My Workouts

 

These are my actual workouts that I do on a day to day basis.  I train somewhat instinctively these days so there is no set routine.  After each workout I will write down here which bodyparts I did, the exercises and the actual poundages I used.  I've never seen this done before so I'm going to do it as I think people might be interested.  In the future I hope to get pictures of me training but I might have to wait until I get a digital camera instead of the old Polaroid.  I hope this section is useful to you, try doing the same workouts and adjust the poundage to your level.  My schedule is a bit out of the ordinary and I often try new exercises so it may seem a bit weird at first (like doing the same bodypart 3 days in a row sometimes) but it is very effective.  Anyone who trains with me sets personal bests on the first day and gains noticeable size in a couple of weeks.  Here we go:


Go to: [AUG. 26/98 - Back, Shoulders, Biceps] 

[AUG. 27/98 - Chest, Back, Thighs, Calves]

[AUG. 28-30/98 - Days off]

[AUG. 31/98 - Chest, Back, Traps, Deadlifts]

[SEPT. 2/98 - Chest, Arms]

[SEPT. 3/98 -Legs, Shoulders]

[SEPT. 5/98 - Chest, Back, Shoulders]

[SEPT. 7/98 - Back, Shoulders, Traps]

[SEPT. 10/98 - Traps, Calves, Back, Chest]

[SEPT. 12/98 - Chest]

[SEPT. 13/98 - Arms]

[SEPT 15/98 - Chest, Shoulders]


Date:  Wednesday,Aug. 26, 1998     2 minutes average between sets.            Weight = 185 lbs.

Today I trained back, shoulders and a bit of biceps.  I started with BENT-OVER ROWS for back and after stretching a bit, started with 225 lbs. (2 45lb plates a side on an Olympic bar) for 18 reps with an over-hand grip(Palms down) (I use lifting straps for most back exercises). Hand spacing is just wider than shoulder width.  I added 25 lbs. per side (275 total) and did 8 reps with an underhand (palms up) grip, and after about 2 minutes rest did another 8 with an overhand grip.  I lowered the weight back to 225 and did 12   underhand and 10 more overhand. That was it for back, done in about 20 minutes.    Since I was there I decided to do upright rows as the first shoulder exercise.  This would get the shoulders warmed up and finish off back.  I used one plate per side (135 lbs.) and using a wide grip to isolate the shoulders more, did 15 reps.  2 more sets of 12 reps finished off that exercise.  "Seated Smith Machine Front Press" was next.  Using an incline of about 80 degrees (almost vertical) on the bench I set it under the Smith Machine (kind of a barbell on vertical sliders) so the bar would come down to my upper chest, just clearing my face.  I did 3 sets of 10 using 155 lbs.  That finished I decided to combine the last bit of shoulders with biceps so, back at the Olympic bar I put on 25 lbs. a side (95 lbs., the bar is 45 lbs.) and did and easy set of 20 BICEPS CURLS followed immediately by standing front (military) press with the same weight for 12.  Next was 15 reps for biceps and 10 BEHIND the NECK PRESSES and a quick set of 10 upright rows to finish off shoulders.  I put on another 25 lbs. a side (145 lbs.) and squeezed out 4 slow curls.  The next set I only got 3 reps and I lowered the weight (STRIP SET) down to 115 and did 10 more reps.  I stayed at this weight and did 3 more sets of 6 - 8 reps.   Could hardly bend my arms after this.  That was it!

In a nutshell:

Exercise Body Part # of Sets
Back Bent-over row 5
Upright Rows Shoulders 4
Smith  Machine Press Shoulders 3
Standing Front Press Shoulders 2
Barbell Curls Biceps 7

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  Date:  Thursday, August 27, 1998                               Weight = 185 lbs.

This was kind of a funny day for me, I didn't really feel like going to the gym, and even after I got there, I didn't feel like training hard, UNTIL....

