Bode

Hey folks,

So after leaving New Zealand for California and now starting again in Sweden, I'm needing to get back in the gym. I know myself, and I want to get some structure before I get there and forget to follow a plan (I'll usually just do my favourite exercises and neglect certain things if given the chance).

Since it's been a while, I'm looking at starting with 3 days per week (Mon, Wed, Fri).

I'm looking for some kind of well rounded plan that I can increase my load with over 8 weeks and then I'll look at it again. This is what I'm thinking...

Day 1:

- Heavy Compound: Deadlifts

- Pull Ups

- Seated Row

- One Arm Dumbell Rows

Day 2:

- Heavy Compound: Overhead Press (Clean and Press maybe?)

- Arnold Press

- Front Raises

- Side Raises

- Rear Raises (maybe superset the raises?)

Day 3:

- Heavy Compound: Incline Bench/Dumbell Press

- Push Ups

- Incline Dumbell Flys

- Cable Crossovers

When I add in a Day 4, that'd be things like front squats etc. Living in Sweden means I don't need a car and bike EVERYWHERE which is awesome (have actually dropped a pant size from that simple change I think!).

Does anyone have thoughts on rep ranges? Adding in some HIIT after weights? I was jumping a lot of rope before and doing sprints which I enjoyed.

Any advice is HUGELY appreciated

Today's workout:

Deadlifts:

Slowly closing in on the 315 goal. Any tips on rep ranges I should be hitting to increase my 1RM? I've hit two PB's in the last 2 weeks and I'm feeling like I need a couple of weeks of volume>reps to solidify where I'm at. Any ideas?

5x135lbs

3x205lbs

1x295lbs [PB!]

5x205lbs

12x135lbs

Incline DB Press:

Going for MAX depth.

10x40lbs

8x45lbs

6x50lbs

Cable crossovers/Jump Rope:

Did these from low to high; "Wolverine style". I guess my nerd journal wouldn't live up to it's name without some X-Men references...

12x25lbs

10x30lbs

8x35lbs

6x40lbs

12x25lbs

Face Pulls:

10x50lbs

8x80lbs

6x100lbs

Workout from yesterday:

Clean and Press:

5x95lbs

5x95lbs

5x95lbs

5x95lbs

5x115lbs

One Arm DB Rows:

10x65lbs

8x70lbs

6x75lbs

Shoulder Press/Front Raises/Side Raises:

10x30lbs/15lbs/17.5lbs

8x35lbs/17.5lbs/20lbs

6x40lbs/20lbs/22.5lbs

A little bit of rotator cuff work and jump rope to finish off.

Pretty good workout today - managed to go heavier on a couple of things!

Deadlifts:

5x135lbs

4x185lbs

3x225lbs

1x275lbs

1x285lbs (PB!)

3x225lbs

12x135lbs

OH Dumbell Press:

10x30lbs

8x35lbs

6x40lbs (PB!)

Dumbell Curls:

10x20lbs

8x22.5lbs

6x25lbs

4x30lbs

12x15lbs

French Press:

10x30lbs

8x40lbs

6x50lbs

Cable Crossovers/Jump Rope:

10,8,6,12 (can't remember weight!)

Jump rope between sets.

A shoulder workout to commemorate Dwight Howard's move to the Lakers. This season will be VERY interesting

Also, what do you call it when you superset 3 excercises? 'Super-duper' set? 'Tri-set'?... Hmmm.

Tri-set #1:

Rotate through 3 exercises with small rest at the end of each circuit.

DB Shoulder Press:

12x20lbs

10x22.5lbs

8x25lbs

6x30lbs

Alternating Front Raises:

12x10lbs

10x12.5lbs

8x15lbs

6x17.5lbs

Lateral Raises:

12x15lbs

10x17.5lbs

8x20lbs

6x22.5lbs

Tri-set #2:

Rotate through 3 exercises with small rest at the end of each circuit.

Arnold Press:

12x17.5lbs

10x20lbs

8x22.5lbs

6x25lbs

Upright Rows:

12x17.5lbs

10x20lbs

8x22.5lbs

6x25lbs

Rear Raises:

12x10lbs

10x12.5lbs

8x15lbs

6x17.5lbs

Hanging Leg Raises/Jump Rope:

Had a few more minutes before heading back to work...

10 Hanging Leg Raises -> 100 Rope Jumps

3 sets of that.

Decided just to do deadlifts today, I freakin' love them and REALLY want to get my 1RM over 300lbs. Best way to do it? Suck it up, do more deadlifts.

Quick jump rope warm-up and then straight into it...

Deadlifts:

5x135lbs

5x185lbs

5x205lbs

5x225lbs

1x275lbs equal to current PB

1x285lbs - fail... managed to get it off the ground but just couldn't straighten up.

I really wanted to get to 285 this week... Decided to do drop sets until I had to get back to work...

12x135lbs

12x135lbs

12x135lbs

12x135lbs

12x135lbs

That's definitely more deadlifting than I've done in a single session but it feels good and hopefully I can break through that 285 barrier on my way to 300lbs. Can't wait to get to 6 of those 45lbs plates...

