Waldo's Log

[Waldo]

3-28-2016 (Leg Day - Quads)

 

Front Squat 

45 x 10 x 1

135 x 5 x 1

185 x 3 x 1

205 x 3 x 1

215 x 5 x 3

- 5 reps felt good, I was confident lifting the weight.  The weekly linear progression, triples on Thur then 5 on Mon is a pretty good progression plan.  Felt easier than 210 did last week.

 

Pistol Squat

+40 - 6/6

BW - 11/11

 

Deadlift

225 x 5 x 1

315 x 3 x 1

335 x 3 x 1 (switch to mixed grip after 1 rep)

355 x 4 x 1

- Probably could have gotten another DOH rep @ 335, but I didn't want to push the boundaries there.  315 DOH feels solid now.  Lost motivation to go on after 4 reps @ 355, iffy if I would have gotten another.

 

3-29-2016 (Upper Body Horizontal)

 

Bench Press

45 x 10 x 1

135 x 5 x 1

165 x 3 x 1

175 x 3 x 1

185 - 4, 4, 3

155 x 8 x 2

- Failed mid rep on rep #4 the 4rd work set, first time mid-rep failing with a barbell (use a power rack and had safeties set).  Going to start doing backoff sets for volume.  Something is wrong, I shouldn't be getting stuck yet.  I need more bench volume.

 

Chinup - 5

Tuck Front Lever - 5s, 9r, OLn+5r

Tuck Front Lever Row - 5, 3, 3

- Only 1 static hold today, thought static holds might be affecting the bench (wearing out the tris).  Tried rowing to further save the tris and it went well.  The first set was using the hammer grips on the pullup bar (which are awkwardly close) which limited ROM.  The last 2 row sets used the handle grips from the cable machine, using the carabiners that hold the elbow straps that grip-weak folks use when doing knee lifts, which freed up a bunch of ROM.  The one leg negative was slow and controlled and I stopped it.

 

Lat Pulldown

270 - 1.5

250 - 5

230 - 8

- Not happy with my ROM on the 2nd rep at 270.

 

Straddle One Arm Pushup - 3/3

- Killing time between pull down sets

 

Dips - 16 reps

L-Sit - 30 sec

- No weight today on the dips.  Wanted to see how many reps my trashed arms could bang out at bodyweight.

 

The good news today is that my shoulder hurt notably less than it has yet.  Barely felt it at all benching, only really felt it strongly during that first front lever static hold.  And when doing stretches and external rotations.  To this point its been getting stronger and hurting less when doing particular things, but not really hurting less overall.  Today was clearly a big step in the hurting less overall direction.

[Waldo]

Did the T25 Beta Speed 2.0 video on Tue night

Ran ~4 miles on Wed night

 

3-31-2016 (Leg Day Posterior)

 

Front Squat

45 x 10 x 1

135 x 5 x 1

200 x 3 x 1

210 x 3 x 1

220 x 3 x 3

- All reps went good.  Adductors started getting a little sore toward the end.  All goes well Mon and next Thur I'll be doing 2 big plates.

 

Assisted Natural Ham Curl

Easy - 5, Hard - 5

- Went for an unassisted rep and lifted the machine I'm using as a leg hold.  The 90 lbs I put on the side opposite the weight stack isn't enough.  Felt like I would have had it.

 

Deadlift

225 x 5 x 1

315 x 3 x 1

345 x 3 x 1 (switched to mix grip)

365 x 3 x 1

- Rep #4 wasn't there at 365.  Actually did 3.5 reps at 345, tried to do a DOH rep, but put it down halfway up as I was losing the bar.

 

Romanian Deadlift

135 x 10 x 1

225 x 10 x 1

- Moved up to 225 for my work set, feels like the right amount.  205 was getting too easy. 

 

 

 

[Waldo]

Last 2 strength workouts have not been good.  Not good at all.

 

4-1-2016 (Upper Body Vertical)

 

Overhead Press

45 x 10 x 1

115 x 3 x 1

125 x 3 x 1

135 - 5, 2+f

115 x 10 x 1

- WTF, last week I hit 6 reps on my final set at 135, failed on rep 3 of set 2 this week.  Backed off to 115 afterward.

