Friday, January 29, 2016

Fri 1/29 - Push day (awesome WO!)

Workout: LA Fitness
(135#OHP)5x5,95x10
(50#Crunch)5x12
(70#Inc)10,9,9
(45#IsoShldr)12,10,10
(20#IncFly)10,10,9
(45#Pullover)2x10
(RopeExt)65x9,58x9,12,12
(35#Delt)2x10
(5#CableRaise)2x10

75 + 11 w/u = 86 mins

Push WO this morning. Since my last push day started with heavy incline, I started with heavy OHP today. I was planning on bumping up the weight to 125#'s, but during warmups I decided to put 45# plates on the bar and give 135#"s a shot. I haven't tried this weight in a LONG time. It was heavy, but I was really pleased with getting 5 sets of 5 reps. The last rep on the last two sets I used a little leg drive to get the weight moving, but all other reps were good clean reps. I did a drop set to 95 pounds for the 6th set. I supersetted heavy crunches with OHP. Great superset.

Next I did 3 sets of incline. I couldn't go real heavy after OHP, but this weight felt great. Really controlled reps. Next I did shoulder press in the iso lateral plate loaded machine. I haven't done these in a long time and they were great to finish off my pressing. Since the gym wasn't very crowded, I did incline cable fly's supersetted with DB pullovers. Then I finished up with rope extensions (triceps) supersetted with delt work.  For delt work, I did heavy DB raises followed immediately with cable lateral raises.

Just a GREAT WO today. Very pleased.

Nutrition:
I weighed 173.6 this morning. Very pleased with WO and my weight today.

Tuesday, January 26, 2016

Tue 1/26 - Pull day

Workout: LA Fitness
(185#BOR)4x8,135x12
(T-twist)4x16
(135#TbarRow)2x10,90x12P
(165#VbarPull)10,8,8
(150#PullDn)2x8
(30#Inc/HCurl)2x10/10
(50#UprightRow)2x10
(35#RDelt)3x12

60 + 5 w/u = 65 mins

Pull day today. Started with heavy (for me) bent over row supersetted with torture twists. Abs really sore from yesterday's heavy crunches. It was nice doing BOR with a free barbell (not in smith machine like I have to do at work). They were hard/heavy, but 4 good sets, followed by a backoff paused set. Then we did 3 sets of t-bar rows 2 heavy, one lighter paused set.

Then we went to the pulldown machine. Back already fatigued and I had to drop weight to 165 after the first set. 3 sets of vbar pulldowns, 2 sets wide grip pulldowns. Then we supersetted incline/hammer curl combo with upright rows. Upright rows felt SUPER heavy toward the end of this WO. Finished up with rear delt work. Great pull WO.

Nutrition:

179.2 this morning. Been eating a lot the last 4-5 days while being stuck at home. Thank goodness I've been really active, but weight is still higher than I'd like.

Monday, January 25, 2016

Mon 1/25 - Push

Workout: LA Fitness
(85#Inc)7,7,6,6,5
(45#Crunch)5x12
(65#Inc)10,8
(95#OHP)9,8,8,8
(LegRaise)4x10
(90#Skulls)10,8
(50#RopeExt)2x12
(175#Fly)2x10

65 + 10 w/u = 75 mins

Got the the gym over lunch. Roads are dicey. Decided to do a push day because my back is fairly fatigues from shoveling out from 3+ feet of snow. Started with incline supersetted with heavy weighted crunches. Incline was good. I haven't had the chance to go heavy in a couple of weeks, so I was pleased with these reps. Then we increased the angle of the incline 2 levels and did 2 sets. Then we moved on to standing overhead press supersetted with abs. I knew I couldn't go very heavy on OHP, but was pleased with these 4 sets.

Next we did skull crushers. My wrists have been bothering me quite a bit lately and they hurt on the first set of skulls. I think skull crushers might be the culprit. So, we just did 2 sets. I'll have to back off these for a while, unfortunately. Maybe do them every other WO or once a week. We finished up with some overhead rope extensions for triceps and 2 sets of fly's. I bumped the weight up on fly's and they were good.

Nutrition:
179.0 this morning. I've been really active with snow shoveling and walking the last couple of days, but also been eating a lot of carbs and sugar/candy while being stuck home due to the blizzard.

Sun 1/24 - Cardio

6 mile walk to downtown Leesburg in the snow. Took some great pictures of the town snowed in.
I weighed 180.2 this morning.

