Daily Ramblings – Workout Log

Tags

Abdomen, Bodybuilding, chest, Down and Up Mass, Jim Stoppani, Jym Army, triceps, Weightlifting

Down and Up Mass

Ok folks! Here’s the new program. I decided to continue to bulk up and chose another one of Jim Stoppani’s (www.jimstoppani.com) workouts. This one is called Down and Up Mass. This program is quite unique in that it utilizes two of Jim’s favorite torture techniques. The Rest/Pause and the Drop Set.

Rest Pause is used on the final of two sets. This means you rest for a few seconds and then bang out another set. Then, once you’ve hit failure, you drop some weight (10-20%) and do another set to failure. Sounds fun huh? It was, but it was brutal. That’s ok though. The muscles loved the pump.

More to follow folks!

Today’s workout!

Bench Press                                        2              9-11       Chest    11/110.0 11/110.0

Reverse-Grip Bench Press            2              9-11       Chest    11/80.0 11/80.0

Incline Dumbbell Press                  2              9-11       Chest    11/40.0 11/40.0

Dumbbell Fly                                      2              9-11       Chest    11/35.0 11/35.0

Cable Crossover (High Pulley)     2              9-11       Chest    11/22.5 11/22.5

Close-Grip Bench Press                  2              9-11       Triceps  11/45.0 11/45.0

Dumbbell Overhead Extension   2              9-11       Triceps  11/45.0 11/45.0

Lying Triceps Extension                 2              9-11       Triceps  11/50.0 11/50.0

Triceps Press down                         2              9-11       Triceps  11/57.5 11/57.5

Dumbbell Triceps Kickback           2              9-11       Triceps  11/12.5 11/12.5

Smith Machine Hip Thrust            2              9-11       Abs        11/90.0 11/90.0

Smith Machine Crunch                   2              9-11       Abs        11/20.0 11/20.0

Standing Cable Oblique

Press down                                         2              9-11       Abs        11/25.0 11/25.0

Documentation

In case your new to my blog, you read the above like this: Exercise name 2 Sets of 9-11 repetitions body part attacked and the number of reps and pounds.

The part I do not document on this workout is the rest/pause and drop set at the end of the 2^nd set, where I literally continue to push the weight until I can no longer hold good form. Failure is not necessarily an inability to move the weight, it is more about keeping good form. When I lose good form, I stop.

Another note

When starting a new workout routine, I always begin a little light, just to get used to the exercises and volume of sets. The Rest/Pause and Drop Set work in this week will occur again on Week 3 of the first phase of this workout routine composed of 4 weeks. We alternate the rest/pause drop set routine to avoid overtraining and allow the muscle a good 7 days to recover. On week 2 and 4 we utilize another technique. I’ll talk about this when we start moving through week 2.

See you tomorrow!!

Daily Ramblings – Workout Completed!!

Tags

Jim Stoppani, Leg day, Mission Accomplished, Routine Completed, Shortcut to Size, Weightlifting

Today’s workout

Today was the final day of the Shortcut to Size workout by Jim Stoppani (www.jimstoppani.com). It’s hard to believe I started this program in March. Boy! Time really flies.

Lessons Learned

Weightlifting is all about learning and progression. We have to learn how our bodies react to stress, food, nutrients, sleep, and water intake. Each workout routine teaches us new things about ourselves, that if applied, will yield better results.

One thing I did learn is that regardless of what I did, I continued to increase weight per exercise from the beginning to the end. Some of my increases were gradual, while others were quite dramatic. For example, I went from Leg Pressing around 200lbs in week 1 to over 568lbs today. On the Squat, I started out at about 70lbs and finished today at 200lbs. The same thing applies to all of the key exercises from Bench, to Curls, to Triceps work.

Diet

My diet was all over the place 😉. I wish I could control what I eat more, but I’ll take the hit on that. My supplementation, my water intake, and my current diet, regardless of the inconsistency of my macro intake resulted in increases in my ability to move heavier and heavier weights. I’ll stick with what I am doing for the time being.

What’s Next…

Well, we’ll be in the gym for sure. I was considering a routine to shed some weight but decided to hit another bulking routine. Stay tuned as I go through the huge list of exercise routines Jim Stoppani has put together on his website. I’ll update everyone tomorrow with my choice. Tomorrow will be a day to celebrate as I completed the 12-week Shortcut to Size program.

I hope some of you have been motivated to get out there and exercise. I’m going to keep going and keep posting my results to this blog for all to see. It is a great motivator for me to honestly post what I do and do not do in the gym.

Happy Lifting!

See you tomorrow for my next program overview…