Rockburn Branch Park Field

Nothing really special to report today or tomorrow. It's snowing again in the DMV and of course this area shuts down with the first fall of a single snowflake. Saturday and Sunday are my days for football and fortunately, our games were not canceled. We played before the snowfall, but found ourselves covered in snow when the final whistle was blown. The drive home was 90 minutes of road rage. Nothing like covering 25 miles in 90 minutes!

T-shirt reads "Major Leauge Muscle"

Still experiencing difficulties so I'm going to keep this short and sweet. Here's the workout for today. I crushed it! My arms were so pumped up that I had a hard time getting my hands up to wash my face. That's always a great feeling! This video will show you all of my workout except for the first two movements. My first superset was overhead rope extensions and incline DB curls. I did 4 sets here, going heavy as possible.

Oh and that goal of getting over the hump that was 180lbs....you can go ahead and take that off the list! 180.5 today!!! Actually, let me get my bodyfat checked before I go around patting myself on the back. I gotta make sure I'm in the single digit bodyfat levels, can't be tipping the scales with sloppy weight! If all goes well, "Major League Muscle?" Yes, please!!

So, I had some difficulties with posting my blog yesterday. I kept getting error reports for whatever reason so this will be a day behind and you'll have 2 posts today, rather than 1.

Yesterday called for chest and abs. I had to pull another 6:30AM workout and I'm starting to see a reoccurring theme here. One should not be working out before the sun comes up, but rather resting and recovering from the stress placed upon one's body from the day before! Unfortunately for me, this was going to be the only time to get it in so we must do, what we have to do. I planned on breaking the workout into a morning and evening split today so that I could do some GHD situps. That meant only one thing, GO HEAVY! I had an hour to work chest and chest only. I don't usually train this way anymore and it was a little weird just sitting around waiting for the next set. I pumped out some good weight on the Hammer Strength incline and flat bench. I definitely could have and SHOULD have gone heavier on the incline presses. After the first three sets, my should finally warmed up and 290 felt light. As for bench, I didn't expect to get the 315 for 1. I was looking for a spot but there wasn't anyone worth asking. I would have much rather buried myself under the bar than to ask some of the weirdos "working" out at that hour. Being the only Asian trainer there, I knew I would get it up for my reputation was on the line. I would have had to quit the gym if I wound up being "that guy" trying to do use more weight than he could actually handle. Needless to say, it went up rather smoothly. This could only be indicative of one thing, someone is getting stronger!!! The workout went a little something like this:

Hammer Strength incline press 90x10,180x8,230x5,250x5,270x5,290x5

1 arm DB presses 70x8 , 75x5 ,80x5

Bench 225x3, 275x1, 295x1, 315x1
Dips 25, 20

Free Motion Incline flyes 3 sets of 80x8
Flat DB flyes with leg raises 3 sets of 25x10

Frustrated...

....because my right knee is still swollen, in need of draining, and most likely meniscus repair. I never thought I'd utter the words, "I just want to squat heavy" but not being able to is driving me crazy. I'm not going to waste much time during this post unless you want to here me complain about my knee when I have no one to blame but myself. Time waits for no man and ever since I entered my 30's, recovery just hasn't been the same. I really did hope to be "forever young!" Tomorrow's workout is chest and maybe some abs. I may break this workout into two parts, chest at SCLA and abs at home so I can use the GHD that I just bought tonight. I'm hoping for a lot of great things to come with this new purchase. "Paik's Pain Factory" is in transition. One piece is in place, hopefully a 600 or 700 lb tractor tire will be acquired in the very near future. 4 months and counting til Memorial Day and so I pose the question again, will your fitness goals come to fruition?!?! Don't talk about it, BE ABOUT IT!

One last thing, my back is jacked up from yesterday's workout!

WAYYY too close!!

Today was a long 7 hours of client training with only time for breakfast, grilled chicken breast and rice at 5:45AM, and then a Myoplex Deluxe MRP at 12:30. I finished up today at 2 and then came home to have some shrimp, chicken, beef with mixed vegetables and rice for my third meal before getting my back workout in.

I decided to try something different today and got worked! I took to the playground by my house to use the bars for pull ups and reverse push ups for the first part of the workout. Here's how that went:

Part 1--Playground

I did 3 rounds of all 5 exercises with as little rest as possible.

