start gym rant :-)

So yesterday I'm doing squats in the squat rack and right next to me a guy and his gf are working out. Now mind you he is not training her, rather he is just helping her through the exercises and showing her a pointer or 2. Well the gym takes this as him training her and he isn't qualified to do so. Head trainer comes over and gives them a whole schpiel, and tells him that it seems like he's training her without any certifications and the gym is liable if she injures herself because of an exercise he showed her. Come to find out the girl isn't even a member, she came as a guest. So the trainer goes on to start selling her on joining and that she gets 2 free pt sessions. Takes down both their names, tells the guy he can lose his membership if he does this again.

I just about lost it when I heard/saw this all going down in front of me. First of all if all of this happened not because of money, but because the trainers actually cared if you used correct form I'd have no problem. The fact is they do this because they lose out on $90/hour pt rate. Plus if they're going to threaten my membership I would have told him to take me right now to cancel it because this is B.S. Luckily my gym is a franchise and I've only seen that happen at that particular location. I'm sure the other locations have the same policy but I've never seen it enforced in the 7 years I've been going there. But my issue is say you're spotting someone on a big lift and you tell them to go deeper or give them any advice, the gym can cancel your membership.

I was extremely fumed by this :-)
end rant, I feel better. :-) And that motivated me to hit 405 on my squat (to parallel). Now if I could get my upper body to build like my lower body I'd be happening.

That is complete bullshit, Christos, I would have told the PT to go piss up an ice rope.


Congrats on the 405 squat, great lift Brother! :-)

Image

sh*t! that damn lamb can bench more than me. :-)

Well since I have been sitting around being a bum thanks to this cold which still hasnt gone away, figured I'd post some of the crap I have been thinking about.

Full Meet plans for April or May.
Goals before meet (gym lifts)
-I want to hit these goals before I start messing around with powerlifting gear, and yes I plan to jump right into double ply work.
With the meet dates ahead, I would need to hit my numbers by mid to end of February to give me enough time to deload then peak going into a meet.
Bench 500
Squat 600
Pull 650

Bench is a long way off, and I feel that getting 500 before a meet is a large goal. I more than likely will plan on hitting something in the 475 range and maybe trying 500 at a meet, which will most likely be a 3rd attempt if I get that far.
Squat is extremely close. Figuring I have barely used knee wraps in the last 4 months. I am more than confident that working up to 600 with knee wraps is doable now. I would like to hit 600 soon and maybe hit 625 before a meet.
Pull is also extremely close. I have pulled against band tension and chains that has been close to 650. It is harder to pull straight weight sometimes but I feel that this is doable also. With that said. I wouldnt be suprised to hit 650 on a 2nd attempt at a meet. If I do 700 will be my 3rd attempt.

As always brothers, keep training hard. Thanks for listening

Kick some ass and meet those goals, Frank. :-)

Supersetted chest and back today.

Heavy Incline DBs - High rep bodweight Pull-ups

High rep incline bench - Heavy Barbell Rows

Heavy Vertical Bench - Heavy Close-grip Pulldowns

Had planned on adding dips with another rowing exercise...but I was shot, so I headed out to gorge on some protein. :-)

mmm protein.

How many times a week do you guys go to the weight room, and how many times a week that you hit each body part.

I do my body over 3 or 4 days, depending on work schedules and energy, Don. Then I take one day off, and start again.

My favorite is a 4-day split with 2 "max effort" days (one for lower body, one for upper ... more or less) and 2 "dynamic effort" days. The other days are either support/accessory days (working on weak spots and/or getting the blood flowing to muscles after a max effort day) or just off -- it all depends on what my body is telling me.

Speaking of that important lesson (listening to your body), I think I'm going to do one more heavy week. Not going for 1-rep PRs or anything; but my body is still feeling good, my neurons are firing as expected, and I don't feel the need to deload and rework yet.

Sooooooo ... the clean eating & cutting won't be starting tomorrow. :-) Rather, I think I'll probably do an Admiral-style row day ... without the Hulk-sized weight. :-)

Rock the Rows, Dokk!! :-) :-)

Think I'm going to focus in on my posterior chain today, Admiral. I'll hit the mid/upper back with a bunch of rows tomorrow. :-)

I go 4 days a week, and change my routine every 4-6 weeks..... I also change my split.

Right now I'm going:
Chest and tris
Quads, Hammies, and calves
Shoulders and calves
Back and bi's

I do abs and obliques as well as some kind of cardio with each session. I just mix up when and what I do.

I'll be changing my routine mid-February, and I'll post up my new routine, then. Feb. and March, into April, I'll be working on bulking a bit, and I'll be working hard at trimming the fat April-June.

Don't push your politics on me, Mister. :-)

:-)

:-)

nothing fancy today....

banded high box squats (bar weight given + 70lb of "light" band)
225 x 10
315 x 10
365 x 7
405 x 3

banded deads (bar weight given + choked and tight light band @ ~140/150lb)
225 x 3 x 5sets

kneeling rope crunches: 4sets of 10-12

pull-down abs: 4 sets of 10 ... slow (to really feel the abs tighten)

pull-throughs: 4 sets of 10 ... fast (to work on explosiveness and get a nice stretch at the bottom)

all in all, a day that almost made me puke a couple of times. I *really* should have eaten before I went. that was a big change for me last week and it made a noticeable difference. I need to remember to do that more regularly, I think.

tomorrow I'll row, Admiral. :-)

Good man.

Saved my gas for hockey tonight and just supersetted an arm workout for reps.

Barbell Curls at 165 - Close-grip Smith machine bench with 285

Dumbbell Curls w/ 70s - Dumbbell overhead extensions at 115

Preacher curls at 135 - Tri cable Pushdowns with 170

Arms are shot, but I still have gas in the tank...and no, not Peter's kind of gas. :-)

It's not an either/or, Admiral -- you can have BOTH kinds. :-) :-)

3 days a week with one day of conditioning if I feel like doing it.
I train Squat / Deadlift on Monday, Bench on Wednesday, upper back / assistance crap on Friday.

Don, I hit the gym 6 days a week. 2 of the days are active recuperation time. So I hit everything twice in 4 days, but I'm also 23. I think my body can handle more at my age rather than yours :-)

Yup, no old lady ever called Christos a pu$$y! :-)