 

Pullup

5, 9, 8, 8, 7, 5

Total Volume - 42

 

Bench Press

155 x 9 x 2

- Replacing weighted dips with mid-rep range benching

 

EZ Bar Curl

+75 - 12, 9
- Yay, 12 reps, going to bump up to 85.

 

One Leg Dragon Flag

10 reps, 15 sec

- Hit 10 reps on set 1, so I went for hold time set 2.  Going to start working in full holds.

 

Fingertip Dead Hang

20, 20 sec

 

Dips

BW - 16 

 

4-4-2016 (Leg Day Quads)

 

Front Squat

45 x 10 x 1

135 x 5 x 1

200 x 3 x 1

210 x 3 x 1

220 - 4+f, 2+f

205 x 3 x 1

- Failed on my first work set of squats, then again set 2.  Hit triples just fine on Thur.  Even doing a backoff set, I was toast.

 

Pistol Squat

+40 - 4/4

BW - 12/12

- Terrible at +40.  At least the BW sets went alright.

 

Deadlift

225 x 5 x 1

315 x 3 x 1

- 315 felt way heavy.  Just called it a day at that point.

 

Cutting is starting to really affect my workouts I think.  On top of that, all weekend I was finishing the final touches on the loveseat then I started finishing it, my back was quite sore (in an exhausted sort of way) from behing hunched over.  Failing a squat rep was the nail in the coffin for a good workout today.  Fri I think had mostly to do with the cals.  It wasn't near as bad, actually did set PRs.

[Waldo]

Better workout today.  Still missed reps on the bench, but only on set 3.

 

4-5-2016 (Upper Body Horizontal)

 

Bench Press

45 x 10 x 1

135 x 5 x 1

165 x 3 x 1

175 x 3 x 1

185 - 5, 5, 3

155 x 9 x 2

- Couldn't get rep #4 up on that last set at 185.  I took a form check video (in my challenge thread), and my hands look awkwardly close, so I'm working on widening my hands.

 

Chins - 5

Tuck Front Lever - 5s, 10r, OLneg+6r

Tuck Front Lever Rows - 3, 4

- Thought I was going to be able to hold the one leg a bit, I guess not.  It might help to do some more holds though instead of reps.

 

Lat Pull Down

270 - 3

250 - 6

230 - 8

- Nice, progress at the top end.  I'll give 290 a go once I get to 5 reps at 270.

 

L-Sit

20, 15, 15

- Had no gas to sustain holds.  

 

EZ Bar Curl

95 - 4

- Did these right after the last pull down set.  Didn't feel too hard.  Going to go with this weight for curling.

 

Dips

BW - 15

[Waldo]

Between in-laws visiting and traveling, I had a little diet and workout break. But I have missed a bunch of updates.

 

4-7-2016 (Mixed)

 

Front Squat

45 x 10 x 1

135 x 5 x 1

205 x 3 x 1

215 x 3 x 1

225 x 1 x 1 

215 x 3 x 2

- Reps were a struggle.  Cutting seriously is having an effect.

 

Bench Press

135 x 10 x 1

155 x 10 x 3

- These felt so much better and stronger than they have.  I really like this rep area, I really feel it good in my chest. 

 

Deadlift

225 x 5 x 1

315 x 3 x 1

355 x 1 x 1

365 x 1 x 1

375 x 1 x 1

385 x 1 x 1

395 x 1 x 1

405 x 1 x 1

- Went 4 plate hunting.  Found it.  Felt like I was going to black out after each rep >375.

 

Got a good photo too:

 

4-14-2016 (Leg Day)

 

DB Front Squat

100 x 10 x 1

 

Pistol Squat

BW - 5/5

+40 - 3/3, 5/5

 

Front Squat

135 x 5 x 1

205 x 2 x 1

215 x 3 x 1

225 x 2 x 1

205 x 3 x 1

- Power rack was in use by a curler when I first got there.  Reps were poor, I was frickin stuffed though from going to a brazillian steakhouse for lunch and eating at least 2 lb of meat; kept the RPE's in check so I didn't hurl.

