Doo's Intermediate Log III

[Doo]

• Seated Press - 3x3x135lb PR
• Chin-Ups - 5x(200+20)/4x(200+20)/4x(200+0)
• Barbell Curls - 12x55lb/12x65lb/12x75lb
• Standing Cable Curls - 1x5x25lb
• Push-ups - 10/25/20/36/25/37 PR/15/25/16/15 [1000 total in 15 days]

Skipped Week 6/Day 1 as mentioned in previous post. Did more gardening before lifting and decided to drop squats to save my back. However, for some reason I decided to try a 1RM Deadlift of 375lb and failed miserably. No back problem. Just didn't have any strength to even move the bar off the floor.

[Doo]

Well, my DailyBurn (formerly Gyminee) 5000 Push-Up Challenge ended after going for nearly 2 weeks. I came in 7th of 16 with 1000 push-ups. I now signed up for a 10,000 Push-up challenge but this is an "Everybody Wins" so I can take my time. This way I can do this without negatively affecting bench press. I also decided to create a 1000 Pull-Up Challenge. I will do those as an assistance exercise and skip Dips and Chin-Ups for now. I may shift to narrow grip bench press to still focus on bench but add some work to triceps.

[Doo]

OK. Changed my schedule around and did some lifting last week and early this week that I won't log here since lifts did not fit my original plan. Missed lifting this Wednesday but did go bike riding. Wanted to postpone that workout until Thursday and ended up only doing 1/2 of if (arms) after cutting grass and nuking weeds. Grilled out today instead of finishing the other half of lifting. If all goes well, I'll lift Saturday mid-morning. That will be easier to do if it rains as forecasted. Even after all these obstructions (excuses?), I still did a lot of NEAT (Non-exercise Actvity Thermogenesis) which can be a significant form of calorie burn. That may help with fat loss efforts but won't go very far to help me achieve strength goals.

[bigwhat62]

i like the NEAT acronym. i need to do more NEAT, like bike riding or board riding cause its fun and burns calories too. thats a nice seated press PR. do you feel the pressing to be more challenging sitting or standing?

[Doo]

I don't do standing presses because ceiling in home gym is low. I've heard that sitting is easier but I bet it isn't by much. I can see where standing incorporates more muscles (wouldn't same weight over more muscles be easier?). With standing, I think you have a chance to use momentum especially if you clean and press. You can do a push press to help overcome sticking points.

I have been thinking of carrying weights outside. However, I'm sure the technique is different enough, especially if I have to clean the bar (I have done power cleans), that I would need to start out with lower weights and work my way up. Carrying weights from basement to outside and back once or twice is ok but to do it for weeks is a bit much...although I would be doing a lot of NEAT .

Here is an article by Leigh Peele describing NEAT. You can find more of her stuff at avidityfitness.net (old site) and leighpeele.com (new site).

[bigwhat62]

it really isnt more weight over more muscles cause it is still the shoulders/tris driving the work. thats assuming no leg pushing is happening. while pressing from seated do you ever feel your abs being worked? i think that would be the only difference, more core work. i have had sore abs the day after a good OHP session. i like to lockout and hold the weight overhead for a few seconds and i can feel my abs firing off trying to keep me stable. but i was wondering if there was a shoulder strength difference.

thanks for sharing the NEAT article. seems i do NEAT more than i thought, i almost weekly go window shopping like going to best buy and picking out what i would get if i won a shopping spree. and i play guitar hero all the time standing up, i even try to dance around and have fun with it.

[Doo]

I feel work in the abs with the seated press but never sore. I have very strong abs with the Dragon Flags (I probably rate a B on form but still get a good workout), Ab Wheel and Plank work I do. If I would only drop some fat, others could see the results of my efforts but, more importantly, I function better with a stronger core.

Going to go outside and do a lot of "NEAT" things before it rains: clean gutters, trim trees and trim bushes. If/when it rains, I'll move inside and do some form of lifting even if it only ends up as some chins, pushups and ab work.

[bigwhat62]

i think with your core training you are totally good seated presses. i on the other hand never directly train core so i depend on the standing moves. that pretty awesome about the dragon flags. that is def an advanced move and A,B or C rating form is all darn impressive. have a great outdoors man.

[Doo]

Starting Week 8 today and will resume logging. Last entry was for Week 6. Since then, I have done some modified workouts due to time constraints. After Week 12, I will take a break and then do a 6-Week Progressive Movement program to work on Deadlifts. From now until then, I need to figure out the rest of the program beyond Deadlifts.

[Doo]

Damn. Week 8/Day 1 sucked. I don't even want to log it here. I will go ahead with Day 2 as planned. If Day 1 wasn't a fluke, I'll deload. Meanwhile, I am still fleshing out my Progressive Movement program for Deadlift and also putting together a Smolov program for Squats. I will be doing these when I get laid off starting July 31. Getting supplemental unemployment because company wants to retain laid off workers until economy comes around. This will give me the opportunity to work on the house and work on me. Still have a chance to see 6-pack abs before I'm 50!

[Doo]

I ended up taking a break due to other activities since I last logged nearly two weeks ago. Lots of hard work outside and a little lifting but no squats. Did squats/bench press/row yesterday but at only about 85-90% of where I was at two weeks ago. I want to continue four more weeks of Texas Method before moving on. I'll finish this week getting back to 100% and then restart where I left off with Week 8 and then continue for a couple more weeks.

Tomorrow I plan on changing from seated press to overhead press. This will be the first time I have done overhead presses. I normally lift in my basement and ceiling is low. However, I have room in the garage for a week to give this a try. I will lift 60% of my seated press on W, 70% on F and then finish with another few sets on Su (>70%?) before I put bar away and let my car reclaim the garage.

[Doo]

I like the overhead press! At <90% of my seated press, it was easier. However, once I attempted 100% of my seated press, I failed miserably. Still, I am encouraged and will work towards a 1XBW overhead press. I'll leave a spare barbell set in the garage for a while. I would only need to pull the car out and put some matting down.

Warmup: 8x45lb/5x65lb/3x85lb/2x105lb
Worksets: 3x115lb/1x135lb

[Doo]

• Squat [5x5x282lb] - 2x285lb/3x2x265lb
• Bench Press [5x5x222lb] - 2x4x222lb
• Overhead Press [5x5x115lb] - 5x5x115lb
• Dips [3x5x(BW+60lb)] - skip
• Calf Raises [3x12x215lb] - 2x12x215lb

Had to work on a bathroom remodel before lifting and started late. I want to focus on the overhead press since I have just started doing it so I did it first. May have affected squat and bench. I don't know. I felt fine in general but just didn't feel very strong. Got plenty of sleep the night before.

[Doo]

One thing I forgot to figure into my recent performance...or lack thereof...is my cutting calories. I got to lose fat. Given this, I may stop my current program short and start another. I am checking out 5/3/1 where, like StrongLifts, you start light and progress slowly. I could up calories as I progress which should enable me time to lose fat in the beginning.

I'll go ahead with planned workout this week and make a decision over the weekend. I am not expecting to make new PRs while cutting but I would like to return to near-recent PR levels. I seemed to have lost some strength in recent weeks.

[atypical1]

A suggestion if you want to lose fat. I'd look seriously at some sort of circuit training where you go from exercise to exercise with minimal rest. "The Bear" is a great example of one. You can also keep doing your current workout and simply reduce the rest period to 30 seconds or a minute between sets. You can also do the exercises back to back (squats immed followed by bench immed followed by OHP, etc) with each of these counting as a "set". You'll have to reduce your weight but it's a great way to help lose fat.

james