Well, I’ve been waking up early and working out for over 8 weeks now. I’ve been doing these 2 a days for 6 weeks now, and I really hit the wall today. I had a great intense session this morning, but I didn’t eat enough. Work was a little stressful, and the gym was hot as hell. I got through the pull ups and they were not spectacular. I hit a mental wall. I didn’t want to do it today. I had to reach down and find something to get the muscle group pumped. I guess everyone or anyone going through this turmoil is bound to have a bad day. Here’s mine.

Pull Up Progression: 6/4/4/3/4. I thought I was going to get a few more in this week, but it wasn’t in the cards.

Single Dumbbell Rows: 4 Sets, 12 Reps: 75/75/75/75. It hit me right in the middle of this. I made it through it.

TRX Rows: 4 Sets, 10 Reps. I made sure to really concentrate on pulling from the middle back because I need to get my shoulders pulled back to normal.

This is where I had to change up the plan. I knew I didn’t have the gas in the tank to knock out the curl sets I had coming. I was supposed to hit the incline curls with 35s, but I grabbed some 15s and failed my way to 40 Reps. 21-12-7.

Instead of the Super Set with Zottman/Cross Body/Pronated curls, I grabbed the curl bar and just did as many as I could. I counted to 47, but I got super intense and just ripped that mofo until I couldn’t anymore. This was actually pretty energizing. I got a great pump out of it.

With my veins bulging, I walked out the gym door. I’m going to take a C+ for todays work out. I reached down and dug out a decent session. I guess it’s probably a good thing to change up the routine every now and then. Can’t hit a home run every day.

If you are following me, remember that it’s all a process. Keep hitting the gym. Listen to your body, and sometimes you just have to grit it out. Thanks for reading. Leave me a comment.

Get Strong. Stay Strong.

Felt great this morning. It’s nice when I don’t have to get up at 4 AM to get this done! Speed kills, bruh!

Look at that Focus! Leg Day, Son! I really like the changes I’ve made to this day. It’s a lot more fun.

Back Squat: 4 Sets, 4 Reps: 180/205/230/230. My left ankle mobility is terrible. I’ll have to make some time to work on that, but the lifts were good across the board. I broke a sweat early!

Front Squat: 4 Sets, 10 Reps: 130/130/130/130. Whew! Deep front squats. Got my ass pumped up!

Leg Utilization Super Set: I just kind of put those words together. Alright, so, what are my legs for? Moving my lard ass around this planet. How do I move around? Jump, Jog, Bend and Lift. So. This week I added an additional exercise: Tuck Jumps. So it went like this:

3 Rounds/10 Reps: Box Jump 18″/Double Unders/Tuck Jumps/Body Squat. This is fun. I think I’ll add more rounds and reps and probably raise the box height next week.

I’m getting back to my favorite sport, basketball. I just set a timer on MapMyRun, and just asked like a goof ball with my Lil’ Wayne bumpin’ in my ears. 25 minutes. No legs. No shot.

This is a fun way to work the legs. Leave me a comment, or ask a question. Thanks for reading.

Get Strong. Stay Strong.

 

Had a few beers with my work squad yesterday. Probably had one too many for a guy trying not to be fat, but you got to live a little every now and then. Nothing a long fast can’t cure! Shoulders were on fire after this one though!!

My relationship to age is juxtaposed with my fear of falling in the shower. A weird thing to be sure at a ‘young age’, but there it is nonetheless. I’m really scare of my 80th birthday…

Tuesdays are normally very long days for me, but I decided to cut mine a little shorter than normal. I played a quick 9 holes playing 2 balls. 37/36. Not bad. But I some light stretching and hit the sack at 4 PM. I slept until aft 6 AM. I’m sure some of you are jealous. I feel great! Let’s Hit It!!!

 This is a fun work out. I felt really good. I got to get a little more rowdy with it as I didn’t start until after 7:30 AM.  Time to Crush some Iron!

I’ve been listening to the guys at Mind Pump (good podcast), and they were talking about ‘priming movements’, and one of the movements they said to prime the bench press was a Row. So I did a set of medium weight. Sounded like a good idea.

Bench Press: 4 Sets, 4 Reps: 140/160/180/180 (5 reps).

Dumbbell Shoulder Press: 4 Sets, 10 Reps: 50/50/50/50 (9.5 reps, failure). I told you failing with the 45’s was a good thing. I was really close to getting that 40th rep up, but I lost it.

Barbell Shoulder Press: 4 Sets, 10 Reps: 85/85/85/85. KaBOOM. Man I am feeling good today. My Oura ring told me I could go hard today. I am!

Rotator Band (Yellow): If you are following along, This is just a rubber workout band. You basically want to start the rep at tension with your elbow at your side at 90 degress and rotate it out horizontally. This will strengthen your rotator cuff which I need if I’m going to play anymore tennis!

