Cardinal's Battle Log

[Cardinal_22]

Sunday, August 24

 

Spent the whole day at work, so I didn't have an enormous amount of time in the gym before it closed.  I got in as much as I could.  Squats are really starting to feel good, much better than the last few weeks.  I think I'm getting stronger.

 

Deep Squats:

5 x 135 lbs, 1 set

5 x 175 lbs, 5 sets

 

Bench Press:

5 x 135 lbs, 1 set

8 x 165 lbs, 5 sets  (focus on flat back)

10 x 135 lbs, 5 sets (wide grip)

 

BB Rows:

5 x 135 lbs, 5 sets

 

Romanian Deadlift:

10 x 185 lbs, 5 sets

[Cardinal_22]

Wednesday, August 27

 

I'm in the middle of a huge crunch at work.  Couldn't make it to the gym yesterday, and I won't be able to make it tomorrow either.  So I'll only have 2 days this week.  Plus, with Labor Day on Monday, I won't make Sunday either.  In a way, I think missing a few days to rest up will help me out a bit.  I just don't want forward progress to stop.

 

Deep Squats:

5 x 135 lbs, 1 set

5 x 175 lbs, 5 sets

 

Dips:

10 x bodyweight, 1 set

7 x 60 lbs added, 5 sets

 

Reg Pullus:

6 x bodyweight, 5 sets

[Cardinal_22]

Tuesday, September 2

 

Finally, after a crunch at work followed by the long holiday weekend I'm back to my regular routine.  We had some pretty massive thunderstorms which made me late to the gym (flooded out intersections, anybody?), but I still managed to get in a full workout minus the cardio.  Squats are feeling good enough that I may try to go up in weight next week.  We'll see how Thursday feels.

 

I also replaced my dead fitbit yesterday.  The old one was accidentally put through both the washer and dryer.  Ugh.

 

Deep Squats:

5 x 135 lbs, 1 set

5 x 175 lbs, 5 sets

 

Dips:

10 x bodyweight, 1 set

10 x 45 lbs added, 5 sets

 

Reg Pullups:

6 x bodyweight, 5 sets  <-- emphasize full range of motion

 

Arms Supersets:  5 sets total

Standing Curls:  8 x 75 lbs

Skullcrushers:  8 x 75 lbs

[Cardinal_22]

Friday, September 5

 

I couldn't make it to the gym on my regular Thursday schedule due to some doctor's appointments.  So I made up for it by going today.  I was still a little bit short on time because the gym closes early on Fridays, but I did ok.

 

Deep Squats:

5 x 135, 1 set

5 x 175, 5 sets

 

Traps in Cage:

15 x 225, backwards, 5 sets

5 x 315, forwards, 2 sets

 

Standing Press:

5 x 95 lbs, 3 sets

5 x 85 lbs, 2 sets

 

DB Rows:

5 x 90 lbs DBs, 5 sets

 

Decline Bench Press:

5 x 135 lbs, 1 set

5 x 185 lbs, 1 set

3 x 205 lbs, 1 set

3 x 225 lbs, 1 set

[Cardinal_22]

Sunday, September 7

 

I felt absolutely fantastic today, and it really showed in my workout.  Must have been all the extra sleep over the weekend.

 

Deep Squats:

5 x 135 lbs, 1 set

5 x 180 lbs, 5 sets

 

Traps in Cage:

15 x 245 lbs, 5 sets

 

Incline Bench:

8 x 135 lbs, 3 sets

 

Seated Shoulder Press:

8 x 80 lbs, 3 sets

 

Decline Bench Press:

5 x 135 lbs, 1 set

5 x 185 lbs, 3 sets

 

Cable Fly:

10 x 25 lbs (each arm), 2 sets

 

BB Rows:

5 x 135 lbs, 5 sets

 

Romanian Deadlift:

8 x 225 lbs, 5 sets

 

Cardio:

3 min @ 3 mph

24 min @ 6 mph

3 min @ 3 mph

3 min @ 6 mph

1 min @ 3 mph

Total:  375 calories

[Rooks]

Work outs are looking good.  Can I ask what "Traps in cage" is? 