I started out with Bench Press and did a warm-up set of 20 reps with 135 lbs.   I put on 2 plates (225 lbs.) for my second warm-up and it felt very heavy, I barely squeezed out 10 reps.  About then one of my training partners passed by on his way out, since I hadn't really started my workout we talked for about 10 minutes, then he left.  This time I got under the weight and blasted off 12 reps, lay there for 30 seconds and did another 10, after another 30 seconds I got 6 reps, then 4, all with 225 lbs.  I finished on incline press with 15 reps at 135 lbs.

Since I only did bent-over rows for back yesterday I decided to do some Lat Pull Downs today.  I started with 185 lbs. and did 20 reps to behind the neck.  I went up to 225 lbs. for 10 behind the neck followed immediately by 8 more to the chest.  The next set was similar but only could do 8 and 6 reps.  I lowered the weight back to 185 and did a series of PARTIAL REP sets using all three ranges of motion (the bottom, middle and top)  I do these slowly and squeeze hard 6 in the lower range, 6 in the middle and 6 in the top range, then a couple of full reps.  Three sets like this and I was done!

Legs were next, fortunately, it's a "light" leg day, not that the weights are particularly light, but not the maximum either since my knee is still recovering from a skiing accident in which I tore two ligaments and cartilage.  I had surgery on June 4 and am still taking it a bit easier than normal.  I still lift more weight with my injured leg than most people do with two good ones *G*.

That said, I started with leg press, as I did squats last time.  Someone had 6 plates a side on the machine so I worked in with him using that weight.  First set I got 15 easy ones and 12 for the second and third sets.  I took about a minute between each set.  I usually take more but I was using lighter than normal weight.   After 3 sets I started working in CALVES by doing calf raises on the leg press.  I alternated calves and quads for 2 more sets getting 15 - 20 reps for the calves and 10 for the leg presses, and then just did calves for 2 more sets of 15.

I then lowered the weight to 3 plates a side and did 2 sets of 10 per leg of one legged leg press and 2 sets of one legged calf raises for 12 reps each.  I do them this way so both legs get worked equally and I can't favor the injured leg.  It works great and is really helping it to heal, it's almost back to full strength.

Exercise Body Part # of Sets
Bench Press Chest extended set
Incline Press Chest 1
Lat Pull-downs Back 7
Leg Press Thigh 5
Leg Press Calf Raises Calves 4
Single Leg Press Thigh 2
Single Calf Raise Calf 2

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Friday, August 28, 1998      TIME TO GROW!!!  This is when I take 2 days off after training for 2 - 3 days on.  I can catch up on sleep and eat lots and put on 3 or 4 lbs. by the time I get back in the gym!

See you in 2 days  Train hard, get huge!


 

Monday, August 31,1998          Average of 3 minutes between sets.        Weight = 187 lbs.

    Unfortunately, I couldn't make it in Sunday, had to help a friend move so that was a workout in itself.  That's okay though, I felt great when I went in today!  Here we go!

    Today I decided to train Chest and Back.  The first exercise was Dumbbell Flat Bench Press, as all the barbell benches were in use.  I started with the 70 pounders to warm up and pumped out an easy 20 reps.  I upped the weight to 90 lbs. and got 8 with a bit of a struggle.  Then it was time to go for it!  The 110s!   I actually surprised myself here and pulled off 8 reps with it so there was only one thing to do, try the 120s.  I picked up the dumbbells , sat down placing the dumbbells on my knees, psyched up and lay back bringing the dumbbells into the lower position.   I got the first and second rep and was struggling a bit on the third when a friend came to spot me.  I got 2 more with a bit of a spot.  I like to get at least 6 reps so I went back to the 110s for the next set where I got 8 reps!

    By this time I was thoroughly warmed up so I figured Weighted Dips would be a good idea.  I did about 20 quick dips with body weight to let the muscles know what's to come, then loaded three 45lb. plates on a weight belt.  The first set, I got 8 reps, when I put the weight down, the metal "D" ring holding the chain to the belt slipped off, it had bent right open (scary!).  I pounded it back in place with a 25 lb. plate and continued.  The second set I got 9 reps, and would have had 10 but the load shifted and threw me off.  The third and last set, I got psyched right up and got 10 intense reps!

