_tim's Log

got in late this AM

Pendlay Rows: [WU: 115 x 6; 135 x 4]

5 x 8 @ 155 - I've never been good at these; I'm giving 'em a shot to see if maybe 3 weeks of work will improve me. This being week 2, I'm guessing the answer is no.

Superset (time):

Shrug: [WU: 155 x 5; 185 x 5]

5 x 10 @ 225 - My grip is pathetic. I didn't strap up and got all the reps in, but it was a struggle.
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Seated Calf Raise:

5 x 10 @ 135

Superset II:

Leg Extension: [WU: 90 x 6; 140 x 5]

5 x 10 @ 160 - Last set killed me; cluster 5-3-1-1
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Leg Curl: [WU: 40 x 6; 50 x 5]

5 x 10 @ 60

I ran out of time for abs - so I'll make 'em up tomorrow.
 
Decline Bench: [WU: 135 x 12; 185 x 4]

5 x 5 @ 205

Seated Military Press:

5 x 8 @ 85 - I hate how much strength I lost in my delts after all that work during the triples cycles.

HS Curl:

5 x 10 @ 60

Skull Crunchers:

5 x 10 @ 85 - last 3 sets were clustered 9-1, 8-2, 6-3-1 respectively.  I'm going to only increase the load by 5 next week.

Cable Upright Row:

3 x 15 @ 80

MU Abs:

3 x 30 crunches - left/right/center.  10 breaths betwen sets.
 
<div>
(_tim @ Feb. 10 2009,9:51)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">Seated Military Press:

5 x 8 @ 85 - I hate how much strength I lost in my delts after all that work during the triples cycles.</div>
Ahhh, don't you just love the rollercoaster ride of this sport. Bulk...Cut...Strong...Weak...do it all over again. Enough to drive a person mad!
wow.gif


Your grip doesn't appear so weak. 5 sets of 10 with 225 is pretty nice.
 
Absolutely, Bax.  I don't mind the bulk-cut thing, but the strong-weak thing sucks.  Equally as bad is the endurance-no endurance thing.  To today's fun...

Midday Endurance Fun

We had wind storms here in Northeast Ohio and as such we lost power.  Apparently my battery backup is dead, and as such my morning workout becam a midday workout with very little time.  So - I decided to see just how little endurance I had with a nasty superset, and some rows.....

Hack Squats: [WU: 70 x 7, 120 x 5]

1 x 15 @ 160; 2 x 15 @ 135 - The 160 set was overreaching, even if this wasn't a superset; I set the bar too high last week to be able to persist good form throughout the work sets.
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SLDL: [WU: 135 x 6]

3 x 15 @ 165 - My lower back just got destroyed.  Hook grip was my friend throughout; I didn't worry about my grip even once.  Getting there.

Cable Rows:

2 x 15 @ 110 - CRASH.  Out of gas.

OK.  So this changes my plans for my next cycle a bit, as now 45 minutes post-workout, my heart rate is still noticeably elevated, and I still feel like puking is an option.  I'm going to have to add an endurance component to the cycle, as fun as they are, simply because I can't hope to get to my strength goals if my fibers\brain\heart aren't able to handle (read:push through) the stress of the sets.  Further, I feel that endurance is an incredibly important to overall strength and cardiovascular\muscular health.  My plans for the next cycle are different than anything I've tried to date, and I'm hoping to be a bit aggressive in my overall approach.  I must admit that I'm getting a bit impatient for it to begin, but the coming weeks of the Hayward cycle promise to be challenging.

Tomorrow morning I'll make up the ab work from today, and will do some extra bicep/back work to compensate for the missed row sets.
 
Dead biceps...

Superset:

DB Bench Press: [WU: 45 x 10]

4 x 10 @ 65
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DB Front Lateral: [WU: 25 x 8]

4 x 10 @ 40

BB Curls:

2 x 12 @ 90; 2 x 12 @ 80 - I got caught by the 55 versus 45 bar thing again today.  The 90 was an error on my part, and absolutely destroyed my biceps.  There was some clustering afoot:  set 2 was 7-3-2, and set 4 was 9-3.

V-Bar Tricep Extension:

4 x 12 @ 70

CG Pulldown:

4 x 15  130 - WOW.

