Step 2: RMM's Journal

[RMM]

Tuesday: Nothing, went to see Iron Man 2 and dinner afterwards

Wednesday:

Weight: 97.5 kg.

Incline Benchpress:
Bar x8
40 kg x5
50 kg x2
60 kg x1
65 kg x5
70 kg x5

Left shoulder was a bit off today, may have pulled it a bit on Monday. No big deal, but slightly annoying.

Pec Flys:
180 lbs x12
200 lbs x8

The other Pec Fly machine was out of order (the one I used last week), so I used a different one where you push with your hands (as opposed to the elbows). I dislike it because the weight only goes in jumps of 20 lbs. Uses straight cables to pull the weight off the ground tho, no counter-weights or anything funny.

Standing Military Press:
Bar x8
30 kg x3
37.5 kg x10
40 kg x10

Moving up. Man these are tough on the shoulders.

Cable stacks were out of order too (one had some screwed up rotors, the other had a frayed cable and nobody could use it), so I went to the:

Lateral Raise Machine:
85 lbs x12
100 lbs x10

It's fun to revisit the old machines I used when I started the gym run. The stacks are starting to feel too small with some of them

High Feet Pushups:
20
15
7

Couldn't find the box I used the last time, so I used a bench... 60 cm off the ground. 30 cm did make quite a difference, phew.

 

[RMM]

Thursday: Cardio, sprints.

Friday:

Weight: 97 kg.

I think Monday may have been a water-heavy day. Note that I still do the cross-trainer warmup, just don't bother mentioning anymore.

Squats:
Bar x8
60 kg x5
80 kg x3
100 kg x1
110 kg x5
115 kg x5

Since I've deloaded a bit, I worked on adding an extra bit of depth to my squat. Yowza.

Before continuing I decided to test something. Yesterday I baked a pie, and during the process of preparing it I had to grab a piece of the food processor that was tucked away on the highest, remotest spot of the kitchen shelves. Thinking that I didn't want to bother looking for a stool to stand on, I decided to try and reach it with a jump.

*Jump*

*Grab*

Uh...

...

Well, today I decided to test that. Went to the basketball court after the squats, and after a few shots and so on I started running in and jumping. And jumping. And holy crap, I could actually reach the freaking hoop. Just barely, but I could touch it.

Granted, last time I played basketball was a good 12 years ago, but freaking hell, I couldn't even touch the net back then.

I ended up spending 20 minutes on the court (and not exactly going light). Good times.

Anyway.

Hack Squat Machine:
145 kg x20

One Legged Hack Calf Raise Machine:
205 kg x12
215 kg x10

Figured the 20 kg jump I had before wasn't too good, so I closed the gap to 10 kg.

Hamstring Curls:
175 lbs x10
185 lbs x8

Gonna keep at that weight next time, last reps could've used a fuller range of motion (which I intend to do next time).

Decline Crunches:
+15 kg x33
+15 kg x30

And that's it. Was running low on fuel at the end of it, the extra 20 minutes on the basketball court with so much jumping probably helped that, heh.

 

[RMM]

Monday:

Weight: 97.1 kg

I may have to start measuring my waist, I'm pretty sure my waist is down despite not that much drop in weight.

Deadlifts:
60 kg x5
80 kg x3
100 kg x1
110 kg x1
120 kg x1
125 kg x5
130 kg x5
135 kg x1

Hmmm, deadlifts. I have a bigass blister on my left palm, right under the pinky. I'm not sure if my stubbornness trying to avoid alternate grip is a good or a bad thing, but so far I've managed without it.

Will I manage 3 plates? Stay tuned for next week's episode!

Pullups:
11
9
6

Depth, depth!

Compound Row:
205 lbs x12
215 lbs x6

Staying at this next week and pumping more reps.

EZ Bar Gunz Curls:
Bar + 20 kg x12
Bar + 22.5 kg x8

One more week increasing reps and I'll move up a notch.

Reverse Wrist Dumbbell Curls:
10 kg x9
10 kg x7

Decline Crunches:
+15 kg x35
+15 kg x33

Tough day, endorphins are great!

 

[RMM]

Tuesday: Cardio, sprints.

Upped the sprints regime to:

90s 6km/h
45s 11 km/h
45s 17 km/h

Wednesday:

Weight: 97 kg.