Friday, January 22, 2016

Fri 1/22 - Upper

Workout: LA Fitness
(115#OHP)8,8,8,8,6
(135#T-bar)5x10
(65#Inc)10,10,10,8
(40#Crunch)5x15
(165#VbarPull)3x10
(160#Fly)3x10
(90#Skulls)10,8,7,50x10
(50#UprightRow)3x10
(30#IncCurl)10,8
(45#SealRow)2x10
(58#Rope)12,10
(15#RDelt)2x10
(90#SeatRow)3x10

96 + 6 w/u = 102 mins

I started with standing OHP and t-bar row superset. I was planning on 4 sets of each, but got 8 reps all 4 sets of OHP, so I decided to do a 5th set. I knew I wouldn't get another set of 8 because I barely got 8 the last set. I also did 5 sets of Tbar rows with a heavier weight than I've done before (3 plates on the end of a barbell). Next I supersetted incline with heavy crunches. Planned on 3 sets of incline, but decided to up the volume. Crunches were good. Next I supersetted vbar pulldowns with chest fly.  Meat of the WO done, on to accesory work.

I supersetted skull crushers with upright rows. Skull crushers got heavy quick in 2nd and 3rd set after a good amount of pressing earlier in the WO. Upright rows were heavy, but manageable. Next I did incline curls with seal rows. Yikes. Rows supersetted after curls was not the smartest programming. 45# seal rows felt really heavy. Finished up with some rope pushdowns and rear delt work. That was it, but on my way out of the gym, I decided on a bit more pulling volume and did 3 sets of seated rows.  Really good WO. We're supposed to get 2 feet of snow tonight and tomorrow, so probably no gym this weekend. Glad I got a good one in today.

Nutrition:

I weighed 174.0 this morning. That's down from 180.6 on Monday. My weight always seems to spike after a weekend hike. I'm generally at a deficit on those days, but eat so many carbs that I'm holding a lot of water for a couple of days after.

Tue 1/19 - Upper

Workout: Work Gym
(185#SmBOR)3x10
(75#Inc)3x10
(15#Crunch)3x10/10
(135#SmOHP)3x8
(163#Vbarpull)3x10
(90#Skulls)11,8,8
(100#Fly)10,8
(25#RDelt)2x12

50 + 14 w/u = 64 mins

Went to the work gym over lunch and got a good upper body WO in. BOR and incline superset was good. Not as many reps on incline as last WO, but also shorter rests. That doesn't account for less reps on the first set though. Threw abs in there with the superset as well.  Then I did OHP and pulldowns. OHP was good. Next I supersetted skull crushers, fly's and rear delts. First set of skulls were great, but faded on the 2nd set, held on for a good 3rd set. Fly's were heavy. 

Nutrition: 
I weighed 176.6 this morning.

Sat/Sun - 1/16-1/17 - PA Hike (Pics)

Sat 1/16
Susquehanna River to Peters Mountain Shelter. 9.1 miles. About 5 hours.
Steep climb to start, then ridge walking with great views of the river on both sides of the ridge.  The river kind of circled around the part of the mountain we were on, so the view was really neat seeing the river on both sides most of the afternoon.  Got down to the mid 20's at night. It was chilly, but we were warm enough. We pitched our tent inside the shelter. That's generally frowned upon, but it was a large double decker shelter (18 person capacity) and there were only 7 of us there.

Sun 1/17
Peters Mountain Sheler to PA 325. 6.7 miles.
Woke up and got moving for this short 2nd day. Nice hike with mostly ridge walking again until the trail headed down off the mountain to the road and a creek where the car was waiting.








Wednesday, January 13, 2016

Wed 1/13 - Push Day

Workout: Work gym
(75#Inc)12,10,10
(105#SmOHP)12,12,9
(100#Fly)12,10
(PushDn)83x8,78x10,10
(50#UprightRow)2x10

34 + 10 w/u = 44 mins

Quick push day over lunch. Started with incline for 3 good controlled sets. Next I did seated OHP in the smith machine which felt pretty good. Finished up with chest fly, pushdown and upright row superset.  So, 2 of those last 3 exercises weren't "push" exercises. Maybe this was just a chest/shoulder + accessory day. Anyway, nice WO. In and out in 45 mins including warmup.

Nutrition:
I weighed 175.8 this morning.

