ixaera keeps on going~

[SeanP]

28 minutes ago, Taddea Zhaan said:

I love love love clamshells. My glutes fire like crazy. I get a good glute burn with these. <3 

 

they ARE surprisingly difficult. 

Nothing beats a good glute burning.

[ixaera]

That's how you get hot cross buns

[ixaera]

Today's gymming was straightforward. Bench forever, then 2 supersets.

 

Bench Warm Up

1x5 45 lbs

1x5 50 lbs

1x3 55 lbs

1x5 61.5 lbs

 

Bench Work Sets

1x5 71 lbs

1x5 80.5 lbs

1x3 85.5 lbs

1x2 90 lbs

1x1 95 lbs

 

Back off sets

3x12 55 lbs

 

Nothing exciting here. Haven't spent much time near my max in a while, so I have to ramp back up, PLUS I'm cutting, so I might not quite crest at the same point here.

 

Superset 1

Overhead Press

3x5 45 lbs

T-Bar Row

3x10 60 lbs

 

Superset 2

Lat Pulldown (Hammer Strength/Lever machine, not cable)

3x20 50 lbs

Cable Face Pulls

3x20 30 lbs

 

I wanted to work in db flies, but wasn't sure where because I didn't want to sacrifice any of the others. Trying to get plenty of pull/back work in this program. Not too worried about it, tomorrow's circuit has pushups to failure, which is more than acceptable.

 

 

[Jord]

27 minutes ago, ixaera said:

Today's gymming was straightforward. Bench forever, then 2 supersets.

 

Bench Warm Up

1x5 45 lbs

1x5 50 lbs

1x3 55 lbs

1x5 61.5 lbs

 

Bench Work Sets

1x5 71 lbs

1x5 80.5 lbs

1x3 85.5 lbs

1x2 90 lbs

1x1 95 lbs

 

Back off sets

3x12 55 lbs

 

Nothing exciting here. Haven't spent much time near my max in a while, so I have to ramp back up, PLUS I'm cutting, so I might not quite crest at the same point here.

 

Superset 1

Overhead Press

3x5 45 lbs

T-Bar Row

3x10 60 lbs

 

Superset 2

Lat Pulldown (Hammer Strength/Lever machine, not cable)

3x20 50 lbs

Cable Face Pulls

3x20 30 lbs

 

I wanted to work in db flies, but wasn't sure where because I didn't want to sacrifice any of the others. Trying to get plenty of pull/back work in this program. Not too worried about it, tomorrow's circuit has pushups to failure, which is more than acceptable.

 

 

 

i think with everything else you were doing you had the  areas of DB flies already covered.  

[Urgan]

Not a fan of lots of isolation work, but even dominant limbs have their own Achilles heel of sorts. See: martial arts. It will show you this in glittering detail. We may have bilateral symmetry, but not bilateral skills and coordination. 

 

[ixaera]

Went in for a nice little arm circuit today, came out realizing I mis-programmed. There is no way push-ups to failure is gonna work the day after bench. Too much triceps. Anyway, an alteration is in the works to ramp up Tuesday's and fix Thursday's, but so far the actual barbell and such in the good gym has been good programming.

 

Today was 30 mins on the elliptical followed by this
 

Circuit

Plank Ups x10 (going from straight arm to forearm planks, back and forth) <-- also part of the reason push ups were death

Alternating Standing DB Curls x20 (8 lbs per hand)

Lying Tricep Extensions 2x20 2x15 (8 lbs per hand)

Push Ups 2x5

 

Went 4 rounds, but skipped the last two of push ups. My arms were threatening to become injured and they're super gonna hate me tomorrow for sure.

 

Easily fixed~

[Jord]

10 hours ago, ixaera said:

Went in for a nice little arm circuit today, came out realizing I mis-programmed. There is no way push-ups to failure is gonna work the day after bench.

 

 

What do you mean, this is the most brilliant of all brilliant programming.  

