Tricep Workout

Image via Wikipedia

Alright! The last of the workouts I’m going to post is for triceps. I had a hard time finding a tricep routine that I felt would work well. I tired watched a lot of videos, got some ideas from them and tried exercises from several of them to come up with something. So I don’t have a video to post with this one, I had to modify everything so much and mix and match exercises that I feel like this one is mostly something I just made up.

So here’s the workout right here (follow the links if you want clarification )

Dips : (ExRx description) – (YouTube Video | Scooby)

• 3 sets until failure

Close grip bench press: (ExRx description) – (YouTube Video | Scooby)

• 2 sets 10-12 reps low weight
• 2 sets 8-10 reps mid weight
• 2 sets 6-8 reps heavy weight

Skull Crushers:  (ExRx description) – (YouTube Video | Scooby)

• 3 sets 6-8 reps

Overhead Tricep Extension: (ExRx description) – (YouTube Video | ScottHermanFittness)

• 3 sets 6-8 reps

Cable Lying Tricep Extension (ExRx description)

• 3 sets 6-8 reps

Tricep Dip Machine:  (ExRx description) – (YouTube Video | expertvillage)

• 3 sets 6-8 reps

Close grip pushups:  (ExRx description) – (YouTube Video | expertvillage)

• 3 sets until failure

 

I tried to pick YouTube videos from channels I like, but some of the exercises were harder to find good videos of (I can’t find any that actually explain the cable extension). Scooby is a great resource for fitness and whatnot. He has his own website as well as a youtube (Scooby1961). I think he really knows what he’s talking about, and tries to post stuff for people to do at home rather than just the gym. He definitely takes a no nonsense approach to health and fitness. Expert-village is OK, not my favorite, but sometimes it’s just nice to have someone talk you through an exercise.

 

 

 

Shoulder Workout

Image via Wikipedia

Wow! Just wow! School started and all resolve to keep posting fell by the waysides. I have never been so overwhelmed in my life. Amazingly I didn’t miss a single day at the gym. Nothing has slowed down, but I really wanted to keep this going, so I’m gona try to fit it in a little. I know I can’t keep to posting every day but maybe I can fit in a few times a week. So don’t give up on me peeps.

For shoulders I went for HanhChampion‘s routine. I don’t know if I have much to say about shoulders. I happen to have fairly broad shoulders naturally, but they lack a lot of definition (I’m guessing most of my work lies in lowing my body fat %). That said I like the look of really cut and riped shoulders as much as the next guy.

This workout kills me every time. Some of that is because it’s day six when I do this and I always feel like I’m pushing my limit on simply any kind of exercise. The other factor is it’s dreadfully intense. Apparently Hanh enjoys doing sets to the max… 5 sets of this 5 sets of that, by the end of this one my shoulders are screaming. I actually really find the cable exercises the best in this one. I don’t think they would be very effective alone, but if you do all the dumbbell work first and then do the cable stuff at the end like he does… well lets just say my shoulders were on fire. Check the bottom of this post for the whole workout written out.

Some things I learned from this workout:

• Keep the weight low and the movements slow. I see tons of guys in the gym bashing out shoulder stuff at 100 miles per hour with 30 or 40 pound dumbbells on lateral raises… I’m not saying there aren’t guys out there that can lift that weight,  but I do hear more people complain on the web about shoulder injuries than anything else. And it makes it so they can’t do work on other muscle groups (chest, back… arms).
• I can’t stress keeping the weight low enough on these. I do 20 pounds on the front, 15 on the lateral and 20 on the rear. Right now a day after the workout my shoulders are dead tired and quite sore.
• Shoulder press can handle more weight than all of the other exercises… I’m doing 35 pounds and usually getting through all the reps on each sets (OK maybe 8 on the last one)
• This is a good routine to do at the end of the week (he mentioned that). By then you’re probably tired enough that lighter weight might not seem so bad.
• Being militant about the rest between sets (aim for 30 seconds) really keeps the intensity up and the burn going strong.
• This routine doesn’t take a horribly long time if you keep an eye on the clock between sets… because of that I find you can pair it with abs really easily (I do abs first… I tried doing this first and then abs and I wanted to die / puke about halfway through my ab routine)

Tell me whats up in the comments below, or ask me anything (some suggested things you could tell me):

• What’s your favorite shoulder workout routine?
• Have you tried this workout before, how did you like it?
• Have you dealt with a shoulder injury, how long did it put you out?

