View Full Version : Trial and Error Revisited
I used to have a journey on here but it got stale and I haven't really been able to be on here in the last few months. I haven't really been able to hit the gym in that time either, but I'm slowly adjusting my schedule to get some workouts in. I would like to use this space to post some of my workouts and progress, as well as some of the things on my mind that I think I should share. Since Dec last year my weight went from 185 to 170. I have lost quite a bit of strength during that time and my primary goal is to get that strength back up to what it used to be. If anyone would like to follow along that would be great, and I would love feedback or tips from anyone who's interested. I can't guarantee how often I'll update this but I'll try to get on here at least on the weekends to post up what went on during the week. I hope to be posting workouts on here soon.
C.Coronato
05-17-10, 10:02 am
Welcome back. You are defiantly on the right road my man.
I'm back to normal life and back into a workout routine. Since my last post I have been to the gym a few times but didn't get to post anything. I worked out chest today as follows:
Bench Press: 1*135*12, 3*185*5, 1*135*8
Pec Deck: 4 sets of 10 working up to 165
Incline Bench Press: 2*95*10, 1*115*10
Machine Dips: 4 sets working up to 215lbs.
I'm pretty weak right now but I hope to get my strength and size up quite a bit over the next year or so. In the last 6 months I have lost about 15 pounds and I would like to stay in fairly good shape while bulking. To be continued...
Legs were today as followed:
Squats: 4*135*8
Leg ext: 4*12
Lying Leg Curls: 4*12
Calf raises on leg press: 4 sets to failure
I've got a long way to go...
I forgot how taxing deadlifts are. I trained back today:
Deadlifts: 135*12, 185*10, 235*5, 285*3
Pullups: 3sets*8,6,6
Machine Rows: 3*12
Pretty good workout today. Ill be back in the gym on monday...
I went to the gym the other day and had a great shoulder/biceps workout.
Shoulders
4 sets of front raises
4 sets of side raises
4 sets of arnold presses
4 sets of side cable raises
Biceps
4 sets of alt curls
4 sets preacher machine curls
4 sets hammer curls.
All in all it was an awesome workout. More on monday.
Had a great chest and triceps workout today.
Chest:
incline bench press: 4 sets at 10 reps
pec deck: 5 sets of 8 to 12 reps
Cable flies: 4 sets of 12 reps
flat bench: 4 sets of 8 to 10 reps
triceps:
Rope pressdowns: 4 sets of 10 reps
one armed db overhead ext: 3 sets
2 armed db overhead ext: 2 sets
good workout. I enjoyed doing flat bench last. Naturally i wasnt that strong on it but I felt worn out and definitly went to failure. It was awesome.
I can't believe it has been well over a year since I have posted here. I am slowly getting back into the gym after an injury in Oct, so hopefully this journey will help me to stay motivated.
About the injury:
I was doing deadlifts and my back gave out. Admittedly I got cocky and tried to lift more than I was able. I worked up to 305 and it felt good so I threw on 50 more pounds and during the lift I felt 3 distinct pops and that was it. I went to the Dr. and she said I strained a muscle, gave me some muscle relaxers and sent me on my way. It slowly got better. A month and a half later, I decided to try my hand at DLing again. This time I did not do anything stupid but the same thing happened during a very light warmup. I went back to the Dr and she had me go to physical therapy. I went for a 2 months and felt better for the most part. I sometimes have some pain but it is minor and I have been slowly getting my strength back up, while trying to be as smart as I can regarding injury.
Well, lets see how long this journey will last and if I can become a regular at the gym again.
Today I did some legs and shoulders. It felt pretty good and I feel that my strength is coming back on squats, and I am really focusing on having good form.
Squats- warm up to 145, 3 sets of 185lbs for 5 reps, 1 set of 205lbs for 5 reps
Leg Ext- 4 sets until failure, around 12-15 reps
Front raises- 3 sets of 20lbs for 10 reps
Side Raises- 3 sets of 20lbs for 10 reps
Arnold presses- 2 sets of 30lbs for 10 reps, 1 set of 35lbs for 8 reps.
DB shrugs- worked up to 80lbs for 10 reps.
So looking at these numbers, it looks like I really need to work on shoulders. Its an area that I have kind of neglected in the past so I will make it a goal to train harder.
Thats all for now.
-Matt
I havent had too much time to post due to work, but I did get in a workout yesterday.
Started with some squats up to 225x5.
Did some back- pulldowns, t bar rows, and seated machine rows.
That was about it. It was a short workout but definitely intense. I hope to get into the gym tomorrow as well.
-matt
I have been working out for the past few weeks, just havent posted here. This week I did biceps and triceps on Wed, yesterday did legs and shoulders, and today did chest and some deadlifts. I felt pretty good but have been having a bit of pain in my lower back lately. It isnt there when I am lifting weights, more when I am stagnant throughout the day. Guess that should be reason enough to get into the gym more.
