Verse of the day: But I am afraid, lest as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds should be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ. -2 Cor. 11:3
I got in a great pump this morning. I threw in a few different exercises to target my week points. The focus, again, for me is on upper chest, upper back and shoulders. I always start with upper chest and I feel I get the best focus in the muscle with incline dumbbell presses- so that was the start. Next I just hit 1 hard set of dips, but rather than my lower reps, here I did 20. After that, I started back with 1 arm dumbbell rows, and finished it off with just 1 set of Free Motion pull downs. With chest and back finished up, I went on to shoulders: seated dumbbell presses and high rope pulls. I finished the weights with bi's and tri's: cambered bar curls and seated rope extensions super-set... Boom! That's it. I keep getting comments about how low the volume is and how can you get a good arm pump with only 1 exercise. But I have been fully pump by the time I finish. The goal is to stimulate maximum muscle growth while still being able to recover. The recovery is HUGE. I have been destroying the muscle for years, but have not been able to recover enough to grow. This new approach seems to be working well. I am slowly increasing size and strength without putting on a ton of fat.
Thursday, April 30, 2015
Monday, April 27, 2015
Mon., 4/27/15, Upper Body
Verse of the day: Therefore if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things have passed away; behold, new things have come. -2 Cor. 5:17
I am getting stronger! Slowly, but surely I am progressing. I got the most reps that I've ever gotten with 360 on the Incline Hammer press (I did get the same number once or twice before, when I weighed more, but have not exceeded it.) I got in a great workout this morning. So this plan seems to be working well. Here's how it went:
incline Hammer Strength: 50-25; 90-12; 180-8; 270-6; 360-9
incline dumbbell press: 100s-9
pulldown: 135-12; 180-12; 225-7
row: 135-10; 225-8
Hammer Strength shoulder press: 180-12; 250-7
seated lateral raise: 30s-16
cambered bar curl: 65-12; 85-15
super-set pushdown: 120-15; 200-15
I am getting stronger! Slowly, but surely I am progressing. I got the most reps that I've ever gotten with 360 on the Incline Hammer press (I did get the same number once or twice before, when I weighed more, but have not exceeded it.) I got in a great workout this morning. So this plan seems to be working well. Here's how it went:
incline Hammer Strength: 50-25; 90-12; 180-8; 270-6; 360-9
incline dumbbell press: 100s-9
pulldown: 135-12; 180-12; 225-7
row: 135-10; 225-8
Hammer Strength shoulder press: 180-12; 250-7
seated lateral raise: 30s-16
cambered bar curl: 65-12; 85-15
super-set pushdown: 120-15; 200-15
Friday, April 24, 2015
Fri., 4/24/15, LEGS
Verse of the day: Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is there is liberty. -2Cor. 3:17
Today's leg workout was very short and very intense. I decided to squat 225 for 50 reps again. I clearly remember the last time I did this saying, "I'll never do that again." But, hey, it seemed like the right thing at the time... Ha! That's a pretty intense little ride there. To me, 225 is not very much weight, but the heart rate gets destroyed; and for about 5-10 minutes after the set I can't really see straight- everything is wavy. So I had 40 minutes total for legs: 10 minutes stretching, 4 sets of squats (about a minute between warm-ups and 3 minutes between the last warm-up and the worker), 1 set of leg curls and 3 sets of calf raises. Here's how it looked:
squat: 45-25; 95-6; 135-6; 225-50
standing 1-leg curl: 85-10
smith machine calf raise: 180-15; 270-10; 360-16
Today's leg workout was very short and very intense. I decided to squat 225 for 50 reps again. I clearly remember the last time I did this saying, "I'll never do that again." But, hey, it seemed like the right thing at the time... Ha! That's a pretty intense little ride there. To me, 225 is not very much weight, but the heart rate gets destroyed; and for about 5-10 minutes after the set I can't really see straight- everything is wavy. So I had 40 minutes total for legs: 10 minutes stretching, 4 sets of squats (about a minute between warm-ups and 3 minutes between the last warm-up and the worker), 1 set of leg curls and 3 sets of calf raises. Here's how it looked:
squat: 45-25; 95-6; 135-6; 225-50
standing 1-leg curl: 85-10
smith machine calf raise: 180-15; 270-10; 360-16
Thursday, April 23, 2015
Thur., 4/23/15, Upper Body
Verse of the day: Let all that you do be done in love. - 1 Cor. 16:14
This morning I got the best pump that I've gotten in a long time. I increased the repetition and decreased the weight for all the upper body motions today. It was good. I also changed up a few of the exercises. Here's how it looked:
incline dumbbell press: 25s-25; 40s-12; 60s-6; 80s-6; 100s-13
flat dumbbell press: 75s-12
V-grip-pull-down: 150-12; 210-12
1-arm row: 100-12
seated dumbbell press: 55s-15; 70s-8
dumbbell curl (simultaneously twisting the wrists in on the way up): 30s-10; 45s-8; 35s-8
1-arm rope pushdown: 40-12, 50-12, 60-12, 70-6 (no rest)
Obviously, here for the arms I was really just trying to pump as much blood as possible, not lift maximum weights. And the pump was awesome.
