And what better way to mark it than with lots n lots of DOMS! Upper quads are screaming this morning - this is a new place for it, usually the lower region around the knees are the most painful. Shoulders are already sore, not quite sure how I'm going to manage the vacuum this afternoon.

11:00 am. 20 minutes HIIT - 30 secons intervals
11:25 am. Shoulders and Triceps - hard and heavy, drop sets and static contractions.

Shoulders
Dumbbell presses, static contraction on last rep, hold 20 secs
10x20lbs (warm up set)
12x30lbs
10x44lbs
6x65 lbs (barbell) drop set w/ 6x55lbs and 6x45 lbs

Bent arm lat raises, static hold for 15 secs on last rep
10x20lbs
10x30lbs
8x30lbs drop set w/ 10x20lbs

Upright row, static hold for 20 secs on last two reps
12x45 lbs
10x45 lbs
9x45 lbs

Triceps
Close grip barbell presses, static hold for 20 secs on last rep
12x45 lbs
10x55 lbs
10x70 lbs

Tricep pushdowns, static hold on for 15 secs on last rep
12x30lbs
12x35lbs
10x40lbs
10x35lbs

French curls, slight incline, static hold for 10 secs on last rep
12x40lbs
12x40lbs
10x40lbs

finished 'em off with 1 set each, tricep kickback & one armed extensions with 15lbs.

Ouchies.
Nat

You've come a long way girl! LOOK at those weights you're lifting... Love it! Congrats on all your hard work and dedication to low carb, you deserve everything you have achieved *hugs*

Lesley

The pain... the pain. Feels like I had flu shots in both delts - heck, in the anterior and medial of both delts!!! Could barely lift my arms to blow dry my hair this morning. Quads are still tender as well - navigating the stairs has been rather funny; we don't have a railing.

So today:
6:00 am. 30 minutes moderate intensity cardio
5:00 pm. 45 minutes moderate intensity cardio - cardio queen rides again. Still thinking about doing Abs.. but I'm a little crampy so it might not be a 'great' idea.

This weekend I found my inspiration. These are the shoulders, biceps, chest and back that I want!!! This is what I picture when I think I can't pump out one more rep. This is going to be mine!

Nat

p.s. Les, thanks for the visit, I'd wave back but you don't want to be repsonsible for the pain, do you

Nat... your link... I don't know what one, or the link didn't copy right, would like to see the shoulders, biceps, chest and back that you want!!!

Your doing awesome! For me, someday ... take care

OOPS! Sorry, I found it! Now that looks good!

6:10 a.m. 20 minutes HIIT (30 second intervals)
5:10 pm. 10 minutes mod cardio for warmup then:

Back, ABC's workout - strip sets and static contractions
Barbell Rows - strip sets
12x45lbs (warmup)
10x80lbs, hold on last rep for 15 seconds
10x75lbs, hold on last rep....
8x70lbs, hold on last rep...
8x60lbs, hold on last rep...
10x45lbs, hold on..... blah blah blah

Deadlifts, continuous reps, barbell does not touch the ground
10x80lbs
10x75lbs
8x70lbs
6x70lbs

Incline barbell row ups, static contractions
10x65lbs, hold on last rep 20 secs
10x60lbs, hold on last ...
8x55lbs, hold on last...
10x45lbs, hold on last...

Wide grip lat pulldowns, static set
10x70lbs, reduce weight to 60lbs, hold for 20 seconds
10x60lbs, reduce weight to 50lbs, hold for 20 seconds
10x50lbs, hold on last rep for 20 seconds

Biceps, squeeze and hold at peak on last rep
laying alternating curls
12x30lbs
10x30lbs
8x30lbs

superset with:
cable 21s
21x12lbs
21x12lbs
21x12lbs

Concentration curls
6x22lbs
8x15lbs

Lots of stretching and followed up with whey protein, glutamine, creatine and some dextrose.