TOTAL VOLUME:

12128lbs

Today's workout:

Jump Rope/Pushups:

100 jumps -> 10 pushups

5 times for 500/50 total

DB Shoulder Press:

10x25lbs

8x30lbs

6x35lbs

Front Raises:

10x15lbs

8x17.5lbs

6x20lbs

Side Raises:

10x15lbs

8x17.5lbs

6x20lbs

Rear Raises:

10x12.5lbs

8x15lbs

6x17.5lbs

Barbell Curls:

10x50lbs

10x50lbs

10x50lbs

Forgot to log my Friday workout but today's won't have the same treatment.

Chin Ups:

3 sets of 5

Deadlifts:

10x135lbs

8x185lbs

6x205lbs

OHP Barbell Press:

5x95lbs

5x95lbs

5x95lbs

5x95lbs

5x95lbs

Side Shoulder Raises:

12x15lbs

10x17.5lbs

8x22.5lbs

Sprints:

Damn those olympic sprinters have crazy physique! All the cardio I do will be focused on sprint training I reckon. Need to get outside and do some actual sprints though - the treadmill here maxes out at 12mph.

10 minutes treadmill

1:30 off

30 seconds @ 12mph

MF is so right - America isn't alone in this. I know that before coming to the US from NZ, the general feeling is that "all Americans are so fat". New Zealand, as a country, likes to be blinded by its false clean green image which should somehow apply to all the food our country consumes.

NZ is literally a dairy and meat machine - probably the reason my family suffers from diabetes. It seems I'm in perfect health though... hmmmmm.

No training today Got some more ink yesterday from an awesome vegan tattoo artist in LA. His whole process from start to finish is completely vegan - so stoked. Probably another 3 hours of shading to go on this at least!

http://distilleryimage5.s3.amazonaws.com/934ed8a2d9f411e18a2e22000a1e8b88_7.jpg

Yep - one of those Jafas... now living in California. Pretty easy to get vegan food over here! Hope all is well in CHCH! How's the lifting going - what's your next comp?

Kia Ora cuz Good luck with your competition prep. I'm sure Andrea will be sweet as! Can't wait to watch some of these games..,

Pretty quiet in the gym today so it was nice to be able to grunt without judgement!

Chin-Ups/Pull-Ups:

3 sets of 5

First set was the best form I've ever had so I was stoked about that. Just need to work on keeping that form across more sets. I feel like I'm making slow and steady progress with these!

Incline DB Press:

5x50lbs

5x50lbs

5x50lbs

5x50lbs

5x50lbs

Couldn't do with with this kind of good form a few weeks ago. Slow an steady progress again

SL Deadlifts:

5x135lbs

5x155lbs

5x175lbs

5x175lbs

5x175lbs

Ooooo, my hammy's will be sore tomorrow.

One arm OHP:

5x30lbs

5x35lbs

5x40lbs

Lat Shoulder Raises:

10x15lbs

10x15lbs

10x15lbs

It's the weeeekend! Have a good one y'all.

Thanks bro - slow and steady wins the race for sure! Keep up the awesome work man.

Hope things are all well with you RC! Don't push yourself too hard dude. I'm pretty sure everyone here wants to see you looking after yourself

Such a crowded gym at lunchtime today! I really shouldn't try and go at peak times - there just isn't enough equipment.

Bench Press:

12x65lbs

10x95lbs

5x115lbs

5x115lbs

5x115lbs

Started off way lighter on these - have some soreness in my interior serratus that was annoying more than painful. Although, I haven't benched in a long time and I remember that weight being harder. Guess that's a good thing! Heavier on these next week.

Overhead Press:

5x95lbs

5x95lbs

5x95lbs

Clean and Press:

Since I still had the bar and I was getting a bit of shoulder fatigue I decided to switch to clean and press with jump rope in between sets (I jumped rope through the whole workout and got some comments on my skills - /happy)

5x95lbs

5x95lbs

5x95lbs

Goblet Squats:

Had to give up the bar and while my legs were still sore from front squats the other day I went lighter and made sure I kept perfect form.

5x80lbs

5x80lbs

5x80lbs

5x80lbs

5x80lbs

Front Plate Raises:

More intense jump rope between sets - wooooo!

10x35lbs

10x35lbs

10x35lbs

Man, that is a sick deadlift. I'm just a few pounds lighter than you and trying to work my way up to 2x bodyweight for now. Got any tips?

Pounding some Sun Warrior, filling out my log - it's a good day

Front Squats:

5x100lbs (stupid bar was in use and had to use the horrible EZ-Curl bar)

5x95lbs (woo - free bar!)

5x95lbs

5x95lbs

5x95lbs

Going to go up to 105lbs for these next week I reckon. We don't have a Power Rack here at work so I've got to clean the weight each time. At least it's more compound work!

Deadlifts:

5x135lbs (warm-up)

3x225lbs

2x245lbs

1x265lbs (failure on 2nd rep attempt)

I think I could push 275/285 for a 1RM now. Any advice on how to prep for that?

