Cuerpo Aztlan

Below are workout warmups and routines that I will rotate for building balanced progress for October. These will likely change in November. 

Deadlift Day

Goblet Squat with plate pause on way up (open slightly wider) x10
Assisted Hip Airplane x10 each side
Banded Hip Bridge x10
Bird Dog x6 each side
Deep Lunge Rotation
Seated Bent Shrug 4x20

Deadlift 3 sets of 5
Hangs for 15 seconds or more 3 or more

Adapted 90/90
Side Stretch on pole

Rehab Only Day A

Banded hip and ankle activation

Curl Up x5
Bird Dog x5
Modified Side Plank x5
Single leg bridge x5 each side
Ham Walkout x5
Single leg Deadlift x5

Deep lunge rotation
Hip Airplane
Banded shoulder dislocates

Suitcase Carry
Goblet Carry

Hangs for 15 seconds or more 3 or more
Side Stretch on pole
Wall Squat

Bench Press and Overhead Press Day

Single Arm Press 4x20
Prone Arm Raises x10
Cross Body Tricep pulldown 4x20 (with band)

Bench Press 3x10

Side Stretch x3 each side
Banded thoracic rotation x5 each side
Shoulder Dissociate with band x10
Bottom up press (kettle-bell when possible) x3 light x3 heavier
Bar only warm up stretch

Overhead Press 3x10
Hangs for 15 seconds or more 3 or more

Rehab Only Day B

Adapted Curl up x5
Bird Dog x5
Adapted Side Plank x5
Banded hip and ankle activation
Deep Lunge Rotation x5
Hip Bridge x10
Single leg hip bridge x5

Suitcase Carry
Goblet Carry

Adapted 90/90 x3
Stand on single leg 60 sec each side
Banded Shoulder dissociates x5
Hangs for 15 seconds or more 3 or more
Side Stretch on pole
Wall Squat
Child Pose

Squat Day

Slow Bodyweight Squat x5
Goblet Squat w stretch & swivel x3
Ham Walkouts x5
Banded Squat x1 each side
Deep Lunge Rotation x3

Squat 3x10

Hangs for 15 seconds or more 3 or more
Side Stretch on pole

Rehab Only Day C

Banded hip and ankle activation

Curl Up x5
Bird Dog x5
Modified Side Plank x5
Single leg bridge x5 each side
Ham Walkout x5
Single leg Deadlift x5

Deep lunge rotation
Hip Airplane
Banded shoulder dislocates

Suitcase Carry
Goblet Carry

Hangs for 15 seconds or more 3 or more
Side Stretch on pole
Wall Squat

(Monday update after talking with a friend)
Here's my long list of Personal Records aka PRs
https://cuerpoaztlan.blogspot.com/2018/04/prs-and-goals.html

My last powerlifting PRs are:
Squat 102.5 kilos (226lbs), Bench 90 kilos (198lbs), and Deadlift 135 kilos (298lbs), total 327.5k (722lbs) at 171.0 pounds on 12/07/19

So for December 2024 I would hope to Squat 250, Bench 225, and Deadlift 320. (All in pounds)

Now to decide if I'm going to write out a reverse plan for that...

# posted by Cuerpo Aztlan : 9:09 PM  0 comments

The gym was closed on Saturdays and Covid exposures slowed down workouts at the end of the year. 

Still going, maintained a light workout on the weights. Got up to 5.0 (a 12 minute mile) on the treadmill for 15 minutes. I think I'll go back to 4.7 on the treadmill and go up to 16 minutes. 

Weights will be on the path written in the last workout and continue on. No rushing this time around. Slow and steady. 

On the music front I'm on 87 days. Not sure what my progress is. I'm sure there is progress. I am starting to write down some concrete things with numbers (like scales and beats per minute, etc.). Also, did some composition and going back and getting more accurate on things. Biggest challenge for work, home, music, and workouts will be being patient with myself. Might as well get it done now!

