Second week...

Done with the second week of the new routine. I'm getting more used to it. Some changes have been made. I'll talk a bit about those below. Overall, I'm pretty happy with the way things are going, and realize that this is a whole different level of commitment to the gym - being there twice a day and spending, more or less, 3+ hours per day actively working out.

It's been two weeks and I've lost 10 pounds.

I did take the opportunity yesterday to have my body fat tested by a full-body hydro-immersion method done by GetDunked. My understanding is that with the possible exception of testing by air displacement (which requires a lab and even more specific and calibrated equipment), that immersion is the most accurate way to test body composition. TrainerDave™ had used calipers to test my body fat when we started working out, and I think the results were somewhere around 18%-19%. I thought that wasn't too bad for a starting point. TrainerDave™ was off by just a bit. The result from the dunking? 24.5%

Je suis trés unhappy avec ça. Still, Aeron, the guy who did my test, assured me that the situation was not as bad as I had hoped and pulled me away from the dunk tank where I planned to then drown myself. He said that he does this kind of testing all day, every day, and that the common tables of target BF% aren't wholly accurate. Most male athletes in my age range, he said, are between 16% and 24% (but usually at the lower end of that scale). Going below into the low teens is where it gets into the bodybuilder look. (Aeron also made me feel better by telling me that the first time TrainerDave™ got his body fat tested, he was about 10% over where he thought he would be.)

The report that came with the dunk (and I'm supposed to get a more thorough one in my email inbox, though that has yet to arrive) gave the following as my "hydrostatic evaluation":

HYDROSTATIC EVALUATION

Body Fat %	24.5%	Fat Body Mass	54.0 lbs.
Lean Body Mass %	75.5%	Lean Body Mass	166.2 lbs.
Ideal Body Fat %	15.0%	Weight for Ideal	195.5 lbs.
Goal Body Fat %	3.0%	Weight for Goal	171.4 lbs.

HYDROSTATIC TEST DATA

Gender	Male	Age	36 years
Height	69.75 in.	Weight	220.3 lbs.
Ankle Circumference	9.00 in.	Resting Pulse	70 bpm
Water Temperature	34ºC	Water Weight	6520 grams

METABOLIC INFORMATION

Your Activity Level	Over 12 hours per week
Maximum Exercising Pulse	166 bpm
Daily Caloric Intake to Maintain Weight	3965 calories

All very interesting. Apparently the final report will have more detail and instead of giving results as absolute numbers, it will display ranges with standard deviations and variances. Being a stats nerd, I think I like that better.

As far as the changes to the workout and diet go, I had a talk with TrainerDave™ on Wednesday at our second session. A week and a half had passed since our first workout together, mostly because there was no meeting on Memorial Day, and the week before that he was prepping for a contest in Los Angeles. (He came in 2nd in the welterweight division, by the way.) I mentioned that the breakfast, shakes, and dinner weren't a problem and I was sticking to those just fine; however, carrying my lunch and having it be so repetitive was killing me. Since IBM Almaden has a huge cafeteria, there is plenty of selection. On top of that, lunch is a social event at IBM, and carrying my lunch means that I miss out on it. People in my group think I'm a bit strange for carrying lunch and staying so strict. (And...really...there's only so much you can do with chicken, sweet potato, and broccoli when you have to carry it around all day.) TrainerDave™ said that as long as I don't go nuts and eat a pile of fries every day, it doesn't much matter what I eat at lunch, since I'll be burning all of it off anyway with working out in the morning and evening. So, a big salad with a chicken breast and fat-free dressing will be just fine. He even said that I could have pasta if it's on the menu. This is good news and makes me feel like I can live like a bit of a normal person, especially at work.