[Cardinal_22]

Hi Rooks,

 

Sorry for the strange notation.  I got to that terminology from a long, convoluted path.  Short answer:  By "traps", I mean shoulder shrugs.  By "cage", I mean that I'm doing them with a barbell in the power cage.  

 

Long story:  I used to do shrugs with dumbbells, but 100 lbs is the largest size available to me and it didn't take long for that to become too light.  So I moved over to a barbell in the Smith machine.  I could load that up pretty heavily, but the problem was that I didn't like the forced path of motion, and I had no idea how heavy the bar was.  (It's difficult to weigh it when I can't take it off the machine and bring it to the locker room)  So I moved again, still using a barbell but now it was suspended in the safety rack on the bench press.  The problem with that approach was that I had to straddle the bench while doing them... not to mention the difficulty of finding an open bench during the week.  I've finally ended up with a barbell sitting on the safety catch in the power cage.  Hence my terminology "traps in cage".

[Cardinal_22]

Tuesday, September 9

I'm still pretty exhausted from Sunday, but I did my best and made it work.  My lats were really sore from deadlifting on Monday - I could really feel it while doing pullups.

 

Deep Squats:

5 x 135 lbs, 1 set

5 x 180 lbs, 5 sets

 

Dips:

10 x bodyweight, 1 set

8 x 55 lbs added, 5 sets

 

Regular Grip Pullups:

6 x bodyweight, 5 sets

 

Cardio:

3 min @ 3 mph (warmup)

15 min @ 6 mph

3 min @ 3 mph (cooldown)

Total: 210 calories

[Rooks]

Hi Rooks,

 

Sorry for the strange notation.  I got to that terminology from a long, convoluted path.  Short answer:  By "traps", I mean shoulder shrugs.  By "cage", I mean that I'm doing them with a barbell in the power cage.  

 

Long story:  I used to do shrugs with dumbbells, but 100 lbs is the largest size available to me and it didn't take long for that to become too light.  So I moved over to a barbell in the Smith machine.  I could load that up pretty heavily, but the problem was that I didn't like the forced path of motion, and I had no idea how heavy the bar was.  (It's difficult to weigh it when I can't take it off the machine and bring it to the locker room)  So I moved again, still using a barbell but now it was suspended in the safety rack on the bench press.  The problem with that approach was that I had to straddle the bench while doing them... not to mention the difficulty of finding an open bench during the week.  I've finally ended up with a barbell sitting on the safety catch in the power cage.  Hence my terminology "traps in cage".

 

Makes sense to me. 

[Cardinal_22]

Thursday, September 11

 

The last two days of work have left me pretty exhausted.  Still managed to make it to the gym... but I'm not sure how effective the workouts are.  Hopefully I can catch up on some sleep this weekend.

 

Deep Squats:

5 x 135 lbs, 1 set

5 x 180 lbs, 5 sets

 

DB Seated Shoulder Press:

8 x 45 lbs, 3 sets

3 x 55 lbs, 2 sets

 

Incline Bench:

5 x 135 lbs, 1 set

5 x 145 lbs, 1 set

5 x 155 lbs, 1 set

 

Decline Bench:

5 x 135 lbs, 1 set

3 x 205 lbs, 3 sets

 

Traps in Cage:

10 x 265 lbs, 5 sets (backwards)

15 x 225 lbs, 2 sets (backwards)

5 x 315 lbs, 1 set (forwards)

 

Cardio (treadmill):

3 min @ 3 mph (warmup)

15 min @ 6 mph

3 min @ 3 mph (cooldown)

Total: 210 calories

[Cardinal_22]

Sunday, September 14

 

I spent the morning hauling boxes up the stairs, helping my new housemate move in.  And I spent the afternoon digging up the front yard.  Needless to say, I was pretty wiped out by the time I hit the gym.  Got in a pretty good workout anyway, but I cut all of my sets a little bit low due to lack of energy.

