Category Archives: Fitness

Fitness

Adding 30 Pounds To Squat

English: weight lifting
English: weight lifting (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The need to change workout routines differs between people. Some like to do the same routine for months, sometimes for years. There is debate as to whether the body adjusts and stops responding or not. For me, I get bored, so switching every 6 to 8 weeks is a requirement. It is time to address the leg routine and make some changes. The previous routine served well.

What to do?

Looking through several issues of Iron Man Magazine did yield several interesting ideas. As the previous routine was built on articles by Steve Holman, a different author may provide new insight, new ideas. The May 2013 issue, the one with Samantha Ann Leete on the cover and her awesome interview and pictorial inside, contained the winning routine. I’ll write more about the lovely Samantha later.

The article by Roger Lockridge is titled “30 in 30” and aims to add 30 pounds to your squats in 30 days. That is some tall claim. When I first read the article in April (that’s when the May issue arrived), I was more into Steve’s routines, so there was no impetus to install it into the workouts. The time for change has now come.

The routine is brutal with rest periods of only 1 minute or 90 seconds, depending on the exercises being performed. It is centered around the squat, duh, using the leg press as a method to really burn the leg muscles. Leg curls and extensions are first used to warm the muscles, not as a pre-exhaust, and then as a finishing super set. The calves too get their our exercise at the end.

My gym does not have a seated calf raise, so standing raises are used as a substitute. Here is the routine I’m following every 4 days.

  • Leg extension (warmup) 2×20
  • Seated leg curls (warmup) 2×20
  • Squats (light to heavy to 1 rep max)
    • Light 2×10
    • Heavier 2×5
    • Very Heavy 2×3
    • 1 Rep Max 2×1
  • Super set
    • Leg presses (feet high, close) 3×15,12,10
    • Leg presses (feet low, wide) 3×15,12,10
  • Super set
    • Leg extensions 3×25
    • Leg curls 3×25
  • Calf raises 4×20

Rest for a full minute between warmup sets and 90 seconds between work sets. This isn’t a power lifting routine, so don’t let your heart rate drop.

Time to move some iron.

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Fitness

Changing Up The Chest

Pain is temporary, Failure is forever.
Pain is temporary, Failure is forever. (Photo credit: lta362)

The chest workout log has become filled with seven weeks worth of exercising. Starting weights for the flat bench press rose to 25 pounds a side, but staid there since August 23rd. Declined flyes went down in weight, but the angle of the bench was increased, making the reps harder. Pec deck too saw a decline as the emphasis was set to the reps of 30, 20 and 15 for 3 seconds per rep. Only the machine seated press saw significant increases over the seven weeks. It was time for a change.

Finding a new chest workout is quite easy. A simple search in Google will bring back scores of hits, so it was time to read. As the goals of the previous regime were focused on declines with some flat bench finishing, the idea of flipping around is quite central. Bodybuilding.com had several great workouts. Scanned through the beginner ones and moved to more advanced. Ah, blending several into one focused workout.

The result is a workout with one goal: get the chest to respond and grow. On to the layout.

  • Warmup – 10 minutes. Arms, shoulders, chest. They all need to be warm and stretched.
  • Incline Bench Press – 3×8
  • Smith Machine Barbell Neck Press – 2×15, 1×25
  • Incline Dumbbell Flye – 3×8, 1×25
  • Seated Machine Chest Press – 3×30,20,15

No sets are pyramid style. Rest between sets is 45 seconds, except the neck press which is 2 minutes, including after the 1×25 set. The rep speed should be 1 on positive side and 1.5 on negative. The finishing sets on the machine press are 3 seconds on the negative. For added burn, press 6 second negatives after the last set of 15. Go until fail.

Enjoy.

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Fitness

Stretching The Chest

English: an exercise of chest
English: an exercise of chest (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

It has been 2.5 months since June’s “Time To Move To Heavy” and the updated chest workout. The moving to heavier weights and 45 second rests lead to good gains in size and strength. Eight weeks is long enough for the same workout and it is time to confuse the body with an update.

