Working Out While Sick: Entry #10

On Tuesday, November 16th I woke up with a cold and was feeling like crap all day. This was my first time getting sick in a long time...I also have no idea how got sick either. I was looking forward to going to the gym on Tuesday so I could "sweat out" my sickness, however running didn't do much.

I felt a little better on Wednesday, but my sickness was still getting in the way of my lifting. I had a headache and felt very tired when I went to go workout, but I still somehow managed myself to get pumped for it. I wasn't able to get all five reps for my overhead presses...even though I was very focused. I also lost all my energy before I got to dead lifts, but I still decided to do them...which ended up hurting me because I couldn't focus enough to use proper form. My improper form only gave me lower back pain.

I thought I was fully recovered on Friday, but I guess I wasn't. I didn't squat because my lower back was still hurting. The only lift I had lots of trouble with was bench. I only managed to get 215x2.5 while I was confident that I was going to get 215x4. 

Monday was another bad day I encountered. I'm not sure if I was still sick or recovering, or if I got significantly weaker from my cold. I decided to bench first that day and it honestly didn't go the way I imagined. I went into the gym pumped to get 210x5 but only got 210x4. This was the day I fell behind my lifting schedule. I was suppose to get all five reps because I was getting 4.5 reps easily the prior weeks. My squat and rows weren't as bad as my bench, I somehow managed myself to get the required reps for them.

I went to the gym on Tuesday to run and bench one last time before I headed home. The running felt great and it seemed to help my sickness...if i was still sick. But benching was bad as usual, I normally don't bench on Tuesdays but it seemed necessary at the time. I tried 225x1 and got it but it wasn't as explosive as I wanted. I usually can push out 225x1.5-2 and maxout around 245-250.

I didn't workout during Thanksgiving break and decided to recover and eat. I feel 100% better now and want to go to the gym on Monday to see if I can bench 210x5 or if I actually got weaker.

Squats Are The King of All Exercises: Entry #9

People view squats as a leg exercise that is unhealthy for your knees...but they are wrong. Squats are a full body exercise that target the hamstrings, quads, calves, pectorals, biceps, and lower/upper back. 

Everyone who works-out should do squats, it will help people get stronger, physically bigger, more flexible, etc. People also blame squats for various knee and back problem. Well, that's not true...unless you use improper form with weight you can barely do. Squats actually strengthen the knees (if you hit at least parallel) and lower back.

Squatting Steps...

1. Place the bar so it is mid chest level.

2. Get under the bar and "dig" it into your traps so you'll have a firm base.

3. Push the bar up and step back, make sure you don't take too many steps back...remember your squatting and not walking around with heavy weights.

4. Make sure your whole body is tight before you attempt to squat.

5. Start squatting by moving you hips back while having your chest up and tight back, you also want to reach at least parallel. Also make sure your knees don't pass your toes unless you are attempting to reach "ass to ground."

6. When squatting up, start by pushing your hips up and not with your knees, also make sure your chest is up when moving the bar up.

YOU MUST REMEMBER TO KEEP YOUR LOWER BACK TIGHT WHEN SQUATTING UNLESS YOU ENJOY LOWER BACK PAIN.

Squats have greatly helped me add weight to my bench and rows...I'll admit, there have been times when I truly hated squatting, but after you gain experience, you'll start to enjoy them.

Why Do You Workout?: Entry #8

When people ask me why I workout, I honestly don't know how to answer back...it's seriously a good question. I don't ever plan on competing for power-lifting neither am I on a current sport's team. I guess I lift because I like getting stronger and I enjoy it. Ever since I got serious about lifting, I couldn't stop working out. I never skip my scheduled workouts and I always seem to have an endless supply of motivation for lifting weights.

I always had an interest of lifting weights but it never occurred to me how important it was until my senior year. I first started lifting weights the second semester of my sophomore year of high school. I wasn't serious about working out at the time, it was for my strength & conditioning class...but lets be honest, high school strength & conditioning classes aren't known for their "excellent" programs. Basically, I barely made any progress, either did any of my classmates. 