 

On a positive note, I finally hit 170 lbs when I weighed in late last week.  I hit it a second time this morning.  So apparently I'm getting bigger, which is good.  Hopefully it's not just going to my gut.  A gain of 5 lbs of muscle over this year would be amazing!  =)

 

Deep Squats:

5 x 135 lbs, 1 set

5 x 185 lbs, 3 sets

 

Incline Bench:

8 x 135 lbs, 3 sets

 

Seated Shoulder Press:

8 x 85 lbs, 5 sets

 

Decline Bench:

5 x 135 lbs, 1 set

5 x 185 lbs, 3 sets

 

Romanian Deadlift:

5 x 245 lbs, 5 sets

[Cardinal_22]

Tuesday, September 16

 

I didn't get much sleep last night, and ended up with a pretty terrible headache today at the gym.  I ended up cutting the workout short because of it.  *sigh*

 

Seated Leg Press:

10 x 190 lbs

10 x 210 lbs

10 x 230 lbs

10 x 250 lbs

10 x 270 lbs

 

Standing Calf Raises:

10 x 210 lbs, 5 sets

 

Dips:

10 x bodyweight

5 x 60 lbs added, 5 sets

[Cardinal_22]

Thursday, September 18

 

I felt a lot better today, although I am beginning to realize that I need to stop doing squats 3x per week.  It is getting to be a bit too hard on my knees.

 

Deep Squats:

5 x 135 lbs, 1 set

5 x 185 lbs, 5 sets

 

Incline Bench Press:

8 x 135 lbs, 3 sets

 

Seated Shoulder Press:

5 x 95 lbs, 5 sets

 

Traps in Cage:

20 x 225 lbs, 5 sets  (backwards)

5 x 275 lbs, 1 set  (backwards)

5 x 295 lbs, 1 set (forwards)

5 x 315 lbs, 1 set (forwards)

 

Cardio:

3 min @ 3 mph (warmup)

15 min @ 6 mph

3 min @ 3 mph (cooldown)

Total: 220 calories

[Cardinal_22]

Sunday, September 21

 

After taking a few weeks off, I'm back to doing flat bench press.  I thought I would lose some progress, but surprisingly it didn't fall by much.  I'm still debating whether or not I'd like to replace it with something else for a good 6-12 weeks before coming back, just to see if I can break this plateau.

 

Seated Leg Press:

5 x 155 lbs, 1 set

5 x 315 lbs, 5 sets

 

Bench Press:

5 x 135 lbs, 1 set

5 x 185 lbs, 3 sets  <-- focus on flat back

10 x 135 lbs, 5 sets  <-- wide grip

 

Lat Pulldown:

10 x 120 lbs, 5 sets

 

Seated Shoulder Press:

8 x 85 lbs, 5 sets

 

Romanian Deadlift:

8 x 225 lbs, 5 sets

[Cardinal_22]

Wednesday, September 24

 

Couldn't make it to the gym on Tuesday because I had to help a friend move a refrigerator.  It was actually a huge job - we took it out of one house, moved it 6 blocks (no car), and then moved it into the second house.  Took the better part of an hour.

 

I felt good at the gym today.  I tried mixing up the leg press a bit, but after trying it I think I might respond better to lower weights with more reps for leg work.  The standing DB curls at the end of the workout were a burnout exercise.  I used just one 20 lb weight and held one arm behind my back.  I did 10 reps with one arm, then quickly switched the weight and did 10 reps with the other arm while the first arm was held behind my back.  I repeated this entire process 3 times for a total of 30 reps on each arm.  That entire sequence counted as one set.

 

Seated Leg Press (Angled):   <-- this is a different geometry than the (flat) seated leg press I used on Sunday.  It feels much heavier

3 total sets of:

   1 x 310 lbs

   5 x 290 lbs

 

Dips:

10 x bodyweight

5 x 70 lbs added, 5 sets

 

Reg Pullups:

5 x bodyweight, 6 sets

 

Lat Pulldown:

10 x 120 lbs, 5 sets

 

Preacher Curls (machine):

10 x 60 lbs

7 x 70 lbs

5 x 80 lbs

7 x 70 lbs

10 x 60 lbs

 

Standing BB curls:

6, 7, 8 x 75 lbs (3 sets total)

 

Standing DB curls:

30 x 20 lbs (each arm), 2 sets

[Cardinal_22]

Thursday, September 25

 

Great workout today, with a focus on shoulder work.  I'm starting to do the push press, with the idea that maybe the heavier weights will shock me into a bit of positive growth.  You KNOW your shoulders are weak when a 5'2" girl can press more than you can - she did 3 sets of 10 at 95 lbs.  Ugh.