And it's good to see the haters back. Means you're doing something right. Also looks like they created a brand new profile just for this. That's when you know they spend a lot of time thinking about you. https://www.blogger.com/profile/13257110719513509643 aka "MIKE." I'm pretty sure since they know my name, they know how to find me, yet can't say anything to me direct. I hope they get a life.

 KEEP GRINDING AND GROOVING!!!

# posted by Cuerpo Aztlan : 9:42 PM  0 comments

I'm feeling like something isn't exactly right with my routine. Checked in with Lee and he suggested timed reps and pause reps. 

Timed, or time under tension reps, are like slow down, pause, then explosive lift. Pause reps are pausing at the bottom of the squat and bench, and mid-way on deadlift for 3-5 seconds. 

Suggested is 50-65% of one rep max. So here's the next round. I'm going to stick to 3 sets, then 4, then 5 for volume. 

A - 
Deadlifts 110x5 with 3 second holds mid-way
Good Mornings 60x12
Ham Curls 55x12
Bent Rows 50x12
Lat Pull-Downs 60x12
DB Curls 10x12

B -
Squats 100x12
Lunges 5x12
Incline Bench 65x12
Shoulder Press 45x12
Lateral Cable Raise 10x12
Tricep Pull-Down 55x12

I'll see how this feels. 

I'm also on 67 days playing some music daily. Some days I get to work on multiple instruments, most days still just accordion.

Work has had some extra stress. Hopefully things resolve well. I'm learning to stop thinking about work after 5, though it's still a struggle. 

KEEP GRINDING AND GROOVING!!!

# posted by Cuerpo Aztlan : 9:28 PM  0 comments

 Half way through the month. I'm on 4.6 on the treadmill, which is a 13:02 mile pace. Next week I'll go to 4.7 and figure I'll see how fast I can go without hitting 160 beats per minute for my heart rate. 

I'm still progressing with the lifting. I did the 4 and 5 set versions this past week. Tomorrow I start with 3 sets again. I'll add a little bit of weight. Here's what I estimate I'll do.

B -
Squats 145x10
Lunges 15x5
Incline Bench 105x8+
Shoulder Press 55x8+
Later Cable Raise 20x8+
Tricep Pull-Down 50x12

A -
Deads 175x5 plus hold. I was able to do 10-15 second holds at the top this past week.
Good Mornings 55x12
Ham Curls 75x8
Seated Rows 115x8
Lat Pull Downs 90x8+
Hammer Curls 25x8+

I'm thinking I may continue this routine into next year. Hopefully I'm building some muscle. I'll lift heavy again eventually. For now it's good to just keep moving. The 5 set workouts are a little long so that may be what I need to work around the most. 

As for the music streak today is day 41. I'm adding lots of strategies into what I'm working on. So far I think being able to sing the parts I want to play is most helpful. I haven't made it a habit yet. I'll keep at it. Something is different about this stretch. I hope I can keep it going on all the time. I won't always have the time I have now, yet I think every day doing something will be helpful. In December I'll go over some guitar, bass, and keyboard stuff. I have an idea for a project for next year. 

I'm amazed at how many ways you can practice scales, arpeggios, etc. 

KEEP GRINDING AND GROOVING!!!

# posted by Cuerpo Aztlan : 7:14 PM  0 comments

So I did my workouts in reverse order.  The best part of the A B style workout is that I just go from there and keep going without it really having a huge impact. On the treadmill I'm at 4.5 or 13:20 pace (I think, I'll confirm). My heart rate was definitely higher today. For 15 minutes I got into the low 150s. Last week I noticed that on Friday it was definitely easier.

So here's what I ended doing on the 3 set days last week. Tomorrow I start on 4 sets and on Saturday I'll be at 5 sets, and also for next Tuesday.

B -
Squats 140x10
Lunges 10x5
Incline Bench 100x10
Shoulder Press 50x10
Later Cable Raise 15x12
Tricep Pull-Down 45x12

A -
Deads 170x5
Good Mornings 50x12
Ham Curls 70x8
Seated Rows 110x8
Lat Pull Downs 85x10
Hammer Curls 20x8

As for music, I'm on day 32 of a new streak of studying. I had a gig yesterday and that was the lightest day of playing music so far. My primary song for the month is Flor de Las Flores. I'm internalizing it by trying to sing along the accordion parts. Sunday and Monday have been my heavy listen day. I just listen to one or two songs over and over those days. The rest I try and figure out parts on the accordion. Seems to be helpful so far. This video was a good one to watch and has a great story to start out.

