arms and calves

I really put some intensity into the workout today. It was a killer pump. It was totally focused and very fast, with only one working set per exercise. Here's how it went:

seated dumbbell curls: up to 55s-6
superset with skull crushers: up to 110-15

preachers: 90-10?
s/s seated extension: 110-8

concentration curl: 60-6
rope pushdown 1 arm: 80-10

hammers: 45s-8+2
1 arm seated extension: 45-6

cable curl: 120-12
s/s pushdown: 200-6    + 2 super-drop-sets

Thur., 5/08/14, Chest

I got a killer chest pump today! I went to Fitness Warehouse in Elizabeth City, NC, because I had to be out there anyway. They have bigger dumbbell than we do at home and a few other pieces that I like. Here it is:

high incline dumbbell press: 20s-20; 40s-15; 60s-8; 80s-6; 100s-6; 120s-6
low incline dumbbell press: 120s-4; 90s-12
Hammer Strength wide press: 90-12; 180-12; 270-10; 320-6+ 3 drop sets
cable fly: (for upper) 80-12,8; (for lower) 80-8 + 2 drop sets
incline Hammer Strength: 180-17
pullover: 75-12

Wed., 5/07/14, Legs

I got in a great leg workout this morning. I'm still feeling out a new position for the bar on my neck for the squat, so I didn't set any PR's or anything today, but definitely stimulated the muscles. You'll probably notice that the reps are a bit lower than usual, this is just trying to hit the fibers a little differently:

squat: 45-15; 95-6; 135-6; 225-6; 315-6; 405-8
leg press: 270-10; 450-10; 630-10; 810-10
leg curl: 90-20; 120-8,6
ham/glute raise: 6,6,6
calf press: 450-20,20,20,20

Tue., 5/06/14, Back

Today I got in a great back workout. It was fairly low volume, but the intensity was up. I really put the effort into each exercise, with a few feel sets and only one working set per exercise. Here it is:

wide pull down: 90-20; 120-15; 165-10; 210-6; 255-6; 300-5+1
machine row: 225-12; 270-6; 330-8
close pull down: 270-? (8)
row: 135-6; 225-6; 275-6 + 2 drop sets

Mon., 5/05/14, Shoulders

I ended up taking a 4 day weekend. One of my clients and I did a healthy eating talk out of town. Although I had not planned it, it worked out nicely because I hadn't taken one in a while.
So, I am refreshed and ready to rock and roll this week. I got in a great delt workout this morning. I'm slowly adding some trapezius work back in a little at a time. Here's how it looked today:

Hammer Strength shoulder press: 50-20; 90-15; 180-12; 270-11 + 2 drop-sets
lateral raise: 20s-15; 30s-12; 40s-8 + 2 drop sets
incline rear lateral raise: 35s-15; 50s-10,10
seated dumbbell shrug: 60s-15; 75s-15