Incline Benchpress:
Bar x6
40 kg x5
50 kg x2
60 kg x1
67.5 kg x5
72.5 kg x5

Last rep was... Ugh. I still don't know how I managed to rack the weight instead of having it fall on me.

Pec Fly Machine:
185 lbs x12
200 lbs x10

Standing Military Press:
Bar x6
30 kg x3
40 kg x10
42.5 kg x7

I tried lateral cable raises, and somehow my left shoulder wasn't managing - at all. The obvious conclusion is that I am doing it wrong. I'll look into what to use to complement the SMP. In the meantime:

Lateral Raise Machine:
100 lbs x12
115 lbs x10

Decline Pushups:
22
13
9

Feet on bench.

All together, it was a pretty crappy day. First off, I seem to be stuck at 97 kg. Second, I was within a hair of failing the benchpress, and seems a bit too early to be failing that. I seem to be getting quite stuck. Maybe I should do more (more sets, more exercises).

Or maybe I'm overthinking just a bad day.

 

[Being_the_Don]

Monday:

Weight: 97.1 kg

I may have to start measuring my waist, I'm pretty sure my waist is down despite not that much drop in weight.

Deadlifts:
60 kg x5
80 kg x3
100 kg x1
110 kg x1
120 kg x1
125 kg x5
130 kg x5
135 kg x1

Hmmm, deadlifts. I have a bigass blister on my left palm, right under the pinky. I'm not sure if my stubbornness trying to avoid alternate grip is a good or a bad thing, but so far I've managed without it.

Grip the bar with one palm facing you and the other facing away; this may help your grip.

 

[RMM]

Thursday: Cardio, sprints.

The extra 1 km/h speed is kicking my ass, who would've thought.

Friday:

Weight: 97.2 kg

Squats:
Bar x8
60 kg x5
80 kg x3
100 kg x1
110 kg x1
112.5 kg x5
115 kg x5
117.5 kg x5

Hack Squat Machine:
150 kg x20

Hack Calf Raise Machine, one-legged:
210 kg x12
220 kg x10

Hamstring Curls:
175 lbs x12
185 lbs x9

Managed to up the reps a bit.

Decline Crunches:
+15 kg x38
+15 kg x34

I was thinking of some cardio tomorrow, but considering how tired I am today (and my left quad feels a bit uncomfortable) I may not do it and just rest the whole weekend. Diet-wise, next week I'm dropping all bread completely, and down to 2060 calories.

 

[CarlitosWay]

Seems you're liking the heavy barbell squat + hack squat widowmaker combo ...brutal eh? I

 

[RMM]

Good day today. I slept better than I usually do, and took a nap at lunchtime (I forgot my lunch at home, so I drove back to retrieve it and caught half an hour of Z's while at it).

Monday:

Weight: 96.6 kg

Deadlifts:
80 kg x5
100 kg x3
110 kg x1
120 kg x1
130 kg x5
135 kg x5
140 kg x1

So, as Don advised (I had been putting it off simply to force my grip strength to develop), I had to go alternate halfway through my 135 kg set. Did 3 or 4 (I, for the life of me, can't remember) and the grip was on the verge of failing. It's funny how a weak grip throws the whole lift off balance. So, I alternated the grip (never done it before!), took a couple of deep breaths, psyched myself up, and did 2 more reps at 135.

I expected it to make it a bit easier, but it made a huge difference, much more than I expected. I did 140kg x1 to finish it off, and I can see myself doing the full 5 reps set with this grip. Felt heavy though, probably going to start doing only 2.5 kg increases from now on.

First lift ever with three big plates per side. Woot.

Pullups:
12
9
7

My hands were killing me - they still are. I expect blisters.

Compound Row:
205 lbs x12
215 lbs x9

Lateral Pulldown:
170 lbs x9
160 lbs x12

Okay, if the diagrams slapped on the side of the lever is to be believed, this thing recruits all the muscles on the back except the ones in the very middle (middle traps?), which are pretty big. So, I did a lot less weight than I expected. Which, looking at the size of the stack, leads me to believe the less big muscles probably need work. So I'll keep hammering these.

EZ Bar Gunz Curls:
Bar + 20kg x12
Bar + 22.5 kg x10

Biceps were very tired today (hm, I wonder why). But completed the x12/x10, up the weight goes next week!

