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!