Jump rope 150, 125, 100
Reverse push ups 25, 20, 15
Burpees 15, 12, 10
Strict pull ups 10, 8, 6
Kipping pull ups 10, 8, 6

This shit SMOKED me! I was pretty close to losing my lunch seeing how it was only an hour ago from when I ate last. I didn't keep time but I didn't rest but to re-adjust the camera. I don't like to puke and was teetering on the edge. The first two exercises were pretty easy which was set up on purpose to help me recover from the burpees, pull ups and then kipping pull ups. Given the ease of the bodyweight rows, I decided to come home and hit up a few more rowing movements. I sprinted home and immediately set the bar up.

Part 2--Garage

Bent over rows-pronated grip 155x8, 155x8
Bent over rows-supinate grip 155x8, 155x8

Face pulls 120x12, 130x12, 140x10

This wasn't heavy, but damn if it didn't feel like a thousand lbs! Oh well, I got through, felt like crap 10 minutes afterward but didn't puke, thank god. Here's the footage.

Shoulders make the man!

Ok, so I caught some grief from my buddy for not having posted anything over the weekend. That's what I'm talking about, I did this blog for that reason alone, to be held accountable! My reason for not posting over the weekend was because I didn't have much to report since all I did was participate in an hour of football on Saturday and Sunday. Nothing special, so I left it out. However, today I was back at it with shoulders and abs. I was pretty bummed that I took on a few extra clients today, extending my day by two hours that I wasn't expecting. That meant that my workout was going to be done at home and not the gym and seeing how I sold pretty much everything over the weekend, I was gonna have to make due with what was left. I was pretty happy with what I did and I felt good throughout. I tried split jerks for the first time. I think it went well but I'm certain someone with more experience there could offer me a few cues on technique. The HSPU's went well and I felt strong with the high pulls too. I definitely could have ramped up the weight and I say this because afterward, I felt like my shoulders were asking for more. I experimented with a few exercises that I'm normally accustomed to so I didn't want to sacrifice form for weight which explains the feeling of wanting more. Next time!

Split jerks 115x6, 135x6, 135x5

HSPUs 10, 8, 8, 6
Reach over sit ups 12x8, 12x8, 12x8, 12x6

DB push press 55x6, 60x5, 60x5
Reverse crunches 20, 15, 15

Hi pulls 135x6, 145x5, 155x4
Lateral raises 20x10, 20x12, 20x10

Bent over laterals 3 sets of 20x15
Decline trunk rotations/touchdowns 25x20, 25x20/10, 25x20/10

All about the squeeze!

Today was one of the best arm workouts I've had as of late. I went heavy and hard, squeezing every rep as hard as I could. It was very rewarding, given the fact that I wasn't expecting much with the time constraints.

Smith machine close grip bench 185x12, 225x10, 225x9, 225x6
Alternating dumbbell curls 40x10, 40x8, 40x7, 35x8

Gravitron reverse dips 110x10, 110x10, 120x8
Preacher curls 3 sets of 80x8

Reverse grip pulldowns 150x10, 150x10, 150x8
Dumbbell hammer curls 3 sets of 32.5x8

Good but not great!

Ok, so it doesn't look like my goal of benching 360 is going to come to fruition. I felt good coming into today's workout but I topped out at 325. 10lb increase from the last time I tested my 1RM. Good, but not great. Even though my 2 month time frame is running out, I'll continue to press on. I had only 45 minutes to get chest and abs in before my next client so I did as much as time allowed with about 1 minute breathers. My abs were still pretty sore from Monday's workout so I didn't find the need to crush them again today. It worked out well given the time constraint that I was under. I would have preferred to get in another chest exercise today but ran out of time, but I gotta get that paper!

Flat bench 135x10, 225x5, 275x2, 295x1, 315x1, 325x1
Decline sit ups 20, 20, 20, 20, 20

Hammer Strength Incline Presses 180x10, 250x8, 270x7, 270x6
V-ups 20, 25, 30

Incline dumbbell flyes 40x10, 40x10
Flat dumbbell flyes 40x10, 40x10

Determination means Deterioration...

