Notes, Landmarks, and highlights.

[HammerTech]

This isn't going to be an all-out log. Truthfully, I have just enough time on my hands to manage my paper log right now, so that's enough. So it'll be more like notes, landmarks and highlights, just like the title says. Thoughts on what's going on with my training, periodic updates.

When I started logging, way back when, I was relatively new to the gym again after 11 or 12 years and was lifting almost no weight. Everyone has to start somewhere I guess...and since then I've come a way along:
B - 245
S - 265
D - 365

Respectable, but not quite finished.

Right now, this split is what I'm doing:
Upper 1
Flat BB or DB bench
Bent over row or T-bar row
Low Cable Rows
Seated or Standing Military Press
one each bicep and tricep exercise

Lower 1:
Squat
Stiff leg deadlifts
some ab work
accessory lifts like pull throughs, hyperextensions, GHR's, etc.

Upper 2:
Incline BB or Incline DB
Pull ups
Pull downs
*maybe* DB shoulder pressing (I do it but it's not necessary)
One each bicep/tricep

Lower 2:
Deadlifts
Leg Press
Calf Raises
I sometimes throw in front squats or zercher squats on this day also.

I'm in a bit of a battle with the scales right now - trying to slim down some. I do 15 minutes of mild cardio after these sessions and that's it. I try to control everything else via my diet. Almost no supps - I take my multi, my fish oil, a post workout shake, and that's it for base supps. I am experimenting with a bottle of Lipo-6 right now and have seen "some" results from it but not the amazing ones the bottle claims.

Right now also, I'm in a bit of a "deload" - my joints started feeling rather beat up so I lightened up a bit and am doing moderate reps (4-6 on compounds, 8-10 on iso's) and my joints are feeling better. May stay here for a bit, may ramp it back up...we shall see.

One goal I have on my mind is to deadlift more than the weight of my ex wife, which is 413 lbs. She and I had a confrontation a couple weeks ago which ended in some insults toward me and what I consider a "healthy lifestyle", so that number is something I'm kinda gunning for in the long run.

That's it for now...

[mcchunter]

how much do you weigh?

lol @ your 413 pound goal for exwife. that is funny

if you are looking to lose fat i would increase the cardio to at least 1/2 hour.

as you know it is in your diet. post your stats up again bro.

i am kinda of in the same situation right now- trying to cut the body fat

[HammerTech]

That is one thing I forgot was stats - thought I covered everything...lol

6'-1", in the 230's. Arms around 17-1/2", quads around 27". Most of my flab weight I seem to be toting in my gut...if I got that down I'd not look too bad. I'm trying to be as faithful as possible to the carb cycling concept although it seems I cheat a little much which I know is slowing the process down. Gotta crack down a little more, even though I am making progress.

RE: your "up the cardio" comment - with 4 days of lifting, I'm trying to balance that out. I don't want to go overkill and tear up muscle either.

[JayFive]

I usually cardio after lifting but chug a shake with and some juice with bcaas first. That helps out a bit I think.

[HammerTech]

I generally sip some BCAA's thru my lifting - just something I got in the habit of doing for whatever reason - but I'm now out of them. I'll have to give this some careful thought.

[HammerTech]

Told you this would be periodic...lol.

Been sick this week...actually seemed to start last Friday/Saturday but I tried to ignore it, which never works out well. Feel decent right now but will be on the run all day tomorrow so I figure first day back will be Monday. Rest always does a body good...but I'm ready to get back to work.

[Renegade68]

Nice explanation of where you were, are, and are trying to get.

Knowing you (virtually anyway) for the past couple years, I've seen the improvements you've made strength wise. Keep up the good work. Glad the joints are feeling better, I moved to 12-15 reps for a couple of weeks and it helped me tremendously too....

Only 48 lbs to get that wife off the ground and locked out. Go get it.

[HammerTech]

Thanks Ren - doing a little "self preservation" along the way never hurts I guess. I feel a great deal stronger than when I started in late '06, and that's what matters most.

48lbs doesn't seem like a long way to go...lol...so hopefully once I get back on track we'll get it soon. I'm ready.

[HammerTech]

Back to tearing it up - I was so geeked to get in tonight.

This is just to give you an idea of what my nights are like. Not getting too specific since I have limited time on my hands (gotta be back out the door in like, 15 minutes or so...ugh) at the moment. Joint preservation has me going to max 8 reps on compounds, 10 on iso's. Rest between sets is between 45 seconds to a minute to keep the intensity up...and I'm considering shortening that.

DB Bench - 4 x 8, 1 x 6
WG/CG bench w/bar - 2 x 5 / 2 x 6
Old School T-bar row - 3 x 8, 1 x 7
Low Cable Rows - 3 x 8
Standing Military Press - 2 x 8, 1 x 7
Dips - 2 x 10 (truthfully, pressing movements fried out my tris enough...)
Preacher curls - 2 x 10
DB curl (slowing the negative on about a 5 count, somewhat putting it "in reverse") - 2 x 10
Cable x-overs for fun (not something I normally do) - 2 x 8

25 minutes on the elliptical after that.

[HammerTech]

Lifting in the early afternoon is not the norm - but today was a great day to do so as I was able to rifle thru my session in just over an hour. More upper work (legs were Tuesday night)

Incline Bench - 4 x 8, 1 x 7, 1 x 5
Chins (assisted, for now) - 1 x 8, 1 x 7, 1 x 6 ss with Pull Downs (narrow grip) - 2 x 8, 1 x 7
Upright Row - 2 x 10
DB Shoulder Press - 2 x 8
Rack Curls - 2 x 10
Rope Pulldowns - 3 x 10, ss with Cable Curls 2 x 8

20 minutes elliptical and roll out.