Todays workout:
Incline bench- 5 sets
Incline hammer strength- 4 sets
Cable crossovers- 4 sets
Peck Deck- 4 sets
Deadlifts- 3 sets.
I stayed very light in the deadlifts. I want to work my way up slowly so I don't re-injure myself. If anyone has any insight on getting back from an injury like this that would be great if you are willing to share. I have been feeling pretty good so I hope I can stick with it.
Matt
Back and Biceps
Machine rows- 5 sets
Deadlifts- 5 sets to 155lbs. Felt pretty good but had a tiny bit of discomfort at the end.
Preacher curls- 4 sets with a triple dropset at the end
Lat pulldowns- 4 sets
Hammer Curls- 5 sets
Not too bad of a workout. It was the first time I have worked with a partner for a while and it was good to have someone pushing me.
Noob Saibot
06-01-12, 4:10 pm
Hey man good stuff in here. Two things I noticed were that it may be tough to judge your shoulder work when you do them after squats. Also why push it on the dead lifts? If that's how you injured yourself, why not leave them out for a while and build back up to them again. Sure they are a great exercise but you could definetly make gains without them.
Hey man good stuff in here. Two things I noticed were that it may be tough to judge your shoulder work when you do them after squats. Also why push it on the dead lifts? If that's how you injured yourself, why not leave them out for a while and build back up to them again. Sure they are a great exercise but you could definetly make gains without them.
Thanks for the input. I didn't really take into account the shoulders after squats thing. Shoulders have been an area I have always neglected though and I'm trying to get myself more consistent at doing them.
As far as the deadlifts, I don't really feel that I am pushing it more than I should be. I hurt myself almost 8 months ago and am really just starting to get back into them. I am staying light and really focusing on my form on every rep really making sure that if anything feels weird or wrong, I don't push it any further. I know that in my post last night I said that I felt a little discomfort. That discomfort is almost always there to some degree, especially when I am sitting around doing nothing for a day or two. After yesterdays workout, I have had no pain or discomfort today. I am not implying that doing deadlifts fixed my back, but I think leaving them out for so long really had a negative effect on the muscle strength. When I was going to physical therapy the therapist told me that some of the muscles in the core and lower back can atrophy a significant amount in as little as 24 hours after the injury. I wonder what 7ish months can do. I honestly think that by not doing them for so long I did not help anything. I may be way off here, I don't know too much about physiology or anything like that, but I have gotten to learn my body's response to exercise pretty well I think, and I want to see how this goes.
Sorry for the long winded response. I really appreciate you taking the time to read through my posts and give me your insight.
Noob Saibot
06-02-12, 12:11 am
No problem bro, no one knows your body better than you so as long as you like the way things are progressing stick with it. Keep up the hard work in here!
Chest today. I am too tired to post the entire workout but I will say that I was able to get 205x4 on flat bench and 60lbs on incline db press. Those are both good numbers for me right now. Definitely inspiring me to keep at it.
Good leg workout yesterday. It was short, but I did some squats up to 225, then leg extensions, and ended with some calves. I then finished off with about 15 minutes of ab work. Tomorrow is a bike ride day and then hopefully I will be in the gym again on Tuesday
Noob Saibot
06-03-12, 6:28 pm
Good leg workout yesterday. It was short, but I did some squats up to 225, then leg extensions, and ended with some calves. I then finished off with about 15 minutes of ab work. Tomorrow is a bike ride day and then hopefully I will be in the gym again on Tuesday
Nice work, gotta love a good leg day.
Yeah it was definitely a good way to end the week.
So I wasnt able to get into the gym during this week, but I went yesterday and did some squats and shoulders. I did 8 sets of squats up to 245, which is a weight I havent done in a while. I did some shoulder press on a smith machine up to 110 pounds on the bar, then some db shoulder press up to 40lbs.
It was a short workout but pretty intense. Today I will be doing chest and back
Keep at it mdh84. You'll get that strength back with some consistent workouts. I went through ups and downs earlier in my training career and lost focus at times but set new goals for myself and have never looked back. Hit me up if you have any questions!
With deads--stay light and focus on good form for now. Check out this vid for some solid deadlift form tips: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1nRRlk6264I
Thanks for the response J-Dawg. I didnt end up doing deadlifts the other day but was able to get some in today. It felt great. I only went up to 105 but felt pretty strong and felt like my form is exactly where it is supposed to be. I know that it will be a long road to get to where I need to be but I am sure I can get there. Today I also did some tbar rows and dumbbell shrugs. I know that it may seem like my workouts are all over the place but I have been going at night to the gym and its so busy I need to adjust what I have planned for the day or I will just end up getting pissed and leaving. We will see how the rest of the week goes.