initial.ize

After that last squat workout from Feb 26 (two Fridays ago,) I felt like I need some rest. I was always sluggish, and had some pain deep in my left shoulder that wouldn’t go away. After some reading to see what I could do, I figured taking some time off was probably the best thing. I still went in the next day to assist Jon & Clack, and to help coach Patrick, but didn’t really work out much myself. I tried out a different way of doing bent over rows, but didn’t go heavy, and that was pretty much it. I then took a solid 5 full days off with no training. Just lots of rest and eating. This takes us to last Friday, Mar 5, where I was feeling much better and dying to get back in there for a heavy chest workout to see how my shoulder would respond.

Barbell Bench Press: 175 RP: 6+3+2 (for 11 total)
Barbell Bench Press: 145: 10, 6

Smith Incline Bench Press: 55 per, RP: 6+4+2 (for 12 total)
Smith Incline Bench Press: 45 per: 10

Skull Crushers: 70: 10
Skull Crushers: 65: 10

Dips: 20: 10, 10

Farmer’s Walk: 75: no stops

Pretty nice numbers if I do say so myself! The last time I did flat bench press, it was my first time trying 175 lb. I only managed to get a total of 7 reps that time (5+2.) This time, I got a total of 11, so I got 4 more than last time, and I’m right in the 11-15 rep zone required for my program. As usual, I’ll work my way up with this weight until I get a total of 15 reps across the rest-pause set before going up to 180 lb. After the set at 175 lb, I dropped to 145 lb, rested about 2-2.5 minutes, and pushed out another 10 reps. Then rested another 2 minutes or so and got back under for another 6 reps.

For incline presses on the Smith machine, it was time to go up to 55 lb of weight on each side of the bar. You can see above I got a total of 12 reps there, so I still have to improve a bit before going up on that.

Not much to say about skull crushers. I am really struggling with keeping good form on these, so that’s why I haven’t been increasing the weight.

For dips, I wasn’t sure what to expect. Hanging 20 lb from a dip belt seemed really daunting, but I was also so excited at the same time. Anyway, I ended up getting 10 solid full reps with full range of motion. The last one was so hard, and I didn’t think I was going to get it. Jon was still working out, so I rested for a few minutes, then went back for another set and got another 10 reps! So it looks like I’ll be increasing the dip belt weight to 25 lb next time I do these.

Finished up with some farmer’s walks holding a 75 lb dumbbell in each hand. Walked around the gym for what was probably at least 45 seconds, and didn’t have to set the dumbbells down to rest at all for the whole trip. Next time I do these, I’ll carry the 80 lb dumbbells instead.

And that challenger is 175 lb bench press. WOW. I got put in my place by this weight.

Barbell Bench Press: 175 RP: 5+2
Barbell Bench Press: 145: 9, 8, 7

Smith Incline Press: 52.5 per, RP: 8+5+3 (for 16 total)
Smith Incline Press: 40 per: 12, 8

Skull Crushers: 70: 10 +15 close-grip bench press
Skull Crushers: 65: 10 +15 close-grip bench press

Dips: 10: 13

My previous chest workout was done using 170 lb on the bench press, and I hit my goal of 15 total across the initial rest-pause set, so this time I had to bump it up to 175 lb. I don’t know why, but it felt so much heavier. I think I might have scared myself into thinking it was too heavy or dangerous because I was experiencing a bit of pain in my left shoulder rotator cuff. That seems to have dissipated a bit today though, so next time should go better. After the rest-pause set, I rested for 2 minutes, then did a few regular sets at 145 lb (with 2 minutes rest between each set.)

Inclines on the Smith machine went very well as you can see from the numbers. I got 16 on my rest-pause set, so I’ll bump this up to 55 lb per side next time. For the regular sets, I figure I should go up to 45 lb per side since the first set got me 12 reps after resting only 2 minutes.

I am still having trouble getting good form on my skull crushers when using 70 lb. My elbows flare out, and the last couple reps are always really hard, slow, and sloppy. As usual, I jumped into some close-grip bench press immediately after the set of skulls without stopping to rest. For the second set of skulls, I dropped the weight down to 65 lb so I could have better control of my form. These ended up feeling much better than the first set.

For dips, I decided it was finally time to start adding some weight. Last time, I got 15 using just my bodyweight. So last night, I put on the dip belt, and put on 10 lb as an initial test, and wound up getting 13 reps. That doesn’t seem hard enough, so I will put it up to 20 lb next time.

I then finished up by doing some extreme stretches on my chest and triceps for 60 seconds each. Tonight’s workout will be shoulders and biceps.

This was from last Friday, Feb 19.

Barbell Bench Press: 170 RP: 7+5+3 (for 15 total)
Barbell Bench Press: 145: 7, 7, 6

Smith Incline Press: 52.5 per, RP: 6+5+3 (for 14 total)
Smith Incline Press: 40 per: 9, 7

Skull Crushers: 70: 10 +12 close-grip bench press
Skull Crushers: 70: 10

Dips: 15

I finally beat 170 lb on the bench press! I’m very happy about doing this. It took 5 attempts spread over the course of 3 weeks to get there. Now I am ready to have a go at 175 lb for my next chest workout on Wednesday. After that rest-pause set at 170, I dropped down to 145 again and did a few regular sets limiting myself to 2-minute breaks between sets. I didn’t have a spotter after the RP set, so I was a little timid trying to push for more reps on these. I did push it really hard though, and I think the low numbers could be as a result of pushing out all 15 reps at 170.