[HammerTech]

Short, sweet, and to the point - 2nd leg day of the week. The true beauty of this upper/lower split.

Deads - 1 x wu, 3 x 4, 2 x 3
Calf raises - 3 x 12
Leg Press - 3 x 8

20 minutes on the elliptical (still wondering how? ) after that...

The Lipo-6 experiment is coming to an end. If I were to sit back and assess the whole thing, I would say that "yes", the product does burn fat, that "yes", it does do what it claims it will do in that regard. What the bottle doesn't say, and truthfully most people don't get anyhow, is that when it says "good diet" you need to be spot-on. No cheats. No bad days. And no missed training. Being sick for a week did not help my cause, and a few too many bad days and cheats did not help either.

Did I burn off some unwanted LB's with it? Yes - but nothing substantially more than I would have just by kicking ass in the gym...only marginally more at best. It was free, and lessons learned from it. Moving on...

[HammerTech]

Fun with squats tonight.

Squat - 1 x wu, 6 x 6, 1 x 2
SLDL - 4 x 8 (fried hamstrings after that...)

On to an assorted mix of accessory work - 2 sets each of single-leg leg press, adductor, abductor, hypers. I hope to walk in the morning...lol.

[jlozan84]

where's the weights at you big homo?

[HammerTech]

In my log book you big fag.

Anyhow - been taking care of business in the real world and spending less time online. Still training hard, just not on the boards much...and yes, still working in that slightly higher rep/slightly lower weight joint preservation mode. But since I'm eating...

DB Bench
4 x 8 x 60
1 x 7 x 60
then WG paused Bench with the bar
2 x 6 x 135
then CG bench with the bar
2 x 6 x 135

T-bars
3 x 8 x 4pl

Low Cable Row:
2 x 8 x 180
1 x 7 x 180

Standing Mil Press:
2 x 8 x 95
1 x 7 x 95

Preacher Curls:
3 x 10 x EZ+40

SS Rope Pulldowns and High Cable Curls:
2 x 12 x 60 ----- 2 x 8 x 25

20 minutes mild cardio and done.

First heat wave of the year made it super hot in the gym...love it. Should make for fun squatting tomorrow.

[Meta]

damn your ex-wife is a beast... lol

[HammerTech]

Yeah, she is...she was a "larger" woman when we married (back when I didn't really care much about my own health either for that matter) but she's really gone downhill.

[HammerTech]

Had to cut it to the quick tonight, but got the most important thing and that was deadlifting.

DL:
1 x wu
1 x 6 x 295
1 x 3 x 335
1 x 3 x 335
1 x 3 x 335
1 x 1 x 355
1 x 1 x 355

Feeling good on those - like I'm getting back to my groove and putting weight on the bar consistently. 413 (or slightly more) is in sight...will take just a little time. This is the only lift I've stayed "heavy" on as a rule - I started doing higher rep sets on these and never felt right about it. I can moderate out on other lifts (bench, squat) and not feel as wierd about it, but not these.

Did a few sets of zerchers and some calf raises and that was all, gym was about to close. Got in late, but made the most of it.

[HammerTech]

Stupidity reigned tonight.

Best part was when I took one dude's front squat (and all he had right was the grip, he had zero depth on them, looked like a glorified knee bend) and shoulder pressed it. He cried. I just laughed.

Bench:
1 x wu
1 x 8 x 155
1 x 6 x 175
1 x 5 x 185
1 x 5 x 185
1 x 4 x 185
WG
2 x 5 x 145
CG
2 x 6 x 145

BB Row (something different):
3 x 8 x 185
1 x 7 x 185

Low Cable Row:
4 x 8 x 190

Shoulder Press (this is where dude cries...he had this on the bar for front knee bends and I told him to leave it - and then shoulder pressed it...lol):
2 x 6 x 115
1 x 5 x 115

Some curls and 20 minutes elliptical.

[HammerTech]

This last part of the week was kinda messed up - was a part of a televised community event last night and that consumed my entire afternoon. With all the running around I had to get done (basic errands and all that kind of crap), I ended up not getting in last night, but moved last night's workout to today. I am going to skip lower 2 for this week (although I hate to because it's my DL day) and re-track it next week.

Incline Bench
1 x wu
1 x 10 x 135 <<< just cuz I could...
1 x 8 x 155
1 x 7 x 155
1 x 7 x 155
1 x 6 x 155
1 x 6 x 155

Chin Up:
Sufficient sets to get to 40 reps, bw-60 (getting weak at these...ugh)

Lat Pulldown, CG:
2 x 8 x 140
1 x 7 x 140

Seated Shoulder Press (Smith machine was only available station, rep sets, light weight):
1 x 10 x plt wt 50
1 x 9 x plt wt 50
1 x 8 x plt wt 50

CGBP (tricep work, again, higher reps, lighter weight):
1 x 10 x 95
1 x 8 x 95
1 x 8 x 95

Curls that I don't really remember what I did other than 3 sets, then 25 minutes elliptical.

[HammerTech]

Another Upper 2 post...I do more than this, honest...

Incline:
1 x wu
4 x 8 x 135
1 x 7 x 155
1 x 7 x 155

Lats:
*trainer decides he's giving an hour lecture by the gravitron (assisted dip/chin machine) so I just did some grip variations here on the pulldowns. Yes, I'm a weak ****er that can't do chins usefully without assistance - for now.
WG - 3 x 8 x 130
CG - 2 x 8 x 130, 1 x 7 x 130

Seated Shoulder Press, Free Wt:
3 x 8 x 85

CGBP with Bench Dips:
2 x 8 x 115 --- 2 x 10 x bw+25

Face pulls (standing):
2 x 10 x stack (around 50lbs)

Curls and 25 minutes cardio