 

Deadlift

225 x 5 x 1

315 x 3 x 1

335 x 3 x 1 (switched to mixed after 1 rep)

365 x 3 x 1

- Again, kept the RPE's in check.

 

**********************

 

Other workouts were a 4 mile run on 4/13 and a T25 video on 4/12.

[Waldo]

4-15-2016 (Upper Body Vertical)

 

Overhead Press

45 x 5 x 1

115 x 3 x 1

125 x 3 x 1

135 x 2 x 1

125 x 7 x 2

- Pretty poor day at the OHP.  2 weeks ago I did 5 reps at 135, and I've done 8 reps at 125.  Lame.

 

Pullups

5, 10, 9, 8, 8, 5

Total Volume: 45

- Nice, back to double digit pullups.  Not bad considering I'm closer to 210 than 200.

 

Bench Press

155 - 8, 10

- Starting to feel the groove a lot more on the bench.  This rep range has been very beneficial.

 

EZ Bar Curl

95 - 5, 5

- Plan is to ride the reps up to 12 and then raise the weight.  It'll be a while.

 

One Leg Dragon Flag

10 reps, Full Negative + two 8 sec holds

- So close to holding a full layout hold

 

Fingertip Dead Hang - 15, 20 sec

Bodyweight Dips - 17

 

4-18-2016 (Leg Day - Quads)

 

Front Squat

45 x 10 x 1

135 x 5 x 1

205 x 3 x 1

215 x 3 x 1

225 - 3, 3, 2

- 225 felt strong enough that I thought I'd do more than 3 on the final set.  Guess not.  Still, hadn't gotten more than 2 reps before this workout, so progress.

 

Pistol Squat 

+40 - 3/3, 4/4

 

Deadlift

225 x 5 x 1

315 x 3 x 1

335 x 1 x 1

355 x 1 x 1 (switched to mixed grip)

375 x 3 x 1

- Felt near blacking out after the singles.  Not quite as intense after 375, but still light headed.

[Waldo]

4-19-2016 (Upper Body Horizontal)

 

Bench Press

45 x 10 x 1

135 x 7 x 1

165 x 3 x 1

175 x 3 x 1

185 - 5, 4, 5

155 x 10 x 2

- Left shoulder is sore now, causing weakness at lockout.  It was the reason I didn't get rep #6 on the last 185 work set and the reason I didn't get rep #11 (if not 12) at 155.  Right shoulder felt as good as it has today.

 

Chinups - 5

Tuck Front Lever - 10sec

Tuck Front Lever Row - 3, 4, 4, 4

- TFLR's hit my lower lats like nothing else.  A TFLR is about the same resistance as a 1.3x BW lat pulldown (see below).

 

Lat Pulldown

270 - 4

250 - 6

230 - 5 

- Serious case a deadarm toward the end.

 

L-Sit - 25, 20, 20

 

EZ Bar Curl 

95 - 5

- Thought I would get rep #6, but a plate slid a bit which hurt my focus.

 

BW Dip - 16

[Waldo]

Ran about 3.5 miles last night.  

 

4-21-2016 (Leg Day - Hams/Glutes)

 

Front Squat

45 x 10 x 1

135 x 5 x 1

205 x 3 x 1

215 x 3 x 1

225 x 3 x 3

- Yeah, finally hit 3 sets of triples today at 225, my 3rd attempt at doing so.

 

Deadlift

225 x 5 x 1

315 x 3 x 1

345 x 1 x 1 (switched to mixed grip)

365 x 1 x 1

385 x 3 x 1

- Not sure which is theoretically harder, a triple at 385 or single at 405 (thus which is my true PR).  Either way, nailed it.

 

Romanian Deadlift

135 x 10 x 1

225 x 12 x 1

- Been a few weeks since I've done these.

