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