#FeatsOfGymming

Self-serving posts about my fitness, nutrition and other things I care about that you might, too, because feeling fat is not fun.

[featsofgymming]

Feb. 4, 2015 - Legs/Core

Had to get a quick one in. Basically learned today that it's real dumb to try to build up using a heavier, short range instead of building up to it. Meaning, I went too heavy, too fast. But that's OK. Next workout I'll do a true 5x5.

Squats: 5, 5, 3, 2, 2. This is what I was talking about. Started at 225, then jumped to 245 and felt good enough to test my 3RM. Had I stuck with the 245 I had on the bar instead of moving to 255, those 2s would've been 3s. Whatever; I'm sore. Next time.

Cleans/BB planks: 4x3, :10 plank

1-Legged RDLs: 3x3 per leg. Just to help build a little balance.

3 Trisets: Swiss ball crunches (25, 15, 15)/Planks (:30, :25, :25)/Brettzel stretch

Got the hell out of there to wrap things up quick.

[featsofgymming]

Feb. 2, 2015 - Push/Pull

Today was all about bang-for-buck -- I had limited time but wanted to get as intense as possible with at least one compound lift. My bench is a sore spot for me (I've never been able to go very heavy) so I've been wanting to bring that up some. Again, sticking with 5x5 as much as I can on big lifts. Today's workout:

Pull-ups: 10, 8, 8, 5 (Better than last time, but it also dawns on me I'm probably getting heavier. I should weigh myself.)

Bench: 5x5, @ 205, 215, 225 (x4), 205, 195

Seated Cable Rows: 10, 8, 8

Incline BB Bench: 10, 8, 8, 6

Then, I ran out of time. Still, I felt really good about feeling getting those first two bench sets clean, with no sticking/slowing. I felt like I might try getting under 225 again, just to see where I was at and because I had a spotter to work with, but the fourth was a major struggle, to the point of technical failure. 220 would have been smarter. Still, next time I bench, I'll be starting with 215. Hashtag progress.

[featsofgymming]

​Jan. 31, 2015 - Legs/Core

Before I post today's workout -- third straight day of a really great session, and I feel amazing and extremely validated knowing tomorrow is a rest day -- I want to get into something that many average people, like me, come across when they are trying to turn their fitness around.

I am making good progress on my strength and physique, noticing small and consistent gains. But I'll never be the most massive person in the gym, period. I'm an otter-person. I'm a long, thin guy by nature and my goal is to just be the best I can with the genes I have. That said, it can still be daunting when you are in a gym full of people on an entirely different level that you ever have thought about. Today was like that. I hit the gym around midday, and it was full of guys who were stronger or bigger than me. 

In the past, this has been able to get in my head -- many people make this mistake, and it's what ultimately scares them off of their resolutions or fitness goals. I was going for deadlifts today and wanted to take ownership of the lone platform, which was open and right next to the leg press machine -- being operated by a dude with thighs as big around as my waist. (My wife calls these dudes Gigantors, and she swears she'll suffocate me in my sleep if I ever become one because it's "too much." I don't think I'm in much danger.)

In my experience, people who feel challenged or inadequate because of what others are doing for themselves are suffering from low self-esteem and/or self-confidence issues. I've been there. I've wrapped up a workout early, way back when I was starting out, because I felt embarrassed to be squatting what another guy was curling. The way to get past it, for me, has always boiled down to one basic principle:

Nobody cares what I'm doing except for me.

I kind of hate the Fitness Internet because of its tendency to make fun of people who are gym novices, but trust that 99 percent of the gym-going population does not care about what you're doing. They are so self-focused on their own goals that they simply don't have the time or attention to worry about what you're lifting. Are you on your cell phone on an in-demand piece of equipment, or did you pour on the cologne (or, worse, skip the deodorant) before you came in? If not, nobody will give you a negative look.