    The next exercise was Machine Flyes.  I used the whole weight stack and got 3 sets of 12 and 1 set of 10 to finish off chest.

    Back next, I started with bent-over rows.  A friend of mine was doing shrugs and had a bar set up with 2 plates a side (225 lbs.) so I worked in with him.  For the first set I blasted off 15 fast ones with an overhand grip.  For the next set I used an under hand grip and got 12 slower ones, I like to really feel these in my back.  3 more sets of 8 - 10 reps finished off this exercise and I decided to do some shrugs while I was there.  I increased the weight to 3 plates (315 lbs.) and did 3 sets of 20 reps, then I did a set of deadlifts with it and got 8 easy ones with a few shrugs at the top of each lift.  About this time, my partner finally showed up and wanted to try deadlifts (it seemed to be deadlift day today).   I showed him the proper form and after about 10 minutes decided to do some heavy ones myself.  I put 4 plates on the bar (405 lbs.) and managed 2 reps.  after a couple of minutes I tried again and got another 2 and I squeezed out 8 shrugs before I put it down.  I always get a head rush after heavy sets like this, usually have to sit down between sets!  The next set I did the same thing, and the last set, I  just did one deadlift and 10 shrugs. I only use low reps like this once in a long while, 6 - 12 is optimal but it's good to mix it up sometimes.  After that it was time to go home and EAT!

Exercise Body Part # of Sets
Dumbbell Press Chest 5
Weighted Dips Chest/Triceps 3
Machine Flyes Chest 4
Bent-over Rows Back 5
Shrugs Traps 3
Deadlifts Back/Traps/Legs 4

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Wednesday, Sept.2, 1998         3 minutes between sets             Weight = 192

    Today was Chest and Arms day.  I started with flat bench press, warmed up with a plate per side for 20 reps and went right to 2 plates a side for 2 sets of 10 (not to failure).  I raised the weight to 2 1/2 plates a side (two 45's, one 25) for a total of 275 lbs. with which I got one set of 6 and one set of 5 reps.  I then dropped the weight to 1 1/2 plates (185 lbs.) and did "21's" .   The first set was relatively easy, I got 7 in the low range, 7 in the high range, and 12 full range.  The next set I died out after 4 of the full range reps and had to take a 10 second rest to get the next 3.  I did one more set but did "15's" instead of "21's".  Using the same weight I did 3 sets of 10-12 very w-i-d-e-grip bench press, to hit the chest from a new angle.  Then I attempted incline barbell press  and did 3 sets of 15 with 1 plate per side (135 lbs.). That was it for chest!

    Next was arms.  Since chest works the triceps indirectly, I started with biceps. The first was barbell curls with a 25 lb. plate a side on an Olympic bar (95 lbs.).  This was good for an easy 20 reps after which I added 10 lbs. per side (115 lbs.) and did 3 sets of 12 and 1 set of 10.  Arms were very pumped after this, I usually do a few "burns" or small partial reps at the end of each set.  Next was Seated Dumbbell Hammer Curls in which you hold the dumbbells vertically to work the outside of the biceps and the brachillis (near the elbow) muscle.   I used 45 lb. dumbbells and did 3 sets of 12, alternating these with Dumbbell Shoulder Press, and then did 2 sets of  Concentration Curls for 10 reps each.   That was enough for biceps, triceps next!

    Since I did chest today, which works the triceps quite well, I only did 2 triceps exercises, One Arm Reverse-grip Press Downs, and Overhead Pullovers, both using a cable on an overhead pulley.  Since every machine has a different weight system I can't accurately put the weights I used but I used about 1/3 of the stack for the one-arm press downs and the whole stack on the pullovers.  I did 3 sets of 12 for each arm on the reverse-grip pressdowns, and 3 sets of pullovers.   That was enough, and then some.

Exercise Body Part # of Sets
Bench Press Chest 10
Incline Press Chest 3
Barbell Curls Biceps 4
Hammer Curls Biceps/Brachillis 3
Concentration Curls Biceps 2
Reverse-grip Pull-downs Triceps 3
Overhead Pull-overs Triceps 3

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Thursday, Sept.3, 1998            2 minutes between sets                      Weight = 191 lbs.

