Slim's Max-OT Journal

Week 1/Day 1   Mon. Aug 7, 2006

Legs                            Time: 4:55pm-5:30pm


Warm-Up - 5 Min Jog
                   5 Min Bike

Squats - 3x6 @ 125   (2 mrbs)
Leg Press - 2x6 @ 225 (2.5 mrbs)
Stiff Leg Deadlift - 2x6 @ 115 (2 mrbs)
45* Calf Raises - 2x8 @ 275 (1 mrbs)


Ok, first day of Max OT, and it felt pretty good, felt like I could do more sets, but I'm going to try and follow the program as closely as I can.

Squats, love hate relationship here. I love doing squats, I really do, but because of my back I just can't get into heavy squatting, so my numbers are consequently low, and I hate that lol. Leg Press didn't feel to bad, think I will definately add on some good weight to this lift next week. Stiff Leg, first time to do these actually, so I'm assuming 115 is a pretty low weight, but I really liked it, could feel a good stretch in my hamstring, hope to get that weight up pretty soon.

-EDIT-
Forgot to mention, today was one of the random days I have when I just get sharp pains in my lower back, I'm assuming effects of the surgery. Most the time I'm just a little stiff around my spine, but every once in awhile it really hurts, just added this because I think I'm going to keep track of that if I can remember.

Smart move starting out with light weight on the stiff legs since you've never done them before-
Quick question though, you mention cardio as your warmup- Are you also doing the Max OT warmup?

I didn't list my warm-up lifts, but I did do warm-up sets, although I doubt they were how Max-OT says to warm up. I just read weak one on that site, and it mentioned the Max-OT warm up, but all it said was that they will go into more detail about that later. Should I look ahead a couple weeks to wherever they bring that up and start doing that? And any tips on keeping this journal? I take one of those tiny little notebooks with me to the gym, and just right down the stats as I go so I dont forget, but I pretty much just kept the basic stuff (sets, reps, weight, rest time, excersises, etc) Is there anything else that I should be tracking that I'm missing?

Definitely read ahead to the warmup- It's more involved than most warmups, and is well worth it. You might even find yourself able to lift more weight just by warming up their way- So, it'd be a good idea to add the warmup weights into your journal too, to make sure you're adjusting them as your working weight goes up.

Week 1/ Day 2      Tuesday Aug 8, 2006

Arms/Abs                          Time: 5:05-5:40


Warm Up - 5 Min Jog
                 Straight Bar Curl - 2x10 @ 45, 1x3 @ 45
                 Cable Pushdowns - 1x8 @ 10, 1x5 @ 10

Bicep -
   Straight Bar Curl - 2x6 @ 65 (2mrbs)
   Dumbell Curls - 2x6 @ 30 (1.5mrbs)
   Cable Curls - 1x6 @ 40
Tricep -
   Cable Pushdowns - 1x6 @ 30, 1x4 @ 40 (1mrbs)
   French Press - 2x6 @ 40 (1.5mrbs)
   Kickbacks - 1x6 @ 25
Abs -
   Cable Crunches - 2x10 @ 60 (1mrbs)
   Weighted Decline Crunches - 2x10 @ 10 (1.5mrbs)
   Hanging Leg Raises - 1x15


Had to set my ego aside for this one. Dropped atleast 5 lbs on each excersise for arms, wanting to be a lot more strict on my form, obviously resulting in less weight, but I can live with that :-)  Wasn't sure on how to warm up for today, so probably/definately wasn't a great warm-up, but I guess that's just something else I'll live with for today. I alternated between bicep and tricep on excersies, didn't want too much...lactic acid? buildup in the muscles. I really need to learn more about the science of lifting :-(
All in all today felt pretty good, arms feel like they've had a fine workout, still have a little pump left in them. I didn't, however, feel like I really worked my abs enough. I know you don't "want" the burn, or soreness, I'm not really talking about that, I just feel like that wasn't enough, I may slip in a small workout for them on Friday, but I'll try to restrain myself. And I am definately feeling my leg workout from yesterday, my legs haven't felt like this in way to long, I've actually missed this feeling lol

Week 1/ Day 3
Shoulders/Traps

Barbell Shrugs - 2x6 @ 185
Upright Rows - 2x6 @ 55
Sitting Military Press - 3x6 @ 55
Dumbell Press -
Lateral Raises -

Damn, shoulder still hurts, so I was going to go light anyways, and then when I got to the gym, they had done something with every dumbell below 35 lbs, and all the coaches were at football practice, so...can't really do press or lateral raises with 35's :-(

You're right about the pump and soreness and the burn- But even besides that, stick to the workout. Max OT normally leaves people feeling like they could easily do more- Stick to the routine though, you're gonna love the results. 

...I screwed up :-(
 
Week 1/ Day 4
Back
 
 
(Planned workout)
 
Weighted Wide Grip Pull Ups - 3x4-6
Bent Row - 2x4-6
Good Mornings - 2x6
Hyper Extensions- 1x6
 
However, I felt good, and just didn't want to leave the gym...did WAY to much
 
 
Wide Grip Pull-Ups - 2x6, 1x4
Bent Row - 3x6 @ 95
Hyper Extentions - 2x6 @ 25
Good Mornings - 3x6 @ 95
Deadlifts - 2x6 @ 185
 
 
No notes on this..I know I screwed up, last time I'll do it.

