Don’t you love it when everything just feels right in the gym. It was a great workout and I had extreme focus. And that was with staying up too late last night. Maybe I need less sleep, not more? Nah, I’ll call it a fluke… [Read more…]
Delts, Midback, Arms (growth day)
For those following along closely, yes, I did miss yesterday. Oops! That’s the problem with trying to get a work project completed in the morning – the next thing you know it’s afternoon already. Counted it as a bonus growth day, however, and back with the program today… [Read more…]
Leg Day
There was a time when it was always Monday leg day, and now I remember why. Sure, in a busy gym it’s nice because NO one else is doing legs on Monday, but it’s also early in the week when your energy is (hopefully) high. Only real change to today’s workout was bumping calf work to the front… [Read more…]
Chest, Lats, Tris, Abs (fat-burning furnace)
Late start today despite waking up plenty early. Real life always gets in the way. LOL! I refused to skip or condense, so that meant limited rest periods and a whole lot of heavy breathing. Just what the fat-burning furnace ordered…
Chest: Incline presses (2×15,10 + X Reps); Incline flyes (1×15 + X Reps); Dips–rest-pause (2×12(8) + X Reps); DB flyes–double drop (1×12(10)(6) + X Reps)
Lats: Chins (1×12 + X Reps); Undergrip chins (1×10 + X Reps); Pullovers (1×10 + X Reps) ss Undergrip rows (1×12); Undergrip rows–stage (1×10)
Triceps: Lying extensions (2×15,10 + X Reps); Overhead extensions (2×10,8 + X Reps) ss Bench dips (2×12,9 + X Reps)
Abs: Kneeups (1×18) ss Full-range crunches (1×25 + X Fade) ss Planks (1×60 sec) ss Bench V-ups (1×15 + X Reps)
Note: My current PowerBlock gym split is based on the X-Rep Mass-Detail Workout in the Ultimate Mass Workout e-book.
Summary: Rest periods were minimal because I got started so late. No appointments to get to, but I didn’t want my training time to get in the way of work for the rest of the day. It was great! Sure, my lungs were on fire, but it was a good fire, and it burned in every bodypart, too. Aside from the very short rest periods, there were only a couple of slight changes: went back to Incline flyes simply for the sake of saving time, all ab exercises were done back-to-back rather than having a rest before Bench V-ups. I’ll probably stick with that, as it seemed more efficient and felt pretty darn good.
Diet, Supplements & Nutrient Timing: For meal-by-meal diets plus training and nutrition info, see the X-treme Lean e-book.
Delts, Midback, Arms (thunderstruck)
Pretty outstanding workout considering the lack of sleep last night from being thunderstruck. Don’t get me wrong, I love a good thunderstorm – just not when it rolls in at 3 a.m. The thunder itself wasn’t so bad, but the volume of rain and wind was almost deafening…
Delts: DB upright rows (3×15,12,8 + X Reps); Seated laterals (1×12 + X Reps) ss Wide DB upright rows (1×12 + X Reps); Standing DB presses (1×10 + X Reps); Seated DB presses (1×12 + X Reps); Incline one-arm laterals (1×12 + X Reps) ss Leaning one-arm laterals (1×12 + X Reps); Bent-over laterals–drop set (1×10(7) + X top)
Midback: Chest-supported DB rows (2×12,10 + X Reps); Bent-arm bent-over laterals–drop set (1×10(8) + X Reps); Forward-lean shrugs (1×15 + X Reps) ss Shrugs (1×15 + X Fade)
Biceps: Standing DB curls (2×12,10 + X Reps); Concentration curls–drop set (1×12(8) + X Reps); One-arm spider curls (1×10 + X Fade)
Forearms: Incline hammer curls (1×12 + X Reps) ss Standing close-grip hammer curls (1×8 + X Reps); Wrist curls (2×12,10 + X Reps) ss Reverse wrist curls (2×10,10 + X Reps); Forearm rockers (1×15 + X Reps)
Note: My current PowerBlock gym split is based on the X-Rep Mass-Detail Workout in the Ultimate Mass Workout e-book.
Summary: A slightly late and slow start to the workout, but it was surprisingly good all things considered. Just as good as Monday, really. The only change today was the sequence on forearms: I did supersets of wrist curls with reverse wrist curls rather than drop sets on each, and changed it up to have flexor work first. Also went to a slightly different angle on the Incline hammer curls before that. Made for a monstrous forearm pump and a difficult time opening the door to get out of the gym. LOL!
Diet, Supplements & Nutrient Timing: For meal-by-meal diets plus training and nutrition info, see the X-treme Lean e-book.
