Lean Bodies Consulting

MONDAY’S WORKOUT

Alternating DB Curls
Worked up to 55s x 6 + 2 + 2

Alternating Hammer Curls
Worked up to 40s x 12

Calf Press on Hack Slide
Worked up to 50×12 (15s pause in stretch)

Standing Leg Curls
Worked up to 40x 10 + 5 + 3

Front Squats
I wanted to work up to a heavy single to see how far away I am from a goal I set (315lb front squat), but I only made it to about 265 before I called it. I haven’t been front squatting in a couple months and as a result, my wrists aren’t accustomed to the Olympic grip. The weight was still smooth so I’ll keep working at it.

Hack Squats
Worked up to 255×8

Worked up to 165×20

Pretty good workout all around. I got to watch one of those funny ‘gym characters’ between sets today. You know the one - bodybuilder pants, sleeveless shirt, big headphones, frown on his face, lats locked and arms out, big belly. Have I painted a good enough picture for you yet? If I saw this guy in the mall, I wouldn’t think he trained. I watched him load up the bar for set after set of shrugs. When he hit 315 he was moving the bar about an inch. Then came 4 plates and then 5 plates, and then 5 plates and a 10. This set, I don’t think he moved it at all. Like at all. LOL Oh, and he had no trap development either.

Gym comedy. Always fun.

THURSDAY’S WORKOUT

Decline Hammer Strength Press
Worked up to 305 x 12 + 5 + 2

Hammer Strength Shoulder Press
worked up to 215 x 9 + 4 + 3

Reverse-grip Bench Press
worked up to 160 x 12 + 5 + 3

Assisted Pull Ups
worked up to 80 x 10 + 4 + 3 plus 10 lat shrugs

Paused Deadlifts
Worked up to 455×6 and then dropped to

405×10

Not sure how I got through the 455. I wasn’t in the mood to train today, even though going into the final exercise, i was up on everything. I warmed up with 135 and was thinking, ugh, that was heavy. That’s not usually a good sign.

Then 225×3 - still heavy
Then 315×1 - still heavy
Then 405×1 - felt like 805×1

So I took a good 5 minutes to get ready for the 455. First one went up ok, so then I knew I had it. Rep 6 was a doozy. This is my limit for now.

The 405×10 wasn’t that bad, besides feeling lightheaded at the end of it. Definitely easier on the way down than it was on the way up.

Weight is up to 232 now. I feel chubby, but full. LOL 240 will be good.

I’m at that point where I’m starting to fill out and get bigger which is good. But it also coincides with not feeling as lean, which really isn’t just a feeling. It’s a fact. I’m up about 8lbs now. For the longest time I couldn’t get my weight to budge, owing to a lack of consistent eating, but now it’s starting to increase relatively consistently. While I’d like to do a little bit of dieting right now just to scale back a bit, I’m going to hold out until the New Year I think.

MONDAY’S TRAINING

Barbell Preacher Curls
Worked up to 95 x 12 + 4 + 3

Hammer Curls
Worked up to 45s x 9 + 4 + 2

Seated Calf Raise
Worked up to 75×11 (with the nasty 15s pause in the stretch position)

Lying Leg Curls (toes pointed)
Worked up to 140 x 12 + 6 + 6

Full Squats
Worked up to 350 x 1, then

315×5, then

190×19

That last set was brutal. When I was at 13 I was telling myself to just stop at 15. But if you hit 15, you have to go for 20, and if you hit 18, you know you can get 20. But I was teetering on the 18th and getting light headed. I did 19, thought about 20 for about 20 seconds and decided to rack it instead. I felt sick for a good hour afterwards.

Here’s a couple video clips of the deadlifts I talked about yesterday. This is my wife hitting 250 and 260 for a single. I believe Noel will get her clips up in her blog today as well.

SATURDAY’S TRAINING

Incline Bench Press

Worked up to 250×9 + 3 + 1

Military Press

Worked up to 165 x11 + 4 + 2

Lying Triceps Extensions

Worked up to 90 x 8 + 3 + 2 (lost some ground on this exercise)

Rack Pull Ups

Worked up to BW x 10 + 4 + 4

Corner Rows

I skipped these this workout.
Not a bad workout, not a great workout either. The focus just wasn’t in the workout today.

Saturday was still a fun time in the gym as Noel was in town for the weekend and she and Laura (my wife) were going to do some heavy deadlifting. Noel had basically strained her neck in Thursday’s training session but she spent an hour with my ART guy on Friday night getting things worked out.