.....for me it does anyway. My knee pain subsided heading to Nationals last week and although I tweaked the left one in one of the games it feels fine now. My right knee, which was the better of the two knees heading to Nationals, is now F-ed! It seems that I have meniscus damage. I don't know how, but what I do know is that there's a bit of swelling and at times I have a hard time jogging. With that said, and today being leg day, I did a makeshift workout. Not ideal for my training goals, but I wasn't about to take the day off and do NOTHING. Something is ALWAYS better than nothing. I was afraid to attempt any knee dominant moves in fear of my knee giving out so I stuck with all hip dominant moves. I warmed up with straight leg hip flexion and extensions, adduction and abduction to hit it from all angles. Perhaps I have some imbalances that may have contributed to my knee problems. After the warm up, I did dumbbell RDL's and then graduated to single leg RDL's with using 110lbs on the doubles and 55lbs on the singles. My balance was a little off as you'll notice in the footage. As I got the blood flowing, my knee felt pretty good so I decided to try some partials in a stationary lunge stance. I have pain at full extension / lock out of the right knee so I did bottom half partials. Wasn't bad at all. Like I said, this workout was on the other end of the spectrum in light of what I planned on doing. I had planned for some heavy squatting today but it looks like I'm going to have to take a couple steps backward, to move forward. Pain in the ass and aggravating as hell but it is what it is. I guess the years of just DOING, without regard to the consequences and repercussions of my hard playing, has finally caught up with me at 31.

BACK DAY!

Today called for back and calves. YES, I said calves! Again, I hit this workout first thing in the morning at 7. I'm not really satisfied with the intensity of today's workout but considering the crappy night's sleep, I guess I'll take it. Late nights in Florida screwed up my sleep pattern. Next week, I'm gonna have to make up for today's crap. Here's the rundown:

Warm up
2 sets of 10 strict wide grip chin ups
Free Motion Calf 260x15, 300x15

Free Motion Lat pulls 160x10, 170x10, 180x8
Free Motion Calf 340x12 drop set to 300x10 drop set to 260x8, 300x12

Seated rows 4 sets of 165x10
seated calf raises 4 sets of 90x12

Hammer Strength reverse grip pulldowns 180x8, 180x10, 180x8
Wrong way cable rows 100x8, 140x8

Life Fitness seated rows-pronated grip 150x8, 140x8, 140x8
Life Fitness calf 110x30, 130x25, 130x25

I started off feeling good, but lost focus and intensity when I got to the Hammer Strength pulldowns. Oh well, it happens. My nutrition today was pretty good. Tomorrow will be better if this damn knee can hold up during squats.

Back on the grind!

I'm back from Florida and a 4 day hiatus from the gym. I didn't prefer to take the break having been in a groove as of late but scheduling is hard to do when working around the brackets at Nationals. I picked up right where I left off and got in a solid 50 minutes of shoulder and ab work. Check it out!

Seated dumbbell presses 25x10, 50x10, 65x8, 70x8, 70x6 drop set 55x4
Dragon flags 6, 6, 6, 5, 5

Dumbbell laterals 20x12, 25x10, 30x8 drop set 20x5, 30x10
Hanging leg raises 15, 15, 15, 12

1 arm bent over cable raises 20x10, 15x12, 15x12
Side to side cable crunches 70x20, 85x20, 95x20
Cable crunches 70x10, 85x10, 105x10

Ab wheel rollouts 10, 10
Hypers 25x10, 25x10, 25x10

I did everything super strict today, with no cheat reps at all. I've been practicing the dragon flags and felt really strong here being able to go down deeper than the last time I did them. I'm usually really sore from these but I have a feeling that it won't be as bad this time around. On the menu for tomorrow is back, but I think I'm going to get in two workouts tomorrow. Weights in the morning and cardio in the afternoon/evening. 133 days til Memorial Day folks, better get your training right!

USFTL Nationals!

We played one game thus far and as the number 2 seed, we drew the national champions from two years. We lost 9-6. It's going to be a long road back having to battle back through the loser's bracket but if we don't at least get back to the championship game, it will surely be a disappointment. Next game is at 2:30 for 4 man and 4 for 5 man. Guess what, we drew the same team we played today, Rocky Top, for our first game in 4 man. WTF?!?!

1 more day til USFTL Nationals!

Today called for legs and even though my knees are FINALLY feeling better I couldn't go too hard seeing how USFTL Nationals are in 2 days! I did hit em up but just didn't go heavy at all. Leg extensions with prone leg curls; squats with RDL's; hip abduction with hip adduction; single leg RDL's and pistols on the bosu.

Wham-O!

