Pumping Iron with Adriftpanda,Chainsaw13 and Icehog3 II

[Sancho]

Nice Huy!

Charlie, nice work! On your question, I'll probably keep this up until I start stalling excessively and or not progressing linearly anymore. What started your HT lifting lately?

Tom, glad you've got a way of working around it. Sounds painful none the less.

Tonight was decent
Squats 5x5
Bench 3-5x5
Row 5x5
Tricep pull down 1x10 at 140 lbs

[swingerofbirches]

Don't blame you for not switching until you stall, Chris. Especially if it's a routine that you really enjoy.

I switched to this 3 week hypertrophy routine because Id done power lifting style (5x5s) and various versions of more typical lifting (3/12, 3/8, 4/10) and while I've gained a lot of muscle and strength my weight loss has fizzled. I had to eat so much to fuel the heavy lifting and I was putting on muscle so I wanted to switch things up for a bit so that my lifting was more cardiovascular and more focused on growing the muscle that's already there.

The results have actually been really good and I am feeling sore like I haven't felt in a long time but I understand why people say that you can't really do hypertrophy for more than 3-4 weeks at a shot.

I lifted heavily when I was in high school and college but never really switched up my routines to any great extent and since I've started lifting again I've done a lot of reading and video watching and decided that I'd adopt the Arnold approach this time around. He said he never did the same workout twice. I'm not going that crazy but I'm only doing 4-6 weeks of the same routine before switching it up.

Prob more than you wanted lol

[icehog3]

Some good stuff there, Charlie, I switch up my workout every time, and my general program every couple months.

Could feel the back/kidney was still going to an issue with chest today, so I decided to go pretty light and with minimal rest....25 sets in about 35 minutes.

Inciline Bench 5 sets
Decline Bench 5 sets
Wide grip Bench 5 sets
Vertical Bench (plate loaded) 5 sets
Dips 5 sets

Probably not going to do much for size, but I am still super pumped/tight an hour later.

[swingerofbirches]

Nice, Tom! Sorry you're back/kidney are still hurting but maybe you're peddled back lifts will actually help you in the long run. You know, you're lifting which is good but you're not going 100% so when your back feels better that first few workouts back will probably be killer! A month or two back I read about The Rock and his workouts in the run up to shooting Hercules and he had a really serious hip injury just 6 weeks before shooting Hercules. So he took 4 weeks off completely and was really worried about not being in good enough shape to start shooting, but he said that it ended up making him even better. He said that the layoff was the rest his body needed and when he started lifting again 2 weeks before shooting he managed to get bigger and more cut than he thought he could if he'd worked out all 6 weeks. I've read a number of stories like that so maybe your "lighter" lifts during recovery will actually be a blessing i disguise. Just trying to be positive

Hypertrophic Shoulders today ... my shoulders are soooooooo weak. lol

Shoulder Press (Hammer Strength) - warmup 1/10 @ 70 - 8/10 @ 90 with drop sets to 70 & 50lbs @ sets 4 & 6
Plate Front Raise - 8/10 @ 25 (plate angled outward, extension at top of raise)
Low Mount Cable Close Grip Raise Flatbar (to chin, elbows out) - 8/10 @ 80 superset with High Mount Cable Rope Pull (to nose, elbows out) @ 80
Bent Over Cable Raise (single arm) - 8/10 @ 20 )performed as alternating circuit)

In the name of always switching things up, i finished off with a heavy (for me) bi/tri superset ...

Cable Curl EZ Bar - 4/8 @ 140 (failure @ 6 on 4th set) superset with Cable Angled Close Grip Pulldown - 4/8 @ 170 (complete)

Gonna be some really heavy cardio tomorrow; off day on weights.

Sunday will be my last hypertrophic chest/back superset day. I'm actually kind of excited to get back to some heavy lifting.

[icehog3]

I absolutely agree with some of your thoughts, Charlie, sometimes change (even perceived "negative" change is a benefit).

Good luck getting back on the heavy stuff!

[mosesbotbol]

Anyone using a phone app to log their workout?

I find if I am working out by myself, I forget 20+ years of exercises I use to do regularly... At my age, I really need to keep track better or I never move up in weight or do enough variety of exercises per muscle group. Weight lifting has a new low of dullness and I'd like something to keep the pace up before I wander off to stretching area...

