Robert's Training Journal - A Tale of Yeah's and Buddy's

[robert]

I can still function and play sports, etc. but I can't do heavy movements involving certain muscle groups.

 

I just need to get it checked out (and fixed) so I can be me again.

[Tasha]

I can still function and play sports, etc. but I can't do heavy movements involving certain muscle groups.

 

I just need to get it checked out (and fixed) so I can be me again.

 

You have a very nice definition.

It won't take long to make it happen again !

[robert]

I trained abs yesterday, the day after training legs. I am not feeling super well at the moment so I'm not sure if I'll train tonight or not. I had a headache training abs and was in bed for 11 hours. Maybe I'll make it. Maybe not, but I'll try to do the best thing for my health and maybe that means training today incase I feel worse tomorrow and won't get to it.

 

Abs were nice, 50 min workout.

[Tasha]

I trained abs yesterday, the day after training legs. I am not feeling super well at the moment so I'm not sure if I'll train tonight or not. I had a headache training abs and was in bed for 11 hours. Maybe I'll make it. Maybe not, but I'll try to do the best thing for my health and maybe that means training today incase I feel worse tomorrow and won't get to it.

 

Abs were nice, 50 min workout.

 

Drink a kombu cha, gut it out tonight then reward yourself tomorrow with rest and food

Robert ! Robert ! Robert !

[robert]

Thanks girl. I'll probably do that. Hammer it out tonight and then rest after 3 days in a row at the gym tomorrow.

 

I better get going since I will watch C.O. do comedy tonight before bed.

[Tasha]

Thanks girl. I'll probably do that. Hammer it out tonight and then rest after 3 days in a row at the gym tomorrow.

 

I better get going since I will watch C.O. do comedy tonight before bed.

 

Way to go Robert !

That's the spirit. You can do it

Tonight, I was going to rest. But sense you're sick and you're going to the gym. I have no excuse so I'm going to swim lengths in the pool. Thanks for the motivation

[robert]

Thank you for the motivation too. And Zack. I really didn't feel like going and Zack had to send me a message asking about training. I've been the last couple of days and even had my heaviest leg workout in almost a year 2 days ago, but didn't feel great today.....but I'll go anyway

 

Thanks kids It's a cute term, not an insult, I call my older sister and others "kid"

[robert]

Great Arm Workout yesterday!

 

Thanks Tasha and Zack!!!!

 

I absolutely pounded them. Seriously, they were so hard, so tight, popping out of my very tight new VBB shirt and veins were showing all over.

 

It was one of the best workouts in months!

 

It was something like this:

 

10-15 warm-ups sets on cables to get blood flowing, no rest from biceps to triceps, just constantly doing one or the other, rope pull downs or cable curls.

 

Then Biceps:

 

EZ Curl Bar Curls

 

55 x 10

65 x 8

65 x 8

75 x 4

 

Hammer Strength Preacher Curls

 

60 x 10

60 x 10

60 x 10

60 x 10

60 x 10

 

Dumbbell Hammer Curls

 

30 x 10

35 x 8

40 x 5

45 x 3

 

 

Triceps

 

More rope pull-downs to get in the mood

 

Skull crushers supersetted by narrow grip chest press

 

65 x 10

65 x 10

65 x 10

65 x 10

65 x 10

 

Machine dips (careful of my shoulder and not doing reg. bodyweight dips)

 

180 x 15

210 x 12

225 x 10

225 x 10

250 x 8

275 x 8

 

Dumbbell kickbacks

 

15 x 15

20 x 12

20 x 12

 

 

It was a full hour of constant pump and then I sat in the hot tub and tried to start up a conversation with a cute blond girl but she wasn't too receptive. She smiled and answered my questions, laughed a little but never said anything after that. I also sat in the steamroom and sauna then had a sandwich, protein drink, protein bar and watched C.O. turn professional as a comedian

[janthraxx]

I stay in bed for damn near 11 hours on a regular basis these days...even when I feel fine physically

[robert]

hahaha.