Finally, I got in a kick-ass workout for arms! Skullcrushers with close grip burnouts, 4 sets starting at 65lbs all the way up to 105lbs, matching reps between the two. I superset with barbell curls, 4 sets here from 65lbs to 95lbs for 8 reps. From there it was tricep pushdowns-elbows flared, 3 sets at 150-160lbs for 8-10 superset with dumbbell hammer curls, 30lbs for 8-10 (super strict). Next two moves were single arm cross-body pushdowns, 3 sets at 45lbs for 10-12 superset with Free Motion cross-body curls, 3 sets at 60-70lbs for 10 reps. To finish em off, I alternated between resistance band straight arm pulses, 2 sets for 20 reps and dips to burnout with resistance band curls, 2 sets of 20 reps. It was a great workout in 45 minutes time. Very little rest between sets. I'm going to assume some soreness in the triceps and maybe a little in the biceps, nothing like my chest and abs from yesterday's workout. Odd thing is, my traps and rhomboids are extremely sore from yesterday's work.......that's weird.

It never fails......

I had less than an hour this morning to try and get my workout in and I got halfway through it! The problem with training where you work is that there always seems to be someone who finds the need to come chat you up while you're trying to rep out 100lb chest presses! I'm flattered that people think that 100lb presses may be a warm up set for me but it definitely is not. It never fails. I wish I was one of those guys who can lift with headphones in but I can't. Anyhow, time ran out so I had to do a split workout today. Not ideal but it is what it is. You'll notice the change in venue in the video. I only recorded two sets worth of each grouping of exercises.

Rest Day

I took today off. I didn't get the best sleep, 4 hours to be exact. Rest and recovery is just as, if not more, important as working out. So I've been lounging around today but back at it hard tomorrow for chest and abs.

Injuries!

Football games were canceled today so I headed over to the community gym and got some work in. 2 miles on the treadmill split up with 2 500M rows. The left knee was catching bad on the C2. It seems like when one knee feels good the other gets worse. Such a pain. I started with a mile warm up at 8m 40s, then went immediately to a 1m 51s 500M row. Took a 1 minute break and did another 500M at 1m 51s. This time should have been faster but I had re-adjust the monitor twice toward the end b/c it came loose and dropped down. I took another minute break and ran my last mile in 7m 18s. Satisfied given my old ass knees!

TGIF!!

Friday equals back day! Today seemed like the longest day ever and I must say I wanted to leave work so badly but I knew it would have been tough to get the motivation to get my workout in had I gone home. So I sucked it up and got er done.

Kipping pull ups 4 sets of 10
T bar rows 135x8, 135x8, 135x6

Free Motion hi row 100x10, 110x10, 120x10, 130x10
Free Motion reverse cable flyes 40x10, 40x10, 35x10, 35x10

Strict wide grip pull ups-wide grip 6, 5, 4

This last superset was done without any rest in between sets. I moved from the 1 arm rows right to the reverse dumbbell flyes and then back to the rows and so forth.
1 arm db rows 40x25, 40x20, 40x15
Bent over-reverse dumbbell flyes 20x12, 20x12


I'll take the weekends off from the weight training. I will get my cardio in from my football games provided that my knee holds up.

Up and at 'em!

Today's workout was rough. I'm not a big fan of doing my workout before the sun rises, but I had to get it in today at 6:30. It's been really tough getting any footage on my workouts with the increase of gym goers provided the resolutions. Especially today, prime time hours in the gym, it would have been impossible to get good footage without it being interrupted. Today's menu looked like this:

2 warm up sets
dumbbell military 55 x 10

dumbbell laterals 15x12, 20x10, 25x10, 30x6/22.5x6/15x6
reverse crunches 4 sets of 15

Free Motion F.A.R's 3 sets of 40x10
Free Motion Cable side crunches 3 sets of 110x15

Cable X's 2 sets of 25x10
Hanging leg raises 2 sets of 15

Behind the neck presses 95x8, 95x8
Military presses 95x8, 95x8
Gravitron pushdowns 90x12, 90x12

No excuses continued....

So things didn't go exactly as planned. I started off jogging and my knee still didn't feel great so I adjusted the workout from the December 16th program. The workout went as follows:

3 rounds of half mile run followed by a 500M row on the C2.

Round 1
Half mile jog-5 min
C2-1 min 39 sec

Round 2
Half mile jog-4 min 4 sec
C2-1 min 43 sec

Round 3
Half mile jog-3 min 54 sec
C2-1 min 46 sec

I didn't post any blistering times on the treadmill but my knee was more the issue. I definitely had more but better to be safe than sorry given USFTL Nationals is in 8 days. I was pretty satisfied with the 500M row times with rounds 1 and 2 being faster than the two rounds I did in December. Getting better.