This time around, it is time to raise the intensity and simplify the routine. This new routine will be a combination of TORQ and 4x, keeping in mind the principles of doing Mid-Range, Stretch and Contraction in a routine. The chest workout, therefore, become three sets of three exercises. No super-sets and no negative only.

Flat bench press

Start with a mid-range movement and do sets in a pyramiding 3×8 still. The first set should be a weight that can be done for twelve reps. The rep cadence is 1 second positive and 2 seconds on the negative. Stop at 8, rest for 40 seconds and add 5 pounds to each side before doing next set.

Declined Flyes

Next is stretch movement is next. Bring the dumbbells up and keep to the 1 second positive/2 seconds negative pass. As the weights finish straight above the chest in a nearly press position, there is very little contraction here. The set is 3×10 with the same weight each time. Finish all three sets? Add weight at the next training session.

Pec Deck

The last exercise brings TORQ into the picture. The 1 second/2 second cadence is still used, but the number of reps increases to 30 for the first set, 20 on the second and 15 on the final. As with the second set, if the number of reps is reached, add weight at the next workout. Be sure to compress at the top of the move and pause for nearly a second there. Getting over 100 seconds in the set time for the first set should easily be reached.

Push this routine for at least 4 weeks and look to change after 6. Here’s a recap:

  • Flat bench presses  3×8 – adding 5 pounds each set
  • Declined Flyes  3×10
  • Pec Deck  3×30,20,15
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Craft Beer Talk, Fitness, Random Musings

Running Through July

Zech on the beach
Zech on the beach (Photo credit: BrainMuffin)

It can scarce be believed that July is nearly over. It seems it was starting a mere few days ago, but alas 20 of them are already gone. August will arrive within two blinks on an eye. Four blinks and it will be Christmas. Time doesn’t fly, we do.

Over the last several weeks there were many topics going through my head. I had thought to write what the race baiters Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton had taught me, but decided against. Everyday there are tragedies. Why some are glamorized for political or personal gain is something I continue to fail to understand. It is also something I wish to never comprehend. Instead of bringing communities together to heal, they tear them apart for money and power. Trayvon Martin was a troubled soul who smoked pot and was dismissed from school twice. He cannot be replaced, but his passing could be used to provide love instead of hate.

This weekend finally saw a return to brewing, albeit with extract. As a learning to move into the pro brewing arena, this recipe will be converted to all grain for a scheduled brewing in two weeks. The idea is to compare the original extract recipe with the all grain. The recipe itself will be provided in another article. Over the next several weeks, a road map will be laid out that will lead to a brewery. It will be a long and frightful journey, but the rewards will be equally as great. My passion for brewing can no longer be contained and it must be pursued.

These electronic pages have also seen mention of workouts. June and July saw big movements in the weights and an increase in eating. Through it all, I’ve been able to get to 210 and maintain it. For a brief time, the scales tipped at 212, but the retreat from there was quite quick. August will see a change toward more core focus to increase the squat. The weight of 105 pounds is a sticking point due to poor lower back and stomach muscles. The legs are willing, but the support structure is not. Research is being conducted to find the best exercises. There is no shortage of opinion on what to do.

Shoulders, on the other hand, are responding well to the 9 week course laid out in Iron Man Magazine. The front is responding best of all, though the back section is lagging a bit. The good news hear is that the shoulder supports the arms on the bench press. August will see a few attempts at maxing the bench press during workout days. The use of declined flyes and dumbbell presses is increasing the pecs quite nicely. It is time to test the waters again.

 

 

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Fitness

Pressing With The Legs

Using the diagonal sled-type leg press machine.
Using the diagonal sled-type leg press machine. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Saturday morning. Time for the new leg workout. Will it be good? It is a bit more intense than the old one. Some exercises will see heavier amounts. Some exercises have been removed altogether.

