Grow Phase, Wed., 12/31/14, Back, Trap, Bi

verse of the day: Ps 27:9, "Do not hide your face from me, do not turn your servant away in anger; You have been my helper. Do not reject me of forsake me, O God my Savior."

Today was back and biceps with a side of trapezius. It was fairly low volume with relatively high intensity. I got an excellent pump and really stimulated the muscle. Here's how it looked:

under-hand-grip-pull-down: 90-25; 135-12; 180-8; 225-6; 255-7
row: 135-10; 185-6; 235-6; 255-5
seated row: 200-8
dumbbell shrug: 75s-8; 110s-10
seated dumbbell curl: 25s-10; 35s-6; 45s-6+1
spider curl: 80-5+2
cable curl: 150-10

Grow Phase, Tue., 12/30/14, Chest, Shoulders, Tri's

verse of the day: Ps 27:8, "My heart says of You, 'Seek His face!' Your face, Lord, I will seek."

I got in a great pump this morning. The volume was fairly low with just a few working sets per muscle. Here's how it looked:

bent over cable fly for upper chest: 40-15; 60-15; 80-12; 100-10
dip: 12; 25lb-12; 45lb-10
lateral raise: 20s-15; 30s-12; 40s-12
machine lateral raise: 110-10
    + upright row: 40-6, 50-6, 60-6, 80-6 (no rest)
lying triceps extension: 50-25; 80-6; 110-8
pushdown: 160-10; 210-6
1-arm reverse pushdown: 60-11

Grow Phase, Mon., 12/29/14, Legs

verse of the day: Ps 27:7, "Hear my voice when I call, O Lord; be merciful to me and answer me."

This weekend I just enjoyed myself and visited with family. I ate a ton of food- gained 5 lb. I did do a fairly light leg workout on Friday- just pumping the blood in the muscle and burning some calories. Today I'm back in the game with a heavy leg day. I'm still tip-toing back up with the weights. After a minor shoulder injury trying to go to fast, I'm trying to use my brain. Here's how it went today:

squat: 45-30; 95-10; 135-10; 225-10; 315-10; 365-7
1-leg curl: 65-10; 80-7; 65-5,6
leg press: 450-10; 630-10; 900-11 (or 12, I'm not sure)
smith machine calf raise: 180-20; 250-20; 320-18
seated calf raise: 140-20

Grow Phase, Tue., 12/23/14, Chest/Delt/Tri

verse of the day: Luke 22:26, "...but let him who is greatest among you become as the youngest, and the leader as the servant."

Today's workout went great. It was very fast and focused. I split up the upper body into 2 days this week. Tomorrow will be back and bi's and I will take off Thursday (it's Christmas ya'll.) Here's today's great pump:

cable fly (bent over for upper chest): 40-20; 50-15; 70-15; 80-12; 90-8
dip: 15; 25-12; 45-10
laterals: 10s-15; 20s-15; 30s-12; 40s-8,6; 30s-13
cable rear laterals: 40-15; 50-12
dumbbell front raise: 10s-25, 15s-10, 20s-10, 25s-7 (no rest)
pushdown: 90-25; 150-12; 200-12
1-arm pushdown: (rope)60-8,6; (D)60-12
seated rope extension: 120-8
lying cross-face dumbbell extension: 25-9,7

Grow Phase, Mon., 12/22/14, Legs

verse of the day: Luke 21:34, "Be on guard, that your hearts may not be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of life, and that day come on you like a trap."

I got in a great workout this morning. This was the 1st time since the world championships that I have squatted 405. It was heavy. But, I am slowly getting stronger. And again, I am only about 172 pounds right now. I'm trying to keep the fat off and slowly build up the muscle size and strength. So here's how it looked this morning:

squat: 45-30; 135-10; 225-6; 315-6; 405-3 + 315-5
leg press: 450-10; 630-10; 900-11
leg curl: 95-10; 140-10; 185-4 + 3 drop-sets
calf press: 270-20; 460-20; 640-15,13; 460-21

Grow Phase, Thur., 12/18/14, Legs

verse of the day: Luke 18:17, Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it at all.

