Volume 25: Chapter legs

My favorite part of the book. We decided that it was a night of volume and 25 was the number to hit

We started with leg presses, 3 plates a side for 25 reps and climbed our way up to 7 plates a side for 25 reps, totaling 5 sets. 

After that the only thing I wanted to do were leg extensions, to get rid of the lactic acid burn I had in my quads from all those reps, 4 sets of leg extensions did the trick!

Hack Squats was next, 4 sets of 25 reps and back came the lactic acid burn, but now it was in a different place, more to the out side as opposed to the tear drop area and on the last set Alex yells out, there goes my glut, it just gave out… After 225 repetitions total for pressing movements, I can’t blame it one bit!

Next we did stiff legged dead lifts for 4 sets, standing legs curls for 3 sets and the 3 calf machines we use, for 9 sets total, ending with Abs

The breakdown…

Leg press /5 sets/25 reps

Leg extensions/4 sets/failure

Hack Squats/4 sets/25 reps

Stiff leg dead lifts/4 sets/failure

Standing legs curls/3 sets/failure

Standing calves/3 sets/failure

Seated calves/3 sets/failure

Machine calves press/3 sets/failure

Abs

Legs are pretty trashed today and I love it!

Time for a protein drink

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Last week for a 3 day split

This week due to the holidays and the snow storm we just got, we decided it would be best to run Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. Next week we go to a 4 day split and it should transition nicely

Yesterday I was able to get the guys to train at the Natick Golds gym which is 5 minutes from my house.  I had the day off from work, and it made things for me a little easier, seeing I had to take care of some personal stuff near home.

Natick Gold’s will be moving in a couple of weeks and it’s nice to know that they are keeping the vertical leg press machine, as well as, the donkey calf machine. You don’t get to see these machines often and they are both awesome machines!

I’ve been kind of on “vacation” in terms of intensity, I figured rather then taking time off from the gym, I would just cut back on my intensity to give my sore joints a rest

Yesterday it was all about Chest and Arms and it went something like this…

Flat Bench Dumbbell presses

Machine Incline presses

Flat Dumbbell flies

Close grip Flat Bench on the Smith machine, (starting the triceps, ending the chest)

Triceps push downs with a rope

Seated Triceps extension on a machine

Seated Bicep curls on a machine

Seated Dumbbell curls

Reverse grip Barbell curls

No abs today… seeing I can’t see them anymore, they won’t be missed (smile)

Time for a protein drink

Want to add that Big John aka Animal ripped apart the 150 dumbbells on the flat bench, for reps!

Now that's what I'm talking about!

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Save yourself first

Of course we got our workout in on Christmas Eve and so didn’t the whole world… I’ve never seen the gym so busy and so many new faces. It’s a nice sign that Americans are starting to get their priorities straight and took advantage of a no work day and got their workouts in early.

Save yourself first so you can save others, is how I believe it should be, let’s just hope it last.

Back and Shoulders 

5 sets/ Lat pull-downs

4sets/Bent-over rows

4 sets/ Cable Low rows

4 sets/ reverse grip cable pull downs

4 sets/ Shoulder presses on a press machine facing the pad

4 sets/ Dumbbell side laterals

4 sets/ Machine rear delts

4 sets/ Cable Shrugs

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all!

Time for a protein drink

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Left hamstring I would like to introduce my good friend ice.

Why don't you guys hang out for a while… the Animal aka Big John barks out

Yes another legs day, oh how I love leg days, let me count the ways…

4 sets/Leg press

4 sets/ Smith Machine Front Squat (I was pretty trashed after this)

4 sets /Step back Smith machine lunges (here’s where the Ice comes asking for the Animal)

4 sets /Legs extensions

4 sets/Stiff leg dead lifts

4 sets /Lying down leg curls

3 sets each/Standing calf raises, seated calf and sitting calf press

The Hawk aka Alex led the way last night and I was the caboose, two hours later and the legs were gone!

Time for a protein drink

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And it went something like this…

Chest and Arms; 

Standing crooked bar curls 4 set

Preacher curls 4 sets

Dumbbell Hammer curls 4 sets

Incline barbell bench 4 sets

Incline dumbbells 4 sets

Smith Machine Flat bench 4 sets

Machine flies 4 sets

Triceps cable push downs 4sets

Lying down “skull crushers” 4 sets

Triceps kick backs 4 sets

Abs

Starting the New Year we are going to a 4 day split, Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday

Chest and Bi’s

Back and Traps (including Dead lifts)

Shoulders and Tri

Legs on Saturday (Big SMILE) ain’t nothing like Legs on a Saturday, not only are you full of energy having a morning workout, you have the weekend to rest and grow!