---

The workout:

Dumbbells: (5 sets of 10-12 reps per exercise)

• Front raise
• Shoulder Press
• Lateral raise
• Rear Lateral Raise (bent-over raise)

Cable Machine: (3 sets of 10-12 reps per exercise)

• Front raise
• Lateral raise
• Rear Lateral Raise (bent-over raise)

 

Abdominal Workout

Image via Wikipedia (no my abs look nothing like this...yet)

I did both abs and shoulders on Saturday and was trying to decided which one to talk about first. I settled on abs because they hurt the most right now. In fact I may have mentioned that I was planning on doing abs twice a week, but right about now I’m thinking that once might a better idea (I don’t think I’ll be rested enough to do it in the next two days)

This was another one that I got from Scott Herman. I’ve noticed that Scott has several ab routines on his YouTube channel, so I think he might know a thing or two about working that muscle group. I picked this one because it looked intimidating to me, and my overall goal that I set back in October was to have a visible six-pack by the end of April. It’s true that no amount of ab exercises will actually get me a visible six-pack if I don’t cut down my overall body-fat but I’d like them to look nice and developed when that happens.

This workout is pretty self explanatory. Very little of it has any added weight on top of the weight of your body so it relies on high repetitions. Theres a couple supersets thrown in there, which helps keep the burn going. Scott makes a great suggestion to do this routine first if you plan on doing another muscle group that day.

Two days later and my abs are killing me. I went to the gym earlier today and did the chest workout again, and winced every time I laid down on the bench to do more presses. This workout treats the core like any other muscle group, having a lot of different exercises to hit it from all fronts and keep the intensity way up.

Some things I learned from this workout:

• On the leg raises move slow, especially on the downward motion. It makes it harder… but that’s the point now isn’t it?
• It’s kinda nice to touch the floor behind you when you go down for the deep crunches. I can’t do it with my head like Scott, but I do with my hands.
• I know he says you can do this workout twice a week… but he’s also crazy
• Try not to cry… people will look at you weird if your crying while crunching (just kidding, I didn’t cry… much)

Tell me whats up in the comments below, or ask me anything:

• What’s your favorite ab workout routine?
• Have you tried this workout before, how did you like it?
• How often to you do core exercises?
• What are you trying to improve the most (muscles or otherwise)?
• What is the longest term fitness goal you have currently, and when is the deadline?

---

The workout:

• Leg Lift – 3 Sets of 20-30 reps
• Supersets!  — Deep Crunches &  Half Leg lift Half Crunch – 3 Sets of 20-30 reps
• Alternating Bosu Ball and Floor Crunches – 3 Sets of 20-30 reps
• Ab pull down – 3 Sets of 20-30 reps

Bicep Workout

Image via Wikipedia

So the reason for the lack of post yesterday was because my wife made a deal with a woman she cleans houses for and by doing so got me a new video card for my computer. A couple of weeks ago mine died the true death, so I’ve been using her laptop (which makes my wife less than happy). It ended up taking me a longer time than I expected to get the new card installed so I never got around to writing a post.

Biceps seem to be the showboat of the muscle world… everyone wants big ones. I’m no exception, I have fairly undeveloped biceps so there was no way I was going to skimp on this workout. I’ve mentioned it before and I’ll say it again, I really look up to Scott Herman as a source of advice and motivation for fitness. He has a YouTube channel, Facebook Page and a website of his own as well. Being a poor college kid (ok so I’m actually 27), I can’t afford to buy his meal plans, but I am really happy that he puts out so much free resources for people. If you read an earlier post of mine you’ll know that the last set of workouts I used were all his. Luckily he posted an alternate workout for biceps that looked awesome, so I jumped on that this time around.

The idea behind this workout is similar to a power set. Keeping the muscles working non stop so that they really get worn down and fatigued. It’s slightly less strenuous, just because each exercise uses the bicep a little differently but by the end your arms should be pumped full of blood and feeling a good burn.

I know that I’ve never felt so much burn from 10 pound side hammer curls in my life. I did end up making it through all 4 rotations of this circuit and by the end my biceps felt huge and I felt jazzed.