This morning I got the best pump that I've gotten in a long time. I increased the repetition and decreased the weight for all the upper body motions today. It was good. I also changed up a few of the exercises. Here's how it looked:
incline dumbbell press: 25s-25; 40s-12; 60s-6; 80s-6; 100s-13
flat dumbbell press: 75s-12
V-grip-pull-down: 150-12; 210-12
1-arm row: 100-12
seated dumbbell press: 55s-15; 70s-8
dumbbell curl (simultaneously twisting the wrists in on the way up): 30s-10; 45s-8; 35s-8
1-arm rope pushdown: 40-12, 50-12, 60-12, 70-6 (no rest)
Obviously, here for the arms I was really just trying to pump as much blood as possible, not lift maximum weights. And the pump was awesome.
Tuesday, April 21, 2015
Tue., 4/21/15, Legs
Verse of the day: Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord. -1 Cor. 15:58
I got in a good workout today. I didn't set any PR's or anything (though this was the most I've used on the squat since I sprained my knee, so I guess I did have a little PR.) But everything was very focus and controlled and I had no pain in my knee. For this workout I did not wrap my knees for anything except my heaviest set of squats, and I put on my light knee sleeves for the presses, curls and calf raises. I feel that this approach is helping to heal up the knee, because I want to challenge the joint and stimulate it, but Not hurt it. Here's how it went:
squat: 45-15; 95-6; 135-6; 225-6; 315-5; 385-6
leg press: 450-8; 630-23 (constant tension)
lying 1-leg curl: 65-14+6
seated calf: 90-15; 190-10+2 drop-sets
I got in a good workout today. I didn't set any PR's or anything (though this was the most I've used on the squat since I sprained my knee, so I guess I did have a little PR.) But everything was very focus and controlled and I had no pain in my knee. For this workout I did not wrap my knees for anything except my heaviest set of squats, and I put on my light knee sleeves for the presses, curls and calf raises. I feel that this approach is helping to heal up the knee, because I want to challenge the joint and stimulate it, but Not hurt it. Here's how it went:
squat: 45-15; 95-6; 135-6; 225-6; 315-5; 385-6
leg press: 450-8; 630-23 (constant tension)
lying 1-leg curl: 65-14+6
seated calf: 90-15; 190-10+2 drop-sets
Monday, April 20, 2015
Week #23, Mon., 4/20/15, Upper Body
Verse of the day: Brethren, do not be children in your thinking; yet in evil be babes, but in your thinking be mature. -1 Cor. 14:20
Having not gotten any stronger last week from the week before, it was time to add a set. (Remember I took it back to the baseline: 1 failure set for each muscle group, with the plan of slowly building from there.) So, I added 1 working set to each muscle group, except biceps (I know- that's a crime.) The workout this morning was awesome. I got to workout with one of my clients, Wes Stepp. Every great once in a while I'll just have him do a workout with me rather than a separate one. We both got a great pump, and pushed it to the limit. Here's how it worked:
incline hammer strength press: 50-25; 90-12; 180-6; 270-6; 360-8
incline dumbbell press: 75s-8; 110s-8
pulldown: 130-12; 170-12; 240-7
row: 135-12; 235-8+3
hammer strength shoulder press: 140-12; 210-6; 260-9
seated lateral raise: 30s-14
pushdown: 100-25; 140-12; 190-10; 240-10; 200-10
super-set with cambered bar curl: 45-10; 65-10; 85-6; 105-8+2
Having not gotten any stronger last week from the week before, it was time to add a set. (Remember I took it back to the baseline: 1 failure set for each muscle group, with the plan of slowly building from there.) So, I added 1 working set to each muscle group, except biceps (I know- that's a crime.) The workout this morning was awesome. I got to workout with one of my clients, Wes Stepp. Every great once in a while I'll just have him do a workout with me rather than a separate one. We both got a great pump, and pushed it to the limit. Here's how it worked:
incline hammer strength press: 50-25; 90-12; 180-6; 270-6; 360-8
incline dumbbell press: 75s-8; 110s-8
pulldown: 130-12; 170-12; 240-7
row: 135-12; 235-8+3
hammer strength shoulder press: 140-12; 210-6; 260-9
seated lateral raise: 30s-14
pushdown: 100-25; 140-12; 190-10; 240-10; 200-10