So, on the same token, while you can believe that nobody will care what you're doing, you also need to focus solely on the person in the mirror. No, not the girl on the adductor machine behind you. That's creepy. If you're 100-percent focused on your workout, 1) your physical results will be better and 2) there will be no room to think about what anyone else is doing. That's how you avoid your own negative vibes in the gym: Simply be task-focused and don't invite them in the first place.

So, while our massive friend was hammering away the leg press with every plate in the weight room, I turned up the iPod a little bit and concentrated on what I was doing. And it was:

Deadlifts: 5x5 (alternated sumo and standard stance) -- 243, 243, 243, 253, 253

Cleans: 4x3 @ 111

Alternating forward lunges, 8 per leg, holding a 35-lb. KB per hand

Alternating backward lunges, 8 per leg, with 35s

Superset: 15 Janda sit-ups/:30 planks

Superset: 15 crunches/:15 planks with toes on Swiss ball

[featsofgymming]

Jan. 31, 2015 — Stupid Vanity Day

Shoulders and arms. Shameless.

Seated military press: 10, 8, 8, 8 (ascending weight)

4 Supersets: 12 Lateral Raises, 12 alternating front raises

Shrugs: 20, 15, 5 (with a 5-second hold), 5 (5-second hold)

3 Supersets: Internal/External Rotations x 10

3 Supersets: Preacher Curls x 10, 8, 6/Triceps Cable Pushdowns (12, 15, 20)

3 Supersets: 6 Close-Grip Bench/10 Concentration Curls

I had pizza today as my cheat meal. It was glorious.

[featsofgymming]

Jan. 29, 2015 - Push/Pull

I had to push back an extra day because I felt the start of a cold coming on yesterday. In my early 20s, I would've just gone and worked out, then gotten even sicker the next few days and been a hacking mess for two weeks. Instead I worked from home, rested up, loaded up on fruit and water and felt like a million bucks today.

I decided today I want to focus on getting stronger and making sure my workouts are helping me accomplish that. I was alternating volume and external load focus for awhile; now I want to stick with 3-on, 1-off but go with a 5-by-5 scheme on all my big lifts -- squat, dead, bench. The latter was first up tonight. Here's how I did:

Warmed up with 135x10 before 5x5, going 185, 195, 205, 205, 205. The idea is that next workout, I'll start off with 195, then hopefully get four sets of 205 in; time after that, I'll be looking at 5x5 all at 205, and then after that I can start bumping up the weight a bit. I'm excited to eventually get four plates back on the bar for reps, because it's been a while. I'd love to be able to do that by May.

Anyway, then I went over to the pullup bar and was a total weenie. I'm not sure why I felt such little strength in my back but it definitely happened. Only got 8 on my first set (which is a huge indicator that something was off), then went 6, 6, and 4. I was the guy shaking his head at himself tonight.

Went over to incline and had to do barbell -- the weight room was packed and that means it was bro-fest at the DB rack and every adjustable bench was taken. Knocked out 3 sets, 10, 8, 8, going deep but pretty light since the 5x5 flat bench had me pretty fatigued.

Finished off with 10, 8, 6, 5, 5 on T-bar rows, again feeling pretty weak. 115 is what I ended on for the 5s, which is paltry. But I'll get stronger.

I wish I had gone at 7 instead of 7:30 -- it just simply didn't give me enough time to get in 5-6 total exercises, which I'd have liked to do.

[featsofgymming]

I might be the only person who likes this.

I make a half-assed tuna melt casserole that uses whole wheat pasta, tuna and peas plus some balsamic vinaigrette with olive oil. Hits protein, good carbs and healthy fats all at once — plus some melted cheese, because I need that and I don’t feel dairy is too harmful in moderation —and it’s easy to throw in Tupperware for later. Granted then you have warmed tuna and people hate you but it’s not about them.

It's about me.