    Today was just  leg day with a bit of shoulders thrown in for good measure.  I started with leg press warming up with 3 plates per side for 20 reps.  I then switched to one legged leg press and did 15 per leg with that weight.   I added a plate and did 2 sets of 10 per leg, then added another plate (total=5) and squeezed out 6 per leg.  Up to six plates, I went back to both legs and did a set of 20 and a set of 15.  I stayed at that weight and did 3 sets of calves (20 reps each).  The next exercise was Seated Hamstring Curls on which I did 3 sets of 12 using 4 plates short of the stack.  That was it for legs, for some reason, I was tired after that so I started on shoulders.  I did One-armed Dumbbell Shoulder Press for 3 sets of 12 using the 45 lb. dumbbells.  That was it for today, just a quick one (40 minutes). Tomorrow will be a day off.

Exercise Body Part # of Sets
Leg Press Thighs 6
Leg Press Calf Raises Calves 3
Seated Hamstring Curls Hamstrings 3
Dumbbell Shoulder Press Shoulders 3

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  Saturday, Sept. 5, 1998              2.5 minutes between sets               Weight = 190 lbs.

Today I trained Chest, Back and Shoulders.  I started with Bench Press warming up with 135 lbs. for 20 reps, then another set of 10.  I added a plate (to 225 lbs.) and did 10 reps, then added 10 lbs. per side (245 lbs.) and did 8 reps.  By then, I was warmed up and added another 10 per side (265 lbs.) and got 6 reps, then 3, then 2 taking about 20 seconds between.  After 2 1/2 minutes, I tried again, and got 3 reps after which I lowered the weight to 2 plates (225 lbs.) and squeezed out 8, not quite making the last rep.  Luckily someone saw this and came to help.  I did one more set using a w-i-d-e grip for 6 reps.

Next was incline dumbbell press where I did 75 lb. dumbbells for a set of 8 and a set of 10.  Chest was toast now, time for back!

As usual these days, I started with bent-over rows.  Someone had conveniently left a plate and a half per side (185 lbs.) on a barbell so I used that to warm up with, getting 18 good reps. I added another 25 lbs. per side (235 lbs.) and got 3 sets of 10 overhand and 2 sets of 10 underhand using the "Cheating" technique on the last couple of reps in each set.  Then I lowered the weight back to 185 and did 2 sets of w-i-d-e-grip overhand for 12 strict reps each.  These gave me an extreme pump in the lats!  That was enough for back, next, Shoulders!

I didn't do much for shoulders as training chest and back hits the shoulders pretty good, except for the side delts.  Therefore I did 3 sets of seated one-armed side laterals for 12 reps each, and called it a day.  Tomorrow is a day off.

Exercise Body Part # of Sets
Bench Press Chest 8
Incline Dumbbell Press Chest 2
Bent-over Rows Back 8
Single-arm Laterals Shoulders 3

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Monday, Sept. 7, 1998    - Back, Shoulders, Traps  -  3 min. between sets  -  Weight = 190 lbs.

    Today was kind of a "finishing off" day for back and shoulders.  I find that making a workout last 2  days or more works wonders!   I started with bent-over rows warming up with 135 lbs. for 20 reps, moving up to 225 lbs. for 15 reps overhand, then 12 underhand, then 3 more of 10 alternating the grips.   I then did wide-grip for 2 sets of 8.

    Next was lat pulldowns starting with 180 lbs. for 15 reps behind the neck.  I raised the weight to 240 and got 8 "reasonable" reps so I went to 260 next for 6 reps.  I then lowered the weight to 200 and did 3 sets of 10 - 12 reps taking about a minute between.  That did the trick, next:  Shoulders!