Reverse Wrist Curls:
10 kg x9
10 kg x7

Couldn't increase. oh well.

Decline Crunches:
+20 kg x30
+20 kg x25

And that was it. So. Tired.

 

[RMM]

Seems you're liking the heavy barbell squat + hack squat widowmaker combo ...brutal eh? I

No kidding!

I liked the 20 rep squats, so I wanted to keep them in some way or another. The hack squat machine seems like a good supplement to the barbell squats.

 

[Being_the_Don]

Good day today. I slept better than I usually do, and took a nap at lunchtime (I forgot my lunch at home, so I drove back to retrieve it and caught half an hour of Z's while at it).

Monday:

Weight: 96.6 kg

Deadlifts:
80 kg x5
100 kg x3
110 kg x1
120 kg x1
130 kg x5
135 kg x5
140 kg x1

So, as Don advised (I had been putting it off simply to force my grip strength to develop), I had to go alternate halfway through my 135 kg set. Did 3 or 4 (I, for the life of me, can't remember) and the grip was on the verge of failing. It's funny how a weak grip throws the whole lift off balance. So, I alternated the grip (never done it before!), took a couple of deep breaths, psyched myself up, and did 2 more reps at 135.

I expected it to make it a bit easier, but it made a huge difference, much more than I expected. I did 140kg x1 to finish it off, and I can see myself doing the full 5 reps set with this grip. Felt heavy though, probably going to start doing only 2.5 kg increases from now on.

First lift ever with three big plates per side. Woot.

Good job with the dL's, RMM.

 

[RMM]

Tuesday: Cardio, sprints.

Wednesday:

Weight: 96 kg.

Incline Benchpress:
BAr x6
40 kg x3
50 kg x1
60 kg x1
70 kg x5
72.5 kg x5
75 kg x5

The last couple of reps were done with willpower alone. Gah! I don't think I'll be able to keep increasing weight too much.

Pec Fly Machine:
195 lbs x12
205 lbs x10

LAst couple of reps weren't too good, I'll see how it goes next week with +5 lbs but I may have to repeat weight soon.

Standing Military press:
Bar x6
30 kg x3
40 kg x1
42.5 kg x12
45 kg x6

Wow, 2.5 kg made a hell of a difference! Still, going up in weight, I'll stick to it and push more reps next time.

Bent Over Dumbbell Fly:
10 kg x12
12.5 kg x10

Good weight selection, I'll go up next week but it was tough anyway. Probably being the first time doing this made it harder, as it usually does.

Upright Rows:
20 kg x12
25 kg x10

EZ bar is 10 kg, right?

Decline Pushups:
25
15
8

Very happy with the first set! I think being 1 kg down from last time may have helped a bit.

All in all, I felt quite good today. It's weird, last week I lost no weight and I felt like I had almost stalled, yet this week I'm dropping weight again, eating less, and yet I'm smashing through everything. We'll see how the squats go on Friday.

 

[RMM]

Good job with the dL's, RMM.

Thanks! Not spectacular, but I feel they're somewhat decent numbers, feels great.

 

[RMM]

Hm, let's see if I have forgotten anything:

Thursday: Cardio, sprints.

Friday:

Weight: 95.6 kg

Squats:
Bar x6
60 kg x4
80 kg x2
100 kg x1
110 kg x1
115 kg x5
117.5 kg x5
120 kg x5

Weak point identified: Glutes. I've been widening my stance slightly as I've worked on adding depth, and seems to be the limiting step at the bottom. I've no way to do glute-ham raises, so I looked at the various contraptions around the gym to see what I could use. I found one where one has to push backwards and up with the leg, but the stack only goes up to 150 lbs and even with just one leg it was rather easy.

There's another contraption called "multi-hip", that has a single cushioned end and one can adjust it to do rotary movements - apparently one of the settings can be used to work the glutes. I'll look into it.

Anyway.

Hack Squat Machine:
155 kg x20

Machine Hack Calf Raise, one-legged:
220 kg x12
230 kg x10

Hamstring Curls:
175 lbs x12
185 lbs x9

Hm, finding it hard to keep pushing weight up.

Decline Crunches:
+20 kg x35
+20 kg x25

Second set I did it with two 10kg plates instead of a single 20. Made the center of gravity move up, and thus made the whole thing harder.

