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[Akhilleus]

Hey guys…I used to lift a lot back in high school and after losing some weight through oh shoot what’s that word antrophy? I decided to mess with the weights to try to gain back the weight…well needless to say that iron bug bit me again and now I lift seriously 2-3 times per week…basically I do chest/tris/shoulders on one day and then bis/back on another…I usually rest 4-6 days then repeat the cycle…my goal’s are to gain about 10-15 lbs. of muscle to look and feel better about myself…basically I am trying to do that by eating big and lifting bigger…while I was an ego lifter back in high school I really don’t care about the weight anymore as long as I am getting the results in muscle growth…my form is usually as good as I can make it and so far I have been going with high intensity/low volume workouts…my last couple workouts were a few days ago so I am writing these from memory, in the future I will try to record them in this blog soon after they occur…

Thursday night:
I prefer to do weights when I am fresh, but the only time I could get to the weights was after a hard 1 hour kung fu workout with some intense sparring at the end…needless to say, I was already a little tired when I got home and lifting in my basement:

Warmed up with some pushups, since the only pair of dumbbells I have are 50’s I had been using these for my first chest exercise, incline presses….I have the incline at about 20-30 degrees…I was very happy that I was able to do 12 strict reps with the 50s…the only downside is now I can’t really do inclines at home anymore since I want to reach failure at around 5-7 reps as opposed to 12 (when I started lifting a month ago I could only get 6 reps with the 50s)…

I did some stretching then I moved on to my seated chest press…unfortunately I lost the manual that tells you how much weight each plate is but I guess I was at about 150-160…I was able to get about 6 reps…I was really feeling it in my tris as I brought the weights to near-lockout…

I wanted to do butterflies but my shoulders and clavicles were making all sorts of sick noises so I went on to tris (I decided to skip shoulders this day)

I did some pushdowns with probably about 100 lbs…which was too heavy…I leaned to far over and was using my abs more than my tries…after about 6 of these reps I dropped a plate and cranked out about 5 more….my tris felt OK I guess…

Then I moved to what is fast becoming my favorite exercise, kickbacks…I used my adjustable dumbbells with 5 plates on either side, with the clips and bar that’s probably 17-18 lbs…anyway I cranked out about 12 on each side….added 5 pounds and did another set for about 8-10 on each side…I was locking out at the top for a peak contraction that felt great…I mean they were really burning after those…I did some stretches and some tai chi/chi kung and then went to eat a huge dinner…

[Akhilleus]

Friday (Gold's Gym)

Again, I normally like lifting while I am fresh…but there was some good sparring going on at Gold’s that I couldn’t pass up…

after about 5 hard rounds, I went over to the pull up bar and was able to get 6 of ‘em…one better than last time…I then did another set of 6 with about 50 lbs. resistance…I really should have warmed up more but I guess I figured my back was already loose from the sparring…next time I intend to do a set of about 12 pullups with assistance before doing a working set sans assistance…my goal is 7 unassisted pull-ups…

next I moved over to seated rows where I had a real breakthrough psychologically…I cranked out about 6 reps on a weight that I can’t remember but after that set for some reason I got really pumped up and decided to push myself…I cranked out 12 reps on the same weight…cheating only a little bit and that was only for the last two reps…at this point I realized I hadn’t been pushing myself hard enough…I moved on to that machine where you do like reverse flies while seated…I did 2 sets one of about 12 reps and one of about 8…I go really light on these…

I finished with seated dumbbells curls on a bench that was inclined to about a 75 degree angle to help keep the stress on my biceps…I really pushed myself here, going with the 35 lbs dumbbells for 6 reps, then I stood up and got about 2-3 more reps per side…my form was good but not perfect…and I will probably go a little lighter next time so I can do 8-10 reps…

This week I have been making an effort to eat more than usual…
I have already gained back the weight I lost (I’m about 180 now)…I would like to gain at least another 10 lbs…

[Pork Chop]

Sounds like you're having some good results.
Wow man, that's nuts!
Good job!

Might wanna try www.t-nation.com for weight lifting info. They have a good forum there. Not sure if you're looking for any advice, but they have some good programs. I usually lift ater a 10 min warm up; total body, one of 2 different workouts each time- but that's what works for me.

Shame I missed out on the sparring with all those boxers that been hangin out at gold's. A good number of big guys to play with here at the new place, but I gotta wait till they get up to speed and I get back in shape.

Workin on like 3 hours of sleep right now, but i"m gonna TRY to hit up the gym in an hour and a half myself.

What u doin Tuesday?

[Akhilleus]

Thanks, I'll check that out...yeah I am open to any advice or suggestions...I been reading flex a lot and getting lots of info there, but of course remembering that I am not as genetically blessed as the guys in there, so I read about their workouts, tips, and principles, but I don't do nearly as many sets as they do...I'm pretty conscious of overtraining...I will be at the school tuesday...

[Pork Chop]

I'll see yah there...

Did Suntzu or I ever tell you about the empty bottle of "genetic blessing" he found in Gold's Gym parking lot? LOL

[Suntzu]

@ "genetic blessing" in Gold's Gym parking lot?

[WinterPalm]

I don't know what sort of program you're on as far as your kung fu training goes, but you may want to incorporate some lower body exercises. I would highly recommend deadlifts as a great mass builder. That will help you put on the weight you desire. Squats are really good too but I've had better results with the deadlifts. However, that may be because my squat sucks and my deadlift is my only good lift next to hand strength.