I also mentioned that I felt like getting up that early to work out, and going so late...that I wasn't getting enough sleep to maintain this kind of activity level. We re-tooled the schedule (and more importantly, re-spaced out the eating) so that I could get more sleep. I think that's going to work out well. I've also started keeping a more reasonable schedule at work. I'm only being paid for 40 hours a week, so I'm not doing what I did for the first two weeks and putting in 55-60 hours. I get there around 8:15 and leave around 4:45. That seems to work much better and I get home at a reasonable hour. So, the new schedule is:

• 08:00am - Breakfast


• 10:30am - EAS Triple-protein shake


• 01:00pm - Lunch


• 03:30pm - EAS Triple-protein shake


• 06:30pm - Post-workout AST VP2 whey protein isolate shake


• 08:30pm - Dinner

The other change is that I'm really liking the cardio, so I've upped it. Before, I was doing 45 minutes in the morning and 30 minutes in the evening after I lift. I've raised both of those to be an hour apiece. Right now, according to the monitor on the elliptical machine, I'm burning around 850-900 calories per cardio session. That's 1700-1800 calories per day from running. If one pound of fat requires burning 2800 calories, then I should be shedding around 3.75 calories per week just from the cardio.

Okay...time to wrap this entry up. I'll leave off with the numbers from this past week. I start cycle three today, since I took my off day in the middle of the week.

Day 1: Chest and Triceps (5/25/2008)

• High cable cross: 70 x 20|20|20|20


• Incline iso press: 120 x 15, 140 x 15|10


• Flat DB press: 50 x 15|15|15


• Dips: 4|5|5


• Push-ups: 15|15|15


• Lateral raise (DB): 15 x 20|20, 20 x 20


• Tricep pushdown: 100 x 20, 120 x 15|12


• Front shoulder raise: 50 x 20|20|20

Day 2: Back, Delts, & Biceps (5/27/2008)

• Pullups: 28(assist) x 9|6|6|5


• BB row: 205 x 12|12|12|8


• Pulldowns: 90 x 15, 105 x 12|12|10


• Cable rows: 100 x 15, 120 x 15|15|15


• Reverse pec deck: 70 x 14|11|12


• Shrugs: 180 x 20|20|20


• High cable curl: 60 x 20, 75 x 20|20|20

Day 3: Legs (5/28/2008)

• Lying leg curl (SS): 50 x 20, 62.5 x 20, 75 x 15|15


• Leg extension (SS): 6 plates x 20, 7 plates x 20|15|15


• Leg press: 360 x 20|20|20|20|20


• Walking lunges: 20(L/R) x 12|12|12

Day 4: Upper chest & shoulders (5/29/2008)

• High incline iso press: 160 x 15|15|15|7


• Military press: 140 x 15|15|15|13


• Side DB raises: 20 x 20|20|20|20


• Front raises: 60 x 20|20|20|20


• Rear delt rows: 105 x 20|20|20|20


• Upright cable pulls: 80 x 20|20|20|20


• Shrugs: 180 x 20|20|20|20

Day 5: Biceps & Triceps (5/31/2008)

• French curls (SS1): 70 x 15|15|15|15


• Skullcrushers (SS1): 80 x 15|15|15|10


• Tricep pushdowns (SS2): 100 x 15|15|15


• Alternating DB curls (SS2): 25 x 15|15|15


• Preacher curl (SS3): 50 x 10, 40 x 10, 30 x 20|15


• Overhead tricep extension (SS3): 100 x 20, 110 x 20, 120 x 14|20


• Back dip (SS4): Bodyweight x 20|20


• Concentration curls (SS4): 20 x 20|20

After the first week...

I haven't been posting as much lately, mostly because between work at IBM and this new crazy gym schedule, I haven't had the time or the energy to do continual blogging of this experience. That's not to say that I don't want the information up there. I absolutely do.

I think, though, that since the workout regime is exactly the same every week, I'll post the whole week in one shot. I need to make some comments about what I think of this new style of training.

Oh, and I ended up not hiring Mark as a trainer. Too flaky. He kept canceling appointments at the last minute, and that just wasn't working. So, I ended up going with a guy named Dave Patellaro. Good guy, who will hence be known as TrainerDave™. (He also goes by his trainer persona, Mr. Impact, but I just can't bring myself to call him that. A little bit of me dies inside each time I see that at the end of a text message.)

The diet...is killer. That is turning out to be my biggest challenge.

The workouts...well....here's the past week.
Oh, and each day also includes 45 minutes of cardio in the morning, and 30 more minutes of cardio after lifting.

