Isometric Training

26 April 2009

Isometric holds (overcoming, 3 positions, 6-8 seconds, max effort):

Back squat (only one hold here, legs too sore from yesterday)
High pull
Overhead press

Added a 5 km walk into the mix.

Split Program - Week 1, Day 3

25 April 2009

Decided to try 20-rep squats again, take a break from heavy squats, improve my cardio-vascular fitness somewhat and shape the legs a bit. The schedule is 20-rep breathing squats, followed by 15-rep deadlifts with the same weight (rest-pause style), then some miscellaneous work.

I got up to 120 kgs for the 20-reppers last time I tried this, managed 13 reps with 125 kgs next time, then went back to low-rep squats. It was fun, but absolutely draining. We'll see how I fare this time round.

So today I did:

20-rep breathing squats: 110 kgs (245 lbs). This was a lot easier than I expected.

So I added in another set, cause it felt like I was slacking off:

130 kgs x 5

15-rep deadlifts: 110 kgs

Light breathing pullover 1 set
Abdominal work
Sissy squats to failure (bodyweight only)

Split Program - Week 1, Day 2

22 April 2009

Weighted pullups: I've gotten weaker on these suckers. Even when I weighed 220+ I performed better.

BW x 5
+25 lbs x 5
+35 lbs x 5
+25 lbs x 5 x 2 sets
+20 lbs x 5 x 2 sets
+45 lbs x 1

One-arm rows:

80 lbs x 5
90 lbs x 5
100 lbs x 5
105 lbs x 5
110 lbs x 4 reps

Smith machine bent-over rows: three sets, top one was 210 lbs. x 6 reps

Alternating dumbbell curls:

35 lbs x 8
40 lbs x 8
50 lbs x 8

Incline bench DB curls: 4 sets to failure, 2 with 35's, 2 with 30's.

Some pinch gripping (plates).

Split Program - Week 1, Day 1

20 April 2009

First day of new program.

Weighted dips - actually figured that there is a dipping belt at the gym. What a moron. So I tested myself - future workouts will be done for higher reps:

BW x 5 reps, +25 lbs. x 5 reps, +35 lbs x 5 reps - warmup

+60 lbs x 5 reps
+80 lbs. x 5 reps
+90 lbs x 4 reps
+115 lbs x 1 rep
+70 lbs. x 8 reps (burn set)

All deep, proper dips. I could probably go up to 135 (not sure).

Two-dumbbell bench press:

75 lbs x 8 reps
80 lbs x 8 reps
90 lbs x 6 reps
95 lbs x 4 reps
100 lbs x 3 reps
75 lbs x 7 reps (burn set)

Getting the things into place was harder than the actual pressing.

Two-DB overhead press (totally burnt out by now):

40 lbs x 8 reps
55 lbs x 6 reps x 2 sets

Cable machine tricep pushdowns:

Stack x 10 reps
Stack x 7 reps, then stack minus 1 plate x 3 reps
Stack minus 1 plate 5 reps, then decreased weight for another 5 reps

Insane feeling in the shoulders, chest and triceps. Expecting soreness tomorrow. It's good to finish a workout without beating up the lower body, though. Nice change.

Power Program - Week 24, Day 3

18 April 2009

After a long night out, hit the gym to get some squats done. Added some arm work at the end - I haven't trained the old gunz seriously for months now, and I feel like they're beginning to lag. Triceps are doing okay, since I hit them practically every time I train, but the biceps could use some extra work.

Squats:

Warmup
130 kgs x 3
140 kgs x 3
150 kgs x 2
160 kgs x 2

Then a light set with 90 kgs and a set of light straight-legged good mornings with 50 kgs, just to get a stretch in the hamstrigs.

Cheat curl:

57.5 kgs x 6 reps
67.5 kgs x 5 reps
57.5 kgs x 5 reps
60 kgs x 5 reps
60 kgs x 5 reps

Wall curl (back against wall, legs several feet in front of the body, curl the bar from thighs to end position, makes cheating impossible:

37.5 kgs x 4-6 reps x 4 sets

Some pinch gripping and levering work.

I am kind of burned out on this program and have decided to change the exercises used. I will go on a six-week experimental split routine with a more hypertrophy-oriented approach. Less lower back and leg work is the idea - hit the low back three times a week and after a while you're doing more harm than good result-wise.

24 weeks is more than enough of any program. I enjoyed the modified Hepburn program, but it's time to say goodbye for some time.