Time for a protein drink

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25 cent “tip of the day” Start with a different exercise and or muscle often

Back and Shoulders.

And it went something like this…

Shrugs - 5 reps, 7 sets, climbing up to 5 plates aside for 2 sets, ending on 4 plates, last two sets to failure

Standing shoulders presses, 4 sets, didn’t count

Dumbbell seated laterals, pausing at the top, 4 sets

Wide grip lat pull downs, 4 sets

Machine hi row grip lat pull downs, 4 sets

Machine seated wide grip lat pull, 4 sets

Single grip cable lat pull downs, 4 sets

Dumbbell rear Delt raises on an incline bench, 4 sets

Abs

Off a “Cliff” swoops down a Hawk, onto a Lobster, who assimilates that Hawk.

This is called, the survival the fittest!

Then there was the Hawk aka Alex aka the Hawkster

Awesome workout!

Time for a protein drink

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When slapping your face doesn’t do the trick, try peeing...

I was out of town this past Monday, so I didn’t train Chest and Arms and gave my shoulder more rest time. It's not 100%, but It does feel better.  Of course Cliff-lobster and The Animal had awesome Chest and Arm workout, they made sure to tell me last night how much their triceps were killing them!

All day meetings on Tuesday and I forgot my cook ground beef in the refrigerator at the hotel, so I went over 6 hours without eating. I did try to make up for it with my last meal, but you can only stuff so much food into your stomach before you explode.

Because I didn’t eat as much food the day before, I got some BIG TIME calf spasms at the end of the workout. The guys where like… OH shit! I’ve never seen that before!

And it went something like this…

Standing calf raises - 4 sets, 20 reps, and increasing the weight each time, trying to reach failure

Seated calf raises - 4 sets, 20 reps, increasing weight

Lying down leg curls - 4 sets, 20 reps, increasing weight

¾ Dead-lifts - 5 sets, 5 reps, climbing up to 4 plates for 2 sets

Squats - 4 sets, 1 plate, 2 plates 3, plates, 2 plates, no counting to failure

Front Squats on the Smith Machine - 3 sets, 1 plate, 2 plates, 3 plates, no counting to failure

Hey guys look, my calf is cramping… OH NO now it’s starting to SPAS... OOOOUCH!

After not being able to put my foot down for about 3 minutes, I started to slap myself in the face in hopes to get  my mind off the spasm, (I’m sure at this point people where thinking I was a little crazy) finally getting myself to pee a little did the trick! 

We ended on leg extensions, I was able to get 2 sets out of the 4 they did, before the spasm would start up again...

Got I love leg workouts!

Time for a protein drink

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What happened to Lateral pull downs?

My lats hurt more than usual, right up hi around the armpit, that little muscle that sits in the front, below the rear delt.

Lately we have been picking a number and doing that amount of reps, while increasing the weight until we fail.

Yesterday was 15, not sure what we were thinking…

And it went something like this… 

We started this time with reverse grip lat pull downs for 4 sets of 15 (I’ve never started with this movement) climbing down the stack of weights, 2 plates a time. This would be the reason why I’m extra sore in that muscle… awwwthe beauty of starting with a different movement every chance you can

Remember we have the most energy and strength doing our first movement, let’s not be selfish and not give all movements the chance to be first!

Wide grip bend over rows on the t-bar, 6 plates, 4 sets, 15 reps. here is where you’re saying, why 15 reps? (Here’s where I tell my Eveie, who reads my blog, but only the first and last part, she skips the workout, that I love her!) We ended on low rows, 3 sets of 15, climbing down the stack 2 at a time, totaling 165 reps, that’s a lot for only 3 movements, 165 reps! That would be why we forgot about Lap pull downs, we where toasted. 

Lap pull downs are a staple and should never be forgotten, you should always do them every workout. I can only imagine how much more sore my back would feel, if we did pull downs too, next time!

Standing shoulder presses at the squat rack. I staying out of this one giving my shoulder time off and just using the bar for 4 set of 15, while Cliff-lobster and The Animal ripped apart the weights, they just kept going up and up, banging out 15 reps, I could feel the pain!

We took on the machines next doing side raises and rear delts, keeping the 4 sets of 15 reps going… then Traps, 4 sets of 15 using a cable machine, ending with stomach, awesome workout!

Time for a protein drink!

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