Curls and legs

I squated over 300 for the first time in quite a while - I had to use my rigged hand-holds using wrist wraps to not hurt my shoulders, but I did it!  Here is the lift:

Lift	Weight	Reps
Squat/calf raise combo	210	15
	225	15
	245	15
	275	15
	320	15
Curls straight bar	100	10
	115	8
	135	6
	135	6
Curl-bar curls	55	15
	75	12
	85	8
	85	8
	85	8
	75	12
	55	15
Hammer curls	52	24
	60	20
	60	20
Deadlift to shrug super	135	45
Full stretch	n/a	0
Day's total		42878

B-day

My shoulders have really plateaued.  I haven't done the best job on rehab, sleeping habits, etc, so hard to tell how I'm actually doing.  I don't really have pain, per se, just a nagging annoying feeling in my shoulders from certain motions.  While not a leap forward, I suppose I'm happy where I'm at, as a few months ago the impingement was so bad that I couldn't reach above my head without it hurting!

I took a few days off as I came down with a cold.  I still don't feel great today, but managed to get my lift in (shoulders only).  Just a reminder on what B-day entails:

Everything is with cords...
Backhand - downwards (2 sets x 25), upwards (2 sets x 25)
Chest fly - downwards (2 sets x 25), upwards (2 sets x 25)
Depression shrugs - 2 sets of 25
Front pull-downs - 2 sets of 20
Reverse fly - 2 sets of 20
Rotation - 4 sets of 20, each arm, 2 in, 2 out
Finish up with stim and ice

Over the weekend I also fit in a CoC workout - 100 reps per hand on the level 1 Captain of Crush.

I'm hoping I'll be feeling well enough, tomorrow, to get in some squats/calfs.

Thanks for reading!

Friday and Saturday

Friday was fairly low-key following the big lift with Dave.  I did a full b-day, again, scaling up to 25 reps versus 20, across the board, while maintaining the same weight.  This should be indicative of an improvement to endurance in the shoulders...a good sign!

Yesterday I did the following:

Deadlift
135x15x3, 225x10x2

Shrugs
135x15x3, 225x12x2

Calf raises
205x12x5

Abs (various)
80 total reps

Burnout regular dumbbell curls, Burnout hammer dumbbell curls

Lateral in/out with cords (regularly B-day)

I shot to mainly hit legs and some light back, but also made sure to hit my shoulders enough to stay on course.  I've gotten sick of repeating the same works out, over and over again, so yesterday was a nice break.  I'm fairly sore today, mainly in my thighs, but I like that feeling!

Just as an aside, I get to attend the Arnold Classic this year and am really looking forward to catching some of the strongman.  I'll keep you posted!

The week, thus far

I'm behind...

Monday I was so sore from the weekend that I bagged the lift.  Monday I hit a combo A/B Day with Dave since I missed Monday.

Wednesday was a much needed day-off, and yesterday Dave joined me, again, for a B-Day.  We also worked in the following:

60 total reps of squat on 135
110 total reps of calf raises on 135
Straight bar curls for 10 on 100
Standing rows for 20 on 100

I've also upped most sets on A and B Days to 25 reps from 20 as my strength improves.  I've done a poor job of pushing the NSAIDs and icing my shoulders but am doing ok anyway.  I need to be more vigilant about the treatment and not just the lift!

Thanks for reading!

A-day...staying on schedule!

I'm still playing a bit of catch-up from last week, and frankly, I feel much better on the days when I lift, versus the days I'm unable to do so.  I got in a full A-day along with the following:

2 sets of straight bar curls, 100 lbs, 10 reps
2 sets of standing rows, 100 lbs, 20 reps
3 sets of straigh-leg deadlift, 100 lbs, 15 reps
4 sets of leg-extension abs, 15 reps
3 sets of 50lb cord lat pulls, 20 reps
1 set of calf raises, 135, 25 reps

I hit a little bit of everything.  The hardest part of my A-day lift is the push-up to overextend...presses are tough for me and I can feel them in my sore tendons.  Hopefully the doc knows what he's talking about with that as part of the routine!