 

10 hours ago, ixaera said:

Today was 30 mins on the elliptical followed by this
 

Circuit

Plank Ups x10 (going from straight arm to forearm planks, back and forth) <-- also part of the reason push ups were death

Alternating Standing DB Curls x20 (8 lbs per hand)

Lying Tricep Extensions 2x20 2x15 (8 lbs per hand)

Push Ups 2x5

 

Went 4 rounds, but skipped the last two of push ups. My arms were threatening to become injured and they're super gonna hate me tomorrow for sure.

 

Gurrrrrrl, y u no lift and then do cardio? 

[Urgan]

12 minutes ago, Taddea Zhaan said:

Gurrrrrrl, y u no lift and then do cardio? 

 

Getting the business over with, maybe?? I'm gonna second this.

[Jord]

1 minute ago, Urgan said:

 

Getting the business over with, maybe?? I'm gonna second this.

 

I guess to be fair the lifting was upper body? 

[Urgan]

1 hour ago, Taddea Zhaan said:

 

I guess to be fair the lifting was upper body? 

 

This training is a systemic stress at its base, but ya know. 

[ixaera]

I dunno that I count a circuit of accessories as "lifting" but yeah, it was mostly unconscious. Usually I go into this place JUST for cardio, so it didn't even register that maybe I should do the circuit first. It doesn't help that on Tuesdays, my circuit is done at home, which basically has to be after cardio vOv

 

I don't think it matters that much? I doubt it's going to make an enormous difference, but now that you mention it, I should at least swap the order where I can :3

[ixaera]

Today was going to be about front squats, but I skipped squats entirely because my back has been ... not barking, per se, just whimpering quietly in a corner hoping I'll notice and not do squats. 

 

Instead I did leg presses forever and some other stuff trying to do legs without angering the back gods

 

Leg Press

1x10 100 lbs

1x10 120 lbs

1x10 130 lbs

1x10 140 lbs

1x10 150 lbs

3x12 160 lbs

(Some of that was warm up of course, and finding the right weight for 10-15 reps, also I'm counting the base weight as 100)

 

Super set of

DB Walking Lunges 4x15 12 lbs (each hand, each side)

Hanging Knee Raises 4x15 (bodyweight only, very slow careful not to overextend at the bottom b/c back things)

 

Leg Extension Machine

1x12 30 lbs <-- thought I could do 20 reps but these things are all different I guess

3x18 20 lbs

 

No back complaints so I think I got it right today.

(Seriously, I'm way jealous of you folks with back issues that can still squat over your bodyweight ever, because I've still never gotten back to that point.)

[ixaera]

Throwing Sunday's workout in here so it's somewhere:

DB OHP

2x5 30 lbs

1x3 30 lbs

OHP

1x5 45 lbs

1x3 45 lbs

1x7 52 lbs (8 would have been a rep PR... so close)

1x4 54.5 lbs (quick drop off of energy)

1x2 57.5 lbs (3 would have been a rep PR)

failed the 60 lb set altogether, though it was a near thing

2x8 46 lbs 1x6 46 lbs

My shoulders did that thing where they just didn't show up. I had 1800 calories the previous day, lots of carbs, not enough protein, and a bunch of wine. I did not have any hunger for breakfast before training, so I just had some BCAA's and pre-workout. Clearly, if it helped, I was in bad shape.

 

Bench

5x5 76 lbs

 

Lat pulldown

4x9 70 lbs

 

Superset

T-Bar Row

4x8 65 lbs

Hanging Knee Raise

4x20

 

Rear Delts

4x15 10 lbs (5 each hand)

 

This is my last week in this 6 week cycle, next week is a deload. I'm thinking on programming and while I want to try something that uses RPE, I'm not quite in a position to go purchasing programs at the moment, or new books. I'm also still in the homestretch of my cut (about 6 weeks to go) so I'm not eating enough to go gung ho on something like juggernaut. Soooo I guess it's another round of semi-5/3/1, even though I'd like to maybe bench/press 3x a week instead of 2. Plus I'm doing more of a 5x5 on squats and trap deads instead still, and probably will continue that approach since I don't actually want to max those out at any point soon.