[featsofgymming]

Jan. 26, 2015 - Legs/Core

I missed my blog yesterday, but I did the workout -- much better than the other way around. Today's a planned rest day (I may yet do some stretching and/or cardio), so time to get caught up here.

My last squat day wasn't one where I was going too heavy, so I wanted to see what I could do with a bit more weight. You'll see on my last set, I had 2 @ 255 -- I wanted to test my 1RM and ended up not going heavy enough. I should have gone up to 265; I went into the workout feeling fairly exhausted from the day, though, so that plan was scuttled a little. Next time I hit squats, I'll focus on explosiveness at higher rep ranges before coming back to heavy.

Last night's workout:

Squats: 10 (warmup), 5 (205), 5 (225), 3 (245), 3 (255), 2 (255)

Cleans -5 @ 100, superset with 5 "no-mo" box jumps; 5 @ 100, superset with 3 1-leg Romanian deadlifts each @ 100, then 3 box jumps; 3 @ 100, superset with 5 box jumps and a short stretching series. -- On the box jumps, I focus on not taking an initial step, and limiting my arm swing as much as possible. As I fatigue, that's when I'll let the arms get involved for a bit of momentum but initially I want all the explosive training to happen in the legs and core.

Planks: 1 minute, paired with 10 Janda sit-ups; 35 seconds, paired with 15 crunches.

Side planks: 2x15 seconds each side

Nutrition was 100-percent clean yesterday despite several temptations. Feeling very good about that.

[featsofgymming]

Today's lineup. Preparation is key!

[featsofgymming]

Always well-executed, never well-done.

[featsofgymming]

Jan. 25, 2015 - Shoulders/Arms

My favorite split at this point is three on, one off, with alternate-focus leg days (more on that in a second). This split doesn't force me to do certain days of the week for certain movements or body parts -- for example, it is Bro Culture lore that Monday is Bench Day. My split includes Upper Body Push-Pull (or chest and back, essentially), shoulders/arms and then legs/core on day 3, followed by a rest day, before repeating.

Regarding the leg day alternating -- I switch up quad and hamstring/glute focus each time. So since my last legs workout was deadlift-intensive, the next one (tomorrow) will be led by squats.

Today was shoulders/arms, and it was a great session.The workout:

Seated Overhead Press: 10, 8, 8, 6 @ 135 (added 4 more on the last set after dropping to 115)

3 Supersets: 10 Lateral DB Raises/10 Alternating Front Raises with 15s

3 Supersets: 10 Internal/10 External Rotations on cables with 10 lb resistance

4 Supersets: 8 preacher curls @ 65/8 overhead DB triceps press @ 80. Alternated grip on the curls (wide, narrow, wide, narrow)

3 Supersets: Split Rope pulldowns x 15 @ 65 lbs/cable 21s* @ 50 lbs

Barbell Shrugs: 3x5 (5 seconds hold at the top, 5 seconds at bottom) @ 125, then 2x10 @ 215

*If you're not sure what 21s are, you're missing out. They're awesome and a great finisher if you're doing a biceps workout. I like the cable for consistent tension, but as you can see from the video below, a heavy-ass cambered bar will do the trick, too. (That's not me. It's a much stronger, slightly balder guy.)

[featsofgymming]

Jan. 24, 2015 - Upper body workout

Below is the workout I was going to do today, before I had a change of heart and decided to mix things up. I really want to focus on getting stronger and to do that I need to be under heavier weight, so I took out the supersets -- that doesn't mean it's not a useful workout, though. Just not the one I wanted to do today. My 1RM max for bench is 275, and I'd like to approach that again (I know, I'm a weenie, but it's good for me).

Here's the workout I ended up doing instead:

Warmup: Bench x 10, pullups x 10

Bench: 5 @ 205, 7 @ 185, 10 @ 155, 12 @ 135.

Pullups: Wide overhand, 8, 7, neutral grip 6, 6, underhand close grip 6, 4. I got tired.

