New Squat PR @ PF - 170 x 25

When we met over the Christmas holidays, my part-time workout buddy Matt and had I planned to do a "Leg Day" later in the week at Planet Fitness. When I got up today I wasn't sure what to expect in terms of performance, because last night wasn't exactly a "by the books" workout prep. (Last night included consuming 1/2 a bottle of cheap Australian red wine during band practice late into the night...)

In any case, after a good breakfast and a couple of cups of coffee I was ready to hit the gym for our 8:00 session. We started with some stationary cycling and stretching then headed to the squat racks. I decided to take my time and do extra warm-up sets, so it went something like this for me:

95 x 10
115 x 8
135 x 6
155 x 4
170 x 25

I got this crazy second wind around rep 19 - I probably could have hit 30 reps but was kind of scared by how many reps I did.

The rest of the workout included:
Leg Curls 3 x 15
Hip Abduction 1 x 15
Hip Adduction 1 x 15
Standing Calf Raises 3 x 12
Seated Calf Raises 2 x 15
Stiff Leg Deadlifts 2 x 12
Hanging Leg Raises 1 x 10

Frank's 20-rep Squat Program

High rep squats are something Rich introduced me to recently. I found they tax my endurance in a way I have never experienced before, and seem to stimulate overall growth. I have zeroed-in on 20-reps being the sweet-spot for the best benefits. This is not a new discovery, as 20-rep squat routines have been around for quite some time, with numerous testimonials to their effectiveness.

I have been liking them so much that I have decided to embark on a complete 20-rep Squat Program. The traditional 20-rep Squat Programs call for full-body workouts, 3-times a week. My routine is personalized to have alternating upper-body groupings with each squat workout. Workouts will be performed on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.

Workout "A"
20-rep Squats
Calf Raises
Leg Curls
Seated Dumbell Curls
Standing Press
Tricep Extensions

Workout "B"
20-rep Squats
Calf Raises
Leg Curls
Bench Press
Seated Row
Shrugs

Today is the official start of my program. My bodyweight is 194 lbs, and my current Squat is 185x20, which was performed on Monday, Dec 25, 2006. I will continue to chart my progress with this routine.

Christmas Squats

One of the gyms I go to is open 365 days a year. Today is Christmas, and it also happens to be "Leg Day". Here's how it went:

Squats - Bar x 12, 135 x 8, 185 x 20, 185 x 6
Calf Sled - 90 x 12, 180 x 12, 270 x 14, 270 x 12
Leg Curl - 60 x 10, 70 x 12, 80 x 10, 80 x 8

Training Journal

A Training Journal can be a useful tool in tracking progress, and ensuring that goals are set for continuous improvement. I have kept a training journal from time to time, but have had difficulty sticking to it, partially because I have often made the journal more tedious and complicated than it needed to be.

I don't believe it it is critical to track every single set and rep in a workout. My new training journal is far more simple and less tedious to use. I basically list all the exercises I perform from across all workouts on the same page. I then track only the best-effort working-set, which will be the benchmark to surpass in the next (heavy) workout.

Here is a sample of my journal:

Squats: 165 x 23
Calf Raises: 160 x 18
Leg Curls: 70 x 12
Bench: 225 x 12
Incline Smith: 185 x 12
Seated Row: 135 x 14
Pulldown: 150 x 12
Shrugs: 225 x 12
Seated Curls: 40 x 9
Barbell Curls: 95 x 7
Standing Press: 95 x 14
Side Laterals: 30 x 12
Kickbacks: 25 x 14
Lying Tricep: 60 x 14


Seeing all the exercises together, also gives a pretty good view of what my strong and weak points are, and where I need to focus and prioritize in my training.

Tuesday's Workout

Following Franks lead, I decided to try some higher-rep bench pressing today. Since I don't have nearly as strong a bench as Frank, I chose 125 lbs as my work weight. Here's how it went:

Superset:
Bench Press - 125 x 19, 11
DB Row - 60 x 19, 17

Superset:
Standing Press - 80 x 11, 75 x 11
Chinup - 11 (pronated), 10 (supinated)

Superset:
Incline DB Press - 50 x 10, 8
Wide Grip Upright Row - 75 x 10 , 8

High-Protein Pancakes

Here's my favorite Sunday morning breakfast. Much higher in protein than regular pancakes, but just as tasty and easier to make.

