Training Log

10-22-2014

Warm Up, Stretch

1 Leg Curl/1 Leg extension/1 Leg Seated Calf Raise
12 reps each, 5 circuits

1 Arm Pulldown/1 Arm Chest Supported Row/1 Arm Seated Shrugg
12 reps each, 5 circuit

1 Arm Half Kneeling Press
30# kettlebell, 5x10

1 Arm Dynamic shrugg
60# kettlebell, 5x10

Peterson Stepups, Middle Height
35#, 3x10 reps

No Iso holds or abs! Kinda pussed out and just skipped over them. This workout wasn't too hard physically, but it felt like forever. I used some machines in the gym this week I haven't messed with much before. They have independent movement arms, a variety of handles and are really adjustable (height of seat, angle of handles, height of chest support, ect). They worked really well for the 1 arm upper body stuff.

10-24-2014

Stretch, warm up

Flutter Kick/Lead Spread/Bicycle Crunch/Single Leg Curl/Back Raise
circuit style, 5 circuits

Upper Back rows on Blast Straps, Dumbell Rear Delt Raise
super set 5x15 each

Peterson Step Ups, High Step
20x10, 4 sets

1 Arm Bench Press
50# Kettlebellx10, 5 sets

1 Arm Half Kneeling Row
100x10, 5 sets

10-25-2014

Stretch, Warm Up

Pulldown Abs/Reverse Hyper Extensions
superset, 5x10 each

1 Leg Extension/1 Leg Calf Raise/2 Leg Curl
circuit style x15, 5 circuits

1 Arm Pulldown/1 Arm Shrugg/Scarecrow
circuit, x15, 5 times

Cable Pushdowns/Cable Curls w Fat Gripz
2x12
Dumbell Curls/Dumbell Tricep Extension w Fat Gripz
2x10
Barbell Curls/Close Grip Bench Press w Fat Gripz
5x6

Farmer's Walk
1 long trip, light
2 short trips, heavier

10-27-2014

Did the same lifts/moves with the same weights while increasing the sets for 3 weeks. This week I'll start over, switch some lifts and lower the volume.

Stretch, warm up

Kettlebell Swing
a couple warmups to get a feel
35x15, 3 sets

superset with standing knee to chest
x10, 3 sets. I can't pull my knee anywhere near my chest yet, but these are getting better.

1 Arm Dumbbell Press
warmups
30x8, 3 sets

superset with chinups.
bwx3, 6 sets, changed grips

Snatch Grip Shrugg
warmups
135x10, 3 sets

superset with Peterson Step Ups
low sets, barbell across shoulders x10, 3 sets
warm up
135x10, 3 sets

then got into deep squat position and held for a nice stretch

finished up with a few sets on the wrist roller. Forgot to do the Iso holds again!

This was a great little workout. 3 loaded exercises paired with 3 body weight/mobility exercises between sets. This really made the whole workout flow nicely. It felt more like I was "practicing moving around" instead of just grinding away on one "piece" of my body at a time.

10-29-2014

Stretch, warmups

Reverse Hyper-Extension
3x12

superset with

Pulldown Abs with Band
Light Band, 3 x12

Incline Dumbbell Press
3x12

superset with

Upper Back stuff on Blast Straps
3x15

Bent Over Barbell Row
3x10

superset with

Terminal Knee Extensions
3x12

1 Arm Farmer's Walk
2 trips each arm

Another great workout. 3 "Lifting" exercises paired with 3 "moving" exercises. More like fun, less like work.

10-31-2014

Warm up, stretch, threw in some body weight lunges. Right side is still unsteady, but getting better.

1 Arm Kettlebell Swing
4x12
superset with Single Leg Standing Knee Raise
4x12

Seated Dumbell Press
4x12

superset with Chin Ups, holding onto a thick rope
bw x3, 5 sets

Snatch Grip Shruggs
4x15

superset with Peterson Step Ups
4x12 each leg

Farmer's Walk with 2 Dumbells
3 trips, up to 105

Repeated the "A" workout. Felt good. All the weights were pretty light, except the Farmer's Walk. The 105 dumbbells were tough.