I think I'll rest the weights tomorrow and hit some cardio, so until then...

Double day

I hit an a-day and a b-day today (shoulders are pretty tired!) along with the following:

2 supersets of squat with calf raises, 60 reps/set, 135 lbs
1 superset of bent rows with shurgs on straight bar, 50 reps, 100 lbs
50 total reps of abs
Stretching
Finish with stim and ice

I'm pretty tired but it serves me right as I had skipped the last two days and needed to play catch-up!

Thanks for reading, and until Monday!

A-day

I started today with a standard A-day lift and worked in some other cord motions focused on the rotators.  Additionally, I worked in 50 reps of bent rows 50 reps of straight-bar shrugs, and a superset of squat/calf raises on plates.  These lifts don't sound too tough but I'm pretty tired by the end!  I am feeling stronger and not waking up in pain each morning - steps in the right direction!

Thanks for reading!

Some rehab with some legs

I'm short on time today, so straight to the workout:

Squat, 135 x 60 reps (4 sets)
Calf raises, 135 x 100 reps (4 sets)
50 reps of each of the following on the 50 lb cord
     Reverse shrugs
     Lat pulls
     Seated rows
     Standing rows
     Overextend press
     Front rotations (stabilized)
     Side rotations-in
     Side rotations-out
     Back flies
Shrugs, 100 x 50 (1 set)

A good start to 2012

I've gotten off to a fairly good start in 2012.  If you reference back a few posts you'll be able to see what "A" and "B" lift days are.  Thus far this week I've hit 2 A-days and 1 B-day.  I also got in a good CoC workout starting on the trainer and building up to a full close on the level 2 captain of crush.

Today, I mixed up the lift a bit.  Here's my workout:

4 supersets on 50 lb cords
     Reverse shrugs x 25
     Tricep extensions (downward) x 25
     Lat pulls x 25
     Reverse flyes x 25
Dumbbell shrugs, 3 sets of 20 using 60s
2 combo sets on 100 (straight bar)
     Shrugs x 25
     Straight leg deadlift x 25
Straight bar curls (bar only) - burnout
Calf raises, 2 sets of 25 on 135

The lift felt pretty good and was pain free, though nothing went above 90 degrees for my shoulders.  This will probably be the status quo for a while...minimal presses, including bench!

Thanks for reading, and check back tomorrow!

2011 in Review

I feel like 2011 was a fairly successful year.  I was able to meet my weight goals of over 100,000 lbs per week and I also managed to average over 4 miles a week of running.  In terms of personal records for bench, deadlift and squat, I was hampered for half the year, nearly, with shoulder issues (shoulder impingement syndrome in both shoulders) which held me up.  For the short/medium-terms I have to reassess my PR goals as the focus must shift to getting back to 100%.  While I do that, I plan to focus a bit more on the cardio side of things and log more miles.  I also seem to be able to deadlift without issue, and will try to make some gains there (not in terms of PR) with rep advances at medium weights.  That should ultimately benefit my squat when I'm able to fully support the bar again.  When I've squated recently I've had to rig a system with wrist wraps to hold the bar...not pretty and I'll post a picture soon so you know what I'm talking about!

Time to give a shout-out to my workout partners, Dave, Paxton, Nate and Nathaniel.  Dave is ramping-up to run a marathon soon, so his weights are down, but he will put up 300 before the year is done!  Paxton (14) had a PR of 150lbs on bench yesterday and is looking for solid gains in 2012.  Both Nate and Nathaniel (16) settled out around 130lbs on bench.  They are both stronger than the numbers show but had long football seasons that held them up a bit.  2012 will hopefully be a good year for everyone, but I really look forward to the young guys making some big gains...fun to see them grow!

Thanks for reading this past year and I hope you continue to follow the blog this year!