I also saw improvements over last time on the Smith incline presses. I only had a total of 11 on my RP set last time, but got 14 here. I’m hoping to get all 15 next time and bump it up to 55 lb per side. Again, I dropped down to 40 per side after this for a couple regular sets while only resting 2 minutes between.

I was feeling pretty weak after all this, but had to try some skull crushers for my triceps anyway. I felt the form was really bad on both sets (elbows flaring out too much,) and didn’t even do close-grip bench press after the second set because I was just too exhausted to even try 1. To make up for this, I pushed out a few extra reps on my set of dips. Since I hit 15 on that, I will definitely add some weight using a dip belt next time.

Tomorrow will be another leg day, so I’m eating a lot and preparing myself mentally for my first go at 195 lb!

For more info on the exercises done in this workout, visit the Exercises page. For greater detail on what all my numbers mean, visit the My Notation page.

I seem to have forgotten to post Monday’s chest workout. So here it is

Barbell Bench Press: 170 RP: 7+3+3 (for 13 total)
Barbell Bench Press: 145: 8, 7, 6

Smith Incline Press: 52.5 per, RP: 6+3+2 (for 11 total)
Smith Incline Press: 40 per: 9, 7

Skull Crusher: 70: 10 +12 press
Skull Crusher: 70: 10 +12 press

Dips: 12

Okay, so I finally got more than 6 reps on the first part of my rest-pause set (for flat bench.) I’m really happy about that! Unfortunately, I still only managed a 3 and 3 after that, so I’m not getting the 15 total yet. For the regular sets after that, 135 lb was feeling too light (I was getting too many reps) even when I was only taking 2 minute breaks between sets. An increase to 145 lb this time sorted that out (still only taking 2 minute breaks.) After the last rep on each set, I let the bar back down as slowly as I could, then got Jon (who was spotting me) to help lift it back onto the rack. This is what DC training calls a “forced negative,” and I’m going to start implementing them more as long as I can remember to do it.

The flat bench took a lot out of me, so I didn’t do as well as I hoped for on the Smith incline press. I got two less reps than last time! Awful. Haha, that’s really all I can say. As usual, I did a couple regular sets after my rest-pause set. Increased to 40 lb per side since 35 was getting too light.

Still working away with the same weight on skull crushers. My form is not quiet there yet, so I’ll keep doing this weight. I at least managed a couple more close grip bench press after the skull crushers though.

And again, I finished with a set of dips. I think if I am consistently getting 12 or more reps, I should probably add weight like I’m doing with pull ups.

Had another go at chest last night since I hadn’t worked it since last Wednesday.

Barbell Bench Press: 170 RP: 6+4+4 (for 14 total)
Barbell Bench Press: 135: 10, 8, 8

Smith Incline Bench Press: 52.5 per, RP: 6+4+3 (for 13 total)
Smith Incline Bench Press: 35 per: 11, 9

Skull Crusher: 70: 10 +10 press
Skull Crusher: 70: 10 +10 press

Dips: 12

Getting closer to beating 170 on the bench press. I really feel like I should be able to get more than 6 reps on the first part of my rest-pause set. The good thing is on the last part of the rest-pause set, I thought I was only going to be able to get 3 reps (the 3rd was really hard.) After completing that rep, I felt like I should bring the bar back down anyway and fail on the negative. As I was preparing to do this, Jon (who was spotting me) told me to get 1 more rep! So I had to make it happen. I just pushed and pushed, experiencing a new level of physical stress I didn’t know I was capable of overcoming, until I finally had the bar all the way back up to starting position again. After the rest-pause set, I again limited myself to only 2 minutes before doing my regular sets (at 135 lb) with 2 minute rests between each of those sets.

Since I beat my incline weight last chest workout, I put it up again for this one. This time, I had 52.5 lb on each side of the bar, plus the weight of the Smith machine’s bar. I came 2 short of the full 15, so I’ll be trying this weight again next time with full intentions of beating it. As with the flat bench sets, I gave myself only 2 minutes rest after this rest-pause set before dropping the weight to 35 lb per side and doing 2 regular sets.

For skull crushers, it was time to increase the weight as well. I had been working with 65 lb for a few weeks trying to nail the proper form. Last week, I felt like I had it, so I did a 5 lb increase last night. I was able to do 2 sets of 10 reps each, but the last couple reps on the second set were pretty sloppy. I’d like to stay at this weight next time to work on form again before doing another increase. After each set, I immediately jumped into close-grip bench press.

After an extreme stretching session, Jon & I headed home. I had 1.5 scoops of whey isolate right away, then went for a 10 minute walk. Once back, I had a large chicken wrap. Then about an hour and a half later, I had a bowl of 12 meatballs, and let that sit for another hour or so before hitting the hay.