[Waldo]

4-22-2016 (Upper Body Vertical)

 

Overhead Press

45 x 10 x 1

115 x 3 x 1

125 x 3 x 1

135 x 5 x 3

- Yes!  Figured out my struggles as of late.  Hand placement, too narrow and I kind of get stuck as the weight get heavier.  Need the same placement as I've found best for the bench, pinky by the ring.  Grindy reps toward the end of each set, starting to feel like HSPU's, which could be crazy grindy, >5 sec reps.

 

Pullups

5, 11, 10, 9, 7, 5

Total Volume - 47

- Gettin my pullup groove back.  Actually might be more impressive than when  I was bangin out 17-18 at 195, given that I'm over 205 still.

 

Bench Press

165 - 7,8

- Decided to raise my extra bench work to 165.  Set 2 felt strong.

 

Ez Bar Curl

95 - 4, 4

- Lost reps here, wtf.  Ah well, can't win 'em all.

 

Dragon Flag

10 one leg reps 

Full layout rep to 45 deg then 3 one leg reps with an 8 sec hold each

- Possibly the most wordy description of a single set ever

 

Fingertip Dead Hang

25, 15 

 

BW Dips - 18

- Nice, hadn't hit more than 17 in the work gym yet.

 

Overall 2 good workouts in a row, a change from the last few weeks.

[Waldo]

...And I'm back to the crap workouts...

 

4-25-2016 (Leg Day - Quads)

 

Front Squat 

45 x 10 x 1

135 x 5 x 1

205 x 3 x 1

215 x 3 x 1

225 - 3, 2

205 - 1

- My tailbone was sore since I work up, and it was definitely sore in the hole when squatting.  Failed on rep #3 set 2 at 225, tailbone definitely contributed.  That fail and the the way the soreness affected my focus just killed squatting.  Was even more sore on the one backoff rep I did.

 

Pistol Squat

+ 40 - 4/1

- And there is the problem with the tailbone.  Fine doing pistols with my left.  My right glute attachment near the tailbone was sore and hurt in the hole.  Called it a day squatting.  Also decided to skip deadlifting since the issue is with the glute.

 

Single Leg Leg Extension

90 - 8/8, 10/10, 10/10, 10/10

- I figured leg extensions were something I could do without bothering the tailbone/glute.

 

4-26-2016 (Upper Body Horizontal)

 

Chinups - 5

Tuck Front Lever Row - 4, 5, 5, 4

- Shoulders felt great, skipped static front lever work.

 

DB Bench 

40x2 - 10

50x2 - 10

- Power rack was full so I did some DB benching.

 

Bench Press

135 x 10 x 1

165 x 3 x 1

180 x 3 x 1

190 x 2 x 1

165 - 8, 8, 6, 6

- Finally got into the power rack, but the DB work left me overfatigued and hurt my peak work.  Failed on rep #3 at 190.  Probably should have backed off to 185, instead I dropped down to 165 to do some reps.  Felt strong at 165.

 

Clap Pullups  

3 x 3

- Short breaks between sets.  Had a hankerin to give these a try.

 

Lat Pulldown 

270 - 3.5, 250 - 6, 230 - 7

- Arms started fading fast.

 

EZ Bar Curl

95 - 5, 5

- Tried to hit rep #6 on the 2nd set, made it halfway.

 

L-Sit - 15, 15

Fingertip Dead Hang - 15, 15

 

Dips - 14

- Sure sign my upper body was fried.

 

 

[Waldo]

Been a bit since I wrote anything down in here.  Hit my cutting goal in the waist (31.5").  Tried to keep cutting, but the calories are starting to drift up.

 

4-28-2016 (Lower Body - Glutes/Hams)

 

Front Squat

45 x 10 x  1

135 x 5 x 1

205 x 3 x 1

215 x 3 x 1

225 - 2, 3, 2 

- Oy, stuck here at 225.

 

Deadlift

225 x 5 x 1

315 x 3 x 1

355 x 1 x 1

375 x 1 x 1

395 x 1 x 1

- Tried to do more reps at 395; only had one in me.

 

RDL

225 x 12 x 1

- Probably had more reps in the tank.