 

Lucky!

 

I've just been beat. Not "sick" but have been traveling, stressed out, up late, not sleeping well, etc. so that slowed me down.

 

Now I'm running out of gas so I'm going to head home and eat and maybe even read

[robert]

Today was like "Cheers."

 

I am back in my home town and trained at my old gym (the place we filmed our DVD in).

 

It was awesome seeing a bunch of old friends and training buddies.

 

I hit abs and back today for a little over an hour.

 

Something like this:

 

A bunch of sets of sit-ups/crunches.

 

Cable crunches with 150 lbs x 5-8 sets.

 

Hanging leg raises for about 10 reps for 10 sets

 

 

Back

 

Lat pull downs:

 

120 x 10

130 x 10

140 x 8

 

Reverse Grip Lat pull downs

 

130 x 15

150 x 10

170 x 10

170 x 8

 

Wide grip pull-ups

 

9

8

8

 

Narrow grip pull-ups

 

10

12

 

Cable rows

 

120 x 10

120 x 10

120 x 10

 

T-bar rows

 

85 x 10

85 x 10

85 x 10

85 x 10

85 x 10

 

Back Extensions

 

20

20

20

 

 

I will start some other programs soon.

 

I'm only 4 weeks into training again and I want to get some sort of base and get my body used to weights again.

 

Compound movements are soon to come. I'm still getting over back and shoulder injuries which are super annoying!

 

Anyway, time to eat soon...

[Ravi]

Hey Rob, I notice you do TONS of sets of similar exercises. For example.....>15+ sets working the back using very similar movements (wide grip, narrow grip, lat pull, pull ups, etc). Do you find that your body responds best to this type of approach?

 

I've always just done 3-4 (maybe 5 for squats) sets, and moved on to a completely different movement.

[Zack]

That's an interesting observation ravi. The back has so many muscle groups.

[robert]

Out of town.........update soon......

[robert]

Trained legs today, but no internet at home anymore so no time to write.

 

Back felt a little funny today, but I made it through the workout.

 

As for Back Mr. Ravi, I do try to mix it up, but some things I can't do because of back injuries so I pick some that I can do and do a lot of sets.

 

I probably do that with a few muscle groups because I am limited with back and shoulder issues at the moment.

 

For example, has anyone noticed I haven't trained chest in 6 months. My shoulder is messed up and I can't "push."

 

So there are multiple reasons why some workouts are the way they are, but whether I'm keeping up on the forum or not, I'm actually keeping up in the gym quite well, which excites me.

 

I don't always post about it, but I'm back in action, making it happen, and it feels good.

 

Gotta go.....

[robert]

I trained Back and Arms tonight in Santa Monica with Brendan Brazier. Good times..........except my silly shoulder injury was acting up and is a little sore now. I couldn't even do pull-ups because it was bothering me.

 

I'm really really really tired of being so fragile lately. I'm not sure why that is. I'm not as tough as I used to be I guess.

 

But anyway, the workout was still good because I always make the most of my opportunities to train with Brendan, train in Southern California and it's just great.

 

I managed:

 

4 sets of lat pull-downs

 

4 sets of t-bar rows

 

4 sets of back extensions

 

A few sets of machine rows and 2 sets of pull-ups

 

I did a variety of barbell and dumbbell biceps curls and hammer curls.

 

Then went to Whole Foods and ate a lot and walked around Santa Monica.

 

Now it's bed time.

 

6 more days in L.A. Yay!

[Tasha]

That's awesome Robert. I'm glad you having fun hanging in LA.

 

Did you take the stairs?

[robert]

Actually, Yes. I took the stairs

 

Brendan and I are having fun. Up way to late last night and I barely made it out of bed around 11AM Nice and sunny today so maybe some tennis after he gets back from his bike ride.

 

Biceps are sore this morning so I'm happy about that.