MU Abs:

Leg Raise:

4 x 12 - I'm replacing this exercise going forward with Bench Press Leg Raises.  THEY ARE AMAZING.

Crunches:

4 x 30 - 10 breaths ONLY between sets.
 
<div>
(_tim @ Feb. 13 2009,10:37)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">CG Pulldown:

4 x 15  130[/b] - WOW.</div>
That must of really pumped up the lats. Did you spread your wings and fly out of the gym?
tounge.gif
 
The pump was amazing, Bax. The last set obliterated my biceps, and my posterior delts were screaming. It was fantastic!
 
<div>
(_tim @ Feb. 13 2009,10:37)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">Leg Raise:

4 x 12 - I'm replacing this exercise going forward with Bench Press Leg Raises.  THEY ARE AMAZING.</div>
I can see why you might want to do this exercise in a power rack!

It seems like there's a lot going on while you have a barbell overhead...
 
It truly is an amazing ab exercise, lads - and yes, do them in a power rack, or do 'em with dumbells.  You can combine them in series with swiss ball work too and just obliterate your abs.

My silence on the forum for the past two weeks or so should signal a couple things to those who read my log:

1.  I got insanely busy;
2.  A change is coming.

So, the Hayward cycle was enlightening, and I'm glad I did it, but it isn't my bag.  There are certain things I could tell about my progress where I just couldn't justify continuing - I hate wasting time.  So - here we go.....  Another chapter of insanity begins.

The cycle is broken into push and pull components, and further segmented into work, endurance and iso lifts.  There are 2 rep ranges I'll be working with, plus an endurance segment that will be governed by time exclusively.  The iso lifts have their own rep ranges.

The work lifts:

Push: Bench, Military Press, Squats

Pull: Chins, Deads, RG Rows

The endurance lifts: [HS = Hammer Strength]

Push: HS Bench, HS Shoulder Press, Hack Squats/Hole Squats

Pull: Cable Pulldown, SLDL, Cable Row

The iso work:

Push:  I'll do a Bench Press Leg Raise series, and likely Back Hyper work as well.  Rep ranges will be in the 8-30+ range.

Pull:  On the first pull day, I'll work triceps with both Rope Extensions and Skull Crushers.  On the second pull day I'll work HS Curls, Incline Curls, and SA Chins.  I'm going to go on feel, and may only do one of the iso lifts per workout.  Rep ranges will be either diamond sets, or 6 x 6 sets.

The rep ranges:

1.  A &quot;diamond&quot; set:  5-4-3-2-1-2-3-4-5, adding weight as the reps decrease and taking it away as they increase again;
2.  5 x 7

The endurance segment:

There will be 2 sets per segment.  The set itself will last at least :45 seconds, with constant muscle tension.  I did some looking at varying sites about how the body deals with anaerobic stress, and it seems that after :45, muscle recruitment is at its highest and lactic acid is flowing like a river.  I'm going to keep the loads a bit low to ensure that the time component is satisfied; there truly is no rep goal, but I will record it.

Duration:

I'm thinking that I'll be able to eek out at least 8 weeks of this, with a schedule of M-Tu-Th-Fr.  Loads will increase weekly.

This begins tomorrow; I wanted to get a half week in at the beginning.
 
I do 'em in a thing called &quot;Bench Press&quot;. I toyed with putting 'em in this cycle, but ultimately want to focus on the core lifts and my endurance.
 
It Begins.

Military Press: [WU: 65 x 10; 85 x 8]

105 x 5; 110 x 4; 115 x 3; 120 x 2; 125 x 1; 120 x 2; 115 x 3; 110 x 4; 105 x 5 - This is KILLER.  These loads weren't anything to sneeze at, but I could already see the fun that awaits me as the loads progress.  I think this likely will be a great way to set new PR's all around.

Squats: [WU: 135 x 10; 185 x 5]

5 x 7 @ 215 - Felt good, and was happy with my form.

HS Bench:

2 x 1:00 @ 50 - Set 1 was 41 reps, and set 2 was 38 reps.  This was a bit light, truth be told, even with constant tension.  Don't get me wrong - it lived up to my expectation and did burn, but it wasn't unbearable.  I'm going for torture here, not just discomfort.

Bench Press Leg Raise:

2 x 21 @ 135 - These were done 3-6-3-6-3; the 3's were to the front, and the 6's were 3 to each side (oblique fun).

