April - June 2007

[John]

Sunday 1 April 2007 - Legs n' Abs

• Horiz. leg press: warmup
• 45° leg press: 12x180, 10x220, 8x280, 6x320, 12x280kg
• Leg extensions: superset 12x117kg
• Horiz. leg curls: 12x60, 10x74, 8x88, 6x95, 12x83kg5
• Kneeling leg curls: superset 12x52kg5 L+R
• Seated calf raises: 12x20, 10x40, 8x60, 6x80, 12x60kg
• Horiz. calf machine: superset 11x175kg
• Supermans: 10x1sec
• Decline ½-situps: 12x0, 10x10, 8x15, 5.5x25, 11x20kg
• Swiss ball crunches: 12
• Side raises: 10x L+R

Workout notes:
Had a bit of a headache come on midway through the leg presses. Didn't increase the max weight on press but better weights on the higher-rep sets, so happy with doing this and building up to heavier max once I can consistently do, say, 8x300kg on the third set.

Leg curls were good and increased the heavier sets. Reversed the order for kneeling curl superset - L before R. Will try and swap this around each time a do the sets because it's quite apparent that the first side done is much harder than the second. This is always a problem when supersetting with one side at a time. Swapped the order of the two calf exercises so got a higher max weight on the seated calf machine. Supermans are done on the hyperextension bench, which holds the legs at about 45° from horizontal - torso held horizontal and arms outstretched as much as comfortable (given shoulder limitations).

[John]

Monday 2 April 2007

First venture out onto the road again since the shoulder surgery. Cycled to work, 36.67km:

• Lower Hutt -> Wellington: 18.61km
• Wellington -> Lower Hutt: 18.06km

I always take a shorter route home to avoid crossing lanes at the Petone Overbridge in the evening rush hour.

[John]

4 April 2007

1. Jog warmup: 1km @ 8-12km/hr
2. 45° Leg Presses: 12x180, 10x220, 8x280, 6x320, 12x280kg
3. Leg Extensions: 12x119kg5 superset
4. BB Reverse Wrist Curls: 12x15, 10x20, 10x20kg
5. BB Wrist Curls: 12x30, 12x30, 12x30kg
6. EZ-bar Preacher Curls: 12x16, 10x26, 8x36, 6x41kg

[John]

10 April 2007

1. L-arm DB Power Snatches: 12x26, 6x34kg
2. EZ-bar Preacher Curls: 12x16, 10x26, 8x36, 5x41, 3x10x36kg
3. 45° Leg Presses: 12x180, 10x220, 8x280, 6x320, 12x280kg
4. Leg Extensions: 12x122kg superset
5. Alternate Kneeling Leg Curls: 12x20, 12,35, 8x50, 6x65, 12x60kg
6. Lying Leg Curl Machine: 4x81 + 8x74kg superset
7. Seated Calf Raise Machine: 12x20, 10x40, 8x60, 6x80, 12x60kg
8. Horizontal Calf Machine: 8x165kg

Leg extensions were a killer - last two reps short.

Weight on leg curls too heavy so reduced during the set.

Horizontal calf raises too heavy after the seated raises.

[John]

13 April 2007

1. EZ-bar Preacher Curls: 12x16, 10x26, 10x36, 8x41, 4x43.5, 12x36kg
2. Hammer Curls: 12x7, 12x10kg
3. Normal & Reverse BB Wrist Curls: 12x20kg, 12x20kg

[John]

14 April 2007

1. BB Reverse Wrist Curls: 12x17.5, 10x20, 6x20, 10x17kg5
2. BB Wrist Curls: 12x20, 10x25, 10x30, 8x35, 6x40, 12x35kg
3. DB Wrist Curls: 10x14kg superset
4. Incline ½-Situps: 12x0, 10x10, 8x15, 6x25, 12x20kg
5. Swiss Ball Crunches: 12
6. Hyperextensions: 12x0kg
7. Side Bends on Hyperext Bench: 10x each side

Last set of reverse wrist curls poor.

[John]

Sunday 15 April 2007

1. 45° leg press: 12x180, 10x220, 8x280, 6x320, 4x330, 12x280kg
2. Leg extensions: superset 12x122kg
3. Kneeling leg curls: 12x25, 10x35, 8x50, 6x60, 6x70, 12x60kg R+L
4. Horiz. leg curls: superset 11x74+1x76kg5
5. Seated calf raises: 12x30, 10x40, 8x60, 6x80, 12x70kg
6. Horiz. calf machine: superset 12x160kg

Workout notes:
Doing more frequent but shorter workouts recently. Was trying for an additional rep at 330 after the 320kg set of leg presses. Got four, so pretty happy. Want to add 20kg to the first three sets next time and see what happens with the heavier sets!

[John]

Wednesday 18 April 2007

1. EZ-bar Preacher Curls: 12x17.5, 10x32.5, 8x40, 4x47.5, 6x45, 12x40kg
2. Hammer Curls: 12x10kg superset
3. One-arm assisted pullups: 10x-40kg (L o'hand grip)
4. Dead-hang Pullups: 3x0kg
5. Concentration Curls: 12x12, 10x14kg
6. DB Flat Presses: 2kg, 3kg
7. BB Flat Presses: 10x17kg5

I weighed the EZ-bar on the scales in the Men's changing room: 7.65kg, say 7.5kg. I'd assumed it was about 6kg.