Some things I learned from this workout:

• It is difficult to actually do this workout non-stop. People will inevitably get on machines you need to use and often you’ll have to set things up in between exercises. That said most people are happy to let you work in 1 set on a cable machine, which is usually where I got held up.
• The double bicep curls on cable machines are a little awkward at first. I found that it really helps if you stand little forward from the pulleys (so they are a bit behind you). It also helps to watch yourself in a mirror. What I had trouble with was keeping my hands even with my temples, instead of in front of my head. It takes some concentration, but I noticed a big difference when I got the form right.
• Don’t get too crazy with the weight on the single arm cable curls, if you put too much on you’ll start incorporating other muscles. I found that a good rule of thumb was if I couldn’t keep my elbow from lifting up with my forearm then I needed to drop the weight a bit.
• I believe he says this in the video, but just remember that with curls you should stop just above 90 degrees. If you lift all the way to your chest then you start using different muscles. If you just pay attention you can feel when this happens.
• Slow on the negative… this is something one should always be doing in weight lifting, but this routine moves fast so it seemed to lead to moving too fast if I didn’t concentrate.

Tell me whats up in the comments below, or ask me anything:

• What’s your favorite Bicep workout routine?
• Have you tried this workout before, how did you like it?
• Do you enjoy circuits like this?
• What muscle group do you want to improve the most?
• Whats your favorite muscle group to workout?
• What’s your least favorite?

---

Here’s the workout:

Do each exercise 6-8 repetitions with as much weight as you can (except the last exercise)

• Wide-Grip Barbell Preacher Curl
• Single-Arm Seated Dumbbell Preacher Curl
• Single-Arm Cable Bicep Curl
• Standing Cable Double-Bicep Curl
• Single-Arm Cross-Body Hammer Curl • 15 reps per side (5-10 pounds MAX)

Repeat 2 to 4 times

Leg Workout

Image via Wikipedia

I’m no expert, but it seems to me that Legs tend to be the most neglected muscle group and the most dreaded to work out. I too sometimes find it hard to be really pumped and excited about doing a lot of lifting on my leg day. I think part of it is that my legs are fairly big already and need a lot less improvement than my upper body. Still, I have noticed improvement, especially in some knee pain I used to suffer from since I started putting some real effort into my lower body workouts.

Besides triceps, I found legs to be the most difficult muscle group to find a good routine for this time around. I actually found something by accident, just goofing around watching videos of bodybuilders doing their own routines that are way above the level I am at (or even arguably want to be at). Daryl Jones posted his leg routine up on YouTube (in two parts). It is beyond intimidating, and for good reason, his legs are epic. (Just a side note, I love one of his nicknames, which is Comic Book Jones and I think I’ll call him that for now on)

(edit: the videos won’t playback on my blog page, but they sitll work if you follow the link to youtube… just click the play button and then the link that shows up)

Two words here: Power Sets. That’s what works for Comic Book Jones, or at least his trainer thinks it’s a good idea. Besides all the screaming and agony in his videos, you can see that he is really getting an intense workout. Well, it inspired me and I decided try it out after modifying it down to something I could handle (since, I’m not a giant Goliath of craziness). If you scroll down to the bottom of the post I’ve listed what I decided to go with. If you haven’t guessed, power sets are sets that you do until failure with almost no rest in between the sets (if you pay attention in the video, his trainer allows him five breaths before the next set). The idea is of course is that you’ll wear out the muscles a lot more if you don’t give them any rest.

Last night when I did the workout I was definitely working hard, pouring sweat, grunting a little more than usual and making most people in the gym look at me like I was on drugs and in a bikini… Yeah it was that awesome! This morning, a day after the workout I wasn’t feeling much and thought maybe the workout I had come up with wasn’t intense enough. About 20 minutes later I changed my mind. I am fairly sore right now, especially my quads and glutes.

Some things I learned from this workout:

• 10 seconds is a good amount of rest between sets for a power set for me. I tried 5 seconds at some point, and I felt like I didn’t have enough time to catch my breath.
• This workout is easier to do when the gym isn’t really busy. It’s hard to keep moving from machine to machine if you get stuck in a line for something.
• This workout is pretty light on the calf muscles, so if that is a weak point for you, you might consider adding some calf raises in there… My calves are naturally on the big side, so I chose to leave it for now.

Tell me whats up in the comments below, or ask me anything:

• What’s your favorite Leg workout routine?
• Have you incorporated power sets into your workout, and have they been effective?
• Do you find watching weightlifting videos far above your own skill and strength inspiring or intimidating?
• How long does it take you to feel sore from a workout?
• Whats your favorite muscle group to workout?
• What’s your least favorite?