Day 1: Chest and Triceps (5/19/2008)

• High cable cross: 70 x 15|15|12|10


• Incline bench: 135 x 12|8|6


• Flat DB press: 60 x 4|6|5


• Dips: 3|3|4


• Push-ups: 15|8|6


• Lateral raise (DB): 15 x 20|20|15


• Front lift: 40 x 20|15|15

Day 2: Back, Delts, & Biceps (5/20/2008)

• Pullups: 0 x 3, 100 x 10, 90 x 6|4


• BB row: 135 x 12|12|12|8


• Pulldowns: 90 x 10, 105 x 8, 90 x 10|10


• Cable rows: 100 x 15|12|15|15


• Reverse pec deck: 70 x 10, 50 x 15|15|15


• Shrugs: 180 x 18|15, 90 x 20|20


• High cable curl: 45 x 20, 60 x 15|20, 75 x 18

Day 3: Legs (5/21/2008)

• Squats: 135 x 15, 205 x 15, 225 x 10


• Leg curl: 135 x 20|20|20|20


• Leg extension: 60 x 20|20|20|20


• Stiff leg deadlift: 115 x 15|15|15|15


• Standing calf raises (SS): 100 x 30|30|30|30


• Seated calf raises (SS): 50 x 30|30|30|30

Day 4: Upper chest & shoulders (5/22/2008)

• High incline BB press: 90 x 15|15|15|15


• Military press: 90 x 15|15|15|15


• Side DB raises: 15 x 20|20|20|20


• Front raises: 40 x 20|20|20|20


• Rear delt rows: 90 x 20|20|20|20


• Upright cable pulls: 40|50|60|70 x 20


• Shrugs: 140 x 15|15|15|15

Day 5: Biceps & Triceps (5/23/2008)

• French curls (SS1): 60 x 15|15|15|15


• Skullcrushers (SS1): 70 x 15|15|15|15


• Tricep pushdowns (SS2): 80|90|100 x 15


• Alternating DB curls (SS2): 30 x 15|15|15


• Preacher curl (SS3): 50 x 20, 40 x 15|8


• Overhead tricep extension (SS3): 100 x 20|20|20|20


• Back dip (SS4): Bodyweight x 19|16


• Concentration curls (SS4): 30 x 16|8

Day 6: OFF

And that's the 6-day cycle that will keep repeating. I need to ask TrainerDave™ whether I can relax the diet on the days off just a bit. I really do think that having some real food once per week will help maintain my sanity and push me to keep on track during the workout days.

Arms

Another good workout day. I like this technique of focusing on one muscle group and exhausting it through multiple exercises, then moving on to another muscle. It seems to have more impact.

Here are tonight's numbers:

Friday, April 4, 2008 - Arms

Exercise	Cory	Matt
Tricep pushdowns	65 x 15 x 2	65 x 10 x 2
Skullcrushers	100 x 12 : 100 x 15	70 x 10 x 2
Overhead tricep extension	65 x 15 x 2	65 x 10 x 2
Preacher curls (M)	155 x 12 x 2	125 x 10 x 2
DB bicep/hammer curls	35 x 10 x (b/h) : 30 x 10 x (b/h)	35 x 10(b) : 27.5 x 10(b) : 25 x 10(h) : 20 x 6(h)
Barbell bicep curl	70 x 10 x 2	65 x 10 : 65 x 8
Palm down wrist curl	20 x 10 x (L/R) x 2	45 x 30 (DB) : 25 x 45 (bar)
Palm up wrist curl	20 x 15 x (L/R) x 2	45 x 30 (DB) : 25 x 45 (bar)
Tricep pushdowns II	65 x 20 : 80 x 15	65 x 5 : 80 x 5
Preacher curls II	110 x 15 x 2	10 x 9 : 110 x 6
Torso rotation	150 x 20 x (L/R) x 2	190 x 12 x (L/R) x 2
Abdominal crunches	60 x 10 x 5 (MTS)	25 x 10 x 2 (Jackknife)
TOTAL	36,120	26,605

Legs

Big workout tonight, which was a good thing. After recovering from the other night's mistake with doing too many abdominal crunches and then getting a muscle spasm through the entire rectus abdominus, you would think that I had learned my lesson. But no...I did it again tonight. Grrrr...

