Lift!

[shanmonster]

knightky bought me a gag gift for Christmas: a copy of Muscle & Fitness magazine. This is the sort of magazine that is filled with photos of heavy steroid users, sexist articles (the men are buff, but the women are just skinny with big tits), and over-the-top ads for supplements. One is even called Hemo Rage (and comes in flavours like Sucker Punch and Malicious Melon. I laughed.).

But hidden amongst all the overstated ads and macho hyperbole is some useful information. An article called "Break Your Legs," which promises to "make leg day suck at home, too," I learned about one-legged Romanian deadlifts.

I also found an article called "Beginner's Luck" which is an 8-week program to building muscle.

Distilled down, here are the first four weeks:

Day	Exercise	Sets	Reps/Time
1	Squat	3	5
	Bench press	3	5
	Deadlift	2	5
	Dumbbell incline press	1	8-10
	One-arm bent-over dumbbell row	1	8-10 per side
	Plank	2	30 sec.
3	Squat	3	5
	Bench press	3	5
	Deadlift	2	5
	Pull-up	1	8-10
	Standing dumbbell overhead press	1	8-10
	Standing barbell curl	1	8-10
5	Squat	3	5
	Bench press	3	5
	Deadlift	2	5
	Overhead squat	1	8-10
	Romanian deadlift	1	8-10
	Side plank	2	30 sec. each side

And here are weeks 5-8:

Day	Exercise	Sets	Reps/Time
1	Squat	3	5
	Bench press	3	5
	Deadlift	2	5
	Dumbbell incline press	1	6-8
	One-arm bent-over dumbbell row	1	6-8 each side
	Plank	2	60 sec.
3	Squat	3	5
	Bench press	3	5
	Deadlift	2	5
	Pull-up	1	6-8
	Standing dumbbell overhead press	1	6-8
	Standing barbell curl	1	6-8
5	Squat	3	5
	Bench press	3	5
	Deadlift	2	5
	Overhead squat
	Romanian deadlift	1	6-8
	Side plank	2	30 sec. each side

Now, here's my issue. This looks like a good routine to acclimatize myself to doing some very heavy lifting. But with the plank sets, at the very least, I know I'd be regressing. I already hold planks, side planks, and reverse planks for 90 seconds each time I work out. So for you muscleheads out there, would you say I should keep doing my planks the way that I am used to, step them up, or is there some sort of benefit I'm just not seeing to scaling them back?

I intend on maintaining my plyometric training: jumping jacks, dragons, kick squats, Hindu squats, etc. I need that explosive strength in my legs for my dance, and also because I'm a huge fan of mighty gams.

I plan on monitoring my diet a bit more strictly again, to ensure I'm getting enough protein to build the muscle I want to build. I don't have a very big appetite, so I think this has been my biggest obstacle to building muscle, all along.

Let's see if I can get myself in my best physical shape this year. And maybe, just maybe, I'll hold my own at a fitness competition.

Comments

[etcet.livejournal.com]

I got a six month sub of M&F as a freebie, too, and my comment was "It's COSMOPOLITAN for meatheads."

I like the recipe section, but that's about all I can take away from it.

Yes, you should still do your "harder than suggested" stuff. They're unwittingly admitting that most lifters have shitty core strength and need to work on that (as well as their balance). There's nothing to be gained by scaling them back, because iso holds are a big part of how you use your core for dance anyway - "functional strength"

They don't say anything about weights entirely too often, which makes this stuff the next thing to useless (okay, I'm doing 8-10 reps, but is that of my 12RM or my 20RM?).

If a practitioner is hitting the main lifts hard enough and they're pressed for time, the barbell curls and dumbbell incline presses can be dropped without a second thought. I'd even go so far as to say that the RDLs could be dropped from the last bit and probably replaced with more pullups.

[shanmonster.livejournal.com]

Yeah, it really is Cosmo.

