A Work In Progress - My Summer 2008 Workout Log

[bradspencer74]

7/4/08 - Endurance Chest

Man, that's a huge pump, and a lot more tiring than I thought it would be. Essentially, what we did was crank out 20 reps as fast as we could with the only rest we got was while the other guys was doing his sets (perhaps 45 seconds max to change out positions and start again). We got all 250 chest reps done in about 30 minutes. I've never had a killer pump that hard. I really feel kind of bad that by the end, I was able to bench about as much as I can curl, but man, was it hard to even move.

But, Ray tells me that the endurance factor goes up fast doing this. I hope so.

Endurance Chest/Abs (lbs x # of reps)

Flat BB Bench Press
1 - 135 x 20 | 2 - 135 x 20 | 3 - 125 x 20

Incline BB Bench Press
1 - 115 x 20 | 2 - 120 x 20 | 3 - 120 x 20

Decline BB Bench
1 - 125 x 20 | 2 - 125 x 20 | 3 - 125 x 20

One Arm Cable Crossovers
1 - 15's x 30 (each arm)| 2 - 20's x 20 (each arm) | 3 - 20's x 20 (each arm)

Pushups
1 - To Failure

Bi/Tri Sets
Single Arm Hammer Tri Press / Single Arm Cable Spider Curl Supersets - 1 - 15/17.5 x 20 (each arm, each exercise) | 2 - 15/17.5 x 20 (each arm, each exercise) | 3 - 15/17.5 x 20 (each arm, each exercise)

Oblique Abs Circuit - 3 Total Circuits (15 Reps per Exercise) 90 sec Rest betn Circuits

Hanging Oblique Raises
DB Side Bends (w/60 lbs)
Lat Crunch on Hyperextension Bench (w/ 25 lbs)
Twisting Hyperextensions

 

[bradspencer74]

7/7/08 - Heavy Chest

Ray and I felt out this as a Heavy Chest routine. Combining the two chest days, it gives 36 chest sets through the week. It felt nice to go heavier again, with a good pump. I hope that I can start growing and upping some of these numbers soon. Since my flat bench is pretty strong, we decided to start adding a focus on lower and upper chest on this day, while building mid-chest endurance at end of week. We also sketched out a new routine that I'll post in a few minutes.

Chest/Abs (lbs x # of reps)

Incline BB Press
Warmup - 135 x 15, 155 x 15 | 1 - 175 x 12 | 2 - 185 x 10 | 3 - 195 x 10 | 4 - 205 x 8 ** (Personal Best)

Flat DB Flyes
1 - 50's x 10 | 2 - 55's x 10

Flat Cable Flyes on Stability Ball
1 - 20's x 15 | 2 - 25's x 15

Decline BB Bench
1 - 135 x 15 | 2 - 155 x 12 | 3 - 185 x 10 | 4 - 225 x 10

Decline Cable Crossovers
1 - 20's x 15 | 2 - 20's x 15 | 3 - 20's x 15

Abs Circuit - 4 Total Circuits (15 Reps per Exercise) 90 sec Rest betn Circuits

Hanging Leg Raises
Cable Crunch (w/90 lbs)
Decline Reverse Crunch
Decline Bench Sit-Ups

 

[bradspencer74]

New Workout for July-September

This is the new thought, although we may tweak the rep counts. We want this to be more of a strength/hypertrophy workout than a hypertrophy/endurance one.

Monday - Heavy Chest

Incline BB Bench Press - 5 sets, 6-12 reps
Flat DB Flyes - 2 sets, 15 reps
Flat Cable Flyes on Stability Ball - 2 sets, 15 reps
Decline BB Bench Press - 5 sets, 6-12 reps
Decline Cable Crossovers - 3 sets, 15 reps

Tuesday - Back

Wide Grip Lat Pulldowns - 3 sets, 10 reps
T-Bar Rows - 3 sets, 8-12 reps
Close Grip Lat Pulldowns - 3 sets, 10 reps
BB Good Mornings - 3 sets, 15 reps
Straight Arm Cable Rear Delt Flyes - 3 sets, 15 reps
Bent Over BB Rows - 3 sets, 8-12 reps
Straight Arm Lat Pulldowns - 2 sets to failure

Wednesday - Delts/Traps/Bi's

Seated BB Military Press - 3 sets, 8-12 reps
Incline DB Curls - 3 sets, 10 reps
Front Lat Raises - 2 sets, 12 reps
Cable Spider Curls - 3 sets, 15 reps
Side Lat Raises - 2 sets, 12 reps
Front Curls - 3 sets, 10 reps
Leaning Cable Shrugs - 3 sets, 15 reps
BB Upright Rows - 3 sets, 10 reps
Overhead Cable Bicep Curls - To Burnout

Thursday - Legs

Squats - 4 sets, 15 reps (eventually 8-15 reps)
Leg Press - 3 sets, 6-10 reps
Straight Toe Calf Raises - 3 sets, max reps
Walking DB Lunges - 3 sets, 15 reps
Deadlifts - 3 sets, 10 reps
Inner/Outer Toe Calf Raises - 3 sets, max reps
Single Arm DB Clean and Press - 3 sets, 10 reps

