The HIIT wasn't so bad tonight. I didn't want to die, though I won't say that it was pleasant yet.
At any rate. Tonight...
Main thing to note about the workout tonight is that Matt pointed out that he thinks we're doing too much shoulder work on different days. We had discussed before that we would split shoulders over back and chest days, but it's crept into more of the workouts, and he's beginning to feel burned out on shoulders. I'm not to that burned point yet, but I'm probably not far behind. As a result, we're going to consolidate the shoulder work onto chest days. That will make for a bit longer workout, I think, since I don't want to cut back on chest work for the sake of shoulders. We'll see how it turns out in practice.
Tonight's numbers:
| Exercise | Cory | Matt |
| Decline bench (F) | 155 x 10 x 2 : 185 x 10 | 155 x 10 x 2 : 135 x 10 |
| Incline DB press - 45º (F) | 60 x 10 x 3 | 55 x 10 : 55 x 9 : 55 x 5 |
| Flat flyes | 30 x 10 x 2 : 35 x 10 | 30 x 12 : 27.5 x 10 : 30 x 10 |
| Decline press (M) | 180 x 12 x 3 | 180 x 10 x 2 : 140 x 6 |
| Incline flyes - 60º (F) | 35 x 12 x 3 | 35 x 10 x 2 |
Today's back workout comes a day earlier than normal, due to tickets to the Detroit Auto Show tomorrow. One thing that we learned is that the day between arms and back is critical, since our arm fatigue is getting in the way of doing some of the back work (most noticeably the pull-ups). We had been ditching the deadlifting since it was a compound move that didn't seem to engage what we were wanting, but Matt says that he's missing it, so moving forward, we'll do some very light deadlifting as a warm-up set at the beginning. We didn't like doing the set of DB shrugs aimed at the middle back - too awkward and didn't seem to be hitting anything useful. We'll take those out in the future and replace them with the tried-and-true bent-over barbell rows.
Without further ado, today's numbers:
| Exercise | Cory | Matt |
| Wide assisted pull-up (M) | 60 x 10 : 90 x 10 x 2 | 90 x 10 x 2 : 105 x 9 |
| Close assisted pull-up (M) | 105 x 10 x 3 | 105 x 10 x 3 |
| Shoulder press (M) | 90 x 10 x 2 : 50 x 10 | 50 x 12 x 3 |
| Lateral raise (M) | 90 x 10 x 2 : 50 x 10 | 50 x 10 x 3 |
| Bent-over DB row (F) | 60 x 10 : 100 x 10 x 2 | 45 x 12 x 2 : 50 x 10 |
| Middle back DB shrug (F) | 80 x 10 | 80 x 10 |
| Rack shrug (F) | 180 x 15 x 3 | 180 x 10 x 3 |
I really love arm days. It's where I probably have the most to gain, and when I leave the gym I feel like I definitely did something substantial. As with all of the other days, Matt and I are (to the extent possible) dropping the weights and concentrating on slow lifts, technique/form, and the full range of motion.
Tonight's numbers:
| Exercise | Cory | Matt |
| Skull crushers (F) | 80 x 15 x 2 : 90 x 15 | 80 x 10 x 3 |
| Bicep curl (M) | 110 x 12 x 3 | 110 x 10 x 2 : 95 x 8 |
| Triceps push-downs (M) | 65 x 12 x 3 | 72 x 8 : 65 x 9 : 57.5 x 8 |
| DB biceps curl (F) | 30 x 10 x 3 | 30 x 20 x 2 : 27.5 x 10 |
| DB hammer curl (F) | 30 x 10 x 3 | 25 x 10 : 22.5 x 10 x 2 |
| Barbell wrist curl - up (F) | 45 x 10 x 3 | 45 x 10 x 3 |
| Barbell wrist curl - down (F) | 45 x 10 x 3 | 45 x 10 x 3 |
| Lateral raise (M) | 80 x 10 x 3 | 50 x 10 : 80 x 10 : 80 x 8 |
I wanted to die by the time I was done. This interval training is going to either be killer good, or kill me flat out. I did twice as many interval iterations tonight and went for a full half hour. Oh. My. God.