Monday:

Weight: 95.3 kg

Down to 1,800 calories this week.

Deadlifts:
80 kg x5
100 kg x3
120 kg x1
130 kg x1
135 kg x5
140 kg x5
142.5 kg x1

Oooh boy, these are starting to be hard! That said, I may do just a max effort/rest week next week (just do max effort for DLs, Bench, Squat, and skip all the aux stuff) and see if that lets me recover a bit. Low calories are probably not helping, though I still manage to do small improvements. Blisters all over the hands today

Pullups:
12
9
7

Stuck at those reps, bah!

Compound Row:
210 lbs x11
220 lbs x7

Lat Pulldown:
165 lbs x10
175 lbs x8

EZ Bar Gunz Curls:
Bar+22.5 kg x12
Bar+25 kg x7

Reverse Wrist Curls:
12.5 kg x7
11 kg x9

I think the jump from 10 to 12.5 was a bit much, I'll stick to 11 from now until I improve them.

Abs:
(Medicinal Ball Crunches x30, 1m Plank.) x2

Some dude had set camp on the decline and was apparently going through all the dumbbells in the gym doing different exercises, so I got tired of waiting and did this instead. Good change of pace, I pushed through the crunches at top speed and made a plank immediately after. My capacity for regular crunches seems to have gone way up, I should try sometime to just pump out as many as possible in 1 minute and see what the number looks like. Maybe I'll try it next week.

And that was it. Starting to feel the lack of calories I think, but weight - and more importantly, waist - is dropping nicely. I'm wearing the belt at 87 cm very comfortably, I may need either a new hole or a new belt soon since that's the lowest it goes.

 

[RMM]

Tuesday: Cardio, sprints.

Wednesday:

Weight: 95.3 kg

Incline Benchpress:
Bar x8
40 kg x5
60 kg x2
70 kg x1
72.5 kg x5
75 kg x5
77.5 kg x4

Dammit! :cuss: I was millimeters away from getting past the weakest point (for me it's about a third through, after getting the weight off the chest and the first explosive impulse dies, just before the triceps engage properly) and doing the last rep. HAd to rack the weight at that height on the fifth rep, bugger all!

75 x5 was surprisingly manageable, considering how hard it had been last week. I think doing a single max effort set next week and recharging the batteries may help. Then again, I'm not sure if I can expect to keep climbing weights when I'm cutting down, at 1,800 calories a day.

Pec Fly Machine:
200 lbs x12
210 lbs x10

Managed fine, surprisingly so in fact.

Standing Military Press:
Bar x6
30 kg x3
40 kg x1
42.5 kg x11
45 kg x7

Hm, getting a bit stuck here. Damn this one's hard.

Upright Rows:
25 kg x12
27.5 kg x10

More!

Bent Over Dumbbell Fly:
11 kg x12
13.5 kg x10

Very close to not being able to manage at the end, good stuff. Makes it burn in places I don't think I've felt the burn before.

Decline Pushups:
27
16
10

And that's it for the day. Today, as every Wednesday, is my "cheat meal" day, which all things considered is not too bad: Pub dinner of grilled chicken breast with cheese and fried tomato sauce, fries, and salad. And a couple of small chocolates I won in the random draw of the quiz

Considering if this change has made a difference in my energy for the day: Instead of having a piece of fruit as I leave to the gym, I had two (banana, apple) about 30 minutes before I took off. As I'm going low on calories, it may pay off to concentrate my fruit carbs like that before hitting the gym - but not as close as just 10 minutes before exercise. I felt a difference specially with the benchpress, but other than the military press I noticed overall improvements everywhere. May be just a good day and not that change though.

 

[RMM]

Thursday: Cardio, sprints.

Friday:

Weight: 95.3

Hm, yesterday I weighted myself after the sprints and was at 94.7. Oh well, variability is good for you.

Squats:
Bar x8
60 kg x5
80 kg x3
100 kg x1
110 kg x1
117.5 kg x5
120 kg x5
122.5 kg x5

Booyah, broke past the 120x5 mental barrier. Even though I made it past it before, I wasn't too sure I'd manage now, going a bit deeper. Managed to just hit the past-parallel depth and to push through. Widening my stance slightly has helped - and the fact that I can manage to widen my stance, without feeling the stress I was feeling before in the inner tights, seems to indicate I've strengthened that part too.

