The Next Big thing

[Ironminded]

Well,I figured a journal where others could see my puniness and weakness might help me to stay motivated and on track, will work out more later as far as goals and such, just want to get todays workout in while it is fresh in my memory.

Chest and Tri's

Bench press;
135x15, 250x8,x8,x6+1[help from spotter]

Incline BB;
205x6, 215x5+1, 225x3+1

Db low incline press;
85'sx6, 90'sx6

Hammer strenght dip machine [because I don't have a dip belt for weighted dips]
275x10, 285x10, 295x8, 305x8

Skullcrushers;
110x8, 110x8-form got a little sloppy on this last set.

Sprints; 6x60yds full sprint, 4x60yds warm-up/cool-down jog.

Workout felt good, other then my couple of sets of bench. I was really feeling the pie, and by that I mean the WHOLE pie, that I ate this weekend. God it was good, but I was feeling it today.

[Ironminded]

Goals; I always have a hard time formulating goals for my self as far as lifting goes. I get caught between wanting to just work on my strenght and power, thus going on an all out bulk, and wanting to get signigicantly leaner, thus going on a cut. I have finally decided to try a cut this fall/winter and see where that leaves me.

As far as what I want from lifting it is mostly strenght gains, I am not to worried about size. The only real areas that I would like to see get bigger are my arms[duh, I am a guy], and legs and back. On the strenght side of that I would like to see my DL, Squat and Bench go up as much as I can. Right now, ie the next couple of weeks, I should be adding heavy, sets of 6 or so, squats back into my routine and putting heavy deads back in also.

Right now my maxes are only estimates but should be as follows;

Squat; 340 [working out with sets of 12 at 275 RAW]
Dl; 350 [I can pick up the pole for our forklift at work which should be around 350]
Bench; 290 [Working set of 5 at 275 or so]

I should have a better estimate of my squat and dl ability by the end of this week when I run through my leg and back work on wed and fri respectivly.

When I was a senior in college I went on an 'all-you-can-eat' diet, and literally ate everything I could. I got my bench up around 300, squat was around 400 as was dl. I would like to get back to those numbers, but with a significantly lower bf% this time around.

[Bob]

Not too weak Ironminded...

Your goals aren't that far off either.. if your workout weights are correct.
You don't state what your BF% is.. but even so, you should be able to easily maintain your strength while cutting BF... just don't do it too fast :-)

[Ironminded]

I think my bf% is around a pudgy 18 or so, it might be a tad bit lower, but not much. I have the worst genetics as far as that goes, every bit of fat I have sits in a 'tire' right around my waist. Those goals are just prelims, I really want to go higher then that, but need to start small.

[f=ma]

sup bro, checking out your journal. youve got some real strength.. i did somewhat similar of a bulk (compared to your "all you can eat") this august - late oct bringing me from 191 to 223 in a span of less than 3 months lol. i started to feel real fat although all my lifts shot up immensely. i was gaining at least 5lbs/week on all lifts for at least 4 weeks straight once i was in the groove.. good times

[f=ma]

ill definitely keep an eye on this too so keep me updated

[Ironminded]

Three mins on the bike for warm up

Squats;
135x12, 225x12, belted;295x10, 315x6, 315x4, 295x6
These sucked, I was so scared of tweaking my back that I couldn't push through on the sets over three bills. I probably had sets of ten in me for the 315 weight but was to scared. Oh well, I guess after a while my confidence will come back.

Leg press;
7ppsx12, 7.25ppsx10,x10

SS: Leg ext;
135x10, 150x10, 165x10

Seated leg curl;
160x12, 175x10, x10, 190x10

Ball sit ups;
BWx20, x20, x20

Ball squats
BWx10, BWx10

Overall a half-way decent workout. I am really bumed by the squats though. My form wasn't real good and I was really worried about my back the entire time. I also need to re-learn how to squat with a belt on as my breathing was not in-sync with my leg-drive. I know I need to take it slow with these, and that the DL's I will be adding on Fridays will help to strenghten my weak link; ie my ass and low back, but still was really depressing.

[denami]

nice workout man, haha i can only dream of squatting 315

[Ironminded]

Shoulders day;
Three mins crosstrainer as active warmup

DB overhead press seated;
60x10, 70x10, 80x7, 75x6 - First two sets were really easy, I should have gotten a spotter on the last to and forced out some reps

DB side lateral raises;
30x10, 30x8, 30x8

DB bent over rear laterals;
20x12, 22.5x10, x10,x10 SS w/ band laterals raises red band three sets of 10, 8, 8

One mile on crosstrainer for active recovery of the leggies.

Legs felt good today, probably cause I wussed on the squats yesterday. I should be good to go for DL's tomarrow, and am looking forward to it.

[f=ma]

nice squats and DB presses bro

real nice squat strength, i like those reps and numbers

[bschatz88]

Yeah dude, impressive squatting.

[MixmasterNash]

Damn good squats.

[Ironminded]

Meh, thanks for the compliments on the squats. I feel really bad, they are a ton weaker then they should be for my body weight and leg strenght.

