Total Body Training: Week 8 in 3 days

All Notation: Weight x Reps x Sets. Rest periods: 2 minutes on Day one and 3. 60 seconds on Day two.

I wanted to get this over with, and I don't want to work out while in New Jersey. So I committed myself to the daunting task of finishing this up in three days time. Barring Friday, where I did intervals in the morning, there will be no aerobics. Also since the weekend was here, I slept a lot more,and did a bit more. Here's how it went:

Day One (Friday night)(Supersets are paired up):

Hammer Front Pulldown (Weight is per movement arm): 35x12, 45x12, 55x12x3
DB Lateral Raises: 8x12x5

DB Shoulder Presses: 25x12, 30x12, 35x12x3
Barbell Curls: 35x12, 45x12, 60x12x3

Decline Twisting Situps: Repped Out at 18, 14, 12, 11, 10 reps
Cybex Donkey Calf Raise: 80x12, 100x12, 120x12

Sumo Deadlift: 135x12, 155x12, 175x12x3
Close Grip Pushups: Repped Out at 14, 12, 11, 10, 9 reps

A portent of things to come, I was so exhausted when it was all done. Question for myself at the end of the night was whether I would be able to pull again the next day.


Day Two(Saturday Afternoon)(Supersets are paired up):

DB Rows (Elbows Out): 25x8, 35x8, 40x8x3
DB Lateral Raises: 12x8x5

DB Bench Press: 35x8, 45x8, 55x8x3
DB Preacher Curls: 15x8, 20x8, 25x8x3

Decline Twisting Situp: Repped Out at 18, 16, 14, 11, 10 reps
Cybex Donkey Calf Raise: 100x8, 120x8, 150x8x3

Snatch Grip Deadlift: 135x8, 155x8, 185x8x3

Hammer ISO Shoulder Press: 45x8, 55x8, 65x8x3

A little easier on because it was lower reps and more dumbbell work. The Snatch Grip DL was the coupe de grace here. After this and a shower, I refueled at Chili's with an order of Southwestern Egg Rolls, a full rack of ribs, and a lot of Coca Cola. The I went to sleep late because my wife called, and The Matrix was on the TV. My back still has a pump, and squats are tomorrow. Great!?!


Day Three (Sunday Afternoon)(Supersets are paired up):

Weighed myself before I began, no shoes and no shirt: 232 lbs. about a 4 lbs drop in two weeks. I'm thrilled. I'm within striking distance of the 220s. But I'm so weak right now it's hardly a motivator. Should have gone to Starbucks. On paper, the pushups and squats will be the killer. Since my back did not feel up to the task, I did my squats on the Hammer V-Squat (Beginning resistance is 54lbs) machine.

Hammer ISO Low Row: 35x18, 45x18, 50x18x3
DB Lateral Raises: 6x18x5

Hammer V-Squat: 139x18, 159x18, 179x18x3

Pushups: Repped Out at 23, 18, 15, 13, 11 reps
BB Preacher Curls: 30x18, 35x18, 40x18x3

Decline Twisting Situp: Repped Out at 19, 17, 15, 12, 10 reps
45 Degree Hyper: Repped Out at 16, 14, 11, 10, 10 reps
Cybex Donkey Calf Raise: 80x18, 100x18, 110x18x3


So, with a whimper and a crawl, it was over. It was a good cycle. I could almost see why in his new book, Chad Waterbury takes out the last 4 weeks: it felt like cardio only worse. But I would do it again, it jacked my metabolism up. I'm back to a 225 bench, while barely benching because of all the DB, Blast Strap, and pushup work. My squat is back and with a faster launch, partly because of the GHR and all the front squats. I went from being able to do 2-3 reps on the GHR to now being able to do 8 reps. My waist is a little smaller but my back, arms, shoulders, and calves are thicker. I also have increased grip strength and more endurance. Triple Total Training is next after the break.

Workouts 06Dec12-06Dec14

Today, I am doing nothing but relaxing. With morning PT and the workouts themselves, the only thing keeping me sane is an added nap from 4:30PM to 6:30PM on most days. That and, since I want to finish TBT, I will finish it Sunday so that will be 3 workouts in a row. I don't want to workout while I'm in NJ next week.

06Dec12 (All Notation: weight x reps x sets):
Speed Intervals: 5 intervals of 2 minutes running at 7.3 MPH and 1 minute walking at 3.8 MPH. Heart rate did not hit 180+ until the last interval. That's great. I'll probably step it up on Friday.

Close Grip Pulldown w/V-Handle: 70x8, 85x8, 105x8x3

Hammer Pullover: 65x8, 80x8, 100x8x3

DB Lateral Raises: 6x18x3, 8x12x3

Seated Row: 70x8, 85x8, 105x8x3

Hammer ISO Low Row: 45x8, 55x8, 65x8x3

Decline Twisting Situps: 3 sets of 14 reps
Leg Lowering: 3 sets of 3
Birddogs: 3 sets of 20 seconds each
45 degree Hyper: 3 sets of 14
20 minutes on the elliptical as a cooldown. This took so long, and some of the movements do nothing for me. Considering that I deadlift twice a week, I'll move the Hammer low row to day 3 and only do the abs and laterals on the off day. That, and burnout is creeping up on me.

06Dec13 (All Notation: weight x reps x sets):
Since Monday's morning run was stopped due to rain, we all paid for it today with a longer run. The weather was colder, too. When I was done, it looked like steam was coming out of my wet clothes.