Ingredients
2 cups cottage cheese
4 eggs, separated
1 cup whole wheat flour

Directions
Preheat griddle to 350. Beat egg whites until fluffy. Lightly beat yolks. Mix yolks, cottage cheese, and flour together. Fold in whites. Batter will be thick, but if it seems too thick you can add a few teaspoons of milk.

Spoon batter onto griddle and flatten to about 1/4 " thick. Cook as you would regular pancakes. Makes about 12 pancakes, enough for about 3-4 people.

Time Saver - don't bother separating the eggs and whipping the whites. The pancakes won't be quite as fluffy but will taste just as great!

New Squat PR: 165 x 20

Today I went down to Planet Fitness to work out with Muscle-Beach Matt, my periodic training partner. We get together about twice a month to "pump" and always push each other to new levels of pain and suffering. Today was no exception.

For me it was "lower body day", but Matt likes to do Shoulders and Triceps with Legs so I obliged. After a couple of sets of Standing Presses supersetted with Wide Grip Upright Rows, we hit the squats.

I warmed up with a set of 10 x 95, then 5 x 135. Matt decided to go ahead and do his first work set with the 135. I added a couple of 10's and 5's to get a nice round 165 and dug in.

The first 8 reps were hard but manageable. 9-14 were miserable, requiring 3-5 breaths between each rep. Around rep 15 I got a second wind, got into "the zone", and blasted out the final reps for my goal of 20.

After a brief rest I found enough "juice" for a backoff set of an extra-deep 135 x 12.

We rounded out the workout with:
Leg Curls - 70 x 12, 60 X 12
Stiff Leg Deadlifts - 135 X 10, 10
Standing Calf Raises - 3 X 15, 12, 10 (didn't notice the weight)
Seated Calf Raises - 135 x 15, 15

How Not to Deadlift

This is unbelievable. I found it while surfing around at www.stumptuous.com (the "iron" section), which is a great website about real weight lifting for women.

Check out the video here.

Dec 15, 2006 Leg Workout

Today's workout was legs, the lighter of the two leg workouts I have each week. My legs were still a little sore from Monday's 30-rep Squat crazyness. I did a traditional 3-sets x 10 rep scheme today. I did Squats, Seated Calf-Raises, and Lying Leg Curls, and a lot of stretching. No records set today, but it was a solid workout.

On a side note, my chest does not feel as sore as usual after yesterdays high-rep benching session, but my triceps are noticeably more sore than they would usually be.

Workout Dec 14, 2006 - High Rep Bench Challenge

First a little background. My chest has always been naturally strong, and my legs have historically been somewhat of a weak-point. This is why my training schedule is currently prioritized to have higher frequency for leg workouts than for chest workouts. Although my legs now visually well balanced to my upper-body, from a strength perspective, I still struggle to squat the same weight and reps as I can easily bench.

I am fairly open to trying different techniques in my training, and recently I decided to try some of the 30-rep squats that Rich regularly employs. My first attempt at a 30-rep squat was with only 135 lbs, and it was brutal and exhausting. The theory we had discussed is that I wouldn't be able to duplicate that effort with the bench press, due to the fact that there is really no relief in tension even at lockout.

Well today I blew that theory out of the water. My chest is just plain stronger. I cranked out an easy 135 x 37 reps on the bench. I found that because it is a far more isolated movement, it didn't tax my endurance much at all. There was no struggle to breathe, and at no point did I feel a need to pause. I probably could have gotten more, but it felt like a safe stopping point without a spotter.

My chest was pretty pumped after that, but not painful like with the high-rep squats. After that set, I still continued with 3 sets of 185 x 8 without issue. Less than I usually do, but still pretty heavy. I don't think I will incorporate reps that high in future chest workouts. It was more of a curiosity and a personal challenge just to mix things up.