It really is mostly a confidence issue, I am sure my legs can handle a lot more weight. However I was so scared for my back, and not feeling confident when you have weight OVER you vs under you can lead to nastiness I have found.

I should see those #'s go up in the coming weeks as my low back/postior chain comes back into line with my quads, and that will be very very fulfilling. Nothing like having a whole gym stop when you step under 400+. It is a cheap thrill I know, but the only one I got right now.

[lilmase1153]

Damn good strength in here bro..

So what are your stats? Height, weight really but whatever else you have

[Ironminded]

Back day;
Before you read this let me just say that I think I was a little conservative on my estimate of my DL strenght in my second post where I thought my max would be about 350

DL's
Raw;135x12, 225x12, 275x10, 315x8, Belt;365x6, 405x1 [crappy form, didn't get my shoudlers back] 405x1 good form on this one probably could have gotten two or three but my grip was toast

Pull ups;
Bw x10,x8,x7

BO rows;
185x10,x10,x10

Both of these should have been more, I think the DL's really sapped me, and my grip really has to get used to pulling that kind of weight again, my hands are toast tonight

Biceps;

BB curl;
90x8,x8,x8

DB curl
45x8,45x8

Shrugs;
315x10,x10

I was really pumped about the DL's, having not done them in so long I did not think I would be able to pull that much. My hands more then anything are feeling it right now, but I am sure my back and hips should be yelling at me this weekend. For now though it was more then worth it.

[f=ma]

real nice deads bro

[Coke]

Impressive deads man, especially for not having done them in so long...good back and bicep work.

[Ironminded]

Saturday;
No workout today, with my cycle I have the weekends off. However I did go into the gym for some stretching and to talk to one of the personal trainers there. I wanted to get a posture analysis, and to have someone else take a look at me and to get an idea as to any imbalences I might want to work on.

Not suprisingly I need to work on hip flexibility. This is really the limiting factor right now in the depth of my squat. The trainer suggested doing some dynamic stretching at the begining of every workout to help with hip flexibility. I also need to work on my shoulders. They arn't inflexible, but my chest is tighter then my back and this is causing my shoulders to round forward just a tad.

Overall I felt pretty good, other then the hip issue I had good posture and no major muscle imbalences. I really don't want to be one of the 40 year old men who can't get out of the bed because his back hurts so bad from years of bad posture and neglect. Much better that I put the work in now along with my lifting then get to that point and not be able to move much less lift.

[Ironminded]

Bench press;
135x16, 255x8,x8,x7+1

Incline Press;
205x6,215x6,225x4

Low incline DB press;
90x6,95x5

HS Dip machine;
285x10,290x10,295x8,x8

Skull crushers
110x9,x8,x8

Misc. ab work

Was a pretty good workout today. I went up by 5 pounds on bench and will probably stay there for the next week, I want to be able to rep it 3x8. I am thinking that in a month or so, maybe after Xmas, of going back to lower reps on bench and higher reps on Incline and Db Incline. We will see how I feel and if I feel my muscles can handle it.

I really need to get a dip belt. While the HS dip machine hits my tri's like a dip I don't think I am getting as much out of it as I would a weighted dip. Meh, maybe it is my penchant for hating machines and loving free-weights, but hey, that isn't a bad thing is it?

[f=ma]

very nice benching, real strong

[Coke]

Damn bro, I guess you really are the next big thing...several sets and reps with a 255 flat bench is awesome.

[Ironminded]

First off thanks for all the encouragement gang, also any suggestions would be appreciated. Oh, and the title is supposed to be a joke, there are many kinds of pompus a$$hole and many of those I am, however I don't think I am actually 'the next big thing.'

Anyway, the workout;

Forgot to do a warmup, ugh I need to be better then that

Squats;
135x12,225x12,315x10,x8,275x10[close stance as low as I could go]

Leg press
7.25ppsx10,x10,x10

SS; Leg curls [on different machines then last week]
150x12,x12,165x10,x10
Leg extensions [Also on a different machine, and alternateing, so one rep left leg, one rep right leg, one rep left leg ...]
100x10,x10,x10

All in all a decent workout, my form on squats is improving, but still has a ways to go to being really solid. The hip stretches I have been doing this past week are proving to be a good idea and are going to allow me to get lower in the hole on squats which is always a good thing.

[Coke]

Damn good numbers on the squats and throughout...props for fine tuning your work - nice job.

[Ironminded]

Back day;
4 mins crosstrainer machine for active warmup
DL
135x12,225x12,315x10,x10, Belted; 375x8,Belted and straps;405x1,425x1

My form needs work on deads. I don't get enough leg drive out of the hole and subsequently these are almost all back, so much so I pulled my lats on the last set, but hey it was a pr.

HS High row;
2.25ppsx10,3ppsx10,3.1ppsx10

DB curls
45x8,x8,50x6+4 hammer curl grip

Preacher curl machine;
80x8,x7

I cut the work short cause I pulled my lats on the last set of deads. I need to remember to warm up my lats better if I am thinking of going for a pr. On the plus side if I ever get my form down and get more leg drive I should be able to hit well over 450 as 425 was easy.

[Coke]

The brief back/bicep day was sweet dude especially with the deads pr...you'll get 5pps once you get your form down.