At any rate. Tonight...
How exciting. Finally, a leg day that at the end felt like it was an accomplishment. Much more focus on glutes, and I'm anticipating some difficulty walking over the next day or two. Most exercises put me at or close to failure on the last rep, which tells me I'm sensing the right range for weights and reps.
I need to start thinking and planning around exercises and weights that will stimulate Type IIa, IIb, and IIc muscle fibers. As we get to the middle of the 12-week cycle, I'll start introducing that more.
Lifts for tonight...
| Exercise | Cory | Matt |
| Leg extension (M) | 80 x 10 x 3 (single leg) | 170 x 10 x 3 |
| Standing hamstring curl (M) | 100 x 10 x 2 : 100 x 8 | 100 x 10 x 3 |
| Glute kickbacks (M) | 30 x 10 x 3 | 30 x 10 x 3 |
| Leg Press** (F) | 440 x 10 x 3 | 440 x 10 x 3 |
| Calf extension (M) | 250 x 10 x 3 | 250 x 20 x 2 : 250 x 24 x 2 |
| Hip abduction (M) | 210 x 12 x 3 | 290 x 15 x 2 |
| Hip adduction (M) | 210 x 12 x 3 | 290 x 15 x 2 |
I've decided to take a different approach to my cardio training in order to burn more fat. I've been reading a number of books that espouse the benefits of High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT). HIIT claims that while the workout itself primarily burns carbohydrates instead of fat, the technique is far superior in elevating metabolism and keeps fat burning far longer. Enough sources have claimed this, so I'll give it a fair shake. Plus, running for an hour at the same speed three times per week just gets boring. The plan I'm trying comes from Building the Perfect Beast...Naturally. I tried it out tonight and will be modifying slightly, adding more cycles. I'll still be doing cardio three times per week. Two will be HIIT for five minutes of warm up, twenty minutes of two-minute cycles, and five minutes of cool-down. The third day will be 40 minutes of low-medium intensity running. In addition to this, I'll be adding abdominal work for these days. The Pilates I've been doing are targeted toward the deep "core" abdominal muscles. The gym abdominal work will target the more superficial muscles. No...the irony is not lost on my that I'm working the superficial muscles for superficial reasons.
At any rate...here is tonight's workout.
Tonight's numbers:
| Exercise | Cory | Matt |
| Decline bench (F) | 135 x 10 x 3 | 135 x 10 x 3 |
| Incline DB - 45º (F) | 55 x 10 x 3 | 55 x 10 x 2 : 55 x 6 |
| Flat flyes (F) | 30 x 10 x 3 | 30 x 10 x 3 |
| Superset: Shoulder press (M) | 75 x 10 x 2 : 75 x 4 | 70 x 10 x 3 |
| Superset: Lateral raise (M) | 75 x 10 x 3 | 70 x 10: 50 x 8 x 2 |
| Incline flyes - 60º (F) | 27.5 x 10: 35 x 10 x 2 | 27.5 x 10 x 3 |
| Decline press (M) | 180 x 10 x 2 | 180 x 10 : 90 x 10 |
Tonight was back night, and we were in and out quickly. After the workout, Matt and I sat down (having a shake...gotta have SOME reward) and talked about our upcoming goals. I'm putting together workouts for the next 12 weeks. Some of the more recent workout are leaving me...well...I'm not sore the next day or two, which says to me that I'm not working hard enough. So, we articulated the following as aspects we would like to incorporate into the new routine.