Concentration curls don't feel too good on the shoulder, so will leave these alone for a while. Feeling my way with some flat presses - albeit very light ones.

[John]

Thursday 26 April 2007

I need to concentrate on the upper body now that I can manage at least some stuff with the improvement in the shoulder. Sick of doing just legs!

1. EZ-bar Curls: 12x17.5, 10x32.5, 8x40, 4x47.5, 6x45, 10x40kg
2. Hammer Curls: 12x12kg superset
3. One-arm Assisted Pull-ups: 10x-40kg (L o'hand grip)
4. Dead-hang Pull-ups: 10x0kg (o'hand wide grip)
5. Iso-Lat Row Machine: 12x20, 10x40, 8x60, 6x80, 12x60kg (all L arm only)
6. Seated Row Machine: 12x68kg superset
7. Iso-Lat Wide Pull-down: 12x40, 10x80, 8x120, 6x160kg
8. DB Flat Presses: 20x4, 15x6, 12x10, 15x8kg

The 47.5 preachers were tough and I fell two reps short on the final set of 40kg.

Final set on the iso-lat wide pull-down machine was too heavy. Will try 140kg next time.

[John]

Monday 30 April 2007

1. 45° Leg Presses: 12x200, 10x240, 8x280, 4x330, 6x320, 12x290kg
2. Leg Extensions: 12x122kg superset
3. Alternate Kneeling Leg Curls: 12x30, 10x40, 8x55, 6x75, 12x60kg
4. Lying Leg Curl Machine: 12x76kg5
5. Smith Calf Raises: 12x120, 10x160, 8x180, 6x200, 12x160kg
6. Horizontal Calf Machine: 10x160 + 4x160kg

Failed on the 5th rep 330 leg press. Good legs workout with the extra set of presses followed by heavy but slow supersetted extensions.

The horizontal calf machine is tough after Smith calf raises. had to break the planned 12-rep set just to take the weight off the calves for a few seconds.

[John]

Wednesday 2 May 2007

1. EZ-bar Preacher curls: 12x17.5, 10x32.5, 8x40, 5x47.5, 12x40kg
2. Hammer Curls: 12x14kg superset
3. Dead-hang Pull-ups: 13x0kg (o'head wide grip)
4. Iso-Lat Wide Pull-down Machine: 12x80, 10x120, 8x140, 6x160, 12x130kg
5. Iso-Lat Row Machine: 12x100kg superset (both arms this time!)

[John]

Wednesday 9 May 2007

1. 45° Leg Presses: 12x200, 10x240, 8x280, 5x330, 12x290kg
2. Leg Extensions: 6x122kg superset
3. Kneeling (Alternate) Leg Curls: 12x30, 10x45, 8x60, 6x75, 12x60kg
4. Lying Leg Curls Machine: 12x76kg5 superset
5. Smith Calf Raises: 12x100, 10x160, 8x180, 6x200, 12x160kg
6. Horizontal Calf Machine: 12x160kg superset

Outch! Only managed six reps on the leg extension superset. Did one more leg press rep at 330 though. Must have been the straw that broke the camel's back.

[John]

Friday 11 May 2007

1. DB Flat Presses: 20x5, 15x9, 12x12, 15x10kg
2. Hammer Curls: 12x12, 10x16kg
3. EZ-bar Preacher Curls: 12x27.5, 10x37.5, 8x45, 6x47.5, 2x50 12x40kg

This was a bit of an experiment to see how the shoulder would stand up to some flat presses. Kept to high-rep light-weight sets because I haven't been given the all clear for gym stuff involving shoulders yet. Went very low with the DBs - down to shoulder level. Felt fine, just a bit of a stretch towards the bottom of the ROM.

Pushed the preacher curls to 50kg (only two slow and rather poor reps) because the arms have suffered atrophy since recovering from the shoulder op.

Pretty pleased with the presses - even though the weights are light.

[John]

Tuesday 15 May 2007

Having found I can do some light chest work I'm starting to feel more motivated towards weight training than I have done recently. I feel that I'm ready to try some light shoulder presses.

I reckon I need to keep recovery period between sessions much more than I was used to to avoid overtraining / no gains. Must be the age catching up

1. Warmup rowing: 5min @ 1:55/500m
2. DB Flat Presses: 20x5, 15x10, 12x14, 12x18
3. BB Flat Presses: 10x42.5, 15x37kg5
4. Dead-hang Pullups: 15x0, 13x0, 10x0kg all o'hand, wide grip
5. Iso-Lat Row Machine: 12x80, 10x100, 8x120, 6x130, 12x110kg
6. DB Shoulder Presses: 15x4, 15x6, 12x10, 8x12, 15x9kg
7. Standing Cable Flyes: 12x3.75, 10x6.25, 10x8.75, 8x11.25, 8x13.75, 15x6kg25

Well the flat presses are showing progress although I dropped the BB weight down after 42.5 because I sensed my shoulder wasn't entirely happy with it.

Also made a modest start with the shoulder presses. Again I sensed the 12kg DBs were starting to do more harm than good to the shoulder so dropped back the weight.