Week 1/ Day 5
Chest


Barbell Flat Bench - 1x5@135, 1x5@130, 1x4@130
Flat Bench Dumbell Flies - 3x6 @ 35
Dips - 2x6, 1x4


Wow, I knew I had lost some strength in my chest, don't get me wrong, but damn. Last year up until the end of school, I was one of the people just wanting to get my bench up, but this summer I really started working on overall mass, legs, back...the things a lot of people avoid, and I knew my bench would suffer, but I didn't know it would drop this much. Before school ended I was doing 3x6 @ 135...now I cant even do 3x4? :-( I feel like I'm bigger, and I think with Max OT all my lifts should start to go back up pretty quick, and I couldn't find any ankle weights for dips, so just made each rep very slow and deliberate. I dont know if Im just sore or if I pulled somethin, but my upper chest, right where in goes into my shoulder, was just killing me all day, hopefully that will feel better next week.

Measurements:

Height - 6'2
Weight - 135
Chest - 34"
Bicep - 12.75" both arms
Wrist - 6.75"  :-(
Quads -  18"
Calves - 13.25"

Not sure how accurate these are. Just measured with a piece of string and a tape measure. I also wasn't sure on where to measure. Chest I did just right below the armpits, bicep at the peak, quads about 5-6 inches below my waist, calves just at the largest part. I didn't realize how small my damn legs are, its just not fair having legs that are like 4 feet long. Just wanted to get these up so I would have somethin to compare to here in 4-5 weeks.

Week 2/ Day 1
Legs
 
Squat - 3x6 @ 135
Stiff Leg Deadlift - 3x6 @ 125
Leg Extentions - 2x6 @ 115
Standing Calf Raises - 2x10 @ 240
 
Mental Measures
Sleep Quality (7)
Workout Intensity(8)
Mental Focus(8)
Energy(7)
Mood(8)
Water Intake(5)
Adherence to Food(8)
 
 
Start of second week, felt a lot stronger after just one week of Max OT. On squats and STDL I felt like I could probably do a little more weight, but being that I've never done these excersises consistently in my workout, I figure it will be smarter to just slowly add on more weight, as opposed to just throwing on as much weight as I can push out 4 times. All in all, this workout felt pretty good, wish the Wellness Center had been open so that I could have kept leg press in there, but I had to lift up at the High School Armory, which I guess I should get use to now that school is starting up and most of my lifting will be done in there.

Excellent work. And smart move, lifting with your head instead of your ego- You're right not to throw weight on there if you're still iffy on your form.

That's what I was thinking, I think I'm getting a lot more comfortable with squats, Hopefully next week it will be 150 for 3 sets, but like ya said, I'll lift with my head not my ego . The STDL are what I'm really not very comfortable with, I'm probably going to head over to bodybuilding.com to check up on the proper form and everything, and I'll make sure to use exact form when I warm up and practice that, because I can really feel it on my hams and I think if I can get it down, I'll really like it.

Week 2/ Day 2
Arms
 
Bicep-
     Straight Bar Curls - 3x6 @ 70
     Dumbell Curls - 1x5 @ 35, 1X6 @ 30
     Preacher Curls - 1x6 @ 105
Tricep-
     Straight Bar Skull Crushers - 1x6 @ 55, 2x6 @ 45
     French Press - 2x6 @ 45
     Kickbacks - 1x6 @ 30
 
Mental Measures
Sleep Quality(8)
Workout Intensity(9)
Mental Focus(9)
Energy(8)
Mood(8)
Water Intake(6)
Adherence to Food(7)
 
 
Workout was OK tonight, was almost by myself in the gym, so I was pretty focused, and had a good intense workout. Straight bar skull crushers....something was wrong with my left shoulder when I was doing these, right at the end of my first set, at 55lbs, a sharp pain just hit me. So I dropped it down to just the bar and I still had a slight pain?  But it was light enough that I just made each rep as slow and deliberate as I could. Hopefully that pain won't sneak up on me again any time soon.
 

Week 2/ Day 3
Shoulders, Abs
 
Sitting Military Press - 3x6 @ 55
Sitting Dumbell Press - 2x6@ 30, 1x5 @ 30
Barbell Shrugs - 3x6 @ 175
Upright Rows - 2x6 @ 65
 
Abs -
     Alternating Decline Crunches - 1x20, 1x18, 1x16, 1x14, 1x12, 1x10
 
 
Quick summary, in a hurry. I HATE MY SHOULDERS!!! Good Lord, 55lbs military press? 30lb db press?
I've had problems with my shoulder, so I havent really hit em hard, and I dont want to mess my shoulder up before it's completely healed. I also had pain on the upright rows, not sure what was up with that?...
 
And the football coach still has all the dumbells from 25 down, so I can't do raises for my shoulders, I MIGHT be able to do lateral raises with 30's, but not with strict form, arms straight, etc. So...Sorry in a hurry, be back in the journal tomorrow.