Saturday marked the end of her 8-week bulk so she just planned on trying to hit a PR in the Push Press and a PR in the Deadlift. Laura decided to sneak in on the Deadlift action and go for a PR as well.

Noel, as she said in her blog hit a 145lb Push Press, which is awesome. I got a video of it that I’ll get uploaded. She can post it on her blog.

She also worked up to a 325lb deadlift - impressive considering what she started at.

Laura worked up to a 260lb deadlift, but what has to be remembered is that she’s only 113lbs, so that makes that a 2.3x bodyweight deadlift - to put it in perspective, that’s equivalent to me hitting a 535lb deadlift at today’s weight of 232lbs. Impressive. I remember when she first pulled 135 for 1 rep.

I got video of both those deadlift PRs, which I’ll get up shortly as well. It’s always impressive to see women, strong women, hauling around the big weights.

All in all a fun day in the gym.

I forgot to post up Thursday’s workout:

THURSDAY’S TRAINING

Barbell Curls

Worked up to 105×10 +3 + 3

One-arm Cable Reverse Curls

Worked up to 20×14,14

Calf Press in Leg Press

Worked up to 285×11 (I do a 15s pause in the stretch on every rep here. Try it. LOL)

Hamstring Leg Press

Worked up to 545×15

These are simply done with only the lower part of your foot on the platform. So your toes, etc. are off the platform and you’re concentrating on driving through your heels. Great exercise.

Leg Press

Worked up to 720×10 (8 plates per side)

And then dropped down to 515 for a set of 20.

My leg gains continue to come at a good rate.

So another day, another workout. I’m still struggling to get all my food in. I’m generally a meal behind every day. I need to get up earlier.

Low incline Bench Press

Worked up to 250 x 10 + 2 + 2

Machine Shoulder Press

Worked up to 130 x 12 + 4 + 3

Close-grip Bench Press (I never have any triceps strength left at this point).

Worked up to 165 x 10 + 4 + 2

Hammer Pulldowns

Worked up to 225 x 11 + 5 + 3

Barbell Rows from the floor

Worked up to 195×11

I tend to be a people watcher in the gym. I enjoy my time between sets when doing heavy work since it allows me the opportunity to sit, rest and watch what people are doing. I was doing just that between my last two exercises, and you know what I noticed? Well, a couple things:

1. Very few people train hard. (we already know that even less train smart) I watch people just cruising through sets, with no real effort and terminating the set before it even starts to get challenging. I wonder if these same people ever stop to wonder why they never look any different.

2. Very few people pay their dues on the big exercises. I think I can count on one hand how many legitimate full squatters I’ve seen at my gym. I do however see a lot of leg pressers, a lot of Smith squatters and a lot of half squatters. Is it any coincidence that I’ve yet to see more than a couple pairs of decently developed legs? I’ve seen a few more deadlifters, (not many) but no strong deadlifters. I do see a lot of seated cable rows and lat pulldowns though. Is it any coincidence that I haven’t seen too many with really good, 3D back development? I don’t think so.

I typically think if it’s harder, it’s probably better. Barbell rows are harder than seated cable rows - probably better. Full squatting is harder than leg pressing - probably better. Now that’s not to say these other exercises have no place, because they most certainly do, but if you want the best bang for your buck, start paying your dues on the big compound exercises.

Start adopting a mentality that you *must* get strong on things like squats, benches, deadlifts, rows. Get addicted to getting stronger and I guarantee you that your physique will thank you. These are the foundation of all your progress. Make gains on these exercises and you’ll soon be more developed. It’s that simple. (provided adequate food of course).

Compound exercises:

• Use more energy
• Recruit more muscle and build more muscle
• Result in a greater acute increase in anabolic hormones
• Allow you the opportunity to use maximal weight

Yesterday’s post actually started out with the intention of just posting my most recent workout but then I got a bit sidetracked and well, you’ve read the rest.

So today I’ll update that workout.

Hammer Decline Press

Worked up to 295 x 9 + 4 + 3 (plus statics)

Hammer Shoulder Press

Worked up to 205 X 10 + 3 + 2 (plus statics)

Reverse-grip Bench Press

Worked up to 160 X 9 + 4 + 3

Assisted Pull Ups

Worked up to 80 x 9 + 3 + 3 (plus statics)

Deadlifts (paused)

Worked up to 445×6 and then,

385×10

Everything was up between 5 and 20lbs for this workout. The deadlifts are coming up nicely. I’m not at PR territory or anything yet, but I’m happy with the rate of strength progress.

Sitting at 227.0 today.