---

The workout

Leg Extensions

• 3 Power Sets until failure (10 seconds rest between sets)

Leg Press

• 3 Power Sets until failure (10 seconds rest between sets)

Leg Curls

• 3 Power Sets until failure (10 seconds rest between sets)

Hack Squats

• 3 Power Sets until failure (10 seconds rest between sets)

Repeat the whole circuit 2 times

Back Workout

Image by brndnprkns via Flickr (no this isn't me)

It’s actually kindof nice that I got a day off on my posts, because I get a little bit of a chance to mull over how the workout the day before went.

So I chose a back workout from  HanhChampion on YouTube. He seems like a real nice guy to me, puting up some awesome workout videos that get right to the point and generally just trying to share some knowledge. He just started a blog ( <——- Check it in the sidebar) and from what I can tell he’ll check out peoples workout blogs if you drop him a comment and ask for advice. Like I said, real stand up dude.

Again his style of workouts is a lot different than some I’ve done in the past, which is a big reason I chose them… just to change it up. This workout is all pyramid routines with some pull-ups at the end, just to make you scream. I have to say this workout has made me much more sore than the chest one. My Lats are especially sore in the middle of my back, which definitely makes me feel like it worked good. In the video description on you-tube he mentions that he does some dead-lifts sometimes, and I chose to throw in 3 sets of 8-10 reps of those at the end of my workout. He doesn’t show how to do them so if you’re looking for a video on dead-lifts Scott Herman has one using dumbbells that is good.

Some things I learned from this workout:

• I accidently did 2 sets of the heavy weight at the end of each pyramid and I actually like that extra set. So I think I’ll keep doing it, it doesn’t add too much time and it really seems to hit those muscles just right.
• If I do the pull-ups at the end of the workout there is no way I can do them without an assist machine, so I just go straight to that… maybe eventually I’ll get strong enough for that one.
• I especially liked the close grip pull-downs. Just saying, I haven’t seen anyone else suggest them, and they really targeted a part of my back that I can tell I don’t hit normally. If you do nothing in this workout but these, I personally think you’ll find a lot of benefit.

Tell me whats up in the comments below, or ask me anything:

• What’s your favorite Back workout routine?
• Has anyone tried this one out… how’d you like it?
• Do you feel that you need to feel sore the next day to know your lifting was intense enough?
• How important is intensity to you in a workout routine?
• In general do you respond well to pyramid routines?

---

So Here is the workout, with some modifications I added:

Pulldowns

• 2 Sets of 15-20 Reps – Light weight
• 2 Sets of 10-12 Reps – Mid weight
• 2 Set of 8-10 Reps – Heavy weight

Low Rows

• 2 Sets of 15-20 Reps – Light weight
• 2 Sets of 10-12 Reps – Mid weight
• 2 Set of 8-10 Reps – Heavy weight

Close Grip Pulldowns

• 2 Sets of 15-20 Reps – Light weight
• 2 Sets of 10-12 Reps – Mid weight
• 2 Set of 8-10 Reps – Heavy weight

Hammer Streagnth Lat Pulldowns

• 2 Sets of 15-20 Reps – Light weight
• 2 Sets of 10-12 Reps – Mid weight
• 2 Set of 8-10 Reps – Heavy weight

Pull-ups (with or without assist)

• 3 sets until failure

Deadlifts

• 3 sets of 8-10 reps

Chest Workout

Yeah, I said I would post yesterday…

Anyhow. I’m switching up my weight lifting routine this week. I needed something new, and something that would fit into my schedule a little more, since school is only a week away and I don’t want everything to fall by the wayside. I wanted to keep with 6 days a week because its been really effective so far, but I need to cut time down. I decided to cut all but two days down to one muscle group a day (Chest, Back, Tricep / Abs, Bicep, Legs, Shoulders / Abs). It means I only lift each group once a week (except abs, since I’m shooting for a six pack).

I did a lot of searching, mostly on YouTube, for a plan that I liked the look of. I wanted it to be a bit of a different tactic than the last one I had from Scott Herman Fitness (which was great by the way). I actually settled on this video below from ice1cube. It’s actually a workout from a friend of his that has a channel of his own (hanhchampion) with a few more routines up, and I’ll talk about some of those too, since I chose several of his for the rest of the week.

So the workout is basically a pyramid followed by some straight sets ending with a superset. For those not familiar, a pyramid structured routine starts with sets of low weight and large amount of repetitions and builds up to higher weight while lowering the reps. Often it will go back down to lower weight again. A superset is when you follow a set on one exercise with another exercise using the same muscles, without resting in between.