 

Been thinking about how best to get everything I want done in a 4x week 1ish hour sessions. A light bench day on Fridays could work, a little 2-3x5 after leg presses or something, maybe. I don't want to go to 5x per week, but I could do stuff with these circuits so that they have db ohp or bench incorporated. I might have to move them to after work on lift days though so I'm not impinging on my recovery time on cardio days. I'm not totally sure, but I'd LOVE to afford a personal trainer at some point.

 

Cut's getting old, but I like the way this approach deals with variance and averages and if I have to do it again at some point, this is absolutely the way I'd go.

[ixaera]

Yesterday I did a quick circuit before some cardio, since I wanted to get a bit more arms in.

 

Circuit x4

25 sec forearm plank

15x 24 lbs EZ bar skullcrushers

17x 10 lbs (each hand) seated db curls

10x pushups

 

30 min elliptical

 

Today I did leg day (which was fine but it's massively difficult to keep my heel down for all the reps so I'm thinking instead of 8-12's on lower a, doing 15-20s with less weight to drill it. Today I was doing a 4x7 with 70 lbs and I did not make a ton of progress on heel issues, but I'm sure of what yields the best results at least. I just need to keep drilling.

 

Shenanigans: This gym is like a big open warehouse. It's small, so it's full of equipment, but it's also not crowded in the early morning so getting to what you need isn't difficult at all. I was finishing out leg day with a superset of bulgarian split squats next to the roman chair I was also using and this dude appears and walks within an inch of me to get to the treadmill across the gym. There were about 15 other ways he could have gone, but no, he basically interrupts my set! THREE TIMES (because he kept going back and forth)

[ixaera]

Just throwing today's workout somewhere:

 

Warmed up on front squats, just a 3x10 with the bar. Expecting squat shoes to arrive Wednesday.

Trap bar deadlifts today. Was planning on 4x5 at 100 lbs, but my back is feeling quite excellent, so instead I slapped 5 lbs on each set.

1x5 100 lbs

1x5 105 lbs

1x5 110 lbs

1x5 115 lbs

 

A++ would trap bar deadlift again

 

Some lat pulldowns, t-bar rows, and incline hammer curls to round out the session, was in and out pretty quick. Which was good, place was SUPER crowded. Wanted a post-lift kolache, but the kolache place is apparently closed Mondays, who knew.

 

Going in Wednesday for deload bench, and probably Friday early for some 105 lb squats, if I have time. Then, the new program begins.

[Sloth the Enduring]

I like the trap bar. It's very back friendly compared to the other options.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[ixaera]

2 minutes ago, Sloth the Enduring said:

I like the trap bar. It's very back friendly compared to the other options.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

Very, very! I'm going to stick with it through the 16 week program instead of going to a barbell deadlift yet. After that, I don't know. I never plan to compete and honestly the trap bar is pretty great. I could also go to sumo, which is more back-friendly than conventional... I've got 5 weeks to think about that, I guess.

[CourtnieMarie]

nice workout! super bummer about the kolache though.

[ixaera]

2 hours ago, CourtnieMarie said:

nice workout! super bummer about the kolache though.

 

I had my heart set on a bulgogi and cheese filled one, my poor heart was broken. 

[ixaera]

Decided to post my cut results here, since it's not really pertinent to my current challenge and my last challenge only covers the last stretch of it. 

 

So here's the stuff! Start weight on 8/31 was 110 lbs even. End weight this morning was 102.8 lbs, for a 7.2 lb loss.

 

I was super dumb and didn't take a picture on 8/31 or do measurements (whyyyy) so I'm using measurements from 7/10 when my weight was near 110 pre-cut. Not perfect, but it'll do.