KEEP GRINDING AND GROOVING!!! 
 

# posted by Cuerpo Aztlan : 8:48 PM  0 comments

So I got to 4 and 5 sets on my lifts. Mentally I was stressing about the 5 set workouts. They were hard yet not as bad as imagination led me to fear. That's a good thing to remember in workouts and for other parts of life. 

Workouts for this cycle start at 3 sets, then 4, then 5. Below are the weights for each exercise. For those who are here for first time, or first recent time, I'm doing "A" then "B" and I repeat that. So if I workout 3 times I'll do A then B, then A that week. If I start with B then it will be B, A, and B. If I miss a day I just pick up there. This is what I'm proposing and I'll adjust if needed.

A -
Deads 170x5 with a hold at the end of each set for grip strength
Good Mornings 50x10+
Ham Curls 70x8
Seated Rows 110x8
Lat Pull Downs 85x10
Hammer Curls 20x8+

B -
Squats 140x8+
Lunges 10x5
Incline Bench 100x8+
Shoulder Press 50x10
Later Cable Raise 15x10
Tricep Pull-Down 45x10+

Let's see how that goes. An aside and I don't want to create a separate blog for it. Starting October 7, I decided to try and spend time studying music daily. So using a day counter I'm on 27 as of today. At about 15 days I realized my mood had improved. I ran across this video and realized that this would have been a great lesson to have had as a young person. I think it would have been cool to have heard of Oscar Peterson way back then too. So I'm going to see how far of a streak I can get. I'm primarily doing little bits of Oscar Peterson music. For those who know me it probably makes sense that the majority of my work is on Esteban Jordan songs on the accordion. 

I checked out this video and it helped with a lot. Primarily changing between 3rds, 6ths, and octaves for melodies. It put together what people had told me about not always playing in 3rds. Just clicked in a different way. Profe Charly has helped a bit with some things that I was trying to figure out. 

Besides the Open Studio people from the first video linked above I've also run across Aimee Nolte. That video and lots of it have been helpful. All of this really connects advice I had from different places. Mainly that "a good musician plays by ear," and "if you can sing it you can play it." Listening too good music is also repeated advice. I now feel better equipped to listen in a way to internalize the music. Let me know if you want to hear more about this here. I'll probably post total streak days here. Other than that I'll only write as much as is asked for here. 

KEEP GRINDING AND GROOVING!!!

# posted by Cuerpo Aztlan : 8:34 PM  0 comments

I didn't get to the gym on Saturday. Had a lot of stuff going on. I think with the A B approach allows me flexibility to choose when to workout or not. I'm not in training officially and even if I was I don't feel the pressure to force myself to workout 6 days a week. 4 to 6 is enough. I'm going up in pace for the treadmill time. I did 4.1 two weeks ago, and 4.2 this past week. Starting tomorrow I'll be doing 4.3 which is a 13:57 per mile pace.

Here's what I ended up lifting and got on the treadmill Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. The next time will be 4 sets, then 5. I'll see how this works for volume.

A -
Deads 165x5 for three sets. I ended with 25 second pauses and couldn't hold on last set. I'll drop to 20 second pauses. 
Good Mornings 45x10, 10 on second set and 12 on third. 
Ham curls 65x10 for 3 sets. 
Seated Rows 105x10 for 3 sets, then I think I'll go to 8 or 9 when I increase weight.
Lat Pull downs 80x10 for 3 sets.
Hammer Curls 15x10 for 3 sets.

B -
Squats 145x8, then I dropped to 135x10 for two sets. I'll stick at 135.
Lunges 5x5 for 3 sets.
Incline Bench 110x10 then 105x10, and 95x10. I'll stay at 95 for the first round. 
Shoulder press 45x10 for 3 sets.
Lateral raises with cables 10x10 for 3 sets.  
Tricep Pulldowns 40x10 for 3 sets.