During my junior year, I decided to take strength & conditioning for both semester so I can have a place to lift all year. Also, since I didn't lift during the summer prior to my junior year, all my lifting numbers were set back. But same as the year before, progress was slow...but what am I suppose to expect if I wasn't giving all my effort.

My stats looked something like this at the end of the year...

Body Weight: 154

Squat: 155x5(185x10 if I used improper form) - I only squatted when I felt like it

Bench: 145x10

OH Press: 75x8

Rows & Dead Lifts did not exist to me at the time

The summer before my senior year is when I started to lift on my own. I made my own workout based off "Starting Strength" (http://startingstrength.wikia.com/wiki/Starting_Strength_Wiki). This was the beginning of my life as a lifter. I devoted many days that summer to lifting. When senior year started, I used to lift after school with my friends every Mon/Wed/Fri. Second semester is when I got extremely serious about lifting, that is the time when I started power-lifting and "Madcow 5x5." Ever since i got attached to working out, I can't find it in myself to ever stop.

Recent stats...

Body Weight: 146

Squat: 315x1 (parallel)

Bench: 245x1 (it might even be 250x1...I haven't maxed in awhile)

OH Press: 175x1 (no leg drive)

Pendlay Row: 160x5

Dead Lift: 250x5

Pre-workout Supplements Yay or Nay: Entry #7

The main purpose of pre-workout supplements or better known as nitric-oxide (NO2) in the lifting world is to give lifters a pump before their workout, theoretically this pump is suppose to give the users the "best workout" of their lives. Ever since these pre-workout supplements gained popularity, lifters have been pondering if they should buy into these products or not.

In my honest opinion, I don't think pre-workout supplements are necessary for a good workout. I've taken pre-workout supplements a couple of times in the past and I did get a pump...but I don't think they were worth paying for. I usually watch a lifting video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kGQfTgqQBok) or listen to some music to get myself pumped before workouts. Watching lifting videos and listening to music has worked wonders for me and they still continue to do so. In the past, there have been days where I lacked energy to fulfill my lifting requirements but I'm positive everyone has a bad workout every now and then.

Another issue why I don't buy pre-workout supplements is because they have an expensive price tag. I've seen products ranging from $25 - $60 (I'm basing the prices off products that have gotten the highest reviews). You also don't get a lot for what you pay for...usually pre-workout supplements only last for about 15-25 days. Although I'm not a fan of pre-workout supplements, there are still a few of them that still give great pumps. Lifters who have never used NO2 would be shocked by how much a simple pump can do. These pumps don't necessarily make you stronger but they increase the blood flow and oxygen intake allowing you to recover faster and making you strive to lift more weights.

Such as...

Jack3d - http://www.jack-3d.com/

NO-Xplode - http://www.bsnonline.net/details/noxplode.html

White Flood - http://www.whiteflood.info/

Power Lifting vs. Body Building: Entry #6

Yes, they are two different ways to lift weights. This is what most average gym go-ers fail to realize and that is why most of them never reach their personal lifting goals. However, lifting with no knowledge can still bring you strength gains and some physical definition, but you will never be able to maximize your progress unless you have base knowledge on what you want.

Power Lifting: The basic purpose for power lifting is to reach your potential for strength. You are basically lifting strictly to become stronger. People who power lift usually have incredible strength to weight ratio, power lifting also encourages bulking to maximize gains. With power lifting you will definitely become bigger depending on how you bulk but you wont be as defined as a body builder. Power lifters usually focus on compound-lifts (exercises that work more than one muscle) like...squats, bench, rows, dead lifts, hang cleans, dips, and pullups. Recommended rep range is between 3-5 reps of heavy weight.

Body Building: The main focus of body building is to become more defined, toned, cut, etc. You are lifting to make you body more physically "jacked" instead of trying to gain strength. Most body builders seem to look stronger because of their physical appearance, but usually they are easily out lifted by power lifters. Along their journey to perfect their body, most body builders will gain some amount of strength but not as much as power lifters. Body builders also perform compound-lifts but usually favor isolation lifts like...chest flys, biceps curls, triceps-extensions, calf raises, and leg curls. Recommended rep range is between 10-12 reps of moderate-light weight.