11-2-2014

Stretch, warmup. Some bw lunges and single leg hamstring curls.

Reverse Hypers/ PUlldown Abs
4x12 each, supersets

Dumbbell Incline Bench Press/Upper Back on Blast Straps
4x12 each, supersets

Barbell Bent Rows/ Terminal Knee Extensions
4x10 each, supersets.

Hammer Curls with Fat Gripz Handles
5x8. These were tough and awesome. I really like these Fat Gripz handles!

Wrist Roller
3 rolls each direction.

Repeated the "B" workout. Not too strenuous, but felt really good.

I'm a Paramedic and work a grip of hours so personally, for me, the Grail of staying fit has been P90X and Yoga.
No juiced out flatbilled Bro in a Tapout tanktop screaming next to you at the gym with each set. No disgusting Staph ridden gym locker rooms. No wierd locker room lurkers trying to get a visual on your package when you're steppjng out of the shower. And you get straight up SHREDded. I throw that shit in the DVD player at the station or while at home without even leaving the living room. No excuses. I also surf my local spot here in Oxnard often which is world reknowned and known to offer up some beatings.. But I cant get out there as often as I'd like.
P90X till the end, and nothing eliminates stress and resets you like a solid Yoga session.

Dank, it sounds like you've got the perfect routine for your situation. It's cool you can do the P90X workout, even during the odd down times at the station.

I don't know a lot about Yoga, but I've been stretching out every day the past few weeks. Getting down on the floor, even just to do some easy stretching is pretty effective. In my younger days, I would have laughed at Yoga, calling it nonsense. Back then, I was a wrestler, so I stretched and then did calisthenic exercises on the floor for hours a day. Now, that I no longer wrestle I can see that Yoga develops many of the same qualities as wrestling, like flexibility, strength and fluid movements from "odd" angles or positions. The older I get, the less I'm rolling around on the ground in my daily life, so I probably should get more in during my training.

What can you tell me about P90X? It looks like body weight exercises with a lot of abs and jumping, bouncing or explosive movements. Again, in the past, when I was doing lots of jumping jacks and skipping and jumping in sports practices, I probably would have laughed at P90X. Now that I don't jump around much, I don;t feel as fast or as "springy" as I used too. From the commercials, it looks like that's the goal of the program.

The more I post in here, the more it looks like I'm wasting my time lifting weights!

It's good to do hybrid workouts and mix explosive plyometric type movements with low rep strength training. The muscle is comprised of different types of fibers and each gets addressed through different types of training. I wouldn't be in any type of hurry to weight load that squat with form as you described. Is there an injury or condition that cause that? Almost sounds like a lateral pelvic tilt from the way you describe.

The peterson step is excellent exercise for knee stabilization, 1 progression from that would be jumpsoles. Jumpsoles if you don't already have them or heard of them, I highly recommend to any athlete in any sport they are the shit for perfect applicable knee/calf stabilization and used by most pro athletic organizations in most sports, are very worthwhile piece of equipment to train with. Will give edge to any game. very applicable for strengthening calf in all ranges of motion, they build explosive calf movements which in real life can prevent injury, as well as improve and give edge to all your movements. Something you might want to look at if you are not already familiar.

On squats a very applicable exercise alternative to weight loading is high volume body weight squats.
I really like TRX squats for this any many others. The TRX allow you to row/back assist as needed for higher rep counts. These are usually best done in full deep squat range of motion. Preferably in from of mirror or w/ partner to keep eyes on perfect form, chinned tucked entire time, chest out, shoulders back, back straight, etc.

Here is 1 of my last weeks TRX high volume deep squat workouts,
2set TRX deep squat w/ jump soles (ball on intermediate) 50 reps
2set TRX bare foot deep squat 50 rep
2set TRX jump squats barefoot till fail (plyometric)

2 set standing ab&adduction leg raise w/resistance band 15 rep (hip)
2 set standing hip/femur rotation internal & external 15 rep (pelvic stabilization)

Jumpsoles;
slow motion crouch walk straight line (Shamrock walk)
left to right
frw/back
circular

there are some good stabilization exercises that may address imbalance and work on standing hip/calf/foot balance and stabilization.

thats a small segment of 1 part that I find useful for building up injury resistance in those particular moves that may or may not be useful for others depending on conditions or injuries, etc.