super-set with cambered bar curl: 45-10; 65-10; 85-6; 105-8+2
Friday, April 17, 2015
Fri., 4/17/15, Legs
Verse of the day: Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your steps. -Prov. 3:5
I got in a great leg workout this morning. I only had 40 minutes to do the whole thing: stretching, foam rolling, warm-up and everything. So, it was fast. I was able to use some weight on the squat, but again I didn't really go all the way to failure... easing the knee back in one step at a time. Here's how it went:
squat: 45-15; 135-6; 225-6; 315-6; 365-10
leg press: 540-33 (constant tension)
standing leg curl: 85-14
1-leg calf press: 180-20,12,8 (no rest)
I got in a great leg workout this morning. I only had 40 minutes to do the whole thing: stretching, foam rolling, warm-up and everything. So, it was fast. I was able to use some weight on the squat, but again I didn't really go all the way to failure... easing the knee back in one step at a time. Here's how it went:
squat: 45-15; 135-6; 225-6; 315-6; 365-10
leg press: 540-33 (constant tension)
standing leg curl: 85-14
1-leg calf press: 180-20,12,8 (no rest)
Thursday, April 16, 2015
Thur., 4/16/15, Upper Body
Verse of the day: Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you win. -1 Cor. 9:24
I got in a great workout this morning. It was very much the same as Monday's workout, I just decreased the weight on a couple movements and increased the reps. I felt like I got a better pump this way. An addition I made was a couple drop sets, because I did not make the number that I was shooting for. Three exercise changes I made were: barbell row for back, spider curl for biceps and lying extensions for triceps. Bi's and tri's are not a weak point for me so my goal is not so much to increase on one exercise, but to pump it as full of blood and hit it from a different angle to bring up the shape and lines. Here's the order:
incline hammer strength press
barbell row
hammer strength shoulder press
spider curl
lying 45 degree triceps extensions
machine crunch
I got in a great workout this morning. It was very much the same as Monday's workout, I just decreased the weight on a couple movements and increased the reps. I felt like I got a better pump this way. An addition I made was a couple drop sets, because I did not make the number that I was shooting for. Three exercise changes I made were: barbell row for back, spider curl for biceps and lying extensions for triceps. Bi's and tri's are not a weak point for me so my goal is not so much to increase on one exercise, but to pump it as full of blood and hit it from a different angle to bring up the shape and lines. Here's the order:
incline hammer strength press
barbell row
hammer strength shoulder press
spider curl
lying 45 degree triceps extensions
machine crunch
Wednesday, April 15, 2015
Wed., 4/15/15, Legs (Yesterday)
Verse of the day: For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body. -Cor. 6:20
I got in a great leg workout yesterday. My knee is feeling a lot better. The workout was still not incredibly intense on the quads, again allowing the knee to heal up. I used more weight on the squat than I have since I sprained my knee. Here's how it looked:
squat: 45-15; 95-10; 135-10; 225-10; 315-6; 365-6
leg press: 450-30 (constant tension)
1-leg curl: 65-6,80-6,95-4(no rest)
smith machine calf raise: 90-15; 180-12; 270-12; 360-12
I got in a great leg workout yesterday. My knee is feeling a lot better. The workout was still not incredibly intense on the quads, again allowing the knee to heal up. I used more weight on the squat than I have since I sprained my knee. Here's how it looked:
squat: 45-15; 95-10; 135-10; 225-10; 315-6; 365-6
leg press: 450-30 (constant tension)
1-leg curl: 65-6,80-6,95-4(no rest)
smith machine calf raise: 90-15; 180-12; 270-12; 360-12
Monday, April 13, 2015
Week # 22, Mon., 4/13/15, Upper-Body
Verse of the day: each man's work will become evident; for the day will show it, because it is to be revealed with fire; and the fire itself will test the quality of each man's work. -1 Cor. 3:13
2 years ago today I won my 1st pro contest (my 3rd pro contest, but 1st overall victory- to be clear.) So, 2 years later, here I am chasing a more elusive title....