Power lifting is not better than body building, neither is body building superior to power lifting. The two types of lifting both have their "pros" and "cons", deciding between the two types solely is the lifters choice depending on what his/her goal is. If they want to get stronger...I recommend power lifting, but if they want to work on their physical appearance...my vote is for body building.

                                                       

No Range of Motion = No Strength: Entry #5

I have seen too many lifting fails at the gym that I must inform people the importance about range of motion (ROM)

Range of Motion is the distance you travel the weight from point A to point B. In other words...this is what most average gym go-ers fail to do. The more ROM you produce, the more strength you will have. It doesn't matter how much weight you throw on the bar, if you don't have proper ROM your lift will mean crap.

The most common exercises I see being done with terrible ROM at the gym are the squats and bench presses. It seems like people want to show-off more than getting stronger.

Squats: 25% of the people in the gym actually squat. But only 5% of them do it with proper ROM. For the other 20% who do improper squats...my message is to you. Squatting 225lbs with full ROM is far more impressive than partial squatting 315lbs. If don't reach at least parallel (hips parallel to floor) your squats mean nothing. You build more strength the lower you go since you have to use all your power to move the the weight back up.

Bench: The bench is probably the most famous exercise when it comes to weight lifting. Every where you look in the gym someone is either flat, incline, decline, or even dumbell benching. I'd expect everyone to be good at benching since it's so popular...but no I am wrong. There honestly isn't anything more annoying than seeing a gym "bro" stack on two plates (plate = 45lbs) to each side of the bar and only bench with a ROM of 2-3 inches. I understand most people who have poor ROM usually bench for "bragging rights" but they literally look like morons when they lift. If you cant bring the bar down to your chest, then it's a sign telling you to lower the weight.

Having full ROM is not hard at all, it's actually very easy to achieve. Sure you're going to have to lower the bench and squat weight A LOT but other than having good ROM should only help you. In fact, you will gain more strength from proper range of motion since it requires much more force and power to lift the weight back up.

Friday/Monday Entry #4

I decided to put two workouts into one post. I was originally going to dedicate this post for 

Friday's workout, but Monday was so bad that the workout had to be shared.

Friday:

Squat: 120x5 150x5 175x5 210x5 245x3 175x8

Bench: 100x5 130x5 155x5 180x5 210x3 155x8

P.Rows: 75x5 95x5 115x5 135x5 160x3 95x5

Assisted Work: Weighted Dips 3x8 Curls 3x8-10 Triceps-Ext. 3x8

Monday:

Squat: 120x5 150x5 175x5 210x5 240x5

Bench: 100x5 130x5 155x5 180x5 205x5

P.Rows: 75x5 95x5 115x5 135x5 155x5

Assisted Work: Weighted Hyper-Ext 2x10 Hammer Curls 3x8-10

Weighted Abs: Ab Pulldown 4x15

Squat: Friday's session was alright, I hit every rep and went past parallel...but i noticed that my heels were off the floor towards the last rep of 245lbs. Basically, I was squatting with improper form. I was hoping Monday would be different and I would have perfect squat form. I was wrong again...my squats were even worse. Although I hit every rep on my final set my heels were still off the floor. I was also struggling way too much on the last few reps even if I'm currently on a deload of my real squatting weight (255/260). I might actually consider deloading back to 225lbs since that's a weight I'm confident and I also need more form work.

Bench: I had a fantastic day for benching on Friday. I hit 210x3 very explosively and I'm pretty sure I could have gotten a fourth rep...but I decided not to and follow what my routine says. Because of Friday, I was pumped for Monday's benching session. I also hit a new PR of 205x5 on the Monday prior to Friday's workout, so I was even more pumped. But like always...I was wrong again. I only got 205x4.5 for bench today. I seriously thought I would get all five easily, I was so pissed that I did another set of 205lbs towards the end of my workout. The extra set only granted me three reps. I've also noticed from benching that I can lift more when I'm seriously pissed vs. trying to get pumped on my own.