Everything is all X-fit and gobbling up floor space at every gym! Seems like a great routine if you have a trainer and I would love to go that route, but that's big bucks. I am thinking maybe a month of it would be cool to build a routine.

Anyone else into X-fit?

[icehog3]

Felt strong on back today, back/kidney didn't bother me a bit until the last couple sets.

T-bar rows 225, 250, 270, 295, 315
Cable rows 260, 270, 280, 290
Barbell rows 245, 275, 305, drop set 305/245
Wide cable pulldowns 220, 240, 260 drop set 240/180

[swingerofbirches]

Did something out of the norm today. A friend of ours is a fitness class instructor at a local YMCA and she's starting a new class next month and wanted is t be her guinea pigs so she could fine tune her presentation before the class actually begins. It's basically an aerobic weight lifting class, so lots of bar work for bis/tris/back/shoulders and a LOT of squatting and deadlifting (lower weight, higher intensity).

Class was 1.25hr and was actually a lot of fun. I'm glad to have done it since I missed my morning cardio thanks to a work emergency.

Chest and Back tomorrow!

[Sancho]

Glad to hear it's feeling better Tom! Nice sets!

Charlie, appreciate the follow up! Nice workout!

Moses, I use fitocracy on iPhone. Doesn't track progress but their database is decent and the included workouts are okay for mixing stuff up.

Off day today due to knee pain again, too much crawling on concrete playing with trains with the kiddos worth it.

[icehog3]

Hope the knee feels better tomorrow, Chris.

[Sancho]

Knee was good today, Thanks Tom!

Squats 5x5
Ohp 5x5
Deadlifts 135,185,245x5

My grip strength on deads is not so good, ended up resetting my grip each rep. I suppose this is normalish?

[swingerofbirches]

Glad your knee felt better, Chris.

Do any of you guys use straps? I see people use them all the time at the gym, and, like you Chris, i'm to the point where my weight capability is exceeding my grip strength.

[Adriftpanda]

I do use wrist straps sometimes, but rarely do I use them. I just always carry them in my bag. Versa Grips.

However, I do use chalk when I deadlift.

[icehog3]

Glad the knee was better, Chris!

I have straps in my bag, but haven't used them for a couple years now. My grip strength is good, I do fail sometimes on my heaviest sets, but find that my grip strength continues to improve without them.

Shoulder day today....it's "push" movements that have really been bothering my back/kidney, so I lifted short, somewhat light with perfect form, and got through a short shoulder workout without aggravating it at all.

Military press 135, 145, 155, 165, 175, 185, 195
Barbell shrugs 275, 275, 275, 335, 335

That's it, short and sweet. Back feels the best it has in over a week. Hope that lasts through the night.

[Adriftpanda]

Week 9 of my pl program and everything seems to be coming along well. Next week will be my last week and that's all pr stuff. Will update with all my final numbers and how much it jumped. Pretty stoked on the numbers.

Pause bench 3x3
wide grip touch n go bench 4x3
supported chest t-bar row 4x5 w/drop set 1x5
neutral grip db press 4x4

facepulls 3x15
finished it off with a super set of arms

[icehog3]

Nice going, Huy, looking forward to hearing what the gains were.

Arms yesterday:

Cambered bar curls 115, 125, 135, 145, 155, 165
Preacher curls 170, 145, 145
Skullcrushers 145 @ 3 sets
Cable pushdowns 145, 125, 105, 95

Off day today.

[Adriftpanda]

Volume press day.

OHP 4x4
Wide grip pause bench 4x6
Wide grip lat pull down 3x8
DB unilateral press 3x6
DB row 3x8

Didn't have time for arms but it's all good. Deadlift party tomorrow.

[icehog3]

Party!?!?

Legs yesterday.....back toiday.....hospital tomorrow?

[Sancho]

Haha, looking forward to it Huy!

Thanks for the kind words Tom! Glad the backs feeling better, anything now 24hrs later?

Squats 5x5
Bench 3-5x5
Rows 5x5

Cable pull downs 2 sets to failure

[icehog3]

Still better than it was a couple weeks ago, Chris, but still nagging. Maybe it's permanent like my shoulder?