community workout logg

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I thought it would be a good idea to post a community workout log. Here we post our workouts and our thoughts. Other users can post encouragement. This should help others reach their goals.

11/26/12
workout bench/tris/bis
flat bench- 45x20 135x5 185x1 230x3 250x3 280x2(goal was3 but ill explain in the thoughts section why i didnt get it),
135x30(this burned lol)

tri extensions with makeshift rope(75x14, 50x12)...this was not a great set

bicep curls-50x5, 70x5 90x5 110x2, 122.5x0

Thoughts- overall i did not have a terrible workout but it was far from my best work. bench went pretty well being only one rep shy of hitting 280x3 after the other sets. 135x30 also was a nice way to finish things off especially not being used to high reps. I should improve on that for sure.
Tri extensions were weaker than I would have liked. I wanted 75x20. My machine is from the 1970s so 75 is like 150 lol. I also did them using a lat pull down bar and tied straps on the bar to use ''rope handles''

bicep curls were weak today as well. I did my curls slow and strict but I got less reps this week than i was hoping for.

A couple reasons for the not so adequate workout were
1-psyched\ myself out on 280 and misgrooved. Next time ill hit 3 for sure.
2-I was very sick yesterday..was crapping my guts out all night
3-did few more reps for my warmups(i usually only do 135x1-2) and this fatigued me
4-did not use chalk.
workout rank-6/10
tomorrow im squatting 200x26. i'm terrified.

Today was a fairly lazy day. But doing something is better than nothing.

So ice skating for 25 minutes today. After ice skating, I felt up to seeing what I could overhead press. So I worked up to 110. It was a fairly easy 110. Then I went home.

Before I went to the gym just now, hour or so prior, I did some assisted pistol squats. I suck at pistols due to poor balance, but I need to do them if I wanna be a good skater. All the jumps are single leg takeoff and landing, and there's sit spins and stuff, too.

I kinda abandoned my plan of squatting a ton more, as it simply doesn't seem to be a limitation for athletic ability. I have a weird weird body, I have 25 inch thighs, and 13 inch arms. So my legs are huge, but my upper body is like, tiny. So I guess my plan is add some upper body bulk to balance things out somewhat. So far it seems to be working. My standing long jump has gotten like 6 more inches without leg training being done this whole week, and gaining bodyweight through my inadvertant Thanksgiving bulk. I guess my instincts regarding squatting and deadlifting was right for me, I don't need high reps on them as I already have a ton of muscle mass to work with, so I just have to train the mind to lift. But with my upper body, there's no muscle mass to work with, so the neural gains are limited.

So my workout just now was... Standing overhead press 10x10. For some lower body work, I did 5 sets of 3 snatch pulls with a shrug/jump with 135lbs. Plan to do that and add 10lbs each time and see what I can get up to. I did the pressing Friday with just the bar. Today I put 2.5s on the sides. So my plan is to 10x10 to infinity, adding 5lbs for the overhead press. I figure the overhead press will accomplish the goal of building more upper body mass the easiest, as it's the most compound movement, and I like the core and back stabilization component of it. I also just like overhead pressing, and I like the look of big shoulders, but not so much on big pecs. I wonder if I'll throw in some behind the neck pressing, too. Maybe alternate week by week. The snatch pull I like, it's done explosively, pick up the bar and shrug it. Like this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQhsNeMEZeQ It makes me pull higher, and I like it. I do it without straps currently, as the bars in my gym aren't very knurled anymore, and I figure why not train for extra grip. Might have to switch as the weights get heavier, though. My max on that without a shrug is like 195. But I want it with a shrug as it makes it explosive, thus more applicable to jumping and sprinting (and skating sorta, but I find my weakness again is the single leg pistol I need to work on a ton.)

So my aim is...bodyweight overhead press and becoming more explosive and jumping higher.

So today I skated 50 minutes.

I did 4-5 sets of those snatch pulls with 145. Liking that exercise. Also tried behind the neck pressing, got to 95lbs with that before I stopped. I probably could lift more behind the neck. I'm unsure whether or not to pursue BTN pressing, as I like it, but everyone says it's dangerous and I'll hurt my shoulders. Hmm.

hard squat day today..first squat day in a wk. last squat day did 185x24
today i hit 200x22 and it was haaaaaaaard haha..mighta had 25 if i made myself puke but i def didnt sandbag it thts for sure.
then did ham curls 37.5 for 25 each leg
and leg extensions up to 265x11 easily.
nxt workout is 210x22-23 im terrified.