High(ish) Repetition Bodyweight Training

16 April 2009

Higher-rep BW training.

Didn't really keep track of sets and reps. Just hit random sets of pushup variations and sissy squats.

Regular pushups
Chinups (2 sets only)
Dips (2 sets only)
Tiger bend pushups
Sissy squats
Close grip pushups
Bulgarian split squats

Power Program - Week 24, Day 2

15 April 2009

Partial and isometronic day at the gym:

Warmup:

Bench press (freeweight) - worked up to 275 lbs. x 1, plenty left in the tank

Bench press (Smith machine):
Bottom position to sticking point w. 6-second contraction: 230 lbs. x 2, then 2 singles with 240 lbs.
Mid-way to almost lockout, 6-second contraction: worked up to 340 lbs. x 2 reps. Tried 360, couldn't budge it off the holds. Still, lots of improvement.

Bent-over row: two quick sets from knees to finishing position w. 6 second hold, 230 lbs. x 2 x 2 sets. These are not getting any easier.

Deadlift from knees: hit 400 lbs. for an easy single, tried 420 at least 5 times with no success. Puzzling.

Partial squat (half-squat), Smith machine: I absolutely had a field day on this exercise. Only did partials because the Smith machine forces my body into a very uncomfortable angle when going to parallel.

Worked up in doubles and hit 480 lbs. for 2 in the final set. Quads are extremely pumped despite the low reps.

Power Program - Week 24 (Again), Day 1

13 April 2009

Crap session in the gym. Well, not totally, but pretty crappy.

I had to wait MORE THAN 30 MINUTES for a huge group of f***tards to relinquish their grip on the two Olympic bars in the gym (yes, they only have two, it's pathetic, and no power rack either). Guess what they were using them for. I would bet my right testicle that Monday is Bench Day in every gym in the world.

By the time they were done, I barely managed to squeeze my regular reps for the day, so no partials/isometronics this Monday. To keep myself from going nuts, I messed around with some one-arm DB cleans&presses and set a surprising PR:

50 x 3 reps each arm
65 x 2 reps EA
80 x 1 rep EA
90 x 1 rep EA (pretty sure this was a PR)
95 x 1 rep EA (ugly reps, lots of leaning away, still a PR)

Then I FINALLY got to the bar and my performance was poor to say the least:

200 lbs. x 3 sets x 3 reps, 2 sets x 2 reps, 1 set x 1 rep

I think I've exhausted this template for the clean&press, from now on it will be progressively heavier doubles instead of going for 6x3.

Lower back is still sore despite a week of rest. BUT I think I've found the reason behind my lack of energy and general crappiness. I weighed myself tonight and I weigh... drum roll... a tad over 90 kgs, or just around 200 lbs!!!

This is the lightest I've been in years, and it most likely means I'm simply not eating enough to recover. The isometronics and partials feel EXTREMELY taxing. Will up the calories for a week, see what happens.

Recovery Week - Day 4

11 April 2009

Cable training:

Overhead downward pull
Back press
Bicep curl
Front chest pull

All for 3 sets.

Recovery Week - Day 3

10 April 2009

Isometric training, 3 positions per exercise, 6-8 second contraction:

Back squat
High pull
Overhead press
Curl

Recover Week - Day 2

9 April 2009

The Ten Sets of Hell Challenge Day (by EvilOne from www.bodyweightculture.com).

Breakdown: 10 sets of the following:

10 Burpees
10 Pushups
10 Squats
10 Dips
5 pullups

In as little time as possible.

Goal: to finish

Time taken: 42:28

Was ready to give up by Set 3, but somehow managed to pull it off.

Recovery Week - Day 1

Figured out that there was no progress to be made this week. After an excellent last week (strength-wise) I'm feeling burned out and experience has taught me that pushing further would just prolong the beaten-up feeling. So I am taking the rest of the week off and doing isometric holds, cables and BW training.

8 April 2009

Isometric session - 3 max holds, 6-8 seconds:

Deadlift
Floor press
Bent-over row
Reverse curl

Power Program - Week 24, Day 1

7 April 2009

Burned out at the gym, took it easy, tried out new stuff.

Clean&Press: my first set with 200 lbs. told me that I was getting nowhere with this exercise today. So I did 3 sets of 3 reps with 185, just to stay in the groove. Then hit the isometronics in the Smith machine:

Shoulders to eye level: worked up to 160 lbs.
Eye level to almost-lockout: did a few doubles with 140 lbs. This is crazy hard, especially the isometric part.