I ran out of time for anything else; I would have loved to add some swiss ball bridges to the mix, as well as some back hyperextensions, but it just wasn't in the cards today.  Regardless, I'm happy with day 1.
 
Thanks Bax! For the diamond sets, I rest between sets. Though it's not exactly clear with a top weight of 125 today, these are meant to be balls to the wall heavy. That said, I'm treating the sets very similarly to my power routine a few cycles back, and will start each set when I feel ready. I've never been too strict when it comes to time between sets; when I rush, I compromise form every time.
 
Deads: [WU: 135 x 10; 185 x 7]

205 x 5; 225 x 4; 245 x 3; 265 x 2; 285 x 1; 265 x 2; 245 x 3; 225 x 4; 205 x 5 - Used straps after the single, but not because my grip was failing - my hands were on fire. Overall, happy with my form, and am looking forward to venturing into the 300's again...

Chins:

2 x 7 @ BW + 10; 3 x 7 @ BW - Sets 2 through 5 were HEAVILY clustered. So - it will be BW for the 7's only until my strength catches up a bit.

Cable Rows:

2 x 1:00 @ 70 - Set 1 was 31 reps, and set 2 was 28 reps. Set 2 came close to the pain I expect, but just fell short. I think perhaps another 20 pounds or so will be the key.

With that, I was out of time, my biceps were destroyed, and I was sweating like a pig. No need for bicep iso's today!
 
Bench:

185 x 5; 195 x 4; 205 x 3; 215 x 2; 225 x 1; 215 x 2; 205 x 3; 195 x 4; 185 x 5 - Felt pretty good form-wise.  Light start.

Military Press:

5 x 7 @ 95 - Easy for the most part, but I'm glad I started low.

Hack Squat:

2 x 1:00 @ 90 - Set 1 was 24 reps, and set 2 was 23 reps.  I'd be misrepresenting these sets if I didn't point out that right around rep 21 on both sets, I ran out of air and took a one breath break.  These didn't hurt during the sets at all - I just got VERY winded.  Within about 10 seconds after the sets both ended, my quads locked up like you wouldn't believe.

The goal for all of the endurance lifts is to increase the number of reps within that minute - and as that happens, increase load.  I may even increase time.  Not sure yet.

I ran out of time for my ab work, so it moves to either tomorrow or Wednesday.

Overall, good workout.
 
RG Row:

155 x 5; 165 x 4; 175 x 3; 185 x 2; 195 x 1; 185 x 2; 175 x 3; 165 x 4; 155 x 5 - Felt good - I haven't done these in a while.

Deads:

5 x 7 @ 195 - Hook grip throughout; form, form, form.

CG Pulldown:

2 x 1:00 @ 100 - Set 1 was 30 reps, and set 2 was 26 reps.  I must admit set 2 ended maybe 2 seconds prematurely due to grip failure.  I may strap up for these next time.

I actually woke up very late today, so I gymed after I took my daughter to school.  As such - no time for iso work today either.  I may throw Saturday in this week to do the iso work - that is, unless I actually wake up oin time once this week.  Taking tomorrow off to fight this cold I have.

Good one today, regardless of the time issue and this sinus thing.
 
Squats:

205 x 5; 225 x 4; 245 x 3; 265 x 2; 285 x 1; 265 x 2; 245 x 3; 225 x 4; 205 x 5 - Great stuff - haven't been in the upper 2's for a long time.  I'm going to progress these differently than I do other lifts; I'll keep the 20-pound intervals between sets, but week by week will only move up by 10 pounds.  I think that keeps my CNS more happy in the long run.  The form on these sets was great - so I feel confident that I can progress at this interval.  That said, if it gets to be too much,. I'll bump the intervals to 10 so progress continues.

Bench:

5 x 7 @ 185 - Getting there; set 5 had to be clustered 6-1 due to my grip of all things; my hands slowly slipped outward as I moved through the reps.

HS Shoulder Press:

2 x 1:00 @ 70 - Set 1 was 22 reps, and set 2 was 15 reps.  I started these too heavy, bottom line.

Bench Abs/Swiss Ball Bridges (SS):

145 x 30 (oblique only)/10 - Oh my.  One set was all I had time for, and I truly wonder what a set 2 would have been like.

Still sick, feeling like poo.  That said, great workout.
 
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