Shoulders still tender, but not enough to interfere with workout. Abs are on the schedule for tomorrow. Still looking for 'The Workout'

Nat

What's a strip set, and a super set, and a static set vs. a static contraction, and a drop set?

Girl, you use so much of the boyz lingo you've totally lost me... and I thought I was hip. LOL

Ah the lingo, ain't it fun?

Rest Pause: You begin by reaching failure on an exercise. Once you have accomplished this, you will rest a few seconds and then continue the set until you reach failure again. The key, however, is to rest as shortly as is possible. The exercise will dictate the form of rest pause you implement. For exercises like Chin-Ups, you can do your reps, let go of the bar, rest momentarily, and then attempt to force out some more. For biceps curls, you can allow the weight to hang in front of you, and for squats, you can actually rest pause, by simply standing and locking your legs.

Emphasize the negative : The key is to literally focus an entire workout on the eccentric portion of a repetition. This would also be known as the negative aspect of the lift. The positive takes place when you lift a weight, the negative is where you lower it. And through studies, this has been shown to stimulate the highest amount of growth in the target muscle group. Normally we just take one second to lift a weight and one to two to lower it. In this case you would take much longer (3 to 5 seconds) when lowering the weight. By emphasizing the negative you will increase the micro tears in your muscles. This not a technique to use every workout.

Static Contractions: Static contraction entails pushing a muscle against resistance into a peak contraction and then maintaining that peak contraction for an extended period of time preferably lasting 5-30 seconds. For example, lets say that I am using the pec deck. When I reach the point in which my arms are touching and I can not contract my chest any further I have reached a peak contraction for this particular exercise. A Static Set is simply one rep at a slighlty lower weight held for 30 seconds after a regular set to failure.

Strip and Drop sets are similar, call them Descending sets: You begin by reaching failure with a weight, as soon as you hit failure, lessen (strip / drop) the weight, and then continue the set until failure is reached again. Drop the weight twice its a double drop set, do it 3 times and it's a tripple drop set. Etc.

Supersets: Supersetting two exercises means you do two exercises for either the same muscle group or a complimentary one in rapid succession with no rest. You can superset one armed tricep extension with tricept kickbacks. You would do your set of extenstions for one arm then go directly to kickbacks, with no rest. You rest your left arm while your right arm is working. This greatly speeds up your workout and gives the muscles a good working over. Then there are Giant Sets ; 3 exercises instead of 2!

There are tonnes more ways to shock your muscles into growth, you can read up on them at ABC , under "Workouts, shocking principles"

HTH
Nat

Girl, it amazes me sometimes how much you have learned! Do you actually ever get any work done?????

Thanks for the info, now ? for ya.... strip/ drop sets seem to be in direct contradiction to BFL... have you found that they are working better for you?

BFL incorporates Pyramids and lifting to Positive Failure, two other methods of lifting to create muscle growth, relatively safe methods, especially for beginners - and they work, obviously. The key to continued growth and strength over time is to continually stress the muscle and push it further. Just as your body will adapt to the same diet over time so will it adapt to lifting the same way over time.

Change is good. Changing exercises, changing the reps, changing the number of sets and the amount of rest between the sets, changing the methods used to shock the muscles into growth. When you think about all the variables that are available to you, you could go a year and never do the same routine twice.

So it's not a question of 'working better'; its more a question of 'keeping it working, period'

Nat

With the forum down yesterday and my scheduled break from schedule I never got around to logging activities.

Cardio, cardio cardio

5:50 a.m. - 35 minutes moderate intensity
5:00 p.m. - 40 minutes moderate intensity

Did some this morning too ! Creatine "bloat" is gone from the scales and TOM is over. Not sure about my workout this evening; might be abs & chest /triceps or just cardio and abs... going to depend on how tired I am. Late night last night and I'm feeling it today.

I see a refeed / carb up in my future as well. After a few days w/ 9+ hours sleep and one hell of a depletion workout though.. maybe Monday or Tuesday.

