Lower Body

Legs were still tight from last week - struggled with the weight today, could not go very heavy.

Back Squat
45 x 10
135 x 3
185 x 1
195 x 1
195 x 1
195 x 1
195 x 1
135 x 8 - burnout set

Front Squat/Romanian Deadlift Superset
95lbs FS/135lbs RDL
12,9,6

Laces to bar
3 x 10

Hyperextensions
3 x 10

Upper Body Workout

Bench Press
45 x 1
135 x 3
185 x 1
195 x 1
205 x 1
215 x 1
225 x 1
135 x 19 (burnout set)

Pullups
3 @ bodyweight
1 x 40lbs
1 x 50
1 x 60
1 x 65
1 x 65

Close Grip Bench/1 Arm DB row Superset
115lbs/50lbs
12-9-6

As many pushups as possible in 3:00: 55

Some "Before" Pictures

This is me today, July 2, 2010. 155lbs, just finishing up my first week of "Pat's Programming". My goal is to build muscle while hopefully losing some fat. The combination of 9+ hours of sleep per night, meat and vegetables, and Pat's Programming should hopefully get me where I want to be. I have 8 weeks before our third baby (Jessica) gets here, so my "after" pictures I plan to take in that 8th week right before our new baby is born.

Upper Body

Bench Press - Work up to a single rep max
45lbs x 10
135 x 3
185 x 1
205 x 1
225 x 1 (my PR is 235lbs, so not too far off. I plan to get to 250lbs in the next 6 weeks)
Burnout set: 135lbs x 18

Weighted chins - Work up to a single rep max
x1 at bodyweight
x1 at bodyweight
25lbs x 1
50lbs x 1
60lbs x 1
70lbs - Couldn't quite get my chin over the bar

Superset
Close grip bench press (115lbs) & One arm dumbell rows (50lbs)
12-9-6, 30 second rest in between

As many pushups as possible in 3:00: 58 pushups total

Post-workout shake:
48g whey protein
3 scoops orange gatorade
10g creatine
25g glutamine

7.2g EPA/DHA fish oil
1500mg Vitamin C

Lower Body Workout

Back Squat
45lbs x 10
135 x 3
185 x 1
205 x 1
205 x 1
215 x 1
225 - Failed
(Forgot to do a burn-out set)

Wow, I've been away for TOO LONG! 205lbs felt heavy! Moved up to 215 and got it. Dumped 225lbs, couldn't stand it up (my PR is 260lbs). I'm confident that within a month I'll be back up to where I was before.

For my front squat/Romanian Deadlift superset, I was supposed to do 135lbs/145lbs, and do 12-9-6 reps. I knew that I wouldn't be able to do 135lbs on the front squat for 12 reps, not on my first day back anyways. So I used 115lbs for the front squats, and 135lbs for the RDLs. Even with that, my supersets looked like this:

9/9
6/6
4/4

My quads literally locked up after the front squats. Killer!! Loved it though, so great being back training legs again. I can 100% see how this programming will help me build some serious muscle.

After this, I walked SLOWLY (so my legs would stop cramping up) to the pull-up bar, and did three sets of 10 of laces to bar.

Immediately post-workout I had a shake with:
40g whey protein
25g glutamine
7g creatine
3 tablespoons of orange gatorade powder

Last night I slept a full 10 hours, and had another perfect day of just meats and veggies. I can't wait for Friday's workout!

Pat's Programming

Started Pat's programming today. I spent the better part of the past two months not exercising, but eating right (meats and veggies) and getting 8-10hrs of sleep a night. I leaned down to 154lbs, and felt great - leaner than when I was lifting 5-6x per week. Pat was right - I was doing too much then, too much cortisol being released, and I was "fat" even though I was exercising every day.

My new programming that Pat put together for me follows a basic M-W-F schedule. Focus is still on getting plenty of sleep, and eating meats & veggies 90+% of the time. My goal now is to just put on muscle, and this should do the trick. Here is the schedule, followed by what I did this morning:


Workouts start at 6:30am (they’ll only take 45 minutes total)

Monday
Bench Press – work up to a single rep max, then do a burnout set at the end.
Chins/weighted chins
Superset:
Close grip bench/bent over barbell rows
Little METCON/Competition like wall sit dumbell curls, max clapping push-ups, 21-15-9 kipping pull-ups, push-ups. These are very short (less then3min), but competitive
Abs – planks, knees to elbows, Ab Ripper X, etc.

Tuesday
Off, completely off, get extra sleep

Wednesday
Back Squat-and do the burn out. Remember the burn out sets will get you breathing hard, and give you that METCON dose you want
Front Squats
Romanian Deadlifts - RDLs
2 Supersets=Done fast, another METCON dose
Back Extensions
Knees to elbow

Thursday
Off, completely off, get extra sleep

Friday
Repeat Monday, alternating between trying to hit a 1RM, doing heavy sets of 5, etc.

This is what this morning looked like (first time back in months, so I know these numbers will increase rather quickly over the next four weeks):

Bench Press
135lbs x 8
185 x 5
205 x 1
135 x 15 (burnout set)

Deadhang chins
x8
25lbs weighted x 5
25lbs weighted x 4
x6 (no weight)

Superset close grip bench press (135lbs) and dumbell rows (55lbs):
x8, x8/8
x4, x8/8
x5, x8/8

6 minutes of 1 minute planks (15 second rest in between).

PWO: 40g whey protein mixed with 20g L-Glutamine. Will look into picking up some gatorade powder and creatine this week to experiment with Pat's whey/gatorade/creatine PWO (post workout) drink.

Friday Fun Day

Was joined this morning at the CDW gym by my good friend Brian Maastricht today! We did a great mix of weights, abs, and having fun playing a sport. We did:



3 minutes of planks - 1m front, 1m left, 1m right
Incline Bench Press: 4 sets of 6-10 reps
3 minutes of planks - 1m front, 1m left, 1m right
Flat dumbbell press: 4 sets of 6-10 reps
3 minutes of planks - 1m front, 1m left, 1m right
Cable Crossovers: 4 sets of 10 reps
3 minutes of planks - 1m front, 1m left, 1m right
Dips: 4 sets of 15-20 reps

We then played 3 on 3 volleyball for 30 minutes. I never realized what a great workout volleyball is, and it was a ton of fun!!