My current workout is as follows:

Dragons x 120
Planks x 90 second per variety
Jumping jacks x 300
Front squat: 3 sets of 10
Romanian deadlift: 3 sets of 10
Bench press: 3 sets of 10
Bentover row: 3 sets of 10
Arnold press: 3 sets of 10
Reverse grip bicep curl: 3 sets of 10
Bench dip: 3 sets of 10
Captain's chair leg raise: 3 sets of 10
Decline bench crunch: 3 sets of 10
Calf raise: 3 sets of 10
Back extensions: 3 sets of 10

I lift as heavy as I can while still maintaining good form throughout my sets.

I'm finding it takes me rather a long time to fit all this in, especially when my asthma is causing me grief. On a good day, I can do it in an hour. On a bad day, it takes about 2.5 hours. And I really ought to put pull-ups in there.

Also, now that I went and pulled muscles in my traps and rhomboids during New Year's horseplay, I'm a little nervous at lifting. I don't want to fuck it all up more, but neither do I want to stultify any more. This past month has been a bust for me, gym-wise, because of non-weightlifting-related injuries. Gah.

[shanmonster.livejournal.com]

Oh yes.... What do you mean by RM, as in 12RM/20RM?

[forestmaster.livejournal.com]

12 rep max/20 rep max... number of times you can lift weight X... say you did deadlifts... and your 1RM (one rep max) was 100 pounds... or kilos if you prefer... you might be able to lift 90 5 times without being able to do a 6th, so your 5RM would be 90. Etc.

That's a heck of a lot to do every time you work out... could you do 1/3 of that each time you work out and work out for less time but heavier effort on each exercise overall? Are you doing this same basic workout 1x/week or 3x/week or as you can work the time in? Variety and not doing the same thing every time will stress and grow your muscles more over time than doing the same thing and stagnating as your muscles get used to the movements, even if you're slowly increasing weight...

Definitely don't want to mess up the lifting either... do you have access to a local coach or trainer that you trust to review your form?

Probably should make your planks harder if they're no longer challenging... raise your feet/work toward handstands perhaps?

[shanmonster.livejournal.com]

Thanks!

Until this past month, when I've been dealing with pulled muscles, I was doing the workout an average of three times a week. Lately, it's been more like once, which makes me unhappy, but I go when my injuries allow me to do it without sacrificing technique.

Every three months or so, I change around my exercises, making sure to still work all the muscle groups.

I also teach dance classes once a week, but that exercise is negligible.

I teach a fitness bootcamp class once a week, and I get in a fair amount of strength work while demonstrating moves (eg. kneeling leanbacks, dragons, jumping squats, jumping jacks, etc.)

And I've been starting up spin dance again, as of this week, and hope to get a minimum of 3 hours of that in (hooping, poi, veil, etc.).

So even when I'm not as active at the gym, I'm still a heck of a lot more active than Joe tv-watcher.

[forestmaster.livejournal.com]

I know you're doing a heck of a lot of other stuff, which again is why I was wondering if shorter duration at higher weights would help vs. doing one mega weight training session a week... I know you'd do it more often if injuries permitted...

Agreed that dance class in comparison to this weight stuff no longer is anything close to the workout it was at one time...

Since I know you're way more active than the average couch potato (and way more active than a lot of other active people I know), I was wondering if the 3x/week would be too much of a good thing on top of everything else you're doing as you mentioned here... which could be why you're getting injured if you don't have enough recovery time or you're too tired and it affects your form, etc... (or how what you're eating comes into play if you're not getting enough protein/water/rest/etc... lots of variables to consider... YMMV)

[shanmonster.livejournal.com]

Well, this injury could've happened to anyone, no matter what their state of fitness. I was roughhousing, and ended up having a bunch of weight (namely the rest of me) come down on the back of my neck. One of those stupid things. Doh!

As for the pull in my SI joint, well, I'm still trying to figure out why that happened. I am meticulous about my technique, and I don't work the same major muscle groups without 48 hours rest, so I don't think it's a matter of overfatigue. Could be just bum luck.