[Akhilleus]

Wednesday January 26, 2005

At first I was upset when I realized I would not be able to make it to Gold’s today, but I learned that working out at your house has some advantages over a gym…Without the fear of disturbing other lifters, I was able to sweat, grunt, and curse my way through one of my most greuling workouts ever (now that I know what that feels like, I am going to say to heck with gym etiquette and just make whatever noises I need to to get those weights up there (with proper form, of course)).

Anyway, I warmed up with 15 slow push ups…then went to incline barbell presses…I prefer dumbbells, but I’ve outgrown the set I have and it’s good to mix things up, lest one’s muscles become placid and resistant to growth…I cranked out 8 strict reps at about 125 lbs…it was definitely a working set, as I had some trouble locking out the last 2 reps…for these I bring the bar down to about 3-5 inches above chest level…the bench was at about a 20 degree incline…for my heavy set, I added on 20 lbs. for a total of 145…I cranked out 6 reps and was barely able to get the last one…but I really fought and screamed through another rep, making for 7 total…I am proud to say these were all very smooth with a slight pause at the bottom…then I moved on to seated chest presses and got 6 reps at about 160 lbs…this time I tried a trick I read about in Flex from Dorian Yates and stayed on the seat resting for about 8 seconds before cranking out another final rep, accompanied by a ten second negative…

Then it was on to shoulder presses where I got 8 reps with two plates (I guess about 70 lbs.) and then tried three plates for my next set which was weeeigh too heavy (haha get it, "weigh" too heavy?) but since its such a pain in the neck to move the pin because over where the stack is positioned and all the crap I have in my basement I just cranked out 5 partial reps…some where about 50% but the last one was like barely moving…

I realized the lockouts were my weak point in my pressing movements so I did about 8 reps of close grip bench presses with about 125 lbs…again I brought the bar down to about 3-5 inches above my chest…Then it was on to my fave…kickbacks…I used about 18 lb. dumbbells and man I have never felt a pump like this before…the muscle was begging for mercy but I would show none…the only downside was I was unable to lock out at the top for a peak contraction but I have never felt a muscle work as much as my inner triceps were today…I still feel traces of that pump an hour later…finished up with some stretching and am now eating a huge meal of chicken with rice…

[Akhilleus]

I don't know what sort of program you're on as far as your kung fu training goes, but you may want to incorporate some lower body exercises. I would highly recommend deadlifts as a great mass builder. That will help you put on the weight you desire. Squats are really good too but I've had better results with the deadlifts. However, that may be because my squat sucks and my deadlift is my only good lift next to hand strength.

Thanks for the input...I think I will take your advice...sine my goal is to build overall mass, deads would be a welcome addition...basically my martial arts training is very light, since I want to focus most of my energy on weightlifting...I work out 3-4 times per week, sparring and grappling mostly...my thighs are pretty good from years of kung fu, but my calves...well who am I kidding I don't have any calves...I don't know why though, I used to do a lot of running and jump roping and walking...I am going to try doing standing calf raises...anyway one of the reasons I haven't trained legs in so long is coz when I was in high school I did a workout and they were sore for like 2 weeks...spasms and stuff...so I probably won't do squats or extensions or anything, but deadlifts I would like to work in...where would you suggest doing it (i.e. at the beggining or end of a back workout?)

[Akhilleus]

Really wanted to do back/bis today, but my back is a little tired from rolling last night, so I think I will hold off at least until tomorrow...woke up at around 3 and couldn't fall back asleep...hope to take a nap at the dojo this afternoon...

[Suntzu]

but deadlifts I would like to work in...where would you suggest doing it (i.e. at the beggining or end of a back workout?)

begining.....

[WinterPalm]

Definately do the deadlifts first. I always take the core lift, wheter it be deadlift, squat, or bench and do that first. Everything else can wait because these are the core of strength.

[Akhilleus]

had a great workout today in my basement, feel great...
Deadlifts:
12 x 120
10 x 170
6 x 210
9 x 260 (all the weight I had)

forearms gave out first...(no wraps)

power cleans:
6 x 120
5 x 150

Rows
120 x 7
120 x 8

lat pull-downs
6 plates x 8/9

e-z bar curls
6 x 100 (some cheating on the last 3 reps)

[fa_jing]

wow, nice results on the DL and powerclean and you've never weight trained your lower body?

[Akhilleus]

Thanks fa jing...haven't done much weight training with my legs but I do a lot of kicks and body weight squats in my martial arts training...lots of running too...and I used to play basketball...

today's workout was better than I thought...today I could barely lift my arms...hope I didn't overdo it...my back and traps are totally gone...

I filmed the deadlifts to make sure my form was correct...

the rows felt incredible I mean the pump was great in my lats...I reached failure at about 8 reps which was a 1-2 reps more than I had wanted to do but next time I think I will go a little lighter so I can really get a peak contraction at the end, which I wasn't really able to do with 120 and go slower so that I reach failure at about 6-7 reps...but I did try letting my shoulder blades come forward at teh bottom and then squeeze them back together at the top, which really pumped up my back...same with the lat pulldowns...

thanks WinterPalm for suggesting the DL's...I look forward to training my back a lot more now!