Jenng's Journal

eah, I feel like I struggle so hard on the chest exercises and just cant move up much.

You and me both. Though my problem doesn't seem to be the triceps at all. I can close-grip bench 100 pounds for eight reps much easier than I can do a regular flat bench at 125 pounds for eight reps. I don't know what the deal is, but my chest is just flat-out weak, and never seems to get any stronger...

-30-

In six months, what will your t-shirt say?

My training journal: Sweating with the toadies
My scattered thoughts: The Bramble

I find as I get higher in my deadlift weights, I get this weird fear about me. Like, I'm almost scared to find out how high I can go. Even though I did 3 sets of 6 for 180, I find myself wondering if I should just stay there for awhile. What the heck? I use good form, I don't think I am going to hurt myself, so there is just this mental barrier I have to lifting such a heavy weight. Weird, weird, weird.

BACK/BICEPS 6/20

Warm Up: Deadlifts 90x12, 90x10, 125x6, 145x3

Deadlifts 180x6, 180x6, 180x6
T-Bar Rows 80x4, 80x5, 80x5
Goodmornings 90x6, 90x6, 90x6
DB Curls 25x6, 25x6
BB Curls 50x6, 50x6
Hammerstrength Curl Machine 45x5, 45x4

Could it be that the warmups are actually hampering your progress with your pecs? Are your tri's sore after your done with your declines? One of my problems that I had with doing tri's and chest on the same day was that my chest workouts suffered because I wanted to "save some energy" for my tri's. I found the same thing happened when I did Back/Bi's. I switched the tri's and bi's so that I did Chest and bi's and I got better results over all. You could also do a Chest/Back and then a seperate arms day.

"Try and fail is the manner of losers. Try and learn is the way of the strong." -- Unknown

[image]http://img376.imageshack.us/img376/8302/opensuse2oi.jpg[/image].

I can't imagine its the warm ups, as I do the strict MaxOT style warm up, which is not supposed to induce fatigue. I am beginning to suspect that my tris are worn out after doing chest work, so they are not building as much strength as they could be. I'll have to do some thinking about this.

Cardio day today. I did great. I was able to keep up a good pace for the whole 2 miles. No pains, just moderate exhaustion. Amazing how *regular* cardio can do a person good. It's just not as fun when I am not consistent with it.

CARDIO - TREADMILL 6/21

2 min warm up
2 miles = 22 mins
8 min hill
5 min cool down

Total time = 37 mins
Total dist = 3+ miles
Total cals = 500+

Today, while innocently walking down my stairs, I somehow knocked the back of my hand into the bannister railing. And it was in a manner that, while the impact was not that significant, the pain was down right excrutiating. I was worried about how it would affect my workout today, but it was ok during my shoulder work. But I went heavy on shrugs and between those and the cable crunches, my hand, wrists and grip was giving out, big time.

Luckily, I wont have any hand intensive workouts again until Saturday. Other than that, it was just a normal miserable Tuesday, with two of my least favorite things (cardio + abs) teamed up for maximum misery.

SHOULDERS/TRAPS/ABS/CARDIO 6/22

Warm Up: Arnold Presses 15x12, 15x10, 20x6, 25x3

Arnold Press: 30x6, 30x6, 30x6
Standing BB Mil Press 65x6, 65x6, 65x6
DB Lateral Raises 20x5, 20x5, 20x6

Superset:
Standing Shrug Machine 230x8, 230x8, 230x8
Cable Crunches 120x12, 120x12, 120x12

Incline Crunches 8, 9, 9

Cardio - Treadmill:
18 min
1.5 miles
1 mi = 10:45
230 cals

Tough leg day today. We did overhead squats. Those are so hard! They are not so hard on the legs themselves, just super hard on the rest of the body. Whew! Trying to keep from falling forward or backwards is a challenge. I think if I did these enough, I might be able to forever skip direct ab work, since my abs do so much work in keeping me verticle during the OH squats.

Warm Up: Squats - (45x12), 85x12, 85x10, 120x6, 135x3
(I did one extra warm up with just the bar, to see if it helped my hip/tendon pain. It kind of helped, but I wonder if it wore me out a little, too.)

Squats - 170x6, 170x6, 170x6 (First time I really felt challenged by squats in a while. They are always hard, but the last 2 reps in my 3rd set, I felt like I was going to get stuck at the bottom. Must be getting closer to my true working weight.)
Overhead Squats - 45x6, 55x6
SLDLs: 165x6, 165x6, 155x6 (trying to work on form, so I dropped the weight)
Calf Press 320x10, 320x10

Good job Jen! You've got an interesting journal here along with a few other members. I enjoy reading them. And I would comment if I had more to say then good job. But honestly, it seems like you are making progress and adjusting as necessary.

Are you working out with a trainer now? Or just changing the program with your workout partner?

Marc C. David
Support DB! Buy your supplements at Supplements101.com

Thanks, Marc. No trainer, I don't trust any of the idiots at my gym to set up a workout program for me. In all the time I have been there, I have only seen them take someone away from the machines ONCE - to do incline bench press. (Excepting the 5 lb, 100 rep DB work they do for arms, every now and then).