I was far more active in my kung fu days about six years ago. Back then, I did HARD kung fu training a minimum of twice a week, plus taught fitness classes, dance classes, and did weight training, dance training, and yoga several times a week. I also studied other martial arts styles off and on throughout the week. I'm feeling much more sedentary, nowadays. I think I generally eat better now than I did then, though.

[forestmaster.livejournal.com]

I read a book (http://www.amazon.com/Sly-Moves-Proven-Program-Strength/dp/0060737875/ref=sr_1_12?ie=UTF8&qid=1294424863&sr=8-12) by Sylvester Stallone that talked about the crazy amounts of exercise he used to do and overtrain, etc... and what he recommends/does today... just because you could/did do more in the past, doesn't necessarily mean it was a good thing to be doing.... are you happy with your current state of fitness and activity? Do you feel more fit now than then or still working to find the right balance of activities, fitness/ability/a certain look for fitness competition purposes and/or overall health?

[shanmonster.livejournal.com]

I'm not happy with my current level of fitness and training. I want to do more. I am less fit now than when I was training at kung fu, and would like to get back to that level of fitness, and then bring it up a few notches.

I want to increase my strength, muscular definition, and flexibility. I would like to enter a bodybuilding/fitness competition within the next six months and hold my own.

All this is ultimately for my health. I do not have good genetics, that way.

Entering the competition is for my own sake of curiosity, and learning what I am capable of. I certainly have no desire to go about my everyday life dehydrated and wearing a fake tan. But I do want to be very strong and fit.

[etcet.livejournal.com]

xRM = X rep max, just shorthand :-)

Thus 12RM/20RM - twelve rep max/twenty rep max, ie: the amount of you can lift, using good form, just that many times, and that the next rep will fail or require cheating to complete. Thus, your 1RM is the absolute max weight you can lift on any given day.

I was going to comment on the percieved duration of the workout list you put up there. do you do straight sets (ie: you do the dragons, then the planks, then the jacks, then.. then... then...) or do you do them as a circuit (one set of each all the way through, then a second set all the way through, etc), or do you do the lifts as complexes or complementary pairs?

i find that, for me at least, doing non-competing paired exercises has the benefit of keeping my heart rate up and not making my lifting take forever; for instance, yesterday was squats interposed with bench pressing; i could have added pullups if the squat bar wasn't in the way, i suppose. or supersetting pullups and dips (pull/push) as a paired exercise.

[shanmonster.livejournal.com]

I do a set of jumping jacks, a set of dragons, then a plank. I do it four times, until I've completed all my plank variations, and then I get to the other stuff.

I do all sets of my weights in a row, and not split up into circuits. I tend to mix my leg raises with my crunches, though.

I've tried adding pull-ups, but after doing any of the training in here, I seem to be too tired to do even one properly. I can only seem to do them when I'm nice and rested, so I tend to leave them for my chin-up bar at home when I'm puttering around the house.

[etcet.livejournal.com]

Ahh, okay. it's hard to guess what your routine is when it's just listed out like that :-)

[shanmonster.livejournal.com]

True enough!

[harukoraharu.livejournal.com]

From a powerlifting perspective I would question doing the main three: Deadlifts, Squats and Bench Press in the same session but then I'm aiming towards low reps high weight or as much as I can without injury. So I do Deadlifts and Press on Mondays, Squat and Bench on Wednesdays, and mix in some other supporting lifts and bodyweight exercises with more reps and sets.

When I was first shown a plank in the gym it was against a swiss ball, and I thought that was a bit easy and took it to the floor but now think I was a bit hasty. Definately there are some strong lifters at the gym I train who couldn't hold a plank 90 seconds so guess that's why the program starts off quite easy at 30

[shanmonster.livejournal.com]

I'm not aiming to be a powerlifter, per se. I'm working on increasing strength and muscle, but not specifically toward lifting the hugest amount possible.

I've always had excellent core and leg strength. Upper body, not so much.