SUPER SETS!!

Body Dips + Tri Pull Downs: 3 Sets: AMRAP/12 Reps: 10/37.5, 10/37.5, 7/37.5. Good Pump. I was really surprised at how many more Dips I got this week! Get Strong.

Lateral Raise+Front Raise+Rear Fly+Shoulder Press: 3 Sets, 8*8*8*8 Reps: 15/15/10. Got ‘dem 15’s. As you may recall, I didn’t do the 15’s last week because I knew my form was going to suck. Same with the last set here, dropped the weight for form. Time under tension counts more than the weight!

Now, I did make a social media post on FB (https://www.facebook.com/quests4josh/) and Twitter @Quests4josh, of getting my chiropractor session. Dr. Wish and I both noticed a little rounding of the shoulders so we are going to start concentrating on pulling them back. So I finished today’s workout with so Low Rows on the machine, and I did a few bent over rows with the barbell. Hopefully this and being aware of my posture will help correct this! Thanks for reading.

Get Strong. Stay Strong!

Felt damn good today. I had a really great meal last night, and a decent amount of sleep. 6’18” per the Oura Ring. I had a good amount of fasting time at about 15 hours, and I time the meal just right before the workout.

Deadlift: 4 Sets, 5 Reps: 150/160/185/185. Like picking up groceries!

Romanian Deadlift: 4 Sets, 10 Reps: 135/135/15/135. I was feeling great so I just left the 45’s on the bar and went after it. This increased the weight 15lbs. from the last time. I watch an instructional video just to get the form in my head. Straight ripped it, son.

Zercher Squats: 4 Sets, 12 Reps: 135/135/135/135. Again a 15lbs. increase from the last time. My arms may be a little bruised because of the gnarl, but man are my legs getting killed. Squat this, bend that, jesus!

This was the upsetting part for the day. The super meathead had the ‘landmine’ bar (I don’t know what it’s actually called), and when I asked him how many more sets he had, 13 was the answer. What the hell? I didn’t have to wait on him to Instagram and lift 13 more times. So, my solution was to:

Super Set: Weighted Sit Ups + Mason Twists: 4 Sets 10/10 Reps w/ a 25lbs. plate. BOOM. BOOM. BOOM. BOOM!

Well, I have to get some sleep now. I have a midshift. I think I’m going to enjoy this little nap! If you like reading this, or have any questions or concerns, please leave a comment.

Get Strong. Stay Strong!

 

This one is a great body workout. Deadlifting after work. Then upper body focus after that. Hopefully I get a long night’s sleep. Game of Thrones starts tonight though. Priorities and all.

I had a long day at work, and I forgot my duffle bag at home this morning. I had the equipment in the apartment gym that I needed. Minus a barbell. What the hell is the Smith machine? And does it weigh anything? Does it take away some weight?

Incline Bench Drop Set: 4 Sets, 6*6: 55/40, 55/40, 55/40, 55/40. I upped the bottom weight this week. I was having a hard time with the form. I was using my right shoulder some how, and it started screaming at me. Good form matters.

3 Degree-Drops: 4 Sets 6*6*6: 40/40/40/40. Well, I don’t know if I got distracted when writing down the weights, but I didn’t realize I was supposed to go up to 45lbs. until the last set. Obviously, my mental game was off today!

Cable Fly: 4 Sets, 10 Reps: 22.5/22.5/22.5/22.5. Different machine. I guess it was an alright lift here.

Close Grip Bench Press: This stupid…(rant coming) fucking Smith machine. I just don’t know. I’ve been a little stressed out at work. I was listening to a podcast where the guys were talking about leadership and bosses. It struck a nerve. I was going to do some push ups, but full disclosure here, I fucking quit this lift. Again, my mental game checked out. Fuck it I guess. 1 out of 100 ain’t bad.

Regrouped with my Super Set!

Floor Triceps Lift + Pull Downs: 4 Sets, 10/12 Reps: 15/32.5, 15/32.5, 15/32.5, 15/32.5. Got a good solid pump here. I didn’t rest too much between sets. I made sure to really get the body away from the pull downs so I was only using the triceps.

I’m a little upset with myself, but we’re not perfect. I got my ass to the gym. I crushed what I could. Tomorrow will be better. 3 a day Sunday Funday!

Drop me a comment. Thanks for reading, and I hope you don’t mind the ‘Fuck’ word.

Get Strong. Stay Strong.

So Shaun T’s schedule had me doing Upper Focus today. Not going to happen. It’s chest day at the gym, and one of my goals here is to get a bigger upper body shrink the trunk. I don’t think it’s a big deal. I do have 3 workouts coming tomorrow. Thanks for reading. Leave a comment. Good or bad. Get Strong. Stay Strong!