Fri 9/26 - Push Day (Rep Goal System)

Workout: LA Fitness
(80#DBInc)10,8,7,7 (32/35) (reps/goal-reps)
(60#Inc)2x10
(LyingLegRaise)20/4x6
(50#ShldrPress)10,10,8 (28/30)
(135#Decline)13,11,12
(45#IsoInc)8,10
(30#IncFly)2x10
(58#RopeExt)12,10,10
(DecCrunch)2x25
(35#Rope)13/3x5
62 + 11 w/u = 73 mins

Implementing the Rep Goal System starting today on certain movements (e.g. DB Incline). The rep goal system will work like this for me on incline. The goal is 35 total reps in 4 sets. So instead of my standard 4x8, the goal is to push every set for as many reps as possible. So instead of stopping the first set at 8 (as normal for this weight), I pushed to 10 reps. In this scheme, reps generally drop on subsequent sets. I continue pushing for as many reps as possible on each set without going to failure.  Today I got 32 reps, 3 reps short of the goal of 35. So next WO with this weight, I'll try to beat 32 total reps.  When I get to the goal of 35 or more reps I'll add weight and try to build back up to 35 reps. It's a new progression scheme I'm trying.

Anyway, incline was really good, both standard and steep incline for 2 sets.  I did lying leg raises for the first time in a long time. Loved them. Will do them some more, along w/ planks. There'll be a little less focus on crunches (though I'll still do them).  Shoulder press was good. Rep goal here is 30. I got 28 so I'll stick with this weight.

Decline was good. I didn't take much of a break before iso incline and so first set was only 8 reps.  Finished up with some tri and more ab work.  Great WO. Love the rep goal scheme so far.

Nutrition:
I weighed 175.8 this morning. I kept eating in check during the day yesterday because we went out for Thai last night with my parents and Sarah's family.

Wed 9/24 - Lower

Workout: Sprint Gym
(135#SmSquat)15/4x7
(155#RDL)15/4x7
(RollingPlank)3x20
(53#CableCurl)3x12
(75#OHTri)15,12
(LungeMatrix)6StationX2
(Crunch)15/15,12/12
(43#Rope)2x12
46 mins + 2 w/u = 48 mins

super busy at work today so didn't have time for a long WO. Ended up being really good. I think when I'm pressed for time, it makes me focus more on a couple movements rather than throwing the kitchen sink at a WO.  Squats still feeling heavy for this light, but got really good mini-sets. RDL was good. Rolling planks, I'm still getting the hang of. They hurt my feet today (rolling all over each other).

Did some arm work (bi/tri) because not much time for it yesterday during upper day. I did the lunge matrix again today. I THINK I like it. I know it's gotta be good for me. Finished with more ab work. Abs were fried today.

Nutrition:
I weighed 175.6 this morning. Trying to keep cals up around maintenance or slightly over to keep gaining strength/size back.

Tue 9/23 - Upper

Workout: Work Gym
(75#Inc)10,10,10 V. Good
(185#SmBOR)3x10 Weight bump - good
(60#Inc)11,11 Weight bump - great
(150#PullDn)2x10
(50#ShldrPress)10,9,8 Weight bump - good
(163#VbarPull)3x8
(90#Fly)2x10
(25#Crunch)4x15
(68#PushDn)2x12
(15#RDelt)15/3x5
88 + 10 w/u = 98 mins

Not a ton of time during this busy day. Plans got all jumbled, but was able to make it to the gym in the AM. Still working back up to heavier weights. Not quite there, but getting closer.  Incline was good. Was tempted to do a 4th set, but stuck to the plan. Bumped weight up on BOR and got good reps. Bumped weight on steep incline. Felt awesome. Very pleased with incline today. Pulldowns still not near back to where they were. Also tough doing these after heavy rows.

Bumped weight on DB shoulder press. These were good. Will stick w/ this weight until I can get 3x10. V-bar pulldowns felt really good. I could really feel this in my back today. Fly's were OK. I don't like this fly machine at the work gym very much. Finished with some weighted abs and tri/delt work. No bi work today. Very good WO. I supersetted opposing muscle groups to keep time as short as possible.

Nutrition:
I weighed 175.4 this morning.

Sun 9/21 - Upper

Worout: LA Fitness
(70#Inc)3x10 Very good
(55#Inc)2x12
(Pullups)x10,160x10,10
(175#UHPullDn)15,12
(RollingPlank)4x15 Much better today
(50#IsoShldr)13/5x3 Sucked
(65#SeatRow)15/3x5
(135#Decline)15/3x5
(220#Fly)12/4,205x4,4
(75#PushDn)2x12
(50#FacePull)2x12
(LegMatrix)x2
88 + 10 w/u = 98 mins

Sarah and I worked out together this morning. Enjoy working out with her when we get the opprotunity, which isn't very frequently right now. Today was a "lighter" day. Incline was great. Really controlled the 70# DB's and got some really good activation in pecs. Raised the angle and did 2 more sets. Thesse were really good as well. Paused last several reps.  Next we were going to superset pulldowns and rolling planks. Both pulldown machines were taken so I did 1 set of pullups, then 2 sets pulldowns and 2 sets reverse grip. Pullups weren't "easy" and 160#'s felt heavy. Rolling planks felt much better today.

Iso shoulder sucked. Didn't feel it very good, blew it on activation set and barely maintained 3 rep mini-sets. Oh well.  Seated rows with wide grip bar were really good. Decline was good today w/ myo-reps.  We did a couple sets of tri/delts and then did 2 circuits of the lunge martix. Yesterday I did circuits with 4 stations. Today I did them with 9 stations. I like these.  Good WO.