[robert]

Heading to Malibu to today and then off to Santa Monica to hit up the gym.

 

I love vacation! I haven't really taken a "vacation" in two years and I've been on two vacations in the past couple of weeks.

 

Awesome times!

 

Training with Brendan Brazier is awesome..........just spending time with B Squared is awesome. He is an inspiring guy and probably my #1 role model at the moment. It's hard to explain, but becoming good friends and spending a lot of time with your mentor and role model is a pretty incredible feeling.

 

Yeah buddy!

 

Time to go eat some food!

[robert]

Yeah Buddy!

 

Legs today!

 

Something like this:

 

Warm-up on bike for 12 minutes

 

Machine leg press x 5 sets of 150-320 lbs of 10-25 reps per set to warm up the legs.

 

Workout:

 

Leg press:

 

270 x 15

360 x 10

450 x 8

540 x 8

630 x 6

720 x 6 (most weight I've lifted in about a year)

 

Narrow foot position leg press:

 

540 x 15

630 x 10

 

Leg Extensions

 

75 x 15

105 x 12

135 x 10

150 x 10

170 x 10

170 x 10

 

Lying Leg Curls

 

85 x 15

95 x 10

95 x 10

105 x 8

105 x 8

 

Seated Calf raises

 

200 x 25

220 x 12

220 x 12

220 x 12

180 x 15

 

Then I did some wall sits in the sauna. My friends Brendan and Claire were at the gym with me and we sat in the sauna and steamroom for quite a while and then had dinner at Claire's house. She has a super cute dog too! We took a bunch of photos that will most likely end up in my myspace comments

[Zack]

You should try low rep sets for a while, change things up.

[robert]

Yeah, for sure. I will. I like to do low-rep stuff and lately I've been doing sets of 6 and 8 reps for leg press and I'll keep that up for a while doing the 700+ lbs. But I'll go lower on some other exercises too.

 

I'm still focused on Team 200.

 

Here is a recent pic from Christmas Day at my mom's house:

 

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[hsorlando]

Nice arms!!! They've definitely grown since I met you in October.

[robert]

Thanks. I'm trying. I'm more consistent than I've been in a very long time! I was at the gym again today.

 

So 3 of 5 days in L.A. I've been training at 24 Hour Fitness.

 

Today I trained mostly biceps but also triceps and a bit of back too.

 

It was something like this:

 

Back:

 

Lat pull-downs

 

110 x 15

120 x 10

130 x 10

150 x 10

 

Reverse Grip Lat pull-downs

 

150 x 10

170 x 8

180 x 6

180 x 6

 

Back extensions

 

20

20

20

 

Biceps

 

Dumbbell Biceps Curls

 

A few sets with light weights like 20 lbs to warm-up

 

EZ Curl Biceps Curls

 

55 x 10

60 x 10

75 x 6

60 x 10

75 x 5

75 x 5

75 x 8

 

And one or two drop sets. I did a bunch of sets because I just really like this barbell or EZ curl bar curls and I think they are awesome. I'd rather spend time doing more sets of these than doing other exercises. I also did a bunch of hammer curls recently so I just focused on a supinated grip this time.

 

Triceps

 

Dip Machine

 

180 x 15

190 x 10

190 x 10

190 x 10

200 x 8

200 x 8

 

Rope pull-downs

 

100 x 12

100 x 12

100 x 10

90 x 8

 

 

That was it today. Mostly just an arm pump and bit of back work. It still felt good and the biceps curls were pretty tough because there wasn't a whole lot of rest between sets.

[robert]

Brendan and I jumped on the trampoline for about 30 minutes today. That was the extent of my training.

 

I had 3 good workouts while I was down here and was active all 6 days with tennis or something else.

 

Back home tomorrow night. Jay Cutler will be in Portland on Saturday so that should be pretty awesome!

 

I've been up super late every night here in L.A. so back home I'll try to catch up on some sleep.