Had another chest & triceps day last night.  I figured 5 days since my last one should be enough recovery time to go at it again.

Barbell bench press: 170 RP: 6+3+3 (for 12 total)
Barbell bench press: 135: 11, 9, 7

Smith Incline bench press: 50 per, RP: 8+5+4 (for 17 total)
Smith Incline bench press: 35 per: 11, 9

Skull Crusher: 65: 10 +20 press
Skull Crusher: 65: 10 +20 press

Dips: 10

We got the gym kind of late, and time was limited, so I tried forcing some shorter breaks between my sets this time. My first bench press set was a rest-pause style (as usual), and you can see I got the same number of reps as last time… so I didn’t get any better or worse on that. It’s frustrating, but as long as I am getting at least 11 overall on the set, I should be happy because it is still really effective. After the rest-pause set, I limited myself to 2 minute breaks for the remaining sets. So 2 minutes after that set, I did a regular set with lower weight (135 lb) for as many reps as I could get. Rested 2 minutes again and did another set, and then again for a final flat bench set.

For the incline presses on the Smith machine, I tried a higher weight than last time because I got all 15 reps last time. Increased by 5 lb overall, and absolutely crushed the goal of 15 reps over the rest-pause set by getting 17, so I will increase it again on my next chest day by another 5 lb. After the rest-pause set, I again waited 2 minutes and did a couple sets at lower weight. [Again, to explain my Smith notation: 50 per means 50 lb of weight on each side of the bar, for 100 lb total, plus the weight of the bar itself, which could be anywhere from 15-25 lb.]

For skull crushers, I have been sticking to the same weight for a while, still working on that form. Again, I did 2 sets of 10 with 20 close-grip bench press immediately after. This time, I feel the form was good enough to warrant a 5 lb increase for next time. So I will be putting this up to 70 lb on my next triceps workout.

Lastly, I only had enough strength to squeeze out 10 dips. I am going to blame this on the shorter breaks I was taking! There wasn’t even time for me to get in any extreme stretching.

I’ll be heading back in after work tonight with Clack. He’ll be doing chest this time, and I’ll be working on shoulders and biceps.

I’ve decided to wipe all my old posts from this blog, and start anew with greater focus on my workouts.

So let’s jump back to last Friday, Jan 29. I’ll just drop all the numbers, then explain my notation after. My bodyweight going into this workout was right around 150 lb.

Barbell bench press: 170 lb RP: 6+3+3 (for 12 total)
Barbell bench press: 135 lb: 12, 11, 10

Smith Incline bench press: 47.5 lb per RP: 8+4+3 (for 15 total)
Smith Incline bench press: 35 lb per: 13

Skull Crusher: 65 lb: 10 +20 press
Skull Crusher: 65 lb: 10 +20 press

Dips: 12

Chest stretch: 65 lb: 75 sec
Triceps stretch: 60 sec

When I say “RP,” that is a rest-pause set. With a rest-pause set, the goal is to get a total of 11-15 reps across 3 mini-sets separated by 15 deep breaths. So I do as many reps as I can, then take 15 deep breaths, do as many as I can again, take 15 deep breaths again, then finally do as many as I can again. With each mini-set, you do less reps because you’re still exhausted from not getting enough rest since the last mini-set. As long as you get at least 11 overall, you can technically increase your weight the next time. I like to wait until I’m getting the full 15 reps with good form though. You can see here I got 12, so I still have some work to do before I attempt 175 lb.

After the RP set, you see some regular sets. I use lower weight on these, and take a good 2-3 minutes rest between sets (instead of just 15 breaths.) Sometimes the rests are shorter if I feel like making it harder, and sometimes they are longer if someone else needs a spot on something.

On the incline smith sets, I am using a Smith machine instead of a real barbell & bench combo. The reason for this is after the flat bench, I don’t want to bother anyone to spot me. I use an incline bench for these to try to hit more of the upper pec. Whether it actually works or not is debatable. I enjoy doing them though, so I squeeze them in when there’s time. Again you see I started with a rest-pause set with 47.5 lb of weight on each side of the bar for a total of 95 lb plus however much the bar weighs. I’ve never weighed the one where I go, but they are usually 15-25 lb (less than the olympic barbell used on regular bench press.)

For the skull crusher notation, that means I did 10 skull crushers. Then without resting I immediately went into some close-grip bench press with the same weight. It’s not a lot of weight for a narrow-grip bench press, but your triceps are so exhausted from the skull crushers that the presses are still devastating anyway. After a good rest, I did 10 skull crushers again followed by another 20 presses. Finally, the dips notation is pretty simple. I did 1 set of 12 dips (just my bodyweight) on the power tower.

I finished up the workout with some extreme stretching. This is supposed to stretch the deep fascia, which in turn is supposed to allow your muscles to grow a bit easier. For the chest stretch, I lay on a flat bench with a 65 lb dumbbell in each hand, and hold them there without pressing them up so my chest gets pulled. The goal for this is 60-90 seconds. I got 75, so next time I will increase to 70 lb dumbbells. Triceps stretch doesn’t use any weight. You just have to find your own way of stretching your triceps and hold it for 60-90 seconds.