Been reading (bit surprise there) a bit about structuring sets to not do too many during warm up, and only doing a few to work up to near max weights. Thought I might try that tonight, but think that there is a bit more reading and planning to be done before integrating it.

On the note of integrating new things, tonight was the first time EVER that I did lunges. Strangely, I had been thinking earlier in the day that I might like to try them. I ultimately didn't, since I was looking forward to squats and leg presses. Matt, though, said he just wasn't up for squatting (both he and I have had some lower back spasms and general discomfort. He thinks that he might have a compressed disk. I'm sure that mine is simply an imbalance between stabilizing muscles in the lower back and abdominal region). So, he suggested lunges, and I figured that the universe was telling me that the time had come to try them out. DAMN...those are difficult. Moreso the balancing than the weight. Doing two sets of 10 at low weight tuckered me out almost as much as a round of heavy squatting. We'll see for how many days I stay sore.

At any rate...here's the workout and the numbers.

Wednesday, April 2, 2008 - Legs

Exercise	Cory	Matt
Lunges (barbell)	65 x 10 x (L/R) x 2	65 x 10 x (L/R) x 2
Leg press	530 x 4 : 800 x 7 : 980 x 1 : 890 x 8	530 x 10 : 620 x 9
Leg extensions	190 x 12 x 2	190 x 10 x 2
Hamstring curl	190 x 10 x 2	190 x 10 x 2
Seated calf raise	180 x 15 : 180 x 20	180 x 10 : 180 x 14
Glute kickbacks	160 x 10 x (L/R) : 180 x 10 x (L/R)	Skipped
Hip abduction	250 x 16 x 2	210 x 10 x 2
Hip adduction	260 x 16 x 2	190 x 12 x 2
Abdominal crunches	100 x 25 x 2
Torso rotation	150 x 20 x (L/R) x 2
TOTAL	72,880	34,160

Chest

The theme for tonight seemed to be s-l-o-w. I was talking to powerlifter buddy Dominic, who said that every once in a while, he spends three months slowing everything down (which, of course, means dropping the weights and working back up). He suggested, when doing it seriously, a cadence of 10 seconds down, 2 seconds rest, 10 seconds up, 2 seconds rest. This minimizes any advantages to the lift you would gain through momentum, inertia, or bouncing. The lift is ALL YOU. I slowed things down for almost all of the lifts tonight, using a 5:2:5:2 cadence. WOW... I don't know if I'm up for the next three months of doing it, but it certainly was an experience that I'll throw in regularly from now on.

Also started adding back in some small amounts of abdominal work at the end of the workout. I haven't been doing Pilates for a while, and have let the ab work slide tremendously. I can tell, too, and think that the lack of natural tension and strength in the abs and core may be contributing to a bit of fatigue and pain in my lower back.

And as a follow up, I posed the "Should I be using a weight belt" question to two experienced lifting friends. One gave me a non-answer. The other looked at what I've been doing and said, "yes...you should be using a belt." That was more helpful. I ordered a belt from Elite Fitness Systems, on his recommendation. It should get here relatively soon. I'll post about what I think of it, and whether I think it makes a difference.

So, here are tonight's numbers:

Tuesday, April 1, 2008 - Chest

Exercise	Cory	Matt
Flat bench	185 x 10 : 135 x 10	155 x 10 : 135 x 10
Decline DB press	55 x 15 x (L/R) : 55 x 12 x (L/R)	55 x 12 x (L/R) : 55 x 10 x (L/R)
Incline DB press	55 x 15 x 2 x (L/R)	55 x 12 x 2 x (L/R)
Cable cross	35 x 12 x 2 x (L/R)	35 x 12 x (L/R) : 35 x 10 x (L/R)
Decline bench	135 x 10 x 2	135 x 6 x 2
Incline fly	40 x 9 x 2 x (L/R)	40 x 10 x (L/R) : 40 x 6 x (L/R)
Torso rotation	150 x 15 x 2 x (L/R)
Abdominal crunches	100 x 20 x 2
TOTAL	31,290	12,400

Arms

New routine, since we've had the old one for a while and a changeup is in order. After doing more reading on Bodybuilding.com, I found some advice about doing several exercises in a row that target the same muscle, and performing them until you've really fatigued and shredded the muscle to failure. Moving from large muscles to small muscles that would be triceps, then biceps, then forearms. I decided to throw a twist in there just to make sure we were tired at the end: return to a few more failure sets of triceps and biceps after finishing the forearms/wrist curls.