 

4-29-2016

 

Overhead Press

45 x 10 x 1

115 x 3 x 1

125 x 3 x 1

135 x 4 x 3

- Not as bad as it has been, but still bad.

 

Pullup

5, 11, 11, 9, 9, 5

Total Volume - 50

 

One Arm Handstand (5 sec) - 3/3, 2/2

- Had a hankerin to do these.  Held for 5 sec than switched arms

 

Bench Press

165 - 6, 8, 4

 

EZ Bar Curl

95 - 5, 4

85 - 5

 

One Leg Dragon Flag - 10 reps, 45deg full + 3x 8 sec holds

 

Fingertip Dead Hang - 12, 12 sec

 

Handstand Practice - 15, 15 sec

- total conglomerate hold time, many 2-3 sec holds

 

Dips - 19

- Got progress somewhere.

 

Skipped running on Sat night, raining.  Skipped leg workout on Mon, went out to eat at work and got way too full.

 

5-3-2016 (Upper Body Horizontal)

 

Bench Press

45 x 10 x 1

135 x 5 x 1

165 x 3 x 1

180 x 3 x 1

190 x 4 x 2

165 - 9, 9, 8

- Yay, a workout that didn't suck.  Finally some progress.

 

Chinup - 5

Tuck Front Lever - 15 sec

Tuck Front Lever Rows - 5, 5, 5, 5

- Nice.  Getting better height with these too.

 

Lat Pulldown

270 - 4

250 - 7

230 - 8

- Going to stop doing these in favor of doing more TFLR's.  Lifting the whole stack isn't a goal worth actively working on anymore.  TFLR's are a superior exercise.

 

[Waldo]

Have a thread up for the new challenge.

 

Getting back to bulking.  Enough with these crap workouts.  I'm sick of being stalled out on everything and even going backwards.  I can see my abs enough for now.

[Waldo]

Was going to be out on Fri, so I compressed the whole body into a single workout.

 

5-5-2016 (Full Body)

 

Front Squat

45 x 10 x 1

135 x 5 x 1

205 x 3 x 1

215 x 3 x 1

225 - 3, 1- Wrists were killing me for some reason, and it just bled over into a crappy squat workout.

 

Pullup

12, 12, 10, 10, 8

Total volume - 52

- Pullups OTOH, rock and roll.

 

Bench Press

135 x 10 x 1

165 - 10, 8, 8

- So close to progressing to 175 for higher rep work, when I can do 3 sets of 10, I'll move up.

 

Deadlift

225 x 5 x 1

315 x 3 x 1

355 x 1 x 1

375 x 1 x 1

395 x 1 x 1

- Doh, still no more than 1 rep at 395

 

5-9-2016 (Leg Day A)

 

Front Squat

135 x 5 x 1

185 x 8 x 5

- Changing to higher volume per set on Mondays.  I felt I was getting too little volume when always trying to push up the load max.  Thursdays I'm still going to focus on load.

 

Deadlift 

225 x 5 x 1

315 x 3 x 1

355 x 1 x 1

375 x 1 x 1

395 x 2 x 1

- Yay, hit 2 reps on my deadlift work set.  When I hit 3 reps I'll bump up the weight.

[Waldo]

5-10-2016

 

Bench Press

45 x 10 x 1

135 x 8 x 1

165 x 3 x 1

180 x 3 x 1

190 - 5, 4, 5

165 - 10, 9, 10

- Weird pattern, but I'll take it.  Going to progress both, to 175 for higher rep work and to 195 for lower rep work.  Failed to get #5 up set 2 at 190 and forgot to set the safety pins, set the bar down on my neck.  Good times.

 

Chinup - 5

Tuck Front Lever - 20 sec

Tuck Front Lever Row - 6, 6, 6, 5, 4

- My lats are totally destroyed after this.  Lower lats are still aching, hours after my workout.  At least I know they hit the right spot.

 

EZ Bar Curl

95 - 4

85 - 7

75 - 9

 

Fingertip Dead Hang

15, 20, 20 sec

 

L-Sit

20, 20, 15 sec

 

Dips - 17 

[Waldo]

Hello.  Its been a while.

