Rotation 3/ Day Four

Bench Assistance

Thursday – 12/13/07

DB Presses [10s/15, 20s/10, 25s/6, 30s/3] 35s/6, 37s/4

Lat. Pulldown (Wide Grip): [55/8, 80/4] 95/9, 100/6

DB Curls: [17s/10] 26s/10, 27s/8

Rotator cuff (lying, out): [5/12] 7.5/12, 7.5/12

Heavy Bag: 2:45

Workout time: 1:06

Dumbbell Curls Video

Not that I’m one to give advice on working the arms given my wimpy biceps, but, note that I am starting with the dumbbells at my sides, ends facing forward. Then as I am curling the weights up, I’m rotating the dumbbells inward. This way both functions of the biceps are worked: that of curling the arm upwards and that of rotating the forearm.

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Rotation 3/ Day Five

Chain Squats, etc.

Sunday – 12/16/07

Chain Squats (chain setup weighs about 90 pounds):

[55/15, add chains: 55/10, 115/6, 185/3] 210/5, 220/3, 230/2

Speed Chain Squats: [75/6] 95/6, 95/6

One Leg Dip Bar Leg Raises (reps to each side): 20, 15

Step-ups: 2:45

Workout time: 1:12

Videos:

Chain Squats - 1st set

Chain Squats - 2nd set

Speed Chain Squats - 1st set

Speed Chain Squats - 2nd set

I love chain squats. With the chains clanging against the power rack, I feel like a wild animal breaking out of its chains! But more importantly, with the way the chains swing around, they really strengthen the core and stabilizer muscles.

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Rotation 3/ Day Six

Geared Benches, etc.

Monday – 12/17/07

Geared Benches (Gear: Crain “combo” shirt, APT 24” Black Mamba wrist wraps):

[95/8, 120/5, add shirt and wraps, 150/3, 180/1] 195/4, 205/2, 215/1

DB Rows (underhand grip): [30s/8, 40s/4] 50s/6, 55s/4

Rotator Cuff (sitting, front): [5/12] 6/12, 6/12

Workout time: 1:09

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Rotation 3/ Day Seven

Deadlift Assistance

Wednesday – 12/19/07

SLDLs: [55/15, 125/10, 185/6, 240/3] 270/5, 280/4, 290/3

Jump DLs: [55/6] 75/6, 75/6

Crunch/ Side Bend Combo (reps to each side): 9, 9

Workout time: 0:54

Crunch/ Side Bend Combo Video

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Rotation 3/ Day Eight

Bench Assistance

Thursday – 12/20/07

Incline DB Benches [10s/15, 25s/10, 40s/6, 50s/3] 60s/5, 60s/5

Lat. Pulldowns (V grip): [55/8, 85/4] 100/8, 100/8

Reverse DB Curls: [17s/10] 25s/8, 25s/10

Rotator Cuff (lying, up): [6/12] 8.5/12, 8.5/12

Heavy Bag: 3:00

Workout time: 1:06

Reverse DB Curls Video

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Rotation 3/ Day Nine

Geared Squats

Sunday – 12/23/07

Squats (Gear: Crain power belt and squat shoes; Ginny canvas suit and stretch denim briefs; APT knee sleeves and wrist bands)

[55/15, 145/10, 195/6, add briefs and suit: 245/3, 295/1] add belt & wraps: 325/3, 345/2, 365/1,

Twisting Leg Raises (reps to each side): 13, 12

Step-ups: 3:00

Workout time: 1:28

For this workout, I tried something different. I used my APT knee sleeves instead of knee wraps. I did so as I figured I wouldn’t be as exhausted after my full gear squat workouts if I didn’t have to wrap my knees. And it did work in that respect. But the problem was, I couldn’t use enough weight to below parallel, or maybe, I just didn’t have the confidence to go any lower. Either way, I don’t think the knee sleeves will work.

So instead, I will reduce my work sets to two rather than three, so I won’t have to wrap as much. But then, I’ll change my workout plan around some so that I will be using gear every other week. That way, I still get in plenty of geared work.

The video below is of my second work set.

Squat Video

On another note, one of the computer speakers I was using got shorted out. I tried soldering it, but to no avail. But they were ten years old anyway, so I got a new speaker set from Radio Shack. They’re small, and both speakers are in one unit, but the sound is very good. It comes with a very small remote. And it was on sale, $180 for $80!

Picture of Speaker Set

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Rotation 3/ Day Eleven

Reverse Band Deadlifts, etc. (videos)

Thursday – 12/27/07

Reverse Band Deadlifts (#4 bands choked around the safety bars near the top of my power rack):

[55/15, add bands: 195/10, 245/6, 295/3, 335/1] 365/4, 380/3, 395/2

Speed RB DLs: [235/6] 255/5, 255/5

Twisting sit-ups (reps to each side): --/14, 2.5/8

Jump Rope: 3:00

Workout time: 1:09

Videos:

I have the bands choked around the safety bars placed in the third hole from the top of my power rack. This way, the bands almost completely deload at the top of the lift. There’s just enough tension to keep the bands from slipping.