Friday - High Rep Chest/Tri's

Flat BB Bench Press - 3 sets, 20 reps
Reverse Triceps Extensions - 3 sets, 10 reps
Incline BB Bench Press - 3 sets, 20 reps
DB Triceps Kickbacks - 3 sets, 12 reps
Decline BB Bench Press - 3 sets, 20 reps
Triceps Skullcrushers - 3 sets, 10 reps
Single Arm Cable Crossovers - 3 sets, 20 reps
Single Arm DB Triceps Press - 3 sets, 10 reps
Pushups - To Fail

Evening Abs Circuit (M, Tr)
Hanging Oblique Raises
DB Side Bends (w/50 lbs)
Lat Crunch on Hyperextension Bench (w/ 25 lbs)
Twisting Hyperextensions

Evening Oblique Abs Circuit (Tu, Fr)
Hanging Oblique Raises
DB Side Bends (w/60 lbs)
Lat Crunch on Hyperextension Bench (w/ 25 lbs)
Twisting Hyperextensions

Evening Heavy Calves (W) - 10 sets, 8-10 reps

 

[bradspencer74]

7/8/08 - Back

We changed up the rep ranges just a bit today, and I hope the focus on back only will help me a bit to grow.

Back(lbs x # of reps)

Supine Rows
Warmup w/ elevated feet- 2 sets x 20 reps

Wide Grip Cable Lat Pulls
1 - 140 x 15 | 2 - 160 x 10 | 3 - 170 x 8 | 4 - 180 x 6

One Arm BB Rows, Front Grip (Reps per side, Plates only)
1 - 50 x 12 | 2 - 60 x 10 | 3 - 70 x 8

CG Cable Lat Pulls
1 - 180 x 12 | 2 - 190 x 10 | 3 - 200 x 8

BB Good Mornings
1 - 115 x 15 | 2 - 135 x 15 | 3 - 155 x 15 (hurts, but good hurt, LOL)

Cable Straight Arm Reverse Flyes (Plates Per Side)
1 - 15 x 15 | 2 - 17.5 x 12 | 3 - 17.5 x 12 (Great Increase over the last 2 weeks)

Bent Over Rows
1 - 155 x 15 | 2 - 155 x 15 | 3 - 165 x 15

Pulls Ups
1 - To Fail

 

[bradspencer74]

7/9/08 - Delts/Traps/Bi's

Not the best workout today. Feeling it in the back a little after yesterday, and that tweaked brachialis muscle in my right arm flared up a bit. Kind of cut into my reps and my normal pump. I'm hoping the spider curls will help work that out a bit, along with some ice. Tomorrow is legs, and I sure hope it goes well.

Did get another nice comp from a guy at the gym. I was feeling kind of small all day (you know when you look in the mirror and all you see is what you haven't done.) Anyway, he just comes up to me wanting my workout cause he was amazed how much I'd grown in the last couple of months. It was a nice ego boost.

Delts/Traps/Bi's(lbs x # of reps)

HammerStrength Military Press (weight per side)
1 - 90 x 15 | 2 - 115 x 12 | 3 - 125 x 10 | 4 - 130 x 8

Incline Seated DB Curls
1 - 40's x 12 | 2 - 45's x 10 | 3 - 45's x 8 (caught the muscle here)

EZ Bar Front Delt Raises
1 - 55 x 12 | 2 - 70 x 10 | 3 - 75 x 10

Cable Spider Curls (reps per side)
1 - 15 x 15 | 2 - 20 x 15 | 3 - 20 x 12 (Hurt a lot.)

DB Side Raises
1 - 25's x 15 | 2 - 35's x 12 | 3 - 40's x 8

Wide Grip BB Bi Curls
1 - 85 x 12 | 2 - 95 x 10 | 3 - 105 x 9 (not bad, I guess all things considered.)

Leaning Cable Shrugs
1 - 110 x 15 | 2 - 120 x 15 | 3 - 130 x 8

Cable Upright Rows
1 - 80 x 12 | 2 - 95 (max load) x 10 | 3 - 95 (max load) x 10

Overhead Bi Cable Curls
1 - 15 x To Burnout

 

[bradspencer74]

7/10/08 - Legs

Wow, am I tired, but a great day, nonetheless. Set a new record on my squats again. Easy does it getting up there. With some major technique help too, I added an explosive movement at long last. Easy -- nah way easy one --, but not any stress at all on my back so far as I can tell.

I'll post it on the pics thread, but thanks for the feedback. I guess you are always your own worst critic and ever see things improve.