DB Curls:

10x25lbs

8x30lbs

10x25lbs (holding 1 weight at half way for 3 reps on either side)

Hanging Leg Raises:

10

10

10

Jump Rope:

Tricks and stuff for fun and to use my whole lunch break.

I've been doing compound stuff every workout but the bar was in use today. Figured I'd hit my shoulders since I haven't done that in a while. Lighter on the weight, high volume/intensity.

DB Shoulder Press:

12x25lbs

12x30lbs

12x30lbs

12x25lbs

Side Raises:

12x15lbs

12x15lbs

12x15lbs

12x15lbs

Front Raises:

12x12.5lbs

12x12.5lbs

12x12.5lbs

12x12.5lbs

Rear Raises:

12x10lbs

12x15lbs

12x15lbs

12x15lbs

Upright Rows:

12x50lbs

12x50lbs

12x50lbs

12x50lbs

Hopefully my gym partner mans up and we do some 5x5 tomorrow

I'm baaack! Got slack with updating this thing but that doesn't mean I haven't been working out Going to be logging everything again since lurking on this forum isn't nearly as rewarding as actually taking part.

I've been working out with a colleague (he's just getting back into after a 10 year 'break') and training him is actually a massive motivator for me. I'm finding that being a healthy vegan example has really made the people I work with take a second look at how it is they live... awesome.

Currently deadlifting around 265 as my max (about 1.6x bodyweight for me) with a goal of 330 in my sights (2x bodyweight). Any advice on increasing deadlift load safely?

I've done a few different kinds and my favourites are probably:

- Jump rope 30 seconds high intensity (with crossovers, doubles, high knees etc. if you're feeling bold) and then stop for 30 seconds. Continue for 10-15 minutes or longer if you can. I find that just continuous jumping is already pretty medium in intensity so that's why I suggest a complete stop for 30 seconds so you can really go hard in your 30 seconds on.

- 30 minutes on the treadmill. 10 degree (or more) incline. 1 minute at 2 mph, 30 seconds at 6mph.

- Sprints: 20-30 minutes on the treadmill. 1:30 @ 2mph then 0:30 @ max mph (12mph for the machines we have here - wish they could go faster!). Or, if you have access to a track just run 200m sprints every 2 minutes for 10 or more reps.

- Tabata sprints: if I have 5 minutes at the end of a workout then these are a killer. Crank the treadmill up to 12mph or so, jump on for 20 seconds and off for 10 for 8 reps. This will take you exactly 4 minutes. Be ready for your heart rate to be off the charts though. If the speed is too much initially, start slower and then next time you do them crank it up a notch.

Basically, if you're giving it your all in the high intensity periods then anything will work!

Got a workout in at the apartment gym last night - sore today so it must've been good!

Treadmill:

5 minute jog to warm up

Pushup/Deadlifts:

Used 50lbs dumbells for this for a 100lbs deadlift between each pushup.

3 sets of 10.

Lat Raises:

8 sets of 8

15lbs dumbells

Incline Flys:

8 sets of 8

20lbs dumbells

Reverse Flys:

12x10lbs

10x15lbs

8x20lbs

One-arm DB swings:

25lbsx10(each arm)

25lbsx10(each arm)

25lbsx10(each arm)

Treadmill:

Sprints!

Walking @ 2.5mph for 1:30

Sprinting @ 12mph for 0:30

20 minutes = 10 sprints

I'm a huge fan - but I'm a biased New Zealander. I do find it weird that people chow down on tuna sandwiches but then are like "save the dolphins and whales and marine life that we prefer"... At least being vegan I don't have to have any guilt about any of that!

If your friend isn't afraid of tough, risky work; I'm sure it'd be really rewarding.

Went to the gym on my lunch break and just got straight into kicking my own ass.

Jump-rope Supersets:

30 minutes of as much jumping as possible. Between sets I mixed in military presses, push-ups, spidey push-ups, lat raises and decline situps so I didn't run out of 'hops' completely. Managed to get kind of used to the speed-rope they had at the gym so managed to get some doubles happening (was over-rotating on my first few attempts).

Front Plate Raises:

Finished the workout with a few of these just to polish it off

10x35lbs

10x35lbs

10x35lbs

Weighed myself after the workout and I'm down to 164.5lbs after my time off from training. At first I feared I'd lost the muscle gains I made using Derek's program, but since I've been eating clean it actually feels like a chunk of that weight loss is fat. I'm off to Hawaii for a week long vacation on the 20th, so I'll be using my time now just to do high-volume, minimal rest workouts with high intensity to hopefully feel better in my skin for the beach. When I get back, I'll be hitting Derek's program again so I can do it for a solid 4-6 weeks since I definitely noticed strength gains even in the 2.5 weeks I got to spend with it before my forced 2 week rest.

Guess I'm all alone as a long time Lakers fan! They've got some big personalities (Ron Artest is a bit of a douche and that elbow on Harden was horrendous... so bad) but they'll definitely make the next round. A series between them and OKC will be pretty huge and it's hard to say who will come out on top. The last game they played was sooo intense. Derek Fisher may have ended up with a pretty good outcome from the trade

I like the Clippers too, so if the Lakers get knocked out I'd love to see them lob their way to the finals - we'll see.