| Exercise | Cory | Matt |
| Wide pulldown (M) | 120 X 12 X 3 | 120 x 10 x 3 |
| Close pulldown (M) | 100 x 12 x 3 | 120 x 10 x 3 |
| Wide barbell row (F) | 135 x 12 x 3 | 135 X 12 x 2 : 135 x 10 |
| Close DB row (F) | 45 x 12 : 50 x 12 : 55 x 12 | 45 x 10 x 3 |
| Shrug rack (F) | 180 x 12 : 270 x 12 : 360 x 10 | 180 x 13 : 180 x 10 : 270 x 10 |
Tonight was definitely an "in and out" kind of night. I'm not so sure that I'm liking the super-fast visits to the gym, since I find that it's an environment that I enjoy. Plus, I'm not convinced that all of the limited (though superset) exercises are achieving the same kind of muscle fatigue and micro-tearing that I want. Matt and I are planning to sit down on Sunday after the back workout to plan the next 12 weeks of workouts with concrete goals.
Here's the leg workout tonight. No nausea and getting sick like last week. Besides the better nutrition, I attribute this to a two things (which I like). First, pre-fatiguing the muscles by putting the big lift (squat, in this cast) last. Second, Only including one big lift (i.e., only squat instead of squat AND leg press.) I'll probably experiment more with this in the future.
| Elliptical | 6:59 / 1.0 miles |
| Single leg quad extension (M) | 70 x 10 x 3 |
| Single leg hamstring curl (M) | 100 x 10 x 3 |
| Calf extension (M) | 210 x 20 x 3 |
| Hack squats | 140 x 10 : 280 x 10 : 100 x 25 |
Again, trying something new tonight. I found a chest and shoulder series on bodybuilding.com that focuses on supersetting. What Matt and I found is that this workout really hits the chest well (but we'll have to add in some more shoulder work), and gets us in and out of the gym in record time. We both said that we wouldn't want to do supersets every time and need some variation. We also want to see how we feel tomorrow and the next day to see if the chest is sore.
So, for tonight:
| Elliptical | 3:58 / 0.5 miles |
| Superset #1: DB flat chest press (F) | 65 x 6 x 3 |
| Superset #1: Wide grip barbell row (F) | 135 x 8 x 3 |
| Superset #2: DB incline press (F) | 55 x 8 x 3 |
| Superset #2: DB chest fly (F) | 30 x 10 x 3 |
| Superset #3: Medium grip bench press (F) | 115 x 10 x 3 |
| Superset #3: External shoulder rotation (M) | 25 x 10 x 3 |
As part of our switching over to the "low and slow" lifting philosophy, Matt and I were in search of a new back routine. I've been feeling for a while that deadlifts are the least productive lift that I do. They don't really isolate much in the back. They fatigue you for doing any significant work after it. And...if you're not training to be a powerlifter (where it's one of the three required lifts), why do them?
I went searching for a better back routine. I looked through a number of the lifting books that I have, and then thought, "Hey...why not look at the training section on bodybuilding.com? I'm sure someone, probably many well-informed someones, have asked this question before and designed some good answers."
Right on. Bodybuilding.com was a gold mine. Out of the many links, I found Matt Weik's Back-Building 101 to be one of the most accessible. We did the first workout tonight, and wow...what a difference. Cutting down the weight, doing it slow, following the protocol - it'll tax the muscles well. By the end of five exercises, we were both more exhausted than we ever have been on a back day, and felt like we had hit the back itself more than we ever had before. I think I'm going do more exploring of the site to see what else I can find. There's a ton there.
So, for tonight:
| Elliptical | 8:03 / 1.0 miles |
| Wide grip pulldowns (M) | 120 x 12 : 120 x 12 : 120 x 8 |
| Close grip pulldowns (M) | 120 x 12 : 120 x 12 : 120 x 8 |
| Wide grip barbell rows (F) | 115 x 10 x 3 |
| Close grip dumbbell rows (F) | 50 x 10 x 3 |
| Barbell shrugs (F) | 145 x 12 : 145 x 10 : 145 x 12 |
Probably the best cardio day I've had in a long time. Without feeling like I was killing myself, today on the elliptical was:
65 minutes / 8.60 miles
note, for all cardio references, this is 60 minutes of focused cardio and 5 minutes of cool down that the elliptical program tacks on the end.