 

Deep Squats:

5 x 135 lbs, 1 set

5 x 175 lbs, 5 sets  <-- focus on going very deep and moving slowly

 

Standing Press:

5 x 95 lbs, 3 sets

 

Push Press:

8 x 95 lbs

3 x 105 lbs

1 x 115 lbs

(fail at 125 lbs)

 

Incline Bench:

8 x 135 lbs, 3 sets

 

Seated Shoulder Press:

8 x 95 lbs, 5 sets

 

Upright Rows:

10 x 75 lbs, 3 sets

 

DB Shoulder Raises (Front/Side):

10 x 20 lbs (front) then 10 x 15 lbs (side), 3 sets 

[Cardinal_22]

Sunday, September 28

 

Felt good today.  I backed off a little bit on my squat weight (I've been doing 175 lbs instead of 185 lbs), but I'm putting extra emphasis on going deep and slow.  I can really feel it in my core.  Deadlifting is going well too.  Form seems to be spot on.  I'm hoping to go up in weight next week.

 

Deep Squats:

5 x 135 lbs, 1 set

5 x 175 lbs, 5 sets

 

Bench Press:

5 x 135 lbs, 1 set

5 x 185 lbs, 3 sets  <-- focus on flat back

10 x 145 lbs, 3 sets  <-- wide grip

 

Decline Bench Press:

5 x 135 lbs, 1 set

3 x 205 lbs, 3 sets

 

Seated Shoulder Press:

5 x 95 lbs, 3 sets

 

Traps in Cage:

10 x 275 lbs, 5 sets (backwards)

5 x 315 lbs, 3 sets (backwards)

 

Standing Push Press:

1 x 115 lbs, 1 set

fail at 125 lbs

1 x 115 lbs, 1 set

 

Romanian Deadlift:

8 x 225 lbs, 5 sets

[Cardinal_22]

Tuesday, September 30

 

I had to be at work pretty early this morning, so I didn't get a lot of sleep.  But I still pushed through a pretty nice gym workout.  I substituted leg press for squats and hit a pretty nice number.  Dips are also looking good.

(Flat) Seated Leg Press:

10 x 155 lbs, 1 set

10 x 275 lbs, 5 sets

 

Dips:

10 x bodyweight, 1 set

5 x 75 lbs added, 5 sets

 

Reg Pullups:

5 x bodyweight, 5 sets

 

Lat Pulldown:

10 x 120 lbs, 3 sets

 

Preacher Curls (Machine):

10 x 60 lbs, 3 sets

 

Hammer DB Curls:

10 x 35 lbs DBs, 3 sets

 

Standing DB Curls:    

30 x 20 lbs (each arm), 1 set    <-- identical sequence to 9/24/14

[Cardinal_22]

Thursday, October 2

 

I really wanted to take a nap when I got home from work.  I went to the gym instead, and got in a pretty good workout.  I'm a bum like that.  =)  I got some very nice numbers out of the incline bench press.  I really hope this means that I'm growing again.  I feel like my regular (flat) bench press has been stagnant for a long time.

 

Deep Squats:

5 x 135 lbs, 1 set

5 x 175 lbs, 5 sets

 

Incline Bench Press:

5 x 150 lbs, 1 set

5 x 160 lbs, 1 set

3 x 170 lbs, 1 set

 

Seated Shoulder Press:

8 x 90 lbs, 3 sets

5 x 100 lbs, 2 sets

 

Traps in Cage:

10 x 295 lbs, 5 sets (backwards)

 

Forward (Shoulder) DB Raises:

10 x 20 lbs DBs, 5 sets

[Cardinal_22]

Sunday, October 5

 

I had an interesting experience at the gym today.  Some guy came over and gave me lots and LOTS of free (and unwanted) advice on exactly how to use the seated leg press... while I was on it.  It mostly consisted of "hey, don't actually try to get any range when you do the leg press.  Just move up and down by about 2" like I do and you can lift a lot more weight".  Granted, it wasn't as bad as the kid who told me that deadlifting causes cancer, but still...  Ugh.  It was so bad that I walked away after 3 sets.