I got in an excellent workout this morning. My shoulder was feeling a little creeky (I think the change up to some exercises I've been leaving out- for this reason- may have hurt more than helped), so I was not my strongest, but I got a great pump and no doubt stimulated the fibers. It's not all about the numbers. Here's how it looked:
incline hammer strength press: 50-25; 140-12; 210-8; 280-8; 350-7
neutral grip pulldown: 120-12; 155-12; 210-10
hammer strength shoulder press: 140-12; 210-8; 280-5
cambered bar curl: 65-10; 85-6; 105-8
s/s pushdown: 120-25; 160-12; 200-10; 240-6
2 years ago today I won my 1st pro contest (my 3rd pro contest, but 1st overall victory- to be clear.) So, 2 years later, here I am chasing a more elusive title....
I got in an excellent workout this morning. My shoulder was feeling a little creeky (I think the change up to some exercises I've been leaving out- for this reason- may have hurt more than helped), so I was not my strongest, but I got a great pump and no doubt stimulated the fibers. It's not all about the numbers. Here's how it looked:
incline hammer strength press: 50-25; 140-12; 210-8; 280-8; 350-7
neutral grip pulldown: 120-12; 155-12; 210-10
hammer strength shoulder press: 140-12; 210-8; 280-5
cambered bar curl: 65-10; 85-6; 105-8
s/s pushdown: 120-25; 160-12; 200-10; 240-6
Saturday, April 11, 2015
Sat., 4/11/15, Legs
Verse of the day: I want you to be wise in what is good, and innocent in what is evil. -Rom 16:19
Yesterday I got an excellent workout for the upper body. It is hard to say if I was stronger because I changed all the exercises for that workout. So for chest I did flat dumbbell presses; for back I did barbell rows; for shoulders, standing military press; for bi's, curls and for tri's, lying extensions. It was a great pump, and I was stronger than the last time I did each of the new motions.
This morning: My knee felt great- no problems at all. I still did not take the quad movements to failure- just a good feel and pump. But I tore up the hams and calves:
squat: 45-16; 95-10; 135-6; 225-6; 275-6; 315-10
leg press: 360-10; 630-15
standing 1-leg curl: 55-12; 85-10
seated calf: 90-15; 140-12; 190-10+2
Yesterday I got an excellent workout for the upper body. It is hard to say if I was stronger because I changed all the exercises for that workout. So for chest I did flat dumbbell presses; for back I did barbell rows; for shoulders, standing military press; for bi's, curls and for tri's, lying extensions. It was a great pump, and I was stronger than the last time I did each of the new motions.
This morning: My knee felt great- no problems at all. I still did not take the quad movements to failure- just a good feel and pump. But I tore up the hams and calves:
squat: 45-16; 95-10; 135-6; 225-6; 275-6; 315-10
leg press: 360-10; 630-15
standing 1-leg curl: 55-12; 85-10
seated calf: 90-15; 140-12; 190-10+2
Tuesday, April 7, 2015
Tue., 4/07/15, Legs
Verse of the day: Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. -Rom 12: 21
I got in a good leg pump this morning. Again, everything for the quads is very slow, controlled and focused. I am still nursing the knee back to health. This was a very short and sweet workout: 6 sets of squats, 2 sets of single leg curls and 2 sets of smith machine calf raises.