Thanks Mike, good info. I wish I had run into you sooner. You're right on in your diagnosis of my situation. My pelvis is all over the place.

The calves and ankles are really important, and I guess I neglected them for awhile. Lately I've been using a resistance band looped around my foot to kind of roll out my ankle and stretch out my calves and they Peterson Step ups are helping me "feel" them more. I've never used the jumpsoles, but they've been around forever, so they must be good. And stronger, more flexible calves and ankles with surely strengthen my whole "chain" and make my hips more stable.

The Blast Straps we have at my gym are just like an older design of the TRX straps. Now that I can actually get down into a squat, I'll try some of those variations you mentioned. I love the Blast Straps for upper back work. I do all kinds of inverted rows, face pulls, and scarecrows on them. You've been doing the same stuff with the TRX, right?

Oh yeah, I feel like my problem was caused by a handful of injuries over the past few years. Limping around left me kinda "unsymmetrical." If I slack on my stretching, mobility and single leg work I'll get kinda lopsided, and prone to straining my lower back. Sometimes I hurry through the recovery and rehab period and then load up the weights too soon and just get hurt again. I injured my back and then my groin this spring, and it left my with a limp and some shitty posture. My left shoulder was higher than my right, and I kinda stepped with my left foot and dragged my right. My hips didn't swing as I walked. It almost feels like I forgot how to use my muscles. The more "big" lifts and exercises I tried to do, the worse my imbalances got. Even just walking around felt weird, and every step was different.

For the last couple months I've been trying all kinds of stretching and rehab/corrective/stability/isolation moves. I've been making progress and feeling a lot better, but it's taken some time to try all this stuff to find what works.

11-4-2014

warm up, stretching

Single leg curls/situps with band around knees/Bodyweight Lunges
x15, 3 circuits

Kettle Bell Swings
a few sets 1 handed, then a few sets with 2 hands. Went up to the 55 pound kettlebell, and it was pulling me all over the place. Room for improvement!

Standing 1 Leg Raise
between sets of swings. Stand on 1 foot, then lift the opposite knee as high as possible. Really feeling these in the hip and glute of the ground leg.

Seated Dumbell Press
up to 60x10

Chinups
x3, between sets of presses. 3 sets wide grip, 3 narrow, 3 neutral grip. Used Fat Gripz handles.

Shrug with Snatch Grip
x15, many sets.

Peterson Step Ups w Barbell
x15, between sets of shrugs

Bodyweight Squats
x15, between sets of shrugs, when I got tired of step ups.

some stuff for grip to finish.

Another great workout. I haven;t been adding tons of reps or weight, but I feel like I'm getting better, or more skilled at this stuff every time.

11-6-2014

Stretch, warm-up, also did a bunch of BW lunges

Reverse Hyper Extension superset with Pulldown Abs
x15, 5 sets each

Incline Dumbell Press superset with Upper Back on Blast Straps
a bunch of reps, 6 sets each

Barbell Bent Rows superset with Bodyweight Lunges
x10, 5 sets each

The lunges are going well. I can almost keep my shin vertical lunging on my right leg. My knee used to drift way out over my toes. They still don't feel exactly the same on both legs, but it's getting closer.

11-7-2014

30 minutes walking up and down this big ass hill. I did this on Monday and Wednesday too.

11-8-2014

Kettlebells/1 Leg Lift

Scarecrows/1 Arm Pulldowns

Shruggs/Peterson Step Up

my shoulders kinda felt beat up, so I did some scarecrows and 1 arm pulldowns instead of dumbell presses and chin ups. Another good workout.

11-9-2014

Kinda tired, skipped the hill, and just walked the dogs down the street.