No excuses!

It seems as though I tweaked both of my knees playing ball this weekend. I guess 3 hours of football on turf fields, in single digit weather, is a recipe for disaster for the knees. I've had stability issues in both knees, more so on the left knee than the right. The right knee is giving me problems with internal and external rotation of the foot. I thought it would be fine by today, given it's leg day. I thought about resting it, but I don't necessarily have to train harder today, but I can train smarter..............

Ok, so I tried, what I thought would be training smarter, and failed miserably. I got through 20 burpees, in my pursuit to conquer the 100 burpee challenge for time, before I felt my right knee start to give out and pulsate in pain. I am going to try and hit up the C2 and Tabata treadmill workout I did on Wednesday December 16th. I'm hoping my time has improved since. We'll see.

Tuesday is arm day

I know I haven't been posting video lately, time has really been tight. My schedule is only allowing 45 minutes to get the work in but I was able to get most of the arm workout today. You'll notice that I cut out the last set on the second and third supersets. I did 3 supersets for arms today in 40 minutes time. This workout below was all sufficient to have them screaming by the last rep on the spider curls.

Bent over close grip tricep pushdowns 130x12, 160x12, 170x8, 170x6/150x6
Standing barbell curls 4 sets of 95x8

Free Motion reverse grip pulldowns 3 sets of 70x8
Free Motion hi pulley curls 60x8, 70x8, 70x8

Dumbbell kickbacks 3 sets of 20x12
Spider curls 3 sets of 45x10

Madness!

As expected, as a new year begins, so do new resolutions, and new resolutions leads to a crowded gym with new faces! The next couple of months will be complete madness in the gym during the morning and evening rush. It's Monday, so the workout was chest and abs. I did not get any video on this workout for time was of the essence and I had to get it all in without having to worry about setting up the FlipVid. Here's the workout below:

I supersetted a chest exercise with an ab exercise.

-Incline bench 2 warm up sets with 135 and 205, followed by 3 sets of 3 at 225lbs
-Hanging leg raises 5 sets of 15

-Flat bench 225x5 followed by 3 sets of 3 at 275lbs
-leg press crunches 4 sets of 15

-Incline dumbbell presses 70x10, 70x10, 65x10, 65x10
-Side cable crunches 100x15, 120x15, 120x15, 120x15

I felt weak on the incline bench, but I think that was a direct result of not being able to get in a proper warm up before starting this workout. I should have gone heavier on the flat bench but I didn't have a spot. I definitely could have pushed more there even despite not having a lot of rest between sets. I think I'll be pretty close to that 360 mark. It was December 15 when I said I was going to give myself 2 months from then to get my 1RM to 360. That gives me just over a month to get there. I don't see that being a problem at all. Stay tuned!!

Back on da grind!

Today marks the last day for vacation for most of us and back to the grind tomorrow. For some of us, like me, never got a bonafide vacation so nothing new here. I played another day of tournament football today, playing 3 games. It was so cold the ground felt like concrete and wearing cleats was a liability than anything else. My body hurts, and not in a good way, from hitting the ground numerous times. I'm glad that's over and now my workouts for this week will come in the form of lifting weights INSIDE rather than playing football OUTSIDE!

Playoffs

No weights today or tomorrow but did play 3 hours of football. It wasn't bad at all. The worst part was trying to stay warm with the 25 mph winds producing a single digit wind chill factor. No idea how much actual running that I did, but playing ironman and then running 800m around the track between games leaves me to believe that I got more than my fair share of cardio in. I'm not a big fan of the cold weather, in fact, I hate it! However, I'll be out there again tomorrow for the end of the season tournament.

Happy New Year!

Well, 2009 is gone and twenty-ten begins! I'm looking for big things on all fronts this year so look out!

As expected, my body is crushed from the work I put in yesterday so I'm going to take the day off. Not that big of a deal for the rest is warranted and much needed. I do make my over to the gym today and ran 3 miles, but there was absolutely no lifting of any weight whatsoever! My whole upper body is sore and could feel it even while running. Definitely a good thing though. Tomorrow and the next day will be straight cardio days seeing how I have two all day football tournaments so I'll get my fair share of run in. Then Monday, I'll be back in the gym, with everyone else with a brand new resolution, getting my swole on. Only difference will be, my program continues on after the first couple months. Everyone has a resolution, the question is, how long will you hold up to yours??