I got in a great leg workout this morning. It was very focused and controlled on everything I did. The focus was on the weak points: calves and hams. For quads I just wanted to really hit the sweep, so here's how it went:

smith machine calf: 90-30; 180-20; 270-15; 360-15
calf press: 270-15; 460-15; 600-15; 460-20
standing leg curl: 40-10, 55-10,70-10 (no rest)
seated leg curl: 125-17
leg press: 90-30; 270-15; 450-10; 630-10; 900-10
squat: 225-30 + leg extension: 130-16

Grow Phase, Tue., 12/16/14, Upper Body

verse of the day: Luke 16:10- He who is faithful in a very little thing is faithful also in much; and he who is unrighteous in a very little thing is unrighteous also in much.

I got in a great leg workout yesterday. I did a few low rep, higher weight sets... I'm weak. Keeping my weight down has made a difference in strength for sure, but I think it will come back pretty quick... We'll see.

Today's workout went great. I increased the volume a little- trying to find that perfect combo. It was very much by feel. Some exercises I did only 1 set and others multiple. I'm trying to focus on the weak points: upper chest, delts, upper back. The total was 44 sets- that's a lot.

Grow Phase, Fri., 12/12/14, Upper Body

verse of the day: Luke 13:24, "Strive to enter by the narrow door; for many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able."

Today's workout was upper body. For chest and back I super-set flat dumbbell presses and rows, and finished it off with pullovers; for shoulders lateral raise super-set with bent-over lateral raise; and for arms dumbbell curls super-set with lying extensions. It was a great pump and I definitely put some intensity into it.

Grow Phase, Thur., 12/11/14, Legs

verse of the day: Luke 12:31, "But, seek for His kingdom and these things shall be added to you."

I got in a great leg workout this morning. It was a backwards workout for me. I think as long as I train legs twice a week I will alternate starting with quads and starting with calves and  hams. Here's how it looked:

seated calf raise: 45-25; 90-25; 140-25
angle smith calf raise: 180-25; 270-15,20
standing leg curl: 25-15; 40-15; 55-12; 70-10; 85-6; 55-12
leg press: 90-25; 270-25; 450-25; 630-30
squat: 225-20 (slow, controlled, focused reps)

Growth Phase 1212/10/14 rest, diet update

Verse of the day: for the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what to say -Luke 12:12

So here's a basic idea what my diet looks like right now (pretty basic and clean with cheats here and there) it's what I ate yesterday:

meal#1: egg white; oatmeal; apple
meal#2: chicken breast; tangerine
meal#3: p4p iso-whey; sweet potato
post workout: 20g whey protein
meal#4: 1/2 scoop p4p iso whey; 3/4c greek yogurt; banana; raisins; peanut butter
meal#5: chic brst; vegetables
meal#6: quiche; peas

It's not exactly the same every day, but it is similar. Usually I only have 1 shake and maybe some iso-whey mixed with yogurt later. And most of the time I eat more carb than I did yesterday. But this gives you a good idea of what I'm eating. I'm really not eating as much as I usually do in the "off season" or muscle building phase, but I'm trying out a different way, gaining weight a little slower and keeping it cleaner. This morning I only weighed 173 lb. Last year this time I was over 180lb.

Growth Phase, Tue., 12/09/14, Upper Body

verse of the day: Proverbs 14:23, "All hard work brings a profit, but mere talk leads only to poverty."

Revving up the game a little. Right now I'm sticking with the upper-body/lower body workout. Yesterday I did legs- got an excellent pump- and today I did upper. The volume has actually decreased for each muscle, while it is the intensity that has increased. Yesterday for quads I only did squats and walking lunges, for hams just lying leg curls and for calves calf presses and seated raises. And today 1 exercise per muscle. The theory here is to hit it more often while actually having more rest time for each upper body muscle. Here's how today looked:

wide grip pull down: 75-25; 105-20; 135-15; 165-12; 195-10; 225-8; 255-4
   super-set with incline dumbbell press: 25s-25; 40s-20; 55s-15; 70s-12; 85s-10; 100s-8; 75s-10

Hammer Strength shoulder press: 90-15; 160-12; 230-6; 160-12

concentration curl: 20-15; 30-10; 40-8; 50-6; 35-8

1-arm rope pushdown: 30-15; 40-15; 50-15; 60-12; 70-6

Recovery Phase, Fri., 12/05/14, Upper Body

verse of the day: Ec. 3:1, "To everything there is a season, and a time for every matter or purchase under heaven."