Hey, when you deadlifted, did you wear a belt or no? There's some theory going around that belts are only good for competition/max out attempts. Supposedly what happens is, your core muscles don't develop with constant belt use, and then you pretty much leave yourself more open to injury. Also, sometimes belts will compress the vertebra weird, too. I don't know, just a thought.

nah i dont wear a belt for squats either. i dont rly like equipment and for squats im not that strong either way so wearing a belt is kind of foolish. I am a chalk whore though.. i use it for bench even. But i may not be a great example since i injured myself on dls...but i will admit i did round my back a little...and at 6'2 it's hard to bend down and not round(and still have a strong pull). I don't mind if people use belts though i still consider that raw but i don't consider anything else raw like wraps. When my squat was much weaker i did a partial rom wih 640 pounds and im still alive today lol..if i can do that being as weak as i was then why should anyone need a belt for what they;re squatting?

I'm not on a rigid plan, I'm still figuring out an approach that I think will work for me.

Went to gym and did treadmill till it read 200 calories. Then did the Elliptical for another 100 calories.

Then I did some weight machines. The approach I'm trying to do is about 7 reps per set of about as much weight as I can handle. Before I was doing more reps at less weight. I'm going to see if this change give more results.

7 reps will give a nice balance between size and strength leading more towards size. Are you only using machines or also free weights?

Not using free weights. I might change my mind later.

Yes I've heard the arguments in favor of free weights, but I find it easier to just use the machines. Partly because this is a tiny gym I joined and the free weight section is small. Also, I'm interested in muscle tone but not bulking up. I think the machines are okay. In fact I'm becoming more a fan of the Elliptical with the Push/Pull levers now I feel like it works my body while doing cardio at the same time. Afterward, I feel I should still do a handful of weight machines just to give that extra challenge to my muscles.

I also think I should be following a personal trainer if I was doing a free weight program and I'm just not spending the money on a trainer. I'm a noobie inventing my own program as I go along while dealing with my college schedule.

Toning is pretty much a myth. With any sort of training, your muscles either get bigger/stronger. Generally for less muscle mass, you do lower reps, like training with 1-3 reps, as that forces more neurological strength increases (makes the brain work more efficiently to lift weights.) But the bigger thing about looking "toned" is just diet and your bodyfat level. 10% bodyfat will generally give you a six pack. 5% will leave you with veins popping out everywhere, ala fitness model. So there's muscle mass and bodyfat. Low bodyfat+muscle mass=toned. Or just low bodyfat for that matter. But almost everyone looks better with 10lbs or so extra muscle mass on them. No matter what your exercise program, you'll never wake up one morning and look like a 300lb walking cloud like Ronnie Coleman or something.

ding machines is better than nothing so props for that but you are really wasting a lot of effort to be honest. you will improve a little but not much. I love machines as well but only as an addition to free weights.

as for needing a personal trainer..just ask a gym rat who looks like he knows what he's doing to show you how to perform the lifts.tell hm you are new.if you dont want to squat or dl fine but atleast try free weight bench and curls haha. you could also post a vid on here for critique...most personal trainers are clueless anyway.

Personal trainers will be like "yeah man, you gotta do 1/3 squats on a bosu ball bro." And most people at the gym are plenty friendly and will readily talk to you.

But yeah, machines are pretty much meant only for like, rehab type things. Like for a physical therapist or something to use. Your body isn't just a collection of individual muscles, you have to perform movements that make the whole body or most of it work.

If you do use machines, you should probably at least squat, deadlift or press (me personally I still don't like benching, but overhead pressing feels better for me.) The reason is, machines won't make much of a hormonal change happen in the body. Because free weights use so many muscles, the body adapts to them by making extra testosterone, growth hormone, etc. So you should do at least one good compound movement and then use machines, as the hormones will trigger growth in the muscles you did the machines with.

Even pressing, you can do dumbell pressing or something, worst case for those you just drop the weights. Squats, do front squats first. That'll force you to have good form on your back squat, and it builds the abdominal muscles more than a back squat. But the main nice thing about a front squat for new people is you can ditch the bar a hell of a lot easier than a backsquat if it's too heavy, so less chance of injury. Deadlift, just don't have more balls than brains for the weight you're selecting and try not to round your back.

The thing is this is a small gym and the free weight area is tiny. If there are 2-3 people doing free weights everyone it walking around each other.

At this point, I'm actually interested in putting the most emphasis on the Elliptical machine. In a way when you guys describe "using the whole body" the elliptical makes me feel like I'm doing more of that.

Beyond this what I would really like to do is stuff like Tai Chi if I could find a martial arts center that teaches it. I'm in a small town though. I'll have to decide if it is in my college student budget and class schedule as well. I might clear some floor space in my tiny room and try to learn moves from videos but I think a teacher could help a lot.

elliptical is a good way to lose muscle but it's good for cardiovascular conditioning lol.

That seems about like my life right now.

55-60 minutes skating today. After skating, worked up to 100lbs power snatch. Then tried dumbbell snatching for the hell of it, and got to 75lbs before I started pressing it out.