I was definitely a little worried at weather or not I could actually do this workout. The large amount of sets was definitely intimidating at first, but surprisingly I made it through them. I do need to adjust the weight a little bit yet, but I got through most of it at the reps they suggest. A day later I’m also surprised that I’m not horribly sore, tomorrow will be the real test, since my peak soreness is usually a good two days out.

Some things I’ve learned so far from this workout:

• By the time I reach the pushups at the end, my chest is too tired to do even close to a full 10 reps per set, it took me a minute, but I figured out that I can do the 2 to 3 I can on my toes and then switch to ones on my knees to keep it going.
• Because a lot of this workout has higher reps and more sets than I am used to it’s important to pace myself with the amount of weight. Don’t max your reps out to failure when you’re at sets of 10, or you’ll be too tired to do the sets of 6 at the end.
• Watch the clock between sets!!!! If you limit your rest to 30-60 seconds not only will it keep your workout from getting too long, it will really keep the intensity up. (I’m considering getting a wristwatch or something for this)

Tell me whats up in the comments below, or ask me anything:

• What’s your favorite chest workout routine?
• Has anyone tried this one out… how’d you like it?
• How many times a week do you lift?
• How many times a week do you do chest workouts?

---

Here’s the plan written out, just because I thought that might be usefull to some:

Dumbbell Bench Press

• 2 Sets of 10 reps – light weight
• 2 Sets of 8 reps – mid weight
• 2 Sets of 6 reps – heavy weight
• 5 Sets of 10 reps – mid weight

Incline Barbell Bench Press

• 5 Sets of 10 reps (whatever weight you can do at this amount)

Machine Fly & Push-ups

• Supersets 5 Sets of 10 reps

Quick update

It’s been a little bit, time has this habit of getting away from me quickly.

I lost a little momentum last week at the gym… struggling to keep the intensity up and the motivation strong. So first off I’m trying to up the amount of sleep I’m getting. I work early hours, so in a perfect situation I would be getting to sleep by 8pm. This week I’m shooting for 9:00 (I better get moving! It’s five till right now).

Also, I think changing my workout routine might give me that added boost I need. I did a lot of searching today to find some routines that look inspiring. Tomorrow I’ll talk a little bit about the workout for that day, and I’ll see if I can’t get a post in each day for each workout. I didn’t even make it to the gym today (uggg… I know!) so everything will be a day off… but I need to get a routine going that makes me excited to go to the gym, because school starts for me next week!

Talk to you later.

Start it up!

Image via Wikipedia

A new year, new day… time to get going.

I’m happy to say that I’m not starting new fitness goals this time of year, I’ve been going strong since October. I can’t say the same for this blog though, so no time like now to give it another go.

I was lucky enough to get a gym membership this last November, which really pushed me forward. A lot of what I want to share with this blog, besides my own progress, is all the info I have been finding to keep me going. Workout routines I use, free workout music I find on the net, even recipes if i find unique things that help me out. So let’s do it!

Workout routine (Resistance training):

Right now I’m using some routines by Scott Herman. He’s on youtube, has his own site and has some amazing videos on his channel. Right now I’m on a six-day routine and I’ve combined his workouts so I do two a day (that makes it so I can do each one twice a week). This is all just weightlifting… I personally throw in half an hour of cardio and some basic stretches to hit all the muscle groups as well. If you’re looking for some good intense weightlifting routines, these are good! You could combine these workouts any way you want but I like them this way:

Day 1: Chest (Click for video) / Triceps (Click for video)

Day 2: Back (Click for video) / Biceps (Click for video)

Day 3: Legs (Click for video) / Shoulders (Click for video)

Repeat

Free Music:

Found some great tracks on Le Castle Vania’s website (check out their download page). Basically some good high energy cyber techno… makes me feel like running up a mountain or lifting a building. So check them out. I definitely recommend the Bulletproof Tiger Mix tape… that almost an hour and a half of pumping beats. Darn straight!

Tell me what music you like to listen to when your working out in the comments below! Talk to you soon.

Hello

Well Hello there. Let me introduce myself (although there’s a good chance you already know me). My name is Jake, I’m 26 and live in Denver Colorado. I’ve been working this year to live a healthier lifestyle and decided to star this blog to continue in that direction. I’d like to share my experience with you and in turn if you have experiences to share with me, I’m all ears. By no means do I claim to be an expert, but sometimes I find that the best people to learn from fellow students.