average joe's journal

 well i've decided to start keeping a log to keep track of progress. i posted my pic on critique my physique, and got some good responses. i workout at home right now and have a limited amount of equipment. for me there's no point in paying for a gym membership and locking into a year contract when i'll be leaving for the police academy in a few months. with the layoffs in the metal and auto industry(i work in a foundry type company) i can't really afford to buy alot of equipment so i'll make due with what i got. my upper body is pretty well built but my legs need ALOT of work. i just got a USED tower sort of gym from a friend that i'll post a pic of. Atleast now i can do squats, but not too much weight because of safety reasons (i wish i had a smith machine). i can also do lat pulldowns which i also need to work on. my primary focus is going to be working on my LEGS and maybe some abs.  i think i'll try to schedule 2 or hopefully 3 legs days a week and just do some maintenance on my upperbody.

yesterday i did a short legs routine to test out some free standing squats. 
SET1 : 190 x 12
SET2 : 210 x 10
SET 3: 230 x 8
SET 4 : 230 x 8
i'm really trying to focus on maintaining form and i got a manta ray collar which worked awesome.
i did barbell lunges 3SETS x 90 x 9 and my quads felt really tight but it's only my first time really trying squats and my legs are small so i'm not suprised.
i'll post my chest/back workout for today later.
i'm also going to start stacking Animal MSTACK and animal cuts today along with protein shake and creatine gluconate? powder

With those supplements you will see some leaning up within a week, unfortunately that stuff isn't too permanent, so you will have to keep at it working hard.

I don't know what your form is like on squats, but since you are just starting to do them you might want to make sure you form is perfect from the begining before you get used to doing them a certain way.  Make sure you go down deep enough, there's a few videos on these forums with some pretty good squat form. 

The other thing I would say is legs take a while to recooperate, since you are new to working your legs like this you might be able to work them three days a week, but later on because they take so long to recover you might want to consider not doing them so much.  See how you feel, adequate rest is important for progress.  Good luck.

http://www.discussbodybuilding.com/Seos-Log-2008-m442008.aspx

 alrite i took my animal mstack 45min before workout. i can honestly say even though i didn't mentally feel more aggressive i definitely had more energy throughout the workout.

CHEST
Benchpress 
190 x 10
200 x 8
210 x 7
210 x 6
*played around with hand position. i should change benchpress part of routine to target areas i need to improve on in chest
Incline DB press 

(70x2) x 12
(70x2) x 9
(70x2) x 9
(70x2) x 8
DB pullovers
60x 12
60 x 11
60 x 10
60 x 8
*may switch the db flyes next workout. i think flyes might do a better job targeting chest and i can superset with db press
Chest dips 
bw x 5

BACK
Deadlifts
180 x12
230 x 8
230 x 8
230 x 8 (shoulda boosted weight to 265 for this set)
*the plastic coating on the cable is coming off and sticking so i have to change to bowflex for next 2 exercises
Seated rows
180 x 20
200 x 12
200 x 13
Back lat pulldowns
180 x 20
200 x 12
200 x 10
*i dunno if i should target lats on another day or do em first. i think mine refuse to grow and could use some focus
ABS
Sidebridges 
2 x 1 min
2 x 1 min
Hanging leg raises
bw x 13
bw x 13

Well i tried another legs day and i like to emphasize tried. it's the classic pushing too hard. my legs were still a little tight and sore since i've never really had the equipment to work them. anyways i
started with squats
 
Squats (free standing, not smith, not really safe)
 
190 x 12
210 x 10
230 x 8
250 x 4 * the bar slipped forward almost totally to neck and legs buckled. i got the weight back up onto rack
210 x 8
at this point i can feel muscle pull in mid back left side. done for the day. gonna take tomorrow off. tuesday will be shoulders and arms then.
i'm so disappointed. i think i'll just do 190,210,210,230,230 for the next few weeks. i think i'm too eager to push.

That happens to me every now and then with squats, haha your not alone squatting without a rack.

Goals by end of 2009:
Bench 205
Squat 255 ATG
Squat Clean 185

"There is no elevator to success, you must take the stairs."