Legs (lbs x # of reps)

Squats (to parallel)
Warmup - 2 Sets - 135 x 15, 225 x 15 | 1 - 275 x 15 | 2 - 315 x 14 | 3 - 335 x 13

Leg Press
1 - 780 x 12 | 2 - 960 x 10 | 3 - 1140 x 8

Calf Raise on DB (per leg)
1 - BW x 15 each | 2 - BW x 15 each| 3 - BW x 15 each

DB Walking Lunges(per leg)
1 - 60's x 10 each | 2 - 60's x 10 each| 3 - 60's x 10 each


Elevated SLDL's (Standing on a bench)
1 - 185 x 12 | 2 - 185 x 12 | 3 - 205 x 11

Calf Raise on Hack Squat Sled (10 reps toes in, 10 reps toes out)
1 - 315 x 20 | 2 - 405 x 20 | 3 - 405 x 20

Single Arm DB Clean and Press (Reps per Arm)
1 - 30 x 10 each | 2 - 35 x 10 each | 3 - 35 x 10 each

 

[bradspencer74]

7/11/08 - Endurance Chest/Tri's

This hurt. I don't know if I like this very much not that I've tried it. My tri's are so destroyed about half way though that I can't do anything to keep the pump going. I will keep a close watch out on Monday's and if strength starts to fall, then this is gonna change. I'm thinking to cut back to 12-15 reps, reorder the tri's to mass to shape movements, and up the weight just a bit anyway.

Endurance Chest/Tri's (lbs x # of reps)

Flat BB Bench Press/Reverse Tri Extensions
1 - 135 x 20 | 2 - 135 x 20 | 3 - 125 x 20
1 - 50 x 10 | 2 - 65 x 10 | 3 - 65 x 10

Incline BB Bench Press/Cable Triceps Kickbacks
1 - 115 x 20 | 2 - 105 x 20 | 3 - 105 x 20
1 - 12.5 x 10 | 2 - 12.5 x 10 | 3 - 12.5 x 10

Decline BB Bench/Skullcrushers
1 - 115 x 20 | 2 - 115 x 20 | 3 - 105 x 20
1 - 65 x 10 | 2 - 65 x 10 | 3 - 65 x 10

One Arm Cable Crossovers
1 - 20's x 20 (each arm)| 2 - 20's x 20 (each arm) | 3 - 20's x 20 (each arm)

Pushups
1 - To Failure

 

[bradspencer74]

My New Long Term Goal

Well, its been a year since I ended the first big cut, and its time for a new long term goal. So, here it is. In the last year, I've added just over an inch to my bi's and started to make some inroads on my chest. I went to the store Sunday, and bought this over-sized tank top. The goal is to add at least another 10 lean pounds to my body, and fill this thing out while staying in these shorts (they are 30 inch waist).

It's an ambitious goal to make clean bulking, but I think I can make it. It's just a matter of eating right and lifting hard. ress: And a little bit of luck.

 

[bradspencer74]

7/14/08 - Heavy Chest

After Friday, I wasn't exactly looking forward to Chest again, But, I felt really good at first. I hit another best in Incline Bench and did OK on cables. But, then I just lost some strength. Maybe it was a combination of Friday and pushing so hard at the first cost me.

Chest/Abs (lbs x # of reps)

Incline BB Press
Warmup - 155 x 15 | 1 - 185 x 12 | 2 - 195 x 10 | 3 - 205 x 8 | 4 - 210 x 6 | 5 - 220 x 4

Flat Cable Flyes
1 - 40's x 10 | 2 - 45's x 10

Flat DB Press
1 - 75 x 10 | 2 - 80 x 8 | 3 - 85 x 6

Decline BB Bench
1 - 200 x 10 | 2 - 220 x 8 | 3 - 240 x 6

Decline Cable Crossovers
1 - 20's x 15 | 2 - 20's x 15 | 3 - 20's x 15

 

[bradspencer74]

7/15/08 - Back

Not a bad back workout. Can't complain anyway. I am trying to shift to heavier weight, lower rep ranges in mass builder exercises. I hope it will start me building into that shirt right.

Back(lbs x # of reps)

Supine Rows
Warmup w/ elevated feet- 2 sets x 20 reps

Wide Grip Behind-the-Neck Cable Lat Pulls
1 - 130 x 12 | 2 - 140 x 10 | 3 - 150 x 8 | 4 - 160 x 6

Bent Over Rows
1 - 165 x 15 | 2 - 185 x 12 | 3 - 195 x 10

One Arm BB Rows, Front Grip (Reps per side, Plates only)
1 - 60 x 10 | 2 - 70 x 10 | 3 - 75 x 9

T-Bar Rows (Plates Only)
1 - 180 x 10 | 2 - 190 x 8 | 3 - 205 x 6

BB Good Mornings
1 - 115 x 15 | 2 - 135 x 15 | 3 - 160 x 12 (New max weight and felt good)

Cable Straight Arm Reverse Flyes (Plates Per Side)
1 - 17.5 x 15 | 2 - 17.5 x 15 | 3 - 17.5 x 15

Wide Grip Pulls Ups
1,2 - To Fail (15 reps each set with Asst)

 

[bradspencer74]

Back at it again

Well, I am back at it again after 3 weeks off for a seriously pulled hammy. At first, I thought it was torn, but luckily not. Now, the only pain is in the insertion point and that is just gonna take a little more time.

I did legs today. High rep squats. I wanted to stay light, so I did 135 x 20 reps, upping 20 pounds to 245 x 20. Got some blood flowing and battled the stiffness. LOL. Form was a little favoring the hammy, but there was no pain to speak of, just itch/irritation in the damaged area. It just felt good to workout again.