Cuerpo Aztlan

For Saturday I did this "B" workout:

Squats 150x5, 130x8, 115x10
Lunges 20x5, 15x5, 10x5 (these are still not in great form so I'll stay on this weight until it's good)
Incline Bench 120x5, 100x10, 80x12
Shoulder press 70x10, 60x8, 50x10
Lateral raises 25x5, 20x8, 15x12, 12x20 (better on the lower weight yet still staying at this weight next workout)
Tricep Pulldowns 65x15, 50x18, 40x15 (I did this on a straight bar and was like, "why did I stay at this weight?" Then I tried the the rope and figure out why.) wit the rope 65x3. I'll have to pay attention to this in the future. 

Here's what I intend to lift this week.  

Tuesday A -
Deads 195x , 175x , 155 x
Ham curls 85x5, 70x , 60x  (staying here,  because the 85 was hard last time)
Seated Rows 110x5, 95x , 85x 
Lat Pull downs 110x5, 95x , 80x , 65x 
Back ext 185x , 165x , 145x 
Curls 30x , 25x , 20x , 15x , 12x

Thursday B -
Squats 155x5, 135x , 115x
Lunges 20x5, 15x , 10x 
Incline Bench 125x5, 105x , 85x
Shoulder press 80x , 70x , 60x 
Lateral raises 25x5, 20x , 15x , 12x 
Tricep Pulldowns 65x , 50x , 40x if on rope otherwise 70, 55, 45

Saturday A -
Deads 200x , 180x , 160x
Ham curls 85x5, 70x , 60x  (plus 5 if Tuesday feels ok)
Seated Rows 115x5, 100x , 90x
Lat Pull downs 110x5, 95x , 80x , 65x  (or plus 5 if Tuesday feels ok)
Back ext 190x5, 170x , 150x 
Curls 35x5, 30x , 25x , 20x , 15x (unless Tuesday feels bad)

KEEP GRINDING!!!

# posted by Cuerpo Aztlan : 9:45 PM  0 comments

I'm trying to stick to strictly overhand on the deadlifts. Today I started to feel hard to hold on to the bar on the last rep of my heavy set. I tried this technique and I think it was helpful.

My traps get sore fairly regular. I'm also hitting the wall on a couple of lifts. I'll shift to step progression on those lifts, meaning that I'll stay on the same weight until it's almost easy to get 5 reps, then I'll add 5 pounds. Right now I'm getting a couple of lifts that don't feel like I'm hitting 5 in best form. 

Lifts for this week so far:

Tuesday B -
Squats 145x5, 125x8, 105x10
Lunges 20x5, 15x5, 10x5 (these are still not in great form so I'll stay on this weight until it's good)
Incline Bench 115x5, 95x10, 75x12
Shoulder press 60x10, 50x10, 40x10
Lateral raises 25x5, 20x6, 15x10, 12x12 (staying at this weight next workout)
Tricep Pulldowns 65x3, 50x6, 40x8 (staying at this weight also)

Thursday A -
Deads 190x5, 170x7, 150x10
Ham curls 85x5, 70x10, 60x12 (staying here, the 85 was hard and the 70 and 60 felt ok)
Seated Rows 105x5, 90x12, 80x15
Lat Pull downs 110x5, 95x6, 80x15, 65x15 (this is staying as well)
Back ext 180x5, 160x8, 140x10
Curls 25x5, 20x8, 15x10, 12x12, 10x15 

I can feel the lifts though I'm not wiped out. I think that's a good balance. Figuring out how to balance my back will be key.  This guy, Cailer Woolam, talks about how deadlifting tweaked his back at about 4 minutes and 25 seconds. He talks about when to use straps and why the double overhand grip works for him. I'll be trying to learn building overhand strength from this.

KEEP GRINDING!!!

# posted by Cuerpo Aztlan : 8:39 PM  0 comments

I'm still making adjustments and  figuring this out. Here's what I lifted last week followed by my intended workouts for next week. I'm trying to program my x5 lifts and doing the others by feel.

Thursday B -
Squats 140x5, 120x8, 100x10
Lunges 20x5, 15x5, 10x5
Incline Bench 110x5, 90x8, 70x10
Shoulder press 50x10, 40x10, 30x10
Lateral raises 20x5, 15x8, 10x10, 5x12
Tricep Pulldowns 55x5, 45x12, 30x12

Saturday A -
Deads 185x5, 165x6, 145x8
Ham curls 80x5, 65x10, 55x15
Seated Rows 100x5, 85x8, 75x12
Tricep Pulldowns 60x5, 50x7, 40x8
Back ext 180x5, 160x10, 140x12
Curls 25x5, 20x8, 15x10, 12x12, 10x15

This includes me figuring out which pulldowns were which! I got them mixed up, go figure. Intended lifts for next week are below.

Tuesday B -
Squats 145x5, 125x , 105x
Lunges 20x5, 15x , 10x
Incline Bench 115x5, 95x , 75x
Shoulder press 60x , 50x , 40x
Lateral raises 25x , 20x , 15x , 10x
Tricep Pulldowns 65x5, 50x , 40x

Thursday A -
Deads 190x5, 170x , 150x
Ham curls 85x5, 70x , 60x
Seated Rows 105x5, 90x , 80x
Lat Pull downs 110x5, 95x , 80x , 65x15 
Back ext 180x5, 160x , 140x
Curls 25x , 20x , 15x , 12x , 10x

Saturday B -
Squats 150x5, 130x , 110x
Lunges 20x5, 15x , 10x
Incline Bench 120x5, 100x , 80x
Shoulder press 70x , 60x , 50x
Lateral raises 25x , 20x , 15x , 10x
Tricep Pulldowns 65x5, 50x , 40x 

Well, hope to get into a groove. I don't think I've done an A-B split in a while.