Arrived at the gym a bit later than planned, but still got to it. Warm up. Stretch. Warm up some more. Time for leg extensions.

About 15 years ago, I started pre-exhausting my legs with extensions. I went nuts back then, lifting the whole rack and then some at the YMCA in Marion, Ohio. The soccer moms thought I was absolutely nuts. I’d cinch the seat belt in the Nautilus unit all the way to keep me from arching my back and cheating. Yes, it build great quads, but at the price of my knees.

Today, however, the pre-exhaust method is to use TORQ and move the weight at 3-4 seconds a rep. Coupled to that is 30 reps, so these days the weights are much smaller and less taxing on the knees. The burn is more intense too. Awesome.

Previous leg press routines at Stay Fit 24 had seen the use of the machine leg press that allows the user to push horizontally. It is time now to step back up to the Bigs with the inclined leg press. Hello old friend, it has been a long time. Three set later, it was enjoying the old feelings.

Just over half-way through this routine and I started to really keep my heart rate up. Heck the Smith Machine negatives, I kept sweating. By the end, I was out of breath and sweating. Awesome! I’ve not had this indoors in a long time.

Overall, I liked the results from my Leg workout. I spent less time at the gym, but taxed my legs more. I was able to hit just over 50% body weight on the fifth set of squats, though only hitting 4 reps out of 5. One more session should take care of that and see weights increasing. The pyraminding with the squats started with 10 pounds each side and adding 5 to each after the set. That fifth set saw 105 pounds being pushed from the floor all the way up. Being 6 feet, 5 inches, that quite a long way for a full squat. That may not seem like much, but at nearly 45 years of age, it felt like a huge accomplishment. Boom!

The next task at hand is to work on the deltoids and arms. The former will get Roger Lockridge’s “3-Week Shoulder Smash” from the June 2013 issue of Iron Man. This is a serious shoulder workout that runs for 3 cycles of 3 weeks. My shoulders are not responding as hoped, so it is time to put them on notice. Arms will probably contain the current spider curls, dumbbells and inclines. The new routine reduces the exercises for the deltoids to three, but raises the intensity several notches. Can’t wait.

Keep on lifting.

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Fitness

That Pain In My Chest

English: Squat lifing
English: Squat lifing (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

It took two extra days to get to, but it finally happened. The new chest workout given in “Time To Move To Heavy” was finally done. It stretched my chest in new ways. It contracted with higher intensity. Some exercises resulted in same weight as before, some lower. Rest was extended a bit. Negatives were pushed.

Oh the pain in my chest when it was over. That great pain that says a muscle has been worked out, just to the limit, but not so far that it tears. That pain the means your muscles will pull in all the protein you eat afterward. That pain leads to growth afterward. That pain that tells you your body is alive. That glorious pain. Awesome sauce.

The next workout day brings an updated leg workout. So, it is time to review that one.

  • Leg extension (pre-exhaust, TORQ)  3×30,20,15
  • Squats  5×5 (rest to 1.5 minutes)
  • Leg Press  3×8
  • Leg Curls (TORQ)  3×30,20,15
  • Feet-forward Smith Machine squat (negative)  1×9
  • Hyperextensions  3×10
  • Dead lift (pyramid the weight)  3×5
  • One leg, standing calf raise  3×20
  • Free hand, two leg calf raise (speed, full stroke)  2×30+

There it is. The leg workout changes. On TORQ, the idea is to get full range of motion over a 4 second rep. Squats are meant to go heavier this time around, but the rep speed should still be 3 seconds. Be sure to warm up all the muscles very well and stretch. For squats only, rest at 1.5 minutes between sets, including the last. All over sets see 40 second rest between.

Feel the burn. Feel the pain. Grow.

 

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Fitness

The Search For The Perfect Weight Gaining Smoothie

Smoothie og kaffe
Smoothie og kaffe (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

A few days ago while at the Kenwood Towne Centre, I was looking to get something to eat. Not sure what I wanted, I looked at Smoothie King’s offerings. After all, some smoothie places will put protein powder in their drinks. What about Smoothie King? I looked over their menu.