Today was the last workout in this phase of the game. On Monday I begin the growing phase. I will be easing into it. The intensity will be climbing a little, as I bring the volume down a little. I will keep this upper/lower split for a little while and see how it goes. The plan is just 1 exercise per muscle and train each muscle twice, probably switching the exercises around a little (say for chest, Tuesday workout would be incline press and Friday would be flat press.)
I got in a great pump again this morning. It was very focused. I did not do as much volume as Wednesday and increased the reps a little just to give the joints a break before starting hard Monday. Here's how it went:
7 super-sets flat dumbbell press and Hammer Strength pulldown
3 sets pullovers
3 super-sets Hammer strength shoulder press and machine rear laterals
1 run the rack set lateral raise with 5 reps each set from 10s to 35s with no rest
4 super-sets barbell curl and 1-arm rope pushdowns
1 set each: knee-up-crunch, reverse crunch, bench crunch, twist crunch

Recovery Phase, 12/04/14, Legs

verse of the day: Luke 9:55b, 56a "You do not know what kind of spirit you are of; for the Son of Man did not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them."

It was another pretty chill workout today, though I got an incredible pump and sweat like crazy. There was not much sitting around- a lot of super-sets and back and forth, little rest. Here's what it looked like:
squat: 45-25; 95-25; 135-25; 225-25
walking lunge: 80-16 steps each leg
reverse lunge: 145-8 reps each leg
leg press:                            360-25, 450-20
   super-set with calf press:    "
standing leg curl: 60-15,8; 45-10; 30-15 (no rest)
leg extension: 105-25,20
   super-set with lying leg curl: 110-15
seated calf raise: 140-15,90-20
machine calf: 230-12,180-15

Recovery Phase, Wed., 12/03/14, Upper Body

verse of the day: Luke 9:23, "If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me."

Today was upper body. I smashed- oh yeah, I'm not smashing anything right now- I worked the whole upper body in about 35 minutes. Again, it was entirely super-sets: chest and back, side delt and rear delt, front delt and traps, bi's and tri's. Every angle was hit with: incline dumbbell presses, flat dumbbell presses, cable crossovers, pulldowns, rope pulls, machine rows, laterals, bent-over laterals, upright rows, military presses, curls and skull-crushers. The reps were mostly higher like 12-15, with a few exceptions. It was an awesome pump and I sweat like crazy.

Recovery Phase, Tue., 12/02/14, Legs

verse of the day: Ps. 3:3, "But Thou, O Lord, art a shield about me, my glory and the One who lifts my head."

Today was a very fast, very focused, leg workout. The rest periods were very short and the rep range was very high- mostly 25's. Here's how it went: 4 sets of squats, 2 sets of leg presses, 1 set of reverse lunges, 4 sets of standing leg curls, 3 sets of calf presses, 2 sets of seated calf raises and 1 set of leg extensions.

Recovery Phase, Week 3, Mon., 12/01/14, Upper Body

verse of the day: Ps 127:1a, "Unless the Lord builds the house, they that build it labor in vain."

I only gained 4 pounds this weekend. I was expecting it to be a bit more than that, because I pretty much just chilled and ate whatever I wanted Thanksgiving day through Sunday. I did hit my upper body on Thursday and legs on Friday, but Saturday and Sunday were just total rest. It was nice.

Today was Upper body. I'm still not taking sets quite to failure, and it is entirely by instinct- I may do 4 sets here, 1 set there. Here's how it looked:

6 super-sets Incline Hammer Strength press and wide pulldowns
2 super-sets seated row and dips
1 set flat dumbbell press
1 set hammer strength pulldown
1 set pullover
2 tri-sets laterals, rears and shoulder presses
3 super-sets dumbbell curl and rope pushdowns
1 set each: rope crunch, reverse crunch, crunch, twist crunch, and decline crunch