 

Its time for spring cutting (started a week and a half ago) to get in pool shape.  Timing of the nest challenge seems to have worked out quite well.

 

Since the last time I came around, here's what I've been up to:

 

-  I ended cutting/bulking and went into an intuitive "maintain" zone where the goal was not to maintain, but to slowly gain (it is my personal belief that maintaining a small surplus is the healthiest way to live, as long as you periodically introduce scarcity).  I stopped counting cals (gasp).  But now that its cutting time, I logged back on to MFP and am hittin it.

 

- I became crazy addicted to Pokemon Go and still am (lvl 36...).  This has been good and bad, good for staying active, bad for my fitness overall (it is a walking game...).  But over time I've gotten better at fitting in a good routine; I no longer skip the gym to play Pogo, and I got a Plus so I can play while running.

 

- My wife became pregnant again (not planned).  So we are going to be having another little boy (#3) this summer.  After all the fertility things we did to have the other 2; the old fashioned way actually worked for #3, and we weren't even trying.   Pretty excited about that.  Was hoping for a girl, ah well (no we aren't going to be having a 4th).

 

- We took it apon ourselves to paint our house last summer.  I spent most of the summer doing that.  That sucked.  Looks good though.

 

- Workout-wise, I hit the gym at work every day I'm at work (4 days per week), and walk the dog every night.  3 of those "walks" are actually runs (this is a new thing as of 3 weeks ago).

 

- My gym workout has been scaled back to something real simple.  Of course progress is going to be uber slow, but that's fine.  More importantly though the physical load isn't very high, all old injuries have healed, and I feel like new injuries are extremely low risk.  My body really likes this workload.  What I'm doing:

Mon - Front Squats, work up to a single max set 

Tue - Bench press, work up to a single max set, tuck lever rows, 3 sets

Thur - Front Squats, work up to a single max set

Fri - Machine OHP, work up to a single max set, weighted chinups, work up to a single max set

 

My current maxes are:

Front squat - 235 x 3

Bench - 205 x 5

TFLR - 8 reps

Machine OHP - 170 x 4

Weighted Chins - BW+50 x 5

 

My starting weight for cutting is 220.  I was at 210 last summer.  I haven't checked the tape yet, but I suspect my target is in the 208 area.  I'm targeting about 12% BF, visible abs, but not cut.  Weight has been in the 217-218 area the last couple days.

[Rooks]

Welcome back to the fun. Curious why you do Machine OHP instead of a Barbell OHP? 

[Waldo]

1 hour ago, Rooks said:

Welcome back to the fun. Curious why you do Machine OHP instead of a Barbell OHP? 

 

Back when my shoulders were an issue, the machine OHP was notably easier on the shoulders than the barbell.  The barbell was making the issues worse.  The hammer grip I think plays a big role; handstand pushups didn't bother my shoulders as much as the barbell either, and they use a hammer grip.

 

Its probably been 9 months since my shoulders bothered me (after a year and a half of being a serious problem and very painful at time); I'm still playing it safe.  I could probably reintroduce the barbell, but its one of those things, if it ain't broke, why fix it?

 

I get a pump in the right places from the machine OHP (delts, tris, upper chest) and have managed to get up to 170 for reps, and am still progressing slowly.  The machine maxes out at 205 though, I imagine once I get there, I'll switch back to the barbell if the shoulders are OK.

 

Will probably have to change up my pull exercise though (I superset push/pull) if/when I go to the barbell.  Barbell OHP needs/hits the core far more than the machine.  Doing chins while holding a 50 lb DB with your legs is a heck of an ab workout.

[Waldo]

Hello, its been a while since I've come around. 

I've fallen off the horse lately and am going to climb back on.  For now I'm just going to be scribbling my thoughts.

 

I've come to the conclusion that what I was doing wasn't working, and was never going to work. 

