Logbook

[O-Train]

Havn't really been posting or training lately. Went once this week but had a 3 week layoff before that. Found out towards the end of October that my contract wouldn't be renewed so I've been looking for work for the last couple weeks. Feeling depressed which makes it difficult to find motivation to train. Need to apply for EI but I don't want to.

Not training for 3 weeks messes up numbers so for the time being I'm not going back to 5/3/1. I thought up an interesting split so hopefully I'll be able to drag my ass to the gym atleast a couple times a week. Thought about a big muscles/little muscles split. I figure I can keep the tempo a lot higher when working smaller muscles and take longer breaks when training larger muscles. Plus I also figure it will increase training frequency and allow my lower back to rest. Havn't worked out all the details yet but on monday I trained Chest, shoulders, triceps, biceps and calves. The other day will be back, quads, hamstrings and glutes. The only exception is posterior delts which get trained with back.

Exercise selection and rotation will be key and I figure for the big muscle days I can shift the focus back and forth between squats and deadlifts. One of the main reasons I wanted to give this a try is that I felt like I wasn't giving certain muscle groups enough focus, specifically back.

I noticed from this workout that my shoulders and calves arn't sore so I need to do more for them. Everything else feels toasted.

Dumbbell Chest Press 60pl x7 80pl x8 90pl x3+70pl x4
Standing Military Press 115x3 125x3
One Arm DB Tricep Extension (cross body) 20pl x8 30pl x6+ Rolling DB Tricep Ext 30pl x8
Dumbbell Concentration Curls 30pl x8 35pl x9+ Standing twisting DB Curls 35pl x5
Machine Chest Fly 105x8 150x8 180x3
Dumbbell Laterals (thumbs down) 20pl x8 20pl x9 20pl x8
Cable Tricep Pressdowns 10pl x4+9pl x2
Standing Calf Raise 340x10 340x8 340x7

Looks like a lot but it took about an hour. Needs some work.

I figured out yesterday that "lateral" as a movement means "farther from median plane" (I normally just use the term abduction). I always thought that "lateral" raise was a bit of a misnomer but it's not.

[O-Train]

Figured out my exercises for Big Muscle Days (1 and 2). Not sure on number of sets but I'm sure the workouts will figure themselves out.

Day 1:
Back Squat
Stiff-leg Deadlift
Barbell Hack Squat
Unilateral Glute/Ham Kickback
Pendlay Row (pronated grip)
Cable Long Row
Face Pulls

Day 2:
Deadlift
Standing Good Mornings
Machine Hack Squat
Reverse Hypers
One Arm Dumbbell Rows
Rack Chins
High Elbow Cable Row

Probably going to use more sets for barbell/machine hack squats because those are the main quad exercises. May need to finish with leg extensions.

Feel free to comment or ask questions, some of the exercises are somewhat obscure.

[Talo]

I noticed from this workout that my shoulders and calves arn't sore so I need to do more for them

Being sore is not a good enough reason to hit them more. Be careful with the smaller muscles because you can over train them fast and you don't want to be hit with an injury.

[O-Train]

Being sore is not a good enough reason to hit them more. Be careful with the smaller muscles because you can over train them fast and you don't want to be hit with an injury.

Very true. I guess what I was trying to get at is that in comparison to other small muscle groups I didn't train my calves and shoulders adequetely. It's probably as simple as pushing to failure on the final set by adding a drop set or possibly adding one additional set. Nothing major.

[O-Train]

This was a fairly crazy workout. Nutrition beforehand wasn't great and I was dehydrated too. My hamstrings started cramping up after squats. Didn't feel very strong but it was great to kick my ass in the gym. Decided not to do any glute/ham kickbacks. By the time I got to back exercises I was basically done. Started feeling light headed and almost blacked out after my first set of pendlay rows. If I keep doing this workout I think my hamstrings will grow a lot. Barbell hack squats are a great quad exercise.

Soon as I got home I had a couple big scoops of jam then a protein shake and some ground beef which made me feel a lot better.

I have a phone interview next Tuesday which I'm excited about.

Back Squat 135x4 225x3 275x5 275x5
Stiff Leg Deadlift 135x6 275x8
Barbell Hack Squat 135x8 185x7+ Uni. Leg Extension 100x3+80x2
Pronated Pendlay Rows 135x6 185x5
Cable Long Rows 10pl x8 12pl x8 12pl x7
Face Pulls 8pl x10 10pl x10 11pl x10

[O-Train]

I'm starting to re-think training legs w/ back. Gets my heart rate and bp up high. I can tell because my ears start feeling like they're plugged/need to pop. Plus by the time I get towards the end of the workout I'm gassed. Weight has dropped to just over 200lbs because frankly I'm just not motivated to eat. Same with working out, it's been a difficult few weeks. I'm thinking I probably havn't lost much muscle but restricting calories while not training isn't a great way to get bigger...

Had a really important job interview last Friday. Went well so I'm hopeful. Tried deadlifting today and I can still pull 405 which is 2x BW...I guess that's a good starting point. Grip felt really strong with that weight so it's the rest of me that needs to catch up.

Deadlift 135x3 225x1 315x1 365x1 405x1
Standing Good Mornings 135x8 185x4 175x7
Machine Hack Squats 90x9 180x10 180x6
One Arm Dumbbell Rows 100x8 100x6
Rack Chins BW x8 BW x7
Cable High Elbow Rows 10pl x8 + 9pl x4

[faller]

I know i couldn't do back and legs in the same workout. i have to do a small muscle group after a big one. legs/shoulders, back/triceps leaves me feeling "energized", back and leg's just left me feeling like i'm done for the day, completely burned out.

[CreatineAmonster]

Some serious weight on the DL's man I wonder how heavy you would be lifting if you were just doing back and not legs and back. KUTGW/

[O-Train]

I wanted to use multi-quote but I always forget how. Training Legs and Back does leave me burned out for sure. Actually the first time I tried it turned out I had a stomache virus. Started feeling really sick that night and by 4AM I could barely turn from back to front or vice versa. I really want to get back to training consistently and see how it treats me because I can't give it an honest appraisal right now. This time around I'm just sore although I feel like I needed more energy to give my lats a better workout.

Thanks CreatineAmonster. I guess my deadlift is ok but I know it still needs a lot of work. The main reason that I'm breaking up training how I am is that I'm just not getting to the gym very often. So when I do go I need to get a lot done. Also one aspect of training that people often overlook is training frequency. It's great to focus on one muscle group and get the most out of the workout. However, in the long run it may more beneficial to do less more often. Even training a muscle group 1.5x/wk vs 1 is the difference between working that muscle group 78 times a year vs 52. I think that's one of the big reasons (along with others) that I had really good results from DC training.

[O-Train]

Weights are down but I'm starting to feel like I'm getting back into the swing of things. I especially noticed with bench that the weight felt heavier than it should have. Started feeling lighter on my last set. I've been doing laterals w/ thumbs down. No clue how DK moves 70's. Did a couple rest/pause style sets to finish but only w/ one rest.

Barbell Bench Press 135x7 185x6 185x7
Seated Dumbbell Shoulder Press 60pl x6 65pl x4
Dips BW x8 BW x7
Seated Dumbbell Curl 35pl x8 40pl x7+2
Dumbbell Laterals 20pl x8 20pl x8+4
Dumbbell Chest Fly 40pl x8
Cable Tricep Pressdown 10pl x2+9pl x4+8pl x4
Standing Calf Raise 340x10 340x8 340x7+300x3+260x4