P.Rows: My rows for Friday were neither good or bad, they were mediocre. I reached all my reps for each set with little struggle. I was expecting the same for today. I got all five reps for my last set but technically I only got three. For the last two reps of 155lbs I wasn't able to bring the bar all the way to my lower abs. I might actually consider deloading 5lbs for this lift as well, since I've been doing 155/160 for 2-3 weeks now with no progress.

Assisted/Ab Work: They went well like usual. My biceps on Friday literally felt like they were going to pop since I decided to do 5x8-15 vs. the traditional 3x8-10. Other than my biceps work, there isn't anything else worth mentioning.

Madcow “Recovery” Day: Wednesday Entry #3

Like the title says, Wednesday are my recovery days. They are the day I allow my body to recover from the heavy lifting on Mondays. These “recovery” days also allow my body to be ready and prepared for more heavy lifting on Fridays. Although I am required to push out my 5RM for both the overhead press and dead lift, Wednesday are still known as the “recovery” day since I'm only doing four sets of five (4x5) instead of five sets of five (5x5).

Typical Wednesday workout

Light Squats: 120x5 150x5 175x5 175x5

Overhead Press: 95x5 110x5 130x5 150x5

Dead Lift: 145x5 175x5 205x5 235x5

Assisted Work: Wide Grip Pullups 3x10

Abs: 3x15-20

For the most part my workout went incredibly well, I reached all my desired sets and reps.

Squats: I had absolutely no problem with squats on Wednesday, I reached ATG for all four sets. These are one of the main reasons why I love recovery day squats, I never have to put out maximum effort so I always know I'll achieve every rep.

OH Press: I want everyone to know that the press is my all time favorite exercise. Why? It's my most impressive exercise because I can press over my body weight and I still make new gains every few weeks. Most average lifters usually never reach this status, the press is known to be one of the hardest exercise to do more than your body weight. However, although I achieved all five reps I'm planning on repeating the same weight next week because I didn’t bring the bar down as far as I wanted.

Dead Lift: My “deads” this week were not hard at all...but I still felt my grip slipping towards the last rep. If any lifter saw my stats, they too would probably notice that my dead lift is my weakest exercise. For some odd reason I cannot manage to gain more strength any faster for dead lifts. I think it's because of my crappy grip, no matter how well I grab the bar my hands always start slipping towards the fourth and fifth rep.

Assisted Work: Instead of only doing 3x10 of wide grip pullups, I decided to add two more sets in. Now my lats are very sore and I can feel them whenever I move my arms.

For next Wednesday, my squat weight will probably be increased by five pounds since this workout went so well. I think I'll be repeating 150lbs for my OH press and try to bring the bar lower. I might increase the weight on my dead lift because I hit all five reps in my last session and it's time for an upgrade.

Madcow “Heavy 5RM” Day: Monday Entry #2

Mondays are definitely my favorite and hardest days for working out, making new five rep maxes (5RM) are probably one of the greatest feelings when it comes to strength training. Unfortunately, my last Monday workout didn’t go as planned.

My usual Monday workouts (#s differentiates each week)

Squat: 120x5 150x5 175x5 210x5 240x5

Bench: 100x5 130x5 155x5 180x5 205x5

Pendlay Rows: 75x5 95x5 115x5 135x5 155x5

Assisted Work: Hyper-Ext 2x10 Hammer Curls 3x8-10

Weighted Abs: Ab Pulldown 4x15

I would like to notify everyone that I was cycling off creatine (http://www.bodybuilding.com/store/creatine.html) this week so I already expected a workout not at my full potential, but I never expected it to be as terrible as this one.