11-10-2014

Reverse Hyperextensions/Pulldown abs

Dumbell Incline Bench Press/ Upper Back on Blast Straps

Barbell Bent Rows/Terminal Knee Extensions

A bunch of BW lunges and some grip work. I tried some 1 legged calf raises, and really sucked at them. My feet weren't moving in the same way on each side. A lot of room for improvement. Otherwise, good session.

11-12-2014

Kettlebell Swing/Standing 1 Leg Raise

Seated Dumbbell Press/Chinups

Snatch Grip Shrugs/Peterson Step Ups

Tough workout! I just dreaded every set. I wasn't sore or tired, the weights weren't super heavy, I just wasn't really looking forward to the exertion.

11-13-2014

No hills today. I'll blame it on the cold weather.

11-14-2014

Got dressed, packed up my gym bag, then just gave up as I was tying my shoes. Just thinking about doing a single Reverse hyper extension or bent over row was too much. I stayed home, and couldn't even bring myself to stretch out.

11-15-2014

watched some VisionQuest, and got all fired up.

Stretch, warmups

Hanging Knee Raise, 1 Leg at a time superset with 45 Degree Back Raise, 1 Leg at a time.
4x6, each leg

Leg Extension, 1 leg superset with Peterson Step Ups
4x12, each leg

Leg Curls, 1 leg, superset with Terminal Knee Extension
4x12

Box Squat with Resistance Band around Knees
bwx12, 10 sets

Iso Barbell Holds
Overhead
"Rack" Position
"Hang" Position

I read an article on a Bodybuilding site about lifting for symmetry. The author recommended using the weaker side of your body first, and then matching that workload with your stronger side. Then, once you have both sides "fired up" from the single leg work you switch to an exercise where both sides work together. So basically, left leg, left leg, left leg, right leg, right leg, right leg, then both legs. I had just been switching left, right, back and forth, I tried the weak side first approach yesterday and I really feel like it helped. I can't believe I didn't think of it myself.

I finally got back to the Isometric Holds also.

11-17-2014

Warm up, stretch out

1 Arm Farmer's Walk
left side, then right side
80, long trip
90, 2 short trips

Chest Supported Rows
1 plate x6
2 plate x6
3 plate x6
3 plate +25x6, 3 sets

Shrugs
135x10
225x10
315x10
335x10, 3 sets

Seated Press in Smith Machine
50x17
100x11
120x7

Lat Pulldowns, Overhand Medium Grip
140x16
160x12
180x6

Seated Cable Row
120x12
140x10
160x10

one set of dips and one set of pulldowns with an underhand grip, slow tempo, good stretch.

I was just about finished for the day, when I started talking to the guy who owns the gym I go to. He was just getting started and invited me to work out with him. We started with the Seated Press in the Smith Machine. I've always hated this lift. We did it in a body-builder style, just pressing from eye-level at the bottom to just shy of lockout at the top. 3 sets, all till failure.

The gym owner, who is a huge power lifter kept urging me to "get tight" and to squeeze into the bench and to breath deeper to form a stronger base. This is something I used to know, but somehow I "forgot." You really have to squeeze in there, get tight, and keep everything locked. The big guy was giving me constant feed back and coaching on every rep about which way to lean, or where to put my elbows, ect. I've been lifting for a while now, but never worked with anyone who is so experienced, who could give me that sort advice. It was cool. I've developed some bad habits with my posture and back positioning coming off of this back injury. What felt "right" was sometimes resulting in pretty shitty technique. This guy knew where everything was supposed to be, so he could see what I was doing wrong, and then tell me what to do to fix it. I could actually feel my back and abs and everything else working together for the first time in awhile. Great workout!

11-18-2014

Pull-Down Abs

Some bicep curls and grip stuff

Jump Rope
100 jumps, short rest, repeat 10 sets

Last time I jumped rope weeks ago it felt sloppy, like my feet didn't line up and just slapped around everywhere. I've been doing all this 1 legged stuff since then. These felt great. Bouncing felt much more natural.