There it was The Activator, up to 1,100 calories with protein and other “good stuff”. Have to try that. Give me the chocolate one please. And it was good.

Once home, I went to the Smoothie King website to get more information about this smoothie and the protein powder it contains. I was quite surprised how good their protein powder is. Cannot tell if the powder is available for sale though.

But wait! I have Optimum Nutrition and Meijer brand protein powder at home. What about making one? Search the internet. Find some recipes. Time to try.

The bases for my smoothie recipe is some ice (4-5 cubes) and 2.5 cups of milk (2%). This will give some frothiness and help chilli it. Add in a scope of Optimum Nutrition Gold Standard Whey protein powder and now the protein gram count is over 40.

What next? How about some yogurt to aid digestion? Cool. Two tablespoons go in. So does a banana. Hmmm…more smoothie-ness. Some walnuts? Sure. The bitterness will help offset the sweetness. How much? A few…

Is that it? Anymore protein? Yes! Two tablespoons of peanut butter. That will be good. Mix. Blend. Pour. Drink. Oh yes.

There’s my first entry into the smoothie arena. What’s yours?

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Fitness

The Best Laid Plans

Sprint006 plan
Sprint006 plan (Photo credit: J’Roo)

The plan was simple. Yesterday I updated my exercises for chest, back and abs. Want to know what it is? Sure, here’s the link. Then today, it was time to hit the gym after work and see how good this workout was. Yeah, that was the plan.

Today, reality happened. My daughter had a very emotional reaction to her summer school. I couldn’t blame her. The Northwest Passage School isn’t the nicest place and it is all computers. She had this same class on computer at regular school this year and couldn’t pay attention long enough to pass. She nearly broke down.

After talking to her and getting her to calm, she finally agreed to try it. After all, we’ve already paid and we cannot get that back. They were also having technical issues and didn’t have a computer for her for over an hour.

Ok, enough about my struggles. The results put me to work late, which put me home late, which meant no new workout time. Ugh! Time to hit the arms with dumbbells at home. Curls and extensions to failure, then some negatives. Then a call.

The call was good, but lasted longer than I planned. Nuts. Now I’m late with supper. While I have time for a smoothie? Yeah sure. Who cares about sleep for tomorrow.

 

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Fitness

Time To Move To Heavy

101122-N-7948R-111
101122-N-7948R-111 (Photo credit: U.S. Pacific Fleet)

The last few months have seen me using the exercises in Iron Man Magazine nearly exclusively. In particular, those found within the Training & Research Center’s articles, using the ideals of HIT and 4x. Steve Holman’s articles have lead to very good results and since the body needs to be confused from time to time, it is now that there will be some change.

For June and July, I am going to go with heavier workouts, though the reps will not be forced to drop much. Research is starting to show that decline chest exercises are more effective and stimulating the pectoral muscles. All the standing cable flyes will be replaced, as with the flat press. I’ve also knocked out some of the supersets and lowered the overall number of exercises. I want more bang for my time. The resulting chest, back and ab workout will now look like this:

  • Declined flyes   3×10
  • Declined dumbbell bench press   3×10
  • Super set:
    • Flat flyes   3×10
    • Wide-grip bench dips  3×10
  • Smith machine flat bench (negative)  1×9
  • Super set:
    • Pulldowns   3×10
    • Undergrip pulldowns   3×10
  • Upright barbell rows   3×12
  • Super set:
    • Dumbbell shrugs   3×12
    • Laterals   3×10
  • Knee Ups   4×12

The idea is to do this workout at least through June and then perhaps tweak it a bit for July. This is done once a week, usually on Monday, with a followup workout on Fridays that is more TORQ oriented. The latter workout will remain from the Iron Man articles and will be adjusted once the July issue of the magazine has arrived.

Changes for the leg work are still being finalized and will be posted as soon as they are ready.

Happy lifting.

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