    I wanted to work mostly the side delt so I started with machine lateral raises.  I do these facing into the machine as I feel it much better that way.  My left shoulder has been a bit sore lately so I went a bit light and did high reps, starting with about 1/2 the stack for 20 reps, followed by 2 sets of 15 with 3/4 of the stack, then back to 1/2 stack for 3 more sets of 10.  The next exercise was upright rows, done with a wider than shoulder width grip and leaning forward slightly, to hit the side and rear delts better.  I used a 100 lb. barbell and did 3 sets of 15 and 2 sets of 12 reps.  Next was seated one-arm dumbbell press.  I do these 1 arm at a time, again, to work the side and rear delts better.  I just used a 45 lb. dumbbell for 3 sets of 8 each arm.

    My last exercise was heavy barbell shrugs which would finish off both shoulders and back!  I started with 3 plates a side (315 lbs.) for a set of 20 and 2 more of 15 each, then I added a plate (405 lbs.) and did 2 sets of 12.  It felt good so I added another plate (495 lbs.) and did a set of 6 reps. I tried the same weight again, but on the third rep, one of my leather lifting strap broke dropping the weight onto the safety bar with a big noise! (I do these in a power cage.)  Since that would have been my last set anyway, it seemed like a good time to go.  See ya next workout!  Will most likely take tomorrow off, and  the next day.

Exercise Body Part # of Sets
Bent-over Rows Back 8
Lat Pull-downs Back 6
Machine Laterals Shoulders 6
Upright Rows Shoulders 5
Seated Dumbbell Press Shoulders 3
Shrugs Traps 7

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Thursday, Sept. 10/98     Traps, Calves, Back, Chest          2.5 min. between sets

     After those 2 days off, I felt rested and ready to go!  Today was kind of a miscellaneous workout which will double as kind of a warm-up for Saturday's workout.  I started by trying shrugs with the bar held behind the back as a training partner had seen someone do them and wanted to try them.   After 3 sets like that, we both decided that to the front was much better and switched to that.  I warmed up with 3 plates per side (315 lbs.) for 20, then went up to 4 plates (405) for 15, then 5 plates (495) for 8 reps.  I tried 6 plates and got 6 reps and made an attempt at 7 plates (675 lbs.).  I got it off the rack, but I was using cloth wrist straps as my leather ones broke last time and they just got slowly pulled undone.  I have to get some new leather straps and try it again.  I did 3 more sets 10-15 using 4 plates per side to finish off.

Next I did standing calf raised starting with 500 lbs. for 20, then 600 lbs. using one leg for 5 reps, then the other leg for 5, then both legs for 15 more.  I stayed at that weight doing the same thing for 6 more sets. (single leg to failure, then both legs to failure, and then a few more!)

    For back, I did 4 sets of bent-over rows with 225 lbs. (8-12 reps) and 2 sets of lat pulldowns and for chest I did 4 sets of flat dumbbell press using 85 lb. dumbbells for the first set, and 100's for the rest.   Like I said, just a warm-up for Saturday. (tomorrow is another day off).

That was it, short and sweet!

Exercise Body Part # of Sets
Shrugs Traps 10
Standing Calf Raises Calves 8
Bent-over Rows Back 4
Lat Pull-downs Back 2
Dumbbell Press Chest 4

Saturday, Sept. 12/98  - Chest - 2 min. between sets - Weight = 187 lbs.

    For the next week or so I'm just going to do one or two bodyparts per workout, just to mix it up a bit. Today was chest day and I started on Bench Press. After 2 light warm-up sets, I used 2 plates per side (225 lbs.) for a set of 16, then added 10 lbs. per side for a set of 8, then another 10 lbs. a side for 2 sets of 6 finishing with a strip set doing 5 reps at 265 Lbs., 3 reps at 245, and 6 at 225.

    Incline Dumbbell Press was next using 85 lb. dumbbells for 3 sets of 6 and 75 lbs., for a set of 8.

   On to weighted dips, one of my favorites. I did 3 sets of 12 and 2 sets of 10 with 90 lbs. on the belt and finished off with 4 sets of Machine Flyes.

    This may seem like a lot of sets for one bodypart but it's the only workout Chest is going to get for about 5 days so it better be a good one!

Exercise Body Part # of Sets
Bench Press Chest 5
Incline DB Press Chest 4
Weighted Dips Chest 5
Machine Flyes Chest 4

 


 

 

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