I got a new pair of shoes last week. Yesterday, I wore my old shoes around for awhile. I could feel you they were worn down all strange. Like I was walking around on the outside of my left foot and on my right heel. Wearing them for a couple hours made my knee sore! I'm accepting this as proof that I'm straightening my hips and lower back out.

11-20-2014

1 Arm Farmer's Walk
80x long trip
95x long trip
110xhalf way, rest, then back

3 in a row on the left, 3 in a row on the right


1 Leg Extension, superset with Peterson Stepups
4x12

left side first, then right

1 Leg Curl, superset with Clam Shells
4x12

left side first, then right

Front Squat, with Belt, Heels elevated on Plates
115x8, 2 sets

High Bar Back Squat, 5 count pause on bottom
65x5, 2 sets

Standing hip exercises with bands, and a couple sets of hanging leg raises.

Squatting 115? With plates under my heels?! This was like going back to the first time I ever went to the gym.

Legs are sore!

11-22-2014

Stretch, warmup

Half Kneeling 1 Arm Bottom Up Kettlebell Press
5x8 with the left arm, 5x8 with the right

Seated Barbell Press, From Power Rack, Eyebrow Level
95x6
115x6
135x6
155x4

Incline Bench Press, Pause at bottom, with Press Command
135x10
145x10

Tricep Pushdown
60x failure
80x failure, 3 sets
Overhead Tricep Cable Extension
60x failure, 2 sets

Alternating Dumbell Curls
30x10
40x10
55x10
65x8 loose, loose form

Dumbbell Shruggs
55x12
65x12
75x12, 2 sets

Rear Delts on Machine
4x20

I worked out with the big power lifter again. After rear delts, we did some work on bench press set up and technique. Upper back arch, big air, foot position, grip width, where to lower the bar to, press towards the feet, squeeze, etc. By the end I got pinned under 135 and had to get some kid to pull the bar off my chest. Ha! I got tons of coaching/feedback on just about every rep during the entire workout. It was cool. Since the back injury I've been setting up way, way out of "good" position on many exercises for awhile. Now I'm finally relearning the right way.

11-23-2014

Off. Football

11-24-2014

1 Arm Farmer's Walk
90x long trip
105x long trip
120x medium trip
3 trips left hand, 3 trips right hand

Hanging Knee Raise, 1 leg at a Time superset 45 Degree Back Raise, 1 Leg
4 sets of 6 on each leg each exercises

Chest Supported Row
warm ups
3 plates +25x 6, 3 sets
Really focused on letting the weight stretch me out at the bottom, then retracting my shoulder blades and pulling with my elbows. Pause and squeeze at the top, lower slowly and feel the stretch. Tried hard to keep my chest on the pad and not heave with my lower back. These were tough! I must have been cheating like hell last week.

Upright Row
45x8
65x8
95x8
115x8, 3 sets
Again, tried to squeeze everything tight to stay still and only and use my traps. Squeezing glutes, flexing abs, feeling stretch in traps at the bottom and holding for a brief pause at the top.

Pull Downs
Several Warm Up Sets
180x8, 2 sets
Leaned back farther than I have been on this exercise. Then I tried to not rock or jerk, squeezing abs and lower back. I really let the weight stretch me out at the top, then pulled shoulder blades back an together and the pulled "through" the elbows.

Single Leg Standing Hamstring Curls
4 sets left, 4 sets right

Romanian Deadlift
5 sets of 8
I tried to push the bar into my legs while squeezing my obliques, keeping my back flat and driving the hips back. Even though I was wearing shoes I made an effort to "grab" the floor with my toes and drives my heels into the floor.

some grip stuff

Felt good, great workout! I really tried to "feel" and "isolate" my muscles. I don't know, maybe I just forgot how to lift weights. I know I'm supposed to get tight, control the weight, hold the contraction, etc, but I guess I just haven't been doing it. These things used to come natural, but today I really had to think about them. Based on how "different" everything felt today, I've been lifting with pretty shitty technique for awhile now. That sucks, but I'm optimistic about the future.