Squats: I recently deloaded my squat weight 15lbs because I wanted to make sure my form was perfect and also because I was plateauing (when adding weight is near impossible). I also wasn’t squatting low enough at that weight prior to my deload, I usually try my best to reach “ass to ground” (ATG) or at least parallel (hips parallel to ground). Due to the recent deload, I expected my last set to be “a walk in the park” but no, I still ended up struggling on the fourth and fifth rep. I even felt my lower back rounding a little bit towards the last rep....which is never a good sign unless you enjoy lower back pain. But I still managed myself to go ATG. Basically to sum everything up for squats, I was able to get all my reps for each set, but my last set wasn’t as easy I thought it would be.

Bench: The only problem I encountered for bench this week was not being able to push out my fifth rep for my last set at 205lbs. I believe the missed rep was because of my form, I wasn’t able to concentrate as much since I wasn’t fully pumped for my workout from the start. But none of this surprised me since I have never gotten five reps at 205lbs yet. I also recently came out of a plateau at 200x5, so I am fully aware that reaching a new 5RM might take a little more time than I would like.

P.Rows: Everything about my rows on Monday were disgusting.....my form, lack of strength, loss in focus, etc. I managed to get all the required reps for each set besides the fifth one. When I got into position for my last set, I already knew I wasn’t going to get all 5 reps. I was using an underhand grip (easier grip) as I always do for my 5RM, but this time it didn’t benefit me at all. I technically got all five reps but the form was awful, there was way too much leg/hip power generated into a back exercise. The funny thing about my rows are, last Friday I was able to get 155x3 with strict overhand grip easily...this made me believe I'd have an easy Monday workout for rows.

Assisted/Ab Work: Like always, I didn’t run into any problems at all. Assisted and ab work don’t require as much strength or concentration in form when compared to my main exercises, that's the reason for not having any problems.

Hopefully my next Monday workout won't be as awful, I'm planning on re-doing my squats at 240lb, trying to hit 205x5 for bench, and getting all 5 reps at 155lb for rows with solid form.

Madcow "Heavy Triple" Day: Friday Entry #1

Last Friday I headed to the gym and followed my Madcow routine as usual. I didn't necessarily have a great workout, but neither was it bad in any way, I was still able to push out all the required sets/reps for the workout.

I was feeling a bit tired before I went to the gym (around 6:00 pm) since my body had not been fully adjusted to the “college life” , but I was still able to pull myself together since I can never allow myself to miss a workout.

My workout, Madcow 5x5 (http://madcow.hostzi.com/5x5_Program/Linear_5x5.htm) focuses more on strength than body building, which is the reason for having fewer reps and more heavy sets. I currently weigh-in around 145-148lbs and one of my main focuses is to build a higher strength/weight ratio instead of going for aesthetics.

Strength/weight ratio is the amount in which one can lift compared to his/her bodyweight. Basically, the higher the weight lifted and lower the bodyweight the better the ratio will be.

For example: Lifting 300lbs for any exercise and weighing at 155lbs is far more impressive than a 220lbs guy lifting the same amount of weight.

Usual Friday “Heavy Triple” workouts look something similar to this…

Squat:130x5 160x5 190x5 225x5 260x3 190x8

Bench: 100x5 125x5 150x5 175x5 205x3 150x8

Pendlay Rows: 70x5 90x5 110x5 125x5 150x5 110x8

Assisted Work: Weighted Dips 3x5-8 Curls 3x8-10 Triceps-Ext 3x8

If my workout goes as planned I should be able to add 5lbs each week to my squat, bench, rows, or any other exercise I do on Mondays or Wednesday….but this “highly praised” theory of adding weight each week does not work properly for me. When people are trying to build maximum strength they also should be eating at a calorie surplus or better known as a “bulking” in the lifting world. I currently am not on a bulk so that is the reason why my lifts don't progress as fast as I wish they would.

Don't get me wrong; I still make decent gains over time.

For example: Recently on Monday I finally came out of a lifting plateau by hitting 200x5 on bench. Prior to Monday for many weeks I would only be able to get four reps.

Although I make slow gains when I am maintaining weight, when I actually make new personal records (PR) all that hard work pays off and that is one of the main reasons that has me committed to lifting heavy every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.