I don't know if I just overcalculated for the "B" workout or if I was having a bad day. Either way I'll be staying with this weight through this round. Worst case is that I'll make slower progress. For sure I'll get progress. 

Aside from weights I've started working on music more. I've been studying/practicing every day since October 7 and I'll see how long of a streak I can keep going. I think I'm on 17 days now. 

KEEP GRINDING!!!

# posted by Cuerpo Aztlan : 6:42 PM  0 comments

So long story short. I didn't make it to the gym on Thursday so I only lifted twice. I'll post what I lifted later. I also decided to change to a volume workout. Google said there wasn't a good match when I searched for CuerpoAztlan and 1RM calculator. I still found this though - 1RM Calculator so below are estimations based on last heavy lifts. The way I'm going to do volume is 3 sets one week, then 4 sets the next, and 5 sets the following, then drop back to 3 sets and add 5-10+ pounds depending on how the lifts are going. Last sets will be AMRAP (as many reps as possible). 

I may only lift for sets of 8. Goal will be 10 reps though.

A -
Deads 165x5 with long pauses for grip work
Good Mornings 45x10
Ham curls 65x10 
Seated Rows 105x10 
Lat Pull downs 80x10   
Hammer Curls 15x10

B -
Squats 145x10
Lunges 5x5  
Incline Bench 110x10 
Shoulder press 65x10   
Lateral raises with cables 10x?   
Tricep Pulldowns 50x10

# posted by Cuerpo Aztlan : 7:38 PM  0 comments

Below is what I lifted last week. I've been trying to figure out how to advance at running. I finally decided I'm going to use the kind of MPH rating on the treadmill. So this week I will stick to 4.1, which shows as 14:38 on the pace. I did 30 minutes today and I'm feeling it on my lower back. Hopefully a good night's sleep will help.

As a non-exercise health thing I've started practicing music with the goal of going daily. So I'm on 5 today. Whether I have 5 minutes or an hour I hope to play every day for a while. I'll keep track somehow. 

 Below are my lifts for last week, and below that intended lifts for this week. 

Tuesday B -
Squats 160x5, 140x8, 120x12
Lunges 20x5, 15x5, 10x5  
Incline Bench 130x5, 110x8, 90x10 
Shoulder press 85x5, 75x6, 65x7  (on the power rack now) 
Lateral raises 25x5, 20x6, 15x8, 12x15   
Tricep Pulldowns 65x6, 50x10, 40x12 (I used a handle shaped like a "w")

Thursday A -
Deads 205x5, 185x8, 165x10  
Good Mornings 55x5, 50x8, 45x10
Ham curls 90x5, 75x6, 65x7 
Seated Rows 120x5, 105x8, 95x10 
Lat Pull downs 110x5, 95x8, 80x10, 65x12   
Curls 35x3, 30x5, 25x7, 20x10, 15x12 (dropping back to 25)

Saturday B -
Squats 165x5, 145x6, 125x8
Lunges 20x5, 15x5, 10x5 
Incline Bench 135x5, 115x7, 95x13 
Shoulder press 85x3, 75x5, 65x6  (13 on bench may have hampered this. Try 85 again next week.) 
Lateral raises 25x5, 20x8, 15x10, 12x20 (stay at 25 until 8 good ones then do 30)  
Tricep Pulldowns 70x5, 55x10, 45x12  (stick to the "w" bar) 

For this coming week, I'm hoping for this:

Tuesday A -
Deads 210x5, 190x , 170x  
Good Mornings 60x5, 55x , 50x  (move to the rack)
Ham curls 90x5, 75x , 65x  (stay on this for form) 
Seated Rows 125x5, 110x , 100x 
Lat Pull downs 110x , 95x , 80x , 65x  (still want to improve heavy form)   
Curls 25x , 20x , 15x , 12x , 10x  (dropping back to 25 until good form for 8)