Incline DB Bench: 4x8 @ 55. Next time I'll bump up to 60s for this rep range.

Bent Rows: 5x5 @ 135.

Single DB Pullovers: 5x8 @ 45. I hadn't done this in forever and with the weird placement of the neck/head on my stupid otter-like body, I wanted to use a safe weight and focus on the stretch and my form.

Here's the one I was going to do. Save it for a rainy day:

Going to pair some push and pull movements today. The plan is pretty straightforward. I superset as much as I can when I do chest and back because they’re such large muscle groups that the cardio effect is substantial when doing so.

Warmup: Bench x 10, pullups x 10 First pairing: 4 sets, bench x 10/pullups to technical failure Second pairing: 4 sets, bent rows x 8/incline DB press x 8 Third pairing: Flat DB flys x 10/close grip cable rows x 10

Finish with two sets of plyometric pushups to failure and two sets of TRX one-handed rows, 8 per.

[featsofgymming]

I’m two full days into the new refocused diet and I’ve gotten through both perfectly. I realized a couple immediate differences: 1) I wasn’t drinking nearly enough water. 2) I was eating way too much food mindlessly just to pass time. 3) I crave sweets less the less I eat them. But duh, because that’s everyone.

Above is dinner tonight. I count five “power foods” - shrimp, spinach, cucumber, tomatoes, and olive oil (full-fat dressing).

[featsofgymming]

#FeatsOfDieting

I feel like I'm fatter than I should be, so I'm going to delve back in to the one diet that I've always felt that everyone should follow (that clearly doesn't mean that I've done it well lately): The Abs Diet. Yes, it sounds silly, but it is legit. I read the first one when it came out and it kind of shaped how I ate during my 20s, and I'm back into the New Abs Diet. The Men's Health EIC, David Zinczenko, puts these together and does a great job. I highly recommend both reads. There are a bunch of iterations and complementary reading to look into if you're interested. It's good stuff. Here you go.

Bye bye for quite some time, office bagels. You'll be missed, but the love handles won't.

[featsofgymming]

Jan. 21, 2015 - Legs/Core

I like to hit legs and core 2-3 times a week, or around every third workout or so, if possible, and I switch up the "headline" lift of the session between squats and deadlifts. So, seeing as my last legs day was squat-centric, last night's lift featured deads.

Before I get into the meat and potatoes of this, I'm gonna come out and say it: I wore training pants and a sleeveless shirt (I try not to do this) and I felt stupid. When you feel like you look stupid, it can 1) shake your confidence and negatively affect your workout or 2) drive you to work as hard as possible so you look like an absolute wreck, no matter what you're wearing. I tried hard to get in the second mindset last night.

I opened up with straight sets of deads, warming up with a set of 10 Romanian deadlifts to stretch out the hamstrings before getting into a 5x5 format. I was able to start with 210 for the first two sets before bumping up to 221 on the final three. I might've tried to go a bit heavier and dropped down to sets of three on the last two, but I also wanted to make sure I was keeping my butt low and not lifting with my back too much.

I moved on to cleans, and went with only 111 pounds on the bar, 4x3, and alternated a few moves in to superset. The first two sets, I paired 15-second barbell planks that essentially worked as an isometric incline pushup with a core stability aspect. The second two sets, I worked in 3 single-leg deadlift sets per leg, in this order: Romanian Deadlift, right-legged RDL, left-legged RDL, Romanian Deadlift. Three of those, following the set of cleans. I also felt really good about my form on every single clean, even at a heavier weight than I'm used to using. I want to feel good about 3-4 sets of 5-6 before I bump up in weight on those.

Next I paired some stabilizing KB squat work (essentially a form corrector that improves balance at the low point of a squat) with KB lunges. I just grabbed a couple KBs (just 16 KGs, one in each hand) and did three total sets -- first was alternating forward lunges, 8 per leg, second was backward lunges, 8 per leg, and third I brought both KBs up in the "front-catch" or "one pattern" position and performed 8 deep squats.

