Greeted by a glorious sunrise at the gym – Nice!
Weight: 207, 7:30am
Warmup: 10min elliptical
Wide Grip Pulldown: 100×10/8/8/6, 70×10
Low Cable Row: 100×8, 90×8, 80×8/6, 50×14
Twist Cable Pulldown: 50×10/8/8
Knee Raises: 10/10/10
Elliptical: 12m
Soak: 10m
Steam: 10m
Weight: 213, 6:30am
Warmup: 10m spin
Wide Bench: 90×12, 180×4, 150×6/4, 90×10
Incline Bench: 50×12/9/6
Hoist Pec Flye: 50×10, 40×8/10
Med Ball Twists: 8# x 50/60/50
Plank: 30/30sec
Spin: 15min
Elliptical: 10min
Soak: 5min
Steam: 5min
I used to hate leg days. This morning, that old feeling returned in force, but I tricked myself into going to the gym anyway. I told myself I’d just do an easy SSS* workout, knowing full well once I got there I’d do more.
Walking up the stairs a moment ago my legs stated, in no uncertain terms, how much they appreciated this morning’s light leg workout. They also let me know that DOMS** will be paying me a visit. Soon.
Warmup: 10min elliptical
Squats: 90×10/10/10
Hack Squats: 90×10/10/10
Hanging Knee Raise: 10/10
Med Ball Twist: 8×25/25
Balance Ball: 1 leg x :45/:45, frisbee
Soak: 5min
Sauna: 5min
Time: 50min
Calories: -400
* Soak, Steam, Sauna
** Delayed Onset of Muscle Soreness
Back in the gym today:
Light warmup cardio
Light Chest/Back/Shoulders/Abs
Light cooldown cardio
5min hottub
:65 min exercise time
460 calories burnt
Yessssssssss!
March 3 – April 6, 2011
Timeframe: 35 days
On Plan: 26 days
Missed: 9 days
Exercise Time: 19 hours
Total Calories: -13465
BodyFat Equivalent: 3.74 pounds!
All in all, a good month. I missed more training days than I would have preferred, but life has a way of happening. The important takeaway for me is that I accomplished a solid month of base training and can now move on to the training I like better.
By charting my training, I am now able to look back and see a distinctive pattern/flaw: Rest days. In March, they were momentum killers – most of my missed days occurred after a scheduled rest day. Methinks I need to change the program and add a bit more structure.
So for April I’m switching to a different routine – the old standby that has served me well for years: Train Mon-Fri, with weekends “off.” Since month two is the strenght phase of my plan, I’ll lift one body part a day Monday-Friday, followed by some core work and at least :30 min cardio. Typically:
Monday: Chest
Tuesday: Back
Wednesday: Shoulders
Thursday: Arms
Friday: Legs
Training legs on Friday gives me two off days over the weekend to recover from blasting them, so I’ve got that going for me. Which is nice.
And while weekends are technically non-training days, I’ll still do rides for fun or with friends. Now those rides become “bonus” workouts – a key mental distinction.
Diet remains the same: eat healthy six days a week, with one cheat day to eat whatever I want.
(BTW – Cheat days are great! No only do they give you a mental break from restriction, they provide a short term, achievable goal. I usually put them on Sundays so I have a week-end target: “I can’t eat that today, but I can have as much as I want on Sunday!” And by putting it at the end of my week, I can choose to enjoy it earlier in the week and just eat healthy on Sunday instead.)
My weight has remained pretty constant over the month, but I can see the changes in the mirror and feel it in my clothes. Don’t get hung up on the scale – this past month my body has burned off fat and replaced it with muscle. So, while I may weigh the same, I look and feel different. THAT’s the important thing, not the pounds.
Bod’s feeling good, chest is feeling tight but not sore from Monday. Triceps are toast though. Heh 
Warmup: 12min elliptical
Assisted Pullup: 108×12/10/7
Assisted Chin: 108×6
Assisted PGrip: 108×6
Low Cable Row: 90×8/8/8/8
Hi Cable Row: 90×8/6/6
Bent Knee Raise: 15/12/10
Spin: 30 min
Stretch
SSS: 20 min
Calories: -820
Weight: 211
10:15 am
Assisted pull-up & dip Supersets: 5
Bent-knee raises: 3×15
Plank: 2x1min
Steam/Hottub: 5 min
Total calories: -400
Low energy day so just hit chest and back to balance out the cycling a bit
Weight: 208.2
8:00 am
Cold front blew in after yesterday’s ride, so it’s back inside. Knees are a little twitchy from yesterday,
Warmup: 12 min exerbike
Pull-ups (assisted): 5 sets
Dips (assisted): 5 sets
Leg Press: 1×90
Bent-knee Raise: 15/15
Cooldown: 17 min light spin
Total calories: -620
Pinched my left ulnar nerve while sleeping (I guess) a few days ago. Either that or perhaps a carpal tunnel flare up. Haven’t been able to hit the gym, but have been doing some isometrics, ab work, stretches and got in a good 30-minute walk today. Also learned yesterday that aqua-aerobics is supposed to be a great way to work through injuries like this – do some active recovery (get the blood pumping, but don’t create a training effect) with some light resistance. Have to give that a try tomorrow if I’m not 100%.
A friend said, “That’s what happens when you get old, dude.” Harrumph. As another acquaintance of mine has said, “I reject your reality and substitute my own.” Nyah!
Weight: 203.6
10:00am
Woke up with DOMS in lats and tris. Definitely feeling the effects of the negative chins yesterday… hello growth!
Warmup: elliptical, 11m/-100 cals
45deg. Incline DB Press: 30×12, 45×6/6, 35×9
45 deg. Incline DB Bent Arm Flye: 30×8/6/8/4 (const. tension)
Cable Crossover Low: 40×12, 50×10/8/8
Hanging back stretches: 4x30sec
Crunches: 25/25/25 (legs up)
Stretch
5 min steam
10 min hot tub soak
Total cals: -530
Good session, the boy kicked butt on pushups – 5 sets of 10, his PB. Good workout partner!