Rich's Training Schedule

Right now I'm doing an upper/lower split. I have two slightly different versions of each workout with slightly different focus and rep ranges:

Upper 1: Bench Focus
Bench Press - warmup x 8, 3 x 6-10 reps
Pulldown - warmup x 8, 3 x 6-10 reps

Incline DB Press - 3 x 6-10 reps - SUPERSET WITH
One Arm DB Row- 3 x 6-10 reps

Standing DB Press - 3 x 6-10 reps -SUPERSET WITH
Standing Barbell Curl - 3 x 6-10 reps

Upper 2: Barbell Press Focus
Standing Press - warmup x 8, 3 x 6-10 reps
Pulldown - warmup x 8, 3 x 6-10 reps

Barbell or DB Bench Press - 3 x 6-10 reps - SUPERSET WITH
One Arm DB Row - 3 x 6-10 reps

Extra Arm and/or Shoulder work as time permits:
Barbell Curls supersetted with Incline French Press (2 -3 sets of 10 -12 reps)
Lateral Raises supersetted with Upright Rows supersetted with Standing Presses - one giant set with the same dumbbells

Lower 1: Squat Focus
Squat - 2-3 warmups, 1 x 20-30 reps OR 2-3 x 10-15 reps (depending on how I feel)
Stiff Leg Deadlift - 1 -2 x 15 reps
Leg Curl - 1 x 15 reps
Hip Abduction - 1 x 15
Hip Adduction - 1 x 15
Calf Raises (one leg or standing) - warmup x 15, 2-4 x 10-20 reps
Hanging Leg Raises - 1 x 15
Weighted Side Bends - 1 x 15

Lower 2: Deadlift Focus
Deadlift - 2-3 warmups, 2-3 x 10-15 reps
Leg Curl - 2 x 15 reps
Squat - 1-2 x 15-20 reps
Calf Raises (one leg or standing) - warmup x 15, 2-4 x 10-20 reps
Hanging Leg Raises - 1 x 15
Weighted Side Bends - 1 x 15

Frank's Training Schedule

I use a 3-way split, separating my training into "Legs", "Chest/Back", and "Arm/Shoulder" workouts. The order and frequency of the workouts varies from time to time. I generally like to work each bodypart every 4-5 days.

Here are the workouts I currently perform:

Legs:
Squats
Calf Raises
Lying Leg Curls


Chest/Back:
Bench Press
Incline Smith-Machine
Seated Rows
Lat Pulldowns
Shrugs


Arms/Shoulders:
Seated Alternate Dumbell Curls
Standing Barbell Curls
Standing Military Press
Seated Side Laterals
Dumbell Kickbacks
Lying Tricep Extensions

Workout Dec 13, 2006

Today was a scheduled "Upper Body" day. I prefer a simple 2-way Upper/Lower split to keep the trips to the gym down to a reasonable number and force a focus on basic, compound exercises. On to the actual workout...

Warmup - 5 minutes stationary cycle, 1 set hyperextensions, 1 set crunches, stretching

Standing Barbell Presses - 65 x 8, 95 x 7, 4 75 x 10
Close-Grip Pulldowns - 120 x 8, 165 x 8, 6, 4

Bench Press - 135 x 10,9 (supersetted with...)
One Arm DB Row - 65 x 10,9

Shoulder Burners - the following exercises executed non-stop with the same set of dumbbells as one Giant Set:
Lateral Raises - 20 x failure (about 10)
Upright Row - 20 x failure (about 15)
Standing Presses - 20 x failure (about 12)

Welcome to Rick's Training Room

Welcome! My idea for this Blog is to share some of my ideas and experience in training, with a focus on weight training. I'll try to log all of my actual workouts and PR's, and get some of my training buddies to do the same.

At the least this will give me and my friends a way to motivate ourselves to keep pushing hard and setting new goals, and to get tips and new ideas as we learn from each other's experiences.

I hope this will do the same for you!

Rick