Finished up with two supersets of 8 ab wheel rollouts and 15 crunches.

[featsofgymming]

Jan. 19, 2015 - Shoulder/Arms Work

Proud of this workout because it almost didn't happen. A scheduling change that involved going to dinner, and then dinner going late, almost had me resigned to putting it off til 5:30 a.m., which more than likely wouldn't have happened.

I went to the gym, and I smelled like food (because I wore my gym clothes for dinner), but I got through it and, of course, I'm glad now that I went. The smelling-like-food thing is a big deal for me, because I'm really sensitive to odors. Like, they alter my mood. Related note: If you're one of those gym people with that weird oniony B.O., I hope your doctor figures out whatever it is that's so wrong with you.

I have a friend who is a personal trainer that loathes the idea of exercising body parts or muscle groups and instead wants everyone to focus on movements. To an extent, I really like this approach. Today, I went back to old meathead tendencies and hammered out shoulders and arms, for a couple reasons.

First, I'd done a very chest/back-heavy push/pull day on Saturday and legs yesterday - so neither were on the table today. Second, I want my arms and shoulders to get bigger. Sue me.

I really am a big fan of the seated overhead press (another one my friend dislikes), and a bigger fan of the standing overhead press. With my legs and core still fatigued from yesterday (though oddly not really all that sore -- I'll credit my diligent stretching), I put my stupid butt in the chair.

Seated OH Press: 12, 10, 8, 8

Seated Arnold Press: 4x8

Internal/External Cable Rotation Series: 3x10 each (right arm internal, left arm external, left internal, right external)

Quick note -- I almost always do internal/external rotations anytime I get my shoulders involved. Weak little rotator cuff needs all the help it can get.

Three trisets: 10 preacher curls, 10 Standing Overhead Single DB Triceps Press

3x8: Incline DB alternating curls -- I bonked on these, even with 30s and then 25s. I've never had real strong biceps. 

3x8: Triceps Cable Pushdown - I like the V-bar on these because it puts my wrists in a more natural position while allowing me to "staple" my elbows into my sides.

[phallusmagnificus]

[featsofgymming]

No, we're not Arnold. But a good form tip is displayed here: Elbows tucked, keeping the upper arm at a 45-degree angle from the body, on pressing movements (both lateral and vertical), instead of the 90-degree shoulder destroyer you see people doing all the time.

[featsofgymming]

Jan. 18, 2015 - Legs

I loafed around and watched football all day until around 4, then decided to get up and go lift. Because of that I was feeling a little creaky, so I started with stretches before getting into what felt like an A workout. Just graded my workout there.

I wanted to go a bit heavier today. Some background: I’ve been on a consistent, slow decline over this last year when it comes to fitness and am just now starting to get a lot of my strength back. I’m working back toward a 300-pound squat and 275-pound bench; neither number is huge in a vacuum but for me they represent my maxes and, while they won’t win me any awards, they’re still what I think are decent benchmarks for overall strength.

That said, today’s workout:

Squats: 10 (warm-up), then 5, 5, 3, 3, 2. Was planning to try to max on my last set but could have gone heavier and ended up getting another one out. Only hit those two at 245, so still a ways off, but heavier than last week. Still want to build up a bit more “strength trust” before I load up much heavier.

Cleans: I was pretty well wiped from going “heavy” on squats, so not very impressive on cleans — 4x3 @ 111 lbs., with clean form on all but one where I got a bit wristy at the catch. I got cute after a couple of these sets and thought I’d fire out some one-legged DLs, but wasn’t feeling it. I’ll probably build them into the next session.

Alternating KB lunges: 4x8, per leg. Did two sets apiece with a 16-kg KB in each hand and tried to focus on not letting my back knee hit the ground — a few trainers I know who teach actual athletes preach the importance of this in relation to functionality and forward/backward change of direction.