One of the measures I've taken as a general indicator of cardiovascular health is how quickly my heart rate can return to a relatively normal rate after exertion. Occasionally, I will stop for 60 seconds while running (usually at the 30 and 45 minute marks) to see how fast it will fall. In both cases today, it came down from approximately 154bpm to 116bpm in 60 seconds. That seems not too bad.
Another addition that I'm going to try with regularity is Pilates. The woman that I see for rolfing (which I recommend for everyone...seriously) is a seasoned Pilates instructor and introduced me to it. There seem to be an overwhelming number of books and DVDs on Pilates on the market. A trip to Amazon.com and searching on "Pilates" turns up 27,287 books and 757 DVDs. I decided to start with something that isn't too trendy and went with Classical Pilates Technique - The Complete Mat Workout Series. This is the mat workout taught by people who studied and trained directly under Joseph Pilates, the creator of the system. I like the DVD, and although the routines are relatively short in duration and move quickly, I think that it's likely the duration and intensity that Pilates intended. Most advanced strength athletes swear that you don't have to work out for HOURS in order to get the best results. I'm going to try Pilates in the mornings for a while to see how things go. I'm probably not going to list them on every day, but will comment when I move up a level, or if I learn something of note.
Tonight was a really good night. Matt called and was unable to make it due to an unforeseen push at work. No worries. I've come to find that arms is the one lifting day where a partner is very motivational, but not critical for things like safety.
We've been trying out a different type of lifting lately, and I think I like it. Instead of going for maximum weights, we're dropping the weight, doing deeper movements through the range of motion, focusing strongly on correct form and technique, and slowing down the movement a lot. For some movements, I've started seeing how slowly I can go both on the positive and negative components of the cycle. It's amazing how challenging that is, and afterward, I feel like I've taxed the muscles far more thoroughly and evenly.
I think one secret to good arm workouts is to pay close attention to the placement of the elbows, the inner/outer rotation of the arm in the shoulder socket, and the fulcrumatic point chosen for the exercises. The machine exercises largely dictate the fulcrum, but you can rotate the arms with variance. The free weights require mindfulness of all these things. It's worth the added cognitive demand, I think.
So, here's tonight's rundown:
| Elliptical | 7:34 / 1.0 miles |
| Skull crushers (F) | 70 x 10 x 4 |
| Bicep curl (M) | 100 x 10 x 3 |
| Triceps push downs (M) | 115 x 10 : 95 x 10 x 2 |
| Dumbbell bicep curl, standing (F) | 27.5 x 10 x 3 |
| Dumbbell hammer curl, standing (F) | 27.5 x 10 x 3 |
| Lateral raise (M) | 70 x 10 x 3 |
| Barbell wrist curls, palm up | 65 x 12 x 2 |
| Barbell wrist curls, palm down | 65 x 12 : 65 x 6 |
Not much to report tonight. I started keeping track of what I eat. It's not so bad.
I took my buddy Xavier to the gym tonight. Good run.
65 minutes. 7.44 miles.
That is all. Off to bed.
Today was the first leg day back after the holidays, and the first leg day after an absence from the gym always involves pain and suffering (or is that fear and loathing? I doubt Kierkegaard hung out in the gym a lot, but you never know.)
Yes, there was pain. Matt (my lifting partner, who will be a regular co-star in my blog) abdicated first and smartly stopped. I wasn't so wise, and pushed on. After the first round of leg press, Matt mentioned that he was not feeling well (that familiar feeing of "If I hold still, maybe the nausea will pass."). He stopped after one light round of squats. I pressed on, but stopped after the third exercise. I held it together until I got to the locker room, but just had to succumb. I haven't lifted until I vomited for a LONG time. Typically, this can be a source of pride ("I lifted so hard I threw up!") among hard-core lifters. I didn't feel that swell of pride today.
I have a strong suspicion that sudden sickness was the result of poor nutritional planning today. I loathe keeping close track of what I eat, and I hate counting calories, but I think that for a while, I need to buck up and write everything down.