I just work out with a good training partner, who doesn't seem to mind lifting with a girl.

CARDIO - ELLIPTICAL 6/25

5 min warm up
5 30/30 sprints
2 min recovery
3 30/30 sprints
3 min recovery
2 30/30 sprints
7 min hill
5 min cool down

Total calories: 400
Total time: 32 mins

Not much to make commentary on today. ried a new assisted dip machine at the gym, I like it much better than the old one they got rid of. It's better for the ego, too, since on the last one, I was assisting with 130 lbs, and this one only 100 lbs. Other than that, just your run of the mill chest/tri workout.

CHEST/TRICEPS 6/26

Warm Up: Bench Press 55x12, 55x10, 75x6, 85x3

Bench Press: 105x6 (x3)
DB Incline: 40x6 (x2)
BB Decline: 105x6
Assisted Dips: 110(assist)x8, 100x7
CGBP: 80x6, 85x5
Tricep Overhead Rope Ext: 60x8, 70x8, 80x6

Well, that answers that question: How high can I go on deadlifts? I went for 185 today and reinjured my SI Joint injury in my back hip/pelvis area. This is one that usually only bothered me with leg press (which I have been mostly avoiding) and jogging (which has not been bothering me lately). After my last heavy set, I was hurting pretty bad, mostly when I bent over.

I went on to finsh my lat and bicep work and skipped hyperextensions. And I was getting so close to 200! Today will be lots of ice and ibuprofin and hopefully I'll be able to jog in the morning.

BACK/BICEPS 6/27

Warm Up: Deadlifts - 90x12, 90x10, 125x6, 145x3

Deadlifts - 185x6 (x3)
Assisted Pull Ups - 100(assist)x5 (x2)
Cable Rows - 120x6 (x2)
Standing DB Curls - 25x6 (x3)
BB Curls - 55x4 (x3)

Dang, girl, take it easy will ya!!!!!! I'm starting to get nervous

But, on a serious note, take care of that injury, make sure you really warm it up before your next session and ice it ALOT!!!! Those can really linger

Paul

A friend helps you move, a true friend helps you move bodies.

Well, the good news is that is seems to be just a deep muscle pull. I originally thought it was my chronic SI joint injury, but when the pain kept on, I was getting worried. But at least it isn't anything like a slipped disk. I will be resting and icing it today. No cardio today. And I was really getting into a groove with my cardio, dang it!

Should be ok doing shoulders tomorrow and will see if I can run. Not sure if I'll be able to do squats. Dang it!

Note to self: when your body tells you to stop, listen!

Note to self: when your body tells you to stop, listen!

LOL, that usually not a BAD thing to do. Unfortunately for me, and most other people, we can't hear our bodies when it talks until it's too late...LOL. I'm getting better tho.

Hope your workout goes well.

HEYYYYY....I just noticed....when did you go Premier on me! I'm falling behind in my drunken state

"Try and fail is the manner of losers. Try and learn is the way of the strong." -- Unknown

[image]http://img376.imageshack.us/img376/8302/opensuse2oi.jpg[/image].

I think that's why we all got into bodybuilding. We came into it with the mentality of always having to push ourselves and beat a personal best, which is what makes this so fun. And painful sometimes.

You gotta cough up some $$$ to become a premier member.

Skipped cardio yesterday due to injury and decided to lay off today, as well. I had my son with me at the gym, and I don't like leaving him there longer than 40 mins or so, so I used him as an excuse. He came home saying "Mama skip cardio". And I have out of town guests coming Thursday, so chances are, with all the cleaning and visiting, I will not get that last cardio day in this week either.

I can't wait til I am done cutting and can stop feeling guilty about missing cardio! (ok got that out of my system...)

Back is feeling better. I can move fairly normally now, just getting up from laying down is hard. I will keep icing it today. I have decided that I need to really emphasize some stretching. After these next couple of crazy weeks, I am going to try to implement some stretching/yoga into my routine, to maybe help prevent so many freakin injuries.

SHOULDERS/TRAPS 6/29

Warm Up: DB Shoulder Press 20x12, 20x10, 25x6, 30x3

DB Shoulder Press: 35x6 (x3)
Standing BB Press: 70x6 (x2) - I love these!
DB Side Lat Raises: 20x6 (x2) - I hate these!
Reverse Flyes: 95x6, 95x5
Shrugs (w/ trap bar): 185x8 (x3)

Skipped abs, since bending is still kind of hard. But it didn't take a lot of convincing for me to skip abs today.

Wow! You are doing so well. Glad to see that things are progressing along. Be sure to get that joint better and don't over do it. I know a dumbass who overdid it and now he is paying the price. These weights I see here are awesome, too bad you are not nearby or else I would setup a workout session with you.

Laser

Showing up is half the battle.

My Bowling Business!!! H & E Bowling Supply
http://www.hebowlingsupply.com

Current Max Weights:
Bench 325
Squat 550
Deadlift 505

My goal is to get to 1400 total for the 3 lifts