Tuesday, January 12, 2016

Tue 1/12 - Pull Day

Workout: LA Fitness
(205#BOR)8,8,185x12,10,135x15
(40#Crunch)5x15
(175#VbarPull)8,150x3x10
(15#Crunch)3x15
(45#SealRow)4x10
(30#IncCurl)2x10
(60#RDeltFly)2x12

75 + 12 w/u = 87 mins

I wasn't sure what I was going to do today because schedule later this week and weekend are going to be variable and busy. I started warming with OHP and pulldowns and my right shoulder wasn't feeling very good. Still feeling beat up from Sunday. So I decided to do a pull day today and will try to squeeze in a quick press day tomorrow. I started off with BOR and 185#'s felt fairly easy for 12 reps. So I bumped up the weight to 205#'s and it was heavy, but I got 2 good sets there. Then I dropped back to 185 for a set of 10 and a back-off set with 135. I supersetted decline crunches for 5 sets.

Next I did vbar pulldowns supersetted with crunches. I started pulldowns at what I thought was a reasonable weight, but all the BOR really fatigued my back. Barely got 8 reps. Dropped way down to 150#'s and did 3 good sets. Supersetted with crunches. They were supposed to be crunch-twists, but my abs were fried from all the heavy decline crunches.  Next I supersetted 4 sets of seal rows with 2 sets incline curls and 2 sets rear delt fly's.  Good pull day.

Nutrition:
I weighed 175.4 this morning. Down from 178.0 yesterday after a refeed Sunday. This week will be at, or slightly under, maintenance.

Sunday, January 10, 2016

Sun 1/10 - Upper & end of mini-cut

Workout: LA Fitness
(80#Inc)8,8,8,7
(135#IsoRow)3x11
(65#Inc)8,8,55x10
(135#IsoRow)3x10.90x17
(OHP)115x6,95x8,8
(190#VbarPull)8,8,175x8,8
(90#Skulls)9,8,8,50x12
(50#UprightRow)3x10
(35#Crunch)3x15
(30#IncCurl)10
(15#RDelt)12
(160#Fly)2x10

72 + 10 w/u = 82 mins

Started with incline and got 4 really goo working sets with 80#DB's. Supersetted with 2-arm iso rows. Raised angle of incline and did 3 more sets supersetted with 1-arm iso rows.  Next I did seated OHP with vbar pulldowns. I started too heavy on OHP following all the incline pressing. Dropped the weight for 2 more good sets. Pulldowns were good.

Next I supersetted skull crushers, upright rows and abs. Skull crushers were ok. Fatigued after a lot of pressing. 50#DB's for upright rows were heavy. I really had to work hard on these. Finished up the WO with some curls, rear delts and fly's.  Awesome WO to cap the week of cutting.

Nutrition:
I weighed 174.0 this morning. Refeed day today.  I started the mini-cut on Monday and averaged 1,750 calories a day. Slightly lower on rest days (~1,500) and higher on WO days (~2,000).  This was a bit over 1,000/day calorie deficit.  So I probably lost close to 2 pounds of FAT. Weight went from 186.6 to 174.0 in 6 days.

Thursday, January 7, 2016

Thu 1/7 - Upper - Diets work

Workout: Work Gym
(145#SmOHP)3x7,95x13
(188#VbarPull)10,10,9,150x10
(75#Inc)2x9
(75#DBRow)2x12
(50#UprightRow)2x10
(30#IncCurl)2x10
(78#PushDn)12,10
(30#Crunch)3x15
(RDelt)3x12
53 + 7 w/u = 60 mins

Started the WO with seated OHP in the Smith machine. 145 felt heavy today, but got 3 good sets and one back off set. I did the back off set because I really thought I'd get at least 3x8 with 145#'s. Supersetted these with pulldowns, also with 1 backoff set. I had to work really hard on the heavy pulldown sets to get 10 reps. The back off set I kept controlled and squeezed at contraction.  Next I supersetted 2 sets incline with 2 sets DB rows. Incline felt heavy today.

Next I did upright rows (bumped up the weith again) supersetted with incline curls. Upright rows felt heavy for the first time doing these. Really had to work at this weight. Incline curls felt really heavy, despite being a light weight. Biceps were fried already from rows.  Finished up the WO with pushdowns, crunches and band rear delt work.  Caught a glimpse of my back in the mirror when heading to the shower. My back, especially after a WO, is looking pretty big and really defined. Much better than my chest.

Nutrition:
I weighed 175.0 this morning. Down from 186.6 on Sunday. Diets do work, despite what some people tell you. :-)

Tue 1/5 - Upper & Diet Update

Workout: Work Gym
(75#Inc)12,12,11
(185#SmBOR)3x10
(60#DBShldr)3x8
(175#VbarPull)10,9,8
(90#Skulls)10,9,9
(90#Fly)2x10
(35#Delt)3x10
(25#Crunch)4x15
(33#FacePull)3x12

80 + 10 w/u = 90 mins

First time at the work gym in a couple weeks. Started with incline, not at the lowest level, but not real steep either. I was planning on 3x8-10. First set I got 12 reps. Figured I'd drop reps from there. Then got another set of 12. Great. Last set I got 11. These are the most reps I've gotten with 75#DB's in a LONG time. Felt great. Supersetted incline with BOR in the smith machine.