Reverse Band DLs - 365/4

Reverse Band DLs - 380/3

Speed Reverse Band DLs - 255/5

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Rotation 3/ Day Twelve

Bench Assistance

Friday – 12/28/07

Decline Bench [45/15, 95/10, 125/6, 150/3] 167/5, 177/3

Dips [25/6] 45/6, 55/6

Lat. Pulldowns (underhand grip): [55/8, 85/4] 105/10, 110/6

Reverse Curl Bar Curls [35/10] 50/10, 55/10

Rotator Cuff (lying, down): 7.5/12, 7.5/12,

Heavy Bag: 3:30

Workout time: 1:14

Videos:

Reverse Curl Bar Curls

Rotator Cuff- Lying - Down

Rotation Four

Rotation 4/ Day One

Squat assistance/ Change in routine/ Videos

Sunday – 12/30/07

Chain Squats (chain setup weighs about 90 pounds):

[55/15, add chains: 55/10, 105/6, 150/3, 195/1] 215/4, 235/1

Front (Sting Ray) Squats: [135/6] 145/6, 155/4

One Leg Dip Bar Leg Raises (reps to each side): 20, 20

Step-ups: 3:30

Stretching: ~ 5 minutes

Workout time: 1:19

Happy New Year everyone!

I have been lifting four times a week using a three week rotation, rotating through 12 different workouts. This had me doing full gear workouts every third week for each lift. But I feel need to use the gear more often. So I am switching to a two week rotation, rotating through eight different workouts. This will have me using full gear every other week.

To accomplish this, I am cutting back from three to two work sets on my main lift of the day, but then doing a second main lift, also for two work sets. So it is a little bit more volume, but I think I can handle it.

My main design will be to do the powerlift with chains or bands, followed by one major assistance exercise the first week. Then the second week I’ll do the powerlift with full gear, followed by the powerlift done raw. This way, the top end and the bottom end of each lift will be worked in each workout, but with the top end done first to emphasize it. So here, I did chain squats then front squats.

With this change, I’ll extend this routine to five rotations. Then I’ll change my assistance exercises for a new routine. I should get in five rotations of the new routine before the Iron House Classic mentioned above.

That said, in this workout, the second set of chain squats was supposed to be a double, but I got buried on the second rep. But this confirmed that I need to do some low end work, hence the front squats.

For them, since I use a closer stance than on regular squats, I wanted to be sure that I was sinking them enough when I hit my foam box, so I took a video from the side. And it shows I am more than deep enough. The second video is taken from the front to show the use of the Sting Ray for front squats. The pics are of the Sting Ray.

Front Squats - Side

Front Squats - Front

Pic1 of Sting Ray

Pic 2 of Sting Ray

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Rotation 4/ Day Two

Geared Benches, etc.

Monday – New Year's Eve ‘07

Geared Benches (Gear: Crain “combo” shirt, APT 24” Black Mamba wrist wraps):

[95/8, 120/5, add shirt and wraps, 150/3, 185/1] 200/3, 215/1

Raw Benches: 145/6, 155/4

DB Rows (underhand grip): [35s/6] 45s/8, 47s/6

BB Curls: 26s/10, 27s/8

Rotator Cuff (sitting, front): 7/12, 7/12

Stretching: ~ 5 minutes

Workout time: 1:24

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Rotation 4/ Day Three

Geared Deadlifts, etc.

Wednesday – 1/2/08

Geared Deadlifts (Gear: Crain power belt, Frantz suit, APT knee sleeves and wrist bands; Nike wrestling shoes)

[55/15, 145/10, 205/6, belt: 265/3, suit & wraps: 325/1] 355/3, 375/2

Raw Deadlifts: 285/6, 305/4

Sit-ups: 15/12, 20/8

Jump Rope: 3:30

Workout time: 1:21

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Rotation 4/ Day Four

Bench Assistance

Thursday – 1/3/08

Incline DB Benches [20s/15, 35s/10, 50s/4] 60s/5, 62s/4

DB Presses: [30s/4] 36s/4, 35s/5

Lat. Pulldowns (V grip): [75/6] 100/7, 100/8

Reverse DB Curls: 25s/9, 25s/10

Rotator Cuff (lying, up): 10/12, 10/12

Heavy Bag: 3:30

Workout time: 1:13

I’m trying to get by with less warm-ups sets than I have been doing to keep my workout times down. But every exercise in this workout felt better on the second set than the first. So I probably need to do the amount of warm-ups that I have been doing.

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Rotation 4/ Day Five

Geared Squats

Sunday – 1/6/08

Geared Squats (Gear: Crain power belt and squat shoes; Ginny canvas suit and stretch denim briefs; APT knee sleeves and wrist bands)

[55/15, 145/10, 195/6, add briefs and suit: 265/3, 315/1] add belt & wraps: 345/4, 375/2

Raw Squats: [215/4] 245/6, 265/3

Twisting Leg Raises (reps to each side): 13, 12

Step-ups: 3:30

Workout time: 1:55

My new routine will not work as this was too long of a workout, and I was exhausted afterwards. So I will have to change back to something similar to what I was doing.