Nutrition:
I weighed 175 this morning. Got some king crab legs from Cosco that we'll be having for dinner later. Can't wait for that. Haven't had them in a long time. Will be walking around a lot again today at the Bluemont Fall Festival, so that'll be my excuse for eating like a pig most of the day :) Plus, I'm "bulking" now so I need to eat a lot. Right?

Sat 9/20 - Lower

Workout: LA Fitness
(Deadlift)135x10,225x5,275x3,325x3,1 (ouch!)
(LegPress)4Plx10,6x10,8x10,10x10,8x10
(RollingPlank)3x15
(50#LegExt)2x13/13
(30#IncCurl)15+15
(43#Rope)20/4x5
(LungeMatrix)4x5 (4 circuits)
(StairSprints)7mins
65 mins + 15 w/u = 80 mins

Warmed up real well today.  Not much sleep lately, but wanted to hit a couple good top end deadlifts and then fill in the rest. Unfortunately, heavy back work yesterday prevented that from happening. I should've known better too. I did heavy barbell rows and pulldown yesterday and my back was still clearly fatigued. I unracked 225#'s for my first real deadlift ramp-up set and it felt more like a working set. 275 felt ok. 325 felt real heavy. Tweaked my back a tad on first heavy set. Was going to do a bunch of singles with short rests but realized on first single that I was done. I wanted to ramp up to at least 345#'s today. Oh well. Hopefully didn't tweak my back too bad, and lesson learned.

Leg press was good. Ramped up w/ sets of 10 and was planning on coming back down the ladder with AMRAP, but on the 2nd set 2/ 8 plates my right hamstring started barking at me a little, so I stopped there. Still good work.  I tried a new core exercise today. Rolling planks. Didn't care for them. I'll do them again because I think I just need a couple times to get the movement down.  Hit some quick sets of bi/tri's next and then did some mobility strength work with the lunge martix for 4 circuits. This was a decent amount of work toward the end of a lower WO. Found some definite weak spots. These worked my core a lot more than I would've imagined.

I started WO with a good warmup (15mins) that included some stair sprints. I finished the WO with 7 mins of them as well. I sprinted up the stairs and jogged down.

Interesting WO. Not what I'd hoped for exactly, but some good work nonetheless. Back is really tight as I write this. Need some advil and maybe some foam rolling.

Nutrition:
I weighed 174.0 this morning and was close to target cals yesterday. Target was 3,000-3,200 and I had ~2,900.

Fri 9/19 - Upper (heavy)

Worout: LA Fitness
(80#Inc)4x8
(55#Inc)12,11
(165#UhBOR)4x8
(190#VbarPull)4x8
(15#Crunch)4x15
(45#DBShlderPress)12,12,10
(InvertRow)17/3x5
(60#IsoInc)10,8
(58#RopeExt)12,10,10
(35#DBCurl)2x10
(58#FacePull)10,9
(205#Fly)13/3x4
64 + 11 w/u = 75 mins

I noted this WO as "Upper (heavy)" because I'll be doing another upper WO on Sunday and will probably use 80-90% of today's weights.  Working my way back up in weights after a reset/deload. I've been progressing nicely on incline, starting back at 65#DB's. I got 4x8 w/ 80's today, but I rested for probably 5 minutes before the final set because I got caught up in work email. That last set was tough and I don't know if I would've gotten 8 had I used standard rest of 2.5-3minutes. I'll stick at this weight until 4x8 is more manageable w/ consistent rests. I supersetted incline w/ BOR's. 165#'s was a good weight here. Not ready to bump this further quite yet, but close.  I added 2 steeper incline sets that were paused. Very good first series.

V-bar pulldowns were good. Could've gone a little heavier. Next WO. Supersetted crunches here. DB shoulder press was good (more reps than last 2 WO's), but it did bother my R shoulder a bit. I think I should focus on barbell OHP anyway and see how that feels on my shoulder. Inverted rows were good. I bumped up the weight on iso incline again today. For whatever reason, I didn't feel great chest activation like normal. Felt more triceps. Next I did some tri/bi/delt work and finished up with some fly's. Very good WO and slowly getting back to where I was.

Nutrition:
I weighed 173.0 this morning. Weight has been dropping this week down from ~178. Going to increase cals today and try to hit around 3,000-3,200. I've been in the ~2,500 range all week.

Wed 9/17 - Lower (myo-reps)

Workout: Work Gym
(155#SmSquat)12/5x4
(155#SmRDL)15/4x6
(10#T-Twist)16/4x6
(50#LegExt)15/5x5
(Crunch)25/4x6
(75#OHTriExt)12,10
(53#PushDn)15/4x5
32 mins + 5 w/u = 37 mins

Real busy day, but wanted to get a WO in so headed to work gym for a quick lower WO. Smith squats felt really heavy. Must be the setup of this smith machine (they're all different). Had to work fairly hard on these.  RDL on smith machine is really more of a SLDL, but whatever. Felt good until the last 2 mini-sets when I re-tweaked my R hamstring. Weighted torture twists felt great. Love these.  I planned on doing leg press, but because of hamstring, I did leg extensions instead. Did some crunches next and finished up with a little bit of triceps work. 

I did myo-reps on everything but overhead tri extensions to keep the WO as short as possible with everything going on today. Myo-rep leg work is brutal, even though this WO was short.  With straight sets, this WO would've easily taken an hour.  Happy I got it in today as I was considering skipping it. That would've messed up my schedule for the rest of the week though.

Nutrition:
I weighed 173.2 this morning. Feeling good.