 

Fortunately, the rest of the workout was good.  I hit a new PR on the decline bench press, which makes me happy.  I felt like my chest lifts were stagnating over the summer, but today's decline and last week's incline bench numbers are giving me a lot of hope.  =)

 

(Flat) Seated Leg Press:

10 x 195 lbs, 1 set

10 x 275 lbs, 3 sets

 

Decline Bench Press:

5 x 135 lbs, 1 set

5 x 185 lbs, 1 set

5 x 205 lbs, 1 set

5 x 225 lbs, 1 set  <-- PR

3 x 225 lbs, 1 set

5 x 205 lbs, 1 set

5 x 185 lbs, 1 set

 

(Machine) Pec Fly:

10 x 130 lbs, 3 sets

10 x 150 lbs, 3 sets

 

Bench Press:

10 x 135 lbs, 5 sets  <-- wide grip

 

Seated Shoulder Press:

5 x 95 lbs, 3 sets

 

Romanian Deadlift:

5 x 245 lbs, 2 sets

5 x 265 lbs, 2 sets

5 x 275 lbs, 1 set

[matty_mcfly]

Deadlifting causes cancer? Please share. Sorry if I missed it.

[Cardinal_22]

Heh, that was a while ago.  Some 18 year old kid seemed a little disturbed that I would do any kind of lifting that wasn't a bench press or a bicep curl.  So he told me that he was sure my workout (deadlifting) was shown to cause cancer.

 

Just goes to show:  free advice is worth exactly what you paid for it.  Well, either that or pretty much everyone at NF is going to die of cancer in a few years.  =)

[Cardinal_22]

Tuesday, October 7

 

I was pretty late because of a doctor's appointment, but I also have to admit that I kind of like the late night crowd at the gym.  There's some pretty cool guys there.  Just for old time sake, I did a few sets of 7's at the end of my workout to get a nice burn.  That's a curl bar exercise where you do 7 reps over the lower half of the range of motion, 7 reps over the upper half of the range of motion, and then 7 reps over the full range of motion.  My inner 'bro' is probably glowing right now.

 

Deep Squats:

5 x 135 lbs, 1 set

5 x 180 lbs, 5 sets

 

Dips:

10 x bodyweight

10 x 45 lbs added, 5 sets

 

Machine Rows:

5 x 150 lbs

5 x 165 lbs

5 x 180 lbs

5 x 165 lbs

5 x 150 lbs

 

DB Hammer Curls:

10 x 40 lbs, 5 sets

 

7's Curls (described above):

1 set at 55 lbs

4 sets at 45 lbs

[matty_mcfly]

I usually call those 21's. Bro magic! Let the guns show...let them shine

[Cardinal_22]

Thursday, October 9

 

Rather than my standard 5x5 squats as a leg workout, I decided to mix it up a little bit with some volume and a bit of leg press.  It really went well - even though the squats were light, I focused on keeping my core absolutely rock steady, and got a really good workout from it.  It might be time for me to change my lower body workout strategy.  Food for thought...

 

Deep Squats:

10 x 135 lbs, 5 sets

 

(Flat) Leg Press:

10 x 215 lbs, 5 sets

 

Standing Press:

8 x 75 lbs, 5 sets

 

Traps in Cage:

10 x 275 lbs, 5 sets (backwards)

15 x 225 lbs, 3 sets (forwards)

 

DB Side Raises:

10 x 15 lbs, 1 set

10 x 20 lbs, 4 sets

 

DB Front Raises:

3 sets total of:

   10 x 20 lbs (double arm) first, then

   10 x 15 lbs (single arm)