 

At first a few years ago when we switched buildings at work, I was excited to have access to a gym with a power rack to work out in on my lunch break.  And I did regularly for a long time.  The problem is that I travel occasionally for work, have meetings other days, and can get caught up in work and miss my gym time.  Skipping workouts has such a huge drag on progress that I wasn't getting anywhere, just treading water, which leads to apathy and more skipped workouts.  The gov't shutdown though took away my gym (that I hadn't been bothering to go to much anyway) and and lent some clarity on the situation.

 

I need to get back to my old schedule that worked for me for years, at home after the kids go to bed.  I had been walking at that time to go catch Pokemon for a few years, but I'm mostly over that game now, and frankly it was low quality cardio.  Even days I ran.  Too much slowing/stopping.  I used to walk on my lunch breaks at work, and that was much higher quality.  I got my wife in the habit of working out after the kids go to bed years ago, and she's still going strong.

 

But I've gotten the taste for the barbell and that isn't going away.  My "new" house just isn't as good as my old one for bodyweight work anyway, ceilings are lower in my basement workout area.  Joining a gym and going I doubt would be successful for me; its too much of a production to go, that skipping just becomes too easy.  On the bright side, I'm about to get backpay after the shutdown, and after living super cheap for the last month and a half to conserve money, I'm actually going to have quite a bit here I can spend.

 

So its time to build a proper gym in the house.  This has been a long time coming.  I know its super cliche to go blow a bunch of cash on a home gym as a first step to get in shape, but I think I'm in the right place for it to work.  Both for me and my wife.  I'm pretty experienced in the ways of working out and know exactly what I want, and we do have some useful pieces (treadmill, hex dumbbell set, gymnastic rings).  Within 2 weeks the gym will be up and running in my basement.

 

What I'm getting:

Power rack to safely lift by myself at home

Adjustable bench to use the rack for benching

Dip bars to attach to the power rack

300 lb olympic weight set w/ barbell

Extra pair of wheels (90 lbs IOW)

Rubber gym flooring

 

I'll probably need to get another set of wheels at some point if I want to low rep deadlift, but for now 2 pairs of big wheels will be enough for everything else I want to do, and I'll have enough to deadlift for a while (225 + a pair of 35's, 25's and 10's is 365, at least a respectable amount for heavy deadlifting).

 

Workout-wise I'm still not entirely set on a final plan, but I'm going to use the schedule/outline that I've used since like 2012-2013:

Monday - Legs (quad/calf focused accessories)

Tuesday - Upper body (horizontal focused)

Wednesday - Running/cardio (intensity)

Thursday - Legs (posterior focused accessories)

Friday - Upper body (vertical focused)

Saturday - Running/cardio (duration)

Sunday - Rest/stretching/yoga

 

New home gym brings a lot of excitement and I'm really itching to get back into things and start lifting again.  Well lifting*, because I will likely always do a hybrid weights/bodyweight approach.  The dip bars I'm getting for the rack are going to see a lot more use than just dips; they are primarily for doing front lever family holds and rows.

 

My wife is into doing beachbody videos and has been for years.  And she's very much on board with the concept of lifting heavy.  And she does as much as you can with some dumbells and beachbody videos.  I'm getting enough rubber flooring that she can ditch the yoga mats for good and have way more space to move.  She's certainly going to use the barbell, but she's not really outwardly excited about it, yet.  I'm sure that will change as it becomes more real.

 

[Kishi]

Well, howdy boss! Welcome back! Sorry to hear you got caught in the shutdown, but I'm glad to hear that the backpay is coming through. I hope it comes sooner rather than later.

 

Totally envious of the home gym plans. I live in an apartment; landlord won't even let me mount a set of stallbars or screw rings into the ceiling. The Philistine. But that's life I guess.

 

It's good to hear from you again and I can't wait to see what you make of this new opportunity!

[Waldo]

I'm still trying to wrap my head around it as well.  I've been poverty working out basically since I started, this is a totally new experience.  At the same time the shutdown started I finished paying off a loan that was a loan to pay off a loan that was the down payment on our first house.  So my financial situation rather dramatically changed for the better at the same time it was yanked out temporarily and instead I had to experience a period of extreme broke-ness for a bit.