High pull:
From knees to chest level: 190 lbs x 2
Knees to upper abs: 230 x 2
Knees to above belt: 270 x 2
Shrug: 340 x 2

The messed around with curls, dumbbell presses, pinch and crush grip work. Might take the week off and do bodybuilding-type stuff.

As an observation, the new training template is really beating the crap out of certain bodyparts, notably the lower back and hamstrings, the entire posterior chain in fact. Will have to figure a way around that, I'm just not recovering fast enough.

Cable Training Day

6 April 2009

Cable work, 3 sets each, heavy resistance:

Overhead downward pull
Back press
Front chest pull
Bicep curl
Archer pull

Power Program - Week 23, Day 3

5 April 2009

Well, the isometrics yesterday turned out to be a mistake. I have been overworking the lower body with the partial routine, and yesterday's iso session really hammered my lower back and hamstrings, to a degree the quads too. So I failed miserably in the squat - not only did I not hit my working sets with 150 kgs, I barely managed a triple with 120. I will keep isometric exercises outside the gym to one day per week, at least until I adjust to them.

Bench press: decided to work up in sets instead of doing the multiple triples:
120 kgs x 2
125 kgs x 2
130 kgs x 2
135 kgs x 2
140 kgs x 1 (the most I've pressed since 2007)
135 kgs x 1

Then came the failed squat experiment.

Then I decided to do some dumbbell clean & push presses. Managed to press 32.5 kgs with both hands, then just the right:

42.5 kgs x 1
46.5 kgs x 1

Both of these were PRs... although I don't know if I can count them as a PR if I've never tried them before. Anyway, quite happy with those. Almost pressed 42.5 with the left too, stalled half-way up.

Being the greedy git that I am, I of course tried 52.5 with my right arm, but failed miserably. Overall, not a bad session.

I'm finding that the partial work is really beating up my lower body and that my squat is suffering from it. Perhaps it will take another week of getting used to it. I definitely need to cut down on the isometric sessions.

Isometric Session 2, Week 23

4 April 2009

Planned to go to the gym, but due to errands had to postpone it until tomorrow.

Did isometric session instead, usual parameters - 3 position holds, max effort, 6-8 mins:

Back squat
Pull
Overhead press
Curl
Row

Recovery Day 1, Week 23

2 April 2009

Trying to shuttle blood throughsome extremely sore muscles:

5x20 pushups
5x20 squats

Isometric session - 3 positions, max contraction:

Back squat
Pull
Row
Overhead press
Curl

Power Program - Week 23, Day 2

1 April 2009

Experimented a bit with isometronic reps today. This means that you load the bar to a certain weight (close, but not equal to your maximum), lift it from one pin to another pin in the Smith machine (ideally, a power rack), then hold it against the second pin exerting full force for 5-8 seconds. So an isotonic exercise with an isometric element.

Tried it first with bench presses:

Bottom position: worked up to 250 lbs. for 2 reps, but only held the contraction for about 4 seconds. So lowered to 230 and did two proper-length reps.

Mid-position to 4 inches from lockout: worked up to 305 x 2, but with same problem. Lowered to 285 x 2 reps.

This stuff absolutely fries all muscles involved in bench pressing.

Then on to the bent-over row:

250 x 2 incomplete reps
230 x 3 x 3 sets

Due to the different setup for the row, I pulled the bar to upper abdomen and did a max iso there. The difference is that the top position is the strongest in the bench, but weakest in the row, so this really killed me.

Partial deadlift (no isometric hold): worked up to 425 x 1, then did 3 5-second holds, clean grip, with 340.

2 x 10 dips
1 x 8, 1 x 5 chins

Random one-armed DB presses - worked up to 80 lbs. for a single.

Power Program - Week 23, Day 1

30 March 2009

Clean&press:
2 sets x 3 reps
3 sets x 2 reps
1 set x 1 rep (couldn't lift the weight a second time even by cheating)

So not bad progress there. I decided to keep the sets at 6 in total and just up the reps. 8 was too much, the last ones would be all over the place and my joints would hurt.

Smith machine partials:

Partial presses (clavicles to about nose level): worked up to 230 lbs x 2, push-press style
High pull to lower chest: worked up to 200 lbs x 2
High pull above belt: worked up to 270 lbs x 2
Shrug: worked up to 320 lbs x 2

Did a few sets of incline bench DB curls and one-arm DB presses (up to 60 lbs). Enough for today.