Hack Squat Machine:
160 kg x20

After the squats and the hack squats, I was ready to go home and just lay down. It took me a few seconds just to get my bearings after I put the weight down on the machine.

Good stuff.

Machine Hack Calf Raise, one-legged:
225 kg x12
235 kg x10

Very hard. However, I still don't understand why my calves are so freakishly strong (compared to the rest of my body, that is).

Glute Hip Machine:
230 lbs x12
240 lbs x10

Machine goes up to 250 only. Guess I'll have to look for something else - walking dumbbell lunges perhaps?

Hamstring Curls:
175 lbs x 12
185 lbs x10

Finally managed the whole set, but form was so-so. It's just a very uncomfortable machine when the weight's high, I keep sliding forward on the seat. I may try a different one that has one lying down.

And I was so busted I didn't do any ab work; the mere thought of going up and down the decline made me feel like I'd throw up. Just came home and had a nice rest.

Plan for next week: Take it easy, only do a set of max weight for the big three, and that's it. Well, and some cardio I guess. Planning to try 145 kg deads, 80 or 85 for the bench (how does incline translate to flat bench anyway?), 125 for the squats.

 

[Being_the_Don]

Standing Military Press:
Bar x6
30 kg x3
40 kg x1
42.5 kg x11
45 kg x7

Hm, getting a bit stuck here. Damn this one's hard.

Part of the problem could be in your head, it has happened to me every so often when I've done something e.g. on leg press, hack squat and even dLs. I may convince myself that I shouldn't be lifting such and such weight i.e. that I'm not ready (for whatever reason). But then I make myself get past it. Also, if you're not doing a clean and military press, you may consider doing that instead of the regular military press. It will make your body work harder and this maybe the impetus to increase the amount of weight that you're lifting.

 

[CarlitosWay]

Part of the problem could be in your head, it has happened to me every so often when I've done something e.g. on leg press, hack squat and even dLs. I may convince myself that I shouldn't be lifting such and such weight i.e. that I'm not ready (for whatever reason). But then I make myself get past it. Also, if you're not doing a clean and military press, you may consider doing that instead of the regular military press. It will make your body work harder and this maybe the impetus to increase the amount of weight that you're lifting.

I think cleans are way overrated for the normal guy busting ass in the gym. IF he was an athlete under a coaches supervision than yeah I could see him getting great benefits from cleans. Most people have terrible form on basic exercises and to think most can learn how to clean properly ha!!!!

 

[Being_the_Don]

I think cleans are way overrated for the normal guy busting ass in the gym. IF he was an athlete under a coaches supervision than yeah I could see him getting great benefits from cleans. Most people have terrible form on basic exercises and to think most can learn how to clean properly ha!!!!

And you just write him off as incapable of even doing them, Carlito. I made the suggestion to RMM as a way to get more out of exercising. I'm giving RMM the benefit of the doubt - that he CAN do them. The choice of whether or not he wishes to is up to him.

 

[CarlitosWay]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZvZ_RpIRtm4&feature=related

You might be going farther down than necessary......ARe you keeping your upper back/scapulae tight ? Any standing movements require a lot of core strength. I can rep out 155 relatively easy and I'm thinking you sohuld be good for 135 no problem with a few tweaks.

He's some ab exercises you can start incorporating .. I always do 1-2 movements after legs and back.

Turkish Get Up

Chin Up, Hanging Leg Raise, or Weighted Swiss Ball Crunch

Ab Wheel Rollout, Bodysaw, or RKC Plank

Kneeling Cable Lift, Tornado Ball Slam, Landmine, or Reverse Hyper

Here's the article that is pretty awesome.. http://www.tmuscle.com/free_online_article_issue/issue_627#627#best-ab-exercises

 

[CarlitosWay]

And you just write him off as incapable of even doing them, Carlito. I made the suggestion to RMM as a way to get more out of exercising. I'm giving RMM the benefit of the doubt - that he CAN do them. The choice of whether or not he wishes to is up to him.

Exactly what can cleans do for him, that some face pulls, heavy rows, shrugs and deadlifts can't?!

The only thing I'd recommend for him are these "Seated Db cleans" as they are not hard to learn....... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kvVEz-tBgvg