Life of a Student

I was thinking about my workouts the other day, and it hit me. I’m likely not doing enough volume (only 4 to 6 sets per workout), and I’m pushing myself to failure on each set, which is not the greatest for nervous system recovery. So after some research, I’ve decided to make the switch to Frankie NY’s Mass Building Routine. A lot of people have reported significant mass gains with this program, when combined with a solid diet with caloric excess.

(image thanks to scotbuff)

It’s a 3-day program based around heavy 5 x 5’s. You pick three compound exercises to do each day, and do 5 sets of 5 reps of the same weight (not to failure), for a total of 15 sets.

I think a problem I’ve always had is the mentality that I need to push myself to failure every time - it’s not necessary. This new program should really help me address that, as it’ll be difficult for me to get 15 sets of volume done burning out each time.

So I’m planning to make my new routine look something like this:

• Day 1 (Pull) - Weighted Chins, Hammer Curls
• Day 2 (Push) - Flat Barbell Bench Press, Barbell Military Press
• Day 3 (Legs) - Back Squats, ?? (need to find an exercise here)

The reason why I only have 2 exercises each day so far is that the gym I am training at has relatively limited equipment. As I grow more comfortable with this routine, I will integrate new exercises.

I’m going to have to drop down in weights a little to get used to this new routine, as before I had been doing 4 sets to failure with the heaviest weight I can manage (usually 6 to 9 reps), but I am excited to start.

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Bench press has historically been one of my best lifts. Until freshman year of college, I actually was able to bench more than I could squat. I’ve always had a relatively strong chest and triceps compared to the rest of my body.

A sample old chest/triceps workout I used to do:

• 3 x 6 reps Barbell/Dumbbell Bench Press (I always start with a heavy compound movement)
• 3 x 8 Weighted Dips
• 3 x 6-8 reps Triceps Pushdown

I experienced good growth and strength increases with that routine, I feel mainly due to the proportion of compound exercises it involved. Compound exercises truly are king for building muscle and strength - I really look down on individuals who spend all day in the gym doing curls in the squat rack.

So anyway, recently I took about a 5 week break off of benching due to a sore wrist injury. I just came back a few days ago, and unfortunately I’ve dropped about 20 pounds on my bench. Before I was repping 195 to 200 pounds for reps, and now I get challenged with 175-180. I’ve decided I need to get back to old days ASAP, so I will be really pushing myself in the gym to try to get back to my old levels.

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My strength usually peaks over the summer, as I have more time to devote to lifting and my diet is much more accomodating to growth (in terms of calories and protein). During the school year, I make an effort to devote as much time as I can, but academics can be very exhausting and motivation-draining. My all-time strongest was at the end of the last summer, where I weighed in at the following stats (approximately):

• Weight: 162 lbs
• Bench Press 1-RM: 240 lbs
• Squat 1-RM: 270 lbs
• Weighted Pull-ups 5-RM: Bodyweight + 45 lbs plate
• Weighted Dips 5-RM: Bodyweight + 50 lbs

In striving to achieve my new goals, I am now rapidly approaching these old maxes, although at a slightly lower weight of around 157 lbs.

Although strength-wise I may not be able to match my peak, in terms of motivation, weightlifting knowledge, and pure discipline, I feel that I am at all-time highs.

It’s time for me to take massive action and break through to new records - tomorrow is squat day, and I look forward to it.

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So recently, I’ve taken a couple of proactive steps toward increasing my overall back strength. I recognized that grip strength was a limiting factor in my back training - during pullups, my grip was giving out far before my back did.

Solution: The Captains of Crush Trainer Gripper

I ordered this gripper thinking that it would be easy (given my few years of resistance training). It was anything but that. My first experience with it involved not being able to close the gripper even one time with my left hand, and only being able to close it 4 times in my right hand.

Now, I’m up to 8 to 9 reps on the my right hand, and I can bang out 4 reps with my left hand. My pullup ability has increased accordingly - I can now do 21 straight, as opposed to 15-16 before (with my grip failing at the end).

In a later post, I will talk about the other step I took that greatly increased my ability to do consecutive pullups.

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There is no other exercise that offers as high a level of muscular recruitment as squats.

I also personally feel that there is no other exercise that brings as much “good pain” in weightlifting than the squat. I can pump out heavy weighted pullups or bench press 1.5 times my weight all day, but when it comes to squats, I’d be lying if I said I didn’t approach the rack with sense of dreading for the next hour.

Today was squat day. Last week, I squatted 210 pounds for 4 sets, and it felt relatively easy and manageable. So instead of increasing the weight my usual 5 lbs/week, I chose to take the harder route and increase it 10 pounds to 220.

Here’s what my workout looked like:

• 45 x 8 (warmup)
• 135 x 6 (yawn)
• 185 x 3 (heavy warmup)
• 220 x 8 (wow this is tougher than I thought)
• 220 x 7 (do I honestly have 2 sets left of this?!)
• 220 x 7 (I can’t feel my legs anymore, and I want to vomit)
• 220 x 8 (My feeling of relief is overshadowed by the fact that I can barely walk back to my room)

Squats are a necessary evil - if I was limited to just one exercise, it would be the parallel squat. I always feel a great sense of accomplishment when I finish them, and my reward is a nice can of tuna + Club crackers (have to get a 1 gram protein per 1 lb bodyweight :))

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So true… I’ve made so many on-the-spot goals for myself that were driven solely by how I felt at the time (a girl I liked, or a mistake I made). Goals are far more powerful as a motivator when they are physically written out, and even moreso when they are divulged to the public. So without further ado, here are my exercise goals for the semester:

• Parallel squat 275 pounds for at least 15 repetitions.
• Weigh in at 170 pounds.
• Be able to close the Captains of Crush No. 1 Gripper 8 times (I currently am working with the CoC Trainer gripper + CoC Expand Your Hand Bands, which I will review in a post at a later date.)
• Weighted chin-ups with 45 lbs, at least 15 repetitions.

Deadline for completion: April 30, 2008

These will no doubt be challenging goals to reach, and I will need to modify my current diet heavily - I am not getting enough protein and carbohydrates currently, and diet is as important as actual weightlifting in gaining strength and muscle.

For now, I’m converting this blog from a personal one to a workout journal, complete with how I am doing towards achieving my goals, and some commentary on weightlifting and training in general.

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It’s a vicious cycle. I’ve spent numerous nights this semester puzzling over homework in the wee hours of the night. I always promise myself, “Next time, this will not happen. I will start my homework the day it’s assigned.”

Inevitably, new work is assigned. However, feelings of late-night tiredness and stress far from me, I choose time and time again to partake in time-wasting activities like surfing Digg. Before I know it, it’s 3 AM the morning of an assignment’s due date, and I’ve got several hours of work ahead of me.

In other events, I have been fairly successful in keeping up with the goals I set for myself at the beginning of the year regarding exercise and my hobbies. Just have to maintain that consistant stream of action, and start taking action on killing procrastination.

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