Thursday B -
Squats 170x5, 150x , 130x
Lunges 5x5 for 3 sets 
Incline Bench 140x5, 120x , 10x 
Shoulder press 85x , 75x , 65x   (see how this goes) 
Lateral raises 25x5, 20x , 15x , 12x    
Tricep Pulldowns 75x , 60x , 50x  (stick to the "w" bar) 

Saturday A -
Deads 215x5, 195x , 175x  
Good Mornings 65x5, 60x , 55x  
Ham curls 90x5, 75x , 65x  (If Tuesday goes well add 5) 
Seated Rows 130x5, 115x , 105x 
Lat Pull downs 110x , 95x , 80x , 65x  (If Tuesday goes well add 5)   
Curls 25x , 20x , 15x , 12x , 10x  

Alright. This takes a minute to note down yet it's worth it. Hope all are well and staying healthy during all this hectic changes with pandemic, climate change, and everything else going on. 

KEEP GRINDING!!! (still open to suggested changes for the tagline)

# posted by Cuerpo Aztlan : 8:55 PM  0 comments

Here's what I lifted last week:

Tuesday A -
Deads 195x5, 175x6, 155x7
Ham curls 85x5, 70x10 , 60x13
Seated Rows 110x5, 95x10, 85x12 
Lat Pull downs 110x5, 95x8, 80x10, 65x15 
Back ext 185x5, 165x10, 145x15 
Curls 30x5, 25x6, 20x10, 15x12, 12x15

Thursday B -
Squats 155x5, 135x8, 115x10
Lunges 20x5, 15x5, 10x6 
Incline Bench 125x5, 105x7, 85x8
Shoulder press 80x5, 70x6, 60x10 (I may move this over to a rack as pulling from the ez curl rack is getting harder to lift) 
Lateral raises 25x5, 20x6, 15x10, 12x12 
Tricep Pulldowns 65x4, 50x6, 40x8 (I noticed that on one particular pulley it is harder than the others with the rope. It's not too bad with the straight handle. Not sure why.)

Saturday A -
Deads 200x5, 180x6, 160x10 (Felt good to get to 200! Also, my grip on left hand was weak on rep 4 and 5 at max weight, did some pauses at the top with the rest of the weight.)
Ham curls 85x6, 70x10, 60x12
Seated Rows 115x5, 100x10, 90x12
Lat Pull downs 110x5, 95x8, 80x10, 65x12 (I'll stay at this weight because the 110 isn't best form yet)
Back ext 190x5, 170x8, 150x12 (I'm going to change this to "Good Mornings" right after deadlifts) 
Curls 35x3, 30x5, 25x10, 20x12, 15x15 (stay at 35)

This week I will try this:

Tuesday B -
Squats 160x , 140x , 120x
Lunges 20x5, 15x , 10x 
Incline Bench 130x , 110x , 90x 
Shoulder press 85x , 75x , 65x  (on the power rack now) 
Lateral raises 25x5+, 20x , 15x , 12x (not sure this is good enough form yet to move up)  
Tricep Pulldowns 65x , 50x , 40x  (Rope on the hard pulley, or just change altogether)

Thursday A -
Deads 205x , 185x , 165x  
Good Mornings 55x , 50x , 45x (start light and keep the form good!)
Ham curls 90x , 75x , 65x 
Seated Rows 120x5, 105x , 95x 
Lat Pull downs 110x5, 95x , 80x , 65x   
Curls 35x , 30x , 25x , 20x , 15x

Saturday B -
Squats 165x , 145x , 125x
Lunges 20x5, 15x , 10x 
Incline Bench 135x , 115x , 95x 
Shoulder press 85x , 75x , 65x  (90 if 85 went well) 
Lateral raises 25x5+, 20x , 15x , 12x (see how Tuesday goes before doing 30)  
Tricep Pulldowns 65x , 50x , 40x  (See how Tuesday goes also)

 That's all I have! Appreciate those of you who are into the blog.

KEEP GRINDING!!!

# posted by Cuerpo Aztlan : 8:29 PM  0 comments