Chest, Lats, Triceps, Abs
I feel like I should purposely have a bad workout just so I don’t sound like a broken record, but today wasn’t the day for that. It was another great one. The tension times are a bit longer than prescribed in UMW, and the rest periods are shorter, too, but that seems to make it an even more ideal routine for me right now…
Chest: Incline presses (2×15,10 + X Reps); One-arm leaning flyes (1×15 + X Reps); Dips–rest-pause (2×12(8) + X Reps); DB flyes–double drop (1×12(10)(6) + X Reps)
Lats: Chins (1×12 + X Reps); Undergrip chins (1×10 + X Reps); Pullovers (1×10 + X Reps) ss Undergrip rows (1×12); Undergrip rows–stage (1×10)
Triceps: Lying extensions (2×15,10 + X Reps); Overhead extensions (2×10,8 + X Reps) ss Bench dips (2×12,9 + X Reps)
Abs: Kneeups (1×18) ss Full-range crunches (1×25 + X Fade) ss Planks (1×60 sec); Bench V-ups (1×15 + X Reps)
Note: My current PowerBlock gym split is based on the X-Rep Mass-Detail Workout in the Ultimate Mass Workout e-book.
Summary: My training partner (5-year old son) didn’t show up in time, so it was all-solo training today. In reality, that means more focus and less rest, so it’s a good thing, but I know he’ll be upset that I didn’t wake him up. Rather than Incline flyes, I tried to mimic cable work by doing One-arm leaning flyes. By simply holding on to a support beam in the gym and keeping my non-working-side foot against the beam, I can lean far enough out to do one-arm flyes, and the unique angle creates a pretty incredible upper-pec contraction at the top. Great feel! Everything else remained about the same. It’s a great workload combo that leads to a pretty incredible upper-body pump, especially with the residual soreness from yesterday’s workout.
Diet, Supplements & Nutrient Timing: For meal-by-meal diets plus training and nutrition info, see the X-treme Lean e-book.
Delts, Midback, Biceps, Forearms
Friday morning was our tax-day appointment, so I got so wound up with that that I forgot to post a blog. No forgetting to write about today’s workout, though. Swole patrol was on duty. LOL…
Delts: DB upright rows (3×15,12,8 + X Reps); Seated laterals (1×12 + X Reps) ss Wide DB upright rows (1×12 + X Reps); Standing DB presses (1×12 + X Reps); Seated DB presses (1×10 + X Reps); Incline one-arm laterals (1×12 + X Reps) ss Leaning one-arm laterals (1×8 + X Reps); Bent-over laterals–drop set (1×10(7) + X top)
Midback: Chest-supported DB rows (2×12,10 + X Reps); Bent-arm bent-over laterals–drop set (1×12(8) + X Reps); Forward-lean shrugs (1×15 + X Reps) ss Shrugs (1×15 + X Fade)
Biceps: Standing DB curls (2×12,10 + X Reps); Concentration curls–drop set (1×12(8) + X Reps); One-arm spider curls (1×12 + X Fade)
Forearms: Incline hammer curls (1×10 + X Reps) ss Standing close-grip hammer curls (1×8 + X Reps); Reverse wrist curls–drop set (1×12(8) + X Reps); Wrist curls–drop set (1×12(8) + X Reps); Forearm rockers (1×15 + X Reps)
Note: My current PowerBlock gym split is based on the X-Rep Mass-Detail Workout in the Ultimate Mass Workout e-book.
Summary: Lots of blood flow and plenty of pump. This is probalby the longest day of the three on this split, but that doesn’t mean it’s long. Still no problem getting it all out in under an hour with time to spare. Delts are getting a much needed extended blast, and biceps are responding surprisingly well to relatively low volume. Forearms have been underworked for a while – strength is fine, but the burn is almost unbearable, and the pump is so intense that it almost hurts. In a good way, of course.
Diet, Supplements & Nutrient Timing: For meal-by-meal diets plus training and nutrition info, see the X-treme Lean e-book.
Chest, Lats, Tris, Abs
Made it through the first full round of the new 3-day split (over 5 days) and couldn’t be happier. Sore everywhere, but not crippling, so no need to hold back on anything. I can’t even remember the last time I did the full UMW X-Rep split, but now I remember why I liked it so much the first time – especially now with slightly higher reps for longer tension times…
Chest: Incline presses (2×15,10 + X Reps); Incline flyes (1×10 + X Reps); Dips–drop set (2×12(8) + X Reps); DB flyes–drop set (1×12(10)(6) + X Reps)
Lats: Chins (1×12 + X Reps); Undergrip chins (1×10 + X Reps); Pullovers (1×10 + X Reps) ss Undergrip rows (1×10); Undergrip rows–stage (1×9)
Triceps: Lying extensions (2×15,10 + X Reps); Overhead extensions (2×10,8 + X Reps) ss Bench dips (2×10,8 + X Reps)
Abs: Kneeups (1×15) ss Full-range crunches (1×25 + X Fade) ss Planks (1×60 sec); Bench V-ups (1×15 + X Reps)
Note: My current PowerBlock gym split is based on the X-Rep Mass-Detail Workout in the Ultimate Mass Workout e-book.