I got in a good leg pump this morning. Again, everything for the quads is very slow, controlled and focused. I am still nursing the knee back to health. This was a very short and sweet workout: 6 sets of squats, 2 sets of single leg curls and 2 sets of smith machine calf raises.
Monday, April 6, 2015
WEEK #21, Mon., 4/06/15, Upper Body
Verse of the day: So faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ. -Rom 10:17
I'm loving this new program! Thus far, every time I have increased every exercise by 1 rep. I feel like my body is actually healing up. It seems to be very effective, thus far- again, time will tell. This morning I was not feeling strong, I did not get enough sleep last night, but I still beat every number from my last workout! Here's how it looked:
incline Hammer Strength press: 50-25; 140-12; 210-8; 280-8; 350-8
hammer grip pulldown: 120-12; 165-12; 210-12
Hammer Strength shoulder press: 140-12; 210-10; 280-7
pushdown: 120-25; 160-15; 200-10; 240-8
super-set cambered bar curl: 65-12; 85-10; 105-8
bosu ball crunch: 37
I'm loving this new program! Thus far, every time I have increased every exercise by 1 rep. I feel like my body is actually healing up. It seems to be very effective, thus far- again, time will tell. This morning I was not feeling strong, I did not get enough sleep last night, but I still beat every number from my last workout! Here's how it looked:
incline Hammer Strength press: 50-25; 140-12; 210-8; 280-8; 350-8
hammer grip pulldown: 120-12; 165-12; 210-12
Hammer Strength shoulder press: 140-12; 210-10; 280-7
pushdown: 120-25; 160-15; 200-10; 240-8
super-set cambered bar curl: 65-12; 85-10; 105-8
bosu ball crunch: 37
Friday, April 3, 2015
Fri., 4/03/15, LEGS
Verse of the day: For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. -Romans 6:23
I got in an excellent leg workout this morning. My knee seems to be healing nicely. I still did not push the quads very hard- it was more of a feeler workout. Every rep was slow, controlled and focused. But I nailed the hams and calves. Here's how it looked:
squat: 45-10; 95-10; 145-10; 195-10; 245-10; 295-6
leg press: 180-10; 360-12; 540-10
standing leg curl: 55-12; 70-10,8
smith machine calf raise: 90-20; 180-15; 270-15; 360-15
I got in an excellent leg workout this morning. My knee seems to be healing nicely. I still did not push the quads very hard- it was more of a feeler workout. Every rep was slow, controlled and focused. But I nailed the hams and calves. Here's how it looked:
squat: 45-10; 95-10; 145-10; 195-10; 245-10; 295-6
leg press: 180-10; 360-12; 540-10
standing leg curl: 55-12; 70-10,8
smith machine calf raise: 90-20; 180-15; 270-15; 360-15
Thursday, April 2, 2015
Thur., 4/02/15, Upper Body
Verse of the day: and being fully assured that what He had promised, He was able to perform. -Rom 4:21
Wow! The comments that I'm getting during my workouts are funny! It seemed like everyone was asking why are you doing so many muscles? or why only 1 set? People cannot comprehend this concept of 1 main set per muscle group... Recovery? What are you talking about? Levi, YOU don't need recovery time!... As if I'm not human, or even more so, like I'm not completely blowing the muscle up with these workouts! Breaking the mold, baby!!
I got an excellent workout this morning. Every exercise was increased by at least 1 rep! It was the very same as Mondays' workout except I substituted rows for pull-downs. The pump was great, and I really feel like I stimulated the muscle.
Wow! The comments that I'm getting during my workouts are funny! It seemed like everyone was asking why are you doing so many muscles? or why only 1 set? People cannot comprehend this concept of 1 main set per muscle group... Recovery? What are you talking about? Levi, YOU don't need recovery time!... As if I'm not human, or even more so, like I'm not completely blowing the muscle up with these workouts! Breaking the mold, baby!!
I got an excellent workout this morning. Every exercise was increased by at least 1 rep! It was the very same as Mondays' workout except I substituted rows for pull-downs. The pump was great, and I really feel like I stimulated the muscle.
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