 

Start | End | Change

 

waist: 25.75" | 24.1" | -1.65"

waist at navel: 29.75" | 27.5" | -2.25"

hips: 36.25" | 35" | -1.25"

right thigh: 20.6" | 19.9" | -.7"

left thigh: 20.6" | 19.25" | -1.35"

right calf: 12.25" | 12" | -.25"

left calf: 12.4" | 12" | -.4"

right bicep: 11" | 10.8" | -.2"

left bicep: 11" | 10.8" | -.2"
chest: 31" | 30.5" | -.5"

right forearm: 8.9" | 8.75" | -.15"
neck: 11.25" | 11" | -.25"

 

Thoughts: Refeed days are my jam. Good way to cut for me. Here's to the reverse diet and bulk and putting on some MUSCLES.

[ixaera]

Program: Sunday I did shoulders/arms, Christmas I did nothing but eat, and today I did Squats/hamstrings/abs, though I still have my hip thrusts to do after work b/c ran out of time this morning. Going out of town Friday morning, so I am moving deadlifts up a day (assuming my back cooperates), then I'll get back to it on Tuesday and be a day behind on the program (but I plan to catch back up sometime later, maybe after some stress has passed). For shoulders block 2 I've brought back the barbell strict press, and block 3 will probably be push presses. Squats were a 4x8 at 95 lbs today.

 

Food: WAY overdid it Christmas day but these things happen. Otherwise doing very well hitting reverse diet goals, and we're almost in bulk territory (this week is just over maintenance). I currently still weigh LESS than I did at the end of the cut, so from here on out I'm hawking the scale to make sure I'm putting on some weight--we're going for about .25 lb a week, so monthly averages I guess. (it's a light bulk, I am a small person and I don't typically bulk so I figure this is a good way to get into it and feel it out)

[ixaera]

My life currently

 

Program: Bench at a 4x8 75lbs, not actually hard???? Felt very strong. Loving calories <3 Some cable flies & machine presses, bros bros bros. Kinda not feeling 100% so I'm maybe gonna save triceps for a superset with biceps tomorrow, instead of doing them tonight. Gonna conserve my feelgoods for deadlifts instead.

 

Food: On track post-Christmas, kind of trying to average out a little better since Christmas broke my weekly average, but I'm not super worried about it.

 

Life: Oh boy oh boy. Way too much going on, I'm super tired. Working out 3 days in a row, then Friday getting on a place STUPID EARLY (assuming I don't get sick... if I do, I guess I'll be not getting everyone on the plane and at the party sick, instead). Work itself is at least slow right now, but there's ambient stress from impending Last Day (1/5) and First Day (1/8).

[Urgan]

1 hour ago, ixaera said:

Work itself is at least slow right now, but there's ambient stress from impending Last Day (1/5) and First Day (1/8).

 

Just remember in T-1 week you won't give two craps about your old job and the new job won't expect you to run the place singlehandedly until at least 2 weeks or end of training/ramp-up time, whichever comes first. 

[shaar]

13 hours ago, ixaera said:

My life currently

 

HI THIS IS V. ACCURATE OK

 

p h e w here's hoping we hang in there and don't explode in on ourselves like a dying star YEAH!!!!

[ixaera]

13 hours ago, Urgan said:

 

Just remember in T-1 week you won't give two craps about your old job and the new job won't expect you to run the place singlehandedly until at least 2 weeks or end of training/ramp-up time, whichever comes first. 

 

MAYBE not even one crap

It's tough finding a crap to give today for sure, I'm on a plane tomorrow (in theory)

 

1 hour ago, shaar said:

 

HI THIS IS V. ACCURATE OK

 

p h e w here's hoping we hang in there and don't explode in on ourselves like a dying star YEAH!!!!

 

NO EXPLODING

good now that that's clear

 

 

the expected thing happened. stress + trying to cram 3 days of program right before a trip + holiday stuff =

whatever the hell this nose sadness is

 

I'm HOPING it's just a little temporary sinus irritation that goes away PROMPTLY. So far it's just a runny (clear) nose w/ stinging sinuses and a bit of blood, and soreness at the back of the nose and a funny voice

 

BUT WHAT ABOUT MY VEGAS TRIP TOMORROW D:

 

(Needless to say, I opted out of deadlifting today.)