On another note, today I tried the smaller, tabletop-type wrist/forearm isolation machine, which seemed to provide a lot more isolation and stability than palm-down wrist curls with the barbell. For the barbell type, I found that it's impossible for me not to move my arms as they rest over my legs, which act as a fulcrum. I'm sure I'll know by tomorrow if it was more effective.

Without further ado, here are today's numbers:

Saturday, March 29, 2008 - Arms

Exercise	Cory	Matt
Tricep pushdowns	65 x 15 : 65 x 12	72.5 x 12 : 65 x 12
Skullcrushers	90 x 15 : 90 x 18	70 x 12 : 70 x 18
Overhead tricep extension	65 x 12 x 2	57.5 x 11 : 65 x 9
Preacher curls (M)	150 x 10 : 150 x 12	125 x 10 x 2
DB bicep/hammer curls	30 x 10 x 2 x (b/h)	27.5 x 10 x (b/h) : 25 x 10 x (b/h)
Barbell bicep curl	70 x 10 x 2	60x 10 : hurt wrist
Palm down wrist curl	20 x 10 x (L/R) : 10 x 25 x (L/R)	hurt wrist
Palm up wrist curl	30 x 15 x 2 x (L/R)	hurt wrist
Tricep pushdowns II	35 x 20 : 65 x 15	65 x 10 x 2
Preacher curls II	95 x 15 : 95 x 10	110 x 10 : 110 x 4
TOTAL	18,935	12,027.5

Arms

No Matt today. Exam or something like that.

I added something back into the routine that I hadn't done for a while - the famous Mike Stack Rotator Cuff Prehab/Rehab Superset. This is a killer, but it' amazing at strengthening the rotator cuff. From now on in this blog, it will be referred to as the RCStackSet. It consists of the following, all done without rest between sets, and done by holding plates in both hands. Also, be careful not to bring the arms above parallel while doing the raises, as this will then move from working the rotator cuff to activating the deltoid.

• 10-15 arm raises to parallel in front of body, thumbs pointing up


• 10-15 arm raises to parallel in front of body, thumbs pointing down


• 10-15 arm raises to parallel at 45º, thumbs pointing up


• 10-15 arm raises to parallel at 45º, thumbs pointing down


• 10-15 arm raises to parallel at 90º, thumbs pointing up


• 10-15 arm raises to parallel at 90º, thumbs pointing down


• 10-15 reps holding arms parallel to floor, out to sides, and bring in to front of chest and back out


• 10-15 reps upper arm parallel to floor, elbows bent 90º, and rotate arms forward until entire arm is parallel with floor, then rotate back up.


• ABC's - left and right arms (more easily done one arm at a time): Hold the plate, and extend arm in front of sternum. Trace the entire alphabet in the air.

Today's numbers:

Friday, March 21, 2008 - Arms

Exercise	Cory
Skullcrushers	90 x 12 x 2
Preacher curl	140 x 10 : 150 x 8
Overhead tricep extension	50 x 12 : 70 x 12
DB bicep curl	35 x 10 x (L/R) : 40 x 5 x (L/R)
DB hammer curl	35 x 10 x (L/R) : 40 x 5 x (L/R)
Barbell wrist curl palms down	45 x 10 x 2
Barbell wrist curl palms up	45 x 15 x 2
RCStackSet	10's @ 5 lb plates
TOTAL	11,710

Back

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:

Saturday, January 19, 2008 - Back

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

Arms

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:

Friday, January 18, 2008 - Arms

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

Legs

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...

Wednesday, January 16, 2008 - Legs

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

** For the leg press, we dropped the weight far below our normal numbers, and took the lifts very slow, and all the way down through the entire range of motion, bringing the knees all the way to the chest. MUCH harder.

Legs

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.

Wednesday, January 9, 2008 - Legs

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

Back

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:

Sunday, January 6, 2008 - Back

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

Arms

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:

Friday, January 4, 2008 - Arms

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