So, how many calories? I decided to do a Google search on "calculating caloric need" and chose several of the top results, each of which was a calculator specifically for adult needs. I used the same information for each calculator: Male, 35 years old, 5'10", 218 pounds, heavy activity (defined as approximately 1 hour of vigorous activity 5-7 days per week). Here are the results for my daily intake to maintain my current weight.
| Elliptical | 8:03 / 1.0 miles |
| Linear leg press (F) | 530 x 10 : 620 x 10 : 710 x 10 |
| Squat (M) | 160 x 10 : 220 x 10 : 260 x 10 |
| Calf extension (M) | 350 x 15 : 365 x 15 : 365 x 15 |
In thinking about the way we classify and categorize bodies, the issue of metrics and measurements is key. Of course, subjective evaluation, aesthetics, and social perceptions are all part of the way metrics and measurements come about; however, there are wide variations in all of these ways of classifying. When looking at contemporary bodybuilding images, the freakishly huge, obviously steroid enhanced body jumps out immediately. This was not always the case, though. While poking around online for general perspectives on aesthetics and measurement, I ran across an entry at the Sandow Museum. (Eugen Sandow was an early bodybuilder, and the museum preserves artifacts from historic periods in bodybuilding.) The article hit on something that is obvious, but I hadn't thought about until I saw it: the ideal Greek form, sculpted and muscular, was quite different than todays ideal. I won't repeat all of the detail here, but it's at Sandow Museum Ideal Greek Body Form web page.
This made me decide to take my own measurements. Measurements for the Greek ideal are scaled from measuring the circumference of the wrist. Why? What is it about the wrist that it can be used as a universal key for this measurement? Clearly, it only holds for men (since the male body was the object of aesthetic for the Greeks.) I also noticed that the measurements described by the Greeks are the same ones we use today to classify bodies through measurements for determining body fat percentage (with the exception that the Greeks didn't measure the shoulders, and we do now).
So, here are my measurements (in inches), compared to the ones that would make me a proportional Greek ideal. Note: This is not to say that I aspire to embody the Greek ideal, but it is an implicit cornerstone of the Western historical aesthetic, and thus a useful frame for comparison.
| Body Part | Greek Ideal | My Current | Difference | Percentage |
| Wrist | 7 | 7 | key | n/a |
| Shoulder | n/a | 52.5 | n/a | n/a |
| Chest | 45.5 | 45.5 | 0.0 | 0.0% |
| Waist | 31.85 | 39.0 | +7.15 | +22.4% |
| Hip | 38.68 | 40.25 | +1.57 | +4.1% |
| Bicep | 16.38 | 14.25 | -2.13 | -13.0% |
| Forearm | 13.19 | 12.25 | -0.94 | -7.1% |
| Thigh | 24.12 | 24.0 | -0.12 | -0.5% |
| Calf | 15.47 | 17.0 | +1.53 | +9.9% |
| Neck | 16.84 | 18.25 | +1.41 | +8.4% |
Good day yesterday. Hard day today. I think that celebrating New Years Eve was the culprit for making today difficult. I didn't drink, but the combination of not sleeping a lot and eating pizza (which was burning a hole through my chest an hour later) put me in a bad spot today.
At any rate, here's the details for yesterday (December 31, 2007) and today (January 1, 2008)
*For future reference, (F) denotes freeweights and (M) denotes a machine
| Elliptical | 7:31 / 1.0 miles |
| Decline bench (F) | 135 x 10 : 205 x 10 : 225 x 5 |
| Low dumbell flat press (F) | 60 x 10 : 60 x 10 : 60 x 5 |
| Seated dumbell shoulder press (F) | 25 x 20 : 30 x 20 : 30 x 12 |
| Seated incline dumbell press 45º (F) | 45 x 10 : 45 x 10 : 45 x 10 |
| Shoulder press (M) | 50 x 10 : 60 x 10 : 65 x 6 |
| Lateral raise (M) | 50 x 10 : 60 x 10 : 65 x 10 |