Next I supersetted shoulder press with vbar pulldowns. Shoulder press was good, especially with it not being first pressing movement. Next I supersetted skull crushers with chest fly. Finished up with delt, ab and rear delt work. Very nice WO. Took a while because Brian and I were catching up, so I took some longer breaks between superset pairings. 

Nutrition:
I weighed 177.8 this morning, down from 186.6 on Sunday. Started a mini cut yesterday. Although I've been VERY pleased with the strength gains, I've been putting on too much fat over the holidays. So I'm going to strip that off this week and next. I'm pulling about a 1,000 cal/day deficit, will eat normall this weekend and then back to diet next week. Should be able to strip off 3-4 pounds of FAT in these 2 weeks with nominal strength and muscle loss.  Then back to rebuilding.

Sun 1/3 - Upper (Great WO!)

Workout: LA Fitness
(115#OHP)8,8,8,7,7,95x10
(135#IsoRow)5x10,90x15
(65#Inc)8,8,9
(190#VbarPull)3x8
(160#Fly)3x12
(145#PullDn)3x10
(88#PushDn)10,80x10,10
(25#CrunchTwist)10,8,6
(35#Delt)3x10
(65#Rope)3x11
(15#RDelt)3x10

80 + 10 w/u = 90 mins

Started with OHP. The racks were all taken, and I didn't want to wait for one to open up, so I did seated OHP. These were great. I'd prefer standing OHP, but I got good reps for 5 sets here and when doing them seated, it's much harder to use any body english to cheat. These were good strict paused reps. Supersetted these with plate weighted iso rows. I did a mixture of single and double arm rows. I did a backoff set for both exercises. Great start to the WO! Next I did 3 sets of paused steep incline supersetted with heavy vbar pulldowns. Pleased.

Next I supersetted fly's with wide grip pulldowns. Today I did fly's with thumbs (rather than palms) facing in. Liked this position. Next I did heavy pushdowns supersetted with decline crunch twists. Finished up with delt, more triceps and rear delt work. Awesome wo. Getting strength back very nicely.

Nutrition:
I weighed 186.6 this morning. Big ouch. Big sushi dinner for Sarah's bday last night didn't help matters ;)

Sat 1/2 - Weverton Hike on Sarah's birthday

Hike:
7.5 mile hike. Weverton Road (AT mile marker 1026.9) to Ed Garvey Shelter (1029.7). Nice view from Weverton Cliffs.  Nice way to celebrate with Sarah on her birthday.  After the hike, we went to a friends farm for a gathering with friends, then out for sushi.

I weighed 183.0 this morning. Haven't been tracking calories during the holidays.

Friday, January 1, 2016

Fri 1/1 - Upper

Workout: LA Fitness
(85#Inc)7,6,80x7,7,7
(135#SeatRow)4x10
(60#ShldrPress)3x8
(205#VbarPull)8,8,7,165x9,135x10
(100#Skulls)8,7,7,80x10,40x12
(45#UprightRow)3x11
(30#IncCurl)2x10
(30#Delt)3x12

80 + 17 w/u = 97 mins

Started with incline and seated row superset. During warmups my right shoulder didn't feel very good, so I didn't know what to expect. Incline started OK, but R shoulder just felt unstable and weak. Left felt great. Frustrating, but I got some good work in. 2 sets at 85#'s, then 3 sets at 80#'s. Needed an assist on last rep of every set on the right side. Left side I could've done more reps. I bumped up the weight on seated rows and they felt good. Next we increased the angle of the incline to nearly verticle and did 3 sets of shoulder press supersetted with vbar pulldowns. I bumped the weight on pulldowns and got 3 good heavy sets, followed by 2 backoff sets.

Next we did skull crushers. I thought with all the pressing, I'd struggle with 100#'s, but I got 3 good sets, a back off set at 80#'s and a drop-set. Great work. We supersetted these with DB upright rows. We finished up with some incline curls and side/rear delt work.  Good way to start 2016.

Nutrition:
I weighed 182.4 this morning. Ouch. Ate a bunch late night last night so weight was way high this morning.

Thu 12/31 - Cardio

Walked 40 mins in the morning.

Weighed 176.8 this morning.