Mon 8/13 - Chest/Tri's (Myo-Reps) & Cardio

Cardio:

• Ran 3.2 miles in 30 mins, c/d walk for 13 mins.  Was planning on just walking, but just decided to run.  Hope it doesn't impact WO today.

Workout:
So, I've been reading up quite a bit about different workout protocols and have been wanting to change things up a bit.  I was doing my normal split for months, changed it up the last 2 weeks with full upper body WO's and now went back to my normal split, but decided to do the Myo-Rep protocol within my split.  Here's one explanation, and another.

Before getting into the details, here's an explanation of my notations using my first exercise as an example.
First exercise: (50#Bench) 16/+4,4,3,3,3,2,2 (15secs)8

• (50#Bench), is the exercise and weight used (if applicable)
• 16, the first number after the exercise is the # of reps on the first working set, AKA the "activation set" where the muscle gets activated
• +4,4,3,etc., are the number of reps for each additional mini-set
• (15secs), is the amount of rest between sets, in this case 15 seconds.
• 8, the last number is the total number of "sets" (the sum of activation set + mini-sets)

The theory, as I understand it, is that the first set activates the muscle(s) being worked with the last couple reps before failure being "effective reps".  Short rest and jumping right into the mini-sets makes all the additional reps essentially "effective reps".  NOTE: load (weight) is kept constant for each exercise.  These are NOT drop sets.

Anyway, take a gander at the two links I posted above for more detail and to see how I probably butchered the protocol below during my WO :)

• (50#Bench) 16/+4,4,3,3,3,2,2 (15secs)8

Wow! This felt really good.  Really liking it already.  Did this first "set" in 6 minutes.  Chest already felt worked really well after this.

• (40#Incline) 11/+3,3,3,2,2,2 (15secs)7

This was really tough.  I had 50#'s penciled in.  Glad I started with 40#s after flat bench and 35#s might have actually been better.

• (Dips) 12/+5,4,4,4,4,4,3 (10secs)8

These felt great.  Felt nearly every rep.  About 10 seconds rest between mini-sets.

• (25#InclineFlys) 12/+6,5,5,5,5,5 (15secs)7

Grabbed 20#s and it was too light, so went to 25#s and was a decent weight.  Maybe too light?  Not sure as I'm still feeling my way through this new type of WO.  I had penciled in the normal Dips/InclineFlys combo, but split these up and did Myo-Reps for all exercises today.

• (50#OverheadTriExt) 15/+5,5,4,4,4,4,3 (15secs)8

These felt good, but didn't like the Myo-Reps as much for these as straight sets.  Still really great tri work.  Will do them again and was committed to sticking with Myo-Reps for everything today.

• (120#TriPushDown) 10/+5,5,5,4,4,4 (10secs)7

Tri pushdowns were really good, but Myo-Reps were tough here because generally speaking, I end up "cheating" on the heavier/last reps on this exercise (It's a hard exercise to keep good form).  Wish I could have done close grip bench or skull crushers instead of pushdowns.

• (110#PeckDeck) 13/+5,5,5,5,4,4 (10secs)7

This felt good.  chest really worked by now.

• (Core) 30/+10,10,10,8,8,10,10 (10secs)8

Core started as crunches on incline board, but started to get cramps in my feet where they hook on the board so I switched to regular crunches on the floor.  Should have done lying or hanging leg raises instead.  Actually, I'm not sure why I did these instead.  Stupid mistake.

Overall this was a fantastic WO.  I really like the "Myo-Rep" protocol, but have to admit I need to do some more reading up on it to see if I'm using the protocol properly.  I *think* I am.  There are a couple of issues I see going forward with this protocol.  First, I can't go heavier on bench with dumbbells, so I'd need to switch to the machine.  That might be OK though.  Second, for some of these I started at the heavier end of the spectrum for me, so I didn't build in much room for progression in weight which I think is an integral part of the program.  Again, need more research on that front.  Regardless, I loved this WO.  This was a great WO with a lot of "Effective Reps" (the majority of them were what would be defined as "Effective Reps" in the protocol).  I need some more experience and some tweaking and research on the protocol, but loved it.  I was done in 40 minutes for a WO that normally would have taken me ~65mins.  I added in the core work and WO was done in 45 mins with that.  Perfect!

45 Mins
Chest: 29
Tri's: 23
Core: 8
Total: 60 Sets

Nutrition:
Decent day.  Heavy on the carbs at night.  The AMOUNT of carbs is fine (since I ran this morning and worked out hard in the gym), but the quality and timing of the carbs not as good.  Still on the cereal kick.

Mon	Time	Item	Size	Prot	Carb	Fat	Cal
8/13/2012	8AM	Ran 3 miles in 30, c/d 13, 43 mins total
	9AM	BCAA	10g
	10:45AM	BCAA	10g
	11AM	WO - Chest/Tri's
	12:30PM	Creatine	5g
	12:30PM	Whey Shake W1	1 scoop	30	4	1	140
	1:30PM	Banana	1 Xsmall	0.9	18.5	0.3	72
	2:30PM	Brown Rice	2oz	1	13	1	63
	2:30PM	Tuna (7oz can)	5.5oz	44	0	2	193
	2:30PM	Zuchini	10oz	3	9	0	50
	2:30PM	Sweet Potato	4.8oz	3	28	0	125
	4:15PM	Chicken	2.5oz	18	0	1	75
	7PM	Apple	1 med	0	25	0	95
	7PM	Chicken	6oz	42	0	2	180
	7PM	Salad	12oz	7	16	0	86
	7:30PM	Kix	30g	2	25	0	110
	7:30PM	Milk (FF)	1Cup	8	13	0	90
	9:15PM	Carrots	2oz	1	5	0	24
	9:30PM	Kix	30g	2	25	0	110
	9:30PM	Fruity Pebbles	30g	2	25	0	110
	9:30PM	Milk (FF)	1Cup	8	13	0	90
	9:30PM	Casein Shake C2	1 scoop	24	3	1	130
	All Day	Almonds	1oz	6	6	15	165
		TOTALS:	Grams	201	229	22	1,907
			Calories	803	918	194	1,914
			Percent	42%	48%	10%	100%