 

We have the space in the basement and my wife is on board with turning our haphazard makeshift workout area into a proper home gym.  More than proper.  I mean, most people that build home gyms really don't know what they are doing with regards to working out and are relative beginners, my wife and I are at the opposite end of the coin.  Plus as our boys get older, eventually they will be able to use it as well; a nice option if they want to work out but don't want to deal with the social stress of the school gym.

[Waldo]

Anyway, diet is still a bit of a mess, but I'm gonna let the "working out" energy build before I move on to leveling up my diet again.  I expect the usual;  Myfitnesspal , goals, and a tape measure. 

[Waldo]

These last few days, as I have a full cart on Amazon and an itchy trigger finger (plus a reserved purchase on Craigslist), I have been doing a few workouts to start getting back into the groove of things, start getting the pattern down again.

After the kids go to bed, I've been heading down with the wife to workout; she does her videos, and I've done a few sets to get the muscles flowing.

 

Monday I did some pistol squats.  Been a while since I last did any.  I did 3 sets, 1-2-2.  Yikes.  But as I'm just restarting, I didn't want overdo things at all.  Extreme DOMS is not helpful.  I got some doms, but its manageable.

Tuesday I did 2 sets each of pushups and pullups.  10 pushups the first set, 20 the 2nd.  I did 5 chins the first set, then 5 pullups the 2nd.  I also did a floor L-sit hold for 5 seconds.

 

Pistol squats are definitely going to be a part of my workout plan.  I just think they are so good for your legs in ways that other exercises just don't help much; regular pistol squatting will give you excellent ankle mobility, and some of the balance muscles they work just isn't hit by other exercises.  I'm thinking they will be my main accessory on Mondays after front squatting with the barbell.

 

One thing about working out in the weight room at work; I kinda dropped a lot of good bodyweight movements due to real or imagined social pressure.  The only one I really stuck with were (tuck) front lever rows just because they are a ridiculously good exercise (most people also omg when they see you doing them).  Which was easily proven since I could pull the whole stack on the lat pulldown machine (in addition to maintaining very strong abs).  In my home gym I will be free of any of that.  Pistol squats, front lever family movements, single arm and handstand pushups, dips and L-sits, dragon flags will likely all be part of the plan eventually, maybe I'll even get back into natural ham curls.

[Kishi]

Sounds like a good plan! Just, you know, walk back to it rather than running. All that stuff is still waiting for you. You had it once, you'll have it again.

[Waldo]

Oh for sure.

 

I was surprised though that I can still get into an L-sit without issue, even flat palmed I was able to get up and hold it for a second (the hold I did was palm up, the easier variation).  I haven't done one in a couple of years.  I haven't tried, but I suspect I could do basic one arm pushups without issue as well.  The baseline of strength I built up seemed to hold up pretty good to disuse.

[Waldo]

Finally all the pieces are in place.  Gym flooring arrived and was put together, though i figured out that the configuration I ordered wasn't going to work great, 1 more piece was needed, so I ordered it, missing it is no big deal right now.  Power rack arrived and is assembled.  Bench arrived and is assembled.  Picked up an Olympic weight set off craigslist plus an extra set of big wheels; have 390 lbs total including bar.  Used up all my workout time last night assembling things.  All that is left to do is move the weight plates from the garage to the basement, and wait for the last piece of flooring.

 

I'll take some pics tonight once I clean up the mess of packaging.

 

Pretty stoked about the rack and bench.  Tested how it feels to bench with just the bar, and its great, better than the one at work, mostly because of the bench itself; its bigger, both taller and longer, than the ones at work.  Safety bar height pairs perfect with the bench, a hair lower than my chest, but good clearance over my neck.  Bar holder location is also perfect; I used to have to put weight plates under the bench at work to get it right for heavy sets at work.

 

So tonight I'm going to start actually lifting weights again.  I need to get serious about a workout plan, though I'll do something simple for a month to get back into the swing of things.  Pullups, seated OHP, and dips are on deck.  Need to do seated OHP because my basement ceiling isn't high enough to do standing ohp.