TBT Week 7 Workout 3:

Pushups: Repped Out at 22, 16, 12 reps.

12" Box Squat: 100x18, 125x18x3. The original goal was 135x18x3. 125 brought me down to earth. I performed 14 reps on my first set, took a 10 second breather at the top, then did the other four. Second set: 12 reps, rest 5 seconds, 3 reps, rest 5 seconds, 3 reps. Last set, 10 reps, then 4 reps, then 3 reps, then 1. Slept like a baby . . . . . had a hard time getting up this morning.

Preacher Curl: 30x18, 35x18, 40x18x3.

Hammer ISO Low Row: 35x18, 45x18, 50x18x3.

45 degree Hyper: Repped Out at 16, 14, 12, 10 reps.

Cybex 45 degree Donkey Calf Raise: 80x18, 100x18, 110x18x3.

Total Body Training: Week 7 Workout 2

Ran with the group this morning and got rained on while doing it. No worries, it was actually warm today. The cold snap is gone for now.

Evening Workout (All Notation: weight x reps x sets):

DB Bench Press: 35x8, 45x8, 55x8x3

DB Rows (Elbows Out): 25x8, 35x8, 40x8x3

Bulgarian Split Squat: 10x8, 20x8, 30x8x3

Hammer ISO Shoulder Press: 45x8, 55x8, 65x8x3

DB Preacher Curls: Worked up to a 25 lbs 8RM, then a 30 lbs 5RM, then did a set of 25x8.

Snatch Grip DL: Was going to test an RM but decided for future workouts to just play it safe and take a guess at a 1RM. I guessed 265 and calculated from there: 145x8, 165x8, 195x8x3.

Just Aerobics

45 minutes on the elliptical. Went to Barnes and Noble and bought The New Rules of Lifting; so far a great read. I might try that Metabolic Overload for a few of my aerobic days to lean out quicker. Ate sushi and hibachi fillet mignon chunks for lunch, and a big coffee and cookie at the bookstore. Not exactly bringing balance to the Force, but I had to have it and it was DELICIOUS!!!

Extra Back Work

Speed Intervals: 5 intervals of 2 minutes running at 7.3 MPH and 1 minute walking at 3.8 MPH

Close Grip Pulldown w/V-Handle: 55x18, 70x18, 75x18
Hammer Pullover: 50x18, 60x18, 70x18
LifeFitness Lateral Raise: 50x18, 60x18, 70x18
Seated Row: 55x18, 70x18, 75x18
Hammer ISO Low Row: 35x18, 45x18, 50x18
Decline Twisting Situps: 3 sets of 14 reps
Leg Lowering: 3 sets of 3
Birddogs: 3 sets of 20 seconds each
45 degree Hyper: 3 sets of 14

20 minutes on the elliptical as a cooldown.

Ouch!!!

After Wednesday's test on Squat and yesterday's test on Sumo DL, today I felt edgy and burned out. So no weights today. Heck, I didn't want to run with the group this morning but you know how the military is. How's that for motivation?!?

I did 30 minutes on the elliptical in the evening, and went to bed early. Thank god for the weekend!!!

Total Body Training: Week 7 Workout 1

All Notation: weight x reps x sets. Got up at the ungodly hour of 5:45AM to do 45 minutes on the elliptical machine and enjoy the free continental breakfast before reporting to work at 7:30AM.

Evening Workout:

Hammer ISO Front Pulldown (Weight per movement arm): 40x12, 50x12, 60x12x3

DB Shoulder Press: 25x12, 30x12, 35x12x3

DB Lateral Step Ups: 10x12, 15x12, 20x12x3

Close Grip Pushups (Arms Tucked): Repped out to 14, 14, 13 reps

Sumo DL: 135x12, 155x12, 175x12, 195x9, 225x6, 245x4, 265x2, 285x1. Started out trying to test out my 12RM. After 3 minutes of catching my breath after set 4, I went for the 1RM.

Barbell Curls: 35x12, 45x12, 55x12x3

Cybex Seated Calf: 40x12, 50x12, 60x12x3

All in all, a great workout that left me fiending for some sleep:)

Testing in Tennessee

Spent my Tuesday sleeping off jet lag and 3 days of little sleep. Today, I ran 1.5 miles in the morning with the unit I'm working for, and I went to the gym to see what they had and maybe test it. A lot of old Hammer machines (Great), some Lifefitness machines (not so great, save for the side lateral), and the free weights were enough. Surprisingly, they had a wide assortment of bars, some boards up to a 3-board, a step up box. Then I beamed when I saw a 12" box constructed out of 1 inch thick boards almost like Jenga. So I tested out on the back movements (at least 5-10 lbs stronger than I was a month ago), DB Bench Press of 70 lbs each arm, and a 245 double on 12" Box Squat. I've gained pretty good on this program, and all the GHR and squat rep work has made for a stronger squat out of the bottom. It's all in the exercise choices.

Now I'm beat, time for more sleep.

Total Body Training: Week 6 Workout 3

On to Week 7. Not a moment too soon, either. I at least wanted to do this before my trip to Tennessee next week. Don't know what equipment I will have to work with there.

Arched Back GMs: 115x12, 135x12, 150x12x2
Squats: 135x12, 155x12, 170x12x2.
Pullups (Green Band): 4 sets of 8. I cannot break 8 reps with these yet.
Bar Pushups (Feet Elevated): 4 sets of 12.
GHR (Purple Band): 4 sets of 12
Barbell Curls: 75x5, 85x3, 90x1 (5 lbs PR), 60x8x3