KEEP GRINDING!!

# posted by Cuerpo Aztlan : 6:23 PM  0 comments

Today was a good and hard workout. Coach gave me some props which was cool.

Deadlifts 180x5, 160x8, 140x10
Ham curls 75x5, 60x10, 50x15
Seated Rows 95x5, 80x12, 70x15
Pull downs 55x20, 110x5, 95x5, 80x10
Back extension 175x5, 155x8, 135x10
Hammer curls 25x5, 20x8, 15x10, 12x12, 10x15

I copied pull downs incorrectly. When I loaded it up it seemed odd and then when I got to 20 reps I had to go looking for correct notes. Traps are sore already. I thought about trying out 5/3/1 (check it out here) and then I decided to go linear as long as I can (until I can't go up any more weight at 5 repetitions). So I'll go up a small amount (5-10 pounds) as long as I can on each exercise. Once I get to a plateau I'll stop until I can get comfortable with that weight on that exercise and able to do 6-8 reps. The way I understand it, that is step loading. I think I'll continue this until around the end of November unless I start to feel burned out. 

If I feel burned out I will back off earlier to a wave loading. If I make it to the end of November that will be great. When I do wave loading I go up in weight for 3 weeks and then have a light week (also called a de-load week). It can feel complicated. Like many things, after you have spent some time with it, it gets easier. This is a video about different loading approaches. Another approach for late November for two to three months may just be figuring out a high volume approach.

I still like strength training, even though I took off about 18 months due to the pandemic. It seems that for now building as much muscle as I can will be most beneficial because muscle helps with blood sugar. If I can gain muscle with minimal fat that will be great. I'll have to see how my body recompositions and continue to adapt. The earliest I would consider competing is December 2022.

I was on the treadmill for 30 minutes on Monday. I tried to stay in the 80-90% heart rate area and get 2 miles. I stayed under 90% for the first 15 minutes, I was just above 90% the second half. It's good to do and I appreciate the support of people who send me info like this article about heart rate zones.

KEEP GRINDING!!!   

Feels like maybe I need a new phrase. Grind culture, in terms of working, seems kind of toxic. Rest is important. Feel free to let me know what you think. 

# posted by Cuerpo Aztlan : 9:25 PM  0 comments

Intended Workouts for the week

Tuesday A -
Deads 180x5, 160x , 140x
Ham curls 75x5, 60x , 50x
Seated Rows 95x5, 80x , 70x
Pull downs 55x5, 45x , 35x
Back ext 175x5, 155x , 135x
Curls 25x , 20x , 15x , 12x , 10x

Thursday B -
Squats 140x5, 120x , 100x
Lunges 20x5, 15x , 10x
Incline Bench 110x5, 90x , 70x
Shoulder press 50x , 40x , 30x
Lateral raises 15x , 10x , 5x
Cable Pulldowns 55x5, 40x , 30x

Saturday A -
Deads 185x5, 165x , 145x
Ham curls 80x5, 66x , 55x
Seated Rows 100x5, 85x , 75x
Pull downs 60x5, 50x , 40x
Back ext 180x5, 160x , 140x
Curls 25x , 20x , 15x , 12x , 10x 

Hopefully I can increase on curls. Not an exciting post yet necessary. 

KEEP GRINDING!!!

# posted by Cuerpo Aztlan : 8:33 PM  0 comments

Been back at the gym. I haven't been posting regularly and my phone died so I lost a bunch of my workout notes. Blogging doesn't seem that exciting these days. There's been a lot going on with pandemics, campaigns, and such. 

I did decide I want to try a split routine. So one day will be routine A, then routine B, and routine A again. The following week would be B, A, B. I'm not thinking about competing, just trying to get healthier.

This week I just went in cold and made up A on the spot.

On Wednesday:

Pull-downs 105x5, 90x8, 75x15, 60x15
Seated Rows 90x5,75x10, 60x15
Back extension 130x10,150x8, 170x5
DB Curls 20x5, 15x8, 12x10, 10x12, 8x15
Incline bench 105x5, 85x10, 65x15
Bench 135x6, 115x8, 95x12

On Friday:

Deadlifts 175x5, 155x8, 135x10
Squat 135x5, 115x8, 95x10
Lunge 20x5, 15x5, 10x5
Ham curl 70x5, 50x10, 45x20
Cable pulldowns 50x5, 40x10, 30x20
Overhead press 40x10, 30x15, 20x20

The days I don't lift I'm on the treadmill. Anywhere from 15-30 minutes. Thanks to my "running coach" Sara I'll be focusing on heart rate instead of distance for a while. My lifting coach, Lee, sent me the following idea.

A - Deads, ham curls, rows, pull downs, back ext, and curls
B - Squats, lunges, bench, shoulder press, lateral raises, and tri exensions

I think it looks pretty reasonable. I may incline bench. Still debating that with myself. 

KEEP GRINDING!

# posted by Cuerpo Aztlan : 11:20 AM  0 comments