Summary: Very happy with the new routine, and the split with this volume seems to be ideal at the moment. Mind you, it’s been a whopping 4 days, so I’ll keep tabs on my recovery, but I don’t sense their being any issues. I might have to sneak back to super-early training, however, as my 5-year old son has been my training partner this week. He’s mostly ended up working in a coloring book next to me between his “sets,” but today he decide to start practicing on his drums. Let’s just say it was loud and not exactly idea for focus. Of course, the workout was pretty incredible, too, so maybe it was a good thing? LOL
Diet, Supplements & Nutrient Timing: For meal-by-meal diets plus training and nutrition info, see the X-treme Lean e-book.
Delts, Midback, Biceps, Forearms
Today was a great one, and it was an incredible combo of delts and midback work. I haven’t felt this sort of fullness in a while, and I liked it…
Delts: DB upright rows (3×14,12,8 + X Reps); Seated laterals (1×12 + X Reps) ss Wide DB upright rows (1×12 + X Reps); Standing DB presses (1×12 + X Reps); Seated DB presses (1×10 + X Reps); Incline one-arm laterals (1×10 + X Reps) ss Leaning one-arm laterals (1×8 + X Reps); Bent-over laterals (1×10 + X top)
Midback: Chest-supported DB rows (2×12,10 + X Reps); Bent-arm bent-over laterals–drop set (1×12(8) + X Reps); Forward-lean shrugs (1×12 + X Reps) ss Shrugs (1×15 + X Fade)
Biceps: Standing DB curls (2×12,10 + X top); Concentration curls–drop set (1×12(8) + X Reps); One-arm spider curlss (1×10 + X Fade)
Forearms: Incline hammer curls (1×10 + X Reps) ss Standing close-grip hammer curls (1×8 + X Reps); Reverse wrist curls–drop set (1×12(8) + X Reps); Wrist curls–drop set (1×15(10) + X Reps); Forearm rockers (1×12 + X Reps)
Note: My current PowerBlock gym split is based on the X-Rep Mass-Detail Workout in the Ultimate Mass Workout e-book.
Summary: Another great one, and much more delt work than I’ve been doing. That’s a good thing, though, as delts have always been a weak area for me, at least from a width aspect. I blame my parents for my narrow clavicles. LOL! Delts felt great, and they’ll probably be sore tomorrow. Midback felt great, too, and much more “in touch” than it has lately. Biceps and forearms always respond well, and it was great to have dedicated forearm work for a change. I guess we’ll see if I still have some grip strength left for lats tomorrow.
Diet, Supplements & Nutrient Timing: For meal-by-meal diets plus training and nutrition info, see the X-treme Lean e-book.
Quads, Hams, Calves (legs)
It felt really good to be training legs by themselves. Focus was much higher, and there was no subconscious effort to preserve energy for other bodyparts. I never felt that I was doing that, yet this workout was so much better that it’s very likely I was…
Quads: Squats (2×15,10 + X Reps); Sissy squats (1×15 + X top); Sissy squats–rest/pause (2×12,9 + X Reps); Step-back lunges (1×12); Squats (1×12 + X Reps)
Hamstrings: Leg curls (1×12 + X top); Leg curls–drop set (1×12,8 + X Reps); Stiff-legged deadlifts (2×15,10 + X Reps)
Calves: Alternate calf raises (2×20,15 + X top); Alternate calf raises–drop set (1×12(8) + X top); Donkey calf raises (1×25 + X Reps); Seated calf raises (2×15,12 + X Fade)
Note: My current PowerBlock gym split is based on the X-Rep Mass-Detail Workout in the Ultimate Mass Workout e-book.
Summary: Great workout and legs are still shaking as I sit at my desk. I’m missing out on some equipment, so there are a few changes to the workout as listed in UMW, but just as it is with cars, modifying is fun. LOL! Without a leg extension machine I had to use different strategies on Sissy squats, and without any other big leg equipment pieces, it was all Squats and lunges for my pressing movements. Worked well, though. Same with calf work, but I was able to make it through almost as intended. Plenty of pump and (good) pain regardless, though.
Diet, Supplements & Nutrient Timing: For meal-by-meal diets plus training and nutrition info, see the X-treme Lean e-book.