Nat

Well despite 6 hours of sleep last night I feel great, wonderful, amazing (insert superlative here). Managed about 40 minutes of cardio this morning, moderate intensity (at 5:50 a.m. as per the usual) and kicked butt during the day. Decided to go for the warm up cardio, abs (ouch) and chest this evening. Here goes:

5:10 p.m. 15 minutes cardio - warm up
5:25 p.m. Abs

Superset 1
Floor crunches, legs raised (no support), 2 sets, 15 reps
Straight leg raises, 2 sets, 15 reps
Superset 2
Side crunches, 2 sets, 12 reps (each side)
bicycle crunches, 2 sets, 24 reps
Superset 3
Hip thrusts, 2 sets, 15 reps
Pike ups, 2 sets, 12 reps

Chest, 3 sets, 10 reps, static contraction on last 2 reps, hold 10 secs
Incline BB Press
10x85lbs
10x85lbs
8x85lbs

Flat BB Press
10x85lbs
10x85lbs
10x85lbs
6x85lbs (for good measure)

Flat Flye, each rep = 2.5 reps
8x30lbs
8x30lbs
8x30lbs
16x20lbs, single reps to finish them off.

Stretching, followed by creatine, glutamine, whey protein and 40g of dextrose a la Rockets. Suspecting some pain tomorrow!

Nat

OMG my obliques hurt yesterday (kinda hurtin today too). Chest wasn't as bad, but poking my pecs is something I've learned not to do as a test

Today was cardio; 40 minutes moderate intensity on an empty stomach. Did some snow shovelling as well; the white stuff is still falling. For some reason I'm humming christmas caroles; this is so not like me!

Workouts this week are scheduled for Mon / Wed and Friday with a carb up in there somewhere (Wed perhaps).

Weight has not changed from two weeks ago but measurements are down and get this.... I have muscles all over my back! Trying to flex and pose in the mirror to see back muscles is quite the feat; Fitday should have a caloric expenditure for this activity

I'm psyched for the next 5 weeks (13 week challenge this time 'round).

Nat

Aahhh, so not only will we get the before and after shots, we will also get the pose shots in the thong bikini...right??

L.

Nat,
Have you seen Lena Olin on Alias? She has the shoulders, biceps, back, etc I want! LOL! Of course she is in prison and so she can workout all she wants. You ought to check the show out for this if for no other reason. I had a friend show me around the gym on Friday. I am having my morning coffee and reading your gym log for motivation. When I was a kid my brothers would always tease me because I would watch Rocky and then do situps or run or whatever to get into shape. Now I just read your gym log! My friend put me on a plan that will work with my lifestyle and hopefully give me the results I am looking for. I am going to do one body part a day followed by 35 to 40 mins of intense cardio. Four days a week. I am not going to work on my shoulders just yet they are both a little damaged. They actually have been feeling better since I started the gym. So I am hoping to incorporate them in the next little bit. Have a great day my friend!

Just practicing for tomorrow

Today was "Leg Day"; I like to approach it humming ZZ top songs (at least it got the Christams carrol out of my head for a little while).


Barbell Squats, pyramid style sets
12x95lbs (warm up)
10x115lbs
8x125lbs
6x135lbs

Barbell lunges
6x95lbs
12x45lbs, wide stance
12x45lbs, narrow stance
12x45lbs, wide stance

Leg Extensions, static contraction for 10 secs on last rep
10x90lbs
10x80lbs
10x70lbs
10x60lbs

Barbell Calf Raises
15x45lbs
15x45lbs

Single leg calf raises
25 reps each leg, 2 sets, no weight

hamstring curls, static contraction on last rep held 15 secs
10x90lbs
10x70lbs
10x50lbs

Stretching, creatine, glutamine, whey protein and dextrose afterward. Pain much later, I'm sure.

Les, I'll show you mind if you show me yours!!!

Jerry, Never watched Alias, I'm pretty sure it's on at the same time as another show we watch (one of the many Law & Orders, ?). Good job on the new plan, you'll be one buff wookie before you know it!

Nat